Chapter 34: I’m Sorry, Enya…

“You dare!”

Taliya’s thunderous roar shook the heavens, and the temperature around her kept rising.

Centered on her, the rain evaporated before it even touched the ground.

The blue-green grass tips, once soaked by rain, now gradually turned yellow and smoked with scorched dryness.

Such a terrifying and overwhelming aura,

The Scarred Man was shaken to his core.

But every time the Truth Cultists thought of what was about to happen, they felt it was all worth it.

“Don’t worry, Young Hero. Though the one you love is dead in body, her soul will return to our Lord’s embrace, to remain by His side for eternity.”

“Her soul will be granted eternity!”

“I see you’re all seeking death!”

Taliya shouted, and crimson flames turned into a ring of light in the night, emanating from the Sword of Starry Night as she prepared to strike.

But at that very moment, the shadows binding Taliya were about to be dispelled.

Once freed, the two other Cultists of Truth, who had been waiting all this time, would attack Kane with the Scarred Man’s help.

The same trick was useless against the Truth Cultists. Kane’s Cleanse Magic had only worked by sheer luck earlier.

If those two got past, Kane would be doomed.

But even if Taliya didn’t break free, if Kane managed to destroy the Sacred Wall and triggered the Plague…

Taliya gripped her sword tighter, veins bulging on her forehead and hands.

The Truth Cultists, seeing Taliya’s growing desperation, let out gleeful laughter:

“Give up, Young Hero. No matter which path you choose, you’re doomed to die.”

“Oh, wait—no, you could wait until that woman destroys the Sacred Wall, then use stealth to escape.”

“But then, your survival would be built on your companion’s sacrifice.”

“Hahahahaha, either way, that woman is dead for sure! See? This is the fate of those who blaspheme our God and defy the faith!”

The Truth Cultists’ maniacal laughter was like a grand symphony, growing ever louder through the curtain of rain.

Taliya stood beneath the rain, her cornflower hair drenched and clinging to her pale skin.

On her icy, beautiful face, no trace of sorrow or joy could be seen.

She had no choice.

No matter what, Kane was doomed.

“Choose, Young Hero. Will you sacrifice your companion to survive, or sacrifice your companion to defeat us? But it’s a shame—you have no choice at all.”

Listening to the biting mockery mixed with the sound of rain,

Gradually, Taliya lifted her rain-soaked face.

“Yes, I never had a choice from the very beginning.”

“Because my decision was set from the start…”

……

The night was dark and the wind howled.

A few minutes earlier.

Kane braved the increasingly heavy rain, running through the downpour.

Relying on scattered fragments of memory, he finally found his target.

“Guess being fond of games isn’t entirely useless after all.”

To maximize its effect, the Sacred Wall was always placed at the center.

There, Kane saw an object embedded in the ground, glowing with a dim purple light like a gemstone.

This was the core device of the Sacred Wall.

Destroy it, and the Sacred Wall would be lifted.

Then he could leave this place and shake off Taliya.

Yes, that was Kane’s real goal all along.

Taking advantage of Taliya holding back the Truth Cultists, he could escape and return to find Enya.

Maybe it wasn’t the most moral thing, but this was Kane the weakling’s only chance.

Besides, with Taliya’s strength, she’d be fine. He should be more worried for those three unlucky Truth Cultists—whether they’d survive at all.

“Taliya, in the end, we’re always on opposite sides. From now on, you take your Sunlight Path, and I’ll take my Single-plank Bridge. May we both be well in the future.”

With those words, Kane quietly stepped forward, casually picking up a stone from the ground.

Nothing is perfect in this world. The Sacred Wall’s powerful defense came at the cost of its core’s fragility. Even someone as weak as Kane could easily destroy it.

“Alright, time to go.”

With a shout, Kane raised the stone high and, without hesitation, brought it down hard.

“No, don’t do it!”

“?!”

Taliya’s voice suddenly rang out behind him.

Wait, how did she get here so fast? And those three cultists—did she just cheat and finish them off?

Startled, Kane’s hand trembled, and the stone slipped, landing squarely on the Core of the Sacred Wall.

——Crack!

The purple gem instantly split with spiderweb cracks.

Almost without pause, the Core of the Sacred Wall exploded with a roar. Green mist engulfed Kane, and his vision went white.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself enveloped in a warm embrace.

Before he could even process what had happened—

“Cough… Are you alright… my cute little kitten?”

“Taliya? You—!”

Kane’s eyes widened in shock behind his mask, staring at Taliya’s face, now muddied and battered by the Sacred Wall core’s explosion.

“D-damn it, she… she actually made it in time… d-damn hero…”

“?!”

Kane looked over in shock, finally noticing the three Truth Cultists’ corpses lying on the road not far away.

From the Scarred Man’s broken final words, it was clear they had tampered with the Sacred Wall’s core, and it was thanks to Taliya that Kane’s life was saved.

“Ta…”

Kane opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

The two of them were supposed to be mortal enemies, unable to stand each other’s presence… Yet Taliya had risked her life to save him, even though he hid his true identity.

Even so, after everything, they hadn’t even known each other for a full day. Yet Taliya had still chosen to sacrifice herself for him, while just now he’d only thought of himself…

He couldn’t deceive her anymore, even if it meant facing her punishment in the end.

“Taliya, actually I…”

But before Kane could finish—thud—Taliya collapsed, her head slumping onto his chest.

Only then did Kane notice that Taliya’s clothes at her back had been blown to shreds, revealing a large area of snow-white skin covered in wounds and dirt.

Even so, though gravely injured and barely conscious, Taliya struggled to say her last words:

“Go… go see a doctor… that… that core… there’s a pl-plague… inside…”

With those words, Taliya finally closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

From her few broken words, Kane quickly figured out the truth.

“These lunatics… they used a virus as an explosive…”

Released into the air, this would only accelerate the outbreak of the Plague in Loharin.

Not to mention, Kane and Taliya had been exposed to the explosion directly.

Gritting his teeth, Kane held the now-unconscious, mud-stained girl in his arms.

He glanced guiltily in the direction of the home he shared with Enya, biting his lip hard.

“I’m sorry, Enya…”

I’ll come find you soon.

With those words, Kane carried the unconscious Taliya and ran toward Loharin, toward the Lord’s Mansion of the Borderland.

At the same time.

In an alley not far from the Lord’s Mansion of the Borderland:

“Tell me, why did you do all this?”

Enya pressed a bloodstained dagger to the throat of a dying Truth Cultist.

“I-I-I-I’ll never tell, even if I die…” the Truth Cultist replied with difficulty.

A cold light flashed in Enya’s eyes.

“Then go die.”

Without hesitation, she struck. The cultist died instantly.

Several other cultist corpses lay in the direction he fell.

Enya didn’t even spare them a glance, sheathed her bloodied knife, and turned to leave.

Suddenly, Enya stopped in her tracks.

It was as if she sensed something. Instinctively, she looked toward the Forest and murmured softly:

“Young Master…”