Chapter 95
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Ameris's Salvation
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Whether my words were true or not didn't matter.
I felt it while talking to her.
She still wanted to know about this world.
She still wanted to know about people.
She never wanted to die.
The guilt of abandoning her friend was just a stake driven into her heart.
Anyone who had lived alone for thousands of years in a place where no one else existed wouldn't be some all-seeing vampire or monster.
She was just a girl who had grown up as a social misfit, unable to even understand her own heart due to a lack of social skills.
If the stake wasn't truly lodged there, was there any need to drive it deeper into her heart just to call it a stake?
All Selus needed was someone to tell her it wasn't a stake at all.
So whether my words were fake or real...
It didn't matter.
Ameris stared at me with wide eyes, as if in shock.
Then, in a parched voice, she asked,
"Then... does that mean I... I can live?"
I let out a hollow chuckle.
Why was she always trying to die?
Some people were struggling just to stay alive long enough to die.
I knew I shouldn't, but I got angry at Ameris for repeating the same nonsense.
"Why the hell are you trying to die?! You just lost a friend in an unfortunate accident—why do you have to carry that burden? Cut the crap. You think you're some special something, don't you? That's just middle school syndrome. All I see is a pitiful little girl suffering from depression, borderline personality disorder, anxiety, and excessive self-blame, turning everything into her own fault—even when it's not!"
Haa...
Why did I do that? I could've just held back and smiled to persuade her. Instead, I lost my temper.
No, this made me just a trash adult yelling at a poor kid venting her PTSD.
Kim Si-woo, you piece of shit.
As I berated myself, Ameris looked at me with teary eyes.
"Then... what should I do?"
"What do you mean, what? I don't know. But just live for now. Seluna surely wanted that."
"Just live...?"
I was too busy worrying about my own survival to know something like that.
I shrugged and said,
"Why don't you stick with me and learn how to overcome what you've been through?"
Ameris's eyes lit up at my words.
The color and shape hadn't changed at all, but I could tell.
It was the same gaze as the Selus I'd seen earlier.
This would do it.
If I could just convince Ameris, I wouldn't even need to fight Lee Seong-hyeon.
The worst-case scenario was averted.
No matter how bound she was, Ameris was the one who created an S-rank dungeon.
As long as she didn't let her guard down and lose her heart—the source of her power and blood—she could overpower someone like Lee Seong-hyeon with a mere glance.
Ameris slowly opened her mouth.
"I..."
-Look at these bastards testing my patience!
Lee Seong-hyeon's voice? There was no way he'd broken free of Ameris's restraints.
I turned my head, and chains were connected to where Lee Seong-hyeon's body had been.
'No way.'
5th cycle Lee Seong-hyeon couldn't possibly use that.
The application of Chain of Judgment.
Forcing his immobilized body to move using the chains.
That made three times he'd used chains in total.
Pouring everything into this?
More than that, realizing this technique was supposed to happen after the 8th cycle.
This was dangerous.
I shouted toward Ameris,
"Ameris, watch out!"
Kwajik—
It happened too fast to react.
Lee Seong-hyeon's hand pierced right through Ameris's chest.
The heart extracted from Ameris's body.
It pulsed in Lee Seong-hyeon's hand.
"So this is what it feels like. Not bad."
This was bad.
The absolute worst case I'd considered.
Lee Seong-hyeon looked this way and grinned.
"How many times have you gotten in my way? You think you're something special, but you're just a bug. A filthy cockroach I didn't even want to touch."
"Then don't touch me from now on."
Lee Seong-hyeon sneered at my words.
"Yeah, you should've stayed out of sight. I've decided you're dying here."
"You think that'll work? If you survive this, Lee Seong-hyeon, you'll definitely be suspected."
Lee Seong-hyeon clutched his head in disbelief at my words.
"You really only spit out idiot lines like your looks. You're dying in the dungeon collapse. Sure, there might be some suspicion. That's why I'll leave no traces. I'll burn everything to ash, not even cinders left."
Lee Seong-hyeon laughed, clearly enjoying his upper hand.
He then turned to Baek A-rin and said,
"I don't know how you did it, but this time, those dumb girls you hang with? Might as well have some fun with them while I can. Too good to just turn to ash. Think of it as your last pleasure and be grateful."
Baek A-rin's expression soured at his words.
Lee Seong-hyeon undid the chains binding Ameris and grabbed her by the throat.
"Ah, should I start by playing with this annoying bitch first? She's a monster anyway, so I've always wanted to nail her eyes and ears. Well, I wouldn't mind with humans either."
The mad bastard.
I didn't realize he was this insane. He really was.
Ameris, without her heart, might still be alive but wouldn't be of any help.
Baek A-rin was combat-incapable.
So, what now?
That's when I realized someone was missing.
Erina—where the hell was she?
Erina had already slipped behind Lee Seong-hyeon.
Her movements looked premeditated from the start.
Impressive. The king of carelessness, Lee Seong-hyeon, was making history.
Or was it Erina, queen of ambushes?
Let's go with Ambush GOAT Erina here.
"You fucking bastard! Hands off Selus!"
Kang—!
Erina's shield smashed into Lee Seong-hyeon's head.
"Kuhk, you damn bitch!"
As Lee Seong-hyeon swung at Erina, Baek A-rin shouted,
"[Ice Floor]."
[Ice Floor]
Wide-area debuff slowing enemy attacks around the user for a set duration.
Baek A-rin's skill [Ice Floor].
A wide-area debuff that slowed enemy attacks around her for a duration.
"You think you can act like this toward me and get away with it, Baek A-rin?!"
"What the fuck are you saying, you psycho? What can you even do to me?"
At least this cycle's Baek A-rin didn't see Lee Seong-hyeon as human.
Thanks to her perfectly timed skill, Erina struck Lee Seong-hyeon again swiftly.
Kang—
What the hell had those two done?
Why did they sync so well?
"Catch Si-woo!"
Lee Seong-hyeon's body lost balance, and Ameris's heart was falling to the floor.
'I have to catch it.'
[Bunny Hop]
Leap toward the target without hesitation.
Without a second's hesitation, I sprang toward the heart.
'Got it. If I can just return the heart...!'
Kwajik—
It happened in an instant.
A literal blink.
Lee Seong-hyeon instantly regained his stance, knocked Erina down with an attack, suppressed Baek A-rin with Ashte's Dragon, and crushed my wrist as I reached for the heart with [Invisible Step].
"Kuaaaak!"
It felt like intense lightning ripping from my wrist through my body. The bone snapped unnaturally sharp, shards piercing flesh, pain sensors glitching out.
He stomped right before his foot hit the ground.
My arm bone was completely shattered.
"Damn it... somehow the heart..."
Lee Seong-hyeon picked up the heart and said,
"You want this that bad, huh?"
He kicked me in the face.
"You worthless bugs keep coming at me without knowing your place. What an infuriating experience."
"Keurk!"
Lee Seong-hyeon kicked my stomach and said,
"I was gonna toy with you a bit, but I changed my mind. Die now. Those dumb bitches following you? They die because of you. No, they're getting raped by me thanks to you—maybe that's their luck."
"You son of a bitch!"
As Lee Seong-hyeon's foot came down on my head,
"[Barrier]"
Darkness swallowed everything before my eyes.
[Barrier]
"What the...?"
"My barrier."
Ameris's voice came from the unseen darkness.
"A barrier? Your power, then."
So this was a Progenitor's ability.
The dungeon was probably a variant of this power.
"Tight in here."
"Bear it. Without my heart, this is my limit."
"It's fine. Not bad at all. Unlike Selus, Ameris has a soft body. Feels nice."
Ameris's body was on par with Erina's—or better.
"You crack jokes even now."
"Not a joke."
"So, what now? Time doesn't flow in this space, but I can't hold it long."
"Yeah, arm's broken, head was about to get stomped. Only my heart's intact."
Ameris laughed.
"Even in this, your heart doesn't break?"
"It's the only thing I can control. Everything else breaks too easily."
"I see."
"That's how it is."
A brief silence.
Then Ameris spoke.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drag you into this. I thought it would end with my death."
Then something warm and thin touched my lips.
"Drink. It's my blood."
"Drinking this makes me your successor Progenitor, right?"
"..."