Ch.85Cherished Wish (4)

Boom!

From the shattered rift, beings from another dimension stepped through the pitch-black void. Bizarre beasts, painted black like visual noise, clumped together like clay and plummeted to the ground.

“We need to run…”

Miren’s tiny feet trembled as she backed away. Without a moment’s hesitation, she wanted to flee to safety. Yet her feet wouldn’t move.

Nine years ago. With still-innocent blue eyes, she had witnessed her sister’s companion being torn to pieces. After fainting from the horrific scene, she woke to find eight years had passed.

Enough time had passed for the companion who had protected her to decompose in the soil. Now not only she, but the young lords beside her and the manor’s servants were in danger of meeting the same fate.

“My lady, is there somewhere in the manor we can take shelter?”

“Ah…”

Philliah’s urgent question. Miren barely gathered her wits as she assessed the manor’s structure.

“There’s a secret passage inside the manor.”

“Better than standing out here as targets. It’s an emergency, but would it be alright to rely on you, my lady?”

“Uh, yes. Follow me.”

His words were rough on the surface. But beneath them lay a genuine intention not to leave her alone.

Miren found an unexpected sense of calm from their composure. It became the driving force that helped her shake off the bad memories and take immediate action.

ROAR!?

The pitch-black beast that had been clumped like clay took form. The dimensional invader recognized one specific target.

A child blessed by the golden chain. It was instinctively drawn to the girl with eyes the same sky-blue as now.

Thump!

Miren’s heart seized with the unsettling feeling of having her life essence pierced. Her instincts were correct. The beast, which had been quietly watching its prey like a hunter, finally began its hunt.

Whoosh, whoosh, tap!

“It’s coming!”

“My lady, we must hurry!”

The urgent calls of the young lords urged her on. But reality wasn’t something that could be overcome by human determination alone.

Even common stray dogs are more agile than strong men. How much more so would be these calamities that emerged from the rift?

ROAR!

The black beast’s howl was right behind them. Moving with agility, it leaped into the air, intending to tear out their lives.

It seemed determined to crush even the young lords who were trying to protect Miren with their bodies.

The shadow grew dense. The beast’s rough paws cast a shadow large enough to envelop the three people and more. It expressed its will to crush every last bit of hope.

“Sister…!”

That’s when it happened.

“Single-point focus.”

Whoosh!

The world turned black and white. The air warped into a short cylindrical shape.

“Rakshasa Pierce.”

The distortion traveled in a straight line all the way to the garden on the opposite side. Looking back, there were neatly punctured holes in various structures.

“Irefi sister!”

Miren instantly thought of Irefi. Her proud blood relative who could be relied upon for anything.

Irefi would gently encourage her and pat her head. She would protect her from threats with her characteristically slender yet dignified back.

It took only a moment to correct this mistaken assumption.

‘It’s not Irefi sister?’

No matter how much she looked around, she couldn’t sense Irefi’s powerful presence. In the midst of her confusion, a possibility flashed through Miren’s mind.

Near the edge of her vision, by the manor, a boy her age with drawn sword emitted a pale green battle aura from a position ideal for observing everyone.

“I’m speechless.”

“Wasn’t Chester’s second son that oddball who doesn’t wield a sword?”

Philliah and Raden were the most shocked. They had been trapped in the prejudice that Arnel was a weak person.

Therefore, they had carelessly concluded he wasn’t a man to be wary of.

“Arnel!”

A startled Miren called out the name of her true savior. The confusion over his unexpected identity lasted only a moment. What mattered was that he had protected her.

“What are you doing there! Hurry…”

Miren’s urgent plea to flee was cut off abruptly. Arnel’s intention to convey something from a distance where words couldn’t reach was evident.

He moved his lips deliberately from afar. Reading lips was one of Miren’s secret talents. Even so, Arnel exaggerated his movements to make lip-reading easier, clearly expressing his intent.

I. Will.

“I will”

Pro.tect. You.

“Protect… you.”

No. Mat.ter. What.

“No matter what…”

After finishing his message, a warm color spread across Arnel’s face.

It was as if he was declaring that his statue-like rigid expression since the debutante ball had been a midsummer night’s dream.

The dreamlike moment was brief. The invaders from another world continued to ravage the domain. The Marquess Justitia’s manor was no exception.

There are many beasts that eagerly search for tempting prey. Especially for someone special like Miren.

“I ended up smiling.”

It was a mistake.

[Don’t do that…]

[Do what?]

[Don’t smile like that in front of others.]

[Okay. I understand.]

He had promised Miren not to smile freely in front of others.

Even at the debutante ball, he had struggled to control the corners of his mouth.

Having broken his promise so lightly, Miren had every right to be angry. Surely he must have done something at the debutante ball that upset her as well.

Once this commotion was over, he would need to find the cause and properly apologize. But first…

“I should prevent animals from entering the manor.”

He took refined, silent steps.

Toward the pitch-black predator that had nothing but instinct left.

Arnel pointed his sword without hesitation.

◇

“Irefi…”

“It’s okay, Charle.”

The entrance to the imperial palace was even more crowded than the debutante ball. This was because an imperial order had been issued to evacuate as many people as possible to the palace.

The order was supported by the assessment that Irefi’s protective abilities could cover the entire palace area.

This was only possible when focusing on area rather than intensity, and when committed to a strictly defensive stance.

Due to the possibility of going berserk, she had been excluded from the combat force. She sighed in frustration at not being able to help Nepy.

“I’m sorry for being a burden.”

“No, Charle. This is my role.”

The Emperor had earnestly requested it. He said she would be absolutely safe by Irefi’s side, and asked her to please take care of Charle.

After much deliberation, Irefi had accepted. She wanted to atone, even a little, for the sin she would commit against the future Charle.

Unaware of this, Charle fidgeted with her fingers nervously.

“But… I’m worried about my sister.”

“Miren will be safe.”

“How…”

Can you be so sure?

Charle wanted to ask. But knowing that questioning and pressing would only make Irefi uncomfortable, she refrained.

Irefi easily picked up on Charle’s anxiety. Charle, who showed her guilt with her entire body, was easy to read.

‘This is the first test.’

He will protect Miren.

Chester’s second son, whom she had met at the debutante ball, had been hiding remarkable skills.

He had achieved a level comparable to her own at around ten years of age.

As Bartlant had boasted, he could truly be called a genius.

It was a fresh shock to hear that he had realized sword techniques just from hearing accounts of her berserk battle experience.

‘As Miren’s potential son-in-law, he should at least be able to do that much.’

Once the commotion died down, it might be good to give him some guidance. Nepy would probably be fiercely opposed to Arnel, but that could be handled with force if necessary.

Irefi approached a knight guarding the entrance and asked:

“How is the evacuation progressing?”

“According to reports, there are no people visible on the streets of the domain now.”

“What about casualties?”

“Based on the tallies, there are about twenty deaths and over fifty injured.”

“That’s suspiciously few.”

This wasn’t an earthquake or typhoon. For a Chainlich event where dimensional gates open, such a low casualty count doesn’t make sense.

The Chainlich event she experienced had wiped out an entire village in a short time.

The knight before her didn’t have a satisfactory answer either. He could only offer a vague conjecture with a forced smile.

“Wouldn’t it be thanks to Commander Chester leading the knights in valiant combat?”

“Tell them to fight five times harder than they are now.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Irefi extended her spiritual perception and looked around. The number of people taking shelter was noticeably insufficient compared to the domain’s population. At the same time, the casualty count was remarkably low.

‘Could Nepy have returned to the domain?’

She wanted to believe that Bartlant was performing well against the Chainlich beasts.

Or perhaps the domain’s residents had fled to places untouched by the destruction.

Was it too much to hope for an unexpected ally to join the battle?

The tail end of the refugee procession came into view. This would probably be the last group of citizens seeking refuge in the imperial palace.

The rest were likely accommodated in their own shelters or bunkers created by other nobles.

As she was calming herself with various hopes,

ROAR!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Terrifying footsteps that could shake mountains and rivers thundered in.

“Here it comes at last.”

A four-legged beast with a completely black body charged forward with a noise-filled roar.

It was a monster that treated clusters of century-old trees like trivial garden models.

The earth shook under its heavy mass that could cast a shadow over the imperial palace.

Crash!

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!”

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

“Hii, hieek?!”

The monster reared up like a rodeo horse and stomped on the imperial palace.

The people who were relying on what appeared to be a thin, fragile cube panicked and scrambled backward in terror.

“Hmm.”

Irefi felt burdened by the mass attack, which was heavier than she had anticipated. If she were defending an area for just three or four people, she could maintain it all day.

Unfortunately, her protective ability currently encompassed the entire imperial palace. There were clear limitations against excessive mass attacks.

Boom! Crash! Thud!

The pitch-black giant body was persistent. It revealed its desire to take lives by repeating its attacks over and over.

The more it attacked, the more people found comfort in the surprisingly intact barrier. Paradoxically, blood appeared at the corners of Irefi’s mouth from internal injuries.

‘I could easily drop the barrier and slice it to pieces, ugh!’

Cutting that pathetic creature into pieces would be an easy task. There was only one reason she couldn’t do it.

She feared the malice that would creep out if she lost control.

This was a life that Nepy had risked his life to save. She couldn’t make the mistake of joining the other side and sweeping away humans. She couldn’t betray her beloved Nepy’s trust again. She must not.

“Irefi…! There’s blood on your mouth!?”

“Haa…”

She could barely offer reassurance to Charle’s concern. Just clenching her teeth and maintaining the Holy Memory was making her dizzy.

Unlike her side, which had so much to protect, the beast’s goal was simple and clear. It was simply indulging in its urges and causing havoc.

This one-sided unfairness finally broke the balance of power.

Crack, crack, clang!

The cube of Holy Memory began to crumble. The world sank into silence and was contaminated with despair. There’s a theory that when humans encounter overwhelming fear, they give up resisting. The current state of the imperial palace was exactly that.

‘I have to do something…!’

In the moment of crisis, dozens of decisions and reversals went through her mind. Whether to fight back, not to, or to find a third option.

‘If I kill that thing, the nation’s existence will be in danger. If only the people in the imperial palace are sacrificed, more people might live. But what if I can control the malice while fighting back? No, no, I can’t be sure. In the worst case, I might even harm Miren with my own hands… Ah…!’

It was her karma. The embodiment of evil that had recklessly swung a sword and harmed innocent lives. The evil clinging to her soul wouldn’t even allow her to protect many people with peace of mind.

Just as Irefi tightly closed her eyes, Charle cried out in startled surprise.

“Irefi! What’s that?!”

Whoooooosh!!!

The world flashed with brilliant golden light. A pillar of golden light reaching to the clouds instantly incinerated the pitch-black giant body.

It was a pillar of geothermal heat drawn up like a straw from deep underground. Its destructive power, comparable to a natural disaster, rendered the advantage of mass useless.

Beyond the dissipating heat pillar, ruby-like eyes emitted a dignified light. Charle flinched at the vivid red color imprinted in her mind.

Strangely, she felt as if she had made eye contact from a great distance. It felt like she had directly received a gaze filled with a sense of debt.

“Lord Zikharun…?”

Charle called the name of the man she had met through an ill-fated connection.

It was such a faint whisper that it was quickly buried under the people’s sighs of relief.