Chapter 576: Jealousy is My Power (76)
Chapter 576: Jealousy is My Power (76)
Only three shadows remained in the vast forest clearing.
Me, Seria, and Cien.
The trees and rocks that once filled the clearing had long since been reduced to dust and scattered. Even the ground itself had been torn apart so wretchedly that anything standing upon it was bound to crumble.
Of course, we weren't exactly unscathed either.
First, my breathing was ragged from the desperate sprint to get here. Since reaching the level of High Expert, there hadn't been many times my breath had come this hard.
Furthermore, my body was covered in wounds from the battle with the vampire's servants. Drenched in blood as I was, I certainly didn't look normal to any observer.
Yet even my state paled in comparison to the Princess.
Not a single part of Cien’s limbs was intact. Blood trickled steadily from the puncture wounds in her arms and legs, and her light gray eyes were so unfocused from the intense pain that they were practically hazy.
She was a girl who carried the blood of the dragon.
She must have grown up cherished and precious since childhood. At the very least, she should never have had to suffer her skin and muscle being torn to shreds like this.
How much pain must she be in?
A cold sensation sliced through my chest. In this place, only one person remained untouched.
My junior, with her empty eyes.
Though I questioned whether I could even call that thing my 'junior' anymore.
I forced a calm smile onto my face.
"You've changed quite a bit, Seria."
"Senior..."
Seria’s reaction to me was complicated.
She stared blankly, then looked down at her hands in sudden shock. As more time passed, she began to direct a smoldering gaze toward me. A look of frustration crossed her face, contrasting sharply with her previous coldness.
Eventually, a faint groan escaped her lips.
"Senior, Senior, Senior... Ugh, ah... W-what did I...?"
"Seria?"
As Seria stumbled backward, a light flickered like a flame within her empty eyes. With every flicker, her expression filled further with confusion and terror.
Something was wrong.
I had guessed from the start that Seria wasn't in her right mind, but she was never naturally this violent.
To leave puncture wounds one by one in the limbs of an innocent girl...
Even when killing an enemy, Seria was the type who preferred a clean decapitation. As her empty eyes suggested, it was reasonable to assume she was in some kind of hypnotic state.
However, the depth of that hypnosis might not be as deep as I expected.
The way she fell into confusion the moment she heard my voice was proof of that.
Clinging to a faint hope, I took a cautious step forward. Every fiber of my being wanted to rush over and pull her into my arms, but the incapacitated Princess was right beside her.
If I provoked her recklessly, the Princess's life could be in danger.
So, I began to call Seria’s name with the utmost care.
"Seria, Seria? Are you okay?"
"Ah, ugh, ah... I-Ian Senior..."
Finally, my name came out.
Encouraged by that, I took two more steps forward. Seria flinched and looked at me with terrified eyes, but she didn't show signs of going berserk again.
Could it really end like this?
Her faltering voice fueled my faint expectations.
"I, what did I... how did I...?"
"Calm down, Seria... You haven't done anything."
Her trembling gaze testified to her unstable mental state.
Strength surged and ebbed in her slender hands repeatedly. As a seasoned swordsman, I could immediately tell what those muscular movements meant.
Whether or not she should swing her sword.
Seria’s hesitation was transparent. Her muscles were moving with that much honesty.
I decided to ramble about a memory that suddenly came to mind, hoping it might help her regain her senses.
"Seria, do you remember the first time we sparred?"
"S-sparring?"
"Yeah. You followed me around everywhere after that... Do you remember what I told you then?"
At that, Seria’s complexion darkened rapidly.
The girl dropped her head and began to mutter something to herself. Even with my enhanced hearing, I couldn't make it out; it was likely fragmented sounds that didn't even form words.
Then, a dangerous radiance flickered in her blue eyes.
Breaking into a cold sweat, I stopped in my tracks. I had a bad feeling about this.
I had no choice but to prepare.
It took a little more time before Seria’s muttering took the shape of language.
"Re... member... remember, remember, remember... re... member..."
"Yes, do you remember?"
A heavy silence fell.
Thump, thump.
In the clearing where even the sound of breathing had gone quiet, only the beating of my heart hammered against my eardrums. My hand gripping the hand axe was damp with cold sweat.
The silence broke in an instant.
"As if... AS IF I'D REMEMBER!!"
With a scream that erupted like a seizure, a blood-red aura surged and flared from the blade Seria held.
It rose several meters high.
Having regained her monstrous ferocity, Seria’s momentum was incomparably stronger than before. For a moment, even I couldn't be certain of the outcome.
First and foremost, the overwhelming amount of mana was the biggest problem.
The lion-like roar that erupted from Seria hit my heart like a crashing wave. The mere sound made my internal organs feel twisted, and the blood-red aura exploded outward, creating a literal tide of power.
At this rate, someone would die.
Not me, but the Princess lying right next to Seria.
If I hadn't been prepared in advance...
The entire world was dyed in monochrome.
Everything that lost its color began to lose its momentum, eventually losing all motive force. I was the only one running through this black-and-white world.
It was only for a few seconds.
No, even less than that.
I had already stopped time several times while fighting the vampire's kin. Unless one was a superhuman who had reached the level of Master, it was impossible to use such a powerful force indefinitely.
Accumulated fatigue further shortened the duration I could maintain the frozen world. Because of that, there wasn't much I could do.
Therefore, I had only one goal.
When the frozen time began to flow again, the Princess was already cradled in my arms as I rolled across the ground. I had to quickly drive my hand axe into the earth and channel the Secret of Unbinding.
Boom!
A sound like a tsunami crashing against a breakwater echoed, and the blood-red wave began a tug-of-war with a silver wall. It was a barrier that had surged up the moment I struck the ground with my axe.
My proficiency was on a completely different level than before.
Of course, it didn't come without a price.
The aftermath of the collision slammed through my body. For a moment, my consciousness wavered, and a strange landscape almost unfolded before my eyes.
A parched wilderness.
The moment that landscape strewn with corpses flickered across my retinas, I bit my lip to snap back to my senses.
The metallic scent of blood actually helped rouse my fading mind. Along with the faint breath touching my chest.
The Princess muttered with unfocused eyes.
"S-Sir Ian..."
"Are you alright, Your Highness?"
At my voice, which I forced to sound calm, a single tear rolled down from the Princess's eye.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... Because I was incompetent... I've caused trouble again..."
"You did everything you could."
I spoke with a firm tone to reassure her. I wanted her to know that her efforts hadn't been in vain.
In truth, the Princess had done her absolute best. Despite the clear disadvantage in power, she had held out well until I arrived.
So, I had a duty to ensure her actions weren't meaningless.
"You held out well until now. I'll take care of the rest."
"Senior Yurdina is..."
As I took out a healing potion and sprinkled it over her, the Princess suddenly spoke up.
Her gasping breath was frail. Nevertheless, she did not stop trying to convey her message to me.
"She's not normal... She has no hesitation in using violence. She even said she wanted blood and looked ready to tear me apart... You have to assume there's very little of her reason left."
"I know."
"Can you do it?"
With a trembling gaze, the girl's small hand cautiously gripped my sleeve.
My eyes met the Princess's in the air. She looked incredibly worried.
Even though her own body was broken.
"Can you... can you strike down Senior Yurdina, Sir Ian?"
I didn't give her an answer.
Because I didn't know yet myself.
Strike down Seria with my own hands?
It was a problem I had never even imagined. Seria had always been my comrade; I had never once engaged in a real battle with her where blood and flesh flew from live blades.
However, one thing was certain.
I could never kill Seria.
Forget a fatal blow; I doubted I could even bring myself to wound her properly. And my opponent was in a state where she had lost her reason and could harm me at any moment.
The conditions were hideously unfavorable.
But the time for contemplation was short.
Crash! The blood-red wave finished its final assault and exploded. And from beyond the thick cloud of dust, a shadow stepped lightly forward.
An ominous blue light floated in the air.
"Senior Ian... are you... are you getting distracted again?"
Hearing that chilling question, I pulled my hand axe from the ground and hung it at my waist. In its place, I gripped a sword.
As they say, swordsmen are meant to converse through their blades.
Though I never expected we would be having such a serious conversation.
I let out a bitter smile along with a cold sweat.