Antlion Pit (19)
"What do you mean by that method?"
"A way to break this hallucinatory state. You wouldn't claim ignorance, would you?"
A wise person always prepares countermeasures before employing any means. After all, one must consider the possibility of being exploited in turn or using it as leverage in negotiations. In that sense, I believed Ser would naturally have a solution. Cynical as his personality was, he was nothing if not thorough. And indeed, Ser soon provided an answer that met my expectations.
[A method... I would like to say there is one, but with the ingredients we can currently obtain, it's actually impossible to dispel the hallucinatory state. It requires a bit of effort. Besides, since it wears off with time anyway, we never paid much attention to antidotes when administering the drug. However...]
"However?"
[If it's not about dispelling the hallucination but merely enduring it, then there is a way.]
Ser had me take out several of the remaining medicinal herbs I possessed and instructed me to put one in my mouth and chew it.
"What is this?"
[Ah, that's motherwort. It's normally used for women's ailments, but...]
The herb in my hand writhed like a snake, perhaps due to the hallucination's influence. It looked thoroughly unappetizing, but given the circumstances, I had no choice but to toss it into my mouth and chew. I immediately found myself writhing from the horrific bitterness flooding my mouth.
[It's incredibly bitter. Feeling a bit clearer now? Then shall we start properly compounding the herbs?]
As I crawled on the floor from that overwhelming bitterness, Ser's nonchalant explanation followed. It certainly seemed effective, but... while fighting the urge to scrape my tongue clean, I also felt the urge to rip Ser's head off and ground my teeth in frustration. Someday, I swore, I would have my revenge.
Thanks to Ser's help—whether it was genuine assistance or just another round of torment—I managed to combine the necessary herbs and prepare several packets.
"Now how do I use these?"
[Take one packet first. Then, if the hallucination starts returning while walking, keep taking one packet at a time. Of course, each time you'll feel the urge to pull your stomach out and rinse it with water, but compared to our current crisis, that's a minor issue, isn't it?]
He was right. He was right, but... the moment I tossed the first packet into my mouth, I shuddered with nausea at a taste so indescribably horrific that it made the motherwort seem mild by comparison. Was I staying free of hallucinations because of the medicine's effect, or because of this atrocious taste? Ser didn't specify, but I was privately certain it was the latter as I gazed at the remaining packets with tears in my eyes. Did I really have to keep moving while eating these? But the answer was already clear, and I let out a sigh.
"...Damn it."
I immediately set off. Now that things had come to this, I needed to find Sun Quan and end this situation before I had to consume even one more packet. I activated my physical enhancement and ran diligently in the direction Sun Quan had disappeared, but soon encountered the strange phenomenon of the path sinking into the ground and stopped.
"Already?"
No matter how I looked at it, this was far too soon. When I asked Ser about it, he replied in his usual calm tone.
[It seems excessive exercise has put you in an excited state. In short, the faster you run, the faster you need to replenish your fuel?]
....Damn it!!! It meant that to cover the same distance, I had to consume the same amount of medicine. But to keep taking this drug—something that made my spine crawl and brought tears to my eyes just from touching my tongue—at this rate... I'd never been poisoned in my life, but this must be what it felt like. And I had to take more? The thought that going slower might be better even crossed my mind, but ultimately the answer remained the same, so I had to act on it.
"Ghhhk!!!!"
I squeezed my eyes shut, tossed the medicine into my mouth, regulated my breathing, and started running again. Ah... the tears wouldn't stop. Something like stomach acid seemed to be rising in my throat... When I took the next packet, I noticed my hands trembling. My body was finally starting to refuse the medicine! Please hold on, my tongue and stomach and everything else... With that thought, I desperately prayed that if someone lived in the heavens, they would let me meet Sun Quan quickly. In the end, however, all I confirmed was the gloomy conclusion that at least in this world, no such capable or willing being existed.
"Wait right there!!!!!!!!"
By the time I finally reached Sun Quan, only one packet remained in my hand. Already battered and bruised, I spotted her just before she was about to be sliced alive while caught in a proper encirclement. I mustered every last ounce of strength, shouted to draw all attention at once, and leaped straight toward her.
"H-Hwanin? How?"
"How, my ass... Just a moment."
I pushed the flustered Sun Quan aside for now and attempted to negotiate with the man who had been about to carve her up. He looked like a low-ranking officer with at most a dozen subordinates. Someone like that wouldn't know my face, so even if I dealt with him directly, my identity shouldn't be exposed.
"There's a situation, so considering our relationship, I'd like you to clear the way here for a moment."
"What? Are you crazy... Wait, you. Are you crying right now?"
The burly man, who had been speaking as if he were looking at a madman, said that after seeing me, and only then did I realize the tears I'd shed while running were still flowing.
"That guy, his legs are trembling too, aren't they?"
"Leave him be. If we scare him a little more, he'll probably piss himself."
No, wait. My legs were shaking because I'd been running too hard until just now, and the medicine was the reason for everything else... But the man already viewed me as completely ridiculous and, with an oddly pitying expression, waved his hand dismissively without even listening to my explanation.
"Kid, you look so pathetic that I'll go easy on you this once. Get lost."
"No, that won't do. That girl is mine, after all."
I really needed her for my resurrection. With that resolve, I thrust out my sword, but unfortunately it didn't seem very threatening. The man kindly pointed out the problem with my stance.
"She's your woman, I see? Your courage is admirable, but... can't you see your hand holding the sword is trembling...? Hands don't lie. So just follow your instincts... You're a good kid, so you understand what I mean, right?"
No, I'm telling you it's because of the medicine. But instead of listening to such explanations, the man burst into laughter along with his subordinates, their bellies shaking. These bastards. I sighed, tossed the last remaining packet into my mouth, and in one leap grabbed the laughing officer's head with both hands before driving my knee up and smashing it.
"H-Huh...!!"
The sudden turn of events left the other soldiers with nothing to do but stammer, and the attack continued on them as well. I hadn't wanted to attack allied soldiers if possible, but once blood had been spilled, persuasion wasn't easy, and I didn't have the luxury to hold back. Moreover, I didn't want any external variables interfering until the situation here was resolved. There was no other way.
"As expected, there's no time."
Recalling the saying about desperate times, I drove my fist properly into one man's stomach and brought down the last resister. Damn it. Moving my body too vigorously really made the medicine wear off faster. Right after taking down the final man, I sensed my head starting to spin again and felt the urgent need to wrap things up. There was no more medicine left. I'd pushed myself when my strength hadn't fully returned, so I was gasping for breath with my entire body drenched in sweat. Normally I would have avoided fighting in this state, but it was still better than suffering hallucinations and swinging at empty air.
[Are you really going to do it yourself...?]
"I don't have a choice."
I'd taken down the soldiers for now, but since Sun Quan had been captured, reports would have already gone up through military channels. Other soldiers from Ye Gwan's forces would likely arrive soon. With the medicine to suppress the hallucination gone, the chances of Sun Quan withstanding their attack until I escaped the effects were practically zero. Now that I could no longer execute my original plan of completely toying with Sun Quan on a grand final stage, dropping her into my grasp, and then revealing the truth to shatter her fate, I had no choice but to resort to this distasteful alternative.
"I'll have to kill her."