Ch.181Chapter 181 – Shadow (2)

The attacks from ‘my past self’ relentlessly came at me.

Despite deflecting them with my weapon and dodging, the attacks kept coming.

While I was busy responding to each one, my opponent showed no discomfort in attacking.

Of course, that was natural since three of them were pouncing on me simultaneously.

‘Damn it!’

As I tried to escape the island, I dodged the mace wielded by my past self, deflected the greatsword, and immediately a halberd was thrust at me.

After barely responding to everything, I analyzed my enemies while catching my breath.

‘That one’s the most troublesome…’

At the edge of my vision was the one who appeared to be my most recent self.

That one was the most dangerous, constantly changing weapons like me while attacking continuously with extraordinary speed and power.

But that’s not to say the attacks from my past selves weren’t fierce.

‘…The others are enhancing their bodies.’

Smoke was rising from my robed body, while red lightning crackled around the me with the greatsword and the me with the halberd.

I had once hoped these were merely visual effects, but unfortunately, they were real.

‘Meanwhile, I can’t fight properly.’

If I were to fight seriously, I could enhance my body the same way.

But that would strain my heart.

Not knowing what lay ahead, I couldn’t recklessly waste my strength, and using it could affect the entire journey ahead.

I had a time limit, while those guys were attacking with reckless abandon, without any concern for time constraints.

“Does the world really hate only me?”

I voiced that complaint while aiming my weapon at the enemy.

‘I wish there was some opening.’

Perhaps because they were versions of myself, they hardly showed any openings.

To make matters worse, there were three of them, and they were attacking with coordinated moves.

I barely blocked the greatsword and mace that were swung almost simultaneously, then had to frantically dodge when the remaining one shot an arrow.

And the last me, the only one not attacking…

[Who exactly are you?]

“Just shut up already!”

He kept throwing questions at me, constantly grating on my already frayed nerves.

It was somewhat fortunate that he wasn’t trying to fight, but it was beyond irritating that while I was repeatedly dancing on the edge of life and death, he was leisurely asking questions from a safe distance.

‘I need to break through this situation somehow.’

If I couldn’t overcome this disadvantageous position, my immediate survival would be at risk.

“…Huff.”

I let out a slight sigh as I looked at the three before me.

Having been fighting continuously, I was somewhat tired, unlike those three who still seemed perfectly fine. Involuntarily, a complaint escaped my lips.

“Do they have infinite stamina too?”

If they were normal living beings, they would be catching their breath like me, but there was no sign of that.

“…Come at me one by one, damn you.”

I grumbled as I faced off against the three versions of myself.

And from a distance, the me with only half a face remaining quietly asked.

[Are you really okay with this?]

“…Finally saying something different.”

He had been repeatedly asking who I was until now.

It was a bit surprising that he was finally saying something different.

But the very next moment, screams reached my ears.

-“Lady Beatrice, snap out of it, Lady Beatrice?!”

-“Don’t call me by that naaaaaaame!!!!!!”

I heard Christina’s and Beatrice’s voices.

As an ominous feeling crept over me at the sound of their disturbing voices, not just the one who had been speaking, but also the ones confronting me began to speak one by one.

[The priestess is honest.]

[She passed.]

[That one is finished.]

[She denied herself and got hurt.]

“What are you saying!”

I shouted loudly in question.

But they continued speaking as if I didn’t matter.

[Those who lie to themselves lie to everyone.]

[The false ones hurt everyone.]

[That’s the rule of this space.]

[She’ll hurt herself and hurt those around her.]

Simultaneously, I heard the sound of something being swung and something deflecting it.

-“Ugh, that was close…!”

-“Kill, I’ll kill you, Somnuuuuus!!!!!”

Beatrice’s voice, filled with hatred, reached my ears.

It was clear that something similar to what had appeared before me had also appeared before my companions.

From what they were saying, Christina had succeeded in defeating them.

And Beatrice had undoubtedly failed.

Judging from the voices I’d been hearing…

‘Beatrice is targeting Christina.’

For some reason, there was a high probability that she was attacking Christina.

“Damn, this isn’t the time for this!”

Although Christina had demonstrated excellent defensive capabilities using holy magic, considering Beatrice’s combat prowess, she wouldn’t last long.

I couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

‘Quickly defeating these guys is impossible.’

With the enemy outnumbering me, it was clear that trying to deal with them one by one would take too much time.

By then, Beatrice would have more than enough time to finish off Christina.

Winning this fight and rushing to help was practically impossible.

Humiliating as it was, there was only one option.

[Are you running away?]

“None of your business!”

I immediately jumped back and ran in the direction from which the voices had been coming.

They might chase after me, but I had no choice now.

-Swoosh!

-Clang!

I deflected an arrow flying from behind with my halberd.

‘Please, don’t be too late…!’

I continued to run towards the direction of the sounds, while arrows kept coming and footsteps chased after me.

+

“Lady Beatrice, please come to your senses…!”

“I aaaaam!!!”

Christina was almost pleading as she deflected Beatrice’s iron chain with a shield created by holy magic.

“Lady Beatrice, it’s me!”

“You, I’ll kill you…!”

“Lady Beatrice!!”

Christina’s nun’s habit was soaked with sweat as she dodged the fireballs Beatrice was shooting.

The one fortunate thing was that Beatrice didn’t seem to be thinking clearly.

If she had been in her right mind while targeting Christina, she would have ignored the shield and charged directly at her.

‘I wonder if the others are alright?!’

As she dodged a punch charged with magical energy, Christina worried about the others.

She thought it must be related to the versions of themselves that had just appeared.

“I am Beatrice!!”

“What are you saying…”

Looking at Beatrice, who was shouting at the top of her lungs, Christina realized something strange.

Beatrice had been shouting that her name was Beatrice all along.

Each time, Christina could clearly see her face contorting greatly.

‘Is Lady Beatrice’s name an alias?’

Otherwise, there would be no reason to shout her own name like that.

She was asserting that she was “Beatrice” because her real name wasn’t “Beatrice.”

‘Her name seems to be closely related to her past…’

Beatrice had always been vague about her past.

So Christina surmised that the name must be connected to that past.

However.

“Die!!!”

“Please, calm down!”

Such contemplation only mattered if she survived.

Summoning another golden shield, Christina shouted.

“Crawling around like a… rat! How dare you betray…!”

“Who are you confusing me with?!”

Christina instinctively responded to Beatrice’s words while casting a blessing on herself.

Given her own physical abilities, the blessing might not make much difference, but it would be better than nothing.

At least it would provide some protection against the impact of fragments that kept flying from Beatrice’s attacks.

“You won’t escape!!”

Beatrice shouted as she stomped the ground hard with her foot.

A loud boom followed, raising dust that hindered Christina’s vision and breathing.

“Cough, cough!”

Even while coughing, Christina didn’t take her eyes off Beatrice.

If she lost track of her presence or sight, she would die instantly.

“…Uncle…”

“…What?”

Suddenly, Beatrice began to mutter blankly.

And then.

“Why… why… why did you betray…!!”

Christina was horrified to see multiple red magic circles appearing around Beatrice.

‘What is she trying to do…!’

Christina quickly summoned a shield and hid behind it.

“Conspiring with that filthy Somnus…!”

“Lady Beatrice!”

“I’ll kill you both!!!!”

The red magic circles began to explode.

Flames started bursting from the magic circles.

“Aaah?!”

Though she barely blocked with her shield, it began to crack.

Christina lowered her head towards the ground, closing her eyes against the overwhelming heat that came with the explosions. She opened her eyes slightly.

‘Ah.’

And she slightly regretted opening her eyes when she saw the red magic circle that had appeared right beneath her feet.

“Die!!!”

With a voice that was almost a scream, the magic circle began to spew fire.

‘…Master.’

As her vision slowly but steadily turned red, Christina began to close her eyes.

The next moment, her body suddenly floated up into the air.

“Not too late!!”

“Huh?!”

The very next moment, Christina began rolling on the ground with Kei.

+

“…Phew.”

My armor was a bit hot.

Though I had dodged Beatrice’s magic, the aftermath had heated up my armor.

“…Christina, are you alright?”

“Ah, um, yes!”

Christina, who was in my arms, said so and quickly shouted.

“Master, Lady Beatrice’s condition…”

“I can guess.”

Not long after I started running in the direction of the sounds, the fight between Beatrice and Christina suddenly came into view.

And I saw Beatrice attacking indiscriminately around her, as if she couldn’t distinguish friend from foe.

‘What on earth happened to that woman in the past?’

Her shouting as if her name wasn’t Beatrice.

Her calling out the names of her uncle and Somnus while attacking everything around her. I saw it all.

‘That’s clearly why she couldn’t overcome the trap.’

She must have been constantly denying herself, denying even her name, always hiding her past.

The situation was quite different from mine, who had lost my memories and couldn’t really deny my past self.

‘By the way, those guys chasing me suddenly stopped…’

They had been chasing me, even shooting arrows, but at some point, they stopped.

‘That’s actually good.’

In this state, at least I wouldn’t have to face the impossible task of dodging attacks from both those guys and Beatrice simultaneously.

I could focus all my efforts on calming Beatrice down.

“…Christina, I’m sorry, but.”

“Yes. I’ll do my best to help!”

Christina smiled brightly as she spoke.

Then, as if she suddenly realized something, she blushed and exclaimed.

“Um, please put me down now…”

“Sure.”

I had been carrying her in what’s commonly called a princess carry, and she seemed to have become embarrassed.

I quietly put her down and changed my weapon to a staff as I rushed towards Beatrice.

“You…!”

“Stop squawking and come to your senses, you damn woman!”

As I swung my staff, an iron chain was swung in response.

Seeing the chain wrap around my staff as if it were alive, I quickly reduced the size of my weapon and slipped away.

Immediately, Beatrice threw a punch, and I countered with a kick, initiating a hand-to-hand combat.

‘This is manageable.’

Although she was enhancing her body with magic, she had too many unnecessary movements.

She wasn’t throwing her usual unpredictable yet heavy attacks, but was attacking wildly.

‘Good enough.’

With Beatrice in this state, at least the worst-case scenario could be avoided.

“Why! Why did you kill my sisters!”

“That wasn’t me!”

“Why! Why did you kill my mother!”

“No, just calm down…!”

I blocked Beatrice’s attack with my fist and counterattacked while shouting.

“Uuuuncleee!!”

Beatrice put her hands together.

Magic gathered and sparked, soon forming a sphere of lightning in her hands.

“Christina!”

“‘Protect the little lambs!'”

With Christina’s cry, a golden shield blocked the lightning.

I quickly approached Beatrice through the rising dust.

“I’m sorry, but…!”

I clenched my fist tightly.

“Wake up, you damn woman!!”

My fist landed squarely on Beatrice’s face.

-Thwack!

With a heavy sound, Beatrice’s head jerked backward.

After momentarily stopping her movement, she slowly began to fall backward.

“No… way…”

Beatrice muttered weakly as she fell backward.

I quickly caught her and carefully laid her on my knee, and she began to mutter with cloudy eyes.

“No, like this, like this, the promise I made with Bea…”

Beatrice began to mutter while sending her unstable gaze here and there.

“Live, must survive, revenge, must live…”

“…Beatrice.”

I quietly called out to Beatrice, who was looking around deliriously.

Beatrice looked at me with unfocused eyes.

“Helmet…”

“I’m here.”

Recognizing me, Beatrice reached out and grabbed my helmet.

Then she spoke to me in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry.

“…Help me…”

A voice unlike her usual self, weak and powerless, flowed from Beatrice’s lips.

“It’s hard, I’m scared, I…”

Beatrice was whining like a child, a side of her I’d never seen before.

“…Protect… me…”

With those words, Beatrice fainted in my arms.