“This, this is—!”
The wizard stared with wide, startled eyes at the shadows rushing toward him like waves. Saint Yohan had opened his mind. How? He must have been in the worst condition!
“I need to escape…”
He hurriedly moved his feet, but he only circled in the same spot. It meant he had already entered the area. The wizard looked at Yohan, who was standing in the center, with a pale, frightened face.
“…”
Yohan was staring at the wizard with wide eyes. All that could be felt was anger. Even though he was likely to be affected by mana distortion from demon addiction, he remained still. His mental strength was chilling.
Saaa—!
The cave’s interior was soon completely consumed by shadows.
In the pitch-black darkness, not even an inch ahead could be seen. All sensory perception had vanished. The wizard briefly thought that his soul had left his body. The feeling was that alien.
I need to get out. With that thought, the wizard reached out into the air. But no spell was cast. It was because this space was blocking all mana from him.
‘Damn it!’
At this rate, he would have to use his life force for magic, but that would be a burden even for him.
If he died first, he wouldn’t be able to pray to the Demon King!
Kugugugu—!
At that moment, the ground beneath him twisted, and a huge vibration filled the air. The sky brightened, and a massive wheel appeared at its center.
The wizard stared blankly at the sky. It was a beautiful sight, but also one that filled him with extreme terror. The overwhelming power was palpable.
Even someone walking the path of evil like him was shaken…
“Vast Void.”
At that moment, Yohan’s voice echoed.
Kugugung—!
The wheel began to turn.
Then, suddenly, the ground beneath him collapsed. The wizard realized that his feet were no longer touching the floor. He was falling.
“What…!”
Gravity twisted. His body, his soul, were plummeting from the air to the ground. His vision darkened.
“This, what the hell…!?”
The massive wheel slowly turned. From its center, something was awakening.
Thud.
And as the wheel stopped, space itself distorted. His senses warped. Suddenly, it became hard to breathe, and maintaining his balance grew difficult. His mind was barely hanging on.
“Cough—!”
Unable to endure the alien sensation, the wizard collapsed to the ground. He couldn’t move. It felt as though he had forgotten how to move his body.
Struggling with his twisted senses, the wizard barely managed to lift his gaze. Before him stood Saint Yohan, bleeding from his mouth.
“Ah…”
That was the wizard’s last sight.
* * *
Yohan embraced the unconscious Rudbeckia.
Rudbeckia was still limp, but fortunately, her breathing and pulse had returned to normal. This was thanks to Yohan pushing away the demonic energy and purifying the mana around her.
“Huff… Huff…”
Yohan, holding her in his arms, took a deep breath and drew up more mana. It had already been a strain, but he had planned to escape before he lost consciousness.
Whooosh—!
Mana swirled and created a gust of wind. His body felt like it was being torn apart, and his mind began to fade, but he held on desperately. If he fainted now, they would both die.
Boom—!
Yohan used a distortion field to break through the ceiling, creating a hole, and flew upwards. Swoosh! Dirt scattered lightly, revealing the space. He squeezed through.
Blood streamed from his nose. The internal injuries from the demonic energy were severe, and blood wouldn’t stop flowing from the corners of his mouth. The intense pain surged, but his focus remained unbroken.
Boom!
He dug through the earth completely and rose upward. Thanks to the cracks being healed, sunlight began to shine from the sky.
He cautiously surveyed his surroundings. Fortunately, there were no demonic beasts. It seemed the other warriors had done a good job handling the aftermath.
“Hah…!”
Relieved, Yohan curled his body and exhaled deeply. The taste of blood filled his mouth, and the taste of iron lingered.
But he couldn’t afford to lose consciousness yet.
He pulled Rudbeckia back into his arms and began moving his legs. If he moved toward a place with thinner demonic energy, he should be able to get out of the demon’s lair.
Of course, he couldn’t move quickly. He was barely able to stay on his feet, and carrying the unconscious Rudbeckia made it even harder.
Crunch.
Just as he kept moving, he heard the sound of branches snapping.
Yohan stopped in his tracks and focused on his senses and mana. Another wave of extreme pain hit him, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.
-Grrk! Grrk!
The source of the sound was the demonic beasts. They were ranked as first-class. They were kobolds, known for traveling in packs.
-Grrr…
However, the kobolds didn’t immediately rush in. The energy they sensed from Yohan was unusual.
‘He’s keeping his sanity.’
Most of the demonic beasts in the lair had fallen into a frenzy and could no longer think rationally. But now, the rift had been closed. With the demonic energy gone, they had started to feel fear.
Yohan pointed his fingertips toward them. Crack! Mana gathered, and a sphere of energy began to form.
-Grrk?!
Sensing the unusual mana, the kobolds retreated. Yohan considered handling them here, but instead, he stretched his arm toward the sky.
And then, he fired.
Boom—!
A loud explosion rang out as the sphere of energy detonated. The power wasn’t great, but it was enough to scare the kobolds.
-Grrk! Grrk!
The kobolds hurriedly fled.
Yohan let out a relieved sigh.
‘Two more times.’
At his current state, he could shoot the rupture point only two more times. He had to get out of the demon’s lair before that happened. It wasn’t a bad situation, though. By shooting the rupture point high into the sky, he had signaled to the outside world. Furthermore, with the huge explosion in the sky, any rational demonic beasts would hesitate to approach.
Yohan continued walking.
With great difficulty, he moved slowly forward.
About 30 minutes later.
“Mmm…”
Rudbeckia moved.
Yohan quietly called out to her.
“Rudbeckia.”
“Ah…”
Rudbeckia slowly opened her eyes and met his gaze.
His blue eyes were hazy. His face was pale, covered in blood.
“Are… are you okay?!”
Rudbeckia hurriedly tried to sit up. She was in poor condition as well, staggering slightly, but unlike Yohan, she was able to regain her balance.
“I’m fine. How about you, Rudbeckia?”
“I think I’m okay. It’s a bit tough, but…”
“Thank goodness. Let’s walk for now.”
“Okay…!”
Yohan and Rudbeckia slowly made their way through the forest.
It was a difficult walk, but the one fortunate thing was that the explosion from the rupture earlier seemed to have prevented any monsters from appearing.
“…I’m sorry, it’s because of me.”
Then, suddenly, Rudbeckia apologized. Yohan tilted his head and asked.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“If I had blocked it properly, this wouldn’t have happened…”
If she had used magic to block it instead of her body, she could have countered the curse. Rudbeckia couldn’t stop thinking about her mistake.
“I heard it was a surprise attack. Is that right?”
“Yes…? Yes.”
“Then, what’s the matter?”
Yohan added.
“In that critical moment, just making a quick decision and moving your body was already good enough.”
If they were knights used to protecting others, it might have been different, but Rudbeckia was a mage who usually received protection. It wasn’t easy to make a decision and act in such a situation.
“And whether you could have stopped it or not, nobody knows. It was magic-based, after all. I just want to tell you that your choice was the best and the right one.”
No one can predict what the outcome will be. If she had been kidnapped, then the mages’ plan would have succeeded. No one could even guess what might have happened.
“So, there’s no need to feel guilty. You did well enough.”
With that, Yohan gave a small smile.
“…”
Rudbeckia slightly lowered her head, holding her lips together.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“I was just being honest.”
They didn’t stop their difficult walk to leave the forest. Though sometimes feeling dizzy, they didn’t rest for long. They needed to get out before nightfall.
Thud. Thud.
There was no conversation between Yohan and Rudbeckia. Part of it was due to exhaustion, but mostly because there was nothing to say.
“…”
“…”
However, the silence was also filled with awkwardness.
Rudbeckia felt uncomfortable with the awkward silence between her and Yohan. She didn’t like that they had nothing to talk about.
She always wanted to make Yohan feel happy. But to do that, she needed more energy, and with her current condition, it was impossible.
As you could see, both of them were exhausted. In fact, Yohan’s injuries were severe.
Even though he looked fine, his face was so pale it was almost white, and his breathing was unstable.
For that reason, she couldn’t bring herself to start a conversation…
The silence continued until Rudbeckia spoke, during a brief rest. Yohan’s condition had gradually improved, so she was able to talk.
“Umm, Minister…?”
“Go ahead.”
She fidgeted with her fingers and cautiously looked at him before speaking carefully.
“About earlier… the confession, it’s invalid, right…? I said that thinking it was my last chance, so…!”
In this situation, was that really important? Yohan blinked in surprise, and Rudbeckia hurriedly added more.
“Of course, it was sincere…!”
She fiddled with her hands and looked at Yohan.
“I said it thinking it was the last moment… So, I haven’t properly confessed yet…”
She then took a small breath.
“So, please consider what I said back then as practice. I want to confess for real… properly, when the time comes.”
It might not be the right moment, but Rudbeckia was being sincere. She needed to make this clear before talking about anything else.
“I know.”
Yohan chuckled softly and answered.
“By the way… you said you’d give me an answer when we get back, right?”
“…I did.”
“What kind of answer were you planning to give?”
Earlier, Rudbeckia had said that the opportunity hadn’t been missed, effectively brushing it off as if it hadn’t happened. But now, she was curious about his answer. What would he say?
“Since we still don’t know each other well, I was thinking we’d take a little more time. Our feelings might change, after all.”
“…Could it be a rejection?”
“Rejection? I think I left a lot of possibilities open. And when I reject, I do it firmly.”
Yohan flashed a confident smile, and Rudbeckia quickly turned her eyes away, her lips trembling.
“I-I see…”
“Yeah.”
“…”
Another silence passed.
It wasn’t just an awkward silence, but rather one brought on by the strange atmosphere, as neither could find the right words to say.
Then, Rudbeckia’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Ah…! By the way, does this also not count as losing the opportunity?”
“I know.”
Yohan chuckled again. It was a bit reckless, but his desperate attitude felt oddly cute to her.
Fwoooosh-!
At that moment, magic exploded in the sky.
“The signal’s here.”
Yohan stood up. From the distance, it seemed that once the signal was given, they would arrive immediately.
“It seems like the soldiers saw my signal.”
“You sent a signal?”
“When you were asleep.”
Yohan extended his hand toward her.
Rudbeckia looked at that hand.
The tips of his injured fingers. The palm stained with blood. Yet, it was still a warm touch.
“Yes…!”
She firmly grasped his hand.
As if she would never let go.