There was one fortunate fact.
After the first aid, I didn’t feel like I was going to die.
Although the smell of pungent blood was rising again from my throat.
I wobbled and lifted my heavy body like lead.
Yulen frantically drew her sword and shouted.
“Ian, run away! They aren’t interested in me anyway!”
It was true.
The corpses rushed at me, baring their teeth.
With the fog so thick, I couldn’t expect long-distance support.
I swung my hand axe and smashed one corpse’s skull.
Blood splattered, and it emitted a putrid smell.
Then I dragged my heavy legs and started to run.
Occasionally, I dealt with the attacking corpses with my sword and axe.
Even that would have been impossible without the Lady Virgin Saint’s assistance.
Of course, no matter how hard I tried, I was just a critical patient.
In the end, I had to throw my body in order to withstand the onslaught of corpses.
Claws of corpses stabbed into the place where I was.
I threw my hand axe in the position I fell.
With a bang, the heads of two corpses exploded. Grabbing the returning axe, I wobbled and rose again.
Before long, the corpses had surrounded me.
An unpleasant noise flowed from the throats of the monsters.
I let out a soft laugh.
I thought it was over, but I was wrong.
The corpses kicked the ground, and I had to tumble with them for a while.
Every time a silver trajectory was drawn, the corpses were sliced in half.
The mangled corpses writhed as they waited for their bodies to regenerate. I smashed the skull of another attacking corpse with my hand axe.
Then, I threw my hand axe while dealing with two corpses, swinging my sword at the same time.
Still, it didn’t end.
Eventually, I ran out of stamina, and I could only kneel, gasping.
There were still dozens of corpses left.
I thought help would come if I could just endure, but the delay was long. Although I was doubtful about that, I soon stopped thinking.
A life-and-death crisis stood before me.
Even at the last moment, the Corpse Giant did not help me.
With trembling hands, I gripped the sword hilt tightly.
At that moment, one charging corpse threw itself at me like a battering ram.
Even if I swung my sword, there was nothing I could do to stop the halved corpse from hitting me. As I stumbled back, other corpses rushed in and overwhelmed me.
With a thud, the chest of the corpse that landed on me was pierced by my sword.
I hurriedly pushed the corpse away, but the remaining corpses moved too quickly.
In the end, I had to kick the corpses away and retreat quickly.
I was already battered and bruised.
I took a rough breath and steadied my fading consciousness.
Dozens of corpses approached me with blood-red eyes.
If only I could get rid of them.
Then I could wipe out all traces of the evil god from my hometown.
At that moment, the frustration and my fading consciousness aligned.
My nerves stood on edge.
It was a strange sensation.
Before me, dozens of corpses were targeting me, yet I inexplicably turned my gaze behind me.
It felt as though time had stopped.
No, it was not an illusion.
A deadly strike pierced through the stopped space and time.
Pure white, severance.
The thick fog dispersed completely.
What was revealed beyond it was exceedingly gruesome.
There were at least dozens of corpses approaching from behind me. The corpses that formed the Corpse Giant were swarming thickly.
However, those hundreds of corpses showed no sign of movement.
On their bodies were engraved pure white trajectories.
Only I was free from that line, which cut through the world in a straight line.
A sound of footsteps echoed among the corpses that had lost their momentum.
Someone was stepping forward.
It was a middle-aged man dressed in a black cloak.
In his hand was a sword, and it was clear that it had created the current miracle.
My intuition said so.
The man adjusted his leather gloves and apologized to me.
“…I’m sorry.”
And the previously stopped flow of time resumed.
Blood and flesh burst forth like fireworks.
Yet, not a single speck of filth stained the middle-aged man’s clothes as he walked through it.
The surging blood and flesh looked like a fanfare welcoming the middle-aged man.
He finally stopped in front of me.
“I ran here with all my might, but I was a bit late.”
He silently glanced around.
The remnants of destruction that remained testified to the battle that had taken place.
In the end, he wore a faint smile.
It was a satisfied smile, imbued with a strange fighting spirit.
“You were impressive, Ian Fercurus… I swear on my honor, I will repay you.”
Blood fell from above as the fog dispersed.
There were no signs of regeneration from the severed corpses.
Unable to endure any longer, I collapsed on the spot.
I could not identify the middle-aged man’s true identity until the end.
All I could do was quietly think with my fading consciousness.
If the Master I had only ever heard about truly existed, could it be that man?
And with that, I lost consciousness,
It took a full month before I regained my senses.
With no idea of what had transpired in the meantime.
It was a brief dream.
While I fell into a hazy sleep, my dulled mind surfaced.
I had reached a strange space.
A place where neither light nor darkness existed.
Even with no source of light, objects were distinct. In fact, countless cracks surrounding the space played back various scenes.
Even upon closer examination, I couldn’t discern what those scenes were.
But the sounds echoing from that place were consistent.
Crying, screams, or noise filled with regret and resentment.
Suddenly, when I regained my senses, there was someone sitting in front of me.
Black hair stood out.
It was now a familiar back view.
The man seemed uninterested in me. He had his back turned to me.
He was merely staring silently at some crack.
Among the countless gaps surrounding the space, it was a particularly large crack.
From there, no scenery was reflected.
Yet the man observed it closely, as if he were trying to read something within that darkness.
He remained silent for quite a while.
It was only after some time that he spoke to me.
“…Have you thoroughly grasped the Result and Solution?”
It was a direct question thrown at me.
There was no customary greeting in that question.
So I almost gave a somewhat curt response, but I stopped myself.
It was just like him to behave that way.
Instead, I responded with a bitter voice.
“…Roughly?”
“If you don’t completely understand the Result and Solution, there’s no next step.”
Then the man turned his chair to face me.
I was curious how he had produced a chair in this empty space.
However, I didn’t commit the folly of asking about it.
He was a blunt and unkind person.
He wasn’t friendly enough to clarify every doubt I might have.
As always, the man had weary eyes.
“No matter how much I rummage through my memories, it’s the same… The deeper the technique, the more fitting the principle it contains. From now on, no tricks will work.”
‘Deep technique,’ he said.
I recalled what the man had mentioned before.
He had referred to it as the ‘Sword Circle’s secrets’ or the ‘Secret of the Blood-lettering.’
Honestly, I felt a flicker of curiosity, but I again repressed my questions.
The reason was the same as before.
It was evident he wouldn’t tell me anyway.
Only after I had completely mastered the Result and Solution would I be able to receive his help. For now, there was no way to break his stubbornness.
So I decided to throw a more fundamental question.
“…Where is this?”
“The cracks of space-time.”
The man’s answer was short and straightforward.
Of course, it wasn’t long enough to satisfy my curiosity.
As soon as I showed signs of confusion, the man added further explanation.
“I am an outsider to your world. Naturally, the time I can stay there is limited… and I also can’t recklessly return to my own world, which is why I am lingering in this awkward place.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Of course, it’s because you’ve peered too much into my memories.”
His tone carried a subtle reprimand.
“I warned you, kid… I am merely an outsider. The closer you get to me, the more you become isolated there. Eventually, you might even be forced to flee to this place.”
“…Do I not get to go back now?”
“No.”
The man’s voice responding to my following inquiry was firm.
His tone carried a strange certainty, which made his words more persuasive.
He let out a deep sigh and continued.
“It’s just a trickle that comes in once in a while… And the time I can stay isn’t long either.”
At the same time, he pointed at my lower body with a gesture.
Indeed, as he said, my lower body was starting to flicker faintly. Like a mirage on the verge of disappearing.
The man took a deep breath and said his farewells.
“…Let’s meet here from now on, kid.”
Just as I was on the verge of asking how I could come here,
A fierce headache pierced through my mind.
I tried to stumble back, but my body had already scattered like smoke.
Then my vision flipped,
The world spun around,
And ultimately, right after all consciousness fell into darkness,
I gasped and opened my eyes.
My dazed gaze swept around.
It was a bedroom.
My bedroom within Percus Manor.
Only then did a sigh of relief escaped my lips.
I was back.
Seeing that Percus Manor was intact, I assumed the territory had also escaped ruin.
Perhaps I had been lying down for a long time, as I felt weak all over.
It was the aftermath of losing my muscles.
It seemed I would need more time to recover my physical condition. I struggled to raise my upper body, though I felt a splitting headache.
Thirst struck me.
I felt like I wanted to quench my throat with cold water right away.
But just when I was feeling frustrated, unable to find a canteen anywhere,
The door swung open, and someone entered.
It was a lovely girl with brown hair and blue eyes.
She was a woman with a large hooded hat on her head.
She looked sad as she held something.
It was a tray. On it were items needed for care, including a wet towel.
It didn’t take long before my gaze met Senior Elsi’s.
The girl’s body froze in place.
I pondered what to say.
In the end, I greeted her like usual.
“…Long time no see, Senior Elsi.”
With a clatter, the tray that Senior Elsi was holding fell.
And tears began to collect in her blue eyes.
She seemed to be holding back her cries, but soon, unable to endure any longer, she threw herself into my arms.
The smell of the girl embracing me was sweet.
I hugged Senior Elsi with a wry smile.
“E-everyone… I-I thought you were going to die… So I thought you had died… Hwaah…”
As I patted the back of the sobbing Senior Elsi, I thought.
Did they think I was really going to die?
A sense of foreboding briefly crossed my mind.
Though I soon brushed it off as unnecessary worry.
Worrying about it now would be useless anyway.
It seemed I’d have to comfort Senior Elsi for a while.
That was how I returned home.
In the truest sense of the word.
