The Mage of the Abyss Episode 16: "The Hero's Triumphant Return" | Creative Awards 2026 | Fantasy Novel Category | Light Novel |

The night before the finals.

The central training ground was as quiet as if the heat of the day had been a lie.

There was no one in the spectator seats.
Only the recording crystals floating in the air left behind a faint glow.

Tomorrow, the finals of the Academy Tournament will be held here.

Flower Mandy stood by the window of the waiting room, looking down at the training ground.

She gently touched the white flower brooch on her chest.

It felt cold.
Yet, there was a small light deep inside it.

A light to ensure she wouldn't lose sight of the place she belonged.

They had won in yesterday's match.

But it didn't feel like a victory.

The moment the pale blue fire of the generated magic tool grazed the protective barrier of the spectator seats.
The moment a lower-grade student in the lower rows shrank back with a tearful face.

Flower's body had moved before considering the victory conditions.

She could have won if she had aimed for the enemy crystal.
Even so, she had cast a water membrane of white flowers toward the spectator seats.

Perhaps, from a purely tactical standpoint, it was a detour.

But at that moment,

the only choice she couldn't make was not to protect them.

“You’re thinking, aren’t you?”

A voice came from behind her.

When she turned around, Chloe was standing there.

Pale silver-gray hair.
Light gray eyes.

Even in the dim light of the waiting room, she alone seemed to exist in a slightly different time.

“Chloe-san.”

“Are you thinking about yesterday’s match?”

“Yeah.”

Flower hesitated for a moment before speaking honestly.

“I really don’t think I’m cut out for the battlefield.”

Chloe did not deny it.

“That’s true.”

Because the reply was so without hesitation, Flower felt a slight ache in her chest.

“...I knew it.”

“You are not suited for the battlefield.”

Chloe was looking at the training ground outside the window.

“Before defeating the opponent, you think about someone getting hurt. Instead of victory conditions, you look at the place you have to return to. You hesitate when you should attack, and you widen the range you try to protect too much.”

Each point was accurate.

“On the battlefield, people like that are the first to break.”

Flower gripped the brooch on her chest.

“Then, am I...”

“That is why you are necessary.”

She looked up.

Chloe was looking at her.

“If you create a battlefield only with people suited for it, there will be no place left to return to.”

The words were quiet.

But they sank deep into Flower’s chest.

“People who only choose the shortest path to win do not see the fallen flowers. They do not see the crying children. They do not see the seats beyond the broken barrier.”

Chloe’s voice was indifferent.

Yet, there was no coldness in it.

“Yesterday, your decision to protect the spectator seats was inefficient from a tactical perspective alone.”

“...Yeah.”

“But if you hadn’t done that, you would have lost something even if you won.”

Flower’s fingers trembled.

Yesterday, the student from the opposing team had said:

No foul was called.
The danger level was within the permissible range.
The tool simply generated the optimal spell for the victory condition.

There was no malice.

That was exactly why it was scary.

“Chloe-san, aren’t you scared?”

She asked without thinking.

Chloe did not answer immediately.

That silence was unexpected.

Eventually, she said softly,

“I am scared.”

“You don’t look it.”

“I just don’t have the time to be scared.”

Chloe was staring at the central training ground, where the transfer circle for the finals was engraved.

“People who aren’t scared break quickly. As long as you can recognize what is scary as scary, you can still make judgments.”

Flower remembered the Black Dragon Forest.

Not to pretend you aren’t scared when you are.

Those were Rabie’s words.

“Tomorrow’s opponents are more rational than today’s.”

Chloe continued.

“All four of them have generated magic tools. They choose the shortest path to the victory condition. They don’t hesitate where we do.”

“They’re strong, aren’t they?”

“Yes.”

Chloe answered immediately.

“But not hesitating is not necessarily strength.”

“What do you mean?”

“If they only see the shortest path, you just have to place a path that looks like the shortest one.”

At those words, Flower gasped slightly.

Chloe looked at her quietly.

“Do not try to protect everything.”

“Yeah.”

“But do not make a mistake about the one point you must protect first.”

Flower wrapped the white flower on her chest with both hands.

Her fingertips started to reach for the glass flute in her bag.

Chloe’s gaze fell there for just an instant.

But she said nothing.

The one point to protect first.

The spectator seats.
Her companions.
The place to return to.
Things that must not be lost before victory.

“I want to protect them.”

“Yes.”

“But I can’t protect everything.”

“Yes.”

“So, I will make sure not to mistake the one point I must protect first.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes just a little.

“That is a good answer.”

The way she said it was quiet.

But Flower knew it was a compliment.

“Hearing that from you, Chloe-san, makes me feel a little relieved.”

“It is too early to be relieved.”

“Eh?”

“Because tomorrow will be harder than today.”

Flower smiled a little.

She was scared.

But she didn’t want to run away.

It was okay if she wasn’t suited for the battlefield.

Because she wasn’t suited for it, there were things she could see.

She decided to believe in that tomorrow.

*

The door to the waiting room opened.

The person who entered was Rabie Christail.

She had her red hair tied back and a gold-vermilion ear cuff on one ear.
A small phoenix was folding its wings on her shoulder.

However, her expression was stiff.

“Rabie-chan?”

When Flower called out to her, Rabie let out a small sigh.

“I went to see our opponents for the finals.”

Chloe turned her gaze toward her.

“The ‘Blue Flame Verification Team,’ right?”

“Yes.”

Rabie walked to the window and looked at the waiting area beyond the training ground.

There, their opponents for tomorrow’s finals were adjusting their magic tools.

Pale blue lanterns.
Bracelet-type spell furnaces.
Barrier generators fixed to their chests.
Orbital calculators built into their staves.

All four of them were equipped with generated magic tools.

Each had a different shape.

But the fire they lit was the same.

Pale blue.
Orderly.
Without a flicker.

It was a fire that looked as if it had never touched anyone’s heart.

“...It’s a disgusting fire.”

Rabie muttered low.

“Is it similar to Flare-san’s fire?”

Flower asked.

Rabie shook her head.

“No. It is completely different.”

Flare’s fire was distorted.
It was a dangerous, sweet, and stealing fire.

But it was alive.

That woman’s obsession.
Hunger.
Loneliness.
A broken wish to be seen by Heine.

Those things were certainly inside the blue flames.

That was why it was terrifying.

That was why it was also beautiful.

However, the fire of those generated magic tools was different.

“That is not fire.”

Rabie bit her lip.

“It doesn’t burn anyone’s life, pride, or pain. It is simply being output correctly.”

Flower couldn’t say anything.

The phoenix on her shoulder shivered its wings slightly.

Rabie touched her own chest.

She still remembered the heat from the moment she touched the black lantern.

The frustration.
The humiliation.
The wish to reach Heine.

That fire had sweetly caressed all of it.

And in the end, it was stolen.

Even though it was her own fire, it was no longer just hers.
Even though it was her own frustration, it was made into material for someone else’s beauty.

Rabie still remembered that sensation.

“Fire distorts if you get the owner wrong.”

Rabie said quietly.

“But that one doesn’t even have an owner to begin with.”

“It doesn’t have an owner?”

“Yes.”

She stared at the pale blue fire.

“No one is angry. No one wants to protect anything. No one is scared, and no one is crying. It just burns to win.”

That was terribly sickening.

“Maybe the people using them aren’t bad people.”

Flower muttered.

“Probably.”

Rabie answered immediately.

“If there were malice, it would still be easier to understand.”

If a villain uses fire, you just have to stop them.
If a thief uses fire, you just have to take it back.

But what should you do about a fire that has neither good nor evil intent?

A fire that is only given a goal, chooses the shortest path, and burns correctly.

It’s impossible to know who to blame for that.

“Rabie-chan.”

Flower called out, looking a little worried.

“Are you okay for tomorrow?”

“I am not okay.”

Rabie answered honestly.

Before, she would have acted tough.

I’m fine.
There is no problem.
There is no way I will lose.

She might have said things like that.

However, she learned in the Black Dragon Forest.

Not to pretend you aren’t scared when you are.

If you handle fire, don’t pretend you don’t see the shaking inside yourself.

“But I won’t run away.”

Rabie touched the ear cuff on one ear.

The small gold-vermilion flame stone glowed quietly.

“I don’t want to lose to a fire that doesn’t belong to anyone anymore.”

The phoenix chirped softly.

That fire is not a fire that consumes life.

It is a fire that keeps Rabie alive.

And it is something that should eventually become Rabie’s own fire.

“I won’t burn it too big tomorrow.”

Rabie said.

“Not to show off, and not to make them acknowledge me, but I will only illuminate the places that need it.”

Flower nodded.

“I will also make sure not to mistake the one point I must protect first.”

Chloe looked at the two of them quietly.

“I think that is fine.”

Rabie raised the corners of her mouth just a little.

“It makes me a little angry when you say that, Chloe-san.”

“Why?”

“Because it sounds correct.”

“It is not necessarily correct.”

Chloe replied indifferently.

“But at this point in time, it has the fewest losing paths.”

“That is exactly what I mean.”

At that moment, a voice came from the back of the room.

“That is a good fire.”

It was Heine Berserk.

He had been sitting on the long chair in the waiting room, holding his black grimoire, though no one knew how long he had been there.

Sleepy eyes.
A listless voice.

However, his gaze was properly watching the small fire lit on Rabie’s fingertips.

“It is not leaking.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Yes.”

“You are as hard to understand as ever.”

Rabie let out a small sigh.

However, strangely, she didn’t feel bad about it.

Heine looked at the pale blue fire outside the window.

“Tomorrow’s opponents are strong.”

“I know.”

“But if it is Rabie-san’s fire, it will reach them.”

Rabie narrowed her eyes.

“It makes me strangely angry when you say that to me.”

“Why?”

“Because it makes me want to reach them.”

Heine tilted his head slightly.

Flower chuckled.

Only Chloe, while still watching the arrangement of the pale blue fire, said quietly,

“Tomorrow, we can win if everyone does not mistake their roles.”

“And if we do?”

Flower asked.

“We will lose.”

It was an immediate answer.

Rabie laughed.

“That is easy to understand.”

“There is no need to say it in a complicated way.”

Heine pressed down on the cover of his black grimoire.

The clasp clicked faintly.

Click.

Flower noticed that sound.

“Heine-san.”

“Yes.”

“Tomorrow, the Abyss...”

“I will not use it.”

Heine answered immediately.

Chloe said quietly,

“Even if it is dangerous?”

Heine’s eyes narrowed just a little.

“That depends on the situation.”

“For now, not yet.”

At those words, the air in the waiting room stopped for a moment.

Heine remained silent for a while, still pressing down on the black grimoire.

Eventually, he let out a small sigh.

“...I understand.”

That voice was not his usual sleepy reply.

It was a voice that sounded like he was enduring something.

Rabie suddenly looked at Heine.

“Heine-san, were you listening properly?”

“I was listening.”

“What were we talking about?”

Heine thought for a moment.

“...Tomorrow is a match that will keep us awake.”

“Is that all?”

“It is important.”

Flower laughed without thinking.

Chloe also lowered her eyes just a little.

The heavy air loosened slightly.

However, the silence of the night before the finals did not fully return.

Outside the window, the pale blue fire was still burning.

The fire that belonged to no one was flickering quietly, as if waiting for tomorrow’s victory.

*

The night in the Imperial Capital was bright.

A giant image crystal set in the center of the grand plaza was shining white.

Reflected in that light was a single woman.

Silver hair.
Sharp eyes like a fox.
A black cloak.
Blue flames clinging to her feet.

A hero said to have stopped the Great Invasion of the Dragon Race all by herself fifty years ago.

The Mage of Explosive Flames, Flare.

The crowd gathered in the plaza roared.

“It’s Flare-sama.”

“Has she really returned?”

“The hero from fifty years ago.”

“Now we don’t have to fear the Great Invasion.”

As if to receive those voices, a man stepped forward in front of the crystal.

Pollux Grant.

The head of the magic faction in the Imperial Parliament.

He knew the anxiety of the people well.

If left alone, anxiety becomes anger.
If left alone, anger burns someone.

Therefore, it must be given a form.

The form of hope.

“People of the Empire.”

Pollux’s voice echoed well in the night plaza.

“Fifty years ago, we looked up at a sky of despair. That day when black wings covered the sun and everyone prepared for the end.”

Inside the crystal, Flare smiled quietly.

“However, the Empire did not perish.”

Pollux slowly spread his hands.

“Because one hero burned the sky with the light of explosive flames and connected our future.”

Cheers erupted.

People were seeking a story.

Easier to understand than fear.
More beautiful than reality.
A strong name to believe in tomorrow.

“That hero is standing before us once again.”

The heat of the plaza swelled.

“There is nothing to fear. The Empire has history. It has heroes. And it has young mages who will carry the next generation.”

The image changed.

Records of the Academy Tournament.

Flower protecting the spectator seats with white flowers.
Rabie illuminating the path with a quiet fire.
Heine standing sleepily while holding a black grimoire.
Chloe reading the battle situation with an expressionless face.

Pollux smiled.

“Young talent is the hope of the Empire.”

At those words, the people were ecstatic.

Hope.

It was a beautiful word.

However, the more beautiful the word, the higher it lifts people up.

To the point where those who are lifted up can no longer return to the ground.

*

At the same time.

In a conference room in another district of the Imperial Capital, another image crystal was shining.

What was reflected there were records of the generated magic tools used in the Academy Tournament.

Fire line speed, aiming correction, human body load, interference value to protective barriers.

Everything was numerical.

Theodore Knox was watching it expressionlessly.

The head of the Science Association.

A man who did not like hero myths.

To him, a hero was a resource without reproducibility.

“Flare is strong.”

Knox said.

“But she is only one person.”

Dr. Shinji Mido, standing next to him, laughed quietly.

“Do you intend to mass-produce heroes?”

“Not heroes. Combat power.”

There was no temperature in Knox’s voice.

“Heroes reassure the people. But it is reproducible technology that maintains the battlefield.”

Mido narrowed his eyes with interest.

“Generated magic tools are still immature.”

“That is why we test them.”

“In the Academy Tournament?”

“It is precisely because it is a match between children that it is tolerated.”

At those words, the air in the room cooled slightly.

Standing a little distance away was Shinku.

Silver-white hair.
One eye red.

She was watching Flower reflected in the crystal.

The moment the water membrane of white flowers spread toward the spectator seats.

“Inefficient.”

Shinku muttered.

Mido looked at his daughter.

“That’s right. From the perspective of victory conditions, it’s a detour.”

“But effective.”

“Interesting, isn’t it?”

Shinku did not answer.

Deep in her red eye, pale rings rotated in layers.

“Flower. Fire. Abyss. Time.”

Mido’s smile deepened slightly.

“Are you also interested in the girl named Chloe?”

“Uncertain element.”

“The more uncertain something is, the more observational value it has.”

Knox did not join that conversation.

He just opened the data of the ‘Blue Flame Verification Team,’ their opponents in the finals.

Flame generation.
Barrier generation.
Trajectory prediction.
Magic analysis.

All four of them were equipped with generated magic tools.

“How far will they be able to go tomorrow?”

Knox said quietly.

“We will get good data.”

Mido shrugged.

“It is a children’s final match.”

“The battlefield is not always in a place far from children.”

At those words, Mido remained silent for a moment.

Only Shinku continued to watch Flower in the video.

“Inefficient.”

Once again, she muttered.

“But I won’t erase it.”

It was unclear whether that was an impression or an observation result.

*

In yet another place.

In a dark room, Flare was holding a blue lantern.

The image crystal was playing footage of the Academy Tournament.

Rabie’s quiet fire.
Flower’s white flowers.
Chloe’s command.
Heine’s sleepy profile.

Flare laughed enchantedly.

“You’re growing, Rabie.”

Inside the lantern, the blue flame flickered.

Deep inside it, the remnants of the black-blue fire stolen from Rabie were mixed in just a little.

“But it’s still not enough.”

In the corner of the room, there was the sound of paper turning.

A woman with black-purple hair tied low was watching the image crystal from behind thin glasses.

Her name was Azami.

She was Flare’s secretary.

She did not stand in conspicuous places.
She did not interject more than necessary.
When Flare laughed, she took records, and when Flare was silent, she dimmed the room lights.

She had been by her side at that distance all along.

“Shall I record it?”

Azami asked quietly.

“Rabie’s growth?”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead.”

Flare stroked the blue lantern with her fingertips.

“But it’s not complete yet. That child’s fire is still afraid of burning itself.”

“Fearing a fire that consumes life is a natural reaction, I believe.”

“You say boring things, Azami.”

“Excuse me.”

Azami did not change her expression and lowered her gaze to the record paper in her hand.

Flare laughed a little.

She didn’t look angry.

Rather, even that boring, logical argument sounded like a familiar sound to her.

The image changed.

The generated magic tool team for the finals.

Pale blue flames were lit uniformly.

Flare looked at that and narrowed her eyes as if bored.

“A created fire.”

It wasn’t a voice of disdain.

She just really looked bored.

“It looks pretty, but it’s not burning.”

Azami looked at the crystal.

Pale blue fire lines.
Aiming correction.
Barrier generation.
The shortest path to the victory condition.

There was no waste.

There was no hesitation.

It was excellent as a tactic.

However, there was no interest in Flare’s voice.

“The efficiency seems high.”

“If fire became beautiful because of efficiency, no one would have any trouble.”

Flare pressed her cheek against the blue lantern.

“Fire is something much uglier than that.”

Love.
Obsession.
Loneliness.
The scream of wanting to be saved.

It was something that only became beautiful after using everything as fuel.

That pale blue fire didn’t have that.

There was no pain.
There was no hunger.
There was no ugly wish to be seen by someone.

“Do you think you can be seen by Heine-sensei with a fire like that?”

Flare laughed softly.

Heine in the crystal was holding his black grimoire sleepily.

As always, he had a face that wasn’t listening to anything.

Just looking at that face made the blue fire deep in Flare’s chest flicker.

“Hey, Heine-sensei.”

Flare held the lantern to her chest.

“Heroes are convenient, aren’t they?”

Azami did not answer.

She just added the following sentence to the edge of the record paper.

“The Mage of Explosive Flames, has political utility value.”

The letters were accurate, cold, and without a single tremor.

“The speech preparations for the Imperial Capital Plaza are complete. The projection order for tomorrow has also arrived from Lord Pollux’s side.”

“Will they show me in the most beautiful way?”

“I have adjusted it as such.”

“As expected.”

“I cannot let Flare-sama be shown sloppily.”

Flare narrowed her eyes just a little.

“Azami, you are serious.”

“It is my job.”

“Only your job?”

Azami did not answer.

Silence.

Flare did not pursue it any further.

The people were praising the version of her from fifty years ago.

The Mage of Explosive Flames.
The hero who saved the Empire.
The hope that appeared again.

However, no one knew.

About the hand she reached out last at that time.

About the voice that said, ‘Help me.’

About the fact that Heine could not grab that hand.

“A created fire and a stolen fire.”

Flare pressed her cheek against the blue flame.

“Which one do you think is more beautiful?”

There was no one to answer.

Azami did not answer either.

She just raised her gaze slightly.

“I will show you tomorrow.”

Flare smiled.

The blue flames shook the darkness of the room.

In the plaza, the people were calling the hero’s name.

In the conference room, men were counting people as combat power.

In the dark room, a single remaining fire was still burning because it wanted to be seen by someone.

And by its side.

There was a woman who continued to record quietly so that the fire would not go out.

At the academy, the young mages were trying to sleep before tomorrow’s finals.

Being called a flag by someone.
Being regarded as a part by someone.
Being observed by someone’s fire.

Still not knowing any of it.

To be continued in Episode 17.

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