༺ 𓆩 Chapter 53 — Nightmare (6) 𓆪 ༻
「Translator — Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
"Second, if your life is in danger, abandon me and run."
"No."
Although she was flustered by his sudden confession(?), she answered firmly.
Abandoning Loki and running away — that was absolutely impossible.
"Hah..."
Loki sighed at her resolute answer.
She flinched at the sound but her mind remained unchanged.
"Johanna… you’d risk your life for anyone without hesitation."
Loki spoke softly.
"You're not just anyone—"
She tried to deny his words, but he cut her off in a low voice.
"Listen to me until the end."
"Uh."
"If a stranger—someone you’d never met—was in danger… could you swear not to die for them?"
"That's..."
She couldn't respond to his words.
Helping others — that was natural.
But she'd never been in a situation where she had to risk her life.
She couldn't answer lightly when Loki asked so seriously.
As she remained silent, Loki approached her.
"Even if it's a lie, tell me. Say you won't throw away your life for others. That you'll live for yourself alone."
The way Loki spoke, he seemed certain.
Certain that she would die helping others.
"Loki… would you not risk your life for others?"
All she could do was ask him in return.
"I would. But not for strangers."
"And what if I were in danger?"
"Without regret." No hesitation. "Even if it killed me."
Her breath caught.
"That’s what it means to me. So I can’t watch you throw yourself away for ‘everyone’."
"........."
The world tilted.
"There are countless souls who’d need you," he murmured. "But I need you more."
"........."
"So if you try to risk your life for others, I'll stop you with everything I have. Even if it means hundreds die, I don't care."
She felt confused.
And her face burned.
Though she knew this wasn't the time for such things, her face reddened involuntarily.
"........."
Not wanting him to see her blushing, she lowered her head without a word. She had received many confessions before.
From minor nobles to kingdom princes.
When they all confessed, they decorated their words in various ways.
Some said they'd pluck the stars from the sky, others threatened to die if rejected.
Some promised to make her the happiest person in the world, while others swore to protect her with their lives.
Perhaps due to her good intuition, she could tell immediately.
That they were all lying.
They were just people making confessions based on her looks, swordsmanship, or family name.
And
Because of that same intuition, she could tell.
That everything Loki was saying now was absolutely true.
Thump—, Thump—, Thump—, Thump—
Her heart was beating too fast; this had never happened before.
She clutched at her heart, afraid Loki might notice.
But that only made her more aware of how rapidly it was beating.
"Are you sick?"
He was so different.
The usual Loki and this Loki.
He was always shameless, but.
Now he was shameless in a different way.
"I-I'm fine. Let's hurry inside."
She spoke to him with a trembling voice; stumbled over her words by mistake.
Her face grew even redder.
"Wait a moment."
Loki pulled two boxes from thin air.
They contained different potions.
One was a fairly good potion she'd seen several times.
But the other she'd never seen before.
The golden-glowing potion was clearly top-grade even at a glance.
Swish—
Loki drank both potions simultaneously.
She was shocked at the sight.
"Wait!"
Taking potions without preparation, and together no less, could be poisonous.
"Let's go in."
But Loki seemed fine.
No, rather, he seemed overflowing with power, as if he'd already completely absorbed the potions in that short time.
"Put this on before we enter."
Loki handed her a black robe.
She didn't ask why he was giving it to her.
It must be to hide her face and Academy uniform.
.
.
.
Squelch—, Squelch—
With every step, an unpleasant sensation seeped through their shoes. The stench grew stronger, assaulting their senses.
Thump—
Johanna and Loki halted at the same time; they had heard footsteps.
Swish—
The source of the sound revealed itself—two figures.
A skull emblem was emblazoned on their clothes.
Even as they drew near, neither of them noticed Johanna and Loki. Loki had already cloaked them in his Unique magic, rendering them invisible.
"Ugh, they want us to bring another child this time?"
"Tch, can't even have a taste when it's just some brat."
"There's an academy here, right? Why not just snatch a student from there?"
"If we could do that, we could get noble schoolgirls... hehe."
At those words, Loki and Johanna exchanged a silent signal.
Nod—
Swish—, Swish—
Two blades sliced through the air, tracing elegant arcs. In the next instant, two heads hit the ground with a dull thud.
Instant death.
The normal Loki couldn't have killed so cleanly, but after consuming the two potions, his strength had become incomparably greater than before.
Usually, potions don't make one stronger in an instant.
However, thanks to Loki's [Subspace], the potions had been enhanced beyond their natural potency.
And on top of that—
The Clown’s mask Loki wore amplified the effects of the potions to well beyond their full potential.
.
.
.
Johanna and Loki continued to kill many more skull-marked figures.
Neither of them hesitated—not even for a second—to slaughter such filth.
"INTRUDERS!!!!!!!"
A voice rang out, echoing through the sewer tunnels.
It seemed someone had discovered the corpses.
"Run."
Nod–
The two sprinted deeper into the sewers.
Now that their intrusion had been detected, moving quietly became pointless.
"Intru-gak!"
As they ran, a man caught sight of them, but before he could finish his shout, Johanna’s sword was already slicing through the air. Blood splattered against the grimy walls.
The deeper they went, the more enemies they encountered—each one clad in the same skull-emblazoned attire.
Murmur—, Murmur—
Many voices could be heard ahead.
“Close your eyes and cover your ears.”
When Loki spoke, Johanna closed her eyes and protected them with mana.
She knew exactly what Loki was about to do.
The dagger that produced light and sound, like the one used against Lophrey.
Loki threw the flash-bang dagger toward the source of the voices.
SCREEEEE—
"AAAAARGH!!!"
A blinding explosion of light and an ear-splitting screech filled the darkness of the sewer.
More than ten people clutched their eyes and screamed.
Neither Loki nor Johanna let the opportunity slip.
Swish—
"AAAAGH!!!"
Swoosh—
"Urrrgh!"
With every swing of their swords, another life was extinguished.
Blinded and helpless, the enemies were nothing more than defenseless prey.
No matter how many stood before them, Johanna and Loki didn't stop; they simply kept slashing and running.
"Gah!"
"Kuh!"
"Please spa-gurk!"
The sewer was soon filled with the wails of the dying — pathetic echoes of those who had once reveled in the suffering of others.
Then—
Halt—
Loki and Johanna, who had been running without stopping, came to a halt.
"Is someone there? Please help us."
"It hurts so much, please get us out of here."
"I'm hungry..."
Dozens of children stood before them; all of them dressed in identical clothing.
They looked like nothing more than ordinary kids.
Step—
Johanna instinctively moved forward, ready to run to them—
But Loki blocked her path, his arm outstretched.
"Loki?"
Johanna gasped in surprise.
And then she saw his hand—
And her breath caught in her throat.
Loki's hand was trembling.
Leap—
Swish—
Without hesitation, he leaped forward, his blade flashing as it pierced straight through a child's heart.
"Loki! What are you-"
Johanna gasped in shock, but her voice faltered.
Because she felt nothing.
No life. No warmth.
Only emptiness.
"It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts!"
"Uwaaaaaaaah!"
"Save us!"
The impaled child convulsed unnaturally, their cries warped and grotesque.
The other children—there was something terribly wrong with them.
A chilling realization clawed at Johanna’s mind.
'No way.'
Necromancers.
Those who control corpses.
She now understood why these children had no life force.
Because they had died long ago.
Tremble—
This was nothing more than a Necromancer’s twisted game.
And to move forward, they had to cut these children down.
Johanna knew that.
She understood it rationally.
Yet, her body refused to move.
"Save us!"
"We didn't do anything wrong!"
Johanna had slain countless people before — but they had all been criminals; monsters in human skin.
Protecting the innocent.
That was Johanna's conviction.
She told herself — again and again — that these children were nothing but corpses. That they were already dead.
But no matter how many times she repeated it, her hands wouldn’t move.
"Johanna."
They were just children. Kidnapped and turned into—
"JOHANNA!"
Loki’s sharp voice snapped her out of it.
"It's alright, I'll kill these children. You don't have to do anything."
With those words, he stepped forward and swung his blade —
— cutting down the children.
Slash—
"Gah!"
"Please save us!"
Each time a child fell, the others screamed.
Another child fell.
More screams followed.
But Loki didn’t stop.
No — he couldn’t stop.
And Johanna knew it was because of her.
She was the reason he was doing this alone.
"Huu..."
She took a deep breath.
She had come here to help. Not to be a burden.
Swoosh—
She drew her sword…,
Step—
…kicked off the ground—
Pierce—
— and her blade drove through another child's heart.
"Haa... haa..."
.
.
.
After killing all the children, Johanna and Loki arrived at a door.
"Loki, inside here..."
"Yes, inside is the real Necromancer who did this to the children."
Even from outside the door, the stench of death was overwhelming.
Johanna tightened her grip on her sword.
Whoever was inside had done this to those children.
She would never forgive them.
"Loki, let's go in-"
"Johanna, I'm going in alone."
END of CHAPTER
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