Chapter 74
I wondered if I had misheard.
If Maya hadn’t suddenly changed the subject, I would have thought it was just a fantasy born of my own wishful thinking.
Swoooosh—the sound of wind brushed past my ears.
Maya turned her head away from me, and it seemed like the tips of her ears flushed red.
The churning in my stomach settled.
“…”
Tristan looked at Maya’s back and quietly chuckled.
If she realized he was laughing, Maya would probably feel even more embarrassed.
Yeah, there was no need to agonize over something that hadn’t even happened.
The real Maya was right here with him.
…There was hope.
I thought she didn’t have any feelings for me yet.
She did say I had a handsome face. Looks seemed to work better than he expected.
What should I do now?
“Over there,” Maya said, raising her hand and pointing to Alex, who was facing off against the butterfly.
Alex, coughing with his face covered, came into view—beside him was Hayden, pale and trembling uncontrollably.
Maya quickly jumped down.
The butterfly flinched and grabbed Alex, pretending to choke him.
“Even after this, you still won’t kill me?”
“Even if I do as you ask, there’s no guarantee you’ll let Alex go quietly.”
Maya answered as if it were obvious and swung her sword. Alex and Hayden, standing behind him, flinched in terror.
But Maya’s blade struck the butterfly with perfect precision. One of its wings tore, and a pained groan escaped it.
“This changes things.”
Maya narrowed her eyes.
Her crimson irises looked like those of a ruthless slaughterer.
“Attacking my people—that crossed the line.”
Hearing Maya’s words, Alex and Hayden were moved to tears.
Your Grace, we’ve finally truly become your people!
With one wing ripped off, the butterfly was noticeably slower.
“I should have gone for the wings from the start.”
Maya sheathed her sword again. Tristan cast a protective barrier around Alex and Hayden before stepping toward the butterfly.
With its hands bound, the butterfly was forced to its knees before Tristan and Maya.
Alex and Hayden studied the monster that wore Kendrick’s face in astonishment.
“So this is the creature?”
“It really does have the face of the great mage…”
“Haha…”
The butterfly, laughing like a madman, suddenly glared sharply.
Even now, Tristan still hadn’t made a move to attack.
“Why doesn’t it attack Tristan?”
“What are you—”
The butterfly started to snap but stopped itself. It realized speaking recklessly could only harm its own cause.
“Right, I can’t ruin everything because of my greed.”
Though it had a human body, Kendrick’s pupils had turned into vertical slits like a reptile’s.
Its once-splendid wings disintegrated into dust and scattered like mist into the air.
“If you won’t kill me, then I’ll make it so you have no choice.”
The butterfly laughed. From the dust shed by its wings, insects began to form in the air.
“I’ll stop them,” Tristan said.
He started absorbing the summoned insects and bugs into his barrier.
“Ugh…”
But Tristan couldn’t handle everything.
Instead of attacking the butterfly as he was meant to, his hands and feet were completely tied up.
Maybe that was its plan all along.
“Pointless. I’ve poured all my strength into this.”
The panic it showed before was completely gone.
It had caught on to the contradiction in Maya and Tristan’s words.
If Maya wouldn’t kill the monster, then all it had to do was create a situation where killing became inevitable.
“Hurry up and kill me. Otherwise, the number of bugs I summon will only grow.”
Unsettling.
The clarity with which it expressed its desire to die made it even worse.
It was a trap they couldn’t avoid, even knowing it was one.
Tristan hesitated.
The thought that Maya might be in danger kept gnawing at him.
“It’s okay, Tristan.”
Maya reassured him with a smile despite his darkened expression.
“No matter what trap they’ve laid…”
She smiled faintly.
“I’m ready.”
Yes. Whatever schemes these monsters had didn’t matter to Maya.
Because she would overcome it.
Just as she always had.
“If I die, he dies too. If you don’t kill me, more people will die.”
Was it because Maya didn’t look shaken that the butterfly revealed such a cruel truth?
But Maya wasn’t fazed.
“No. If I use the Pendragon Sword, I can kill only you.”
Maya shook her head calmly.
She’d already considered this issue during the last battle, and she had discussed it with the White Dragon on the way here.
“I can kill only you.”
The Pendragon Sword was meant to slay monsters.
“Kendrick won’t suffer a single scratch.”
If she wished, she could kill only the monster and leave the human unharmed.
The butterfly hadn’t foreseen this, and its expression darkened.
Nothing had gone the way it wanted.
“Ah… I wanted to enjoy this new life a little longer…”
It buried its face in its hands and let out a sobbing laugh.
“You ruined everything.”
“And you didn’t care about ruining the lives of others?”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
Was its own pain so much greater? Maya frowned at its selfish words.
The butterfly looked satisfied at the change in her expression.
“At least I got to see your composure break a little.”
Its venomous glare faded, replaced by an eerie calm, as it closed its eyes.
“We’ll return someday anyway… The foolish ones are you.”
There was no need to listen to such nonsense.
The Pendragon Sword pierced deep into Kendrick’s body.
The pure white blade didn’t harm Kendrick at all. Instead, light wrapped around his body.
Screeeeeeeech!
With a shrill scream, black smoke rose from Kendrick’s body and then dissipated.
His body swayed, losing balance, and collapsed.
The sword had struck Kendrick, yet not struck him—the blade had slain only the monster.
“…The creature is dead.”
The White Dragon, now back in human form, spoke.
The butterfly had to die, yet before that, it made a scene as if desperate not to go.
Still, it had to die. But why?
What did their deaths signify?
The Demon King.
Since they were the Demon King’s subordinates, his name naturally came to mind.
But if they wanted the Demon King to return, wouldn’t they need to perform a resurrection ritual or something?
Then why leave behind relics for Maya and Tristan, their enemies?
Where the butterfly died, another jewel appeared.
A sapphire, shimmering in vivid blue.
“That makes three gems we’ve collected.”
“Yes.”
Tristan nodded, then suddenly asked:
“Why didn’t it attack me?”
The butterfly, who had shown no hesitation in hurting Maya, had cowered before Tristan again.
Maya thought for a moment, then suggested:
“Maybe because it’s a natural enemy of Beiadon?”
“Could be. I thought the black light would make me closer to its side, though…”
Tristan’s theory sounded plausible too.
“So maybe because they’re similar, it was repulsed instead.”
They knew they wouldn’t get an answer.
Tristan pondered a little longer before saying:
“It’ll be fine. Now we know how to deal with these creatures next time.”
“…Next time, I think you should be the one to fight from the start.”
“Good idea.”
He hadn’t had much of a chance to fight this time, but next time, they’d make sure of it.
Tristan’s gaze shifted to his barrier.
Inside, the bugs the butterfly had summoned still swarmed.
Meanwhile, Maya looked down at Kendrick with concern. Even after the butterfly died, Kendrick hadn’t regained consciousness.
The healthy flush in his face told her he was alive, but that was all.
Kendrick was still trapped in the illusion the butterfly left behind.
Unconscious.
Now, they could only wait.
What remained in Kendrick’s body was Kendrick alone.
Kendrick.
Maya and Tristan had both overcome the illusions.
So Kendrick surely could too.
Maya refused to give up hope.
Because that was all she had left.
Even in this life, Maya couldn’t completely save Kendrick.
Kendrick’s life depended only on Kendrick.
Maya clasped his hand tightly.
“Kendrick, please wake up.”
She whispered softly:
“When we go back to the Magic Tower, you need to show your shameless face to the people who think you’ve been forgotten.”
Maya believed in Kendrick.
“Please…”
