In that moment, I forgot I was still cloaked in invisibility, where any physical action would dispel the spell instantly. With force, I slammed open the flimsy door, revealing everything before my eyes—only to find myself revealed to the enemy as well.

Raith was caressing a dagger, while the chattering ogre wizard was tormenting the boy Brian, who lay on the ground. He had just severed one of the boy’s fingers, the source of that earlier scream.

The necromancer glanced at me, his eyes narrowing, and before I could think of what to do, he acted.

The boy's body was lifted by a magical force, swiftly moving towards the window. The curtain had been torn down, and now I could see the window—beyond it, a bottomless chasm with snow-capped peaks in the distance.

"This window has a splendid view, doesn’t it?" Raith sneered at me, his face even more grotesque when twisted into a smile. "The cliff below is the only path into the mountains, so if an army approaches, I’ll know in advance... But the window has a better use—it can create scenes that please me... just watch!"

His words made my hair stand on end. I only had time to shout, "No—"

Brian’s body was flung out the window, and a fireball conjured by the necromancer shot after the boy’s frail frame. Before his falling body vanished from view, I saw the fireball strike him!

Raith leaned out to watch for several seconds, then pulled his head back inside.

"Beautiful, like a butterfly—I love butterflies!" His laughter was like the bubbling of boiling oil.

"Now, unless you want to become a butterfly yourself, tell me where the little princess is."

"He's just a novice, barely capable of wielding an artifact! He couldn't possibly harm you!" I said softly, though I struggled to suppress the surge of something welling up from deep within me.

"He's just a foolish child, but I believe you’re much smarter..." Raith looked at me, his hideous smile never fading.

"He couldn’t even cast a Magic Missile... He posed no threat to you... You didn’t have to kill him..." I was surprised to hear my voice growing even softer.

"Heh, I just wanted to see a butterfly... It’s been so long since I’ve seen one... He was of no use to me, especially now that you’re here... Haha!"

"He was just a child..." I whispered the last words, but in the next second, my voice erupted into a roar. That thing within me overflowed, beyond my control!

"He was just a child!!"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Rage surged from within me, unstoppable, like lava spewing from an erupting volcano.

"He was just a child!!!!!!!"

"Kill him!" Raith commanded, and the ogre wizard charged at me, not with magic but with a sword. Before the blade reached me, I cast "Soul Armor."

I blocked with both hands; the sword couldn’t penetrate the magical shield, but the impact slammed me against the wall.

The ogre’s natural brute strength left me dazed, and he followed up with another swing aimed at my head. Though it still couldn’t break through my shield, it knocked half of my mask from my face.

"Oh? No scars? I thought you wore that mask to hide some disfigurement. Strange, why cover such an unblemished face?" Raith’s voice reached my ears, and the ogre hesitated!

A moment was all I needed!

"Web Spell!" I cast the spell in the brief pause, and a flood of spider silk surged up from the ground, enveloping the space. I had perfectly judged the range, positioning myself just outside the web’s reach, while ensnaring both of them. The webbing tangled around them so tightly they couldn’t even speak.

"Fireball!" I didn’t hesitate, launching the next attack. The fireball exploded between the ogre wizard and Raith, filling the room with searing flames and a scorching blast. My positioning had been careful, and only a few flames touched me.

"One more!" I cast another fireball, the combination of Web Spell and Fireball capable of subduing almost any foe. But for safety’s sake, I cast an extra, ensuring the ogre wizard wouldn’t be left with even a breath to suffer!

As the smoke and heat from the flames began to clear, my vision sharpened again. The room was in chaos, almost everything burnable was aflame, and even the non-flammable items were scorched black—the robe I wore had singed in several places...

Before me lay the charred remains of what had once been the ogre wizard—now a burnt corpse, emitting the stench of scorched meat. The loquacious ogre would never speak again, unless there was freedom of speech in the underworld. I could clearly see his charred hand, still gripping the sword, fall from his body—the same hand that, just minutes ago, had severed Brian's finger.

"Stop pretending, Raith! I know a little fire won’t kill you!" I shouted, my voice filled with a fury that even frightened me.

"Heh!" That evil laughter rang out again, and suddenly a gust of wind swept through, blowing the smoke out the window. The necromancer reappeared before me, his clothes slightly singed, but he was clearly unharmed. Raith still held the artifact, stroking it as if I didn’t concern him in the least.

"How did you escape my trap? It should have been flawless, impossible to break... Ah." Raith looked up at me, seeming to relish the anger in my eyes. "As long as you didn’t try to dig out a hole big enough for a person to crawl through, concentrated the flames, you might have unearthed the dagger, breaking the spell... Heh, you’re lucky... But your luck ends here! You’ve walked into your own doom!"

I ignored his words and sent five Magic Missiles hurtling toward him, but he had already cast a protective spell. The missiles were absorbed on impact, leaving him unscathed.

Before I could cast another spell, the necromancer retaliated, a force from nowhere lifting me and slamming me against the wall behind me. My protective magic kept me from being injured, but the pressure was so intense it felt like he intended to suffocate me...

"You have potential. If you agree to serve me, I’ll spare your life..."

Damn him! But even without breath, I could still cast a spell. A surge of power erupted from deep within my blood, countering Raith’s force, allowing me to stand again.

Something fell from me—a small, transparent black glass shard that I had always kept over my left eye. Without the mask to conceal it, and after all the violent movements, it had easily come loose...

From my left eye emanated a red, demonic glow, the mark of my pact with dark forces, an indelible sign of my identity as a necromancer!