Samuel Barstool was a genius. Since he was a child, he was the most outstanding among his peers.
He was the bastard son of a minor noble, so normally, his life should have been filled with misfortune. But fortunately, he was blessed with an unheard-of talent in magic.
His talent was so overwhelming that at the age of three he had already reached the first layer of mana by himself.
When one of the teachers from the Imperial Institute noticed his talent, he excitedly told Samuel's father that the institute would adopt the child and raise him.
His father did not hesitate to agree, and like that, Samuel Barstool met his master, who back then was the Headmaster of the Imperial Institute.
From there onwards, Samuel's talent blossomed spectacularly.
With the perfect environment to practice magic and a very knowledgeable teacher, Samuel's magical abilities grew nonstop.
At five, he had reached the fourth layer of mana, and at ten, he had reached the seventh layer.
When he turned fifteen, he was already a ninth-layer practitioner, and when he turned twenty-two, he was already at the eleventh layer.
Finally, when he turned twenty-five, Samuel reached the twelfth layer of magic, the peak that only the most talented attained in their lives.
The entire academy praised him as an unrivaled prodigy, his master was very proud of his accomplishments, and his father expressed regret for not treating him and his mother better.
Nobody doubted that the Imperial Institute would be safe on Samuel's hands.
But when Samuel turned thirty, he faced the first bottleneck of his life.
The peak of the twelfth layer.
No matter how much he attempted to overcome it, he could not reach the legendary thirteenth layer.
His master consoled him, telling him that reaching the thirteenth layer was very hard, but someone so young and talented like him would be able to do it eventually.
He was just thirty, and even if he took twenty years to break through to the next layer, he would be a thirteenth-layer mage at just fifty. A fifty-year-old thirteenth-layer practitioner was extremely astonishing.
But for Samuel, who had never faced a bottleneck in his entire life, the difficulty to break through to the thirteenth-layer was despairing.
Five years passed, and then ten, followed by fifteen years.
Even when he turned fifty, Samuel had not managed to reach the thirteenth layer.
Eventually, his master died, leaving the academy in his hands. But Samuel did not manage to cross that hurdle.
Some of his acquittances, who had been inferior to him for their entire lives, managed to break through to the thirteenth layer, and even his student, Evelyn, eventually achieved what he tried to do for almost sixty years.
But no matter how hard he tried, the thirteenth layer continued being out of his reach.
Finally, when Samuel turned ninety, he gave up.
He could feel his life force decaying, and his magical abilities started to regress. It seemed that the twelfth layer would be his limit.
But then, when he was almost one hundred years old and had given all hope, he heard a voice.
[Do you want power?] It whispered to him.
Samuel's body trembled.
He knew that the voice did not have good intentions. He knew that listening to it was wrong. But seeing the goal which he had chased for more than half of his life in front of him, he found it hard to resist the temptation.
And when he felt a sliver of the power of that existence coursing through his veins, repairing his aged body, and returning to him the power that had been leaving him, he could not resist anymore.
"I'll do it." He answered to him.
He sold his soul to the devil.
Soon, he started to do what the devil asked him to do. He started to repair the portal between the two worlds that Claus had destroyed, making preparations for 'his' arrival.
The portal that the Imperial Institute had been guarding for generations to prevent the other world from invading them.
Repairing the portal was hard, but the devil helped him. He taught him what he needed to know, and gave him the power to follow his orders.
Eventually, the portal was almost complete, and Samuel finally reached the thirteenth layer.
That day, Samuel cried.
But then, he asked himself something.
Can I become stronger?
If I follow him, can I advance further?
Just the idea of that made him grin in anticipation and madness.
Therefore, when the devil asked him to open the portal, he did not hesitate anymore.
But when he was about to activate it, someone appeared.
"What have you done, master?" When Evelyn, his disciple and the current headmistress of the Institute, realized what he had done, she put on a disappointed and grave expression. "Do you know the consequences of opening that portal!?"
"Are you here to stop me?" Samuel asked.
Evelyn narrowed her eyes.
"I don't know why you are doing this, but I can't allow you to open the portal."
Samuel sighed shook his head.
"… Sorry, but I can't stop now, Evelyn. This is the only way I can become stronger."
"Strength!? Is that the reason you put the entire world at risk!? Wake up, master! You are not like this!"
"Right, you won't understand." Samuel chuckled bitterly. "After all, you have never felt the despair of being unable to advance."
Then, mana surged out of his body and activated the portal.
Evelyn reacted instantly. She unleashed her mana and released a spell, creating an enormous ball of plasma powerful enough to level the entire capital!
But Samuel was prepared. He had already considered the possibility of Evelyn stopping him and had erected a barrier beforehand.
Evelyn was stronger than him, and this barrier could not stop her for long. But even so, it was enough to delay her for a few seconds.
And a few seconds were more than enough.
Because at the next instant, the portal opened.
"He is here." Samuel's eyes opened wide in anticipation. He looked towards the portal excitedly, like a religious zealot waiting for his god.
Then–
*Rumble!!!*
With a thunderous sound, two hands exited the portal.
The two hands were human-sized, but they emitted a terrifying feeling. They grabbed both sides of the portal and then, under Evelyn's terrified gaze, they tore the portal open!
[How troublesome… That wench again messed with my plans.] An annoyed voice sounded came from the portal, and a figure calmly walked through it. [Well, this is better than nothing.]
He was a muscular man with blood-red eyes, gray hair, and two small horns on his forehead. His skin was slightly tan, and for some reason, he exuded a feeling of chaos, death, and destruction.
The figure smiled and looked at Evelyn and Samuel. Then, he looked at the distance, his sight breaking through space and reaching the blue-haired young man glaring at him with a grave expression.
[Hahahaha, I'm back, Immortal Soul.]
He was the Bringer of End and Eternal Destruction.
And he was here to bring an end to this world.
...
Remember to support me on P4TRE0N, I appreciate it a lot...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels