Chapter 19
Charlie gripped his greatsword with both hands and swung it horizontally with force. His eyes were filled with an undeniable madness.
“Die!!”
She ducked and easily dodged the attack, then punched him in the solar plexus. Charlie flew backward and crashed into the ground.
Arin approached Ahd and Yellow. With a snap of her fingers, the ropes binding them snapped. Standing tall, Arin looked at the battered villagers and cracked her knuckles.
“Who’s next to get their butt kicked?”
Her voice was lethargic to the point of boredom.
“How arrogant.”
Karen drew her long needle and rushed toward Arin. Brown formed a fireball and aimed it at her. Between the three, needles, fireballs, and fists flew in every direction.
Meanwhile, Yellow growled lowly, revealing his sharp teeth after being freed from his restraints. Seeing Yellow growl at him, Jake summoned his familiar.
“Tenki!”
The 1.5-meter-long viper made Yellow bristle. It was Tenki who had ambushed and subdued Yellow when they tried to escape the village.
[Grrr. I haven’t forgotten the humiliation. I’ll tear you to pieces.]
Green venom dripped from Tenki’s fangs, but Yellow didn’t flinch. He instantly grew in size and slammed his thick front paw down on Tenki’s head. The quick strike knocked Tenki to the side. Shaking its head, the snake lunged again.
“Hiss—Hiss—!”
The two tangled and rolled on the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. The thudding sounds rattled the entire village—a sign of a fierce battle. When the dust finally settled, Yellow was biting into Tenki’s neck.
[Ptui.]
Spitting Tenki out, Yellow moved again. He had spotted Julie, Jake’s other familiar, creeping toward Ahd in a slime-like motion.
Ahd stared wide-eyed at the approaching Julie, feeling like she was growing larger by the second.
Julie, now as big as Yellow, made a screeching noise like nails on a chalkboard. Ahd covered her ears with her tiny hands, close to tears.
“Julie, grab the brat!”
Jake intended to take Ahd as a hostage. Julie formed eight soft-looking tentacles and shot them toward Ahd.
Arin, still wary of Jake during her fight, and Yellow, who had just defeated Tenki, both dashed toward Ahd at the same time.
“Ahd!”
[Kid!]
Arin blocked the tentacles while Yellow bit onto Ahd’s collar and pulled her back. Dangling in the air from his jaws, Ahd blinked her large eyes and asked:
“Ahd… is flying?”
Arin and Yellow’s expressions turned blank. Yellow sighed and let Ahd climb onto his back.
‘Ugh, another idiot, just like the dumb one. Why am I stuck with these kinds of people?’
Without realizing it, Yellow had come to think of Ahd as one of his own. Clinging to Yellow’s back like a cicada, Ahd patted him gently as he sobbed.
[It’s all your fault… Hmph.]
Meanwhile…
Remain’s face, bowed in devotion, was filled with emotion. He never thought he’d see Deneb again in his lifetime.
“God Remain greets Duke Altair.”
“Remain.”
“Yes, sir!”
“I give you my command.”
“I will obey with my life.”
At the border of the Procyon Empire, within Count Dernacy’s territory, they began moving in secret.
The group included Remain, his mercenaries, Deneb, and Seribes—just over ten people. Though few in number, Deneb’s exceptional skills made it easy to track Arin.
At the time Arin was unconscious in a warehouse, Deneb and his group were discreetly combing through Mount Koren on horseback.
“There are tracks here!”
Seribes had found leopard footprints about the size of a human palm.
[Go for the cheek! The cheek!]
Yellow remembered vividly how Arin had been slapped while her hair was grabbed. Following Yellow’s coaching, Arin relentlessly aimed her punches at Jake’s face.
“Ugh…”
Jake, his face swollen and bruised, groaned painfully. He looked around with barely open eyes—destroyed buildings from wind magic, people collapsed and bleeding.
He was the only one left.
“Ah… Lord Eden…”
Gritting his teeth, he tried to endure, but his legs gave out. Jake collapsed forward. Arin had won, completely.
Yellow, still carrying Ahd on his back, quickly stood beside her.
[So… we don’t need to twist his neck?]
“Hmm…”
Arin examined the mana swirling in her body. She knew she could easily kill them with this power. But killing a fellow human made her hesitate.
[It’s best not to leave threats behind. Want me to do it for you—snap?]
Arin closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again.
“No.”
[…]
“I’ll do it.”
These were people who had behaved worse than animals. Who knew what they’d do if they came back?
With a grim expression, she looked up at the three moons floating proudly in the sky. The way back to her original world seemed hopeless. Whether she liked it or not, she was now one of this world’s people—and it wasn’t as safe as Earth.
‘I have to change too.’
She cast a protective shield over Yellow and Ahd and began to control her mana. The sheer force made the air vibrate—wiiiing—wiiiing.
Dark green electricity flickered around her body. She used electricity magic not to inflict pain, but to end it quickly. Not for them—for her own conscience.
“Electro… ugh.”
A sharp pain bloomed in her chest. She clutched at her heart. Ahd stomped her feet and wiggled her hands.
“Does it hurt?”
[What’s wrong? Is your chest hurting?]
Arin stumbled, gasping for breath as pain overwhelmed her. The mana, once calm, rampaged wildly like a runaway horse.
The more the pain increased, the harder it became to control the half-formed spell. The green electricity burst in every direction.
As she tried to rein it in, dark blue veins surfaced on her skin. The symptoms mirrored those of Deneb’s poisoning.
“Haaah… ugh…”
As Arin crouched and struggled, Yellow tried to break through the shield. Rogue electricity zapped right in front of his nose but bounced off the barrier.
“Yellow, don’t come out… stay there…”
“Hnn… huuuaaa…”
Ahd burst into tears. Her eyes turned red as she stood at the edge of the shield, hands clasped tightly.
“Don’t… don’t hurt… huu…”
“Ahd, I’m fine… ugh!”
Electricity exploded from Arin and tore through the ground, destroying village structures. This pain was incomparable—it was worse than anything before.
“Aaaagh!”
Thick blood oozed from Arin’s nose.
Yellow was just as worried, but Ahd’s cries were especially unsettling. He licked the tears from her cheeks. Ahd clung to his leg, shaking.
Yellow recalled how the Overlord had once controlled mana. Following the memory, he shouted to Arin:
[Don’t just let it escape! You have to guide it through your breath!]
But Arin couldn’t hear him. Her mind had gone blank.
“It hurts… aaagh… it hurts…!”
Deneb, halfway up the mountain, sensed the surge of mana. So did the others.
“This…”
No words were needed. With Deneb in the lead, they all pushed their horses forward.
“Hyah!”
“Go, go!”
After about ten minutes of riding, they saw green lightning devouring the distant horizon.
“That’s the village of Bruton, overrun by bandits.”
Remain pointed to the right.
“Deneb, there’s a shortcut this way.”
“No need.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll go first. Follow me.”
With that, Deneb’s figure vanished like a mirage. It was teleportation.
He reappeared atop a shrine in Bruton village. He examined the carvings on the altar.
“A long-distance teleportation circle…”
Just as he was inspecting the symbols further—
[Get a grip, you fool! Fool!!]
Deneb wrapped his feet in mana. As he leapt, a massive crater formed beneath him. Soaring into the air, he spotted her—struggling with lightning magic in a village corner.
She looked like she was in danger, but still alive.
In Deneb’s eyes, she was all he could see. His gaze softened.
“Found you.”
Falling back to the ground, wind tousled his hair, revealing a cool forehead. Just when it seemed he might crash, his body landed gently in front of Arin.
“Arin.”
At his soft call, Arin slowly looked up. Through tear-filled, blurry eyes, she saw his hand reaching out to her.
