Chapter : 128
By a hair’s breadth, Allen narrowly avoided the surprise attack. He looked at me with a laugh of disbelief, then his expression quickly turned cold.
“Ha, you think someone like you could even—”
Before Allen could finish, I launched another attack.
The laughter vanished from his face.
“What a tearful kind of love this is.”
“……”
“If that’s your wish, I’ll carve that heart out while it’s still beating!”
Only a murderous madness remained in that moment.
Allen moved swiftly toward me, proving that the earlier attack hadn’t reflected his true strength.
Boom!
Kkamang quickly swallowed me to protect me, while Ppiyak continued to attack Allen relentlessly.
“These guys are really…!”
Though my main body was weak, Allen had to contend with the two spirits, which gave me a slight advantage.
But at this rate, I’ll eventually lose.
Spirits borrow power at the cost of their master’s mana, and their summoned endurance depends on the master’s stamina.
Right now, my excessive bleeding was rapidly draining my energy.
Along with it, my consciousness began to blur, and the rage and fear of death filling me gradually faded.
But at that moment, I remembered.
[Vivian.]
My father, who had endured all this terrible anger, despair, and self-blame throughout his life, only for me.
I, who had become his everything, couldn’t die here.
Pull yourself together.
I forced strength into my paralyzed arm and clenched my fist.
The pain from the wound sharpened my awareness, clearing my blurred consciousness.
Dragging out this fight any longer won’t let me beat Allen.
A slight hesitation could be the difference between lasting a bit longer or dying quickly.
I had to create an opening and pour all my effort into a single attack to have any chance.
Allen will probably assume I’ll take a defensive stance again.
I planned to exploit that exact moment when he attacked, expecting me to defend.
There’s only one chance.
Steeling my mind, I was about to command the spirits to attack when, just as expected, Allen rushed at me.
And finally, just as Allen’s sword was about to reach me after closing the distance quickly…
A thick wall of ice suddenly rose before me, blocking Allen’s attack.
This…
Realizing whose magic it was, I lifted my head—and met the blue eyes I had longed to see.
For a moment, I wondered if it was just a vision I’d see before dying, when a familiar deep voice landed in my ears.
“Did he do this to you?”
At the same time, a warm sensation wrapped around me.
That warmth, that voice…
It wasn’t a vision.
“L-Lahedis…?”
Lahedis was truly alive.
I felt it with my skin, my ears, my eyes.
And then, the tears I hadn’t been able to shed when I thought he was dead finally burst out.
All the fighting I had been prepared to die for moments ago felt suddenly meaningless.
“You…”
Lahedis pressed his forehead to mine and whispered as my voice caught in my throat.
“If you were planning a reunion kiss, save it for later. Don’t forget.”
That sly face was infuriating, tempting me to strike him—but I could only laugh through my exhausted tears.
Then—
Crack!
The ice wall protecting us shattered, revealing the murderous Allen.
“How… you bastard, how did you—!”
Lahedis swiftly countered Allen’s movement with his own attack.
Allen, forced to dodge, was pushed back despite having just closed the distance.
Lahedis watched him with a cold smile.
“Did you really think I was trapped in that flimsy prison, unable to escape that crude restraint?”
“What?”
“I thought maybe some valuable intel might pass through the enemy lines… but it yielded nothing.”
“…Hah.”
“Except for that insane plan to blow up the lab.”
“You little rat…”
Allen’s face turned red and blue with fury as he realized Lahedis hadn’t been completely suppressed, but had intentionally allowed himself to be captured.
The wild expression of defeat mirrored his father’s perfectly.
And I too felt anger at Lahedis’s words.
Then at least he could’ve told me not to worry!
Of course, the reason was entirely different.
“Ah, and there’s one more thing I discovered.”
Ignoring Allen’s murderous aura, Lahedis continued calmly.
“I always felt sorry seeing you, hostile as you were. I wondered how I should deal with you.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Should I pity you for being twisted by your father? Or hate you because you oppose me?”
Though the biggest victims of the emperor’s inferiority complex were Lahedis’s family, the princess and Allen were also collateral victims.
But…
“But now there’s no need to worry about that.”
With this incident, Allen transitioned from victim to complete perpetrator, inheriting his father’s inferiority complex.
Lahedis’s eyes flickered with fleeting bitterness, but it vanished quickly.
“Right, no need for that.”
Allen sneered in agreement.
“You’ll die here today as a traitor!”
At that declaration, Allen charged, gripping his sword.
Boom!
Lahedis raised another wall of ice, blocking him, his gaze as cold as ever.
Watching, I snapped out of my daze and called the spirits circling me.
I have to help Lahedis too…
But before I could command them, Lahedis’s voice rang out.
“You can release the spirits, Vivian.”
“Huh? But…”
“Leave it to me now.”
My energy was already strained to maintain the spirits’ summoning.
Hesitating briefly, I released the spirits, half by choice, half forced, and watched the battle between Lahedis and Allen.
Lahedis’s power was truly overwhelming.
I had seen him use magic, but never fully in combat.
He’s incredibly strong…
The barrier had been lifted by guild members of Terrak, but shattering the restraint alone would have required immense effort.
Of course, Allen was tired from fighting me, but even so, fighting evenly after being trapped in the prison for days was no easy feat.
“You… cowardly bastard…!”
Allen’s face twisted in rage, unable to land a proper attack due to Lahedis’s magic.
In a fight between swordsman and mage, if the swordsman cannot close the distance, the mage’s victory is inevitable.
As their battle gradually tilted in Lahedis’s favor…
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince!”
The royal knights appeared alongside the Knight Commander.
They must have rushed after hearing the explosion.
“Are you all right? What on earth happened here…?”
The knights’ attention faltered as they looked at Allen, stunned into silence.
Allen, seeing them hesitate, barked an order.
“He’s a traitor. Capture him.”
The lab had been blown up.
Any evidence of the emperor’s crimes inside would have been destroyed as well.
It was only natural that the palace knights would see us as traitors.
Yet Lahedis remained completely calm.
Raising one arm—holding me with the other—he signaled surrender and spoke.
“Curious, aren’t you?”
The knights, cautious but approaching, paused at the question.
Lahedis continued leisurely.
“That rumor circulating recently… that His Majesty, the Emperor, is conducting research in the former prince’s palace to start a war with the demon realm.”
“……”
“I think if you go now, you could confirm the evidence for yourself.”
