Chapter 200! The End of Winter. (4) (1/2)
Now that the dark energy concentration in the air had lightened up and the migration subsided, all those participating in the battle had a chance for rest.
“Whew!”
Boom—!
The Red Garnet Adventurers collapsed. Lia tapped the large canine of one of the beasts she had slain against her palm.
“This one’s thirty thousand!”
That was the thirty-thousandth one collected. Lia nodded, satisfied.
“Lia! I think I’ve gotten stronger!”
Leo was making a fuss next to her. He had never experienced such an incredible battle before.
“Leo, go and help clean up! Help the injured knights!”
“Lia, where are you going?”
Lia looked to the forest without saying anything. Dark energy was gathering there, plunging the trees into an impenetrable gloom but making it an appetizing place for gaining experience. Her characteristic [Adventurer] became stronger the more she explored the world and faced danger.
“I’ll go into the forest for a little while! I can sense something.”
Her intuition was pointing right at it, and Lia quickly followed.
*rustle*— *rustle*—
At some point, Lia, kicking off the ground and soaring through the branches like a flying squirrel, felt something off.
“…What is this?”
She prepared herself before coming, but there were no enemies, not even an ant.
“Is it over?”
Lia, disappointed, kicked a stone, sending it rolling.
Dururururu-
Until it stopped in something sticky.
“Huh?”
A dark red fluid stained the path down the mountain slope. Lia’s eyes widened.
“It’s monster blood.”
Lia decided to follow the drying creeks, but it didn’t take long until she saw a person’s silhouette off in the distance.
“Who…?”
She climbed up the gently sloping mountaintop for a better look.
“…”
In the middle of the forest were scattered monster and demon bodies, and in the middle of them all, a single spotless person. Lia’s eyes grew large as she watched him.
“Deculein…”
He wasn’t shaken even amid the fresh blood and scattered corpses. His robe and his suit held not even a speck of dust. But, his eyes remained closed, and his veins pulsed purple. Dark energy overload.
“Professor. Professor.”
Lia approached him carefully. She looked up at Deculein and grabbed the hem of his robe, her neck aching to angle up so high.
“Professor, are you okay? Professor.”
She tugged his robe a few times.
“…”
Deculein opened his eyes. Lia felt her chest tighten as his blue eyes regarded her.
“…Are you alright?”
“…”
Deculein said nothing as he stared at her with sunken eyes. Yet, somehow, Lia felt she knew the meaning of his gaze.
—At long last.
“…You.”
Lia smiled.
“Yes?”
At that moment, there was a small tremor in his eyes. His eyes were so deep and blue, like raindrops falling on a cold lake.
“…I don’t like you.”
His voice was chilly but sounded lonely and sad, somehow like a tree, with roots too sturdy to be shaken by the winter wind.
“Why? I didn’t even do anything.”
Then, Deculein reached out his hand. Lia closed her eyes in surprise.
“…”
But nothing happened, so she gently opened her eyes again. Deculein’s hand was still outstretched. But soon, he pulled it back with a small breath.
“You look like someone I know.”
His words made Lia’s heart flutter. She knew who he meant, but she still asked.
“…Who?”
Deculein tilted his head. He stared into the air like he was thinking about someone who wasn’t there, reminiscing. He answered quietly.
“The one stuck in my heart.”
His emotions wouldn’t flow through the memories he could not forget.
“…”
Lia looked down for a while, feeling a strange sense of guilt poking at her heart. Was the setting she added without much thought hurting Deculein this much?
“No, well.”
Deculein spoke again. Lia raised her head to meet his eyes.
“I might be the one who’s stuck.”
Then, he gave her a flat smile. Was it a genuine smile, or was he mocking her? It faded fast, dumbfounding Lia.
“I can’t forget about her, so foolishly.”
His eyes drew a line, and Lia felt her heart ringing. Then suddenly, she remembered a man she had left in a distant world. Her emotions rose, longing for the person she always loved.
“…I am hating the guy I don’t have to hate.”
However, Lia quickly calmed down. Deculein wasn’t Kim Woojin, and Yoo Ara wasn’t the person in his memories.
“…I don’t know what you mean.”
With that, Deculein let out a small breath. Lia grabbed his arm and dragged him away.
“Let’s go now, Professor. You don’t look so good-“
But, Deculein pushed her off.
“…Go away.”
“What?”
“Not yet-“
“There’s one more left.”
It was someone else who answered. Lia looked back, finding the knight Julie behind her.
“…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
She bowed her head and drew her sword, pointing the tip of the blade.
“…”
A strange man was standing there. She didn’t know how long he had been there, but he was heinous to behold. He was like a lump of flesh, his body, especially his stomach, swollen and still growing.
“…Scavenger.”
Lia knew what it was: a scavenger, a demon that absorbed monster corpses. It was no different from an earthworm crawling under the ground and was at the lowest level even among demons, slayable in a single blow. Rather, it was a trapped demon designed for that purpose; there were only ten seconds left before its body exploded.
“Ms. Knight! We have to run away!”
“I know.”