It was already dark. The night has come. The masked mage was ordering the zombies to attack the people. She aimed to destroy the town and turn the whole population into zombies. While ordering around, she felt the presence of someone. She looked back to see Kazuma walking in her direction. Kazuma stood there at a distance of 10 meters from her. Kazuma and the masked mage stared at each other. Zombies growled at him and ran towards him.
Kazuma manifested his spirit abilities. His eyes grew dazzlingly white. Kazuma released his spirit power into his surroundings. Everything around Kazuma freezes as he releases his freeze magic into the air, except the mage.
Kazuma "You, behind the mask, are you Wiz?"
The mage said, "I am sorry. I am not the one you are looking for."
Kazuma "Them, what are you doing in a cemetery?"
The mage "It's none of your business."
Kazuma "I am sorry, but it is. You are the one who is turning these innocent people into zombies."
A moment of silence.
The mage "Yeah, you are right, so what will you do about it?"
Kazuma "I will have to stop you."
The mage "You will regret that."
Kazuma: "No, I won't."
The mage says, "Then try me."
The mage is pissed. The mage battled with Kazuma. She draws her knives and starts fighting Kazuma at close quarters. Kazuma showed off his sword skills. Kazuma wounded her many times. She is bleeding from her wounds. Kazuma tried to cut off her mask. But, to his surprise, his sword didn't cut through it. The mage understands that a close compact alone won't be enough to win against him. She experimented with earth, wind, lightning, and fire magic.
Kazuma canceled the fire beam with an ice beam. Every time, he constructs an ice rock to obstruct the lightning strikes and the wind blades. He transformed the ground into sheets of ice, which helped him slide over it easily. Kazuma made the atmosphere seem like mist. His opponent's vision becomes obscured. Kazuma sneaks up on her while hiding in the mist and cuts open her hips. She suffered a severe hip injury. The mage dispelled the cloud surrounding her using wind magic. The next moment, Kazuma stole her weapon using the steal ability.
She called forth a spear. They engaged in close combat for some time. This time, Kazuma was wounded. Kazuma drew himself into defense mode while maintaining his composure. Then Kazuma used stealth again. But this time, he couldn't steal her spear. Instead of that, he stole something else. Kazuma and the mage pulled away from each other. Kazuma carefully opened his palm to see a white panty.
The mage, with an embarrassed voice, screamed.
Kazuma "Oh, I am sorry. You can take it back."
The mage "You pervert, scumbag, I am not going to let you get away with this one."
She immediately threw a cursed, dark beam at Kazuma. Kazuma was very lucky to evade it. The dark beam is a curse carrier that turns humans into zombies. Kazuma decided not to get caught up in that dark beam. She continued to shoot those dark beams wherever Kazuma ran. Kazuma used his lurking skills to hide behind a grave. The mage quickly came over to catch him by his guard. But she was surprised to see that Kazuma was not there. She looked around. There were so many graves. She assumed that he must be hiding behind one of those graves.
She proceeded with caution to search for him. While she was searching, the temperature around the area began to drop to less than -40 degrees Celsius. She finds it very difficult to handle that temperature. The air around it began to get foggy, making it difficult to see. Once again, Kazuma sneaks in to fight her. In that attack sequence of fierce swordsmanship, Kazuma cut off that mage's left arm. She lost a lot of blood in that process.
That mage with a smile "Do you think that it is all over for me?"
At the very moment, her hands regenerated. Kazuma remained calm. But in the next moment, she completely vanished from his site. Before Kazuma could even look around, he was stabbed from behind.
That mage with a wicked smile "I got you..."
She pulled her spear out of his heart with great force. Kazuma fell to his knees.
The mage is laughing. "I told you, I told you that you would regret it. How does it feel? Does it hurt? Of course, it would, because this is what you get for your stubbornness. Now, you will know your place."
The mage stopped her speech when she realized that his wound had begun to disappear. Before she could even act upon her reflexes, Kazuma pulled himself from the ground and delivered a very powerful slash to her face mask. With that flashy and powerful slash, she was blown away. Her face mask was cut into two as well. She crashed into a grave. Half of her face was cut open. Her wounds healed on their own, and her face was revealed.
Kazuma "Huh, there you are, Wiz."
Wiz was breathing heavily. She was wondering how he healed himself.
Kazuma walked over to her and said, "I guess we can talk now."
A moment of silence.
Wiz with a shocked face "Where am I?"
Kazuma: "Huh..."
Wiz suddenly felt a cold rising in her legs. Her face turned red when she realized that she was not wearing her pants.
Wiz screamed while curling away from Kazuma. "What the heck did you do to me?"
Kazuma with a calm voice "Is this a joke, or are you serious right now?"
Wiz, "What do you mean by that?"
Kazuma "I mean, you were creating zombies, and they were causing all this chaos. And I was trying to reveal your identity."
Wiz with a shocked face " Identity...."
She immediately looked around to see those broken masks and recognized them.
"That bastard, he made me do all this."
Kazuma "Are you trying to pin this responsibility on others?"
Wiz "You believe it or not. I was under the control of a demon named Vanir. That mask you just cut was a copy of his own. He tricked me into using it."
Kazuma "How am I supposed to believe it? Prove it. "
Wiz "Fine, I will prove it to you."
Wiz stood up on her feet. She raised her hand to the sky and commanded the curse that she put on people to be dispelled. All the zombies in the town turned back into normal humans. They spoke with each other and began to hug each other. The adventurers were shocked to see that. They thanked the miracle for turning them back into normal humans. They were so happy. But still, there were a lot of people who lost their lives. They remained silent for those who lost their lives. Some of the mages tried to save them but failed.
Kazuma and Wiz went back to the town square to analyze the situation. They confirmed that a lot of people lost their lives in the Choas. Wiz was so sad about it.
Wiz said with a sad tone, "I am going to take this responsibility."
Kazuma "How?"
Wiz "I will surrender myself to the guild and accept whatever punishment they offer me."
Kazuma "How is that going to help? Will it change anything that has happened today? Today, it was you. Tomorrow, it may be me or my friends. If that happens, who is going to save these people?"
Wiz "But I can't find a better way to compensate for the chaos I caused."
Kazuma "What if I say you can?"
Wiz looked at Kazuma with a doubtful look on her face.
Kazuma "Become a hero; save the lives of the rest of the people. I am sure you will be forgiven if you choose to be a hero from now on."
Wiz thought for a while.
Wiz "Will it be okay if I truly become one of them? What if someone learns about my true self?"
Kazuma "If that day comes, then I promise to back you up."
A moment of silence...
Wiz "I truly hate to kill people. If they really want to see people suffer just like today, then I will stand against them and protect my people, even if it costs my life. After all, I used to be a human too."
Kazuma with a peaceful smile "Great. The deal is back on."