The Change

"Roy! No!!!"

Adelia screamed and threw herself to the floor. Roy's collapsing body fell limply into her arms. Horrific red chunks spilled from his abdomen, soaking his clothes. The searing warmth felt so vivid that it seemed unreal.

"Roy! Open your eyes! Come on! Stay with me!"

Slapping his cheeks and shaking his shoulders brought no response. His face was deathly pale, his lips turning blue. His breathing grew ragged like scraping metal, then weakened until it seemed ready to snap.

This feeling...

Her heart plummeted. It was the same strange sensation she'd felt from the moment she first met Roy. The sole variable that had entangled itself with her soul, worn thin after 999 lifetimes, as if by fate.

He was dying.

Swish—

Through the crowd, she caught a glimpse of a black-hooded woman slipping away. The hilt in Adelia's grip trembled as if it might snap. She wanted to lunge after her, sever her head, and tear her limb from limb.

I have to chase her.

If she lost that woman, she'd never learn who was behind the attack. But...

She looked down at Roy. The moment she left his side, that faint breath would cease.

No.

Adelia shook her head violently. Revenge was not what mattered now.

I can't lose him. I will... save him!

Clutching Roy, she cried out in a voice that sounded torn.

"Yuriel!!! Hurry! Your holy power... Roy is dying!!!"

"Junior! Open your eyes!"

Yuriel rushed over, her face drained of color. The moment she saw Roy's gruesome wound, she dropped to her knees. The saintess's usually steady hands trembled like leaves in the wind.

"Holy Heal!"

Fwoooosh—

Blinding light erupted from her fingertips. Warm, sacred power seeped into Roy's torn abdomen.

Crackle...

The wound reacted. The gaping flesh began to knit together, slowly, painfully slowly.

*

...It hurts.

I forced my eyelids open with difficulty. Beyond my blurred vision, I saw Adelia's tear-streaked face.

"Extra?!"

Adelia... why?... You're crying...

I tried to lift my hand to wipe her tears, but I couldn't even twitch a finger.

"Stay awake! Don't close your eyes!"

So... sleepy...

My eyelids slid shut again.

*

"No! His consciousness is fading again...!"

Cold sweat beaded on Yuriel's forehead. She bit her lip and pushed her holy power to its limit. But the wound stopped closing. The flesh that had been mending turned black and necrotic, splitting open once more.

Hiss.

"Huh...?"

Yuriel's eyes shook.

"Why... why is it stopping? It's holy power... why?"

Dark red blood gushed out again. Adelia screamed.

"It's poison! The assassin's dagger... it was coated with a toxin that blocks regeneration!"

"Poison...?"

Yuriel's expression hardened. This was no ordinary poison. It was a curse-type toxin that even holy healing couldn't touch.

Murmur, murmur.

"Oh my, what's that?" "Did someone die?" "Look at all that blood... how horrible."

The onlookers' whispers grated on Yuriel's nerves.

Vwoooom—!

At that moment, massive wings of light unfurled behind Yuriel. It was the saintess's authority, Seraphim's Form. The crowd fell silent in awe.

"An angel..." "The saintess is about to perform a miracle!"

Yuriel concentrated, drawing up more holy power.

"Maximum Holy Purification!!"

She poured every ounce of her authority into the skill, teeth clenched.

"Grand Holy Purification!!"

A storm of light swallowed the street in white. Yet the black energy clinging to Roy's wound stubbornly endured.

Crackle.

"Why... why won't it work..."

Yuriel's gaze changed. The saintess's usual benevolent smile vanished. In its place remained only terror at the thought of losing someone she loved—and hatred for those who interfered.

She turned her head and glared at the onlookers.

"Get lost."

The cold command and the shockwave that followed sent the crowd scattering.

Boom!

"Kyaaah!" "What the—why is the saintess like that?!" "Th-the saintess has gone mad!!"

People fled screaming, but Yuriel paid them no mind. She pressed her bloodied hands against Roy's wound and sobbed.

"Please... please..."

The saintess's mask had shattered completely. She was no longer God's apostle—she was simply a woman clinging to her dying lover, wailing.

"Junior... don't go... please..."

...Cold.

Consciousness returned once more. Through hazy vision, Yuriel appeared—hair disheveled, makeup smeared by tears, pressing down on my stomach with a frenzied expression.

Saintess... why... are you like this...

"Junior?!"

Yuriel gasped when our eyes met.

"Your eyes are open?! Can you hear me?!"

Yeah...

My voice wouldn't come out.

"Just a little longer... hold on a little longer! I'll definitely save you! Even if I have to burn through my own life force...!"

...Thank you.

But it was the limit. My eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. The world darkened again.

"No! No!"

Yuriel's scream sounded distant.

Crackle.

"Right, potions! I have potions!"

Iris frantically rummaged through the spatial pouch at her waist. With trembling hands, she pulled out a red vial.

"If I make him drink this...!"

Iris forced Roy's mouth open. Her hands shook so badly that the contents spilled as she uncorked it.

"Drink! Please, swallow!"

She poured the potion into his mouth. But—

Trickle.

His throat didn't respond. The red liquid ran uselessly down his chin.

"No... he can't swallow... he's unconscious..."

Iris's eyes trembled. As the elven princess, she had always been composed. Human death was merely nature's course. Yet—

Why... why does my chest hurt so much?

She couldn't breathe. Roy's pale face. His cooling body.

He's just a human. Just a human man.

Then why—

I don't want this...

Tears fell onto Roy's cheek.

Please... I don't want him to die...

Iris clenched her teeth.

This human... can't die. I won't allow it.

Crackle.

Adelia snatched the potion from Iris's hands. At that moment—

...Something warm.

Something touched his lips. Soft, yielding. Warm liquid was forced into his mouth. Someone was prying open his sealed throat with their tongue, pouring life into him.

...Who?

When he cracked his eyes open, familiar platinum hair filled his vision. Adelia. She had taken the potion into her own mouth and was pressing her lips to his, feeding it to him directly. Her tears dripped onto his face.

Gulp.

His throat moved. The potion went down. When their lips parted, a clear thread stretched between them.

"Roy..."

She cupped his cheek.

"Please... live..."

Her eyes held more than a plea—they were a prayer. The desperate struggle of someone who had found her only hope after 999 lifetimes of despair and refused to let it go.

...Don't cry.

He wanted to raise his hand and wipe her tears, but his body still wouldn't obey.

Crackle.

But the toxin continued to gnaw at the wound. Recovery couldn't keep pace with the destruction.

"No... this isn't working either..."

Adelia screamed. She clutched his hand so tightly it felt like it might break.

This feeling...

Even as consciousness faded, her warmth remained vivid. That sense of souls connected, the same feeling he'd had since they first met.

I can't lose her.If I lose this person, I'm finished too.

Adelia's desperation, Yuriel's devotion, and Iris's awakening converged as one.

Crackle.

Crackle!

In that instant, a miracle occurred.

Fwoooooosh—!

Three different lights burst from the women's bodies. Adelia's golden, Yuriel's silver, Iris's green. The three lights merged into one and flowed into Roy's dying form.

It was warm. A cozy energy like a mother's embrace, like the primordial sea, wrapped around his entire body. The black toxin screamed as it was purified, and his torn organs instantly returned to their proper places.

*

And from the deepest part of the system, an alert rang out.

Crackle!

Darkness. He stood alone in an endless abyss.

What is this... a dream?... Obviously 1. Save me!

Without hesitation, he tried to choose option 1. But the system—no, the world—warned him.

Condition?

...So?

He snorted.

It's unfair that I almost died, but I'm not giving up here.

Adelia, Yuriel, and Iris had cried for him. He couldn't betray the hearts they had poured out to save him.

A bond tied by fate.

He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clenched his fist.

This time, I have to protect them.

Flash!

Blinding light swallowed him.

It was warm. So cozy and warm that he didn't want to wake up.

He slowly opened his eyes. A lavish ceiling came into view. It was a guest room at the Empire's Holy Kingdom branch.

Phew... I'm alive.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he tried to move—only to find he couldn't budge.

"Ugh?"

His arms and stomach felt heavy. He turned his head to the right. Adelia was using his right arm as a pillow, fast asleep.

Nice, her chest is... touching me.

He carefully turned his head left. There was Yuriel. Her ample curves, revealed through her disheveled saintess robes, pressed against his left arm.

Both sides... what kind of luxury is this?

But it didn't end there.

"Mmm..."

Iris was lying on his stomach, using him as a blanket.

I'm completely trapped...!

He couldn't move an inch, yet instead of feeling suffocated, a warm feeling welled up in his chest. They must have stayed up all night nursing him.

"...Thank you."

When he murmured softly, Adelia's eyelashes fluttered.

"Mm... Extra...?"

She opened her sleepy eyes and met his gaze.

"...!"

Her face turned beet red in an instant as she realized she had been sleeping with her chest pressed against his arm.

"Y-you're awake?!"

She bolted upright, shaking the bed. The motion woke Yuriel as well.

"Junior...?"

She rubbed her eyes, assessed the situation, and smiled brightly instead of feeling embarrassed.

"Oh my... good morning♡"

Far from being shy, she nuzzled her face deeper into his arm.

"Yuriel! Get off!"

Adelia exploded.

"Ugh... so noisy..."

Iris grumbled from his stomach, pressing down on it without opening her eyes.

"You all... stayed here all night?"

Adelia answered curtly.

"Of course. We stayed until you woke up."

"......Idiot."

Iris muttered, still face-down on his stomach.

"Be careful next time. If you die, I won't forgive you. I was... worried..."

The tips of her pointed ears were bright red. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠usually sharp-tongued Iris speaking so honestly...

Is it because of the faith points?

"...Thanks, Princess."

"...Hmph. It was nothing. I just didn't want to waste the potion. It was supreme-grade, after all."

A lie. Her voice trembled. A warm feeling rose from deep in his chest.

These people protected me.

From now on... it's my turn to protect them.

A short while later, only Adelia and Roy remained in the room.

"Sorry. You went through so much because of me."

"...Idiot."

Adelia squeezed his hand tightly.

"It wasn't your fault. Don't say that. Ever since we met, I've felt like something connected us. So I... never want to lose you."

"Got it. I'll be careful."

He suddenly wondered about the assassin.

"By the way, Adelia. That assassin?"

"...I lost her. Saving you came first."

She clenched her fist.

"But it's strange. The timing was too perfect—last time and this time. It feels like someone's leaking information."

He thought the same.

"Let's find them together. Don't carry it alone."

"Yeah. Together."

After Adelia left, Roy sat alone on the bed and raised his hand.

Crackle.

...It got strengthened.

The ability that had activated when he died last time. Now it was enhanced.

It won't tell me the details. But it's definitely an important change.

He looked at the boots beside the bed.

The boots that had refused to activate due to mana depletion. But their performance was certain. These A-rank boots and the strengthened regression trait.

Not a bad price to pay for almost dying.

Crackle.

The system's warning was clear. From now on, enemies would be stronger and more cunning.

This won't do. I need to become much stronger.

*

[Same time, far outside the mansion]

On a hill where dusk was beginning to fall, a man stood. Golden hair blazing red in the sunset.

Helios von Roengard.

In the shadow beside him knelt a black-hooded woman on one knee.

"I'm sorry... I failed."

The woman's voice was low.

"I inflicted a fatal wound, but... the saintess, the hero, and the elven princess intervened..."

"Enough."

Helios raised a hand, cutting her off irritably.

"For a bug, his vitality is quite tenacious."

A cold smile curved his lips. His golden eyes stared at the mansion's window. Through it, the silhouettes of Adelia and Roy were visible.

"My fiancée Adelia... daring to be with a bug of unknown lineage like that."

His gaze turned icy. It was more than simple jealousy—it was the displeasure of a master whose possession had been violated.

"Interesting. But..."

He looked down coldly at the assassin and murmured.

"If you fail next time, I'll wipe out your entire clan."

"...Yes."

The assassin bit her lip until it bled. She bowed deeply and melted into the darkness.

Left alone, Helios clenched his fist.

"Roy Banes... I'll find out exactly what you are."

His killing intent stretched toward the mansion.

"And... I will definitely eliminate you."

*

Crackle.

Roy swallowed dryly. An invisible enemy's killing intent. But there was no time to tremble in fear.

"Let's train, Adelia."

"Yeah."

From that day on, relentless hellish training began, day and night.

Every day

He woke to muscle pain that felt like it would tear him apart. Outside the window, the red sun was rising.

Roy equipped the Guardian Dagger in the dormitory and tightly tied the laces of the Phantom Dance boots on the floor. His condition was perfect, and his resolve was firm.

Yes—

Today was the day. The great branching point of the original story, and another battlefield he had to survive.

Finally, the day of the dungeon practical training had dawned.