Ch.9595. Where You Are (4)

The scene was surreal. Ilroy wasn’t floating a halo above his head, nor was he holding two swords. His empty eyes didn’t seem to be staring at anything in particular, not even at the Kraken swinging its tentacles toward him. Like a blind man fighting, he dodged attacks by moving his body based on instinct alone.

“Forward…”

A muttering sound came from his lips. As the monster flew in, Ilroy slashed. A pure white holy light enveloped the Holy Sword, and Ilroy advanced. Marianne stood dazed, still clutching the trembling holy spear, watching Ilroy.

“Hero…?”

Marianne called out to him, but there was no way her voice could reach Ilroy’s ears. Marianne moved closer to Ilroy’s side, but she wasn’t reflected in his eyes. And when Ilroy’s sword dance finally cut off all the Kraken’s tentacles, he looked down at the Kraken with trembling hands gripping the Holy Sword. Like someone hesitating to finish it off.

“Did it take less time this time?”

Ilroy tilted his head. As if trying to hide his agitation, Ilroy massaged his right hand holding the Holy Sword with his left. By the way, this time? Marianne blinked.

“I should finish it.”

Ilroy then raised the Holy Sword. And thrust it downward. Marianne opened her eyes wide in surprise at that unhesitating, clean strike. It wasn’t an incomplete technique, but the movement of an already accomplished swordsman. Ilroy turned around without even wiping the blood that splattered on his face.

“I wonder what happened to you this time.”

Ilroy muttered as he walked away. Marianne stared at Ilroy who brushed past her with stunned eyes, then hurriedly quickened her steps to follow him.

“Marianne, it’s over.”

She flinched at Ilroy’s words calling her name. No, Ilroy wasn’t calling her. The hero kicked away the pile of monster corpses, pushed them aside with his arms, and took out ‘Marianne’ who had been buried underneath.

“Hero.”

The illusion of her was in a miserable state. Marianne watched the scene with frozen eyes. The illusion weakly reached out to Ilroy, and Ilroy grasped that hand. When the illusion breathed its last with empty eyes as its lifespan ended, Ilroy stood up again. The melancholy in his lusterless eyes deepened even more.

And then, the illusion began to collapse. Marianne saw Ilroy standing in front of a tent she had never seen before. And the scene repeated. Ilroy sets sail on a ship, encounters a swarm of monsters, and fights the Kraken. Ilroy fights desperately and defeats the Kraken. Then he finds Marianne’s bloodied corpse and returns to the tent.

“This…, continuously?”

Marianne muttered in bewilderment. When the third repetition began, Marianne looked down at the compass. Tick. Every time Ilroy returned to the barracks, the compass needle twitched. Marianne remembered how many times this needle had moved.

Since a week ago, almost once every hour.

Already hundreds of repetitions. Without even sleeping, continuing, continuing. With each repetition, Ilroy’s complexion was noticeably worsening, and his eyes were growing dimmer.

“Interesting, isn’t it?”

Marianne turned her head in surprise at the sudden voice. Aryen, was it? That mercenary who had been in conflict with Ilroy was standing beside her with a faint smile.

“Rather than breaking his conviction, he breaks his life. Isn’t that just like a hero? Even when he can’t see an inch ahead, when uncertainty and despair weigh him down, he moves forward.”

Marianne looked at Aryen with a pale face.

“If you can’t break it, if you can’t snap it, then you must whittle it away. Until conviction swallows him whole. Then, the person known as the hero disappears. I win.”

Aryen chuckled.

“Do you really think you can save the hero? Do you think a mere comrade like you can save that madman?”

“…Is your goal to capture the hero?”

When Marianne asked sharply, Aryen shook his head.

“No. Do you think a Calamity has a purpose? We just move according to plan. It’s just that an unexpected big fish got caught.”

Aryen turned his head to look at Marianne.

“Try if you can. I don’t know if your voice will really reach him.”

Aryen said this and disappeared. Marianne looked at Ilroy fighting the Kraken again, then quickly turned her head. Behind Ilroy, her illusion was fighting. The skill with which she handled the spear seemed no different.

Crunch,

And the illusion’s ankle was caught by something. The Kraken’s tentacle grabbed the illusion’s ankle and flung it high into the sky. The illusion struggled to resist in mid-air, then was struck by a tentacle and slammed back down. As if trying to meet death in the most miserable form possible, the illusion lay still, waiting for the monsters to devour it.

“…”

Marianne glanced at Ilroy fighting in the distance, then approached her illusion that had collapsed in a terrible state. And she looked down at the illusion with disgust.

“This is all you are to the hero.”

The illusion, no different from a corpse, moved its lips. Marianne looked down at the illusion.

“You’re no different from the residents of Barktins. Someone he feels responsible for protecting. You’re of no help at all, and if things go wrong, you’ll just remain a burden on his heart.”

The illusion didn’t smile like Marianne.

“No matter how much you struggle, that fact won’t change.”

Marianne gripped the holy spear with both hands and hardened her face. Ilroy had already defeated the Kraken and was approaching again. As if it were some habit, as if he had to confirm Marianne’s death. The illusion spoke again to Marianne who had turned her head.

“What do you mean to the hero?”

“What does that matter?”

At Marianne’s words, the illusion’s face changed for the first time. A sneer appeared on that face. It was the look of someone regarding a foolish person with contempt.

“You’ve only been half-listening to what I’ve been saying. I’m saying your words won’t even be heard. How do you think you can do anything?”

Marianne didn’t even try to listen to those words anymore. She quietly looked at the compass, then spoke.

“I’ve been saved by the hero many times. Whether the hero is aware of it or not. Your words have no place to invade me.”

“That’s ridiculous. Do you think you can bring me down? No matter how much you struggle alone, the influence you can have on me will be extremely minimal.”

Marianne shook her head. Ilroy had come very close. Marianne placed her hand over Ilroy’s face, which she couldn’t reach, and said,

“I never intended to do it alone.”

The world was collapsing again. Marianne suddenly found herself facing her restored illusion inside the tent. The illusion was slightly frowning as if displeased. Marianne looked at the illusion with sharp eyes and declared,

“And that’s my place.”

She picked up her spear and pointed it at the illusion.

“Get out.”

The holy spear opened according to Marianne’s will. Marianne’s illusion was gradually being torn apart.

“With a weapon like this…”

The misty illusion glared at Marianne with a low voice. Marianne, who had been penetrating the illusion, frowned as she hit a solid resistance. It seemed determined not to allow Marianne to infiltrate Ilroy’s illusion.

“You don’t deserve to stand by the hero’s side.”

“That’s not for you to decide.”

Marianne forcibly pushed in the spear.

“It’s for me to decide.”

“You talk like a dog, following its master even after being abandoned.”

Marianne thrust the spear in more forcefully.

“What does a Calamity that will disappear anyway matter?”

The illusion’s face distorted, and Marianne’s holy spear reached its center. The illusion tried to say something, opening its mouth, but was swept away by the twisting energy of the holy spear and disappeared.

“Let’s go too.”

Ilroy said, nodding. His eyes were looking directly at her. It was a face without any resolution or even a hint of hope. Just like herself before meeting Ilroy.

This time, I’ll be the one for you.

==

The wind blew. Marianne stood silently holding her holy spear, watching Ilroy’s back. Daphne’s illusion was chattering beside Ilroy, while George’s illusion remained slumped, not even trying to get up.

“Ready.”

Ilroy mechanically raised his sword. It was a dull, vague action. Marianne felt Ilroy struggling to draw up his magic power.

“Let’s go.”

Gunfire rained down and the monsters’ screams could be heard. Marianne knew this ship would soon be torn to pieces. And the moment came not long after.

The keel lifted. The sound of the kingdom’s finest timber being crushed and torn like paper was heard. Marianne activated her magic power and quickly ran to Daphne and George. Ilroy had already jumped off the deck and landed on the Kraken’s body.

“How-?”

Marianne grabbed the two and landed on another island. Her colleagues shrank back at Marianne’s cold gaze.

“Support from there.”

Marianne said tersely and leaped out again. There was no time to deal with those illusions. The holy spear was enveloped by sacred magic. Countless monsters jumped up from the sea as if to test her worthiness to be by the hero’s side.

Not difficult.

Marianne plunged straight in. The awakened holy spear slaughtered monsters with just a slight tilt of her head. Meanwhile, Ilroy was fighting the Kraken’s main body after cutting down hundreds of monsters alone. Marianne followed his back, continuously swinging her spear.

“Hero…”

When one monster died, two more came to block her way. They were trying to prevent Marianne’s words from reaching Ilroy. She wouldn’t back down. She had to pull Ilroy out of this hell.

“Move…!”

The holy spear emitted an even brighter light. The spear that had proven the death of a god. The spear that had pierced that fabric and was soaked in blood amplified the sacred magic as it absorbed the surrounding blood. The spear that had torn the flesh of a god can invade and penetrate anything.

Like a crescent moon, Marianne’s spear extended and swept around her. The monsters were torn apart like bursting balloon pieces and flew into the sky.

Beyond the cleared view, Ilroy looked precarious at a glance. Marianne took a step forward to follow him for the first time. A tentacle tried to grab Ilroy, but he avoided it and cut it off. And behind him, another tentacle approached, unnoticed by Ilroy.

“Hero!”

Marianne called out to him as she ran. Ilroy didn’t turn around, as if he couldn’t hear her. Marianne gritted her teeth and, for the first time, called out his name.

“Ilroy!!!”

Ilroy’s shoulder flinched. Very slowly, the hero’s head turned. And he faced Marianne, who was running toward him emitting a bright light. His magic power was already almost depleted. Ilroy looked at Marianne with disbelief, his lips parting. His hands trembled. For the first time, ripples appeared in his hollow eyes.

“…Marianne?”

“It’s dangerous!!”

Marianne passed by Ilroy and launched herself. The tentacle trying to attack Ilroy from behind was torn by her spear blade. Marianne drove the holy spear into the Kraken’s body and turned her head toward Ilroy.

“…No. How are you here.”

Ilroy slowly shook his head. Marianne approached him slowly and opened her mouth.

“I came to save you.”

Ilroy’s eyes didn’t change to joy. Rather, they were filled with some kind of distrust. Marianne watched as Ilroy let out a powerless laugh. It was a laugh as dry as desert sand.

“Now I have to see even this kind of illusion, Mist?”

At that soliloquy, Marianne’s body stiffened. Ilroy’s mind was too scattered. Before Marianne’s thoughts could reach there, Ilroy gently pushed her back and extended the Holy Sword.

“Don’t come near. Don’t think that pitiful method will work.”

Marianne lowered her holy spear and looked at Ilroy. It hurt like glass fragments piercing her heart. Marianne placed her hand over her throbbing chest and shook her head.

“It’s me, Ilroy. I came all this way to save you.”

“Stop talking nonsense and begin. Please. I won’t be trapped.”

Ilroy, slowly approaching Marianne, seemed to have already depleted his magic power. His hands and feet were trembling, and his expression was distorted.

“What… do you want from me?”

At that exhausted voice, Marianne slowly approached Ilroy. Ilroy stepped back with trembling hands. His head kept shaking continuously.

“Don’t come, Marianne. Please. I can do it. If I just do a little more, if I try again…”

Marianne ignored Ilroy’s direct request for the first time.

She took a step. One step, then another. For the first time, fear appeared in Ilroy’s eyes. Marianne seemed to know what she needed to do first.

“Ilroy.”

“Don’t… call me by my name.”

Ignoring Ilroy who raised the Holy Sword forward, Marianne jumped into his arms. Ilroy froze in place, unable to react.

“Ilroy.”

Thump.

Marianne embraced Ilroy. She could feel Ilroy’s arm holding the Holy Sword trembling. Marianne held Ilroy’s face with a desperate voice.

“I came to save you.”

“Please… don’t do this.”

Marianne didn’t know how to make him realize reality. But what she could do now…

Marianne took out the compass and looked at it. The compass, clearly indicating it had reached its target, pointed directly at Ilroy and didn’t move.

Marianne grabbed the head of Ilroy, who still had a deranged expression.

Ilroy’s powerless body tilted forward without resistance.

And Marianne pressed her lips against the defenseless Ilroy’s lips.