Chapter 270
Chapter 270
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Truth
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"...Erdel?"
"Just wait a moment, Hero. I'll finish the story after I kill that damn bastard first."
"Ahaha..! Of course.. There's no way you wouldn't be by this hero's side. You must have been watching from somewhere, right? From your reaction, it looks like you saw everything that just happened."
"...Shut your mouth."
Erdel's face was twisted in fury, while Barshutain's was filled with twisted delight, as if he couldn't contain his joy at the situation. It was enough to make anyone wonder who the real villain was.
The moment Barshutain spotted Erdel, he straightened his disheveled clothes from our intimate encounter and had already drawn a red sword from somewhere before I even noticed.
"By the way, manifesting in such a state. You're still lingering in that world, aren't you? You think you can beat this fully intact body of mine, even though you're so interfered with that you can't even properly manifest your form?"
"We'll find out starting now."
"Foolish, so foolish. How long do you think the Saintess will keep acting on pure emotion? Just last time, a little prodding was enough to make you lose it and let me slip away."
I could feel the killing intent radiating from Erdel growing stronger as Barshutain kept needling her...
"...Isn't that enough stalling for time?"
"Stalling for time? Why do you think that?"
"Sure, you didn't finish the job back then, but you did burn most of his soul. He couldn't have recovered in this short time. And with most of his kin lost, it wouldn't be easy to even set up a proper environment for recovery. Plus, when you crossed over into this space, your body was a total mess, battered all over. And you wasted time playing your twisted games instead of drinking the Hero's blood for any meaningful recovery."
"Hah, still as good as ever at jumping to conclusions. That kind of forced reasoning isn't helpful at a—"
-Shiiiing!!!!!
"Kuh!"
"It's true my power is heavily restricted in this state, but you're in the same boat, Barshutain."
'...She was bluffing?'
I hadn't seen through it because she was so brazen.
It gave me chills seeing her bluff so naturally even in such a disadvantageous situation.
-Boom!
The Saintess and the Vampire Lord.
Both were powerhouses who wouldn't be outmatched even by the top elites of the martial world, but their poor conditions meant the scale of the fight was smaller than expected.
Erdel's body barely held its shape in a flicker of white light, repeatedly blurring and brightening to prove its instability.
And Barshutain visibly winced with each clash, barely absorbing the recoil—obvious even to me, who knew nothing about fighting.
As I watched their battle in a daze, a familiar voice echoed in my head.
-Flinch!
It was different from her earlier bloodthirsty tone—closer to Erdel's usual voice.
But somehow, the sudden shift in that short time felt even more terrifying.
'A... favor?'
'Th-then...'
'Enchantment...?'
Looking at Barshutain again after hearing Erdel's words, the forced emotions from before felt much weaker now.
And in their place, disgust flooded in instantly. I clamped my mouth shut on reflex.
'Wh-what did I just do?'
With a woman like that? Feel love for the root of all evil who slaughtered countless people from the Central Plains and nearly killed my master? Enjoy such tender sex with her?
Even while knowing it was wrong?
"Ugh... Uweeep..."
I couldn't hold it back—something rose from my stomach. But with no proper meals lately, it was just saliva and sticky bile.
The acrid burn creeping up my throat was awful, but the mental shock hit even harder.
It felt like bugs crawling all over my skin.
But the situation wouldn't even let me have that.
'O-okay.'
Forcing my unresponsive body up, I dragged myself deeper into the warehouse.
My clothes were torn to shreds from moments ago, and I looked like hell, but did that matter now?
I roughly gathered the rags around me and shuffled forward until I spotted the glittering pile of gold coins.
"...Wow."
Even in this situation, the sight drew an involuntary gasp of awe.
Money really did have some kind of magic to lift one's spirits.
'N-no. She said time's short.'
Erdel's manifestation wouldn't last much longer, so I approached the pile as instructed and reached out to touch it.
And at that moment—
-Crackle!!!
"Stoooop!!!"
-Thud!
A familiar crackling sound and a shrill voice rang in my ears as someone yanked me back.
"Y-you! It's been a while, so I thought you'd be happy to— No!! What the hell have you been up to all this time?!"
"Ye... So-cheon...?"
"I followed the vampire's trail, and it suddenly cuts off at the Heavenly Demon's place! I was gonna ask if you'd seen him, but instead she demands the secret to stealing your heart!! What did you do to that monster of a woman to fill her eyes with such jealous rage?!"
Was this real? Had I unknowingly fallen under some hallucination spell?
"This isn't a hallucination or dream, so say something! Fine, the Heavenly Demon aside—what did you do with that white witch?! What could you have done to crack the dimensional walls that ba—"
Ye So-cheon was talking so fast I couldn't process it all, but one thing stood out.
Erdel had done something drastic to manifest in that state.
And it was far from welcome in Ye So-cheon's eyes.
"Th-the Vampire Lord showed up suddenly, so the Saintess had to manifest in a hurry..."
That was when it happened.
"Hah... Hah... This damn bitch... Always such a pain right to the end..."
-Flinch!
The sound of something being dragged, paired with Barshutain's voice.
There was only one thing that could mean.
"Saintess?!"
"He...ro..."
Had I been too late?
Did my short chat with Ye So-cheon cause this?
Guilt surged as I realized the Saintess had ended up like this because of me—
"...Step back."
"...Pardon?"
"Something's... off. Stay back for a bit."
Ye So-cheon blocked my path, shielding me behind her.
"The Saintess of this world...? When did you get here...?"
"Don't come any closer."
"...Are you talking to me? Can't you see what shape I'm in...?"
"You or that bloodsucking monster. Both of you."
"Hah, who do you think you are, ordering me around?"
Something was going seriously wrong here.
Ye So-cheon eyed Barshutain, who had dragged in the fallen Saintess, but seemed even more wary of the Saintess herself.
"...Explain why the 'channel' you call—the link between you and this man—is connected to that monster too."
"...Pardon?"
"...What?"
Not just me—surprisingly, Barshutain reacted too to Ye So-cheon's words.
"Wench. What nonsense is that? A channel connecting me and this damn bitch...?"
"I didn't know the principle before due to lack of info... But this close, I can tell. Especially since she tore through dimensions to manifest a holy body... It's crystal clear now."
"..."
"Don't try recent-creation excuses. I'm not dumb enough to miss the timing."
The interrogation was so confusing I couldn't keep up—
"...Hahat."
A laugh escaped the fallen Saintess's lips.
"Hahat!! Ahahaha!!!"
"..."
Ye So-cheon swallowed hard and gripped her sword tighter at the hollow, strangely liberated laughter.
"Ah... I wondered how long this charade would last, but you gave me an unexpected opening. I might've fooled the Hero like always if you weren't here—no need to wring out excuses now."
"...Huh?"
"Want the truth? I actually thought I'd be found out much sooner. But the longer it went, the more I realized the Hero believes people way too easily, don't you think?"
"W-wait. What do you...?"
Fooled? Exposed? What?
She'd been deceiving me all this time?
Why? Since when?
"...Erdel. What the hell have you...?"
"Ah, shut up, Barshutain. You're already useless."
"What do you... Kgh?!"
-Shururuk!
The Saintess, who had been limp in Barshutain's grip, suddenly seized his arm and began sucking something out of him.
"Wh-what are you...?"
"What's wrong, Hero? You still don't get it?"
Erdel, who had been on the verge of vanishing, now looked perfectly fine as if it had all been an act. She filled my vision.
"You've been fooled this whole time, Hero. By me."
-Smirk
Everything about her
signaled that everything I'd believed had just crumbled.