Chapter 78
Launch a signal flare at this moment? Who is it being sent to?
Right as I thought thatfar. As if reading my mind, Zenon acted first.
“Still, he’s one of the few acquaintances in this world. Let me teach you something good as a parting gift for the next world.”
His voice came from all around. Taken aback, I immediately looked around me and then widened my eyes.
“What is THIS…!”
There were dozens of Zenons.
Surrounding me from all sides with burlap sacks flapping, the multitudinous Zenons were smiling as if they were having a grand time.
“Inkbrain. The reason I attempted to curse the Undying Demon King…was none other than to sever the connection with you.”
“…What?”
“There is so little information on the Undying Demon King. Although we suspect he’s weakened now, we have no idea what variables may arise. So, I planned to sever the connection between you, his contractor.”
My head felt as if it had been struck by a hammer. I couldn’t produce a sound.
“…You son of a… So THAT’S how it is?”
Zenon. His role ends right there.
Curse the Demon King and put him into a deep sleep. That cuts off the Undying Demon King’s connection with me, eliminating the variable before it can happen. He was merely the decoy to set that up.
And the reason for eliminating the variable is for one thing only.
The Demon King sleeps. What else could happen afterward?
My body moved before my thoughts caught up.
“S-suop Baek!”
An explosion erupted—pure white.
That was definitely a signal flare to cause an explosion.
Zenon was not the one who triggered the explosion.
The explosion and the curse on the Demon King were separate incidents caused by different individuals!
“d*mn it… If I let this go on…”
Was the thing I had feared finally coming to pass?
No. I have to protect Ruci. If Ruci dies, it’s all over. I need to ask Suop Baek to guard Ruci.
If both Ruci and I d*e, then I can no longer return to life!
This time, I acted prematurely, but if Ruci survives, there will be a chance eventually.
Hoping for the best, I rushed hastily toward Kern.
“Where do you think you’re going in such a hurry?”
Behind me, a cold voice intoned, followed by a sharp, familiar sensation cutting across my spine.
“Ugh.”
I felt dizzy, and there was an illusion of time slowing down.
In the midst of this chaos, Zenon’s mocking words rang in my ear.
“It would be troublesome to forget me.”
“…Cough.”
A fit of coughing erupted from deep within my chest, spilling streaks of bl**d.
My dazed gaze dropped to my abdomen. The hilt of a dagger protruded from my navel.
“Urgh…”
Struggling, I turned my head to see Zenon, who had advanced to within arm’s reach. He wiped the bl**d from his hands onto the burlap sleeve and sighed.
“One way or another, you will d*e. Stay here and meet your end in peace.”
“…Hah.”
A weak laugh escaped me.
Maintaining a bewildered gaze at the dagger piercing my abdomen, I turned to look at Zenon, who looked unexpectedly unperturbed.
“You. What crime have I—have we committed that you would do this?”
It was a complex question, filled equally with genuine curiosity and frustration at the sheer underhandedness of the situation.
Not that I expected the b*stard, with his mixed-up priorities, to answer properly.
“…I don’t have any particular ill-will toward you. I merely followed the commission I received.”
However, Zenon gave an unexpectedly surprising response. His shoulders visibly tensed, and he began answering, looking away as if making excuses.
Is he feeling some guilt now? What nonsense! I smirked faintly.
“The target of my commission just happened to be someone I knew, you. Inkbrain.”
“Got it. So basically, you’re too green to know what’s going on, and you took it from the big shots?”
“…You’d better watch your mouth.”
When I mocked him, Zenon’s eyebrows twitched momentarily, but he showed no further reaction. He approached me as if to finish this off.
“Since the barrier of the trial, I’ve thought you were unique, but I didn’t expect you to become so noticeable that you’d become their target.”
“…”
“Try living more quietly in your next life.”
As if you’ve ever experienced reincarnation! I wanted to retort, but I swallowed it back when my stomach gave a sharp twinge. The pain made my head foggy as I stared at my bl**d-soaked abdomen.
Suddenly, I said,
“Does your sister know you live like this?”
A single remark.
It was enough to wipe the smug expression right off Zenon’s face.
In an instant, a harsh tone burst from Zenon.
“Shut up! Don’t you dare mention Gena when you know nothing.”
“Right. You know nothing. I imagine your sister will be thrilled to learn her brother kills people like me who ‘know nothing.’ ~ ‘Sis, I’m dying~!'”
I had numerous other taunts prepared, rivaling the length of the Eighty Thousand Aphorisms.
But I didn’t get to deliver them.
“Gee, you’re in such a rush to d*e, vermin.”
He pulled the dagger from my stomach and thrust it into my jaw in one swift motion.
“Crunch.” With the sound of my jaw shattering, unbearable pain flooded my mind.
“Arghhh!!!”
The blade pierced through my chin and out the bottom of my jaw. My teeth and gums shattered, leaving me toothless. I could feel the scream escaping through the hole in my jaw.
A wave of fear, greater than the pain, swept over me. Simultaneously, I thought,
‘You b*stard… How…?’
This is absurd.
It’s not just frustration over my situation. This defies the rules of this world.
There’s a definitive gap between levels in this world. Zenon should not be able to leave even a scratch on my body with a mere dagger.
But what is going on?
Why am I writhing in pain on the ground?
Why does my jaw have a hole in it?
‘I don’t understand. There’s too much I don’t know…!’
It’s happened thirty-three times now, yet I’m still like this.
How many more times must I d*e to uncover the truth? To survive?
Despite the pain, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“It’s… begun.”
Suddenly, Zenon muttered that.
I lifted my wavering gaze to follow his line of sight and saw it.
A beam of pure white light was slowly descending from the far-off sky toward this point.
‘It’s over.’
The explosion that ruined everything in my previous life. Recognizing it, resignation filled my mind.
Thud. I collapsed where I stood. Lying down, I watched as the surroundings gradually brightened.
At that moment, Zenon began muttering to himself.
“Kern will disappear from the map with her d*ath… but, well, it’s none of my concern.”
Thud, thud. His footsteps slowly faded away.
Likewise, Zenon’s voice, filled with excitement, also gradually receded.
“Wait for me, Gena. After this is over, this tedious lifestyle will also end. No one will be able to harm us…”
And then, silence enveloped everything. The sound of footsteps disappeared entirely.
Looking up in wonder, Zenon was nowhere to be seen as if he had vanished.
Always evasive, from start to finish. Could it be that I was just flailing at mirages until now?
“…No.”
That’s not the case. The condition of my battered body proves it.
Then… could it be that my premise about Zenon’s abilities was fundamentally wrong?
“Is it teleportation?”
Zenon can use what one might call blink or teleportation.
A blind spot. On closer examination, there’s no other way he could move without my sight catching him.
I couldn’t figure this out sooner for a reason. Everyone knows that even a grand sorcerer like Halsenberg finds it difficult to wield space and time magic in this world.
‘Because of that, Halsenberg died saving me…’
An especially vivid memory from my remaining past life. I clearly remember the moment Halsenberg used his one and only teleportation rune to escape for me, within the heart of the undead army.
If teleportation could be used as freely as Zenon just did, then a scene like that wouldn’t exist in the first place.
Yeah, you too have your tricks, huh?
“You’ve got a couple of trump cards, don’t you, you veteran warrior?”
“Geez… I really can’t… survive this. Seriously.”
Clutching my teeth, I twisted my body. It felt as if my internal organs were being torn apart.
Am I losing too much bl**d? My consciousness is starting to slip.
Various thoughts buzzed through my fuzzy mind.
“…Ah.”
And then, abruptly, the thoughts stopped.
A sense of something amiss. I finally comprehended the nagging sense of dissonance that had been lurking in my chest.
‘So that’s why his sister is safe.’
Zenon’s sister, Gena, was with us in Kern at the time of the white explosion the last time I lived.
I clearly remember being with Gena almost until my d*ath.
But would the overprotective b*stard simply stand by and let his own sister get caught up in the explosion?
No. That couldn’t happen.
The reason he disappeared now is he must be tele-porting with his sister to escape Kern.
“This… can’t end here…”
Watching the sky above Kern grow brighter, I muttered.
With my fading strength, I moved my almost lifeless hand and rummaged through my bag. Soon, a familiar grip emerged.
A bottle. A bottle filled with glowing ether.
Without hesitation, I brought it to my mouth. Instantly, a blue energy surged through my body.
“This can’t be… how it ends…”
But that was as far as I got. An overwhelming sense of falling overwhelmed me.
And as such, I lost consciousness.
