Chapter 140: Death Flag

Isabel’s doubt was perfectly reasonable.
My actions had clearly been skewed toward saving her.
Isabel was not a clueless heroine.
That’s why she had come to realize everything through the circumstances.
That I wasn’t the person she knew as Hanon, but someone else entirely.

Squeeze—
When I didn’t respond, Isabel clutched at my collar.
“I don’t know how I look in your eyes. I’ve already been broken once, and I even tried to die following Lucas. After that, I started seeing you and Lucas overlapping. No—honestly, even now, I think that influence is still there.”

Isabel’s closed eyes trembled faintly.
Her anxiety was becoming clearer now.
In the past, after losing her brother, she lost Lucas too.
To rise again, she leaned on me.
If something were to happen to me, Isabel would once again fall into pain.
Before I knew it, I had become her support.

If I could not be her sun, I would at least be her moon.
I had followed through with that determination.
But that came at a price—one that now bound Isabel tightly once more.
We were in a situation where we could lose our lives.
That’s why her anxiety had reached its limit.
More than her own death, it was the thought of something happening to me that terrified her.
Her sincere desire to never lose me again.
That sincerity was palpable.

“So please, tell me.”
Isabel opened her lips in a plea.
“Who are you?”
“I am……..”

But I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Was it really okay to reveal my identity to Isabel now?
Vikarmern was a character who had exited the stage.
And not just that—he had left after committing cruel acts against Lucas.
Vikarmern and Lucas had shared a promise.
But how that would come across to Isabel, no one could know.

With someone like Seron—an extra outside the scenario—I thought revealing myself wouldn’t matter, so I had done it readily.
But Isabel was a central character in the scenario.
Her mental and emotional state would have a direct effect on the story.

Is it right to tell her?
Or is it better to keep it hidden?

The hesitation didn’t last long.
I lifted my head and looked at Isabel.
Her crimson eyes locked with mine and shone brightly.
I believe in the Isabel I’ve seen.
And I believe in the path I’ve walked so far.
If it’s Isabel, she’ll understand no matter who I am.
That’s not just because she’s the main heroine of Blazing Butterfly.
It’s because she’s the Isabel I’ve come to know with my own eyes.

“Isabel.”
The moment I called her name and opened my lips—

Isabel pulled me forward and leapt instantly.
“Kyaaa!”
KWA-A-A-A-A-AANG!

As we rolled across the floor, the wall behind us shattered into pieces.
Dozens of arms, each far longer than a person’s height, burst through the gap.

In the thick smoke,
a face at the center of the arms glared with piercing eyes.
Talk about rotten timing.
A named Apostle—Shadow Hand.
As expected from the 8th floor, named Apostles are popping up everywhere like mushrooms after the rain.

Isabel and I sprang up from the ground at the same time.
“Isabel, I’ll make you a promise.”
I exhaled, holding my right hand out in front of me.
“If we make it out of here alive, I’ll answer that question.”

Isabel’s eyes widened.
Her face, dark just moments ago, instantly regained energy.
In a flash, her gaze sharpened, and she raised her sword.
“You better keep that promise, no matter what.”

She now had a reason she had to survive.
And that alone can make someone stronger.

At that moment, Shadow Hand moved again.
Dodging the pursuing limbs, we bolted across the stone floor.

“Can you shake this thing off?”
“Impossible. Shadow Hand has a unique trait—it’s basically a stalker. Once it locks onto a target, it’ll chase them until they’re dead!”
“So basically, this is the worst-case scenario.”

Just like she said—our luck was terrible.
Unlike other Apostles who patrol fixed areas, Shadow Hand is the only one that moves freely without zone restrictions.
Running into it is entirely up to chance.
And we just won the unlucky lottery.
No wonder we were attacked in an area that wasn’t supposed to have Apostles.

“What do we do? Do we take it down?”
“No, our stamina’s already low. If we get stuck in a drawn-out fight here, we won’t make it back.”

As we turned a corner, Shadow Hand slithered after us across the floor.
It was grotesque, using its countless arms like legs to chase us.

“This won’t work.”
“I was originally planning to slip out of here quietly…”
But the situation had changed.
Shadow Hand would chase us until one of us—or it—was dead.

There was only one way to lose that thing.
“Isabel, follow me! I have a plan!”

I’d already mapped out the entire 8th floor while wandering around.
I could move through it without hesitation, taking the shortest path.

KWAANG! THUD!
Shadow Hand tore through everything in its path as it followed us.
The walls it touched corroded and melted away.
These Apostles were designed purely for killing—they were all dangerously lethal.

“You!”
Tap!
At that moment, Isabel grabbed my arm.
As soon as she did, I reflexively stopped in my tracks.

KWA-A-A-A-AANG!
The wall in front of us crumbled, and one of Shadow Hand’s limbs crashed through.
If I had stepped forward even slightly, I’d have been crushed to pieces by that hand.

Isabel just saved my life.
But there was no time to thank her.
Shadow Hand was still chasing us from behind.
The front was blocked—and now, so was the back.

I thrust my leg forward.
Isabel realized what I was about to do and immediately wrapped her arms around my waist.

The magical seal engraved on the soles of my feet reached its peak brightness.
KWA-A-A-A-AANG!
With the explosion of the magic seal, Isabel and I shot up toward the sky at incredible speed.
As we soared over the outstretched arms of Shadow Hand, a fierce wind slammed against our bodies.
We landed directly on the ground.

THUD!
Landing on both feet, our bodies pitched forward.
But Isabel and I, as if we were one, kicked off the ground at the exact same time.

After nearly two months of navigating the Demonic Palace together, our coordination had reached its peak.
Just a glance between us was enough to understand what needed to be done.
When you risk your life together long enough, you naturally sync up—whether you like it or not.

We kept running in perfect rhythm.
Shadow Hand unleashed a relentless assault, but it couldn’t stop our advance.

Still, no matter how well you coordinate, there are limits.
Isabel and I had already been worn down for some time.
Our steps grew heavy.
The muscles in our legs screamed at us to stop.

Meanwhile, Shadow Hand was ramping up its heat even more as it chased us.
Not being able to catch us seemed to frustrate it even more.
It was getting harder and harder to shake off the narrowing gap.
Shadow Hand’s arms filled the path ahead, blocking every route we took.

With this much chaos, other Apostles would definitely notice.
And that would make things far more dangerous.
We had to act before that happened.

“We’re almost there!”
Just a little farther to go.
‘Once we turn that corner…’
We can lose Shadow Hand.
That was the thought—

Then I saw it.
Above Isabel’s head.
A red dot.

“Damn it.”
With a curse, I swung my already lifeless left arm.
It moved weakly but made contact with the red dot.
And then, like a blooming flower, the red light burst outward.

KWA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-AANG!
With a deafening explosion, my left arm shattered, and both Isabel and I were hurled to the ground.
A shockwave rattled through my entire body.
No matter how much of a steel body I had, a hit like that couldn’t be shrugged off.
I must have bitten the inside of my mouth as I rolled—I tasted blood.

But before anything else, I checked on Isabel, who I had shielded in my arms.
She seemed to have blacked out for a moment from the impact, but her eyes slowly regained focus.

“Y-You!”
Only then did Isabel realize I had shielded her.

The attack just now was from a named Apostle specialized in long-range sniping—Dark Insect Marksman.
It doesn’t reveal its presence at all, and if you enter its range, it fires indiscriminately.
Because Shadow Hand kept blocking the way, we had to take a detour—and ended up right in its territory.

My ears were ringing.
As for my left arm—I didn’t know.
I could tell it had been shattered, but strangely, there was no pain.
It must be because the arm had already lost its vitality due to the Elixir of Life; the nerves must’ve been dead too.

Honestly, that was a good thing.
At least I wouldn’t be slowed down by the pain.

Using my mangled right hand, I pushed myself up.
“Run!”
Shadow Hand had closed the distance while we were down.
If it caught us now, it’d be game over.

KWAANG, THUD!
Just then, Shadow Hand raised a wall of arms to block our path.
I had planned to use this a little later, but now wasn’t the time for planning.

The ring on my right index finger began to glow.
At the same time, dark clouds swirled in the sky, breaking through even the interference of the Demonic Palace.

“Isabel, protect yourself!”
Come, Lightning Catcher.
From the heavens, the goddess’s lightning descended.

————— —————!
Swept away by the divine bolt, the wall raised by Shadow Hand crumbled.
At that very moment, another magical seal engraved on my skin activated.
The remnants of the elder dragon within me stirred.

Simultaneously, my eyes took on the glowing yellow pupils of a dragon.
Heavenly Dragon Form
I forced the electricity coursing over my body deep inside.
With this, the lightning wouldn’t harm Isabel.

In return, a wave of searing pain surged through me, and the lightning scars deepened, but I endured it through sheer will.
Before the effect of the lightning wore off, I reached out with my right arm and wrapped it around Isabel.
In the next instant, my body leaned forward and launched like a bullet.

The scenery around us blurred in an instant.
The Dark Insect Marksman fired a few more shots, but they couldn’t keep up with my speed.
Except for one.
One shot that couldn’t be avoided.

A guaranteed hit.
A bullet that stops only after making contact, no matter the situation.
A red line streaked through the air.

I deliberately extended my leg forward to intercept it.
The bullet embedded itself in my leg, ripping the muscle apart into shreds.
Its penetration was monstrous—enough to pierce even a steel body.
As expected of a round with the strongest physical piercing power.
Only high-tier magic could hope to block something like this.

I forced lightning through the torn muscles.
I used it to stitch the muscle fibers back together and reattach the bone.
Barely stopping the leg from being blown off, I kicked off the ground again.
Once the Heavenly Dragon Form ended, my leg would likely be ruined—but I didn’t care.

“Hold on tight!”
As I roared, my trembling body turned the corner—
And there it was.
A massive hole of endless depth.
A pit that looked like the ground itself had disappeared.

I launched us straight toward the hole.
“…!”
I heard Isabel swallow a silent scream.

THUD!
At the same moment, Shadow Hand leapt after us, soaring over the edge of the pit.
That stalker bastard still hadn’t given up, reaching for us even now.

But it would soon realize just how big a mistake that was.
“See you never.”
The remaining lightning in my body burst outward all at once.

Holding Isabel tight, I leaned forward.
Heavenly Thunder

My entire body turned to lightning and pierced through the sky in an instant.
I shot through the air at a speed my body could barely endure, finally landing on the opposite side of the pit.
Meanwhile, Shadow Hand flailed helplessly in the air before plunging straight down into the hole.

It was a pit created back when Apostle Cycle of Rebirth had occupied the 8th floor.
That bastard would be neatly delivered to the 9th floor—where Cycle of Rebirth would devour him.

The moment I touched the ground, I felt sweat pour from every inch of my body.
Having pushed myself to the brink with Heavenly Dragon Form, I had no strength left.
But with this, we were almost there.
Once we passed Cycle of Rebirth’s pit, there wouldn’t be much distance left to the end.
The risk had paid off.

But now, my leg wouldn’t move.
It was the price of taking that guaranteed hit earlier.
As the Heavenly Dragon Form wore off, the bones I had stitched with lightning collapsed, and the muscles began tearing again.
My vision grew hazy.

This was bad.
My body leaned forward.

Thud!
In that moment, something soft caught me.
When I lifted my head, Isabel was there.
The pure white wings of the goddess wrapped around me.
I felt a bit of my wounds beginning to heal.

Just a little further.
It was clear Isabel had used the goddess’s wings to go all-out and escape—planning to face the Gatekeeper afterward.
Within those wings, she stared at me with wide, determined eyes.
A storm of emotions swirled in them.

“Isa…bel… go.”
But she held those feelings back and pulled me tightly into her arms.

“You have to keep your promise. No matter what.”
Her arms trembled as they held me.

“So don’t you dare die.”

My consciousness faded.
In the end, I lost consciousness without being able to answer her.