Chapter: 151
The Duke, covered in dirt from the artificially created cave that resembled an ant’s burrow, staggered and gasped for breath.
Grit.
She gritted her teeth and plunged the sword into the ground. Red blood trickled down from her hand gripping the hilt.
“How dare you…”
A fierce glare emerged from her disheveled hair. At the end of her line of sight stood a woman with white hair dressed in a pure white dress. It felt like this was how Iris would look when she grew up, a woman of a certain age smiling brightly as she approached.
“Mom.”
“…!”
Those words easily bound the Duke, the empire’s strongest sword, rendering her powerless. Like a child reaching for a parent, Iris, blushing like a peach, rushed toward the Duke.
The Duke tightened her grip on the sword’s hilt and pulled it from the ground. At the same moment, Iris opened her mouth again. The voice that flowed out was much higher and thinner than Iris’s. It was as if it couldn’t even mimic her any longer.
“Mom, I’ve missed you.”
That thing resembling her daughter, uttering the words she’d longed to hear, smiled with open arms as if begging for a hug. She knew this wasn’t actually her daughter. Yet, despite knowing this, she couldn’t help but feel her strength draining away.
A moment’s carelessness left a great wound.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
Its hands and arms morphed into black sickles and cut into the Duke’s arm. Fortunately, she evaded quickly, so the wound was shallow. The Duke bit her already ragged lips repeatedly as her eyes glimmered with determination.
Crash!
The Duke’s sword slashed through its waist. Its form began to dissolve like a mass of shadow, melting away into nothingness.
“Hah.. hah..”
Exhaling harshly, she stabbed the sword back into the ground. After days without proper rest and facing these monsters, she was utterly exhausted.
“Ugh…”
The countless openings she had seen were painful. Especially during the battle shortly after she fell into this place, when she had taken a blow to the abdomen. First aid had been administered, but having lost so much blood, fainting wouldn’t be unusual.
On top of that, there were numerous small wounds all over her arms, legs, sides, and thighs. Even knowing that these things weren’t her daughter, the words “What if” and “Just in case” endlessly spun in her mind.
‘Damn idiot…’
Logic screamed at her to stop acting foolish, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. She sighed and straightened her stance. Though her injuries caused her to sway, they didn’t threaten her balance too much.
“Tsk…”
She clicked her tongue at her blurry vision and pulled out her sword once more. Then she scanned the surroundings.
‘Should I risk it and break through the ceiling?’
Not knowing how deep this place was, recklessly collapsing the ceiling could bury her underground. No matter how strong the empire’s strongest sword was, holding out in an oxygen-deprived environment had its limits.
‘But I can’t just break the walls.’
Initially, she had hoped to tunnel upwards slowly, like a criminal escaping prison, but that couldn’t be done. The floor and three-quarters of the walls she was standing on were all a mix of dirt, rock, and Apen.
Apen was an ore that induces confusion and, upon impact, sends invisible waves to disorient the target. It creates hallucinations and auditory delusions, leaving the mind in chaos.
Thus, she couldn’t afford to excavate the walls and floor carelessly.
Even though it had been described as resembling an ant’s tunnel, there was no pathway leading outside. The extremely high ceiling from which she’d fallen was the only entrance and exit.
‘Hah… there are two options… or maybe three?’
She could risk death and break through the ceiling, wait for the criminal who trapped her here and those things to shake her mind, or…
‘Wait for help from outside.’
While she pondered carefully, she swayed.
“Ueeeeeeng!”
“Mom!”
“I’ve missed you!”
Was it because she stabbed the sword into the ground to keep herself from collapsing? Apen reacted, and auditory hallucinations filled her ears. She could see her children’s faces, grinning like pure white snow.
“Hah… hah…”
The ground tilted, and her head spun. The wailing of babies echoed in her ears.
‘I should hold them -… ah.’
Her vision completely tilted, and her sight turned black.
*
In the pitch black darkness, Lian and the Magic Sword were falling into endless void.
[ My partner is amazing in many ways. Attack! ]
“I’ll attack too.”
[ …! I’ll attack as well! ]
“Okay. Attack. It’s your turn.”
[ Damn, I don’t have any attack cards left… Did you think I’d say that? Hehe! I have a Block! Card! Go! Stop the enemies! ]
About five minutes had passed since they started falling when the two began playing a card game in mid-air. It was a scene capable of reversing the magic of countless Dark Sorcerers.
The Magic Sword flexibly morphed into a whip and emphatically placed a card down. Lian, with an indifferent expression, laid down the remaining two Jokers in his hand.
[ ….! Again! Let’s start over! ]
Swish.
The Magic Sword shook its flexible body excitedly, causing the cards to tumble down into the darkness below. Lian yawned, looking bored.
“How long is this going to keep falling?”
[ That’s not what’s important! Quickly shuffle the cards! One more round! One more! ]
The Magic Sword, having lost five rounds in a row, shook its body like a child throwing a tantrum. Amused by the snake-like wriggling, Lian glanced downward at the suddenly altered airflow.
“Uh? Looks like we’re about to land?”
[ Then let’s play just one more round before hitting the ground! ]
“No, with the ground that close, how can we -…”
Boom!
Before he could finish, Lian crashed to the ground. The impact created a dent in the earth where he fell. At the same time, purple smoke began to leak from the ground.
Apen had released its energy waves. Normally, Apen’s wave was invisible, but thanks to the gag filter, it produced a suspicious-looking puff of smoke.
“Ow… huh?”
Emerging from the hole with a fine appearance, Lian slowly blinked at the purple smoke surrounding him.
“Haah, hot… late for class!”
From beyond the smoke, a delicate voice accompanied the sound of boots. Out of the smoke appeared… a girl doing a handstand, jumping on her hands. Her skirt and clothes defied gravity, making for quite a bizarre sight.
“Kyah! A… strange person!”
The suddenly appearing girl shrieked at the sight of Lian. She stared at him as if seeing something strange, her face flushing red.
“Oh my… if you walk around like that, everyone will just be staring at that…”
Viewing Lian’s lower half with a sidelong glance made her look extremely perverted. But the problem didn’t end there.
Tap!
“Yuri! Good morning!”
“Hey, everyone!”
Students, also doing handstands, began to appear one by one. These individuals emerging from the mist were all staring at Lian with astonished expressions. A few girls screamed, blushing with embarrassment.
Having lived in the gag world for a long time, Lian instinctively realized how the situation was unfolding!
‘Ah, they’re reacting like that because his lower half is where his face should be.’
…What he understood wasn’t why this situation was happening, but rather how to survive it. Immediately, Lian propped himself up with his hands and stood on his hands.
“Gah…! An incredible handsome man!”
“Kyah!”
As soon as he changed his position, the atmosphere around him shifted drastically. Normally, even if someone stood on their hands, it would feel awkward, but Lian maintained a natural posture, as if he had lived this way from the start.
The hallucinations creating in the mist could no longer torture Lian. As such, the mist fled. No, the mist cleared.
Swish.
As the mist dissipated, only Lian standing on his hands and the Magic Sword in whip form picking up cards from the ground remained.
[ …? What are you doing, partner? ]
The Magic Sword tilted its head, then exclaimed, “Ha!”
[ This seems to be the new trend! ]
Shouting this, the Magic Sword quickly stood upright, showcasing a circus-worthy stunt while Lian clapped his hands, squatting down on the floor.
“Oh..!”
[ Hmph, more! Praise me more! ]
Wobble, shake.
The Magic Sword twisted its body like a snake toy, wriggling in a hilarious manner. Just as he was enjoying the humorous sight and clapping his hands…
“Ugh…”
“…!”
Someone’s groan pierced his ears. Lian’s gaze swiftly darted to the side.
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