episode_0344

Chapter 344 – Exuviation

The Saintess’s words were accurate.

Less than ten minutes after following her guidance, we came face to face with the cause of this predicament.

“Hersculer.”

“You’re quite late.”

His face was remarkably calm.

Despite almost being killed by Cain, he didn’t seem to harbor any ill will towards me, his disciple.

Someone wanted to crush his soul right then and there, but he was infuriatingly composed.

“The undead kept getting in the way, you see. More importantly, you look better than I expected. Are you alright after being hit by Master?”

“That alone cannot break my immortality.”

“Oh? Then I’ll break it.”

“You cannot.”

“We’ll see about that.”

No matter what provocation I threw, Hersculer’s expression remained unchanged.

It was as if his emotions had truly been neutered.

‘Is it because he became an Archlich?’

Did he lose his emotions because he abandoned his humanity, or did he become an Archlich because he was already such a person?

I couldn’t know for sure, but one thing was certain: he and I could never coexist.

-I’m going first.

Whoosh!

Without dragging out the conversation, I kicked off the ground at my signal.

Using Photons, I became a streak of light and got behind Hersculer in the blink of an eye.

He couldn’t even react; his head was still facing forward.

Without hesitation, the fist of flame streaked across the space.

CRASH!

However, a sword that sprouted from the ground at just the right moment blocked the blow.

Of course, unable to withstand the immense power, cracks spread across the blade with a splintering sound. One more strike would likely shatter it like glass.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.

I quickly retreated, sensing a chilling sensation beneath my feet.

SWISH SWISH SWISH!

A blade forest surged up by a hair’s breadth, carving up the spot I had just occupied.

And that blade forest didn’t just disappear back into the ground; each one emerged as a Death Knight.

Every single one of them was familiar.

‘These are the people from the chapel.’

Holy knights from various religious orders gathered from all over the continent, as well as famous ronin and mercenaries, had all become undead.

It was a huge relief that my lovers weren’t among them.

“Are these the ones who arrived first?”

“Indeed. They were drawn by the demonic energy like moths to a flame. Thanks to them, I could replenish my depleted legion.”

“Oh really? But what will you do about it? That legion will be annihilated today.”

“Try if you can. If I can exhaust this entire legion to capture you, then that too will be a gain.”

A chilling gaze swept over my entire body.

Especially in his eyes, as he looked at the flames condensed in my fist, a deep greed was apparent.

To Hersculer, who craved immortality, the Phoenix’s flame was a very interesting research material.

If I were caught by him, I might be subjected to human experimentation for the rest of my life, neither dead nor alive.

‘That’s absolutely not happening.’

I’d rather die than be used by a guy like him.

I glanced at Sara and the Saintess, then charged at Hersculer again.

Countless Death Knights blocked my path, but I ignored all attacks except for lethal ones, focusing solely on breaking through.

CRASH! CRUNCH! CRACKLE!

The Death Knights easily vanished with my single blow. The Phoenix’s flame is antithetical to death, so it’s overwhelmingly advantageous.

However, no matter how advantageous the compatibility, overcoming the overwhelming numbers was difficult.

When I eliminated one, two more would block my sides, and even if I broke through them, others would grab my ankles from all directions.

My progress slowed increasingly, and I repeatedly made frustrating advances and retreats.

That’s when it happened.

“Oh, Light!”

Whoosh!

With a resonant cry, a bright light pushed back the darkness, weakening the Death Knights.

It was the Saintess’s divine magic.

Chosen by Repentia, the Goddess of Light, she could wield powerful authority even in this special environment.

“Go.”

Hersculer, perhaps annoyed by that, immediately dispatched a detachment to target the Saintess, but Sara was by her side.

She appropriately blocked the Death Knights and gave me a smile.

-Go. I’ll protect the Saintess-nim.

I nodded at her confident voice.

“Get lost!!”

BOOM! CRASH! BANG!

Immediately activating all my artifacts, I exploited an opening and broke through the Death Knight legion.

Breaking through wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t exceedingly difficult either.

This was all thanks to Hersculer’s attitude, which was almost that of an onlooker.

And when I stood before Hersculer, a massive wall of demonic energy surged up, completely isolating us from the outside.

“Was this your intention?”

“Yes. I can’t let go of such precious research material.”

“You’re overly confident. That arrogance will kill you.”

“Struggle as you may.”

SWISH SWISH SWISH!

With a wave of Hersculer’s hand, thousands of hands made of demonic energy flew towards me.

Since the purpose was subjugation, his characteristic extreme poison wasn’t present, but the demonic energy accumulated over long ages was powerful enough on its own.

‘Damn it!’

I hastily used Photons to escape the encirclement.

However, in this narrow, enclosed space, I could only evade the immediate crisis; before I could even take a breath, the circling demonic hands swiftly closed the distance.

Ultimately, I was forced into an endless game of tag.

*

At that moment, outside the wall, the Saintess and Sara were struggling to face the surging undead legion.

CRASH! CRUNCH! THUD!

Sara’s iron fists and the Saintess’s divine punches shattered the undead with a single blow, but more enemies charged in than fell.

Their stamina rapidly drained as the monsters quickly filled any gaps and surged forward.

Despite their own predicament, they didn’t cease worrying about Ruan.

“Saintess-nim. What should we do? Is there no way to save Ruan?”

“Actually, there is one way. But it requires time to use it. Can you hold out alone?”

“How long?”

“About five minutes.”

“Five minutes…”

Sara bit her lip tightly.

Even facing them together was overwhelming now; if she had to hold out alone, every single moment would be like performing a life-threatening acrobatics act.

There was a very high probability she would die.

Even knowing this, the scales of choice naturally tipped to one side.

“I’ll do it. There’s no hope like this anyway. I’ll protect him with my life.”

“Thank you. Then I’m counting on you.”

Without a shred of doubt, the Saintess immediately knelt on the ground, clasped her hands together, and closed her eyes.

She was completely defenseless.

To repay that trust, Sara gritted her teeth and endured the undead’s onslaught.

She killed those she could, blocked what she could, and took unavoidable attacks with her body, fighting with all her might.

After five minutes had passed, and Sara’s entire body was covered in blood, the Saintess opened her eyes.

“Saintess-nim. Is it done?”

“…Yes. You endured well.”

“Then please do it immediately! Ruan seems to have reached his limit.”

In the direction Sara pointed, Ruan was ceaselessly moving against Hersculer’s demonic hands.

The wall of demonic energy was like an absolute shield that could never be pierced, but whether it was misfortune or luck, it was possible to observe its interior.

The Saintess glanced at the scene, then looked at Sara with a guilt-ridden expression.

“There’s something I need to explain first.”

“What is it? We don’t have much time!”

“…From now on, I’m going to temporarily dismantle the wall. The problem is, I can’t move while using this authority. Its duration isn’t long either. So you have to go help him.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

The fact that she had to force another life-threatening battle upon Sara, who had already suffered all sorts of injuries to protect her, saddened the Saintess.

Of course, the Saintess wasn’t safe either.

On the contrary, if Sara left, she would have to endure the undead’s onslaught alone, just as Sara had.

Moreover, unlike Sara, she would have to hold out for more than five minutes, so it was equally a life-threatening battle.

And fortunately, Sara wasn’t so foolish as to not realize that.

“It’s the same for both of us. There’s no need to apologize.”

“Thank you. I’ll begin right away then.”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

As Sara gave her consent, the Saintess immediately unleashed her authority.

FLASH!

With her gesture, the space, once filled with black light, split apart, and a pillar of golden light shot forth, striking the wall of demonic energy.

The wall resisted the radiance, concentrating its demonic energy, but it couldn’t withstand the holy power and slowly crumbled.

However, due to the nature of the space, the authority couldn’t be borrowed for long, so the pillar of light ceased before it could completely destroy the wall.

It had only created a tiny hole, just big enough for one person to squeeze through.

Even that was rapidly shrinking.

Sara nodded at the Saintess, then threw herself into the hole.

The moment she infiltrated the wall, the hole sealed itself shut.

‘Just hold out a little longer.’

With that final wish, Sara shook off any lingering regrets towards the Saintess and stood beside Ruan.

“It must have been tough alone, right? I’ll help too now.”

“…Your injuries are quite severe. Are you going to be okay?”

“This much is nothing. Don’t worry.”

Ruan’s gaze sorrowfully swept over the injuries covering her entire body.

“If the sub-dimension were open, I would’ve healed you right away. I’m sorry.”

“Why is that your fault? It’s all because of him.”

Normally, he would have instantly recovered her wounds using semen potions, but he had already confirmed on the way that his sub-dimension was malfunctioning.

Sara replied, feigning composure, and converted Ruan’s guilt into anger.

Ruan, too, realized what the fastest solution for her was and unleashed his killing intent towards Hersculer.

“Professor-nim. Please assist me.”

“Leave it to me. I can at least create an opening.”

“Yes. Then I’m going.”

After signaling, Ruan immediately transformed into a photon and rushed towards Hersculer.

His speed was like light itself.

A speed that even Hersculer, an Apostle, could never hope to match. Because of this, he blocked all paths leading to himself with thousands of demonic hands.

Sara struggled to widen those paths, even if just a little.

Even if only for a fleeting moment, she created a single opening for Ruan to penetrate.

But it wasn’t easy.

It could almost be considered impossible.

Even when an opportunity was barely created, Ruan’s attacks couldn’t inflict effective damage on Hersculer.

The sluggish fight only led to the depletion of their stamina.

Eventually, blocked by a dead end, they were forced to retreat for a moment.

“There’s no chance of winning like this. Is there a better way?”

“……”

“Ruan?”

Sara, having asked the question, tilted her head, looking at the silent Ruan.

Even a momentary lapse of focus could cost them their lives in this situation, so diverting her gaze was a major risk, but Ruan’s reaction was that strange.

After much internal struggle under her gaze, Ruan finally opened his mouth.

“Professor-nim. I’m sorry.”

“What? What are you suddenly talking about?”

“……You can resent me for the rest of your life.”

Ruan’s face was extremely serious.

The problem was that his expression conveyed guilt and resolve rather than despair or frustration.

Sara guessed the reason.

“You’re not seriously…”

“I know. This decision is like killing you twice. It will probably be a wound that never fades. But even so, I have no choice but to do this.”

“Ah, no. Ruan. Think again. You can’t do that!”

“I’m sorry.”

Despite Sara’s attempts to stop him, Ruan didn’t budge, enforcing his will.

Sara clenched her fists tightly.

‘This can’t be…’

This was absolutely unacceptable.

It wasn’t because she disliked Ruan.

Quite the opposite.

It was because she had fallen in love with Ruan that this couldn’t happen.

He might have made this decision, confident that she would unconditionally hate him if he were to commit rape, but Sara was not confident she could hate or despise Ruan.

Whether her true feelings were revealed was a separate matter.

If Ruan were to become ruined because the conditions weren’t met, he would come to resent her.

He would probably denounce her as a ‘slut’ for having even liked it despite being raped.

She didn’t want to experience something like that.

Therefore, even to avoid bringing about the worst-case scenario, she had to persuade Ruan.

“Ruan. Are you not thinking of changing your mind?”

“No. I want to save everyone, no matter what it takes.”

“…I see.”

As expected, simple words wouldn’t work.

Confirming his unwavering resolve, Sara bowed her head deeply and finally blurted out the truth she had wanted to hide forever.

“Ruan. I love you.”

“…Huh?”

“I love you. So I can’t support that decision. I’m sorry.”

What kind of face was Ruan making?

She was so curious, but Sara didn’t have the courage to face him, so she squeezed her eyes shut.