A Taste Of Despair

Within Leon Bertuli's thoughts, he was conflicted.

'None of my enemies have ever survived any of my Hex. Who in the world is this man?'

He had only mastered two out of the [Hex Art] made available to the Imperial Knights. The one he most often used was [Hex#95], and his preferred model was Flames, though he knew a bit of Wind.

Yet, that wasn't enough to end it this time.

'No matter…' Leon's thoughts stubbornly clung to hope.

He still had his final trump card, his most destructive move.

While this would use up all his energy and he would be worn out after its use, the power it offered was worth it.

'With this, I'll destroy this man. After he is dealt with, the Fairy should be no big deal,' Leon thought to himself.

He now glared at the stranger before him.

'I'm still confused about what [Art] he used back then.'

There were only two types of [Arts] in this world: Hex and the other one.

The latter was not one that just any person could possess. It is said that this power was one endowed upon an individual by god.

Unlike it, Hex had to be mastered. It was the product of the greatest researcher known to mankind.

The entire archive was discovered nearly 3,000 years ago, right after the Dark Ages. It contained a means by which humans could access the supernatural.

The man's name and identity remained a mystery to date, but his legacy lived on.

That was the greatness of Hex! The unstoppable Art of destruction!

"[Hex #87: Call Of Weather <Model—Lightning> ]!" he shouted, pouring all his energy into his final move.

Immediately, all his energy converged and then shot up into the sky.

The ascending energy kept rising and growing denser, and Leon held both hands above him, grinning with arrogant glee.

"Hehehe… hahahaha!" He cackled with unbridled confidence as he watched the still man watch his actions, most likely in trepidation.

'This is the end of the line for you. There's no escape!'

And so, with the roar from the heavens sounding as his signal, Leon completed the steps necessary to eviscerate his foe.

"Descend!" he said, bringing his hands down and directing the acclimated energy in Elish's direction.

The energy in the sky roared, cackled, and finally rushed down in the form of all-devouring lightning.

It was an ultimate power that would destroy everything in its path, leaving nothing—not even the charred remains of the target.

It also had a homing function so the man before him could not escape.

This was it… judgment day!

Unfortunately for Leon, the man he targeted didn't share that sentiment. He viewed the lightning as one thing, and one thing alone.

"Pathetic…"

Elish couldn't contain his displeasure anymore. Any further and it would have driven him to utter embarrassment.

He stretched forth his hand to the orb and made a sigh.

"[Hex #99: Diminish]."

The lance of raging lightning immediately dissolved and imploded, disappearing from sight. Before it could even graze Elish, the once-powerful burst of fatal currents faded into obscurity.

Nothing was left of it.

"N-no… no way."

Leon, who was now looking exhausted after expending his energy, now had an expression of terror in his eyes.

"Oh? Where did your confidence go? Exhausted after only two Hexes? That's beyond pathetic, you know?" The way Elish addressed the Knight made him shiver even more.

The Hexes had a unique system where the weakest one had the biggest number. Of course, this was in theory alone, and it was possible for a higher-numbered Hex to beat a lower-numbered one if the user of the weaker Hex was more capable.

In this case, a Hex #99 had just trumped his Hex, which was in the #80s.

It was too absurd!

'B-but I'm an Imperial Knight! I trained and practiced for so long, and yet… YET…!'

He shook his head as though he could not believe what he had just seen.

"Do you even know how to use Hex? Or what is this? Child's play?" The words from Elish, which would have incurred pure rage from Leon's bruised ego, now seemed to only send him to a paralysis of fear.

Leon was dumbfounded.

He could not utter any sensible words and choked on whatever he wanted to say.

"H-How... W-Who A-Are Y-You?" He managed to say.

"It would be wasted on you," Elish replied calmly, now walking gently in Leon's direction. "However, I will tell you one thing. This pathetic display you just showed me isn't at all what Hex is."

"N-not… what Hex is…?"

How was that possible? To be an Imperial Knight of the Empire, one had to at least master one Hex. The higher the ranks an Imperial Knight had, the more Hexes they had mastered, and the more they would even be exposed to.

For this man to tell him he didn't display a real Hex… Leon felt it was an insult to all the hard work and effort he had put in.

"Y-you… you…"

"You require an education. It is the least I could do after seeing such rubbish." Elish didn't even allow Leon to complete his words.

It seemed his patience had reached his limits.

"Let me show you… what Hex really is."

Leon couldn't describe how he felt when he heard those words. He felt a mix of trepiation an curiousity.

"Let's see you do any better" mixed with "What will he show me?" were etched on his face.

What would he see? What would he be shown?

Only the absolute one knew.

"[Hex #95: Elementalist <Model—Fire>]" Elish recited the chant for the same Hex Leon had used a few moments earlier.

However…

~VWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!~

A massive surge of flames erupted from Elish's raised hand , roaring in all its majesty.

"Not yet…"

The flames swiftly began to compress, condensing to a size that seemed impossible given the sheer mass they had just displayed.

They grew smaller than a human head… and then smaller than an eyeball.

Until finally, the flames became a tiny ball of fire that settled above Elish's index fingertip

"Fireball." Elish murmured, almost with disinterest.

His face was an absolute calm as the radiance of the flames dyed his face with a golden orange hue, a sharp contrast to the expression of the Imperial Knight.

"Aa-ahhh… ahhh…"

Leon was nearly in tears as he looked above him and saw the miniscule structure resting on Elish's index finger.

His legs were no longer able to support him, and he fell on his knees.

The orange source of energy was merely a tiny ball of light that danced around Elish's finger like a firefly, yet its power felt overwhelming.

Too overwhelming!

"Do you realize now, your foolishness?" Elish asked.

Leon had the expression of absolute fear.

His body trembled.

He could tell that within the small orb that was on Elish's finger was a more devastating energy than his two attacks combined.

'Well, this is it.' Elish thought to himself as he stared at Leon's despairing face, which reflected his broken mind.

'I take no pleasure in watching him lose all will to live, and from the look of things, he isn't capable of learning anything.'

If he wanted to end things, now was the time.

"H-How...?" Leon let out in a hoarse voice. Mucus and saliva dripped from his face as he watched Elish's power dance before his eyes.

"Do you even know what Hex is at all? Interfering with the elements that make up the world. Do you think it is possible to do that with your energy alone?" Elish asked in a sigh, like a parent tired of explaining a simple answer to a toddler.

"H-how can you...?" Leon asked, his lips trembling as he uttered every syllable.

"Authorities govern concepts and aspects of existence. They simply rule over the nature of the world. By attracting the very essence of the concepts that the Authorities rule, using them to interfere with those concepts, rather than rule over them. That is the way to use Hex."

Elish realized that speaking about most of these things to someone like this was pointless, but he couldn't help it.

He had thought anyone who discovered Hex would have been able to know that much.

"You get exhausted after using two of the lowest Hexes, with only this low level of mastery and output. However, I merely used a fraction of my essence to attract phenomenally greater essence from around me, causing me to effectively alter the very concepts that build up the world."

Like a small pool of water drawing out water from a larger pool, all to achieve a goal.

That was how to use Hex.

"Who? Who are you?" Leon asked again.

This would be the third time he would be asking, hoping that perhaps, in honor of his last moments, his query would be answered.

Maybe… this time he would finally learn the name of this man.

"It would be wasted on you." Contrary to Leon's hopes, however, Elish responded with the same answer.

What more should he have expecte from this man?

"Then again, I've already told you this much, so why not? Listen well, mortal. I am the true creator of Hex, the one who stands above everything you know," Elish finally revealed, his tone barely above a whisper.

His face was a dead calm, and as his lips opened up to utter his name, he had a cold demeanor course through his facade.

"My name is Elish. Monarch of the VO—"

"The Evil one? The Demon God? The Author of Chaos? Y-y-you can't be! It's Impossible!... Inconceivable!!!!" Leon interrupted Elish, his voice lashing out like a madman who had gone insane a second time.

He was in an absolute frenzy.

"Tch. This is why I didn't want to say anything…" Elish muttered, half in regret, an half in disappointment.

'And I would have spared him too…'

Perhaps using an Imperial Knight as a pawn would be the first move he could make in this world. However, after taking a second look at Leon Bertuli, Elish felt nothing but disdain.

'He's useless…'

"Arghhhhhh!" Leon roared, rising to his feet in a fit of insanity.

His bloodshot eyes had tears streaming from them, and he brandished his blade in what could only be recognized as an attempt to attack Elish.

Elish sighed. 'Such a pointless struggle…'

Pointing his index finger at Leon, he launched his tiny orb of flames at him.

'Just die, I suppose.'

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[A/N]

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