Episode 57: The Dwindling Objective
When I realized that I had fallen out of consciousness the moment the battle began, I felt something boiling up from my throat.
I couldn’t suppress the urge to cough.
“Cough! Cough!”
As I coughed repeatedly, blood erupted from my mouth.
Seeing my blood scattered on the floor made me feel a bit disoriented.
【Hey, you! Are you okay?!】
Chaewon rushed towards me with a startled expression, inspecting my condition.
【… Thankfully, it seems most of the impact was absorbed by the sword, so there’s no external injury. I can’t see the internal state, but…】
According to Chaewon, it had swung the sword with the intention of destroying my weapon.
A remarkable difference in skills.
Such a weapon destruction would be impossible otherwise.
I struggled to understand the situation.
‘I thought I had gotten stronger… but maybe I still have a long way to go.’
In the distance, I could faintly see Irlya hurrying toward me.
I received an unexpected shock that threw me off balance and somehow managed to get up with trembling legs.
“Cough!”
Another bout of coughing up blood.
‘Was that unpleasant feeling in my throat earlier due to the curse? Or perhaps…’
Or perhaps it was because I had been brutally slammed into the wall.
When I hit the wall, it felt like all the impact went straight to my insides, and the blood wasn’t just from damage.
I had a fleeting thought that maybe the curse effect was triggered just from Verdium’s single strike.
“Are you alright?”
Irlya began to support me.
But perhaps because she was small, her help was minimal.
“Looking at the color of your blood, it seems you’re not qualified to wield that sword. Most likely, the limit of its growth ends there.”
It seemed Verdium had no intention of finishing me off, as he returned the sword to the red orb.
“Seems I’ve lost interest. Listen well, rookie. Baseless confidence only hastens your demise.”
He then took out wine using blood magic.
And fashioned a wine glass.
Sitting back on the throne, he calmly sipped the wine as if nothing had happened just moments ago.
“Be, Verdium. What happened to the white-haired girl who came with me?”
“Are you talking about the blind girl who can’t see in front of her?… Don’t worry. I’ll be using her as a sacrifice for your wedding.”
“Sacrifice?! What does that mean—?!”
Thwack!
I felt a sensation, as if something struck the back of my neck.
“I’m sorry. Just close your eyes for a moment.”
【Aah! That mosquito-like woman is after Siwoo!】
I couldn’t endure the heaviness of my eyelids and lost consciousness.
As my heavy eyelids began to lift, I instinctively opened my eyes.
“Ugh… umm…”
Having kept my eyes closed for a long time, the sudden influx of light was overwhelming, causing me to frown as I got up.
“This is… a bed?”
Seeing the bed, it seemed I was in a bedroom.
“Oh, you’re awake. After you fought with my father, I temporarily knocked you out before the fight escalated… I worried that I might have hit your neck too hard.”
【That’s right! I was worried much more than that woman.】
“Ah… right. I, I fainted.”
I seemed to have gathered information about her mentioning using Harin as a sacrifice.
“Is this Irlya, your room?”
“No? This is your room, the one you were in earlier.”
“This is the room I just came from?”
【Is it possible to faint so hard that I wouldn’t recognize a mere decoration, like a mosquito net?】
That seemed to be the case.
I had no way of knowing what had happened while I was unconscious.
I gained nothing from my encounter with Verdium.
In fact, it seemed I had rolled out poorly and discussed weddings.
‘Why do I feel like I’m trapped in this violet mansion…?’
【Don’t worry about trivial things. Let’s just see, hear, and believe the truth inside the Gate.】
Chaewon was surprisingly making sense.
“Hey, Siwoo… right?”
“Uh, but you keep changing your way of speaking.”
“Eep!… No, ahem. My dear. Is there anywhere uncomfortable?”
No way to know what happened while I was unconscious?
A wedding where Harin becomes a sacrifice?
No, no, the way to know what happened while I was unconscious is right in front of me.
“I’m fine… but I want to know more about that wedding.”
“Eh?! Ah… hmm, are you that excited about marrying me? Just hold on a little.”
With an inscrutable smile, Irlya was toying with the buttons of the dress shirt I was wearing.
“Well, it’s more like I’m worried than excited. Can you tell me about the sacrifice for the wedding?”
“The sacrifice… is that white female horse who came into my mansion with you?”
“Female horse?!”
“That white horse is being taken care of in another room. Though it seems they’ve locked the door so she can’t move.”
‘… Captive, huh.’
This room had a window and a terrace that allowed me to see outside.
I wanted to rush out and rescue Harin immediately, but right now, I was at my physical limit.
I quietly organized my thoughts.
“… Haah.”
At that moment, Irlya yawned.
She let out a big yawn and wiped her tears.
“If you’re tired, go get some sleep. I’m quite tired too today…”
It was strange that I felt sleepy with the boss of the Black Gate in the same space.
Time flows differently inside the Black Gate. It felt like my body’s rhythm was off too.
Though I need to eat, inside the Black Gate, it felt like I could go a month without showers and not feel gross at all.
Of course, not even oiliness would appear.
So, I planned to lie down on the bed and try to sleep.
“Irlya, I’m sorry, but can you turn off the lights? I don’t know how to.”
“Huh? The lights? Ah… just use magic to turn them off… No, it can be turned off with magic.”
– Snap.
Irlya extinguished the light with her blood magic, the same as Verdium’s.
Every time I saw that blood magic, I felt chills.
‘Is this what PTSD feels like?’
On the internet, or rather, in certain communities, people sometimes joke about PTSD.
“Thank you.”
In any case, I made sure to express my gratitude.
“Huh? Thank you?…”
Irlya tilted her head.
【Are you going to sleep now?】
‘Yeah, I should.’
I closed my eyes to get some proper sleep.
But then, Irlya whispered to me.
“Um… if you’re not sleeping, can I take some of your blood?”
I thought she wouldn’t be a nuisance, but it seemed her stepping back was for momentum.
