Chapter 158

Chapter 158

I Want to Be Your Salvation

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The clock rewinds slightly to the moment when Lian and the Duke were in the middle of a meal. Deep in the forest where Lian was absent, a scene from a completely different genre was unfolding.

“Haah… haaah…”

Noah felt the metallic taste of blood and the sweetness of exhaustion simultaneously in the back of her throat. Her breath was rough, but she couldn’t afford to stop.

Just as she rolled her body to the side, a massive horn brushed past the spot where she had been standing.

Brrrr.

A corrupt energy boiled up from the back of the Forest Master, bubbling like water, and then shooting into the sky like a whip. The sinister aura split thinly in midair before converging and raining down on Noah like arrows.

Crack!

Noah darted between the trees, dodging the onslaught of attacks. Each strike was so powerful that the trees around her either broke with a sharp crack or melted away into nothingness.

Sizzle— Wherever the attack brushed against her, flesh melted away with excruciating pain. Noah gritted her teeth, swallowing the agony as she narrowly avoided the attacks. All the while, she was closing the distance between her and the Forest Master.

Noah thrust her sword toward the Forest Master. Her attack, swift enough to be nearly invisible, was blocked by an enormous horn.

Crash! Boom!

The sound that reverberated was rough and violent, completely unlike the sound of a sword clashing with a horn.

“Kugh…!”

The force of the Forest Master’s strength made her muscles spasm. This moment of distraction left an opening. The corrupt energy, coiling like a tentacle, surged toward her neck.

Time slowed, the seconds stretching out. For a brief moment that felt like an eternity, Noah channeled her magic into her legs, launching herself upward like a dragon ascending into the sky.

Boom! Rumble!

The corrupt energy grazed just below her foot, embedding itself into the ground and the nearby lake. The sizzling sound that followed suggested that whatever it touched was being eaten away.

As Noah began to descend, she aimed her sword precisely between the horns and swung down with force. She poured all her chaotic energy into the strike, plummeting like a meteor.

Crack!

“…Kugh…”

The strike that seemed powerful enough to split the Forest Master’s decaying head in half was abruptly thwarted by the vile energy. Noah, her attack blocked, pushed off with her sword and leapt back.

“Hah… haah…”

The creature flicked its massive head like a wild animal, eyeing Noah with an unsettling gaze. Its foreleg lightly pawed the ground, as if preparing to charge again.

Noah bit down hard on her tattered lips, her eyes gleaming.

‘It’s not that my attacks don’t work.’

Her gaze fixed on its hide, where her earlier strikes had connected. Cracked, festering wounds wept with corrupt energy.

‘The problem is… that disgusting aura.’

Each time Noah landed a proper hit, the energy waited to counter her attacks. At first, she thought the Forest Master had incredibly high physical durability, but the fact that its hide could be cut disproved that.

‘Unless I weaken that energy… it’s impossible to gain the upper hand.’

Noah quickly began to sift through information and find a solution.

‘The only times I succeeded in piercing through that energy were when I delivered a powerful blow followed swiftly by a relentless follow-up attack. If I think about it… the creature concentrates that energy in one spot to fend off my assault.’

If the corrupt energy wasn’t inherently strong enough to effortlessly block Noah’s attacks, it meant that the creature was gathering the energy in one location every time her sword struck, explaining why her consecutive attacks had gotten through.

‘The strategy is… that’s the only way.’

While her mana was still barely half-full, the fact that she had already used so much without restraint meant that she had no choice.

Dodging the Forest Master’s attacks while alternating between strong and weak strikes seemed like an impossible task in her state.

Still, wielding her sword to protect someone, plunging herself into a fight that seemed impossible—that’s what made Noah a true hero.

Thus, her current challenge became another ‘trial.’

“Hraaaah!”

Without hesitation, Noah charged at the being of a higher realm like someone with nothing left to lose. Even though the horn tore through her left forearm, and part of her thigh melted away, she didn’t stop.

Her actions were undeniably noble, but to anyone watching, she seemed possessed by madness.

As time passed, Noah’s wounds only multiplied. The corrupt energy wormed its way into her mind, clouding her thoughts, pushing her closer to the brink of losing her sanity.

And thus, the tide of the battle began to turn in favor of the Forest Master.

However, Noah wasn’t merely being overwhelmed.

One of the Forest Master’s horns had been severed, and from the place where one remaining eye had once been, corrupt energy was leaking profusely. Wounds across its body also oozed with the energy, each one inflicted by Noah.

“Haa… haah… haah…”

In her daze, Noah could hear her own labored breathing echoing in her ears. Her body moved mechanically, dodging incoming attacks and swinging her sword in retaliation.

Beep—

A high-pitched ringing echoed in her ears, and her head grew hazy. But even in that state, her body was nimble, dodging attacks and seizing opportunities.

‘What am I doing here?’

As both her body and mind were pushed to their limits, such a question rose to the surface.

‘Why am I fighting this monster?’

The answer to the question came almost immediately.

Lian. She was fighting to protect Lian. To save him.

‘But why?’

A question she had never considered before escaped from her mind reflexively. Her train of thought, usually quick to answer, became eerily quiet.

‘Why do I need to protect Lian?’

With her mind at its breaking point, proper reasoning became impossible. But that very pressure prompted her to demand answers to what should have been an obvious answer.

The question Noah was asking wasn’t born from doubt or anger; it arose purely from curiosity.

‘Lian is stronger than me. So, why?’

Lian hadn’t been hiding his true strength; he had merely kept the darker side of his magic concealed.

Over three years of staying in Cardishian, Noah had witnessed firsthand just how powerful Lian was, even sparring with him under the guise of simple training.

And that wasn’t all.

Lian’s body recovered quickly from most wounds, courtesy of the powers granted by the gag filter. Even potent poisons were dealt with by coughing up a mouthful of blood, after which he recovered completely.

In truth, Noah trying to worry about and protect Lian was akin to a rabbit anxiously guarding a wolf.

Yet, despite knowing this, she had always been overly protective of him, convinced it was her duty to keep him safe.

‘Why?’

The question lingered in her mind, rippling through her thoughts. Slowly, she began to dig into the root of her own reasoning.

At the very end of that introspection was… a prison shrouded in darkness, the scent of ashes at the tip of her nose, the dizzying metallic stench of blood, and his laughter.

Noah finally realized where her obsessive thoughts had begun.

You, who used your own body so casually for others, always wearing that bright smile. And me, who knowingly closed my eyes and ears to all the wrongness around me.

That was where the chain of sin, stretching from the past, had begun.

‘Ah… yes, that’s right.’

She had a debt to pay.

‘I have to protect Lian.’

Repayment must be made for the peace and comfort she had enjoyed, hidden in Lian’s shadow.

Although her injuries were mounting and her body felt as though it was teetering on the edge of collapse, she couldn’t stop.

She had to throw herself into this battle, using her body to cleanse the sin from her soul, in order to salvage her salvation, her sin, her selfish desire, and her peace.

Just as Noah became fully aware of the deep-seated yearning within herself, the Forest Master suddenly froze. At the same time, the corrupt energy around it grew faint, shimmered briefly, and then stopped moving altogether.

It was the moment when the Necromancer had commanded the ground to open.

Thud!

Noah didn’t miss the fleeting opportunity, swinging her sword down viciously.

Crack! Snap!

The thick neck of the creature was severed—no, completely broken. What had seemed like an unbreakable part of the Forest Master suddenly collapsed, and its head tumbled heavily to the ground.

Splash…!

The lake, which had only remained solid beneath the Forest Master’s feet, now returned to its natural state, swallowing the severed head whole. The body followed shortly after.

At the same time, Noah’s body also plummeted into the lake. Having exhausted all her strength, she sank into the water, no different from the Forest Master.

“Noah!”

Just before she was fully submerged, she heard a frantic voice cry out. She thought there might have been more shouting after that, but she couldn’t make it out as the water enveloped her.

Gulp.

Bubbles of air rose to the surface, and her vision blurred. Noah’s dazed thoughts wandered.

‘Ah, the lake… It’s returning to its original color.’

The lake, which had once been stained red, was now regaining its clear blue hue. She watched distractedly as the blood flowing from her body melded with the blue water.

Blub, blub!

As she drifted, lost in nonsensical thoughts, she heard the sound of water being disturbed. Simultaneously, someone grabbed hold of her and began pulling her to safety.

Her body, limp from exhaustion, was easily dragged along.

“Puaah…!”

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Only when she was hoisted out of the water did she clearly see the person who had saved her.

“Lian…?”

“Save your strength! Don’t try to move!”

His voice, laden with worry, was accompanied by the familiar touch of divine energy, seeping into her body.

With shaky awareness, Noah looked blankly at Lian as he worked desperately to save her.

‘Yes… I wanted to…’

In her fading consciousness, Noah vividly recalled her true desire.

‘I want to die for you.’

That was the price of her salvation, the penance she needed to pay for her sins.

‘And in doing so, I wish to be your eternal sin.’

Just as she had been bound by her sin to Lian’s salvation, she wished for Lian—through his salvation—to be eternally bound by his memory of her.

The seeds of past sins had blossomed into a love that was both pure and tainted.

End of Chapter