Chapter 135
William was walking endlessly through the black swamp.
He had lost one leg and one arm. His left eyeball had been taken, bleeding down his face, and even his fingernails and right ear had been ripped off, leaving him in a truly grotesque state.
When William first entered this place, he offered his blood. Then, the vision of Raphaella, who had been laughing before, vanished into black mist.
As he searched around to find Raphaella again, a vision appeared demanding an arm. So he gave it.
Having gone through eleven visions like that, his body was in such a state that collapsing at any moment would not have been surprising.
Yet he continued forward without rest, hobbling along using a wooden stick as a crutch.
Finally, when he faced the twelfth vision, William instinctively knew that this one was the last.
Because the Raphaella before him looked different from the previous visions.
The earlier visions had all been severely wounded. A vision that had lost a lot of blood asked for blood; a vision with a broken leg asked for a leg.
But the vision in front of him now was completely intact and healthy. She was even wearing a beautiful dress and smiling brightly.
“Welcome, William. It must have been hard to come all this way.”
“…Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
“…Lady Raphaella.”
“Why do you keep saying it? I’m right here in front of you.”
Raphaella smiled and walked toward William. He quietly watched as she approached, stopping just a hand’s length away.
The vision of Raphaella raised her hand and cupped William’s cheek. With her thumb, she gently wiped away the blood flowing from the empty socket where his eye should have been and spoke.
“You’re the first to come this deep in a hundred and fifty years. You… are truly persistent.”
“……”
“This place has seen far more humans than you think, far too many.”
“I know. I’ve heard.”
“Keep your mouth shut and keep going.”
“Yes.”
“The ordinary humans who came here… at first, they give up their money or bodies willingly, but after it happens two or three times, they ultimately back away and leave.”
“……I see.”
“Yes. Ordinary humans, no matter how sad or desperate the visions are, eventually put themselves first. That’s instinct, that’s their nature. But you, William… what are you?”
“You are….”
William closed and opened his eyes slowly as he listened to the explanation, then asked:
“Blehel… is it?”
The vision of Raphaella raised the corners of her mouth in a wide grin and replied playfully:
“Well… what do you think?”
“Answer me.”
“Why should I?”
“I believe I’ve paid the price for the things I’ve offered to get here.”
“You talk too much.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“You’re still stiff, though. Well, I suppose that’s fun in its own way.”
“So, are you Blehel?”
“No. To be precise, I’m a residual consciousness. A separated mental energy, you could say.”
“Like when you gave me the bracelet.”
“Hm, slightly different. Because back then, the main body was still alive.”
A mix of confusion and curiosity crossed William’s eyes.
“Alive… so that means it’s dead now?”
“Yes. My main body is dead. In short, I’m a kite with a broken string, a residual consciousness with no master. Once all the energy here is depleted, I’ll vanish like mist.”
“Do you know when, exactly, and by whom it was killed?”
“Huh. You’re asking a broken kite when and how it parted with its string? Persistent, aren’t you?”
“I want to see the real Lady Raphaella before my breath runs out.”
The vision of Raphaella narrowed her eyes and smiled strangely.
“Hm. Now that I think about it, you already noticed from the first vision, yet you gave up everything anyway. Strange fellow.”
“If you don’t want to answer, I’ll ask a different question.”
“I never said I didn’t want to.”
“Then you will answer?”
“Well… if the price is right, I could even answer all the other questions you wanted to ask.”
“…You still want more from my body?”
“Of course.”
The vision of Raphaella licked her lips and answered:
“Your heart.”
“…Hah.”
“A young, healthy heart. Very good.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Why? Aren’t you curious for an answer?”
“If I lose my heart, I’ll die. And then I won’t be able to reach Lady Raphaella. I still need to move forward.”
“…So going to her is more important than your life?”
“Yes. Much more important.”
“Why go so far? What is she to you?”
William did not answer immediately, instead lifting his head to the murky sky.
Even though this was a vision spell, Blehel had crafted it with exquisite detail—the pain felt vivid and real.
And William welcomed that pain. It had allowed him to reach this far without losing consciousness.
He finally spoke after catching his breath:
“She is someone very precious.”
Compared to the long silence, it was a simple and straightforward answer. But the vision of Raphaella covered her mouth in disgust.
“Ugh. That’s so cheesy.”
“I mean it. She’s someone I want to protect at any cost, someone I want to save even with my own body.”
“Someone? A person… pfft.”
The vision of Raphaella wore a mischievous expression.
“You still don’t know, do you? Raphaella’s true identity.”
“I’m curious, but it doesn’t really matter.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“No matter what Lady Raphaella is.”
“Ha! Want me to tell you? What kind of being she really is?”
“No need.”
“Why~ come on. It’ll be really fun.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Actually, she’s a corrup… ugh!”
William’s hand grabbed the neck of the vision of Raphaella.
Her slender neck, caught in his large hand, looked as if it could snap at any moment.
“Ugh… suddenly… what’s with you?”
The vision of Raphaella barely managed to ask, her voice metallic. William’s piercing blue eye stared intently.
“Don’t speak of her identity carelessly. A mere vision has no right to blurt it out.”
It was a gaze from the deep abyss—so deep it resembled a terrifying sea. Though he had only one eye, the silent killing intent within it felt more vast than the ocean.
“Until Lady Raphaella herself speaks, I will not hear it from anyone. Understood?”
“Ugh… okay, geez. Just… let go…”
“Promise to answer the questions I want.”
“Ugh.”
William tightened his grip.
Even though it was just a residual vision, her face flushed bright red like a living person when strangled.
Seeing that, William confirmed a hypothesis: strong magic always carries a strong weakness. The physical effects in this place seemed to affect not only the person within the vision but also the master.
Yet outwardly, he showed nothing, speaking in a low, threatening voice:
“I will ask only three questions. If you refuse to answer, I will destroy you to protect my heart. What will you do?”
“Heh heh. You with one arm and one leg, what can you even do… cough.”
“Do you doubt me?”
Faced with William’s lethal gaze, the vision of Raphaella quickly replied:
“Ugh… I’ll answer! I’ll do it!”
“Good.”
Only then did William release his hand.
With only one arm, he had to drop the wooden crutch he had been using to strangle her neck. Balancing on one leg while attacking caused his wounds to ache even more, but it didn’t matter. The pain was welcome.
“First question. How long has it been since Blehel’s main body was separated?”
“Hah… you despicable man. I thought you were a fool, a pushover.”
The vision of Raphaella rubbed her neck and shot him a resentful glare. William chuckled quietly—her expression was identical to the real Raphaella when angry. Then a sudden pang hit his chest. He finally understood the source of the pain.
‘I want to see her.’
But William quickly steadied his weakening resolve.
“The answer?”
“…About ten hours ago.”
“I see. Shorter than I expected, that’s a relief.”
“Short? Ha! Fool, the time here is different from the outside.”
“?”
“Time in this space is measured only by my perspective. This is a world different from the outside. There’s a time gap.”
“Explain exactly how it differs. This will be my second question.”
“Refuse. You’ll see when you leave.”
“That kind of evasive answer…”
“I don’t know either! It’s different each time. Each person trapped in my magic sees a different vision of time.”
“Time?”
“Yes. The older the memory, the faster outside time flows, while time here moves slower.”
“Then for my second question: which vision, or how far back in the past, is Lady Raphaella seeing?”
The vision of Raphaella covered her mouth and giggled. Her hair turned black, her lips and nails darkened.
“Oh, this is hilarious. You said you didn’t want to know my identity, yet you’re curious about this?”
Blehel, restored to her full form, laughed and shrugged.
“Before the creation of Lenton or the Henten Empire. Back when there were not 110 gods, but only 12 primordial gods. Trapped in a very distant past.”
William furrowed his brows, deep wrinkles forming between them, sinking into deeper anguish.
A time when only the primordial gods existed… He could not even imagine how far back Raphaella was looking. Nor why she had gone so far back.
‘A past life… perhaps.’
William pressed on without pause.
“Last question. How long until all the energy here is depleted?”
