Chapter 575
Chapter 575
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 575
Chapter Title: Betrayal (4)
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"Hah!"
The moment he regained his senses, his upper body shot upright.
He glanced around, and the room looked exactly the same as before the trial.
No matter how much he'd smashed and broken things inside, it was all just within a VR space conjured by magic.
The outside world hadn't changed at all.
He'd briefly forgotten after that intensely urgent battle.
He patted his sweat-drenched body.
Not a scratch—it was pristine, like new.
His mind was firmly his own, no sudden personality hijacking or anything like that.
Si-woo sat there dazed for a while before confirming it once more.
"I won."
He'd cleared the trial.
Against the Black Knight, who'd shaken off even his shackles, despite the penalties weighing him down.
The same Black Knight who'd utterly thrashed him at the start, leaving him helpless.
"I won."
It felt like soloing an impregnable raid boss with its chaotic patterns.
Any guy would get that rush.
Adrenaline buzzed through him.
A thicker surge of accomplishment and victory high coursed his veins.
He clenched his fist and turned to the sofa where Lurue always lounged languidly, ready to share the good news.
"Your Majesty! I cleared the trial in style!"
But she wasn't there—no half-asleep Lurue blinking in confusion, then genuinely congratulating him.
She must still be in Akula, rolling around with her comics.
Excited to tell her this epic hero's tale, he paused.
"Huh?"
The Dream Cradle gleamed with its obsidian-smooth surface.
The golden fractal patterns encroaching on it were fading away.
And beside it lay the Red Branch, which should definitely be back at the Jemernai estate.
The real Red Branch, summoned via the fake one in the trial.
Had it responded to his call even outside the trial, in reality?
Or had summoning it from reality allowed it to infiltrate the trial space?
No way to be sure either way.
Recalling the fierce battle brought a fresh wave of fatigue.
His mana was depleted, but physically, he was fine.
Mentally, though—it had taken a massive toll.
He plopped onto the sofa for a moment, replaying the fight.
"That was seriously badass."
Beating an opponent he'd struggled against for so long was joy enough, but the drama of it all...
Like bluffing your way to raking in 500 million on a single card.
It was a tale worthy of barroom bragging for a night, but he wasn't sitting here just to bask in self-admiration again.
He closed his eyes, quietly reviewing the final moments.
Time for replay analysis and feedback.
Summoning the real Red Branch at the end had been pure improvisation.
It took several strokes of luck, flukes of fortune, and bouts of mad gambling.
He tried retracing the details step by step...
"No way I could pull that off twice."
That was the conclusion.
Unless he boosted his magical prowess at least twofold or gained firmer control over the Red Branch, it was a no-go.
The only reason he could summon it in the trial at all was the imperfect "fake" acting as a medium.
Drawing on a blank canvas versus coloring inside the lines.
The former was obviously harder.
His rare flash of inspiration leading to a super play that hinged on such finicky conditions—effectively one-shot, irreproducible—was a bit disappointing...
Still, meaningful gains.
He'd beaten the Black Knight through sheer improvisation and glimpsed new potentials in the Red Branch.
You can't fill your belly on the first sip.
"Time to recharge with some candy."
Now to head back and catch some leisurely, happy shut-eye.
As he dragged his weary head toward the door—
"There you are~?"
That familiar languid voice from the past few days.
One he'd thought he might never hear again, maybe not even for life.
In the vast corridor lined with pillars on both sides—echoing even at normal volume—a witch in a nun's habit stood at the far end.
"Dorothy? Didn't you head out for work?"
She strode forward over the red carpet, steps joyful like reuniting with an old friend.
"Yeah, I was gonna. But I had some unfinished business."
"We had a deal, didn't we?"
"You said you were leaving today. And we've still got sixteen hours left?"
Pure Dorothy nonchalance.
She drew closer.
"Fair point."
Surprisingly, her sudden appearance sparked genuine gladness in him.
Guilt from shooing her off so brusquely?
Or because he'd subconsciously concluded she wasn't a bad person?
As she'd said, she'd vanish "tomorrow," so there was still time before sunset.
Thinking of Lurue's gloom lifting at her surprise return warmed his heart too.
They were about twenty meters apart.
Si-woo's steps toward her halted.
His victory-swollen heart skipped a beat.
A sudden chill of wrongness crept up his spine as he moved to face her unguarded.
"Dorothy. Hold up a sec?"
"Huh? Why?"
At a distance where they could clearly see each other's faces, she stopped as he asked.
The source of his unease was trivial, really.
Voicing it would signal he still didn't trust her fully.
Ignore the minor oddity to show respect?
Or probe to resolve it, admitting suspicion to the end?
After a brief internal debate, he chose.
"Where's Her Majesty?"
"Rolling around in Akula with her comics."
A perfectly normal answer, nothing off.
Last Si-woo had seen, Lurue was face-down in her bedroom, flipping through them—so no cause for doubt there.
But.
"Why didn't you bring her along?"
That was the crux.
Lurue had been pretty down after Dorothy left.
If her friend returned, wouldn't she cling without letting go, even for a second?
Might be overthinking, but based on what he'd observed, that's how Lurue would act.
Si-woo had been separated from Lurue during the trial.
Dorothy had returned to Akula first while he was out cold.
And now she'd come here alone, without Lurue.
Of course, Lurue's whims could explain it.
She often pulled unpredictable stunts, no matter how well he thought he knew her.
"She seemed to really love the comics I gave her~."
Dorothy gestured playfully.
No sign she'd taken offense to his suspicion—pure Dorothy.
So why this nagging doubt?
Was he missing something?
"Sorry. I overreacted. Thought you snuck here to poach me behind her back."
The most plausible excuse.
Dorothy might've skipped Lurue to kidnap him straight-up.
Offering a salary negotiation meant she liked him enough—plausible, right?
"Her Majesty would've chewed me out. Speaking of, what's that? Haven't seen it before."
She pointed at the Red Branch.
"My main weapon."
"Fighting with a uranium rod, huh?"
She nailed its nature at a glance.
Magically speaking, the Red Branch was like a spear spewing lethal radiation.
"Something like that."
He gave a wry smile, lowering his guard.
Approaching her casually, she beamed.
"Not suspicious anymore?"
And then.
-Kakang!
A harsh metallic scrape erupted from Si-woo's side as metal clashed.
"Oh? You blocked it?"
Dorothy thrust a pure white blade at his flank the moment she entered striking range.
Si-woo twisted the Red Branch to parry it, as if expecting it from the start.
As her eyes widened in surprise, he leaped back, widening the gap.
A near-perfect sneak attack, lethal if he'd slipped even slightly—no warning whatsoever.
Si-woo hadn't fully dropped his guard.
He'd just let her approach as she seemed to want, up to the point he'd stop her.
Showing trust by closing distance, exposing his unguarded side.
The simple test's result was clear.
She wouldn't stab an open flank if she wanted friendship.
"...Haa."
Relief at blocking the ambush.
And disappointment.
Trusting her to the end had been right, but no triumphant "I knew it!"
Just a bitter taste.
"Thought you were a softie~ but you're pretty good."
Just once, couldn't it go as hoped?
Even if messy and confusing, end with a lesson that not all favors are bad.
A petty grudge bloomed with resentment.
He tore away that lax mindset.
No time for useless sentiment now.
Dorothy being here—and picking a blatant fight—meant Lurue's safety wasn't guaranteed.
If she'd ambushed him like this, Lurue might've fallen for it.
"Sorry, but I've never trusted you once."
An Inner Barrier unfurled behind Dorothy.
Like pillars of sanctity and bricks of holiness, a chapel overlaid the vast corridor.
"Just like I said before~ you're no good at lying."
Just ten minutes after the trial's end.
With Dorothy's mocking laugh, the second battle curtain rose.