Chapter 322: A Maiden's Resolve
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 322: A Maiden's Resolve
"I have to be faster."
Once her mind was made up, Liya did not hesitate for a single second.
She turned her back to the light and sprinted toward the depths of the darkness.
Fear, cowardice, incompetence—none of those things mattered now.
All she had to do was reach his side with speed—the greatest speed she could muster.
Every second of delay could lead to the one outcome she dreaded most.
And so, even though she was rushing toward a danger she had never before possessed the courage to face, Liya moved even faster than when she had been fleeing from it.
...But before she could cover much ground, her footsteps came to a sudden halt.
She stared into the shadows cast by a massive tree, her delicate face turning incredibly grim.
"...Who's there?"
"Oh? You actually noticed me?"
A sudden wind whipped through the trees.
It was sinister and bone-chilling.
Along with the whistling wind came a voice just as eerie:
"What a pity. I was planning to wait until the very last moment—just as you were about to step out of the forest and think you’d escaped—to plunge you into total despair. I truly love seeing the expression on a beautiful girl's face when she falls from hope into utter hopelessness; it leaves a wonderful aftertaste every time. I didn't expect you to actually turn back. You're just as foolish as that Muen Campbell."
A figure slowly approached, his footsteps crunching on the fallen leaves with a rustling sound that resembled a monster's whisper.
"But on second thought, isn't this better? The more you care about that Muen Campbell, and the more he cares about you, the more... excited I feel."
The figure finally revealed himself fully to Liya. That familiar, cold face caused her expression to freeze instantly.
Her heart sank like a stone.
"It's you... Barton?"
Why was he here? Shouldn't he be...
"Hey now, don't give me that stupid look, as if you can't believe I'm here."
"True, logically speaking, what I should be doing right now is helping the others corner and kill Muen Campbell—personally hacking him into mincemeat, blade by blade, to vent my rage for how he toyed with me before. But... when I thought about it, that seemed a bit lacking in flavor, don't you think?"
Barton bared his teeth in a hideous grin and laughed.
"I have killed many people using all sorts of methods and means, and I have conducted many experiments. Better than anyone, I know how to make a person die in agony amidst total despair. For instance, killing a wife in front of her husband. Killing a son in front of his father. Or, amidst a mother's desperate wails, tossing her newborn infant into a pot of boiling oil."
"Or perhaps, after slaughtering an entire village, leaving behind a pair of childhood sweethearts who share a deep bond. I'd throw a knife between them and tell them that the winner gets to live. Ha, haha! Watching those inseparable sweethearts turn on each other with bloodshot eyes like wild beasts... that feeling is truly addictive. And of course, the grand finale: killing the winner just as they realize the horror of what they've done, letting them die in agonizing regret while staring into the lifeless eyes of the one they killed!"
"You..."
Liya’s slender frame trembled. "You scum!"
"That's right, I am scum. So, my beautiful lady, do you understand now? The reason I'm here."
Barton licked his lips, his predatory gaze sweeping wantonly over Liya’s perfect figure.
"I am going to torture and defile you in the most cruel, most agonizing way possible, right in front of that Muen Campbell who was willing to sacrifice himself to save you! Only then will that high-and-mighty Duke's son truly understand the meaning of despair! Ha... just thinking about the look on his face makes me so excited I can hardly contain myself!"
"...Doing this is useless. You've misunderstood. Muen... Classmate Muen and I aren't in that kind of relationship," Liya said, her teeth clenched.
"Heh, who knows?"
Barton chuckled.
"Alright, I've said my piece. Beautiful lady, you may start running now."
"Run...?"
"Exactly! A struggling prey makes the hunt so much more interesting, doesn't it?"
Barton clapped his hands as if shooing an animal. "Run! Hurry up and run! The forest exit is just behind you. Run toward it, toward that light! Use every trick you have to flee! I, Butcher Barton, am going to enjoy this thoroughly."
The forest was deathly cold.
The mutated snakes and insects that usually infested the area seemed to have been driven away by the terrifying aura radiating from Barton. Aside from the occasional caw of a crow from somewhere in the distance, there was only a heavy silence.
"..."
Liya looked at Barton, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Terrifying...
So terrifying.
Everything this man said was true; there wasn't a hint of a lie. He had killed many people, and he had done so in the most horrific ways imaginable. The scent of blood clinging to him was so thick it felt like it would never dissipate.
Run!
Run, Liya!
You aren't good at fighting; you're no match for him!
That voice echoed in Liya’s mind again, tugging at her nerves, urging her to flee—to be the harmless prey Barton wanted her to be and run away with her tail between her legs.
That was what the cowardly girl who always hid behind Ariel was supposed to do.
But...
But.
"I... I won't run anymore."
In that moment, her clear words echoed through the woods, shattering the deathly silence.
"Hmm?"
A look of confusion crossed Barton's face.
Because the girl in front of him suddenly seemed... different.
At first, her head had been bowed, an aura of fear surrounding her as her body shook. Anyone would have seen her as nothing more than a helpless, pitiful, non-threatening girl.
But gradually, she straightened her neck, inch by inch. She forced her trembling body to go still.
Bit by bit... she clenched her fists.
Though tears still shimmered in the corners of her eyes, they were being overtaken by a light called resolve and courage.
"I won't run anymore. Even if I'm alone, even if Ariel isn't here to stand in front of me, I won't run again."
That was right.
She was Liya Angel.
One of the Saintess Candidates of the Life Church, Liya Angel.
The person that he had said was the most suited to become the Saintess.
A future Saintess would not turn her back and flee like a pathetic dog because of scum like this.
"I need to get through."
The sinister wind blew through her long hair, revealing eyes that still held a trace of fragility but would no longer be easily broken.
Liya grasped the Holy Light.
But this time, the light was no longer warm and gentle. It was like... a razor-sharp blade!
"So... please step aside!"
...
"Interesting..."
After a brief silence, Barton stared intently at Liya. His muscular body actually began to... tremble.
But it wasn't from fear.
It was from... excitement!
Pure, unadulterated excitement!
"Interesting! You are far too interesting!"
Barton clawed at his own head, leaving bloody gashes that made him look even more monstrous.
"I've never met someone as interesting as you! What happened? In just a few minutes, what on earth happened to make you... so perfect?"
"But... doesn't this just add to the fun?"
"Come!"
Barton roared with laughter.
"Let me... utterly destroy you!!"