91. Must move it
91. Must move it
Before fire could be lit under Arin and Cheon Hwa-ryeong's feet.
"Ugh... Urk... Gruuuh."
"Gurkk..."
The three who'd been hit by the Basilisk were crawling on the ground, letting out groans.
The shock that slammed their entire bodies felt like iron rods had been driven in—their joints refused to move.
And their leader was even...
-Chijijik! Jijiji... Chijijik!
He couldn't turn his head to check, but all that came out were weird noises.
If things stayed like this, the boss might revive, or another party could show up and loot them...
Magna, the party's priest, hated this situation with a passion.
He hadn't been any help at all, and he couldn't even heal his comrades.
As a Northerner with the heart of a sturdy warrior, as a servant of the Main God who must protect the weak, this was unacceptable.
Magna recalled the resolve he'd steeled himself with when he stormed out of his house.
"Huuuuaaaah!!!"
Forcing strength into his joints made a creepy sound echo out.
-Pigideok... Wooduduk!
"Guk... Gruuuh..."
It sounded like his withered joints were shattering.
But with his comrades in pain, this was nothing.
Even if his limbs ended up crippled, his will to save them came first.
Magna clenched so hard his gums bled and veins burst in his eyes.
-Wooduk! Ppaduk! Ppajijik!
"Guk... Hoo... Hoo..."
He barely managed to stand...
-Woong!
Healing his body with Divine Power while pulling out a potion.
-Wooduk! Gulkk! Gulkk!
He wedged the glass bottle into his unyielding jaw joint and forced it down.
"Pri... est..."
"... Gulkk... Oo..."
"Puhh... Kkrok..."
He finally jammed potions into his comrades too.
Now just Ryu-o left.
Magna averted his eyes from the stinging joint pain and approached Ryu-o.
Ryu-o's state as he got closer was far from normal.
-Chijijik! Deudeudeudeud...
"What the... hell?"
In the blink of an eye, he saw an illusion of Ryu-o's body twisting.
His body trembled finely, like it was about to explode.
-Woongwoongwoongwoong
The faint purple energy emanating from Ryu-o's body flickered unstably.
One look and it was clear his condition was bad.
Of all things, he was unconscious, so he couldn't feed him a potion.
If his airway got blocked, he'd really end up as grass on the plains.
Magna's jaw trembled as he prayed.
"Mai... n God... isiyeo..."
Squeezing out every last bit of his feeble strength to heal Ryu-o.
It got a little better, but he still looked dangerously off.
To hoist Ryu-o onto his back, Magna grabbed his arm...
-Sweek... Teop jijijijik!!
"Kruk!! ...???"
The energy pouring from Ryu-o's body tore his palm a bit.
Magna stared blankly at his hand and muttered.
"What the... hell?"
He'd never seen energy this unstable and violent before.
Just touching it tore skin?
Realizing something was happening inside Ryu-o's body...
Even healing it with Divine Power only calmed it briefly before it reverted.
"Dangerous stud..."
Magna eyed Ryu-o, pondering for a moment...
"Hoo..."
-Teop! Jijijijik!
"Grrruk!!!"
No hesitation.
He just gripped Ryu-o's arm hard and took one step at a time toward the survival portal.
-Jijijijijik! Chiiik!
"Kruk..."
Even as his hand tore and blood flowed, he slammed Divine Power into it.
-Deudeudeudeud
Ryu-o's body vibrations twisted his joints, but he took one step at a time.
-Ppaduduk!
"... Kkaduk!"
He trudged forward steadily.
Hadn't they made a promise?
[In the Labyrinth, we always do our utmost to help each other.]
Time to do his utmost.
A Northern-born priest, no less.
They'd accepted his odd self and valued him highly, so he had to repay that grace.
Even if he could hog everything for himself, he'd shared with them for times like this.
"Gruuuuuh!!"
Tears of blood from the pain, yet Magna steadily dragged Ryu-o toward the portal.
Then...
"Magna... I'll... help..."
Selana, eyes twitching, grabbed Ryu-o's right leg and lifted.
-Chijijijik!
"Kyaaaaak! Eeeeek!!!"
Jenin staggered over with a terrified face...
"Hoo... Hoo..."
-Teop! Chijijijijik!
"Auuuugh! Qui... ck... ly... goooo!!!"
She grabbed his other leg and started moving him.
Magna and Selana looked at Jenin in surprise.
Tears streaming, Jenin yelled.
"It's that kind of vibe, right?! Augh! Hurry up frontwaaaard!!!"
Even a blank sheet of paper is lighter when shared, and Magna felt the burden lighten a ton.
A laugh bubbled up.
'Good pick, stud.'
Sweat pouring like rain, blood spurting from hands, but his comrades didn't let go of Ryu-o.
"Krrruk!!!"
"Eugueek!!"
"Kr iiiik!!!"
They made hideous noises, but no one cared.
They advanced step by step toward the portal like that.
-Woong... Kudadangtang!!!
"Wh-what the... Raid Members?"
As soon as they emerged, Selana spoke to the dumbstruck knight.
"To the Duchy... for aid..."
-Thud!
"Huhuk! Gongnyeo-nim!!!!"
After safely transporting Ryu-o, she passed out cold.
The Duchy was like a bomb had dropped.
Contrary to expectations that they'd handle the 20th floor no problem, all four came back in tatters.
Word naturally reached Hilda's ears...
Hilda rushed to the infirmary, veins bulging at her temples.
"Y-Young lady..."
"Where's Jang Ryu-o!!"
"Infirmary Block 1, milady!!"
Hilda saw nothing in her eyes.
What the hell happened that they kept coming back all banged up...
'If it's like this...'
She'd rather hold him in her arms forever.
She'd sent him out to soar freely, but he always came back with trouble.
She couldn't live with this anxiety.
Yeah... no need to raise his value in the Labyrinth.
Just hand him a decent business, grease some imperial palms, make him a noble.
No, she couldn't wait that long.
Even if the Duchy went into uproar, she'd force the marriage through.
Once he had a kid and was snug at home, with that personality, he'd never wander.
She'd make sure not a drop of water touched his hands; he just had to smile by her side.
So please...
"Stop... getting hurt already."
Hilda flung open the infirmary door with a terrifying face.
-Drrruk! Bang!
"Jang Ryu-o!"
"Young Duchess! Let me report on his condition!"
"Out of my way!"
Hilda shoved the doctor aside and took in Ryu-o.
-Jijijik!
"Ah... Ahh. What the hell is..."
Ryu-o lay on the bed, having mild convulsions.
One look and his state seemed awful.
The Gongnyeo approached with a soul-lost face.
Please... you don't have to smile.
Even if you're a vegetable. Even if you can't move, just please...
"His life! Any danger to his life?!"
"Well..."
Hilda screamed and reached for Ryu-o.
"Why can't you speak, damn it!"
Then, someone stopped Hilda.
-Grab
"Aigoo~ Young lady. Touch him and it's big trouble."
Who dared lay hands on the 1st Gongnyeo?
Only direct family or the head butler had that authority.
But no one could scold this old man for lacking it.
This white-haired elder's identity was...
"Miguel! Explain in detail! What do you mean?!"
The Duchy's top sword. The Knight Commander who should be at the main estate.
He'd come at the Gongnyeo's call, now on short leave.
Miguel sighed deeply like a weary old soldier at the end of his career.
"Ehew... For now, his life seems fine. For the moment."
"For the moment? Explain in detail."
"Take a look."
Miguel coated his hand neatly with Mana, then grabbed Ryu-o's ankle.
-Chejjeojeojeong! Deuduk! Deuk!
"Whew... See? If it touched bare skin..."
Miguel nodded at the Raid Members with bandages on their hands.
"Their skin tears up like that. Weirdly, no effect on objects though?"
"... What do you mean 'fine for now'?"
"Hmm... His body's surprisingly intact. With that ferocious energy, he'd have burst like a Frog in a gale by now..."
"Miguel."
Seeing the Gongnyeo's ghostly expression, Miguel scratched his cheek with an awkward grin.
"Heh heh... Body that should've exploded didn't. All functions normal. But that state lasting long? Not looking good."
"Way to reverse it."
"... None. Tried, but Mana wouldn't listen at all."
No way to fix it—Hilda's strength drained from her body.
"Ah..."
Miguel supported the collapsing Hilda.
"Oops, young lady..."
Miguel had never seen Hilda like this before.
He started taking interest in Ryu-o.
'What the hell did he do to turn this blue-blooded Gongnyeo into this?'
Compared to that, Hilda felt utter helplessness.
All that big talk like she'd give him the world, but when it mattered, useless.
Not once or twice.
In front of this man, she felt... so pathetic.
She lacked the power to save the man who'd become her everything.
"You always leave me so powerless..."
"Young lady... you okay?"
"... Bring Arin and the Heavenly Demon."
At the names of those savage Eastern powerhouses, Miguel broke into cold sweat.
"Understood..."
Miguel relayed the order.
"Tsk... Been a while."
He pulled full armor from his Subspace and suited up.
Just in case. To buy Hilda time to escape the wrath of those two.