Chapter 108
“Hey! Don’t lose consciousness!”
“The Chief! Ugh—!”
“What?”
“I have to go to the Chief! Urgh—! The Chief will… will save m—me—! Kkugh—!”
The hot liquid that suddenly splattered onto my arm just now must have come from this man’s mouth.
His breathing grew shallow.
Then, with the very last of his strength, the man reached out and grabbed Velia’s arm.
“You—you people came—! The Chief is af—afraid of you—! Kkhh—!”
The hand clutching her arm fell limply to the ground.
The faint trace of life that had lingered around him scattered into the air.
Silence returned once more.
There was no time to mourn the man’s death. Velia slowly rose to her feet.
“I have to go.”
She had to find Carlton and Karin, and then locate Rude.
Focusing only on that, Velia ignored her trembling hands and began to move forward.
“Hah—huff—”
She hadn’t even walked far, yet her breathing grew ragged and sweat beaded on her forehead.
Stopping to catch her breath, she recalled what the man had just said.
“If the ‘Chief’ he mentioned… could it be Frey?”
That talk about “saving” people might have referred to divine power.
Perhaps the leader of the group that had established its base in Lebron was a saintess—using sacred power despite not being awakened yet.
That would explain how they gained influence in Lebron so quickly.
“Was it true… that they were afraid of me?”
Had that so-called Chief anticipated her arrival?
Velia vaguely remembered reading that a saintess’s powers included foresight.
Trying to sort out her chaotic thoughts, she began walking again.
How far had Carlton gotten by now?
Had he brought what he was supposed to retrieve from the Holy Kingdom?
Could stealing that artifact have altered the future?
Why had this explosion even happened?
Her mind spun with question after question until she suddenly whipped her head around.
Rumble—
The faint vibration of the ground made Velia tilt her head.
BOOM!
Thud—!
“Ah—!”
With a final, shrill cry, Velia’s slender body was hurled across the space and slammed into the ground.
Rrrumble—
The ground quaked, debris raining from above.
Her vision blurred through the rising gray dust.
Through it, Velia saw someone approaching her.
“Wh-who…?”
Before she could make out the figure’s identity, Velia’s consciousness slipped away, and her eyes closed.
Beside her, the mysterious figure stopped walking.
“Ugh—”
The moment Karin stepped into the strange cave, she lifted an arm to cover her nose.
The stench of magic was suffocating.
“Ugh, it really… reeks of demonic energy! B-Baine must’ve been here!”
The foul odor came from sacred and demonic energy clashing in the air.
Carlton nodded grimly.
“What on earth happened here—”
“Let’s move quickly. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
The moment Carlton muttered and stepped forward, Bero leapt ahead to block his path.
Crackle—
“Kiieeeng—!”
Bero convulsed in pain, leaping upward.
His huge body suddenly shrank to the size of a cat, collapsing to the floor.
“Hey—hey!”
Karin rushed forward and scooped the tiny, trembling creature into both hands.
“Oh no, no, no! Bero! Are you okay?!”
She poked him gently with her finger, her eyes wide with worry.
“Grrr—agh—!”
Bero weakly tried to bite her finger before going limp again in her palms.
“Alright, alright, just lie still, you poor thing.”
Pulling out a handkerchief, Karin carefully wrapped the injured Bero and held him to her chest.
Carlton frowned as he glanced over.
“There are no visible spell formations. Looks like sacred and demonic forces are tangled together.”
He pressed a hand to the wall.
Each time the opposing powers met under his palm, it burned sharply.
“So what do we do? Velia’s still in there.”
Karin stared anxiously into the depths of the cave.
“Using magic would be dangerous.”
Carlton nodded in agreement.
“If we use the wrong kind of power, the explosion could be even worse than before—and this whole cave might collapse.”
“Then what should we do?”
“For now, we’ll—”
Suddenly, Carlton felt a faint vibration in his chest pocket.
The Saintess’s Holy Grail he’d stolen from the Holy Kingdom was reacting.
As if mesmerized, he pulled the grail out and held it forward.
The flow of air shifted around them, responding to the artifact.
Where sacred and demonic energies had clashed chaotically, the balance began to change.
Slowly, the divine power separated itself and was drawn into the grail.
“This is—!”
Karin’s eyes went wide.
“V-Velia! It must’ve been her! The Saintess—she’s real!!”
Carlton’s red eyes widened just as much.
“This… this is the Saintess’s power.”
“Exactly! That means we can get inside now!!!”
At her words, Carlton extended a hand.
Murmuring an incantation, he shattered the wall of dirt blocking their way.
The stench grew worse, but it didn’t matter anymore.
The grail was slowly neutralizing the unstable mix of energies around them.
“It’s slow, but we can finally go in!”
“Inside there are Baine, the Saintess… and Velia.”
Karin’s excitement was quickly cut off by Carlton’s cold voice.
“Ah—right.”
Snapping back to attention, she nodded nervously.
“Let’s go.”
“R-right! Let’s go!”
Swallowing hard, Karin clutched her pouch of potions and followed closely behind Carlton.
Praying that the first person they’d find in this darkness would be Velia, Carlton raised the grail high.
Their figures soon disappeared completely into the shadows.
“Ugh…”
Velia’s eyelids fluttered weakly open.
It was pitch dark.
Before she could even wonder where she was, she sensed someone nearby and turned her head quickly.
“Wh-who’s there?!”
“My lady.”
“Rude?!”
That familiar voice snapped her memory back to the moments before she’d blacked out.
“You! Are you alri—Aagh!”
Half from relief, half from surprise, Velia shot upright—then screamed in pain.
“Ahhh!!”
Her lower leg burned as if it were on fire.
The pain was unbearable.
She flinched, reaching toward the wound but unable to bring herself to touch it.
“It hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Ahh!”
Was she injured before she collapsed, or after?
She didn’t know—but it was clear the wound was terrible.
“Ugh…”
“When I found you, you were already unconscious. And it’s too dark here to see properly.”
Rude’s worried voice barely registered in her ears.
Velia clenched her teeth, enduring the pain.
The searing burn brought back an old memory.
Back when she lived in Baine’s mansion, she’d often suffered even worse pain than this.
How had she endured it back then?
Wiping away the tears that welled up, Velia pinched her thigh hard.
“I-I’m fine now.”
It still throbbed, but she could at least tolerate it.
“I have to go…”
“Would you like me to carry you?”
“Are you alright yourself?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
The darkness made it impossible to see his face.
“Will it be okay?”
“It’s better than staying here.”
Sensing her hesitation, Rude’s voice remained calm as he extended his arm.
After a brief pause, Velia nodded and took his hand.
“Hm?”
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing.”
Had Rude always been this tall?
Maybe it was just the darkness—but she felt strangely light in his arms.
Shaking the thought aside, Velia leaned against his back.
“You’re sure you’re not hurt?”
“Yes, truly.”
Rude carried her carefully, step by steady step, deeper into the cave.
Though he could hardly see ahead, his gait was sure and unshaken.
Velia relaxed, resting against him.
Unlike her own ragged breathing, Rude’s was calm and even.
“Where did you fall? We were together before it happened.”
“I’m not sure. When I woke up, you were gone—so I started looking right away.”
“Earlier—before I fainted—was that you?”
“What do you mean?”
“When the explosion happened, someone came out of the cave wall. I didn’t think it was you…”
“It was me.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There was a huge explosion, but I got lucky and wasn’t hurt. I thought someone might be trapped—turns out it was you.”
“…I see.”
“Yes. I was desperate to find you.”
His calm, steady tone echoed faintly through the cave.
