“An ice cave…?”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
From deep within the cave, a faint, eerie scream echoed in my ears, like a ringing that wouldn’t go away.
At that moment, Duke Reshaniel was walking closer in the distance. He kept his distance, glaring at me with a crooked grin.
“Hey, Giselle.”
“You seem awfully relaxed for someone about to get beaten up.”
“Well.” He jerked his chin toward the cave as he spoke. “Inside there are many truly innocent people being held captive by monsters. You should go save them, Giselle. Because someone like you overflows with such pitiful justice.”
“And why should I trust your words and go inside?”
I wanted to stop this pointless war of words and quickly deal with that bloodsucking mosquito b*stard. But then Duke Kalinos spoke up.
“…I believe so as well, Giselle. It seems there are dozens of people inside.”
Duke Reshaniel’s gaze shifted to Duke Kalinos. Right then, Duke Kalinos’s face clouded over.
Duke Reshaniel’s lips curled into a sly smile. “Inside the illusion cave created by the demonic beast, dozens of residents are dying.”
The instant I heard those words, I suddenly realized why Duke Kalinos’s expression had darkened. Neslan had said to me when we first met.
“When the land of monsters was consumed by demonic power, my eldest son and I marched out together. To protect the residents. But we became trapped in an illusion cave created by a demonic beast. Back then, my son died saving me.”
Remembering what Neslan had told me, I glared into the cave filled with jagged ice and spoke. “Oh, so what you’re saying is, you want to make a deal. You want me and Duke Kalinos to go into that cave and free the people trapped inside.”
It was obvious, even without asking. Once we entered that illusion cave, Duke Reshaniel would provoke Duke Kalinos’s trauma and kill him. Then he’d inflict a fatal wound on me, steal the lucky stone, and take all of my power.
“Exactly. Now that you’ve entered this barrier, even those strange little creature friends of yours can’t help you.” The corners of his cowardly lips lifted. “I put a great deal of effort into making sure mana cannot be used.”
“Mmm, pretty impressive villain behavior. You can’t even approach me without the lucky stone, and you’re still so pathetically inferior. I really want to beat you to death right now.” When I answered lazily with dead fish eyes, his expression twisted irritably.
“How unfortunate. If I die, all the residents inside will be massacred as well. I placed such a spell on them.”
“You trash b*stard.”
“Ah, so you intend to abandon the residents? Planning to become trash like me?”
I glared at Duke Reshaniel. He too had clearly been pushed to the edge, enough to tear off his mask and reveal his ugly face… It’s honestly funny. The guy who always pretended to be kind and holy is now openly taking people hostage and exploiting Duke Kalinos’s trauma.
I grabbed Duke Kalinos’s hand. “Let’s go in, together.”
“No, I’ll go alone.”
Looking at his dim complexion, I tightened my grip around his hand even more. “No, I can’t feel at ease that way. Let’s go together.” I took a step into the illusion-filled cave, thick with a strange energy that blocked my mana. “Come on, let’s go.”
As we reached the cave entrance while holding hands, Duke Reshaniel’s curse-filled criticism came from behind us. “That pathetic sense of justice of yours will be what kills you.” He continued his curse. “Some pain can never be overcome, especially not by that weakling. He’s trapped in the trauma of his brother’s death. He won’t be able to use his abilities properly. It’s obvious. Dying miserably like that is the fate of a worthless fool like him.”
Duke Kalinos’s face had gone pale white, but I blinked and shot back, “And yet someone with such a magnificent fate still got beaten by me.”
“Ha…”
I couldn’t see his face, but I could imagine Duke Reshaniel’s expression twisting in anger.
Stepping into the cave, I whispered. “Duke Reshaniel, you stupid mosquito-like idiot may not know this, but just because people hurt doesn’t mean they can never overcome it.”
“…You’re right, Giselle.” Duke Kalinos gripped my hand even tighter.
* * *
Fate can be changed. Wounds can heal. I had always believed that…
“Duke, get a hold of yourself!”
But at this moment, I had no choice but to admit I had been somewhat arrogant.
“I’m… fine.” Blood was flowing from Duke Kalinos’s arm.
The moment we entered the illusion cave, a gigantic monster shaped like a ‘hand’ began writhing violently and wounded him. Duke Kalinos wrapped me around protectively, and thanks to that, I wasn’t injured at all. But… Normally, he would never have gotten hurt. Was it because he couldn’t concentrate due to the trauma about his brother?
I stared directly at the monster in his place and assessed the situation. “That monster seems to weaken the more it moves. So hurry and run!”
The moment his body staggered, I had a feeling this situation might become incredibly dangerous. Fwoosh! Duke Kalinos and I kicked off the air and leaped upward. We frantically tore through the cave while avoiding the monsters.
“Run!”
The moment we rushed desperately forward, the atmosphere around us suddenly became quiet. Before we realized it, we had entered much deeper into the cave. A place where massive icicles decorated the ceiling. They were as sharp as glass, looking as though one stab would kill us instantly, so we had to walk carefully. And that wasn’t all. Long, towering ice pillars stood scattered throughout the ground as well. The deeper we went, the darker it became.
It was right then. Avoiding my gaze, Duke Kalinos quietly whispered. “This ‘illusion cave’… is where my brother died.”
Seeing his complexion darken made one side of my chest ache. It felt as though needles were stabbing into my heart. For some reason, my nose stung. I quietly whispered to him, “Are you alright? Your expression looks really bad…”
“I’m alright, for now.”
Liar. His trembling back and reddened nose are completely obvious. He’s not alright at all…
Looking at his deathly pale face, I spoke firmly as if hypnotizing him. “Of course you’re alright. The two of us are definitely going to return alive. Your brother would want that too.” Wanting to give him strength, I squeezed Duke Kalinos’s hand tightly.
But then he gripped my hand even harder and whispered softly. “There’s a strange smell.”
“…Should we check it out?”
It smelled like something had badly decayed. As we walked toward the foul odor, we saw people.
“The people…”
“Yes, they’re already dead.”
They were the corpses of the people Duke Reshaniel had already killed. I blinked.
Duke Kalinos slowly clenched his fist, then opened it again. “I was told my brother died right there.”
Tightly, I grasped his trembling hand. “Duke. You need to pull yourself together.”
His eyes were already clouded. His shoulders were trembling even more violently than before. Even though I was holding his hand, seeing him shake like that made him seem pitiful. Still, I spoke firmly. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”
“…”
“I’ll protect you.”
From his pale complexion, I could tell he was wandering in the past.
Before we knew it, countless grotesque monsters had flooded into the cave we had fled into. Monsters resembling giant crabs threatening us with massive pincers, monsters resembling centaurs producing deafening noise, and… Even ugly monsters with human bodies but no faces.
I gritted my teeth while glaring at the monsters approaching us. “Get a hold of yourself. At this rate, we’ll die. You’re not actually believing that damned Duke Reshaniel’s words, are you?”
Normally, Duke Kalinos would have cut down these monsters in a single stroke.
Looking at his somehow unfocused, hazy eyes, I whispered. “You’ll never become like your brother. You won’t die, and you’ll live well.”
A centaur-type monster charged toward us at high speed. The clattering sound thundered through my ears, and the heat radiating from the monster made it hard to breathe. Duke Kalinos was still grinding his teeth while cold sweat dripped down his face.
I looked around before pulling a sword from the arms of one of the hostages. Right. Even if I can’t use mana or divine power, I still have my physical abilities left! And I moved with everything I had so I wouldn’t become a burden to him. But no matter how much I moved, there was a limit to what I could do without mana or divine power.
Slash. With a slicing sound, the monster’s claws cut across my arm.
“Uuh…” I tried my best to endure it, but the moment he heard the groan that slipped out, his expression twisted. Hurriedly, I looked down at my wrist. Blood was already flowing from the arm slashed by the centaur-type monster.
The moment Duke Kalinos saw the blood on my wrist, his gaze shook again. He was probably seeing the image of his dead brother overlaid on my face.
Biting my lip tightly, I spat out blood from my mouth and shouted, “I’ll never die before I receive those 500 billion from you!”
Duke Kalinos gripped my hand tightly. “Of course I won’t let you die. I can’t… lose you as well.”
“Obviously!”
His hands were trembling like crazy. It was the first time I had ever seen him shake this much.
At that moment, Duke Kalinos drew his sword and spoke. “You said you intended to receive 500 billion from me. Then…”
What the? Why do his eyes shine so dangerously?
“Does that mean you’re granting permission for a lifetime marriage?”
…Excuse me?
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