episode_0241

“Ugh, ugh—”

Sweat poured down like rain. Every time I ran through the dark forest, my skin was scraped by sharp branches. I endured the pain and continued to run.

Shhh- shhh-

“This way—!!”

“Get them—!!”

I glanced slightly behind me. Countless thugs with torches in their hands were following us. They were armed with swords, hammers, and maces in their other hands. If we were caught, we’d be in serious trouble.

I gripped —’s hand even tighter. She was just as exhausted. The moment I let go of her hand, everything would be over. With desperate determination, I pulled her along.

“Like this, ugh, you’ll die too… I, I’m okay…”

“…”

Okay…? Let me go?

I couldn’t do that. She couldn’t possibly not be afraid of death. Her hands were shaking violently, and her exhausted legs were running for their lives. If she had truly accepted death, she would have somehow thrown herself at the enemy.

No, I don’t need those reasons.

‘I’m… I’m protecting —…’

Shaking my head.

I didn’t have time for idle thoughts. They only obstructed my path. I crumpled up the swirling thoughts that welled up and swallowed them down. Unspoken death rattles became sighs that spilled from my lips.

How long had we been running through the forest? A dark spot appeared in one corner of my vision. Without slowing down, I quickly approached it; it was a natural cave, deeply recessed.

I raised my sword and swung it towards the opposite side of the cave. It was a slightly weak swing, but it left a trace of having pushed through the undergrowth, as if to move forward. Next, I mixed water, wind, and fire mana appropriately and fired a magical bullet. The ground pressed down, and the undergrowth parted.

‘This should deceive the pursuers…’

I grabbed —’s hand and ran towards the cave.

Splash-

I crouched as much as possible in a crevice in the rock. I hugged —’s small body tightly. The clothes, drenched in rainwater and sweat, were excessively cold, but the skin beneath was burning hot.

From outside the cave, I could hear murmuring.

“Damn it, did we lose them?”

“What… which way?”

“Here! There are traces of someone passing through here!”

“Chase—!!”

Shhh- shhh-!

Fortunately, all the pursuers were fooled. They had followed the magical traces, just as I expected. After the sounds completely stopped, we roughly expelled the breath we had been holding.

“Ugh, ugh…”

“Haah… haah…”

“See, ugh… we made it…”

“I thought I was going to die…”

Once the tension eased, laughter naturally came out. Just as we always had, we had overcome another crisis. As long as we were together, we always won. The thrill of victory after death brushed against our necks was always exhilarating.

My face and —’s face were close. It was because we had hugged each other tightly to avoid being spotted by the pursuers. Since our faces were close, our breaths naturally touched. Our eyes met, and as if it were obvious, our lips met.

“Mmm-”

The breath bursting from our mouths was hot and sticky. Sweet saliva overflowed along our lips. Our lips collided, and our tongues intertwined. No more strength remained in our tired bodies. We continued to kiss until our minds grew hazy.

How much time had passed? —’s cheeks were flushed red. I slipped my hand through the gap in her clothes. Hot and soft flesh was clasped in my hand.

“Mmph… h-here…”

“You don’t want to?”

“…No. The situation is a little… awkward, but… I don’t mind. I always wanted to give you my first time…”

—’s eyes narrowed alluringly. She wrapped her arms around my neck and clung to me even more tightly. I removed her shirt and pulled down her bra. Her smooth breasts, pretty in shape, were revealed. I grasped her breasts and caressed her erect nipples.

“Mph, mmph… aaah…”

My pants were already swollen to bursting. — put her hand on my crotch and slowly rubbed. Just as her small hand was about to enter the gap at my waist…

We both widened our eyes.

“There’s a cave here—!!”

“Damn it, that was a trap!”

The pursuers, whom we thought we had completely shaken off, had returned. We quickly tidied our clothes and ran towards the cave entrance.

I drew my sword from my waist and slashed at one of the pursuers. The man spurted blood and collapsed to the ground.

“Keuheok-”

I turned my head, and countless lights were rushing towards us. The number was much smaller than before. They must have sent a detachment to the place where we hid our tracks.

However, it was a number that we two, utterly exhausted, could not possibly deal with.

We ran in the opposite direction.

“Ugh… ugh…!!”

“There—!! I found them—!!”

Using the last of my mana, I fired magical bullets at the pursuers whenever I got a chance. Our speed decreased from time to time, but they did not give up and continued to chase us.

“Like this… we’ll really die…!!”

— cried desperately. It meant to give up quickly. But I had no intention of doing so.

‘Even if I have to risk my life…’

Trickle-trickle-

Suddenly, I heard the sound of water in my ears. A river was nearby. The forest we were wandering in was quite high, and I know there are cliffs nearby.

‘A waterfall…!’

I grabbed —’s hand even tighter and ran towards the sound of the water. After a short time, we reached a river. Following the flow of the water, at the end was a waterfall.

“This is… a cliff.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh…? What-”

[Water Shield].

I poured every last bit of my remaining mana into it. My mind slowly drifted. But that was enough. The water mana enveloped —’s body, creating a protective barrier that could absorb all the impact of falling into the water.

I pushed her down the waterfall.

“—!! No—”

“…I’m sorry.”

This isn’t the end for me, but for — in this world, death is the end. There’s no need to say whose life is more important.

—’s face contorted terribly as she flailed her limbs, falling far away. Even so, falling from such a height, she would probably faint, but when she opened her eyes again, there would be no pursuers around.

‘This… is it.’

I will make sure of it.

I turned my back to the cliff. As I slowly took a step, the pursuers soon began to surround me.

Shhh-

“Where is the woman? If you answer, I will kill you painlessly.”

“…You’re wrong.”

“What-”

The pursuers with torches completely surrounded me. Each of them raised their weapons and slowly approached me. This was fortunate. They gathered so densely to deal with me, who was dying.

“Attack all at once—!!”

『Trait, [One Who Defies Death] is activated. Life force will be fixed at 1 for 5 minutes.』

I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly.

‘…Enough.’

The pursuers drew close. I raised my sword and plunged it into the neck of the man in front of me. Hot blood spurted out, and his body collapsed limply.

Pff-!

Immediately, numerous blades pierced my body. The blades were cold, but for some reason, the wounds felt hot. Ignoring the pain, I twisted my waist and swung my sword widely.

The pursuers’ upper bodies split open, and blood poured out.

“Kheuk-”

“Kaaaaak—”

I continued to swing my sword. I wasn’t thinking. I just swung my sword mindlessly.

Thud-!

An iron hammer struck the back of my head. There was no pain, but my vision gradually blurred. Only after some time did my head begin to feel hot.

But I swung the sword.

The torches dropped by the pursuers no longer burned. A violent storm raged in the forest.

“Haah… haah…”

When I could no longer hear anything, only my own breathing loudly echoed in my ears. The world tilted to the side.

Looking down slightly, my body was completely tattered. Blades were stuck all over my body, and in several places, the flesh was torn open, revealing the bones. My slashed abdomen was wide open, spilling my entrails.

Using the blood and flesh scattered on the undergrowth as a pillow, I fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

“Ugh—!!”

I hastily got up. I looked ahead. It was my room in the mansion. I was lying naked on the bed, and the white sheets slipped down, revealing my breasts.

‘A dream… right.’

My limbs were intact. My firm stomach was fine. But the pain I had felt just now was too vivid to be a dream. The hot, cold, and damp sensations still seemed to linger on my skin.

I turned my head and glanced down slightly. Yuri, with her brown hair spread out, was sleeping soundly. Yesterday, before I even got off work from the student council, I had sex with her, and continued even after returning to the mansion.

I looked around the room again.

‘A dream…’

I suspected it was Nix’s mischief again. But I couldn’t find any trace of Nix around. I couldn’t sense her mana waves or black mist.

‘If Nix had done it, I wouldn’t have had such a strange dream… that guy only makes me have sex dreams.’

Soon, a small piece of paper on the bedside table caught my eye. The letters were written with mana. It seemed like a letter of sorts.

「Something suddenly came to mind, so I’ll go on a quick training trip! I feel like I’ll miss this great opportunity if I don’t go now~」

There was no evidence that she was playing pranks. My intuition said she wasn’t the culprit. I decided to stop suspecting her.

“Then why this dream…”

Suddenly, the scenes from the dream came to mind. I couldn’t recall my appearance, nor the appearance of the woman I was running away with. It seemed like Yuri, but it also felt completely different. Only a vague image, as if shrouded in fog, remained in my mind.

‘…I don’t know.’

I decided to stop delving further. It was just a dream. I thought that trying to remember what I couldn’t remember was a waste of time. It didn’t seem like anything important anyway.

Soon, I showered and ate breakfast with Yuri, who had woken up. I put on the clothes she had neatly prepared and left the mansion.

Today, too, a mountain of things awaited me.