I hurriedly flew over and used a skill on the curtain.
You have used 〈Interaction〉 on 〈Curtain〉.
〈Remaining uses: 0〉
Then, carrying the curtain, I flew toward Basileon and made contact with him using the object as a medium, just like last time.
Thud—.
However, Basileon merely grabbed the bothersome curtain unconsciously and tossed it aside.
‘Damn….’
The flamberge, radiating a yellow light, began spewing larger and more numerous flames.
‘It’s worse than before.’
Portraits and decorations hanging along the corridor started crashing down onto the floor.
Thud—! Craaash—!
“…Ugh!”
In the end, even Lilith—who had been dodging well—was struck head-on by a falling structure.
‘I never imagined he’d block her path like this.’
As Lilith lay fallen, groaning in pain, Basileon slowly walked toward her.
“Lilith!”
There was no choice now. I had to stop Basileon myself.
You have used 〈Attack〉 on 〈Basileon〉.
〈Remaining uses: 9〉
I grabbed nearby fallen objects and hurled them directly at Basileon. Even though they clearly hit him, Basileon continued walking toward Lilith as if nothing had happened.
“What do I do? What should I—?!”
Panicking, I flew to the passage where Havel and the other survivors were hiding. Inside the passage, the survivors were waiting anxiously for Lilith to arrive.
“Evien!”
Evan called out to me, his voice filled with worry.
[Evan Martinez]
◇ Fear: 58%
Seeing that his fear had increased since earlier, he looked extremely anxious.
“Where’s Lilith?”
“She’s in danger. Serious danger. She might get caught by Basileon.”
“What?”
Mary’s face turned pale.
“Evan. Let me possess you. I have to divert Basileon’s attention!”
[Evan Martinez]
◇ Fear: 56%
Perhaps because I had appeared, Evan’s fear level slowly began to drop.
“There’s no time!”
Trying to possess a survivor without their consent—even when time was short—didn’t sit well with me. I had to possess him quickly, before his fear dropped below 50 percent.
“…Okay. Evien, I trust you.”
Evan bit his lip tightly.
“I don’t want anyone else to die. If I can help, I will.”
You have used 〈Possession〉 on Evan Martinez.
The moment Evan agreed, I possessed his body. It was Evan’s body, but my vision was the same as when I was an evil spirit—I could see clearly even in the dark. Possessing Evan, I hurried to where Lilith was.
“Lilith!”
Having been struck by the falling structure, Lilith staggered. Still, she moved desperately, doing everything she could to distance herself from Basileon.
“For everyone… I’ll sacrifice myself…. So that no one else—”
“Lilith!”
“…You’re Evan?”
At her question, I froze for a moment.
‘Crap. Lilith doesn’t know I’m possessing Evan.’
Since Lilith liked Evan more than she liked me, persuading her might actually be easier this way. While Basileon continued walking toward us from afar, I met Lilith’s gaze in the darkness.
“Don’t talk about sacrifice. Think about surviving and getting out.”
“Can we really get out? All of us?”
“What happened to that resolve you had earlier? You’re the wisest among us!”
“….”
I’d spoken while acting like Evan, but now that I thought about it, it was an incredibly embarrassing line.
‘…Why am I even speaking casually like this? Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Evan talk casually to Lilith even once.’
In the darkness, Lilith’s blue eyes trembled faintly.
“Basileon Ravenwood!”
Leaving Lilith behind, I called out to Basileon to become the bait myself.
“Evan! Don’t!”
“I can think too, just like you. Go to where Mary and Havel are.”
To reassure Lilith, I stared deeply into her eyes. Startled, she averted her gaze.
‘I didn’t want to do this, but….’
In a crisis like this, who I was didn’t matter.
“…You tell me not to sacrifice myself, but you think it’s fine for you to do it?”
Even as she said that, Lilith staggered unsteadily.
“Damn it.”
“You—since when do you swear like that—!”
In the end, I scooped Lilith up into my arms.
“Kyaaak!”
Though not on Havel’s level, Evan was still a tall adult man with a solid build. Picking up someone as small as Lilith was easy enough.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“You won’t listen, so this is the only way.”
I noticed Lilith’s cheeks flushing red.
‘Hey… don’t blush.’
Since this happened in Evan’s body, even after the possession ended, the memory would remain with Evan.
‘Am I going to get scolded for this?’
I braced myself to run.
“Hold on tight.”
At that moment—
Boom—!
White flames shot toward us.
“Watch out!”
Holding Lilith, I nimbly dodged the flames.
‘I’ve possessed Evan plenty of times before—I’m used to this.’
Lilith continued to shout while held in my arms.
“If you were going to do this, you should’ve just left me and escaped by yourself!”
“I told you to hide, and you said no.”
“That’s true, but if you’re going to keep running like this, it’d be better to just listen to you.”
When I looked back, Basileon looked strange. He was panting like a beast, pounding his own chest repeatedly.
‘What’s wrong with him?’
Then, he suddenly began chasing after us at incredible speed.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t put you down. Just hold on a little longer.”
I felt a sticky gaze clinging to me from beneath my chin, but I deliberately avoided it.
‘Those melodramatic eyes are a bit much….’
I felt nauseous.
“Ahem, Evan. By the way, have you noticed how that sword keeps changing color?”
Thankfully, Lilith changed the subject first.
“So what if it is?”
“At first it was red, then orange, then yellow. Now… it’s turned white.”
What is this? This feeling—it’s familiar, like something I heard in science class.
Could it be… flame color?
They say the color of flames changes with temperature. If that’s true, then the next color would be—
“It might turn bluish-white next.”
“…And why does that matter?”
“Last time, the ghost maid Ella tried to entice me by saying there was a way to break the curse of this endlessly repeating world. At her request, we searched the archive for old books.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Among them, I remember reading information about the flamberge in a book called ⟨The Legendary Heirlooms of House Ravenwood⟩.”
Boom—! Crash—!
Even as we spoke, Basileon continued raining down relentless attacks. The arm holding Lilith grew heavier and heavier as my strength began to fade.
Swoosh—.
“Your strength—!”
“Forget that. Is there anything useful in that information?”
“…If the flamberge reaches its final bluish-white state, it will devour its wielder and reduce everything to ruins!”
“Ugh….”
As my strength drained, I began groaning without realizing it.
“And there’s more. If heirlooms are close to one another, each heirloom’s power is amplified. The flamberge is one heirloom, but the mirror Ella had, and the items in the basement—the hidden treasures of House Ravenwood—they’re all heirlooms too!”
What Lilith told me felt like it could be a crucial clue.
“…Wait here for a moment.”
After hiding Lilith behind a pillar, I spoke quickly.
“I’ll take care of this.”
Lilith nodded shyly.
‘Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?!’
“Hey… there’s no need to blush!”
“W-What are you talking about?!”
My head was starting to ache, but Basileon was the priority right now. I stepped out from behind the pillar and revealed myself.
“Basileon. I’m here.”
At my call, the flamberge resonated again. Basileon was drifting farther and farther away from looking human. His posture, his unfocused pupils, even his expression—none of it resembled a person anymore.
‘Is he… about to be devoured by the flamberge?’
Basileon looked my way. I waved my hand to draw his attention.
“Yeah. Over here!”
Basileon drew closer. Now I was close enough that my body might even graze the flamberge. As the distance closed, Basileon swung his sword in a wide semicircular arc.
Whoosh—!
I ducked under the attack. Several strands of hair were sliced cleanly and fluttered to the ground.
‘N-Not bald! Anything but bald!’
Then—
Creak—. Creak—.
An unfamiliar noise echoed nearby. Even Basileon turned his head to locate the source of the sound.
“…Who?”
It was right near where we were fighting. A stranger wearing a robe came into view. There was something awkward and non-human about their movements.
“Who are you?”
It slowly turned its body toward Basileon. Was it holding a weapon? Something sharp and gleaming was briefly visible inside its sleeve.
‘What is going on?’
The moment that thought crossed my mind—
Whoosh—!
It lunged straight at Basileon.
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