Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: The Saint's Inner Thoughts Are Heard
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A lingering, fishy stench so strong it made me want to pinch my nose shut.
The sight of everyone I knew, their arms and legs severed, writhing on the ground like worms in a mutilated state.
"Save me...! I still have a baby son at home who hasn't even been weaned...!"
"Please, please... My daughter... Run... Go..."
Some were screaming for help, while others, weeping, called out for their children who couldn't escape to run away—a tragedy unfolding vividly before my eyes.
"Haa... Huck..."
Even as I exhaled, all I could feel was the scorching heat of the blazing fire scene, hot enough to burn the body, and the choking soot and smoke that made me cough violently.
A landscape where everything in sight was burning, and the shadows of people thrashing in agony looked as if they were dancing.
I couldn't help but remember this scene.
This was the massacre that occurred in my hometown village ten years ago.
Even though much time had passed, the fact that everyone died because of me, who arrogantly considered myself a genius, remained unchanged.
Even though I knew this was clearly Velamora's Illusionary Dream, the scene felt so real that I simply rummaged on the ground and found a small dagger.
"......"
Stabbing my throat with this would wake me from the dream.
This wasn't real. It was just that vile demon woman toying with my past memories.
Biting my lip with my teeth, I tried to pick up the knife with trembling hands and stab myself, but...
"Oh, this one's quite decent? Should I have some fun before killing her? People are most pleasurable right before they die, you know."
A demon holding a person like a toy and shaking them with a large hand. Tears streamed from the eyes of the woman trapped in his grasp, revealing a desolate emotion as if she had given up on everything.
"Humans are just like bugs. When you cut off their limbs, the way they struggle to survive is exactly the same."
A monster with the head of a giant bird laughed as it threw severed limbs far away like a finish line, enjoying watching their original owners crawl toward them.
"Look, I made a necklace out of pulled-out ears and eyes. With this, I won't have to report how many I killed later, right?"
The moment I saw a demon stringing together human eyeballs and ears, wearing them around its neck like trophies.
"You damn bastards...!!!"
A surge of disgust and revulsion instantly rose, forcing me to curse. Demons and monsters were inherently a deranged breed.
Even if there were those like Velamora who advocated cooperation or coexistence with humans, they were just hypocritical lunatics putting on a show for their own gain, like the Illusionary Dream I was trapped in now.
Even while knowing this was clearly an Illusionary Dream created by Velamora, I held my breath and couldn't help but run toward the demon before me.
I didn't want to see people die before my eyes anymore.
I didn't want to fail to protect precious people anymore.
I didn't want to repeat regrets ever again.
"If you're going to kill someone, kill me...!!"
I shouted and ran.
Running and running until the sensation in my legs disappeared, I approached the people being ravaged by the demon.
"...There were still survivors left."
At that moment, a voice as sharp as a blade reached my ears.
A booming voice, as if speaking from within a cave, belonged to a being I could never forget.
One of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army, more famously known by his epithet, the Undefeated Knight—the Death Knight Dullahan.
A headless knight clad in pitch-black armor, holding his helmet at his side, glared at me with blazing eyes.
"Dullahan...!!"
"You know me? What an honor. I didn't know my exploits had reached even this rural village."
Seeing Dullahan, I immediately assumed a stance while preparing to use magic.
Right now, I had become my ten-year-old self. The longer time dragged on, the more my body and mind assimilated.
But,
'I can't use three-dimensional magic circles now, so then...!'
The past me and the present me were different. Even if my body and mind had regressed to around age ten, I still had the knowledge and experience I had accumulated until now.
I simultaneously used Ice Blade, creating blades of ice, and Chain Lightning, causing chain electrocution around me.
"A brat using intermediate-level magic. That's rather audacious..."
Dullahan stared intently at my magic, then momentarily paused his motion to behead the people before me.
"...But, recklessness and courage must be distinguished."
Creep—.
The moment Dullahan pointed his sword at me, the sensation of 'death' brushed past my body.
Even I, who had crossed countless battlefields and life-or-death situations, cowered before the killing intent Dullahan displayed—his spirit and presence were overwhelming.
"Ho oh, you're enduring this. Now I understand why the Demon King ordered the invasion of this backwater village."
Dullahan looked at me and chuckled with the eyes of a child who had found an interesting toy. The blue flames burning above his neck grew larger, crackling.
"...If I let you live, you'll grow into an interesting fellow later."
"Shut up...!"
Gripping the swords I had created in both hands, I charged at Dullahan, trying to wound him.
This attack was a flow that didn't exist in the past.
Even while knowing this was all Velamora's Illusionary Dream, I wanted to kill that bastard before leaving, but...
"That won't do, Lord Astal. This isn't a hopeful movie; it's a sad film that repeats tragedy until you give me everything, remember?" At that moment, Velamora's voice, as if chewing something, reached my ears. Along with it, as if time had momentarily stopped, everything around me seemed to freeze—
"Even if it's a remake, the ending and flow shouldn't deviate from the original, right? So I'll make a little adjustment." With a sensation of being violently pulled backward, I found myself back at the spot where I had collapsed earlier.
"Huh...?"
A single sigh escaped me at this first-time experience. It felt as if time had been rewound.
"Aaaaaaaah...!!"
Immediately after, a scream that pierced my eardrums echoed from Dullahan's direction. That bastard, who had sheathed his sword a moment ago, was now indiscriminately killing people exactly as I remembered.
"It's like a reverse fireworks display! The sound when they hit the ground and the beautiful bloodshed are similar!"
Beside him, another demon laughed heartily, throwing the children I used to play with high into the air as if enjoying entertainment.
The children, screaming as they plummeted to the ground, turned into a gruesome paste of blood and flesh.
In the end, this horrific nightmare didn't flow differently from the past I remembered.
"Ah... Ah... Aaah..."
As if someone had tied strings to my limbs and made me move, I let out a single scream and repeatedly banged my forehead against the ground.
"Please stop...!! If you're going to do that, just kill me...!!"
Please stop, just kill me instead.
I screamed and cried until my voice grew hoarse. I pleaded with the demons and monsters with all my might, but...
"Boss! Come look at this brat! Uahahahahat!!"
All that returned was pointing fingers and mocking laughter. The demon pointing at me laughed so hard it seemed his mouth would tear, holding his stomach.
"...Everything happening here today is your fault, brat."
Then, Dullahan's words reached me as he rode his horse toward me. I bit my tongue, thinking of the events that would follow, swirling in my mind.
'Next, my parents will be killed...'
In the distance, I saw familiar faces running toward me, holding farming tools.
Claude Caysaros and Celine Caysaros.
If things continued like this, my parents would meet their deaths at Dullahan's hands.
Velamora was stealing my bodily freedom within this Illusionary Dream and making it flow like the original history.
'It was deliberate. Making me dream of the Illusionary Dream where Victoria confessed to me.'
Only then did I realize Velamora had intentionally shown us a light Illusionary Dream last time, making us think we could easily break through.
The true terror of the Queen of Succubi, the Succubus Queen, was stealing the freedom of those trapped in dreams, preventing even suicide or resistance.
'...I really want to see Victoria.'
Not wanting to see the moment my parents came to save me, I tightly shut my eyes. In the dark field of vision, her radiant figure surfaced.
The only woman who told me it wasn't my fault when I joined the Demon King subjugation to find my grave.
A saint who sometimes grumbles and says harsh things to me but, in truth, worries about and likes me more than anyone else.
Victoria Everhart, currently bound to me by contract, pretending to be my fake lover.
As I thought of her like that, I felt something strange in my mouth.
"......Hmp?!"
A soft, moist sensation like a tongue entered, wantonly teasing my mouth with an odd feeling. It was a situation completely out of place with this nightmare created by Velamora.
That tongue-like sensation tapped against my teeth and, though clumsy, clung stickily to my tongue, displaying possessiveness.
"......"
Rough breaths naturally escaped me, and saliva pooled in my mouth, but someone kept sucking it away as if drinking it.
Whether it was their first kiss and thus clumsy, an unfamiliar tongue movement diligently explored everything about me, as if trying to satisfy me, spreading a peculiar sensation.
"...Victoria?"
A tongue slightly longer than a human's, moist and soft—unique to dragons. I couldn't help but immediately recognize the owner of that subtle yet lewd tongue play.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "You really are a high-maintenance prince."
As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw Victoria, who had been hugging me as if to devour me and sharing a kiss.
With half-lidded eyes, she let out a slightly excited laugh and stuck out her tongue, as if proudly displaying the silvery thread connecting us.
"It's surprising that a kiss was actually the key to entering the dream."
"You, don't tell me... my lips..."
"Ah, don't misunderstand. It was merely a life-saving procedure. Consider it an unfortunate accident for your peace of mind."
"With this, your first kiss has become mine too. Since it was the first for both of us, I got a little greedy... Hoo, I lost count of how many times we kissed..." Judging by the embarrassing inner thoughts anyone could hear, it seemed this was truly the Victoria I knew.
"...So, how does it feel to have taken my first kiss? Did you like it, our perverted mage?"
"Just a kiss made my head float like a cloud... I wonder how much better it'll feel next time..." Gulp.
Victoria looked at me like a snake eyeing a mouse before it, licking her lips.