Chapter: 120
A giant hole appeared in the air at the witch’s gesture.
It was said to be a passage connecting to the outside, much like a door to anywhere from a comic book.
I don’t know where it leads… but if I go in, I won’t be coming back in one piece.
The land permitted to humans in this world is extremely limited.
Going out into the miasma-filled outside means death.
If she was ready, the witch beckoned me to go in.
If I don’t go in, the kids will die.
If I do go in, I’ll die.
If I have to choose one, the answer was already clear.
The witch glanced back standing before the passage she had opened.
I saw the children who had taken up too much space inside me.
Ah, maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.
If you all ended up dead, I wouldn’t have the strength to endure as I’ve been.
So this is an unavoidable choice to live steadfastly as myself until the end.
Simply wishing for a hopeful future for them, unlike the original story,
I stepped into the passage.
*
It’s too late.
“Ah, ah…!”
It’s too late.
“Ah, aah…”
It’s too late.
“Haaak! Aaaaaaaaaah!!”
In a reality that was too hard to accept, Yoon Si-woo cried out.
With tears streaming down, Yoon Si-woo constantly questioned himself.
Why did this happen?
Because I was weak enough to be blocked by a barrier?
Because I hesitated, thinking of the aftermath?
Whatever the cause, it didn’t change the fact that it was too late.
The fact that the girl sacrificed herself to save the people didn’t change.
I had known she was that kind of person all along.
That’s why, despite training tirelessly until now to prevent such a thing from happening, Yoon Si-woo wept with a sense of loss and despair that felt like losing the meaning of life.
And then he coughed.
As he let out a miserable scream that echoed to the depths of his soul, something other than a scream burst from Yoon Si-woo’s mouth.
Staring blankly at the dark red liquid he had expelled, Yoon Si-woo,
Eventually lost his strength and collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.
Yoon Si-woo had been moving his body with iron will to release the Holy Sword.
However, if the mind breaks, no matter how strong the body, it’s just a hunk of meat.
Now that the spirit supporting his body had crumbled, the backlash from straining beyond his limits had finally caught up with him.
With irreversible damage to both body and mind, Yoon Si-woo seemed to crumble away.
[…What a foolish man. Is that child so precious that you can’t even take care of yourself?… It can’t be helped. I had tried to hide it for fear you’d abuse it if I informed you…]
Yet there remained one who could not just sit back and watch him break.
[Please, Unyielding. Fix this foolish boy.]
The Unyielding Holy Sword appeared at Yoon Si-woo’s bedside and shone brightly.
The original ability of the Unyielding Holy Sword was to enhance its master’s physical abilities or help resist the miasma.
However, in this moment of crisis for its master, the Unyielding Holy Sword unleashed its true ability by freeing itself.
As the light emitted by the Unyielding Holy Sword enveloped Yoon Si-woo, it was as if time was reversing.
Color returned to Yoon Si-woo’s pale face, and the light that had faded from his eyes came back.
Feeling energy returning to his body, Yoon Si-woo slowly pushed himself up from the ground.
[……Si-woo, are you coming to your senses? You can’t just up and die like that. You haven’t even kept your promise to get stronger yet.]
‘……Lucy, what the hell is this…’
Yoon Si-woo, puzzled by the sudden absence of the pain he had been suffering, received an answer from Lucy.
[When I told you the true abilities of the swords, there were two that I hadn’t revealed yet. One of them is the ability of the Unyielding Holy Sword. When released, it can heal wounds, restore the mind, and even replenish exhausted energy.]
‘……If you had told me this sooner, I could have saved Scarlet…!’
As Yoon Si-woo silently raged, Lucy muttered softly.
[If you had known this earlier, you would have been using this ability to recover continually while swinging the Gwanghui Sword after receiving its backlash.
So, I wanted to tell you about this sword as late as possible.
I knew you’d do anything for that child.]
Si-woo. Such a miracle-like ability can’t come without a price, can it……]
The true capability of the Unyielding Holy Sword was to give the broken a chance to rise again.
The immense power that restored both spirit and body came at the cost of,
[The cost of that power is… the bearer’s lifespan.]
Yoon Si-woo gasped at those words.
Realizing that the cost of using the ability was his lifespan, he understood why Lucy had kept that ability hidden from him.
As she had said, he would undoubtedly have recklessly used the ability without caring about his lifespan the moment he learned Scarlet was in danger.
Lucy likely didn’t want to see him like that.
Though bound by a contract, she was, after all, his only family in this world.
Even if it were himself, he wouldn’t want to see a family member fighting while cutting their own lifespan short.
As Yoon Si-woo fell silent, Lucy murmured with a troubled voice.
[……That girl named Scarlet might not be dead yet.]
‘……What? What do you mean by that…?’
[That girl was okay even when she swallowed the miasma back then. If she has some resistance to the miasma like you, she should be alright for a while on the outside as well. Moreover, the witch who took her away probably wouldn’t have killed her right here, right? If she had intended to kill her, she would have done so on the spot. The fact that she didn’t means there’s something going on. If that’s the case, the probability of her still being alive is quite high.]
Scarlet… alive?
Yoon Si-woo’s mind snapped back to reality at Lucy’s words.
It felt like discovering a beam of light in a pitch-black darkness.
Right, what was I doing, giving up?
If there’s a chance that Scarlet is still alive, as Lucy said…
Yoon Si-woo shouted to the children.
“Is there anyone there! Does anyone have something that belonged to Scarlet?! Anything will do!”
After wailing as if the sky were falling, vomiting blood, collapsing, and then recovering, Yoon Si-woo urgently called out.
Sylvia, who had been shedding tears endlessly, realized from his shout that he hadn’t given up.
And, sensing what he was planning to do, she held onto that last thread of hope.
With trembling hands, Sylvia quickly searched her pockets.
While recalling the time they went to rescue Scarlet who had been kidnapped by Sator,
She always carried with her a Friendship Ring, the shape of which matched the one she wore on her left ring finger, waiting for the day she could return it to Scarlet.
With a desperate heart, Sylvia handed the ring to Yoon Si-woo.
Yoon Si-woo accepted the ring and focused every ounce of his mental energy.
The bloodstains that were once there had long since been wiped away.
But still, it was a request, so he desperately hoped that he could somehow find her.
And in response to his earnest wish, the Holy Sword of Truth responded.
Yoon Si-woo shed tears.
“…Really, really…?”
“…Yes, she’s still… alive…”
Tears filled with relief and joy.
Although the dried blood left no precise indication of what was happening, he could at least ascertain her location and whether she was alive or dead.
The students buzzed upon hearing Yoon Si-woo’s words that Scarlet was still alive.
Hearing this murmur, Captain Martina, with a face pale from depleting her magical energy, asked Yoon Si-woo.
“……So, one student was kidnapped by the witch, and you’re saying that student is still alive?”
“……Yes. If we go right now, we may be able to rescue her.”
“……Understood. Then we must go and rescue her. I don’t know what’s happened, but you seem to be okay now. Can you pinpoint the exact location of that student?”
“Yes, it’s not too far from here. Near the Northern Forest…”
As Yoon Si-woo pointed towards a corner of the Northern Forest beyond the barrier,
[■■■■■■■■■■!!!!]
A gigantic roar erupted from the forest.
Several students unconsciously sank to the ground.
Just hearing that roar from this distance made their bodies freeze—the howling filled with rage from a demonic beast far beyond those they had encountered before.
Yoon Si-woo saw a blazing fireball soaring into the sky from the center of the forest.
Though now burned to ash, once there had stood trees that had grown high into the sky under the blessings of the World Tree, mere finger-sized now.
Yet that blazing fireball appeared so massive, it seemed like there was another sun rising in the sky.
And only when that enormous fireball spread its wings did Yoon Si-woo realize it took the form of a winged bird.
The sight of the bird brought back memories of a nightmare fifteen years ago for Deputy Commander Kanna, causing her to tremble.
“……It’s that thing.”
The demonic beast that burned the former captain, deputy commander, and seven other squad members of the 4th Squad to death fifteen years ago.
And one of the strongest demonic beasts that, 500 years ago, burned the World Tree along with the Witch of Wrath.
With a dazed voice, Sylvia spit out the name of that demonic beast that had put an end to the history of Astra, which had cared for the World Tree throughout the ages.
“……The Bird of Terminus, Phinis.”
Yoon Si-woo realized that this beast was the one that had burned his parents to death.
He trembled as he saw the direction in which the monster soared while flapping its wings.
Because that beast was headed towards the very spot he had pointed.
Yoon Si-woo looked at Martina with a shocked expression.
“……Plans have changed. The rescue is off.”
Immediately after, a thunderous announcement came from her mouth.
“Captain Martina!!!”
“……As long as that thing is rampaging, going there is tantamount to suicide. Moreover, since it’s causing such a ruckus, hordes of lower-ranked beasts will soon be converging. We must prioritize the safety of the city over the unlikely chance of a rescue… that is our role.”
Saying so resolutely, Martina turned her back, forcing Yoon Si-woo to shout.
“Scarlet is still alive there! I-I’ll go alone if I have to!”
“……Yoon Si-woo, unauthorized exit from duty during a mission is a grave offense. Prepare for the approaching horde of beasts instead.”
Martina shrugged off Yoon Si-woo’s grip.
Then Sylvia, who had been listening to the conversation, ran out and grabbed Martina.
“Then let me go…! I can use the power of spirits, so I can endure the miasma—”
“……Lady Astra, I understand your desire to save your friend, but going beyond your capabilities is reckless. Your friend wouldn’t want you to sacrifice yourself so thoughtlessly.”
“Then what about Scarlet…! Please, please… I beg you… save Scarlet…”
Sylvia knelt and clutched Martina’s pant leg, pleading.
Throwing away her pride as the heir of Astra, she desperately clung to the possibility of saving her friend.
Seeing that, Yoon Si-woo also knelt before Martina.
Then he earnestly begged her.
“Please, please… Captain… I don’t want to lose someone precious to me again…”
Martina looked startled, turning to him.
Gazing at Yoon Si-woo’s pleading face, she bit her lip upon recognizing the face of her former comrade who had shared joys and sorrows with her.
“Yoon Si-woo, you… you’re one of their…”
Why hadn’t she noticed until now?
Though their hair and eye colors were different, he shared the same gentle gaze as that couple, who had been proud to say they had the prettiest child in the world.
A couple who passed away shortly after giving birth.
Guilt over their deaths had always weighed on her heart like a terrible spike.
Because of laws put in place to prevent teammates from focusing on the families of the deceased, all she could hear were rumors that their child was growing up without any problems in the city.
She had been soft on kids around the same age as Yoon Si-woo for that very reason.
It was possible that any of them could be their child.
And now, their son was kneeling before her, begging not to lose someone precious to him once more.
If only she could, she would have rushed to rescue the child who had been kidnapped by the witch without looking back.
But she was the captain leading many squad members and was tasked with the mission of protecting the citizens.
If she poured all her mana into breaking the barrier quickly, it was clear that facing that raging beast in a precarious condition wouldn’t yield any chance of success.
Logically, it made sense not to go.
But still.
As she bit her lip, deeply troubled, a drop of blood fell from her chin.
The drop was red.
Martina recalled a girl with hair as red as that drop of blood.
A girl who had sacrificed her arm and was now donning a prosthetic to save others.
A girl who had sacrificed herself and was taken away by the witch to save her friends.
And now, finding herself deliberating over all this, Martina sighed and opened her mouth.
“Ha, damn it. I can’t take this anymore.”
Cursing, she took out an emergency mana-replenishing potion and swallowed it.
She felt her mana gradually returning to her exhausted body.
It was strictly an emergency potion, so the effects were minimal, and the side effects were severe enough to leave her bedridden for several days.
But to hell with that.
“Hey, Kanna. Send a support request to Natalia. She’s on leave today, so she should be home. If she says she doesn’t want to come, tell her I’ll grant any wish she wants later. Given her personality, she’ll rush right over. The lower-ranked beasts are about to swarm in like crazy, so make sure the kids are safe.”
Martina instructed Kanna, the deputy commander, before turning to Yoon Si-woo, who looked up at her.
“Yoon Si-woo, stop crying and get ready. It won’t be of any use to send a bunch of people when that wild chicken is rampaging, so it’ll be you and me going.”
As Martina saw Yoon Si-woo rise with a glimmer of hope, she smiled at Sylvia, who was looking at her with a desperate gaze, and urged her to rise.
“Lady Astra, I’ll bring your friend back safely, even if it costs me my life. Trust me; I may look like just another hero, but I’m in the top five.”
Sylvia nodded blankly.
As Sylvia nodded back at her, Martina hardened her expression and began to gather her mana when Deputy Commander Kanna suddenly grabbed her clothing from behind.
“……Captain, are you really going with just the two of you?”
“You know better than anyone that numbers won’t matter against that thing. The beasts will be converging, and it’s too risky to send out a half-hearted team. Don’t worry; I’ll bring the rookie back safely.”
“……Who the hell do you think is worried about the rookie? You know that beast is a damn monster! You’re not even in your right mind; you’ll die if you go like this!”
The one who always complained about her was suddenly worried only at this moment.
Martina looked at Kanna, who was on the verge of tears, and chuckled.
“Kanna, I’ve always dreamed of being a really cool hero since I was young. But if I hesitate and analyze everything, it won’t look cool. So even if I die, I must save the kid. Besides, I made a promise to Ms. Eve to get the kids back safely. If you’ve grown up, you should keep your word.”
With a grin directed at the smiling Martina, Kanna retorted.
“……You’re really crazy.”
“It’s usually a bit insane that makes you look cool. And I think you’re the second craziest after me in our squad, so if I die, you take over as captain.”
“……Forget it, dammit. If you don’t come back safely, I swear I won’t forgive you.”
“Now I’ll really have to come back in one piece, then… Okay, I’m off. Deputy Commander.”
“……Take care, Captain.”
Thus, the rescue team of merely two people ventured beyond the barrier.
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