Chapter 291. Karma (3)
A single phrase clung to by the barely conscious mind.
Emily’s eyes flared open as she faced the one who had grasped her body.
“Yo-Young Master?”
Even though her vision was a bit blurred, there was no mistake.
He was the one and only young master and master of her world.
It was Sian.
-Whoosh
Mana and mist swirled together in his free hand, gathering into a sphere.
With a bold move, Sian pushed the orb into Emily’s body.
It was sucked in smoothly.
“Suction!”
A 5-star darkness attribute unique magic ‘Absorption’.
A spell that sucked in poison or impurities from the target’s body and transferred it into the caster’s, healing and purifying the target at the expense of the caster.
“No, Young Master! If you do this, the poison will enter your body…!”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Emily tried to stop him, but Sian continued to draw the poison into himself relentlessly.
Finally having absorbed all the poison, Sian staggered slightly as his head spun.
However, he didn’t fall.
Instead, he spit onto the ground, and among his saliva was so of the poison he had drawn in.
“Are you alright, Young Master?”
“This isn’t enough to bother .”
Sian’s body, hardened by the blood of the beasts, was already beyond human limits; so such an impact was insignificant.
Sian gently released Emily’s body, and she imdiately collapsed to the ground.
Then she looked up at Sian with a vacant gaze.
“How did you get here?”
“Isn’t that the least of your worries?”
“You must have really not wanted to lose , running here in such a hurry?”
“Who else would take care of my back if not you?”
“That’s true.”
Emily burst into laughter without realizing and bowed her head.
– Drip
For so reason, a single droplet of water fell to the floor.
Confused, when she touched her face, she realized tears were streaming down her cheeks.
Sian wordlessly draped a cloak over Emily.
“My, my! Look at the state of this cloak! How much have you been wandering around for it to be this tattered? We’ll have to nd it imdiately when we return!”
“Do whatever.”
Sian gestured for her to do as she pleased, and soon walked past Emily, trudging forward.
As he walked away, Emily whispered to herself.
“Other than , who else would nd the Young Master’s cloak?”
With a resolute decision to not hand it over to anyone else, Emily tightly clutched Sian’s cloak.
“Do you think you’ve won?”
Haniel sneered at the approaching Sian.
“Your actions will eventually destroy the order of this world! You’re only adding more to what my son has to do!”
A desperate outcry that humans always use when cornered.
Sian was all too familiar with such situations.
“Soon, your people will regret! They will regret their ignorance for following a savior who is not righteous!”
Haniel continued to reproach Sian, almost as if she were possessed by evil.
Sian looked down at her without a response, remaining calm and collected.
“That damned order. Why are you so obsessed with it?”
Those words, he had heard so often they almost beca annoying.
Haniel laughed mockingly in response.
“There’s no particular reason! I just lived faithfully as a human, following my instincts!”
Sian’s brows furrowed slightly.
“Like humans live to fill their stomachs, sleep, and satisfy their desires, I too lived a long life realizing the value of my existence while carrying this filthy blood!”
Haniel showed off the blood flowing down her elbow to Sian.
“Don’t think this is the end! As long as my son, my savior, lives! This world will never accept Sian Bert!”
“And where is this savior of yours now?”
That single question silenced Haniel.
“If he is the undeniable savior you believe in, shouldn’t he be here to save you in such a situation?”
But, her savior was nowhere to be seen.
Unable to even suggest he would soon arrive, Haniel remained silent.
“It seems you already know. That your savior will not co to save you…”
In a situation that allowed neither denial nor affirmation, Haniel’s face twisted into despair.
Sian pulled out his Keram and aid it at her.
However, without any particular judgnt or execution, he simply watched her in silence.
Then, just when it seed he would finally sheath the sword, he turned towards Emily.
“…?”
Haniel wore an expression of disbelief that she wasn’t to be executed.
Similarly, Emily looked puzzled as she watched Sian make his pointless return.
“Are you… just going to leave?”
“Yeah.”
“But, because of that woman, many knights including your father had to endure tragedy. Including you, Young Master. Are you really going to let her walk free?”
“What do you think is the most painful revenge I could inflict on that woman?”
Unexpectedly asked this question, Emily hesitated.
“It’s probably to show her… to watch sothing she believed and hoped for crumble miserably…”
“Correct. But right now, I don’t have that sothing.”
Understanding dawned on Emily, and she nodded.
“Then, acting now wouldn’t satisfy . It’s better not to touch her.”
After leaving those words, Sian supported Emily and left the scene.
Left alone, Haniel stared forlornly at their retreating figures before once again erupting into manic laughter towards the sky.
“Kyahaha! Truly foolish! Did you think I’d self-destruct like this? I’m far from finished!”
While looking at her own blood flowing warmly, she reassured herself that her ability to bewitch still existed.
“First, I’ll reclaim my son! Then, I’ll show you the true power of a witch! No one will be able to stop this ti…!”
“Witch?”
A cold voice suddenly quenched the rising heat.
Haniel tensed up on the spot, unable to move.
“You’re the witch? The one who gave that pendant to Eshe, who you thought would provoke into attacking Inge?”
The owner of the voice picked up the pendant lying on the ground and displayed it to her.
Haniel managed to turn her head to face him.
The Demon King Belkarion.
Following Sian, now the strongest of the demon world appeared before her.
“I never understood when people said ntal pain is more difficult than physical pain. How hard can that be? I thought it was just sothing you could endure.”
-Crunch
The pendant in his hand crumbled into a formless dust.
“But because of you people, I fully experienced it. And seriously, I never want to experience it again. So, I need to repay you for this precious experience, don’t I?”
The area around him began to be slowly consud by a dark red demonic energy.
Haniel could neither resist nor run; she could only tremble helplessly.
“Yes! I’ll give you the worst pain imaginable, the kind you’ll never forget in your next life! The pain that , Besti, and the residents of the demon world felt, I’ll return it all to you!”
“…!”
“Esheeeel!!”
Amid the roar of anguish echoing through the deserted woods,
There was no savior for her.
* * *
Ignoring the desperate scream heard from the direction I ca from, it wouldn’t change anything if I went back now.
“How did you find here?”
In a silence uncharacteristic of the mont, Emily cautiously asked .
“I didn’t specifically go to find you. I just happened to co across you by chance.”
“And here I thought you had rushed here just to find .”
With those words, silence fell again.
Emily kept waiting for to say sothing, but I had no intention of speaking first.
“Aren’t you going to ask anything?”
“About what?”
“Just various things. Such as what kind of relationship I had with that woman, how I ended up here, why I tricked the Young Master all this ti…”
“If you want to talk, just talk.”
I gave her the freedom to speak her mind without pressure.
After pondering for a while, Emily finally took a deep breath.
“I just did it for the Young Master’s sake.”
“That’s enough then.”
“Do you believe ?”
“There’s no reason not to.”
“You’re very nonchalant about it. I was so nervous thinking I’d get a huge lecture!”
“Why would you get lectured when you didn’t do anything wrong?”
Her sigh slipped out again at my consistent response.
“Haniel said I was like a stray cat taken in by her. In the Bert Dukedom, I watched over everything that happened and monitored the brothers, including the Young Master. Haniel told to figure out who could be of help or threaten Eshe, the Young Master.”
“What was I then?”
“At first, you were neither here nor there, Young Master. To be of help or a threat, you needed power, but until ten years old, you were just treated as incompetent.”
Yeah, that was true.
Unconsciously, I scratched my cheek.
“But you suddenly changed, beating Kranz until he was almost dead, and then declaring to the duke that you wanted to go to the front lines. I really thought you beca a completely different person!”
I still vividly rembered Emily’s face when I returned after beating Kranz in a sword practice.
“I think my feelings changed around that ti. I was deeply impressed by the Young Master’s constant effort to grow and not succumb to negative reality. After that, I decided that the only Young Master I would serve in this world was Sian. It felt like I had to live that way…”
I simply nodded in agreent, not reacting further.
There was no need for words; I already knew her feelings.
“Why did you clean my room before you left?”
“Oh, that was because… it felt like I wouldn’t be able to do it ever again.”
“Very like you.”
As Emily grinned and asked what that ant, I returned a silent answer, and during our light banter, I could see our group waiting for in the distance.
“Emily sister!”
Nana was the first to rush over and embrace Emily.
“You didn’t die; you’re alive! I’m so relieved!”
“Is that what you should be saying? Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?”
“I kept the promise I made with sister Emily! I didn’t tell anyone about who she is!”
“Ignoring the fact that you didn’t talk, why would you bring the princess here? Ah, really! That stupid man Brian, what the hell…”
While familiar bickering played out, Princess Arin approached .
“Did you find Eshe?”
“He wasn’t found. However, I’m sure he is not in the demon world.”
I had a vague idea of where he might be from the aura I sensed earlier, but there was no need to let her know.
“Then, there’s no reason for us to stay here?”
“Correct. You should return, Princess. I will follow shortly.”
The princess seed about to say more but nodded briefly in agreent.
“Just wait a mont, please.”
I called the princess back as she turned and returned my father’s sword to her.
“Why?”
“That sword is the only proof that my father, no, Duke Bert, is no longer in this world. Please take that sword and let the world know. Of the noble death of the guardian of the continent…”
“I will do so.”
The princess smiled slightly and readily agreed.
“Don’t be late. Unless you want to see co back to the demon world again…”
With a farewell that didn’t quite sound like a warning, she and the others were carried away by Nana, soaring high into the sky.
After they disappeared beyond the horizon, I finally spoke softly.
“They’re gone. You can co out now.”
“Ugh. You’re too quick with your observations.”
With that, Mishuka, who had been hiding behind us, revealed herself.
“Nagel wants to see you.”
(To be continued in the next chapter)
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