Chapter 158
Chapter 158
Chapter 158
Evangeline (4)
'No, this is insane.'
Even setting aside the fact that Evangeline had suddenly appeared, her first words upon meeting were 'Please die with me.'
This was a different problem from Evangeline's character being yandere.
Rowen was equally dumbfounded by her sudden declaration.
"Evan, what are you talking about? This person is our benefactor!"
"I know. I know, but..."
Seeing Evangeline trail off, Rudian could easily guess the situation.
"So you're saying the circumstances leave you no choice?"
She quietly nodded her head.
"Yes..."
"I thought so."
That 'unmeasurable' natural energy reading, and the designation of 'Spirit' in the race column—neither human nor half-spirit.
In the end, Evangeline had been modified into a spirit body by Layla.
Rudian calmly deduced the circumstances.
"Suddenly appearing and asking me to die with you—that means Layla has been manipulating you, doesn't it?"
The fact that Evan had ambushed and killed Jarsen suggested a high possibility that she had also dealt with Layla before coming here.
With all members of the Seven Arks who managed the Illusion castle and subspace gone, the most credible assumption was that they had naturally returned to their original dimension.
"I'm sorry."
"..."
Rudian wasn't particularly shocked since he had already anticipated this.
After all, the situation had unfolded similarly in the original story.
But the most important question remained.
"Miss Evangeline, how much time do you have left?"
Perhaps feeling guilty toward Rudian, Evangeline answered his question obediently.
"About a week."
"...!"
At those words, Rowen's expression crumbled.
In contrast, Rudian continued the conversation calmly.
"So you plan to kill me, then transfer your power to Sir Rowen before dying."
This was what she had said to Abel in the original story after being modified into a spirit body.
"Yes, you understand well. But don't worry. Until I die... I'll stay by your side."
What good would it do to stay by a corpse?
What a troublesome young lady.
Well, she might be over 90 years old, but her experience with normal social life and communication with others was probably worse than a 9-year-old child, so it wasn't strange for her thinking to be like this.
"Evan! Sir Rudian says he has a way to restore you! And he said he can extend your lifespan too!"
FLINCH!
At Rowen's outcry, Evangeline's expression wavered momentarily.
But that disturbance didn't last long.
"Don't tell me... did you deceive my brother?"
Instead, she glared at Rudian with cold anger in her eyes.
Rudian calmly met her gaze and spoke.
"There is a method. Though Miss Evan's cooperation is essential."
"Ha, ahahaha...!"
A bitter laugh flowed from between her green hair.
The emotions felt in that laugh were desperation. And anger.
The next stage of those emotions was contempt.
"Don't spout nonsense."
BOOM!
Without any warning, the ground where Rudian stood exploded.
While causing absolutely no damage to Rowen who was right beside him, Evangeline's manipulation ability to incinerate only Rudian with ultra-high temperature was already at the level of artistry.
"If things could be resolved that easily, Father and my brother wouldn't have suffered for decades! Those Seven Arks bastards wouldn't have tried to use me like that either!"
The fact that the Seven Arks had essentially treated Evangeline as a disposable weapon was ultimately because they couldn't find a way to restore her lifespan.
If that weren't the case, the Seven Arks would have recognized Evan as an official member and changed their name to Eight Arks.
"Calm down, Evan! Sir Rudian informed me of the organization's intentions to harm you! And it actually happened!"
"Even if what you say is true!"
Evangeline said pleadingly to Rowen through tears.
"There can't really be such a convenient method that could fix my body within a week, can there?"
"..."
There is.
In fact, there are more than just one or two methods.
Rather, in the current situation, Rudian was relieved.
Specifically, he had been relieved since hearing there was 'one week' left.
'Thank goodness. There's plenty of time.'
In the original story, Evangeline who faced Abel said she only had '12 hours' left.
Within those 12 hours, Abel's party had truly wasted not a single second and went through hell filming a long episode to save her.
In that sense, one week was ample time to use at least five different methods.
"If you deceive us like that, I won't be able to keep the promise I made to you."
"The promise to stay by my corpse? How touching—it makes my fists tremble."
If Rebecca had said something like that, it would be stick punishment until she came to her senses.
Rudian turned his gaze to Rowen while dodging Evan's attack of wind blades.
"Sir Rowen, choose."
"..."
"It seems like conversation won't work in the current situation... What will you do?"
Rudian told Rowen about three methods to heal Evan's body.
The first was sending Evan to the spirit realm.
If Evan, who was essentially no different from a spirit, went to the spirit realm, her physical death would stop and she could gradually show signs of recovery.
Even if her body died, she could remain as a spiritual entity and live in the spirit realm.
However, it was uncertain how long recovery would take, and if Evan became a spiritual entity, Rowen with his physical body couldn't survive in the spirit realm's environment, so the siblings would essentially be separated for life.
The second was using the mythic-grade artifact 'Verus's Tears.'
Though a consumable item, being a mythic-grade artifact made its effects absolute.
Its ability was to arbitrarily adjust the stats shown by the Eye of State—strength, vitality, magic, agility, etc.—with a maximum limit of 999.
In other words, it was an incredibly overpowered item that could fix all abilities at 999.
If Evangeline's vitality stat of '1,' which was like a candle about to be extinguished, was fixed at 999, she would essentially never die.
However, being a mythic-grade artifact, the difficulty of obtaining it meant that even if current Rudian and Evan joined forces, they would have to risk their lives.
They would have to face five celestial Arkhangels as guardians... Well, that was only natural.
"Actually, the last method is the safest and most certain."
"Safe... you call that safe?"
Rowen's expression contorted.
The final method to save Evangeline.
This was also the method that Abel and his party had executed in the original story.
It was to arrange for Evangeline to become a contractor of the 'Death King.'
The ruler of the underworld who was responsible for the cycle of life.
Since Rudian had also essentially eliminated the limitation of lifespan by contracting with the Death King, Evangeline could do the same if she went through the same procedure.
"But my case was extremely special... Normally, you have to go to the underworld and pass the Death King's trials."
Since the Death King was in charge of death, he didn't like the living.
As such, there was no way the Death King would look favorably upon Evangeline, who was a contractor of spirits—the symbol of life force.
'Still, if I, as a contractor, ask for it, there's a good chance he'll show some consideration.'
In the original story, Abel's party had to break through almost all of the underworld's forces—the Hell Four Kings who served the Death King and their armies, high judges, Baphomet, dark knights, etc.—to reach the Death King, but...
'I don't need to go that far.'
However, the problem was how to persuade the furiously angry Evan in front of him and take her to the underworld...
"I guess there's no choice but to subdue her with force."
Rudian faced Evan with burning fighting spirit.
Rowen's gaze immediately turned bewildered.
"Uh, didn't you just give me options?"
"Time's up. And... there really aren't any options anyway."
When she doesn't believe in the first place, what good would it do to present several methods?
"You're right."
Evangeline, having heard the two men's conversation, began raising her momentum with murderous intent.
"If you want to persuade me, you'll have to show me something worthy of it."
"Of course."
"Ah, ahh..."
Rowen was flustered, unlike his usual self.
Since both people were only considering battle, he felt difficulty in choosing which side to support.
Rudian asked such Rowen to move Derrick and the knights sprawled over there to a safe place.
He judged it better to give him an appropriate excuse to withdraw if he couldn't take either side.
"Do that, brother."
Evangeline also seemed to dislike Rowen participating in the battle, so she agreed with Rudian's words.
"..."
After deliberating for a while, Rowen eventually had no choice but to hang his head and listen to both people's words.
With Rowen and the knights gone...
Just before the battle began, Rudian spoke to Evangeline.
"Do you still not trust me?"
"No, even if what you say is true, I cannot accept kindness without reason."
Even with her life hanging by a thread, Evan's expression was resolute.
"If you accept such kindness without any suspicion, you're bound to pay a greater price someday."
"...I see."
She was indirectly appealing about what had happened between the Elaid siblings and the Seven Arks.
"So if you want to change my will, try to break it with force."
Either way, the conclusion was one.
"Very well."
Rudian raised his Outer Force along with the Authority of Wrath in earnest.
In terms of raw power alone, she was probably among the strongest enemies he had faced so far.
It was essentially no different from facing a god of this planet.
As Rudian steeled his fighting spirit, Evangeline suddenly smiled brightly in front of him.
"If..."
"...?"
"If you can really heal my body..."
"...If I can?"
Her smile carried a somewhat bewitching atmosphere.
"I'll stay by your side until you die."
"..."
CHILL!
Though it was similar content to what she had said when they first met, the weight contained in those words was on a different dimension.
It wasn't just cold sweat on his spine, but a chilling sensation that would freeze even that cold sweat.
As Rudian momentarily considered finding another method of persuasion, she said this:
"Throughout my life, the only person I could trust, the only person I could rely on, has been my brother."
"..."
"I lack experience and cannot tell if a person's heart is true or false. So..."
"You have no choice but to know through force."
"Yes, exactly."
Having lived while dealing with members of the Seven Arks, she must know how powerful the strength she gained by sacrificing her life was.
"So please prove that you're someone I can trust."
"Phew..."
At her words, Rudian let out a deep sigh.
"...It seems that arrogant way of thinking definitely needs to be corrected."
Arrogant, and also pitiful.
So even if he wasn't a senior in life, as a senior in society, he felt he definitely needed to fix Evangeline's twisted mindset.
***
Hall of Heroes.
The place where Rebecca and Sarah Bloodrain trained.
With Rebecca's Demon Eater power surpassing the realm of mastery and now trying to transcend even herself, Sarah was contentedly guiding her descendant Rebecca today as well.
But Rebecca, who had been concentrating well until now, seemed strange today.
"What's wrong, Rebecca?"
"No, it's nothing serious..."
Rebecca, who had been rubbing her forehead after getting hit due to her suddenly broken concentration, suddenly frowned and muttered.
"Something feels like... something unforgivable is happening..."
"...?"