Chapter: 338
With my full effort, literally pouring out every ounce of power until it felt like I might just pass out, I heard Beatrice’s voice.
“…Congratulations, Eva. You’ve won.”
At her words that said I had won, I blankly stared ahead.
What came into view was the sword that I had thrust with all my might embedded in Beatrice’s chest.
“…Ah.”
It was only after seeing that that I realized the situation and muttered in amazement.
I did it.
I didn’t quite know how, but somehow I managed to land a hit on Beatrice.
However, even though I had accomplished something remarkable, I couldn’t fully rejoice.
Having poured all my strength into that last attack, I was now in no condition to continue fighting.
In contrast, despite the deadly wound in her chest, Beatrice appeared to be in much better shape since she was still able to speak so calmly.
Beatrice had just said that I had won.
But if she changed her mind and decided to pull the sword out right now to attack me, I would have no choice but to be helplessly defeated, and that thought filled me with fear.
And at that moment, as I was having these thoughts, I saw Beatrice slowly reaching out her hand towards me with an inexplicably complex expression.
“…Ugh!”
A hand that seemed to erase everything it touched as it slowly reached out.
I desperately tried to move my body to avoid her approaching hand.
But my body, drained of all power, had no strength left to evade the slowly extending hand.
So, I could only watch helplessly as Beatrice’s hand drew near.
However, Beatrice’s hand never touched me.
“…?”
Just before it made contact, Beatrice’s hand stopped right in front of me, and I couldn’t help but feel slightly perplexed.
If she had wanted to kill me, she could have easily done so. Why not?
As I pondered this, Beatrice chuckled softly and muttered.
“…Hide and seek is over, Eva. You won, so I also have to keep my promise. What you were looking for is down there. If you search, you’ll find it.”
She pointed downward with the hand stretched out before me.
…Is the Sacred Remnant down there?
At that moment, I glanced down at the abyss below as Beatrice indicated.
“…Hehe, that was fun.”
As I heard her murmuring that, I felt the weight of the sword I was holding suddenly lift away.
Before I could even process that strange sensation, I caught a glimpse of Beatrice rapidly falling downward in my line of sight.
For some reason, I couldn’t understand why, but a relieved smile was on her face as she fell.
Beatrice vanished into the endless abyss, leaving behind her whispered words of amusement.
“Ah…”
After staring blankly at the place where Beatrice had fallen for a moment, I finally realized what had happened.
…Wait. Did I defeat her?
Did I really win against Beatrice?
“Whoaa…?!”
As that realization hit me, the tension in my entire body relaxed.
I almost ended up plummeting into the abyss with Beatrice, but thanks to the remaining wings of flame, I managed to land in a place where the ground was still intact.
Just after I safely touched down, the wings of flame on my back gently scattered like it had fulfilled its purpose.
“Ari…!”
In that instant, I panicked, reaching out toward the dissipating flames, fearing that Ari, after pouring so much strength into me, was disappearing.
As if to assure me not to worry, the scattered flames began to gather onto my hand.
The flames that converged formed into a small egg shape.
Startled, I looked at the egg, and it began to glow with a shimmering light.
“Ah…”
Seeing that sparkle, I instinctively felt it.
Ari was not dead.
Ah, she was just in a form of rest because she had exhausted too much power in a short time and needed to recover.
“…Thank you, Ari.”
Relieved, I tightly held the egg that was Ari and expressed my gratitude to her for lending me her power, for not leaving.
However, just as I was feeling relieved about Ari’s safety, something else caught my eye in addition to the egg-shaped Ari.
[…What a surprise. I never thought you would truly manage it.]
A pitch-black sword, Lucy.
Her words hinted at disbelief that I had actually pulled it off, but more than that, the moment I saw her, something I had forgotten struck me, and I urgently shouted.
“Right! Yoon Si-woo…! Ari, where is Yoon Si-woo?!”
Remembering how poorly Yoon Si-woo was doing before I fought Beatrice, I felt the urgent need to check on him and frantically asked Ari where he had been taken.
Ari nodded in one direction, as if indicating his location.
Even though she was in no condition to move, where did she find the strength to point? I dashed madly toward the direction she indicated.
But when I finally spotted Yoon Si-woo,
[…Oh dear. Just as I thought.]
“…Yoon, Si-woo?”
His condition was already alarmingly severe, beyond repair.
“…Eh? Wait a second.”
Anyone could tell that he was on the brink of death.
His body, covered with dark veins as if tainted by miasma.
Skin that was pallid as a corpse.
But the thing that terrified me the most was
“…N-No?! This can’t be…?”
He had no rising and falling chest, indicating he was no longer breathing.
“…Hey! Why is this happening! Breathe, take a breath!!”
Suddenly overwhelmed with fear, tears welled up in my eyes.
I screamed frantically as I checked for Yoon Si-woo’s breath and heartbeat.
Honestly, I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing or if his heart was still beating.
It felt like there was nothing left of the one who might as well be dead.
But I told myself that my inexperience was preventing me from feeling anything.
Because if I couldn’t feel anything, it would mean Yoon Si-woo was already dead, and that was a reality I could not accept.
“…He has to live, he must live.”
[…What are you doing?]
So I began to press down on Yoon Si-woo’s chest with both hands in an attempt to revive his heart and breath.
Remembering what I learned about chest compressions and CPR.
I pulled up the knowledge from my memory and pressed diligently on his chest.
“Come on, open your eyes! Open them…!”
[…He’s tainted with miasma. Do you really think you can revive him with that?]
Hurry. What comes next? What was it next?
Was it mouth-to-mouth?
“Haah, huff… open your eyes…!”
[Come on, move aside. I don’t want to, but I have methods… Seriously, can you not hear me?]
But even as I pressed down on his chest or tried to give mouth-to-mouth, all that came from Yoon Si-woo’s lips was blackened blood, not breath.
That was evidence that my efforts were utterly meaningless.
But even knowing that, I couldn’t stop.
I couldn’t just let Yoon Si-woo die like this.
“Ugh, we made a promise! You promised you’d win and come back safely!”
Memories of the times I spent with Yoon Si-woo flashed in my mind.
Though there were many difficult times, they were memories that were incredibly precious to me.
He had helped me so many times. Saved me so many times.
I had received far too much from him that I could never fully repay.
“You promised… You have to keep that promise…!”
Thinking of that, I simply couldn’t bear to let him die like this.
I couldn’t stop my hands.
“So, please…”
So I prayed earnestly to the heavens.
Please save Yoon Si-woo.
With that heartfelt wish, I spoke to Yoon Si-woo.
“Get up, Yoon Si-woo….”
Tears streaming from my eyes fell directly onto his face.
And then it happened.
“…What the?!”
The tear that fell ignited like a spark.
I almost didn’t have time to react.
Suddenly ignited, the spark enveloped Yoon Si-woo’s entire body.
I panicked and tried to douse the flames, but soon I noticed something strange.
“…It’s not hot?”
The flames that were burning did not have any heat.
Looking again, Yoon Si-woo’s body covered by the flames was not burning at all.
Flames that did not scorch anything.
Why was it suddenly like this?
[…What is this?]
In that moment of confusion, I heard Lucy’s astonished voice.
And I quickly understood the reason for her surprise.
“…Ah.”
How could anyone not be surprised?
As if by magic, I observed the dark veins that had covered Yoon Si-woo’s body gradually disappearing in the flames.
I watched as color returned to his previously pallid skin.
And with a rough cough, Yoon Si-woo expelled the black blood from his mouth.
I saw him starting to breathe again.
Little by little, the flames that engulfed Yoon Si-woo subsided.
Revealing Yoon Si-woo’s form, he looked significantly better than before.
Seeing this, I realized what the flames had burned away.
[Hah, I see. So what I felt earlier wasn’t an illusion after all.]
Lucy murmured in disbelief.
[Honestly, I never thought this would be possible. It’s downright unbelievable.]
What I had seen was not flames that scorched everything.
[It was flames that only burned miasma.]
It was simply a flame that burned only miasma.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.