Chapter 94

Ｒｅ​ａ​ｄ ｏ​ｎ​ ＫａｔＲ​ｅ​ａｄｉｎｇＣａｆｅ

A focused strike.

By concentrating everything on a single point, Frey unleashed her maximum power, amplifying both the intensity and precision of her attack.

The Black Knight’s helmet melted away before he could react. The molten metal evaporated as it was devoured by the searing heat, and the pale, bloodless face hidden beneath the helmet began to distort grotesquely.

Of course, the Black Knight didn’t go down without a fight. Humans may only have two arms, but even after losing his right arm, his left arm remained functional.

However, the Black Knight’s opponent wasn’t just Frey. An ambush aimed at smashing Frey’s skull was intercepted by crimson flames, rendering the attack futile.

This left the Black Knight defenseless.

The intense heat consumed his helmet and head in an instant, reducing them to nothing but ash.

“Hah… hah…”

Panting heavily, Frey kicked the Black Knight’s torso.

The sound of clattering metal echoed as the dark armor rolled across the ground.

Once polished and gleaming, the armor was now tarnished with dirt, losing its former majesty.

“We… we did it…”

I muttered weakly, coughing up blackened, coagulated blood.

The Black Knight—no, the Death Knight—was an undead being.

Because of this, conventional methods couldn’t kill him.

He was already dead, so how could he die again?

Decapitating his head, destroying his heart, or gutting him to tear out his organs wouldn’t stop him.

The core of the Black Knight was located in his head.

More specifically, it was nestled within the brain, protected by his skull.

To truly stop him, you had to smash it—decapitation alone wouldn’t suffice. You had to utterly crush the head for the Black Knight to finally find rest.

Or perhaps “rest” isn’t the right word here. He was a corpse from the beginning, so maybe “return to slumber” would be more fitting?

And now, Frey’s heat ray had completely melted the Black Knight’s head.

The core that would have been inside his skull had undoubtedly been obliterated as well.

For a monster of his caliber—a named entity among pure monsters—his death seemed anticlimactic. But battles in real life are often like this. They aren’t simple games of rock-paper-scissors where the strongest automatically wins. 

Unless the opponent is overwhelmingly powerful, like a devil or a captain, circumstances and conditions can easily flip the outcome.

What’s more, this was a 3-on-1 battle, and we had struck at the moment he let his guard down.

From the Black Knight’s perspective, it must feel unjust. No, it has to feel unjust.

He had every reason to win leisurely—it was only the first phase of the fight.

Had he moved to Phase 2, removing his armor and revealing his true form, such a surprise attack wouldn’t have worked.

But for the Black Knight to shed his armor was essentially an admission that he couldn’t win without going to extremes.

Why had he sealed his power with the armor in the first place?

For fun? To toy with us?

Maybe, but that wasn’t the Black Knight’s style.

The reason for the seal was simple:

His body couldn’t endure the immense death energy he wielded.

Even existing in his unrestrained form would cause his body to corrode and decay, so the armor was necessary to protect him.

By shedding the armor, he would undoubtedly grow stronger, but at that point, it would become a race against time.

Either he would kill his opponent first, or his body would succumb to his own death energy and rot away.

Since his opponents weren’t on par with him—clearly weaker—he wouldn’t have even considered unleashing his full power from the start.

But in his moment of overconfidence, he was struck down before he even had the chance to remove his armor.

They say even a lion hunts rabbits with all its might. The price of arrogance is often steep.

Accept it. You deserved this.

Still, it feels a bit strange.

Eugene and Frey fought far better than I anticipated.

Eugene, sure—I’ve seen his rapid growth firsthand during field training.

He’s like the embodiment of protagonist bias, growing explosively even mid-battle, so that’s understandable. But Frey? Why?

No matter how I look at it, she’s opened the Gate of Awakening. What could have triggered it?

Alice (Frey) was already a prodigy, standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the Golden Generation even without training or effort.

For someone as extraordinary as Frey, even a minor decision or resolution could unlock the Gate of Awakening.

So it’s not entirely shocking that she exceeded my expectations… but, hold on—wasn’t she stronger than the teachers just now? Stronger than Si-ul, the A-Class assistant instructor, and even the temporary D-Class assistant instructor? Well, not as strong as Angelica, but still.

Maybe the turning point was when Alice decided to put down her books and start training.

If Frey acted on Alice’s desire to grow stronger, then… yes, the Gate of Awakening might open.

So, the cause was… huh? Me?

Was it me that triggered Alice’s seed of awakening?

I’d like to ask her directly, but now’s not the time for idle chatter.

Nothing is over yet.

The Rift remains open, monsters continue pouring through, and there’s still the matter of dealing with the Black Knight’s remains.

Until now, no monster dared approach due to the oppressive aura the Black Knight intentionally released during the fight. But now that he’s reduced to this state, his repellent effect has vanished.

“Hic…”

I tried to stand but couldn’t muster the strength.

It’s because the Black Knight’s longsword was still lodged in my chest.

This sword was no ordinary weapon—it was a cursed blade brimming with the malice of the dead.

With such a malevolent thing piercing Lucia’s soft, precious body, of course there’d be consequences.

The death energy spread throughout my body.

Like drops of ink in water, it seeped into every corner of Lucia’s being.

My body was gradually succumbing to the aura of death.

Yeah, this isn’t good.

Even with super regeneration, the sword’s death energy was far stronger than my own power.

At this rate, Lucia’s delicate, alabaster flesh would rot away.

“Lucia!”

Eugene ran toward me in a panic, his voice thick with worry.

But he wasn’t in any condition to worry about others.

Eugene himself looked terrible.

While he wasn’t fatally injured, his condition was far from normal.

Cuts and slashes covered him from head to toe, leaving barely a single unscathed patch of skin. Most were shallow, but a few were deep, dangerous wounds.

If left untreated, the situation could quickly deteriorate.

Being struck by the Black Knight meant these wounds wouldn’t heal naturally and might even worsen over time.

“C-careful… Eugene, your injuries…” I muttered weakly.

“Is this really the time to worry about others? Think about yourself for once! Why do you always…” Eugene trailed off, his voice breaking with frustration.

“Healing… i-it’s… not working…” I gasped, my words faltering.

“What?” Eugene’s eyes widened.

I tried to explain despite the pain. “It’s like… a curse… it’s blocking recovery… Eugene, y-your wounds… they’re dangerous…”

“I get it.” he said with a nod, his expression grim but determined. “Don’t worry about me—I have a way to deal with it.”

I knew Eugene would manage somehow. He always had a plan. The death energy that seeped into his body could be purged with his flames. His resilience to heat allowed him to endure the process, burning away only the death energy while leaving his body intact.

The problem was, that method would only work for Eugene.

Lucia, on the other hand, wasn’t fire-resistant. If I tried the same method, I’d end up cremated along with the death energy.

Want to turn Lucia into charcoal? Go ahead.

She’d make a great heat source for a cold winter night.

And hey, reusable too! Just reignite her after she cools down!

“Quit babbling and pull the sword out already. Are you just going to leave it there?” Frey interrupted, her voice sharp as she approached.

Unlike Eugene, who was battered and bloodied, Frey looked practically untouched. Save for a few singed strands of hair, she bore no visible injuries.

The cursed longsword still pierced my chest, its malevolent energy radiating from the blade. Its presence prevented me from lying down, forcing me to remain awkwardly seated.

Frey stepped closer, gripping the sword’s hilt.

Perhaps she underestimated her strength, or maybe it was deliberate. As the blade twisted slightly, the pain flared, leaving my mind blank with agony.

“Ugh… ahh…!” A strangled cry escaped me before I could stop it.

Frey paused, her cold gaze fixed on me. Despite her stoic expression, her eyes seemed to burn with an unspoken intensity.

“Endure it.” she said flatly. “Whether it’s super regeneration or whatever else, you’ll die if we leave your heart like this.”

She wasn’t wrong. The foreign object lodged in my heart was preventing it from healing. My blood was pooling instead of flowing properly, and while super regeneration kept me alive, it was a temporary solution at best. The cursed longsword, brimming with concentrated death energy, was effectively a ticking time bomb.

Super regeneration wasn’t omnipotent. If the rate of decay outpaced the regeneration, I would eventually succumb.

“D-damn it… ngh…” Tears stung my eyes as Frey readied to extract the blade.

And yet, I braced myself.

It wasn’t as if I had a choice.

Frey’s hand gripped the hilt of the longsword, and with deliberate care, she began to pull it out.

As the blade slid through my flesh, the sensation was unbearable. It felt like fire tearing through me, and my body involuntarily jolted, my back arching against the pain.

It hurt so much I couldn’t breathe.

A shuddering gasp escaped me as the heat seared through my nerves, every inch of the blade dragging agony along with it. I could feel it grazing my ribcage, muscles tearing apart, and the gaping wound stretching wider.

My fingers trembled violently, and my vision blurred. Tears streamed down my cheeks as my body struggled to cope.

“Hah… ahh… hic…”

“Lucia. Hold on.”

Frey’s voice reached me, but it was like a faint echo, lost in the torrent of pain.

This wasn’t the first time I’d felt something like this. I’d endured worse before.

But this time was different.

This wasn’t an act of self-infliction. I wasn’t alone.

The sensation, the awareness, the twisted thrill stabbing through my mind—everything was alien, an entirely new level of discomfort.

Two people were watching me.

Only now did I fully realize it. Frey and Eugene were both looking at me.

The thought sent a strange, fluttering sensation through my broken heart, making it feel as though it might beat again despite its shattered state.

My consciousness began to drift, teetering between torment and euphoria. Suppressing the moans threatening to escape my lips was an uphill battle. If it were purely from pain, I might have let them out without hesitation—but what I was holding back felt dangerously unfamiliar.

“I can’t do this like this. Eugene, hold onto Lucia for me.” Frey instructed sharply.

“Wait, Alice, what are you—?”

“She’s trembling too much. The wound will tear open more if this keeps up. I need you to steady her so I can get the sword out.”

Ah… but I was trembling on purpose.

The idea that the wound in Lucia’s chest—the one piercing her precious, fragile body—might stretch wider sent a peculiar thrill through me. My head buzzed as warmth pooled in my chest.

But I couldn’t say that out loud.

I bit my lip hard and looked up at Eugene with wide, innocent eyes, feigning helplessness.

Ah, my face feels so hot.

Tears trailed down my cheeks, warm and ticklish.

“…Fine.” Eugene relented, his expression hardening as he met my gaze.

He hesitated, as if debating with himself, but eventually nodded and moved closer. His hands gripped my shoulders firmly, steadying me.

Even though I was the one with a hole in my chest, Eugene’s face looked like he was the one in pain.

“Ungh… ahh…!”

With Eugene holding me in place, Frey resumed her work. She pulled on the hilt, and the blood-soaked blade began sliding free.

The sensation sent a jolting shock up my spine, making my back arch instinctively.

If Eugene hadn’t been holding me down, I might have completely lost control of my body.

“Almost… there… Lucia, I’m sorry. Just a little more, okay? Bear with me…”

Liar. Eugene was lying.

Barely half of the blade was out.

But I understood. He wasn’t trying to deceive me—he was just trying to comfort me.

I couldn’t help but smile at him.

It wasn’t a smile I’d intended to make; it just slipped out naturally.

Even so, Eugene’s expression crumpled into one of pained sympathy, as if my smile only made things worse for him.

“…I’ll speed up. It’ll hurt less if I do this quickly.”

“O-okay… please, just… ahh—AAHH!”

The oversized white shirt I wore, already stained with dirt and blood, lost the last traces of its original purity.

Blood burst forth as Frey finally yanked the longsword free in one swift motion.

It was a reckless move, as if she wasn’t used to handling blades. Her hand shook slightly as she pulled, and it seemed to nick something important on its way out.

A severed artery, maybe?

Blood sprayed like a fountain, splattering Frey directly in the face.

Frey paused, closing her eyes briefly before wiping her face with her fingers. Then, in an almost casual motion, she licked her lips.

Ah… something about the way she did it felt strangely provocative.

My legs trembled, my body spasming as though jolted by electricity.

Incoherent sounds escaped my lips, like a broken radio playing static.

Droplets fell from my chin—blood, saliva, or tears, I wasn’t sure.

Even with the sword gone, the pain didn’t subside.

The foreign object that had been lodged like a stake in my chest was gone, but the lingering shock left me unable to think about healing. My body trembled in the aftermath, caught in the ripples of the agony and euphoria intertwined within me.

Pulling my scattered thoughts together with great effort, I activated my super regeneration.

But it didn’t work as well as usual. Something was still interfering.

I could heal, but not fully—not yet.

Maybe I should just stay like this for a little longer…

Ahaha…

 

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Lucia and Frey both received rewards at the end of this fight, but…

Eugene is unhappy

Well, as long as Lucia is happy, isn’t it okay?

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
If you think about it, when she does come out as a masochist, do you think they would misunderstand it as a developed defense due to all the suffering she has endured and feel extremely bad, heh.