Salvation Through Delusion C9

Chapter 9

In the same space where the man with the greatsword had appeared, the air rippled again. A second black portal opened, and this time, a robed magician leapt out—

Splash!

—and landed straight into the pond.

“Ah—gah! What the—!”

Flailing in surprise, the man sank into the water, feet kicking wildly beneath the surface. Realizing he couldn’t touch the bottom, he frantically swung the wand in his hand. In an instant, his body lifted into the air, then landed clumsily on solid ground nearby.

“Cough, cough—ugh, why was the portal right above a damn pond…”

“Haas. You really can’t do anything properly, can you?”

At the sound of the sharp, cutting voice, the magician—Haas—flinched and turned his head. A young woman in black battle armor stood there, twin swords glinting in both her hands.

“Enya! I—hey, that’s not—”

But Enya’s expression was already twisted in displeasure. Her gaze flicked from Haas, dripping wet from head to toe, to their surroundings.

“What is this place? Are you sure the monster ran this way?”

“Of course it did,” Haas grumbled, wringing water from his sleeves. “The tracker bug I planted on it led us straight here. Damn thing—can’t believe it fled all the way to Ornod.”

“Ornod?! That’s impossible! How could that thing move this far? Those creatures can’t even use magic—how could it travel through dimensions?”

“How should I know?” Haas snapped, his brows furrowing. “I’m telling you, magic portals can’t transport monsters. That’s a fact. But still…”

“But still what?”

Instead of answering, Haas frowned deeper, his jaw tightening. Enya glared at him impatiently.

“If you don’t know, then just say you don’t know!”

“I do know!” he shot back irritably. “It’s just strange, that’s all. The only portal monsters could ever pass through was… the Eye of Hell.”

At that, Enya’s face stiffened immediately.

“Don’t start with nonsense. Come on. Let’s move.”

She strode ahead without another word, and Haas muttered under his breath as he followed.

“Yeah, nonsense indeed… The only being who can create an Eye of Hell is a divine beast.”

Even so, Enya didn’t let her guard down. No matter how many monsters she’d fought, carelessness meant death.

Still, what she found before her eyes was exactly as expected—no, even better than expected.

The monster lay dead.

To truly kill a monster, one had to destroy the black mana stone hidden somewhere within its body. That was easier said than done. As long as the stone remained intact, a monster would keep regenerating, no matter how torn or dismembered it became. Most exterminations ended with the beast being hacked to pieces before the stone could finally be located.

But this one—

Aside from two severed legs, the corpse was untouched. Intact. Clean. Almost elegant, even.

You’ve improved again, my lord, she thought privately.

Of course, she didn’t say it aloud. Complimenting one’s liege, even with admiration, was poor form on the battlefield. Instead, she simply spoke with formal gravity.

“My lord.”

Even at her call, the man didn’t respond. He was staring intently at the gaping wound in the monster’s side, where the black stone had been extracted.

Why is he so focused…? Enya followed his gaze—and noticed something lying in front of the corpse.

A knife?

But not her lord’s weapon. It was too crude. A kitchen knife, old and dulled, of all things. What was something like that doing here?

Before she could ask, her lord spoke softly.

“Merely coincidence, then?”

“Pardon?”

Enya blinked, but he didn’t answer her question. His gaze drifted past the monster’s body, fixing on something farther ahead.

Curious, she turned her head—then frowned.

“Wait… that crumpled thing over there— Is that… a person?”

Sure enough, a human body was sprawled on the ground in an awkward, almost painful position.

Dead? she wondered. If alive, shouldn’t they help? But her liege made no move toward him. That alone was reason enough to hesitate.

Without a word, the man tossed the black stone he’d been holding to her.

“We’re leaving.”

A curt command.

Enya caught the stone and tucked it into her chest pouch, quickly falling into step behind him. Still, she couldn’t help asking, “Who was that?”

“Adeye Rue.”

She froze mid-step. Her face twisted with disgust.

Haas, who had finally caught up to them, arrived panting. “You already killed the monster—of course you did, my lord—wait, what’s wrong with you?”

“That bastard,” Enya spat. “He said it was Adeye Rue.”

“What?! What the hell’s he doing here? No—this is Ornod, sure, but still, of all places—wait, where are you going?”

Enya’s eyes gleamed coldly as she unsheathed one of her swords.

“If he’s alive, I’ll cut off his head. If he’s dead, I’ll tear his limbs apart.”

“Hey, whoa!” Haas grabbed her arm in alarm. “Leave him! Even His Grace didn’t bother. Why are you so worked up?”

She glared at the unconscious man as though she could kill him with her stare alone. But when Haas refused to release her, she finally turned away with a sharp exhale.

“Fine.”

Still, she didn’t leave without one last curse.

“Go drown in your own damn wine, you drunken idiot! Peh!”

—

Beep—beep—beep—beep—

An alarm blared in my ears.

…Ugh. Is it time for my shift already? I’m too tired. Can’t even open my eyes.

My consciousness floated upward from the depths of sleep, trying to piece together where I was. But my body wouldn’t move—not even a finger.

Why? Did I pull night duty again? No, wait… I was lying in that machine in the underground lab—the one that connects to Tuvine—

Wait. Tuvine?

In an instant, I was wide awake.

I forced my eyes open—then immediately groaned.

“Ugh… damn it.”

Pain. Everywhere. Every joint screamed. My arm was twisted behind me at such an awkward angle that it took several long seconds just to pull it free.

“Shit…”

I exhaled shakily, piecing together the fragments of memory.

Right. I’d ended up inside Adeye Rue’s body, made a deal with that annoying spirit, ran into a monster—and barely climbed up the cliff alive.

And then…

“That bastard.”

That smiling bastard who kicked me off the cliff.

I told him there was a monster right behind me. I even begged him to go deal with it—and he kicked me instead?!

Sent me flying like a damn soccer ball.

Fueled by rage, I bolted upright, my entire body screaming in protest. “Argh—!”

But anger gave me strength.

He smiled. He was smiling when he did it. That smug, sunny, smiling bastard.

He must’ve known the monster was behind me. He kicked me off on purpose.

He wanted me dead.

My hands shook—not from fear, but fury. I didn’t even have enough vocabulary to curse him properly, and that frustrated me even more.

Still, rage kept me moving. Somehow, I staggered to my feet.

Wait… how did I survive?

I tilted my head back—and saw the thick tree branch above, snapped halfway, dangling loosely.

Ah. I must’ve caught on that.

A miracle.

Or maybe not—if that smiling bastard hadn’t kicked me in the first place, I wouldn’t have needed saving.

“Son of a bitch…”

[Notice: A significant delay has occurred.]

Mo’s calm voice echoed in my head, reminding me—someone was waiting for me.

How long had it been?

I broke into a run, but pain flared up my shoulder immediately.

“Ah—”

I winced, clutching it tight.

[You were unconscious for two hours and twenty-seven minutes.]

Two and a half hours?!

Usually, I’d black out for maybe an hour after survival mode ended—but this long?

Definitely that bastard’s fault.

Gritting my teeth, I pressed forward, holding my shoulder. Please, let Ms. Petal still be safe in the carriage.

“Stay back! Everyone, step back!”

“What’s going on?!”

“Is this… is this the monster’s doing?”

A crowd had gathered near the building where the carriages were parked. Voices overlapped, tense and frightened. My stomach twisted.

Something had happened.

No—please don’t tell me they found her.

“Ah, Lord Rue!”

I heard Marvin’s voice as I pushed through the onlookers, scanning the scene.

Bodies. Several people were lying on the ground.

What the hell—? Why was everyone just standing there?

Panic and dread struck at once.

Where was Ms. Petal?

I shoved forward—but Marvin stepped in my way.

“Lord Rue, you mustn’t go any further!”