“Because—” Her voice rang out clear as a blade, cutting through the gloom of death.
“Irene is here!”
“Eh?”
Lilisah froze, her eyes widening as a strange emotion surged within her.
Warm. Comforting. It was a feeling she’d never experienced before—being needed by someone else.
“What about Master?”
“…Actually, we triggered a teleportation trap. Everyone got scattered to different places inside the city!”
Irene’s expression collapsed. That line just now had been for dramatic effect—she had only been teleported nearby by chance.
“I told Froya not to rush ahead, but she wouldn’t listen. She dragged everyone right into the trap.”
Lilisah’s expression darkened. Being scattered by a teleportation trap and sent to random parts of the city… that made things much more dangerous.
Their formation was broken. Even if their Master was strong without magic, the situation was still perilous.
“Miss Irene!”
“I know. Don’t be afraid. We had anticipated the possibility of getting separated.”
Irene pointed toward the towering white spire in the distance, where a massive golden eye loomed near the top.
“That white tower is our rendezvous point. Endymion City is huge—trying to search for them blindly would be nearly impossible!”
Of course, Irene was anxious too. She had no idea how the others were doing. But panicking wouldn’t help.
The city’s layout was a tangled maze, full of magical creatures. If they wandered around aimlessly, chances were they’d get eaten before finding anyone.
“And besides—”
She stopped, cold sweat trickling down her forehead. A group of magical beasts had appeared ahead, blocking the path.
“What we need to worry about now isn’t how to find them, but how to survive these monsters. I didn’t think the curse scroll’s effect would wear off so quickly.”
“Miss Irene, don’t worry about me! I’ll hold them off—please, go on ahead!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t even fight off a chicken. If you’re not here, I won’t last more than a few steps before becoming monster food.”
Irene knew she’d gotten lucky so far, but luck doesn’t hold out forever. Relying on it to survive was just asking for death.
She pulled another curse scroll from her bag and threw it—though the second use was much weaker. The monsters only staggered for a few seconds before shaking it off, now even more vicious than before.
But that short delay was enough. Irene had already pulled out some ‘gear’ from her backpack and shoved it into Lilisah’s hands.
“There’s no time to equip everything. It’s not top-tier, but this should help a bit!”
She also stuffed a nutrition drink—no, a stamina recovery potion—into Lilisah’s mouth.
Lilisah blinked in confusion at the heavy bracer in her hands, not quite understanding what Irene meant by “not top-tier.”
But Lilisah knew her gear—and this was a +15 Epic-grade bracer. Even in the Demon Realm, this would be considered a national treasure-level artifact. And Irene had just… handed it over?
Now wasn’t the time to question things. Lilisah immediately equipped the bracer. The moment it locked into place, she felt reborn.
Her strength, speed, even her defense had skyrocketed.
“This way, Lilisah—into the alley!”
With monsters swarming the streets, a direct fight would leave them surrounded. Irene ducked into a narrow alley, dragging Lilisah behind her.
The tight terrain would nullify the monsters’ numerical advantage—this was the best place to fight back.
There was no need to cover the rear anymore—every magical creature on the outskirts had now locked onto her as their primary target.
‘Miss Irene really is brilliant!’
Lilisah thought to herself, as she began to hold the line at the alley entrance against the incoming swarm of magical creatures.
With Irene’s magic scrolls providing support and her gear enhancing her capabilities, Lilisah—whose original strength was only at B-rank—was practically unleashing a one-woman massacre against the magical horde. The terrain certainly played a role, too.
At the very least, this time, she didn’t have to worry about someone watching her back!
“This time, I’ll be counting on you to protect me!”
Irene’s voice rang out from behind her, carrying a calmness that somehow set Lilisah at ease—something she had never felt before.
She unleashed power far beyond her usual limits. Her punches flew with blinding speed, and her body moved with a newfound lightness.
Yes, as long as Irene is with me, there’s nothing I can’t do. What is there to fear?
And for some reason, every punch just landed right. Nearly every hit was a critical strike—most even targeted vital points.
As for the magical creatures’ ranged attacks, they all just narrowly missed her, as if someone were performing a masterclass in “outline dodging” around a human body.
Even the close-range attacks she couldn’t dodge ended up striking harmless spots, barely scratching her. They couldn’t deal any real damage at all.
‘Is Lady Luck on my side too?’
Before long, the alleyway entrance had become a mound of magical creature corpses.
The two of them, working together, were more than the sum of their parts—1 + 1 was greater than 2.
Gradually, the magical creatures stopped advancing. They were intelligent beings—intelligent enough to fear death. So many had already fallen, and those two women were still standing. Their hesitation was palpable.
Lilisah panted heavily. In truth, her mana reserves were nearly depleted. The rate of consumption in this kind of fight was far higher than she had expected. But only she knew that. The magical creatures had no way of seeing how little mana she had left.
Right now, this blood-soaked doll-like girl looked like a demon from hell. Her appearance alone was enough to intimidate anyone.
Especially since the magical creatures’ blood came in different colors. Lilisah’s body was now splattered in a rainbow of hues—the scariest combination imaginable in nature.
‘We can win this!’
Seeing that the magical creatures were hesitating, a brilliant gleam lit up in her heterochromatic eyes.
No one wants to die. Surviving is always better—right?
Seeing their hesitation, Irene cleared her throat and stepped out from behind Lilisah.
“You all seem capable of intelligent speech, so I’ll be direct,” she said.
“We’re here for the Codex of Endymion, not to fight you. If you’ll just back off, this could be a win-win situation for all of us. Isn’t that better?”
Irene watched their expressions carefully. Lilisah had just signaled to her, and Irene understood: her mana was running low. If this dragged on any longer, they’d both end up dead.
Lilisah had already done more than anyone could’ve expected. Irene hadn’t imagined she’d hold out this well.
When they got separated from their teammates during the teleportation spell, Irene had panicked—aside from the scrolls in her hand, she really didn’t have any combat strength to speak of.
But scrolls were one-time-use items. Once used, they were gone for good.
“You want the Codex?” one of the magical creatures sneered.
“Humans really are greedy creatures. The Holy King’s Codex is not something you are worthy to touch. If you don’t want to end up like us, I suggest you turn back now.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Irene instinctively asked back, but the magical creature narrowed its eyes, revealing a cunning expression.
“…Just pretend I didn’t say anything.”
With that, the group of magical creatures actually retreated and made way.
Irene subconsciously let out a breath of relief, but her mind was still turning over the creature’s earlier words. It had spoken with a clearly strong sense of malice.
“Miss Irene, thank goodness! We really survived!”
Irene was still lost in thought when Lilisah suddenly leapt into a hug, causing Irene’s expression to change instantly.
“At least wash up before you pounce on me!”
“S-Sorry, I… I was just so emotional…”
Seeing her pitiful look, Irene couldn’t bring herself to scold her further. She was just about to sit down and recover some strength when her expression suddenly changed. She shoved Lilisah away with both hands.
Lilisah was about to ask what was wrong when, from the shadow behind Irene, a pair of sly, blood-red eyes abruptly opened.
“W-Wait, what?!”
Under Lilisah’s despairing gaze, a massive mouth like an abyss suddenly opened wide—like the gaping entrance to hell itself.
She saw Irene flash a resigned smile—
And then, the enormous mouth clamped shut and swallowed her whole.
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