Chapter 28 Good morning, good afternoon, and good night

“Let’s go.

Magic.”

Lia picked up her shattered confidence and stepped onto the final stretch toward the mountain peak.

She had expected to encounter members of the Moonmist Sect or more ferocious beasts along the way.

But the path proved surprisingly safe—almost unnervingly so—as if something was waiting for them at the end.

When Lia finally saw the scene from her dreams, all the thoughts racing through her mind were stolen away by the colossal creature before her.

“Is this the National Guardian Beast? It really exists?”

The dragon-shaped creature lay silently asleep beneath the six bent black stone pillars, occasionally exhaling a gentle breath through its nostrils.

So, what should they do next?

Destroy the array and wake it up directly?

Lia had just prepared to try; she barely touched the edge of the Rune Array when a protective mechanism shocked her with a paralyzing jolt.

Force wasn’t going to work.

At a loss, she noticed several Moonmist Sect followers standing behind the array, concentrating as they worked together to release an unknown spell.

“Let’s observe first, then decide.” Tina quietly pulled Lia behind a tree to watch the sect’s movements.

They had already sent the little girl to a safe spot on the way they came.

The followers muttered counter and destruction incantations under their breath, and Lia immediately understood—they were also trying to open this array.

If that was the case, it was better to let them proceed for now, then deal with them all once the array was destroyed.

After waiting for nearly five minutes, the sect finally finished their incantation and unleashed a terrifying beam of laser magic at the protective array before them.

The laser almost completely destroyed the stone pillar formation, and the National Guardian Beast, sealed for a thousand years, began to awaken, slowly arching its massive body.

They then prepared the next array; light columns rose to surround the beast, rapidly beginning to control the ancient creature within.

“Now!” came the command.

Tina knocked out all the unsuspecting followers, while Lia transmitted her magic to take over the array.

“This is a control-type array?”

Lia sensed the beast’s inner aura through the array.

Though weakened from centuries of sealing, it still had enough residual power to hold on for a time before death.

But it seemed filled with rage, no longer able to communicate; the curse inside occupied most of its body, leaving only a small blank area deep within.

“Tina, can we succeed?”

Lia’s excitement was hard to conceal.

If the beast could absorb the curse from Tina’s leg, Tina could recover and live a happy life with her.

What she hadn’t expected was that even the Moonmist Sect underestimated the beast’s power.

Despite numerous improvements to the array, they still couldn’t fully control it—and it seemed on the verge of breaking free by force.

“No, we can’t fail!”

She poured her remaining magic into the array, intensifying the control.

For a moment, she truly controlled the beast’s movements and began drawing the curse from Tina’s leg.

Dark lines flowed through the air, streaming from the girl’s body into the beast’s.

Soon, the bruised black patches on Tina’s leg began to fade, and it seemed she had truly regained the ability to move.

“That’s great!”

Before they could rejoice, the beast in the pillar lost the last shred of reason, violently attacking the array.

Its bestial strength struck Lia with such force that she spat blood, struggling to maintain the array with her nearly depleted magic.

Only lasting a second, the light pillars shattered, unable to suppress the beast any longer.

In an instant, the dragon’s scales turned into tangible waves of curse, rapidly spreading down the mountain.

What made Lia even more desperate was that the land of the Keliweier Kingdom also appeared not far below the mountain, exposed by the collapse of the witch’s array.

—This place was always one.

“Tina? Tina!”

The girl who had been sitting behind the tree was gone, swallowed by the spreading curse waves.

Panic over the girl’s disappearance echoed in Lia’s mind as a blank buzzing sound, driving her to the brink of madness.

The curse scattered into the world; the mountain’s base soon echoed with endless wails as despair filled the air.

She thought she heard the little girl’s cries—tormented by the curse, unbearable pain clinging to her soul.

She heard the beast’s centuries-old rage roar, nearly piercing her eardrums.

Why—why was she unharmed? Why wasn’t she affected by the curse?

Looking down, Lia saw a circle of golden light resisting the waves, preventing the curse from tainting her even slightly.

Did Tina do this? But where was she? Where had she gone?

Besides the black shadows rising continuously from the waves, there was no sign of any living person.

Manifested monsters turned into relics of old illusions, the source of the curse, and they came at Lia relentlessly.

She felt like she was going to die here.

The golden circle dimmed under the monsters’ attacks but managed to kill one with every counterstrike.

After an unknown length of time, the circle finally shattered, leaving only one indistinct monster slowly approaching Lia.

“Don’t, don’t come any closer!”

Without magic, her body was her only weapon.

So.

Lia gathered all her strength and delivered a merciless palm strike through the monster’s chest.

“Is it over?”

The monster’s black sludge melted in her hand, but instead of disgust, Lia felt a strange warmth.

The temperature was human-like, and for a moment, she was dazed.

Wait—

Wiping her eyes, she realized the waves had already receded.

Or rather, from beginning to end, the curse’s spread was intangible, never truly taking a black form.

Then what had she just seen?

At this moment, an impossible thought rose in her heart.

Her mind had been influenced by the beast, causing hallucinations.

But the warmth in her hand was not an illusion.

It was…

“Tina? How is this possible?”

The one she had pierced was the person she loved most.

“This must be a hallucination, right? The real thing is the false one, right?”

She tried to deceive herself, but the blood flowing from the girl before her felt like an invisible giant hand, clutching her heart tightly, suffocating her with helplessness.

“You’re awake? I’m glad you’re awake…”

The girl gave Lia a resigned smile.

Behind her, the frenzied dragon beast had exhausted its final life force.

In its last moments, it soared into the sky, scattering all its curse onto Keliville.

Lia sank into madness amid the invisible waves of curse.

To protect her, Tina cast a protective shield, then absorbed all the escaping curse herself, giving Lia’s mind a chance to rest.

Finally, she approached Lia, becoming the last monster in her hallucination, killed by Lia’s own hands, taking the curse with her as she left this world.

With that, Tina’s mission was complete.

Whether hiding information or deliberately luring them here, it was all for this final curtain and release.

“It’s all my fault.

If I had listened to you back then, none of this would have happened…”

Lia cradled the frail body, weakened by the curse, filled with endless regret.

If she could take Tina’s pain upon herself, she would gladly die here instead.

But until the very end, Tina never blamed her.

Though Lia hurt her heart, Tina still followed and silently helped her.

The girl in her memories forever remained youthful and vibrant, always standing by her side.

“Lia, no crying, okay?

Princesses shouldn’t shed tears over knights.”