The familiar face was not just Senior Elsi.
Following her, Seniors Delphine and Emma ran toward me. And there was Ishya, cautiously walking from a distance.
First, I savored the sensation of Senior Elsi embracing me.
As soon as Senior Delphine saw me, her face lit up with a smile. It was a very rare change of emotion for her, and she immediately coughed as if to cover up her mistake.
It must mean that Senior Delphine was also worried.
Honestly, it felt good.
Senior Delphine, who was always aloof and composed, smiled at me with a bright smile for the first time in her life.
Was it because we had formed a special bond?
Seeing Senior Delphine made my heart flutter strangely.
While I was lost in thought, Emma, panting as she approached me, had tears brimming in her eyes.
As if she couldn’t believe it, the girl traced her face with her hands several times.
Eventually, she lost strength in her legs and almost collapsed.
“I-Ian… I’m sorry…”
I wondered what she was apologizing for.
I had to comfort Emma with a bitter smile.
“It’s okay, Emma. I’m alright… I’m just glad you’re safe. It must have been hard for you, right?”
I was about to pull Emma into my arms unconsciously when I remembered to check around me.
I was mostly concerned about Senior Elsi.
She was a woman who could rightly be called the embodiment of jealousy. Ever since she had opened her heart to me, Senior Elsi had displayed indiscriminate hostility toward any woman who approached me.
However, her reaction was surprising.
She scoffed and turned her eyes away slightly. It seemed she was willing to tolerate it even if she didn’t like it.
“Hmph, I’m Rainelle… I’m not going to fuss over just a common girl.”
It was a tone typical of Senior Elsi.
Even so, she couldn’t hide her anxious glances at me. While I smiled bitterly, I decided to accept that consideration gratefully.
On the contrary, it was Senior Delphine who put a stop to it.
“Master, I have a lot to say, but… there’s no time. We need to get away.”
“What about that monster?”
“We have no choice but to leave it.”
Gently patting Emma’s back, I turned around with a sigh.
The mass of flesh was still watching me and my companions. It was completely different from its previous reckless behavior of consuming elves.
It felt like it was carefully assessing us.
It was gauging our combat potential.
For some reason, I could guess the reason.
“That monster is growing in size by absorbing the elves. Right now, it’s most vulnerable as it has just begun to multiply.”
Senior Delphine frowned, while Senior Elsi directed her blue eyes toward the mass of flesh.
Their reactions were contradictory.
Senior Delphine seemed hesitant yet leaned toward retreating. In contrast, there was a glint of hostility in Senior Elsi’s gaze as she looked at the mass of flesh.
The reason was obvious.
Senior Elsi’s eyes briefly passed over my side.
As if having made up her mind, the girl in the hooded hat clenched her teeth.
“Is that so? Then we need to show it who’s boss right now! Hey, snake head, do you know who you’re messing with right now?”
“It’s injured.”
It was a soft remark.
At Senior Delphine’s serious tone, Senior Elsi’s voice immediately quieted.
In her blood-red eyes, only my figure was reflected.
“If your side is injured, there’s a significant possibility that your insides are hurt too. And if it’s a burn… we need to go to the priest for proper treatment immediately.”
“I’m fine. But can’t you see that thing? That huge monster is too scared and just watching us! We may never have this chance again… Aargh!”
However, my resistance was neutralized by Emma’s gesture.
Emma, who had quietly listened to my rebuttal, pressed the side of my injured torso with her finger. Caught off guard, I had no choice but to scream.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
It was pain I had been barely holding in. Given that I was ambushed by an unexpected opponent, there was no helping it if a disgraceful scream escaped.
Seeing this, Emma’s expression hardened.
“We’re going back, Lady Yuridina.”
Her tone was resolute.
Emma’s gaze on me was heavy, as if she wouldn’t allow any rebuttal.
In my anxious heart, my lips felt dry.
I instinctively realized.
This was the last opportunity.
That monster had been the one that warned me not to touch even the ‘me’ from the future. If I didn’t strike while it was at its weakest, a calamity would surely come.
Above all, I had seen that boiling mass of flesh several times in my memories as the ‘me’ from the future.
A disaster that swept over the Northern Region like a tsunami.
The image of a gray-haired woman standing alone in front of it came to mind.
In the end, I had no choice but to be stubborn.
“Then you should go first… just take this elf, only this elf with you.”
I gestured toward Abiyang, whom I had placed on the ground. It was ridiculous, and naturally, the mood among my companions turned grim at once.
I knew it was a cowardly measure.
But I kept seeing the faces of Abiyang and her sister. And even the eyes of the elves who had been dragged away, screaming.
Why had they screamed?
Hadn’t they said life felt like hell? Hadn’t they said they didn’t want to live anymore?
Yet the eyes they showed me then were all filled with despair.
I spoke in a firmer tone.
“This is the only chance we have, Senior Delphine.”
In the end, it was Senior Delphine who conceded.
After all, it was an expedition made to rescue me. The option to leave just one elf girl behind while taking me had been on the table.
A short conversation passed between me and Senior Delphine.
“…Can we win?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then it’ll only be this one chance.”
That was the end of the conversation.
At that moment, Ishya quietly approached us. She seemed scared of the grotesque appearance of the mass of flesh, her legs were trembling with fear.
“H-human… what is that monster? This is the headquarters, but why are there so few elves here…?”
“Ishya, please take care of Emma and Abiyang.”
Our formation was set in the blink of an eye.
As soon as I rose and took the lead, Senior Delphine immediately followed me. Of course, Senior Elsi’s hands began to gather magic.
A companion who had crossed aisles countless times was dependable like this.
There was no need for words. An unspoken promise had been forged between us.
The vanguard was me and Senior Delphine.
Senior Elsi was preparing a powerful attack from behind.
It was likely to be ‘Tempest Trust’, the highest destruction-range magic within the 5 circles that Senior Elsi could cast.
Until then, we needed to minimize any variables.
For example, the snakes on the outskirts that might stray out of range.
The mass of flesh immediately realized our intentions. With such a keen aura, it was rather strange if it didn’t notice us.
The snakes changed their hides and wailed.
“End, my, all… end, my, all!”
And the tentacles of the mass of flesh slammed into the ground like lightning.
I swung my sword as if I had been waiting, severing the tentacles. With my remaining hand, I hurled the hand axe forward at tremendous speed.
The trajectory of the hand axe traced a crescent moon.
Blood gushed forth as a splattering sound resonated. A few tentacles remained, but they soon had to face the golden flame.
Like the aura of the sun, a golden glow enveloped the space.
It was Senior Delphine’s skill. The mass of flesh seemed particularly vulnerable to the fire, writhing its tentacles in agony. The sounds were inaudible, but I could guess the pain.
Then the skulls of the snakes began to glow white-hot.
The sight of dozens of snake heads igniting one after another was truly a spectacle. It would have been a more breathtaking view had I seen it at night.
Leorick continued to howl.
“This, that, life, received!”
A beam of light carved through, fracturing the cubic space.
Yes, it was the final opportunity.
Ceria’s room was always shrouded in darkness.
The light seeping through the window had long been covered by an ornate cloth. Along with that, Ceria’s blue eyes emitted a gentle glow even in the dark.
Even without light, her life was not inconvenient.
Thus, Ceria confined herself within the room like a sinner fearing her sins. For several days, she had met no one and had tortured her own body.
Suddenly, the imperial princess came to visit her.
To propose ‘deviance.’
Ceria shook her head in denial, but the princess knew better than anyone that she would not lie. Even so, how could she accept that fact?
Her father was Ceria’s only blood relative.
He was the only family connected by blood. There was her respected sister, Delphine, but she was merely half-sibling due to being born from a different womb.
Yet that father had lied.
He was the one who had cast out her mother.
Deep down, she thought she hated him. He was the villain who occupied the most significant part of her childhood nightmare.
But perhaps she could not abandon him after all.
The bond of blood.
The voices of the women who had come to her continued.
The fragmented words dug into her mind.
“Lord Yuridina was a betrayer.”
“Sir Ian has not lost his memory. He hasn’t sided with the elves either. Rather, Alex deceived Lady Delphine.”
“Sister Ceria, you have to make a decision.”
Ceria lowered her gaze, her complexion grim.
Make a decision? Me?
Are you asking me to endure the last blood relative left in this world?
She would probably hear that she betrayed her father, who shared her blood. Even if the real power of the Yuridina clan shifted to Delphine, it would remain an everlasting stain.
Without even thinking about it, she had to refuse.
Someday, she would have to make a decision, but it should not be her.
From the beginning, Ceria did not have the ability to dethrone Lord Yuridina.
If there were someone capable of doing so in the clan, it could only be one person.
It was Delphine, who had been in charge of the clan as the successor since long ago.
The problem was the choice lying on the other side.
The person more precious than anything had been betrayed by her father.
So she might be in danger of death.
Ceria felt as if she might go mad.
Family or Senior.
With a sigh, Ceria’s breath grew ragged.
“Senior, it will be painful, but the testimonies are too perfectly intertwined. There’s little room for doubt…”
“So you want me to betray my only blood relative?”
The sharp retort silenced the princess.
The saint and Neoris had long since kept their silence. Now, it was clear to everyone that Ceria’s time had come.
Only the saint added one more word.
“It’s for Ian.”
In this world, only two connections sustained Ceria.
The Yuridina clan, linked by blood.
And Senior Ian, linked by fate.
She had to give up one of them.
Ceria’s hands trembled. She couldn’t understand why such a heavy choice had fallen upon her.
She had to choose Senior Ian.
Her heart and mind told her so. Yet, the reason Ceria hesitated was the burden of having to take her parents’ lives with her own hands.
Her breathing grew even more ragged.
“I, I… I mean…”
The expression had even omitted formalities.
The saint closed her eyes quietly, as if she understood. Neoris turned her gaze away as if she didn’t exist in this place.
Only the princess was left with an anxious expression, tightly clenched fists.
The sparkling gazes of the two urged Ceria for an answer.
Just before Ceria could no longer withstand it and was about to speak.
“Lady Delphine has returned! Sir Ian is with her!”
At the sudden sound of rejoicing, the group’s heads turned sharply.
Despite the confusion, Ceria sprang to her feet. She threw open the window that hadn’t been opened even once in the past few days.
As it turned out, it was indeed true.
From afar, Delphine and her party were staggering over.
Carrying Ian, who was clearly seriously injured.
Delphine said.
“Immediately summon the troops.”
It was a day of intense blizzard.
