“Cough..”
A sound of pain-filled groaning.
Adele gritted her teeth tightly and clenched the knife. Hot blood began to seep out from the Emperor’s abdomen.
The disgusting sensation of slicing through flesh and piercing organs was transmitted from her fingertips.
The sensation of taking a life still felt unpleasant.
Nevertheless, she desperately pushed inward and stabbed him with the knife. The moment she retreated even a little, it would be her life that would be lost.
Obsessed with that thought, Adele exerted all her strength into her arms.
“Ugh, ha ha ha!”
Seeing her, the Emperor burst into laughter.
Although he was a possessed body, he never expected to be ambushed in such a relaxed moment.
Typically, anyone would have been angry, but he found it simply amusing.
It had been ages since he’d taken a hit, so it felt fresh to him.
Once the laughter started, it showed no signs of stopping.
Adele’s blue eyes radiated hatred. Pleased by the sight, the Emperor smiled back at her.
“Interesting. This saintess has quite a bold character.”
‘A saintess?’
Before she could question the Emperor’s words, his fist flew toward Adele. In a panic, she raised one arm to block it.
With a crack, Adele was sent crashing into the wall.
Bam!
“Cough!”
In that moment, she felt as if her breath was being choked, and she retched. Staggering, she barely managed to rise.
Watching her, the Emperor let out a chuckle.
“Yes, it’s been hundreds of years since I’ve allowed such an attack.”
Grabbing the blade lodged in his abdomen, the Emperor pulled it out without hesitation.
Blood gushed out like a fountain, yet he smiled as if nothing had happened.
Whirrr…
As Adele reached out, the blade flew towards her hand. The Emperor’s lips curled up again at the sight.
“Oh? You’re handling it better than I expected.”
“You madman…”
Seeing him approach slowly without any thought of staunching the bleeding, Adele muttered.
This knife was enchanted to prevent healing from the wound.
The reason the old woman couldn’t properly heal after being stabbed with it was largely due to that.
Yet, she never imagined he would move so toughly without stopping the blood flow.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
The Emperor responded nonchalantly to her curse as he approached Adele.
She tossed away the blade in her hand.
Thud.
He simply caught the blade with his grip, blood trickling through his fingers.
Having thrown the blade to the floor, the Emperor stepped firmly on the tip.
“All tricks are ultimately just tricks. How could your fragile body stand against me?”
“Shut up.”
She knew.
The moment even the blade she had thrown in a final act of defiance was neutralized so easily, she realized her chances of winning had vanished.
In her mind, she wanted nothing more than to turn back time, but she held herself back.
Saintess, and hundreds of years.
Even the keywords she had just heard were significant clues. She had to find a way to continue the conversation and gather more information.
“What do you mean, saintess?”
“Is that your last words?”
However, it seemed the Emperor had already caught on to her thoughts as he grinned viciously. Then he extended his right arm and began to choke Adele.
As the sensation of suffocation washed over her, her vision gradually began to blur.
“Cough..”
“Don’t! Miss Adele!”
Hearing Adele’s groan, Lily rushed to grab the Emperor’s arm.
Seeing this, Adele barely regained her focus and gripped his wrist with both arms.
She twisted with all her might, but her arms lacked any strength. The Emperor ignored Lily, who was pulling at him from the side.
He focused solely on tightening his grip around her neck.
“Grrr…”
The fear of death surged. A thought crossed her mind that she would return to the past anyway.
Yet, when Adele met the Emperor’s golden eyes, something felt off.
‘Why can’t I hear the clock ticking?’
The sound of the clock.
The sound that echoed in her ears every time she returned. It always rang out just before she died.
She had simply never heard it properly because the pain felt too intense at that moment.
But now, that sound wasn’t there at all.
The question of why was starting to fade in the face of death’s agony. She grimaced at the sensation, as if every nerve in her body were on edge.
‘Am I… going to die?’
Instinctual fear flared up.
Her mind began to go numb. Panic spread as her vision dulled.
Desperately, she tried to strengthen her arms, but it was all in vain.
The sound of the clock still didn’t ring in her ears. Even a futile hope appeared that it might ring out simultaneously with her dying.
‘I don’t want to die…’
She was running out of breath.
The Emperor’s vile grin lingered in her sight. Even the feeling of fear was gradually becoming faint.
‘Abel…’
Why was his name surfacing in such a moment? To think of that detestable man just as she was dying.
Maybe she cared for him more than she had thought…
Just before her thoughts completely ceased.
A bright white light emanated from Adele’s right hand. A single line of the symbol etched on her palm shone with blinding intensity.
Before the Emperor could react, a white magic circle wrapped around his right arm.
A massive amount of mana began to gather around her. A powerful aura manifested beside Adele.
At the same time, the Emperor’s arm was severed in half. With a distinct, gruesome sound, he fell backward as his neatly severed arm spurted blood.
As blood gushed from the stump, a man’s figure entered his sight.
“Cough.. Kugh…”
Adele, collapsed on the ground, gasped for air, struggling to catch her breath. As if oxygen was in short supply, she inhaled wildly and cautiously raised her head.
A man appeared before her.
Dressed in a neat uniform with gray hair, with piercing eyes and mysterious silver irises.
The head of the House of Hardenberg and her fiancé, Abel.
He carefully picked up Adele and turned his back toward the fallen Emperor.
“Well, would you look at that… I never expected such a trump card to exist…”
“Shut it.”
A pure white magic circle was embroidered in the air. A vast amount of mana surged around him.
The chilling sensation made the Emperor grin and stand up.
“Convergence.”
As Abel muttered, numerous spears began floating in the air.
“Strike.”
With his gesture, the spears flew.
Seeing this, the Emperor extended his remaining left arm to cast magic. A golden magic circle appeared in the air, deflecting each incoming spear.
“Cough…”
But that lasted briefly, the golden magic circle began to show cracks.
Unable to withstand Abel’s endless rain of spears, the magic circle shattered completely.
At this, the Emperor extended his hand again and drew dozens of magic circles.
“I don’t have time to play with dolls.”
With Abel’s muttering, all the magic circles around him shattered.
Using the overwhelming difference in mana, he nullified the very essence of magic itself.
With the Emperor’s possessed state, there was no way he could block such an approach.
“Ha ha. What an impressive day.”
Before he could finish, a spear pierced through his neck. Without even a scream, the Emperor grinned.
Abel clicked his tongue at his nonchalance until the end.
Thud.
The Emperor’s possessed body knelt down and fell over. The corpse immediately slumped lifelessly.
The golden eyes seemed to flicker out, vanishing in an instant.
This was precisely why facing the Emperor could be so challenging. He could possess and control the Emperor’s eyes or hands at will, as needed.
“Abel…”
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah…”
Seeing her respond weakly, he sighed. Her neck bore a red handprint, her left arm was already broken, and dark circles appeared under her eyes.
It was irritating to see Adele, pushed to her limits, trying to act fine.
Gently laying her down and propping her against the wall, Abel retrieved a potion from his pocket.
He opened the lid of the red potion bottle and carefully poured its contents into her mouth.
As she struggled to breathe, she grimaced the moment it went down her throat.
“Ugh…”
“Even if it tastes bad, swallow it. Otherwise, you won’t get better.”
Ignoring Adele’s shaking head at the taste, Abel continued to pour the potion down.
As she was about to spit it out, Abel’s firm expression made her relent and swallow it again.
“Hah… Hah…”
The effects of the potion were immediate. The pain in her arm had completely vanished.
Quietly watching her, Abel slowly spoke.
“What would have happened if I had been even a little late?”
At his words, Adele found herself unable to say anything.
It was true that she had acted recklessly seeking information from the Emperor.
That her cherished time-reversal ability hadn’t activated was genuinely unexpected.
If she hadn’t thought of his name at the last moment…
The realization shook her, making her body tremble slightly.
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be thanking me at times like this.”
“…Thank you.”
Hearing her voice barely above a whisper, Abel sighed again.
Then he removed his outer uniform and draped it over her. After wrapping her in his coat, he stood up again.
“You should rest for a bit.”
Though he wanted to scold her more…
It was better to let her rest for now.
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