Chapter 53: Nightmare 6
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 53: Nightmare 6
"Second, if your life is ever in danger, leave me behind and run."
"No."
I was flustered by his sudden... confession? But I answered firmly.
Leave Loki behind and run? I could never do that.
"Sigh..."
Loki let out a long sigh at my resolute answer. I flinched at the sound, but my mind remained unchanged.
"Johanna, you're the type to risk your life for others without a second thought," Loki said softly.
"You aren't just 'others'—"
I tried to protest, but Loki cut me off, his voice dropping an octave.
"Listen to me until I'm finished."
"Ugh."
"If someone else—someone you've never even met—was in danger, could you honestly say you wouldn't risk your life for them?"
"That’s..."
I couldn't find the words.
Helping others. To me, it was only natural.
But I had never truly been in a situation where I had to put my life on the line.
Because Loki was asking so seriously, I couldn't give a shallow answer.
When I remained silent, Loki stepped closer.
"Even if it's a lie, tell me. Tell me you won't throw your life away for others. Tell me you'll live only for yourself."
As he spoke, Loki looked as though he were certain of something.
Certain that he would eventually die while trying to help someone else.
"Loki, would you not risk your life for others?"
All I could do was throw the question back at him.
"...I can risk my life for others, too. But not to save a stranger."
"What if I was the one in danger?"
"I would risk my life to save you. Even if I died in the process, I wouldn't regret it for a second."
Loki answered without a hint of hesitation.
"That is what risking my life means to me. That's why I can't stand the thought of you—the person I'd die to save—sacrificing yourself for someone else."
"............"
"There are probably countless people in this world who need your help. But I need you more than all of them combined."
"..........."
"So, if you ever try to throw your life away for someone else, I will do everything in my power to stop you. I don't care if hundreds of people die as a result."
My mind was a whirlwind.
My face felt like it was on fire.
I knew this wasn't the time or place, but I couldn't stop myself from blushing.
"............"
Not wanting him to see my red face, I lowered my head in silence.
I had received many confessions before.
From minor nobles to princes of the kingdom.
They all used flowery words to decorate their proposals.
Some promised to pluck the stars from the sky; others threatened to die if I didn't accept.
Some promised to make me the happiest woman in the world, while others swore to protect me with their lives.
Perhaps it was because of my keen intuition, but I always knew.
I knew they were all lying.
They were just people taking a shot because of my looks, my swordsmanship, or my family name.
And.
Because of that same intuition, I knew.
I knew that everything Loki was saying right now was the absolute truth.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
My heart was racing far too fast.
I had never felt like this before.
I clutched my chest, terrified that Loki might hear it.
But that only made the rapid pounding feel more distinct.
"Are you hurt?"
He was so different.
The Loki I knew and the Loki standing here now.
He was always shameless, but...
This was a different kind of shamelessness altogether.
"I-I'm fine. Let's just go inside."
I managed to speak, though my voice trembled.
I even stuttered.
My face turned an even deeper shade of red.
"Wait a moment."
Loki pulled two boxes out of thin air.
Inside were different elixirs.
One was a fairly good elixir I had seen a few times before. The other, however, was something I had never seen.
Even a glance at the golden glow it emitted told me it was of the highest grade.
Gulp.
Loki downed both elixirs at once.
I stared at him, horrified.
"Wait!"
Taking elixirs without any preparation—and two at once, no less—could turn them into poison.
"Let's go."
But Loki seemed perfectly fine.
In fact, he looked more powerful than ever, as if he had fully absorbed both elixirs in that short span of time.
"Put this on before we go in."
Loki handed me a black robe.
I didn't ask why.
It was obviously to hide our faces and our Academy uniforms.
.
.
.
Squish. Squish.
With every step, a revolting sensation seeped through my boots.
The pungent stench grew stronger.
Stop.
Johanna and Loki stopped simultaneously.
They had heard footsteps.
Whoosh.
Two figures appeared.
Their clothes were emblazoned with a skull symbol.
Even though they were close, they didn't notice Johanna or Loki.
Loki had used his Innate Magic to hide their presence.
"Ugh, did they tell us to bring another kid this time?"
"They're so small you can't even have any fun with 'em."
"The Academy is right here. Why can't we just grab a student?"
"If we did, I'd want a noble girl... Hehe."
Hearing their conversation, Loki and Johanna exchanged a signal.
Nod.
Swish. Swish.
Two blades traced beautiful arcs through the air. Two heads hit the floor.
Instant death.
Normally, Loki wouldn't have been able to kill so cleanly, but after consuming the two elixirs, his strength had reached a level incomparable to before.
Usually, an elixir doesn't make one stronger in an instant.
However, these elixirs had been enhanced by Loki's Pocket Dimension.
Furthermore, the Clown’s Mask Loki was wearing allowed him to exert over 100% of the elixirs' effects.
.
.
.
After that, Johanna and Loki killed quite a few more people wearing the skull symbol.
Neither of them hesitated for a second to cut down such filth.
"Intruders!!!!!!!"
A voice echoed through the sewers.
It seemed they had discovered the bodies.
"Run."
Nod.
The two dashed deeper into the sewers.
Now that their presence was known, there was no point in moving stealthily.
"Intru—ack!"
Someone spotted them while they were running, but Johanna’s blade was faster than his scream.
The deeper they went, the more people in skull-patterned clothes appeared.
Murmur, murmur.
The voices of a large crowd could be heard ahead.
"Close your eyes and cover your ears."
At Loki's command, Johanna closed her eyes and protected her senses with mana.
She knew what he was planning.
The daggers that emitted light and sound, the ones he had used against Rophri.
Loki threw a dagger imbued with the power of a Holy Light Grenade toward the voices.
SKREEEEEEE!
"""AAAGH!!!"""
An immense explosion of noise and light filled the dark sewer.
More than ten people clutched their eyes and screamed.
Johanna and Loki didn't miss the opening.
Slash.
"AAAGH!"
Thrust.
"Gah...!"
A life was extinguished with every swing of their swords.
Killing people who were blinded and helpless was all too easy for them.
Johanna and Loki didn't stop, no matter how many stood in their way.
They simply ran, reaping lives as they went.
"Gack."
"Urgh!"
"Spare m—hurk!"
The sewers were filled with the screams of the dying.
These were the same people who had enjoyed the screams of others.
Falter.
Loki and Johanna, who had been running without pause, suddenly stopped.
"Is someone there? Please, help us."
"It hurts so much... please get me out of here."
"I'm hungry..."
There were dozens of children.
They were all dressed in the same clothes.
By all appearances, they were just ordinary children.
Step.
Johanna moved to rush toward them, but Loki’s hand blocked her path.
"Loki?"
Johanna was startled by his intervention, but she was even more shocked when she saw his hand.
Loki’s hand was trembling violently.
Thud, swish.
Loki leaped forward and drove his sword through a child's heart.
"Loki! What are you—"
Johanna stopped mid-sentence, her breath catching.
She couldn't feel a single trace of life from the children.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
"AAAAAAAH!"
"Help me!"
The reaction of the child who had been stabbed was bizarre, and the other children felt wrong as well.
'No way.'
Necromancers.
Those who manipulate the dead.
Johanna realized why she couldn't feel any life from them.
These children had died a long time ago.
Tremble.
Those children were nothing more than playthings for a necromancer.
She had to cut them down to move forward.
She knew it in her head, but her body wouldn't move.
"Help me!"
"We didn't do anything wrong!"
Johanna had killed many people.
But they had all been villains.
Protecting the innocent.
That was Johanna’s conviction.
These children are just corpses. She tried to brainwash herself, but her limbs remained frozen.
"Johanna."
These children were kidnapped and then, by the necromancer...
"Johanna!"
Loki’s loud shout snapped her back to reality.
"It's okay. I'll kill them. You can just stay there."
Leaving those words behind, Loki began to cut down the children.
"Gah!"
"Please, help!"
Every time a child fell, the others screamed.
Yet Loki didn't stop. No, he couldn't stop.
Johanna realized he was doing this for her sake.
"Phew..."
She took a deep breath.
She had come here to be of help; she couldn't just be a burden.
Schwing.
She drew her sword.
Thud.
She kicked off the ground.
Squelch.
She pierced a child's heart.
"Haah... haah..."
.
.
After killing all the children, Johanna and Loki arrived in front of a certain door.
"Loki, inside here..."
"Yeah. The real necromancer who did that to those kids is inside."
Even from outside the door, the aura of death was palpable.
Johanna steeled her resolve.
She could never forgive the necromancer who had committed such atrocities.
"Loki, let's go in—"
"Johanna, I'm going in alone."