Chapter 33 The Mage Scarlet
Chapter 33: {The Mage Scarlet}
{The Mage Scarlet}
He's gone.
Scarlet, the beautiful mage with long crimson hair, stood frozen as she stared at the spot where Yu Ji-hu had vanished.
Just moments ago, she had believed that once the Demon King was slain, nothing but happiness awaited them. But now, all of that had been shattered—by their own hands.
Deceived by the false oracle fabricated by the Demon King Reisir, they had betrayed him. They had tried to kill him.
Though he hadn't died—though he had escaped back to Earth—the blood he left behind from their attacks was still starkly visible.
No... No, no, no...
Drowning in endless despair, Scarlet was seized by the terror that she might never see him again. That he had returned to Earth grievously wounded.
They would be remembered forever as the women who betrayed him. Who tried to murder him.
She would never even get the chance to apologize.
And she wasn't the only one drowning in that despair. The other three were just as broken.
"Ugh... Ugh—hurk—!"
Iris, who had personally run him through with her sword, was now doubled over, retching violently.
There has to be a way. There has to be.
Scarlet knew she was barely holding onto her sanity herself, but compared to the others, she was at least still somewhat lucid.
Because unlike them, who could only wallow in hopelessness, she was a mage. And so, she forced her mind to work.
There is a way!
And soon, she found it.
Thanks to the research documents they had seized from the Demon King's forces during their last assault.
There was definitely something about dimensional travel in there!
With the summoned Hero, Yu Ji-hu, rapidly turning the tide of the war, the Demon King's army had likely studied him in detail to find a way to counter him.
But now, those very documents had become Scarlet's lifeline.
If I think about it, the Demon Realm where Reisir and the demons originally came from is another dimension too. They must have researched dimensional travel.
She hastily opened her subspace and pulled out the documents she had stashed away.
The other three were still lost in despair, barely coherent, but Scarlet feverishly skimmed through the papers, even using speed-reading magic to absorb the information faster.
Found it!
And there it was—the method for crossing dimensions.
Under normal circumstances, the contents would have been too gruesome for her to stomach alone. She had planned to review them together with the others later.
But now, drowning in guilt, none of that mattered. And because she had pushed through, she found what she needed.
The research notes are inside the Demon King's castle?
As luck would have it, they were already standing in Reisir's fortress—the very place where the most crucial records would be. Scarlet immediately cast a detection spell, expecting resistance, but to her surprise, locating the documents was absurdly easy.
They were all neatly organized in a single room.
Even categorized for convenience.
Scarlet zeroed in on the section labeled Dimensions and began reading.
"To traverse dimensions with ease, one requires an object or being native to the target world... Alternatively, a piece of the target's body—blood, hair, etc. Otherwise, forcibly tearing open a dimensional gate demands an immense amount of energy, equivalent to sacrificing an entire world..."
The exact phrasing was different, but after cross-referencing multiple documents, the conclusion was clear.
And when she converted the related formulas into magic, the result was undeniable—dimensional travel was possible.
If only we had known this sooner...
Scarlet bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
Had they known, they would never have fallen for the Demon King's false oracle.
Because according to these records, Ji-hu—being a native of Earth—wouldn't have needed anything else to return.
But for those not of Earth to follow, they'd need either an object from that world or a piece of a native's body. Otherwise, the energy required would be on the scale of sacrificing an entire world.
And then it hit her.
The blood.
The blood Ji-hu had spilled when Iris stabbed him.
Their only hope of reaching him now was the very evidence of their betrayal—his wounds.
And for the energy... the Demon King's heart would suffice.
The irony wasn't lost on her.
Ji-hu...
They had tried to kill him, believing the lie that he would use the Demon King's heart to doom their world just to return to Earth.
But now, though they had no intention of destroying anything, they would use that same heart to follow him—just to apologize.
We wouldn't even need the heart's full power.
What made it even more bitter was that just as the Holy Sword could have sent him back effortlessly, even a fraction of the Demon King's heart's energy would be enough for the four of them to make the journey.
What was Reisir even planning? An invasion of Earth?
But as a mage, Scarlet couldn't help but question the unnervingly well-organized research.
It almost seemed like preparations had been made for traveling to Earth.
Why?
Ji-hu said Earth's military power was even stronger than ours...
Even if the Demon King's forces had gone, they might have harmed civilians, but Earth's powerful Awakened would have crushed them.
They would've just died. So why?
Under normal circumstances, the rational mage in her would have investigated further.
But not now.
Ji-hu... I'll find you. No matter what.
She needed to see him again.
Every time she remembered him—wounded, dying, because of them—it felt like madness was eating away at her mind. She couldn't think straight.
She had to apologize.
Even if he killed her in retaliation for their betrayal, she would die with a smile.
Even if he never forgave her, even if he only hated them a little less—that alone would be enough to make her happy.
I don't want to be remembered forever as the woman who betrayed and hurt him.
With that single thought, she pushed all other doubts aside.
Only one thing mattered now.
I have to preserve the scene.
If the bloodstains were cleaned, their last hope would vanish.
Rushing back, she was relieved to find the other three still catatonic with despair, and the area untouched.
The Demon King Reisir's heart.
They wouldn't even need its full power—just a fraction would be enough.
And since there was no reason to share it with anyone else, Scarlet stored the heart in her subspace.
If you were just going to die like this, why...?
She glared hatefully at Reisir's lifeless corpse.
She couldn't understand.
No—she refused to understand.
You ruined everything between us and Ji-hu.
The choice had been theirs, but it was Reisir who had manipulated them into betraying him.
She had tried to turn Ji-hu into a Demon King, to make him seek vengeance—but he had refused. He had simply left.
I don't know why you were so desperate to make him a monster, even at the cost of your own life...
But the dead couldn't answer.
And even if they could, it wouldn't change anything.
Their betrayal was still their own doing.
The only thing left for me is to find Ji-hu and beg for forgiveness.
That was the only path left—for Scarlet, for Iris, for Mine, for Yenia.
The dimensional shift magic required to reach Earth would take a month to complete.
The groundwork was already laid—now, they just had to wait for time to pass.
Half of that month was already gone.
Faster... Faster...
Scarlet wished for the magic's completion more desperately than anyone, but time refused to bend.
Iris, Mine, and Yenia had hoped she could hasten the process, but even Scarlet had her limits.
Only half a month had passed, yet she already felt hollowed out.
No—they all did.
For the first time in her life, she realized how agonizingly slow time could crawl.
If I could just see his face one more time...
That was all she wanted.
And so, Scarlet prayed—for the remaining days to pass in a blink.