Traveler: Derek Walker 29
My arms and legs hurt like hell. But Delphinium couldn't even let out a groan. No voice would come out. It wasn't her vocal cords that were damaged—it was her emotions. The loss of spirit was far more fatal than any physical wound.
I'm... going to die.
She was dying. Too young to face death head-on, yet she'd crossed the line between life and death countless times. For the girl named Delphinium, death was her closest friend. Looking back, surviving this far after losing her parents in such a dangerous world was a miracle.
Her body was growing cold. The world blurred, and the noisy sounds around her faded. Someone once said that after hardship comes bliss. Was the bliss they spoke of... death? She'd never read a fairy tale this cruel. Having lived a tough life, she'd always sought happy endings in her stories.
In the end... my life wasn't a fairy tale.
Her faded fairy tale book wasn't reality. Deep down, she'd known that for a long time. She'd turned a blind eye to it, though—otherwise, she couldn't have survived in this world.
Would dying make everything easier?
Death no longer scared her. She just regretted never seeing Lilac sis or Macey sis again. Their smiles floated in her mind. Delphinium mustered her last strength and smiled.
"Damn it! What the fuck does this bitch have to smile about... Ha! There has to be an underground waterway entrance around here..."
The one-eyed knight was searching for the territory's underground waterway access. The sewers sprawled like a spiderweb, making it a perfect hideout for the lord in emergencies. He planned to hole up there until things quieted down.
"Fuck, I grabbed this worthless cunt on impulse... Should've just snatched some other bitch. She's gonna croak soon. Shit, maybe I should chop her up alive right here?"
He clicked his tongue at Delphinium. In a moment of rage, he'd made a bad choice. Should've grabbed a decent fuck-toy instead. Not that he regretted it much—women could be bought with the stolen cash anytime.
"Haa. This is exhausting. But it's fine. With this money, I can start over... Losing an arm stings, though."
For a fresh start, he needed to tie up loose ends properly. Bastrey Barony was in ruins. The lord would be furious for sure.
"Gotta dump this bitch in the waterway. Heave-ho! Found it—the sewer entrance."
He opened the creaky wooden hatch in the floor. A small stone staircase led downward.
BOOM!
"Hiiiing!"
Suddenly, the warehouse door shattered with a deafening crash. The one-eyed knight and Delphinium's gazes snapped toward it. Instinctively, he reached for the sword at his waist with his right hand—then remembered it was gone and drew with his left. Phantom pain like fire in his severed arm made him limp, but knightly reflexes had him in attack stance fast.
Who... is that...?
In her hazy vision, Delphinium clearly saw the sudden arrival: a magnificent steed with pure white fur symbolizing nobility, and atop it a handsome(?) man. Clutching a gleaming sword of light, he was straight out of a fairy tale prince.
"Haa. So here you were, you rat bastard."
The prince pointed his blade at the one-eyed knight.
"I'll throw your words right back at you. You're not going to die easy."
*-*-*
Resistance was pointless. A knight who'd lost his dominant hand had no chance against me to begin with. Even with both hands intact, he'd be dead in thirty exchanges. I sliced off the one-eyed fucker's limbs clean. His screams pissed me off, so I bashed his head to knock him out. Had to be careful not to kill him, though—measured the force just right.
"Ugh..."
The blue-haired girl was on death's door. She looked like she could drop any second. Like the one-eyed prick, both her arms were neatly severed, and she stared at me with cloudy eyes like a fish stranded on dry land.
"Prince..."
Hallucinating? She murmured like it was her last words, voice faint. Such a shame for that pretty face to die. Luckily, I had tons of healing items. First, I pulled potions from my inventory and slathered them on the stumps. Fortune among misfortunes—they were cut so clean, staunching the blood was easy. Wisps of smoke rose from the wounds where the potion touched, and the bleeding stopped.
It was a rough patch job, though. Infection was still a risk.
Or will she bleed out first?
The blood she'd lost was near-lethal. Surviving shock that long showed her willpower was no joke. But like this, she wouldn't last five minutes.
"Light Heal. Light Cure."
I poured on every recovery skill I had. Warm light enveloped her. But it wasn't enough to save a dying soul. Recovery skills aren't omnipotent. If she'd had a body honed like mine or Sera's, maybe skills alone could've done it. But she was a fragile human. Her flesh had reached its limit.
"Prince... thank you... my sisters..."
She's done for like this.
Had to be a way. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Ah! That'll work.
There was a super easy method.
"Life Vessel."
I activated the skill, creating one for the girl. In my case earlier, it sacrificed itself in my place, restoring my body. This should save her. Let her die once. Extreme, sure, but I'd died a few times myself—not a bad experience. Feels like a long nap.
The blue-haired girl's Life Vessel shattered the instant I made it. Close call. Fuck, a second later and I'd have lost this pretty thing. What luck.
Alert popped up as it broke:
[‘Delphinium’ has died.]
[Life Vessel effect activates.]
She started breathing steadily again. Just as I thought—her death got swapped with the vessel. SSS-grade skill lived up to the hype.
But severed limbs don't regrow. Too much damage?
Another SSS skill, Resurrection of the Dead, says full recovery on the tooltip. Life Vessel fell short. Still, her deathly pallor was gone. Potions and my skills should handle the rest.
I scooped up the girl. Then grabbed the one-eyed knight, now a limbless ragdoll. This fucker wouldn't die easy. I tossed the unconscious prick onto Poseidon.
"To where Elfer's waiting!"
"Hiiing!"
Poseidon whinnied powerfully and bolted. Cool wind brushed my forehead.
*-*-*
"Bastrey Count! The city's a mess! Some lunatics terrorized the arena, then an earthquake hit smack in the middle. The coliseum's totaled."
"Baron Rolang and Viscount Rielio from the arena are missing."
"The guard unit got wiped by the terrorists! Citizens and guards alike are in total chaos!"
"Contact lost with the dispatched Dice Knights!"
Every report from his vassals was a headache. Bastrey Count rose trembling with rage. He stomped to the window. His aides shuddered at the sight. The brutish count showed no mercy even to underlings. Piss him off, and your post became a graveyard—routine.
"What the hell is going on...? Did the gods curse us? An earthquake like nothing I've seen in my life! How can this bullshit—"
Built away from the city proper, the lord's castle still offered a clear view from his fifth-floor office. The city was hellscape.
"Terror and quake out of nowhere! Someone's behind this, gunning for me! Grr! Who? Ernest Count? Nah, that dwarf's still licking wounds from the last territory war... Who the fuck?"
He'd made plenty of enemies, but pinning this was tough. Never been hit this aggressively. This went way past declaration of war.
"Can't just take this lying down. Damn... Don't care who the cheeky bastard is—think you can piss off Bastrey Count and waltz away? Big mistake. Even if it's a god..."
He'd taken a gorgeous hit; sitting idle would make the world mock him. Face etched with seething fury, he commanded his vassals.
"Relay to every guard post in the city. As of now, all gates locked. No entry, no exit! I'll hunt the culprit myself!"
"B-But Count! Merchants and mercs are already fleeing from the quake."
"Lock up the disobedient. Kill the resistors!"
"Such..."
Viscount Rilbero, senior-most vassal, bowed and averted his eyes. The count was out of his mind with fury. Such tyranny would harm the territory. Bastrey was savage but sharp on profits.
But say no, and my head rolls.
He'd served long. Four seniors above him—all discarded. Their ends were miserable.
Framed or slain by the count's knights.
He accepted the order.
"Understood. As of now, Bastrey Barony seals all borders."
"That won't do."
A sudden voice from thin air made Viscount Rilbero's hackles rise. The soft, insidious tone filled the office. Neither Bastrey Count nor Rilbero recognized it.
"Foolish human scum."