The power of the Blood Magic Symbols was terrifying.
Even though he intentionally lowered the firepower considering the scattered knights and the princess around him, it was the same. The flames that erupted in an instant heated both the air and the ground simultaneously.
Miltram’s body collapsing was an inevitable outcome.
The woman couldn’t even scream. She simply rolled on the ground, emitting a choked breath that could only be described as a gasp, wrung out from her innards by instinct’s command.
Flames encircled Miltram’s body, creating a shimmering heat haze.
With a rumble, the cave briefly trembled.
The aftermath of the intense explosion began to send warning signals through the cave. However, perhaps due to the solid construction, it still appeared to be okay for now.
While Miltram writhed in the inferno, I-an staggered with a dazed mind.
He saw the corpse of a knight torn apart from the arm to the chest. This man was within the blast radius of the bio-bomb that Miltram had detonated.
He must have been a promising knight from a noble family, yet to meet such a death in this cave, which he had been unaware of.
It was a futile life.
However, the legacy left behind by the dead might lead someone to life.
I-an groped around the knight’s waist. From the pouch hanging there, he found a pale green potion and gulped it down.
He didn’t know why, but he realized that the potion was an ‘antidote.’
In fact, he had finished all preparations before entering the cave.
All the potions Emma had given him had to be poured into his throat before I-an could finally step into the cave.
He couldn’t even remember how many potions he had swallowed.
At the very least, he recalled the standard antidote Emma had prepared, a potion to hide his presence, and potions that enhanced natural healing and dulled pain. He thought he had also downed a couple more vials, and if Emma had seen him, she might have been horrified.
In alchemy, potions focus on responding to the mana corresponding to each element.
Thus, even if the effects of the potions were the same, different materials had to be used. Otherwise, there was a risk of complications when taken simultaneously.
This was common knowledge, easily understood by anyone, not just those in the alchemy department. Naturally, I-an was aware of it as well.
But a strange anxiety prodded him, and in the end, the man had won his gamble.
It was entirely thanks to that that he could still move after being poisoned by Miltram.
Of course, he also had to pay the proper price that accompanied it.
“Cough, cough…!”
As I-an downed the antidote, he had to vomit up a mouthful of blood.
After a series of accumulated injuries, his body began to reject the excessive effects of the potion. If he didn’t know better, his insides were likely melting away sluggishly from the potion by now.
It was indeed a gruesome prospect, but I-an didn’t care.
It was far more important to defeat Miltram. He was a dark priest, a shameless individual aiming to use the orphans of the orphanage as materials for his goals, and a being that would hasten the destruction of humanity.
After vomiting out a mouthful of blood, I-an threw the empty potion vial away. The sound of the glass rolling across the ground was pitiful.
Only then did his vision clear, and the mana within his body surged through the veins.
His body regained vitality, and his ragged breathing stabilized. Only after stepping back a few more times could I-an fully collect his senses.
He pressed his palm against his eyes.
The tiny blood vessels in his retina felt like they were about to burn with pain. And this was after using the Blood Magic Symbols just once.
It seemed that even the Blood Magic Symbols had limits when used too much.
Huffing out a breath, the man’s golden eyes flicked to the back.
There, two women were watching him, unable to properly manage their bodies and staring at him with wide eyes.
The imperial princess, Shi-en, with her dark blue hair, and the lady knight, Airen, with her striking blue hair.
Their mouths opened, but refined words did not emerge. Only broken, vague sounds came out.
“Ah, uh, ah….”
By that alone, I-an could easily guess the shock the two women had received.
He roughly brushed back his sweat-drenched hair and walked up to Airen without hesitation. She looked dazed.
With a tongue numbed by anesthetic, she managed to form words somehow.
“U, uh… Uh, how… No, that’s not it. Airen of Lupeon… His, His Majesty the Emperor’s deputy…”
Regardless of what she said, I-an seemed to have no interest.
He only scanned Airen with an indifferent gaze.
As his hand roughly groped her body, the face of the maiden who had never allowed a man’s touch flushed bright red.
Of course, nothing concerning to Airen happened.
The man found an antidote within her garments. It was a high-performance potion that any imperial royal guard would possess.
I-an tilted Airen’s head back and forced the potion down her throat. Gagging and gasping, Airen soon realized I-an’s intentions and obediently swallowed the potion.
However, a faint question still lingered in Airen’s eyes.
Why was this man in such a rush?
The Blood Magic Symbols that I-an had used displayed powerful firepower, just as their reputation suggested. Miltram, still burning fiercely, was proof enough.
While it occasionally twitched and writhed, that was its limit.
No living creature could survive when every cell of its body was aflame.
It was unfortunate for the maid who was merely being controlled, but perhaps this was a happier ending for her.
Living a life that had been altered in countless ways and attacking those precious to her was worse than death itself.
However, the man seemed unwilling to resolve Airen’s questions.
He sighed deeply and merely promised for the next time.
“Today’s events… Hah, no. Let’s talk about it later.”
Airen flinched, her gradually loosening tension returning.
Fear began to glisten in her eyes once more.
She had shown far too many disgraceful behaviors before him.
First, she had failed twice to properly protect her lord. Once, she had been helpless against I-an, and the other time, out of sheer nervousness, she almost let an axe embed itself into her lord’s shoulder.
And lastly, despite I-an’s implicit warnings, she had failed to keep Shi-en safe.
It was a clear failure.
The owner of the Blood Magic Symbols, as a deputy of the Emperor, could not be treated carelessly, even by the heads of the five great noble families. Let alone someone as insignificant as Airen from the Lupeon family.
It was inevitable that her complexion turned pale.
The fear she had harbored toward I-an all this time, the embarrassment of not properly carrying out her mission, and her self-reproach and self-pity buried her in an emotional inferno.
Unaware of Airen’s inner turmoil, I-an looked at Shi-en with a tired expression.
Shi-en, staring blankly at him, finally snapped back to reality.
Her tear-streaked face was a wretched sight. She awkwardly covered her face with her hands, which were now unsteady from the poison.
In truth, she was most afraid.
Afraid of reading the feelings of the human who had devotedly tried to save her.
As Miltram had pointed out countless times, Shi-en had been selfish.
She had prioritized her pride and treated I-an merely as a “strange person,” despite his suspicious behavior. No matter how confidently he conducted himself, Shi-en knew.
She knew how miserable it was when every person she encountered revealed animosity and disgust.
In her childhood, Shi-en had already experienced how dreadful that could be. She had tormented not just I-an, but everyone around her.
Yet still, the man had rushed to save her.
If he truly wished, many easier paths existed.
Even right now, regarding the Blood Magic Symbols. Had he shown the Blood Magic Symbols, the princess would have thought twice before even considering opposing I-an.
His reason for not doing so was simply one.
For Shi-en’s safety.
He couldn’t think of any other reasons. To prevent Miltram from coming up with more elaborate and threatening schemes, I-an had endured until the last moment.
Tears dripped down from the imperial princess’s gray eyes once again.
“I, I, I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Sir I-an…”
It was a heartfelt apology.
Shi-en wished she could turn back everything if she could.
Because she was terrified.
To turn back on a person who had sacrificed everything to save her and return hate instead of gratitude.
She couldn’t imagine the extent of his disappointment and anger.
So Shi-en covered her eyes. Because she was afraid of what she could see, being able to read emotions made it even scarier.
The thought of seeing the deep-rooted hatred and enmity would be unbearable.
So Shi-en merely repeated her apologies like a broken clock.
“I, I, did wrong… I’m sorry, Sir. E-everything… Huh, everything was because of my pathetic pride…”
The man said nothing.
He gazed silently at the princess, unable to even open her eyes properly, before lifting her shoulders. Until that moment, Shi-en was still crying.
After a moment of silence, I-an finally spoke.
“……Your Highness.”
“Yes, yes?”
In a manner that suggested she had been waiting for it, the girl answered. I-an responded with a single action.
A fist slammed into the girl’s cheek.
Even Airen could only stare blankly, speechless at the sight.
It felt numb. No, it felt like a tooth had been knocked out.
It was undoubtedly the first humiliation Shi-en had ever experienced as a princess.
Shi-en realized after rolling on the ground a few times.
Did I just get hit?
