Chapter 186: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (50)
Chapter 186: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (50)
The power of the Dragon Blood Runes was truly fearsome.
Even though Ian had intentionally lowered the output to account for the princess and the knights scattered nearby, the result was the same. The flames that erupted in an instant simultaneously scorched the air and the ground.
It was inevitable that Mitram’s body would be sent flying.
The woman couldn't even squeeze out a scream. Following the commands of her instincts, she simply rolled across the floor with a truncated, hacking gasp wrenched from her lungs.
Flames enveloped Mitram’s body. The shimmering heat created a hazy mirage.
With a low rumble, the cave vibrated momentarily.
The cave was beginning to send out warning signals under the aftermath of the intense explosion. However, thanks to the sturdy construction, it seemed to be holding up for now.
While Mitram writhed in the pit of fire, Ian staggered forward, his mind hazy.
He saw the corpse of a knight whose body had been torn open from the arm to the chest. This was the person who had been within the range of the biological bomb Mitram had detonated.
They must have been a promising knight from a dignified family, yet they had met their end in a cave whose very existence they hadn't known.
It was a hollow end to a life.
However, the legacy left by the dead sometimes becomes a bridge to life for the living.
Ian fumbled through the knight’s waist. From a pouch hanging there, he found a light green potion and gulped it down.
He didn't know exactly why, but he simply realized that the potion was an antidote.
In truth, he had already completed thorough preparations before even entering the cave.
Only after pouring every single potion Emma had given him down his throat did Ian finally step inside.
He couldn't even remember how many potions he had downed.
He recalled the standard antidotes Emma had prepared, the scent-concealing potions, the medicine to boost natural healing, and even stimulants to dull the sensation of pain.
He felt like he had downed a couple more bottles beyond those, and if Emma had seen him, she might have been horrified.
In alchemy, potions focus on the resonance of mana corresponding to each element.
Accordingly, even for potions with the same effect, different ingredients had to be used. Otherwise, there was a risk of complications when consumed simultaneously.
This was common knowledge that anyone knew, even if they weren't in the Alchemy Department. Naturally, Ian was aware of this as well.
But a strange sense of anxiety had driven him, and in the end, the man had won his gamble.
It was entirely thanks to that gamble that he was able to move even after being struck by Mitram’s poison.
Of course, he had to pay a fitting price for it.
"Cough, ack...!"
As he drank the antidote, Ian was forced to retch up a mouthful of blood.
His body had begun to reject the excessive medicinal effects on top of his accumulated injuries. Though he couldn't be sure, his internal organs were likely melting away under the sheer potency of the drugs.
It was a gruesome prospect, but Ian didn't care.
Toppling Mitram was more important. She was a Dark Priest, a contemptible wretch who used orphans as materials to achieve her goals, and a being who would hasten the destruction of humanity.
Spitting out another handful of blood, Ian tossed the empty vial aside. The sound of the glass bottle clattering across the ground was pitiful.
Only then did his vision clear, and the mana within his body began to race through his meridian points.
Vitality returned to his body, and his ragged breathing stabilized. Ian was only able to fully regain his senses after stumbling back a few more steps.
He pressed his palms firmly against his eyes.
It was because the microvessels in his retinas felt as if they were burning with pain. This was the result of using the Dragon Blood Runes just once.
It seemed that the Dragon Blood Runes also had a limit to their use.
Exhaling a long breath, the man’s golden eyes flickered toward the back.
There sat two women, unable to even steady their bodies, staring at him with wide, trembling eyes.
Cien, the noble-looking princess with dark blue hair.
And Irene, the beautiful knight with striking blue hair.
No refined words came from their parted lips. Only faint, broken sounds escaped them, as if they were malfunctioning.
"Ah, ugh, ah..."
From that alone, one could easily guess the shock the two women had received.
Ian roughly swept back his sweat-soaked hair and walked toward Irene without hesitation. She looked utterly dumbfounded.
With a tongue numbed by the anesthetic, she somehow managed to form words.
"H-how... no, wait. Irene of Lupemion... to the Agent of His Majesty the Emperor..."
Whether she spoke or not, Ian seemed to have no interest.
He merely scanned Irene with an indifferent gaze.
As his hands roughly fumbled over Irene’s body, the face of the virgin—who had never allowed a man to touch her—flushed crimson.
Of course, the thing Irene might have worried about did not happen.
The man found an antidote in Irene’s tunic. It was a high-performance potion that every Imperial Guard carried.
Ian immediately tilted Irene’s head back and forcibly poured the potion down her throat. Irene, who had been resisting with muffled sounds, soon realized Ian’s intent and quietly swallowed the medicine.
However, a faint question still lingered in Irene’s eyes.
Why was this man in such a hurry?
As if proving its reputation, the Dragon Blood Runes Ian had used displayed overwhelming firepower. One only had to look at Mitram, who was still burning fiercely.
Though she twitched and writhed occasionally, that was the extent of it.
No living creature could survive while every cell in its body was being incinerated.
It was a pity for the head maid, who had merely been manipulated, but perhaps this was a happier ending for her.
A life spent being modified without one's knowledge to attack loved ones was worse than death.
However, the man seemed to have no intention of resolving Irene’s confusion.
He merely let out a deep sigh and looked toward what came next.
"About today... whew, no. Let's talk about it later."
Irene flinched as the tension that had been easing returned.
Fear began to cloud her eyes once more.
She had shown too many disgraceful displays in front of him.
First, she had failed to protect her lord twice. Once, she had been defeated by Ian without even being able to lift a finger, and another time, she had been so nervous that an axe had nearly been buried in her lord's shoulder.
And finally, for the third time, despite Ian’s implicit warnings, Irene had failed to protect Cien.
It was an undeniable failure.
The possessor of the Dragon Blood Runes was the Agent of the Emperor, a position that even the heads of the Five Great Noble Families could not treat lightly. It went without saying for Irene, who was merely a daughter of the Lupemion family.
It was inevitable that Irene’s face turned deathly pale.
The fear she had harbored toward Ian, the shame of failing her mission, and the self-reproach and self-mockery were burying her in a pit of emotional fire.
Unaware of Irene’s inner thoughts, Ian looked at Cien with a weary expression.
Cien, who had been staring blankly at Ian, finally snapped back to her senses.
She felt that her appearance, with tears streaming down her face, looked incredibly pathetic. She covered her face with her hands, which were flailing as they barely moved due to the poison.
In truth, she was afraid more than anything else.
Afraid to read the emotions of the human who had tried to save her more devotedly than anyone.
As Mitram had pointed out countless times, Cien had acted selfishly.
She had prioritized her pride, and even when Ian showed suspicious behavior, she had simply dismissed him as a 'strange person.' No matter how confidently he had acted, Cien knew.
She knew how miserable it felt when every human you encountered showed hostility and loathing.
Hadn't Cien already experienced how terrible that was during her childhood? Furthermore, Cien had tormented not only Ian but also the people around him.
Despite that, the man had rushed to save Cien.
If he had wanted to, there were plenty of easier paths.
The Dragon Blood Runes were proof of that. If he had shown the Dragon Blood Runes, the princess wouldn't have even dared to touch him.
There was only one reason Ian hadn't done so.
It was for Cien’s safety.
She couldn't think of any other reason. Ian had endured until the final moment so that Mitram couldn't devise a more subtle and threatening scheme.
Tears began to fall again from the princess’s pale gray eyes.
"I-I'm... I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Sir Ian..."
It was a sincere apology.
Cien wanted to take everything back, if only she could.
That was how much she feared.
He was a human who had sacrificed everything to save her, yet she had returned hatred instead of gratitude.
She couldn't even imagine the extent of that disappointment and anger.
So Cien covered her eyes. Because she could see emotions, she was all the more afraid to look.
She felt as if she wouldn't be able to bear seeing his inner heart filled with hatred and hostility.
So Cien merely repeated her words of apology like a broken clock.
"I was... I was wrong, Sir. It was all... hic, all because of my petty pride..."
The man said nothing.
He silently watched the princess, who couldn't even open her eyes properly, before hoisting her up by the shoulders. Even then, Cien continued to cry.
After a long silence, Ian finally spoke.
"...Your Highness."
"Y-yes?"
At the girl's voice, which answered as if she had been waiting, Ian responded with a single action.
Wham! His fist slammed into the girl's cheek.
Even Irene could only stare blankly at the scene, unable to say a word.
It stung. No, it felt as if her molars had been knocked loose.
Naturally, it was a humiliation the princess was experiencing for the first time in her life.
Cien only realized it after tumbling across the ground a few times.
Did I... just get hit?