Chapter 82
Chapter 82
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Connection Severed
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Han U-sol woke up to a burning thirst.
The thick smell of disinfectant drifting through the air pulled his hazy mind back to consciousness, while the bright lights overhead stabbed relentlessly at his eyes. Han U-sol, who had only just regained his senses, squinted against the glare.
"Ugh...."
Clutching his throbbing head, he sat up, his upper body rising from what he soon realized was a makeshift cot.
The cot was uncomfortable. Calling it a bed was generous; it was little more than a shabby, crude mattress.
Feeling the stiffness in his lower back, Han U-sol glanced to the side. The vast, empty space was filled with row after row of mattresses, each occupied by the injured.
Bandages wrapped around wounds both large and small, the people lay motionless. It almost looked like the bodies of the dead had been recovered and laid out in neat lines. But the occasional coughs and whimpers of pain made it clear they were still alive.
"You're awake. Are you okay?"
He turned toward the familiar voice and saw Yeriel. When she asked if he could move, Han U-sol nodded in response.
"Where... is this?"
"The temporary shelter in Sector W, and inside that, a hastily set-up makeshift ward."
Han U-sol rose unsteadily from his spot and surveyed the injured. Among them were familiar faces he had only glimpsed on the battlefield.
"Looks like you pushed your powers a bit too hard. You should rest for a while."
"...Are the others safe?"
"If you're asking whether the heroes retreated successfully, then yes, you could say that."
Not that all the heroes had retreated unharmed, Yeriel added.
"Or if you're asking about those close to you, Fergus, Yoon Na-rin, and Reisi are all safe."
"...What about Anis?"
Han U-sol, listening blankly to Yeriel's words, noticed one name missing and asked cautiously, trying to ignore the rising unease.
".........."
Yeriel had no answer.
Bang!
Han U-sol burst through the door of the makeshift ward.
'No... she can't be....'
Staggering as if he might collapse at any moment, he pushed frantically through the crowds filling the vast shelter, searching for Anis.
The surging anxiety urged him to move faster, while impatience gnawed at his heart, leaving him breathless.
"Huff, huff...."
The shelter was a chaotic mix of civilians evacuated from Sector X and heroes who had retreated from the battle. Han U-sol shoved through the tangled masses, still searching for Anis.
Whenever he spotted a similar silhouette from behind, he rushed over and tapped a shoulder to check the face. But every time, his hopes were dashed.
Still, Han U-sol didn't give up. Clinging to a thread of hope, he prayed that Anis had made it back safely.
'...Please, Anis.'
The number of heroes in the shelter was at most two to three hundred. It wasn't a small number in absolute terms, but it wasn't large either.
Compared to before the battle with the magic beasts, it was drastically reduced. That meant countless heroes had died.
There were far more dead heroes than survivors, yet there were no traces of the fallen in the shelter. In battles against magic beasts, recovering intact bodies was rare to begin with. In a massive, urgent clash like this one, it was even less likely.
Everyone in the shelter was alive. That included those in the makeshift ward created by slightly modifying an inner room.
No one here was dead.
Which meant that those who weren't here...
".........."
He stopped his frantic legs and wiped away the cold sweat trickling down. His hands were trembling.
"Hyung?"
A young boy's voice came from behind. Han U-sol turned to see who it was.
"...Daniel."
"I heard from Reisi noona that you collapsed, but you're up now. That's a relief. But..."
"That rascal.... No, where's Anis noona?"
Daniel's eyes were dull as he asked in a tense voice—eyes reflecting the worst-case scenario he was desperately denying, filled with desperation.
"Even Fergus grandpa and Reisi noona won't tell me.... Na-rin noona's just been crying nonstop...."
For a moment, his breath caught. The possibility he'd dreaded, the one he'd ignored, began to choke his prayers.
".........."
"...Hyung?"
Han U-sol couldn't respond.
"...Where are the others?"
"...Over there."
Han U-sol followed Daniel's lead. After weaving through the crowds a bit, he spotted Yoon Na-rin and Reisi sitting in a corner.
".........."
She was gone. The one who should always have been with them wasn't there.
His breathing grew ragged.
"...Guys."
Han U-sol approached the two huddled with their knees drawn up and spoke. Yoon Na-rin looked up at the sound of his voice. Reisi kept her head down.
Yoon Na-rin's face was expressionless, as if she was too exhausted to show any more emotion, her bloodshot eyes maintaining that blank stare.
But tears still streamed from those eyes.
"Na-rin-ah..."
"Anis."
Yoon Na-rin cut him off, tossing out the words flatly.
"Anis hasn't come back. Not even after five hours."
Her tone was dry.
Dry, yet unbearably sticky.
".........."
Yoon Na-rin and Han U-sol exchanged blank stares.
'.........Ah.'
That day, for the first time in his life, Han U-sol felt what it was like to sink into the depths of the ocean.
Yeriel was an angel who governed souls. Naturally, her authority dealt with souls as well.
What people commonly called "taming magic beasts" was also accomplished through Yeriel's authority.
She used her power on captured magic beasts to erase their sense of self and imprint them with a compulsion to serve humanity—a form of brainwashing. That was the true nature of taming magic beasts.
And Anis Harper had been slated for the same treatment. Once she regained all her power, Yeriel planned to use her authority to turn her into a puppet.
In fact, the preparations had been thorough.
Even though it looked like she'd been left alone, Yeriel had constantly monitored her condition.
She could check in real-time how much power she had recovered, and her soul was firmly linked to Yeriel's authority, allowing her to erase its ego anytime, anywhere. Even from a distance, turning her into a puppet would be easy.
But now, that line was severed. The connection between Anis's soul and Yeriel's authority had been cut.
".........."
Yeriel sank into blank thought.
The line was indeed severed, and she hadn't returned.
This wasn't something that could break easily. It was a bond she had forged with utmost care; unless she died, it shouldn't have been possible.
Had she really died?
Perhaps Kahatiel had killed her.
Kahatiel had tried to retrieve her if possible, but if he discovered the link between her soul and Yeriel's authority, he likely killed her on the spot. After all, she could suddenly turn into a puppet and turn her blade on him.
'...Like this, so pointlessly.'
What was that girl's end like? Did she die miserably fighting the magic beasts alone? Or did she give up everything and close her eyes?
".........."
Yeriel chewed her lips. Her chest tightened. In the end, that girl had been nothing but an innocent victim.
A pitiful sacrificial lamb to her own selfishness and stubbornness.
The pain stabbing her chest grew sharper. Was it her worsening condition, or guilt? Yeriel's jaw clenched as she bit her lip.
Crunch, crunch. Snap, snap. Drip.
Her lip tore, blood seeping out. The splitting headache persisted, but the pain in her chest felt a little better.
"...Haa."
Feeling dizzy, Yeriel sighed. Her condition had deteriorated sharply after rushing from the center. Deciding she needed a short rest, she rose from the rickety chair in the makeshift ward.
And as she moved to leave, one of the injured let out a groan of pain and coughed.
"Urgh.... Cough."
".........."
Yeriel turned her eyes toward the sound and approached the injured man wheezing in agony, speaking in a gentle voice.
"Just hold on a bit. I'll fetch a healing mage right away."
With that, Yeriel left the ward.
"Fucking idiot."
Kahatiel spat out the curse indifferently.
"Don't you know that just as you intervened in Auriel's authority to maintain the city's barrier, I can intervene in yours to erase the imprint on her soul?"
Sneering with a twisted smirk, Kahatiel soon thought it might make sense. He was no longer an angel, but a fallen demon.
When an angel intervened in another's authority that wasn't their own, they paid a corresponding price.
And that price varied wildly depending on the degree of intervention.
For example, simply maintaining a barrier like Yeriel did only gradually worsened the body. But to completely erase another's authority without a trace, like what Kahatiel intended, required a massive penalty.
Even fellow angels faced such penalties; for a fallen demon whose fundamental nature had changed, the cost was far greater.
That was why even in the long Heavenly Demon War, demons avoided intervening in others' authorities. They never knew what penalty they might incur.
Having never seen demons intervene in authorities over countless ages, it was natural for Yeriel to assume Kahatiel couldn't do it.
"Or did you think I wouldn't bear the penalty?"
That was somewhat true as well. Even he couldn't predict what penalty he'd face from intervening in this authority.
If the barrier hadn't enveloped Sector X, Kahatiel might have simply killed her outright.
"...Hmm."
But now, trapped within the barrier, he had no choice but to take the risk.
Swoosh—
Kahatiel reached out toward the girl sleeping before him with her eyes closed.
Groooan—!!
A twisting sound jolted me awake.
"Ah, you're up?"
The first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was a blond man speaking to me, his right arm mangled into a twisted mess.
Crunch, crunch.
Thud.
The man's arm, twisted to its limit, snapped off and fell to the floor. Blood sprayed wildly from the stump, leaving me flustered.
"Wh-what the hell."
"...This? Don't worry about it."
Gripping his gushing arm, the man spoke in a pale voice, breathing heavily.
"It's been 150 years, Anis Har..."
Thud.
Mid-sentence, he suddenly collapsed face-first onto the floor and went still.
"?"
A pool of blood rapidly spread across the rough wooden floor. Staring blankly at the scene, I blinked.
"...What."
Blink.
"Fuck, what the hell."