Chapter 393
Chapter 393
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 393
Chapter Title: Life is a Series of Choices
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Life is a series of choices.
This single line was a famous proverb, and it was the first sentence that sprang to Raniel's mind right now.
"An unidentified spell manifested. In the process of rescuing Hero Chloe, most of the special forces perished. Belnoa, who stayed at the scene until the very end and got caught up in the spell, is currently missing..."
Tephran's voice echoed hollowly.
The crystal orbs blared noisily, the communication magic tool plugged into her ear buzzed, and letters linked to key points across various regions spewed information amid the clamor of noise.
⚙ SYSTEM ALERTS ⚙ 「Madman: Kelrhalim missing.」 「Barrier appears in Artia—suspected to be the same type as the one that emerged in the capital four years ago...」 「Massive mana surge detected inside the barrier...」 「6th Legion annihilated.」 「Wyvern unit led by Dragon Slayer Asterio raids outpost—target outpost...」 「Hero Chloe: Critical condition.」 「Special forces wiped out. Commander Belnoa missing.」 「Witness reports intervention by unidentified entity composed of sewage... Currently...」 A flood of information.
Lines of data filled her field of vision.
"......"
Raniel closed her eyes.
She rubbed her eyes, turning away from the warning tones ringing in her ears and the data popping up before her. Stepping back from the chaos, Raniel assessed the situation.
Kelrhalim trapped in Artia.
The madman's barrier encircling Artia.
Mana rampaging inside Artia.
Was there anyone who could resolve this? In her judgment, there was no suitable candidate. To dispel the madman's barrier required not only advanced magical knowledge but prior information on the "shadow."
Moreover, after breaking the barrier, there was the possibility of battling the primal madman inside Artia.
To sum it up:
An opponent capable of fighting a grand archmage, with prior knowledge of the shadow, and able to swiftly conclude operations. There was no way two such beings existed.
'...I have to go.'
It was a mission she had to take on herself.
But for now, it was still a controllable variable. If she acted quickly, she believed she could resolve it without major losses.
She thought so.
Until another variable arose.
'Belnoa's disappearance.'
This variable also involved the primal madman. Circumstantially, it demanded her intervention as well.
"Ha..."
Raniel ground her teeth. Her hand, which had swept across her face, fell limply. She let out a hollow laugh.
"This is driving me insane, for real."
Two choices.
Choosing one meant abandoning the other. A shitty situation forcing her to pick at a crossroads. Exactly the kind of thing that damned shadow would pull.
It was as if the madman's laughter echoed in her ears.
Bowing her head amid the unpleasant hallucination stabbing at her eardrums like needles, Raniel faced the inevitable. She had to choose something.
Abandon something.
The shadow was forcing a choice upon her.
Who to save.
And who to let die.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
In her hazy consciousness, Chloe sensed a flickering light. And the noisy voices ringing in her ears.
「...Supply! Start with mana supply—prioritize mana exhaustion symptoms first...」 The warmth of light and the smell of medicine.
Even in her groggy state, Chloe realized she was receiving treatment. As her awareness sharpened, pain throbbed throughout her body. Her head felt fuzzy, and her open wounds stung.
"...Cough, hack!"
With a dry cough, Chloe spat out a clump of dark red blood. She cleared the blood stuck in her throat and slowly sat up.
"H-Hero, you can't!"
"Your condition..."
The priests around her shouted that she shouldn't get up, but their voices didn't reach Chloe's ears.
"I have to... go."
Drops of blood fell from her nose and mouth, soaking her clothes. Blinking her bloodshot eyes repeatedly, Chloe forced herself upright.
"I have to... go..."
She stumbled off the bed.
But as she tried to take a step forward, her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor. The priests barely caught her and shouted in her ear.
Rest.
Your condition is critical.
Stop the bleeding first...
To Chloe, their voices sounded like they came from far away. They insisted she needed treatment and rest... but she had no time for that. In her growing anxiety, Chloe muttered.
I have to go.
Chloe recalled her memory just before losing consciousness.
「Horon.」
A massive circuit blotting out the sky.
Knight falling, vomiting blood, caught in the circuit.
「Take care of Chloe, Horon.」
Horon hoisting her up and running, and the receding figure of Belnoa on his back. The moment the massive circuit in the sky plummeted toward the ground, Belnoa turned back.
Gazing at the fleeing Chloe, Belnoa gave a bitter smile.
The distance was too great to hear her voice, but Chloe knew what Belnoa had tried to say without words. Right after, the plummeting circuit clashed with Belnoa's unleashed storm, flashing blinding light.
A light that could blind her.
Amid the surging shockwave, Chloe lost consciousness.
When she came to, it was now.
She must have been transported to a nearby outpost while unconscious. Chloe bit her lip hard. Her bloodshot eyes twitched.
'Why... why...'.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't rise.
Staring at her unresponsive legs, Chloe parted her trembling lips and spoke.
"I have to go... why..."
The priests gathered to treat her stood frozen, unsure what to do. The tightly shut door of the treatment room opened. The priest who had been irritably shouting not to enter fell silent upon seeing the figure at the door.
"Gasp..."
As the priest gulped, the sound of heels clicked closer to Chloe. The footsteps stopped in front of her.
"Chloe."
At the voice calling her, Chloe, who had been staring at the floor, slowly lifted her head. The first thing she saw was the platinum uniform symbolic of the hero. Then, flowing ash-gray hair and blue eyes came into view.
Hero, Lania van Trias.
The moment she saw the woman standing before her, Chloe's eyes trembled. Sitting on the floor, she spoke in a quivering voice.
"Belnoa... Belnoa..."
"I know."
Lania replied curtly.
"I know everything, so no need to explain."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Lania waited by Chloe's side until she could barely sit up. After some time passed and Chloe regained her senses, Lania finally began to speak.
"I heard the story. Everything up to Belnoa getting caught in the spell and going missing."
Chloe bowed her head deeply. Staring at her clenched fist, she muttered in a trembling voice.
"...We had won, but suddenly filth erupted from everywhere. It was a trap from the start."
"Probably."
That was its style.
Lania let out a long sigh. Chloe slowly turned to look at her. Though it had been a while, she hadn't changed at all from three years ago.
Sitting there exactly as she remembered.
Just as she always had, helping her.
The mere fact that Lania was here brought Chloe an unwitting sense of relief, even though nothing was resolved. She felt a twinge of self-loathing for it.
"...Senior."
She felt it, but...
"Belnoa got caught in the spell trying to save me. She got swallowed by it alone."
Still, Chloe opened her mouth.
She had no choice. As the hero feeling powerless now, the only one she could ask for help was the person sitting before her.
So, Chloe pleaded.
"Please."
She reached out to Lania, saying "please," and grasped her wrist. With trembling lips, Chloe spoke.
"Save Belnoa... please save Belnoa..."
"Chloe."
Lania cut her off.
A chilling voice. Chloe slowly raised her head to meet Lania's gaze. Those blue eyes felt unusually cold as they looked at her.
"Calm down and listen."
"Yes...?"
"At the same time Belnoa went missing, a massive barrier appeared in Artia. It's that shadow's handiwork—the same one you encountered in the capital four years ago."
Lania spoke matter-of-factly.
"Mana is in a rampage state inside the barrier. The shadow is conjuring 'something' with the densifying mana. I don't know exactly what... but it's definitely something that needs to be handled quickly."
"What... does that mean..."
"And."
She added.
"Kelrhalim is trapped inside that barrier."
Chloe, who had been about to say something, shut her mouth.
Lania hadn't explained in detail, but it was enough for Chloe to understand the situation. She knew how enormous that shadow was.
To dismantle that barrier.
To fight a potential battle there.
And to rescue Kelrhalim.
Chloe realized that the intervention of Hero Lania van Trias was essential. And what that fact implied.
"Th-that..."
Chloe, who had carried out numerous operations on the battlefield.
She was no longer a naive child ignorant of the world. She knew the world didn't work like fairy tales, where a hero appears and neatly resolves everything.
"......"
Chloe fell silent.
Because she had realized it too.
To save one side, she had to abandon the other. Asking the hero before her to "save Belnoa" would mean...
Let Kelrhalim die.
Chloe realized it equated to that. Her eyes shook violently. Her slightly parted lips moved, but no coherent words came out.
Still, save Belnoa, please.
She wanted to say it, but Chloe knew. The most heroic of heroes, Galarah, would never utter such selfish words. As his successor, she couldn't say it either.
"St-still..."
Her mind understood, but the words she shouldn't say kept trying to escape her lips. In the end, she clamped her mouth shut with her hand.
Her stifled breaths leaked through her fingers.
The girl who had become fixated on the hero who saved her couldn't utter a single word.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
[Open your eyes.] [Open your eyes, now.]
Hazy consciousness.
Aching body.
Echoing voice in her ears.
At the persistent voice, Belnoa slowly opened her eyes. Her eyelids felt heavy. Her body felt even heavier. Blinking, she slowly raised her head.
[You're finally awake, Contractor.]
The boulder she was leaning against.
Perched on that boulder, looking down at her with a bitter smile, the goddess entered Belnoa's vision.
"...Ugh."
Belnoa groaned as she tried to speak.
Pain like sparks in her eyes. She slowly touched the source of the pain. A deep gash marred her side.
The wound Asterio had inflicted in the final moment.
Pressing her palm hard against the oozing wound, Belnoa performed emergency treatment even in her fuzzy state. She pulled a potion bottle from her robe, downed half, poured the rest on the wound, tore cloth to bandage it.
"Ngh..."
How long had she been out?
Frowning at the pus seeping through the bandaged cloth, Belnoa noted her foggy mind from significant blood loss. She'd chugged potions, but searching her robe revealed most were shattered.
"Hoo..."
Letting out a long sigh, Belnoa relaxed against the boulder and closed her eyes.
[Feeling pretty bad?] "A bit painful."