Despite the urgent system ssage, Yuhanul still wore a blank expression.
At least, he was pretending to.
Of course, once his expression cracked, that act was no longer effective.
‘Understanding, my ass.’
It’s been a while since I’ve been this pissed off... actually, not that long?
Anyway, I was extrely angry.
Considering all the suffering I’ve been through over these few hours, it was inevitable.
I had been wandering the mountain, trying to fight without magic, and how many hours did I spend just rolling around?
The system reminds user, ‘Jeong Da-on,’ of the transaction.
The system ssage only aggravated further.
Ah, that transaction.
‘As long as I don’t kill him, it should be fine, right?’
That settles it.
I was perched on a tree, and I jumped down, aiming directly at Yuhanul’s face.
Thud!
With gravity and my hatred combined, I landed a solid kick to his smug chin.
“If you were going to co to your senses, you should’ve spoken up sooner!”
Swoosh!
I aid my rapier at Yuhanul’s neck, but he easily avoided it by stepping back a few paces.
But this ti, just dodging wasn’t enough.
“Now, shut up...!”
Crack!
If Margarita’s magical structure was loosening, it ant that I now had the strength to seize the power of magic.
The armor I held in my strengthened hand cracked with a loud noise.
Simultaneously, I ignited flas in my hand, causing the tal armor to heat up rapidly.
Yuhanul’s face paled.
At this rate, he would either be cooked alive in the armor or roasted to death.
Crash!
But before that could happen, Yuhanul made his move.
He quickly unfastened his armor and tore it off.
As he threw off the burning hot armor, Yuhanul shouted.
“No, Da-on! This is too much!”
“Shut up.”
It was fortunate that I hadn’t torn his soul apart and thrown it into hellfire.
I threw the armor, which was now just scraps, onto the ground.
I couldn’t say that this was fully repaynt... but at least I felt a bit relieved.
Once I stopped attacking, Yuhanul let out a sigh of relief.
“...Just to be clear, I took more hits. I was controlling my strength.”
Yuhanul gently rubbed his chin, which had been directly hit by my foot, and spoke softly.
“Still, do I have to take more hits?”
“Of course. Control your strength, my ass.”
I scoffed.
“A swordsman, controlling his strength against soone who can’t use magic? You’ve got to be kidding. I was about to kill you, but I held back... ugh!”
Crash!
Suddenly, Yuhanul swung his sword at again.
‘Is he insane?’
I was surprised, but fortunately, I dodged just in ti.
The massive bastard sword he swung buried itself into the ground.
And, the sword embedded in the earth... cut off Yuhanul’s own shadow.
Kyaaaah!A horrible scream echoed.
The shadow, which had been blinking with red eyes, was completely eradicated by the glowing sword.
It was probably one of the surveillance eyes Margarita had placed.
“You really lost it?”
“I thought you’d dodge. You have talent with swords.”
“This is really... If I get torn apart, I swear...”
“Haha, you were so desperate. Didn’t you notice that thing circling under your feet just now?”
“I knew!”
But he didn’t expect to just recklessly kill him.
Yuhanul smiled awkwardly.
“Sorry for deceiving you... But as you can see, I had to keep pretending to be enchanted. At least until the power of this domain was reduced a little.”
“You had no choice, huh?”
Yuhanul’s intentions didn’t matter, and after thinking about how brutally I had been dragged around for hours, my teeth clenched.
If he had just shown a little bit of awareness, I would’ve adjusted and dealt with him accordingly.
“The other side is too quick to notice, so I thought if I told you, it would be caught imdiately.”
“Only you would think that. Don’t underestimate my acting.”
“Isn’t it pretty much the sa... By the way, didn’t you notice? If you had kept destroying the magical structure like this...”
“Do you think I’m a fool? They would have figured it out before I did!”
I had been too late to notice because I was busy running for my life, but soone like Margarita, a powerful mage, definitely wouldn’t have missed it.
This farce couldn’t last much longer, anyway.
“Oh, really? That’s unfortunate.”
Yuhanul said with a tone of regret.
“While doing what I had to do, I thought I could also train your swordsmanship.”
“There’s no such thing as killing two birds with one stone.”
I tapped my head.
Right.
At first, I was so angry, but after thinking it through, I realized what Yuhanul’s real intention was.
‘He was trying to break Margarita’s domain... from the inside.’
It may have been a different thod than mine, but it was certainly efficient.
Whoosh!
I extended my magic, sensing Margarita’s domain.
A mage’s magical domain is like an intricately woven spiderweb.
The mage who controls the domain spins the threads of magic and weaves them into a sturdy house to prevent anyone from stealing their power.
And as ti passes, the structure gets stronger.
That’s why no matter how much shock you give it, it usually doesn’t break easily... but there’s always a weakness.
Yuhanul had pinpointed the exact weak spots and destroyed them.
He had struck at the joints where the threads of magic intersected.
‘Now that I think about it, it’s strange that he kept slamming his sword into the ground instead of swinging it.’
Yuhanul had been dismantling Margarita’s magical structure while deceiving her eyes.
This wasn’t sothing you could do in just a day or two.
After all, Yuhanul had been missing for several months.
“Well, so you’ve been here ever since we lost contact? It’s been almost three months.”
“Oh, has it been that long? I lost track of ti... I guess it’s been longer than I thought.”
Yuhanul chuckled awkwardly.
“I didn’t think anyone would co looking for . I’m sorry for making you worry.”
“I wasn’t worried. You should apologize to your master or Han Jaeyoung.”
I wasn’t really expecting gratitude or an apology. I was just here because the system forced to make a transaction.
The system reminds user, ‘Jeong Da-on,’ that the transaction cost will be determined after clearing the dungeon.‘Who’s asking for the price right now?’
I hadn’t expected anything.
The system was starting to be more cautious with , but I wasn’t surprised.
Of course, once I rescued Yuhanul and left the dungeon, I would be able to extract whatever I wanted.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
“Still, thanks to you, Margarita’s control over the domain is weakened... If the villagers succeed in climbing the mountain, we can shake the domain completely.”
As of now, I had regained control of magic, but I could only use about 3rd or 4th-circle spells at best.
‘This isn’t enough.’
Just because Margarita’s domain was weakening doesn’t an she would lose her magic.
She was still the strongest mage here.
If I wanted to ensure a clear victory, it would have to co after the villagers succeeded.
Yuhanul furrowed his brow at my words.
“The villagers?”
“Yeah. There’s a rule about this domain.”
I briefly explained to Yuhanul about the red eternal snow that the villagers talked about.
Of course, I left out the part where I had threatened them to climb the peak.
After hearing the explanation, Yuhanul seed to understand.
“That kind of legend... Well, if that’s true, then today really might be the end.”
“Probably. The problem is that Margarita will try sothing before that.”
“...Hmm.”
Yuhanul seed to hesitate before asking.
“Are you sure about this?”
At that unexpected question, I responded with confusion.
“...What do you an?”
But Yuhanul didn’t answer imdiately.
And as I watched his expression, suddenly a cold shiver ran down my spine.
No, it can’t be.
...Could it be?
“...Yuhanul, you.”
I swallowed hard.
“When did you co back to your senses?”
I had assud Yuhanul had only recently snapped out of his trance.
If he had truly been of sound mind, he would’ve noticed the connection between us when we faced Margarita.
But...
“I was never under a trance.”
The answer I received made my mind go blank for a mont.
He had never been under a trance?
The system is doing its best to ensure user survival.
‘This damn bastard...’
I touched my forehead.
Back when we were in Count Burk’s domain, I had been genuinely confused.
And I had once infiltrated Yuhanul’s unconscious mind.
That’s why I naturally assud... Yuhanul’s mind hadn’t been able to withstand Margarita’s magic.
“Are... are you okay?”
Yuhanul reached out to with a worried expression as I touched my forehead, but quickly withdrew when I glared at him.
How absurd.
I had believed, without a doubt, that Yuhanul had fallen under Margarita’s spell.
Just like the system had protected , I had assud Yuhanul was being protected as well.
But why had I believed so easily that he had been enchanted and never considered the possibility that it was all an act?
‘...I had such a foolish prejudice.’
I had overlooked the most basic truth.
Just because Yuhanul was a hero didn’t an he couldn’t lie.
Everyone lies for convenience.
And... at the sa ti.
I realized sothing else.
Because of my prejudice that Yuhanul wouldn’t lie, I had brushed past a conversation from the past without thinking.
“...Yuhanul.”
The ground beneath lightly vibrated.
The magic I had seized tightly wrapped around like the wind.
System warning!
“Then, how much did you hear?”
In front of Yuhanul... I had discussed a lot with Margarita.
Didn’t Lucy co to kill anyway?
People never change, no matter how many tis they are reborn.
If we are reborn, let’s et again.
I had ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) asked Yuhanul a similar question before.
Back then, he had called “Princess” in the dungeon and avoided once we returned to Earth.
At that ti, I had suspected he might have recalled sothing.
“No, I need to change the question.”
At that ti, Yuhanul had answered that he was avoiding because the system forced him to recruit as a companion.
And I had accepted it, thinking the quest was insulting, but moved on.
System warning!
But now.
Yuhanul asked if it would be alright to end Margarita.
Looking back... Yuhanul had never answered my question properly.
So now, I had to ask again.
“How much do you rember?”
Yuhanul smiled awkwardly.
He must have seen the flashing red system warning, but didn’t say anything.
“Well, I didn’t give a proper answer, but should that be considered a lie?”
“You...!”
“More importantly... I don’t think we have the luxury of talking about the past right now, Your Highness.”
Boom!
Coincidentally, at that mont, a loud explosion rang out.
It was an explosion from the middle of the mountain.
In the dark sky before dawn, I saw part of a building flying through the air.
Yuhanul chuckled slightly.
“Looks like you’re not a gentleman.”
“Yuhanul...”
“Now that the magical structure has been shaken up this much, I’m sure Master and Hyunjoon will be starting to wake up soon.”
Swoosh!
As soon as Yuhanul finished speaking, the shadows of the forest began to stir.
Margarita, realizing that she had been deceived, restored the watchers first.
Yes, as Yuhanul said.
There was no ti for further conversation.
At least, I had to drag things out until the villagers reached the peak and Margarita couldn’t recover anymore.
Sling!
Yuhanul infused his sword with a glowing green sword energy.
However, the sword wasn’t aid at .
“First, let’s break through this forest and head for the monastery. eting up with Master is our priority.”
“...You’re really going with ?”
I raised my hand and pointed at myself.
“Can you trust ?”
The system was still protecting Yuhanul while ominously fluctuating toward .
For a mont, I thought about whether I should go back to being the ‘Destroyer of Worlds.’
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