The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

Chapter 119



“Ha!”

Scoffing at Laria’s provocation, Marquis Hashir briefly lost his composure.

To think she had grown so arrogant from simply undoing one spell.

Clearly, he would have to teach her a harsh lesson, prompting him to summon his magic power.

However, before he could complete the spell, the surroundings abruptly plunged into inky blackness, as if all light had vanished from the world.

Unable to see an inch before him, the Marquis tensed in heightened alertness.

Flash!

A burst of light erupted directly above his head.

Acting swiftly before the lightning could strike, the Marquis erected a barrier.

“Ugh!”

Though he narrowly managed to deflect it, the hastily conjured barrier couldn’t fully absorb the impact.

The Marquis’s body swayed like a reed in the wind.

Barely avoiding an unseemly tumble, he ground his teeth so hard they seemed ready to shatter.

As he made to cast another spell, a faint shattering sound reached his ears.

Gem shards crumbled around Laria’s vicinity.

Turning his gaze in that direction, the Marquis hastily retreated.

A wolf the size of a small house had emerged from somewhere, lunging at him with bared fangs.

“Kuk!”

Its razor-sharp teeth sank into his shoulder.

Mustering all his strength, the Marquis shook off the wolf, exhaling in ragged gasps.

“Hah… Hah…”

Just when had she cast the summoning spell?

Trying to make sense of the incomprehensible situation, the Marquis surveyed his surroundings. Countless eyes watched his every move. His expression soured instinctively.

He was the Sorcery Office Head, the highest authority. If he appeared even slightly disadvantaged in this duel, the reputation he had painstakingly built would crumble.

Having made his decision, the Marquis summoned his power.

Though expending his magic power in a single burst would be taxing, he had to display overwhelming dominance…

Snap-!

The familiar shattering sound rang out more clearly this time, one after another, like a chorus.

The Marquis stared at Laria in a daze.

“You still have that much magic power remaining…?”

Before he could even finish muttering those words, an immense force erupted from Laria.

It felt like facing a typhoon with one’s bare body.

Unable to withstand it for even a moment, the Marquis crumpled to his knees. It was an unfathomable, incomprehensible power beyond his grasp.

“Just what…”

What kind of monster was this?

Incapable of so much as twitching a finger, he could only lift his gaze with effort.

The moment their eyes met – her chilling aquamarine orbs gazing down upon him – an urge to flee gripped him.

Overwhelmed by a fear he had never experienced before, he trembled, quickly averting his eyes.

He failed to realize he had become the very image he had so derided in Theodore.

“Uaahh!”

A towering wave crashed over him.

Engulfed by the raging currents, the Marquis flailed helplessly.

Air…!

Desperately casting a spell, he managed to secure his breathing.

Only then did he belatedly realize his surroundings – the deep seafloor, where not a glimmer of light penetrated.

Trapped within this colossal underwater prison, the Marquis froze, unable to even consider using teleportation magic to escape.

Paralyzed by terror, he thrashed about pathetically.

Eventually, the seabed split apart, the waters draining away.

Sprawled on the bottom, the Marquis let out a cry of elation.

“Aah…!”

Tears streaming down his face, his gaze met Laria’s as she looked down upon him.

Rather than the ocean depths, he lay upon the dueling grounds.

It had all been an illusion.

Without a moment to catch his bearings, his body was propelled toward the ceiling.

Though he attempted to cast spells, he could do nothing.

“Kuhek!!”

He felt like a mere child’s plaything.

The battered Marquis could only quiver his lips, his mind and body in tatters.

What he had arrogantly deemed an insurmountable gap in prowess was nothing but a delusion.

Confident that the presence of witnesses would prevent any humiliation…

Yet Laria seemed utterly unbothered, steadily tightening her grip around his throat.

No matter how fervently he deflected her onslaught, he couldn’t fully evade it all.

Merely clinging to life was his utmost struggle.

“You… intend to kill me…?”

Laria tilted her head quizzically.

“You said you would endure whatever may come during our duel, did you not?”

The Marquis’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Never had he imagined those words would apply to himself.

Laria truly meant to take his life.

“If I die, the Sorcery Office won’t stay silent!”

The terrified Marquis screamed, but Laria didn’t so much as blink.

“If you die, a new Head will simply be appointed.”

A blinding white magic power surged, rendering him unable to keep his eyes open.

The Marquis realized the truth.

If that struck him, death was certain.

With no time to consider the consequences, he shattered the glass vial concealed within his robe.

A viscous crimson liquid soaked his body, pooling on the floor beneath him. The spilled blood rapidly transformed into a crimson mist.

Realizing the Marquis’s intentions, Laria recoiled in shock.

‘He would resort to forbidden magic here?’

She had believed he would never stoop to using forbidden magic, even if his honor was at stake.

Not with so many witnesses present, for it would surely mean his utter ruination.

Yet faced with the threat to his life, Marquis Hashir committed the unforgivable act.

Scanning her surroundings, Laria found that none seemed to comprehend the Marquis’s actions, save for Theodore and the elderly judge.

Almost no one was aware of forbidden magic’s existence.

The crimson mist spread like a thick fog, though fortunately unable to penetrate the barrier Laria had reinforced.

Laria didn’t intervene, for she needed conclusive evidence of the Marquis practicing forbidden magic.

As the insidious mist slithered toward Laria, she felt her vitality draining away, while the magic power surrounding the Marquis intensified.

‘A spell that steals others’ life force and converts it into magic power?’

Having siphoned magic power from Laria through that brief contact, the Marquis’s body convulsed, overwhelmed by the influx of immense power.

To conceal the crimson mist summoned by his forbidden magic, the Marquis cast a fire spell.

Flames flickered from his fingertips.

Whoosh!

What began as a tiny blossom of fire rapidly swelled into an inferno.

As the blazing flames danced before her eyes, Laria’s face paled. Memories she had struggled to suppress resurfaced – towering flames, billowing smoke, the searing sensation of flesh burning.

Frozen in place, unable to react, Laria’s paralysis finally drew laughter from the Marquis.

“Heh, ha, hahaha… Hahaha!”

At last, a glimmer of hope had appeared in this seemingly unwinnable battle.

Like wildfire spreading across a prairie, the flames rapidly encroached upon Laria.

Simultaneously, the crimson mist continued leeching her vitality.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down her brow.

‘Get a grip.’

Gritting her teeth, Laria whipped her wavering self back from the brink of panic.

If she faltered, the Marquis would drain her life force completely.

With trembling hands, she reached into her pocket.

Grasping a large diamond, the shattering sound resonated – chang! – as a spell circle manifested beneath Laria’s feet.

“!”

The spell circle encompassing the entire dueling grounds caused the Marquis’s expression to shift abruptly.

A white downpour began, dispelling the thickening mist that had obscured her vision and extinguishing the encroaching flames.

“Aaarghhh!!”

Drenched by the deluge, the Marquis screamed, clawing at his own body.

Laria’s magic power, which had seeped into every crevice, inflicted searing agony akin to burns.

Unable to endure any longer, the Marquis collapsed to the floor with a resounding thud, unmoving.

Laria gazed at the smoldering flames before her.

Fueled by the stolen magic power of forbidden magic, they stubbornly refused to die down.

It seemed they could engulf her at any moment.

“Haa… Haa…”

She struggled to breathe properly.

‘Hot.’

Her entire body burned, the sensation almost scalding.

Immediately glancing down at her hands, Laria found them unmarred, yet her skin felt as if it would tear apart from the pain.

Though years had passed, the memory still lingered as phantom agony, tormenting her.

She had thought she had overcome her fear of fire to some extent, but it seemed she had not.

Perhaps she never would.

‘I need to dispel the barrier… but…’

Unless Laria released the barrier, no one could enter.

Yet when she attempted to cast a spell, not an ounce of strength remained.

Laria blinked repeatedly, her vision blurring until she could no longer see clearly.

It was at that moment:

Kwung-!

A massive reverberation shook the air above her head.

Straining to lift her gaze, she saw the layered defensive barriers she had erected were finally beginning to crack.

As the barrier shattered completely–

“Laria!”

The voice of the man she had longed to see reached her ears.


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