How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 295 - Great Devil (4)

Scattered fragments. Now that the amulet has shattered, there’s no means to exit the season that doesn’t exist in the world. This was my last resort.

From the beginning, my motto was that I shouldn’t die. What use is world peace to me after I’m dead?

However, the human heart doesn’t always move according to reason or initial thoughts. It wasn’t like that for me now.

It’s been ten years since I came here. That’s not a short time at all. Even if we consider 15 as the age when a person can think for themselves…

Just considering the duration, there shouldn’t be much difference in the density of time I spent on Earth and here. And I’ve grown to care for many people during that time.

Most of my experiences here involved fighting for my life. Denif, Orhen, Phiri, Aron, Jofor, Rudehrn, Emmet, Osten… There were too many to count.

‘And Erendil too.’

The concern I had before leaving the world inside the amulet with Erendil was about my own life. Even if I cared for people here, I didn’t want to die.

But the moment I met Erendil’s eyes, that momentary concern disappeared. I knew my own feelings. I had just been pretending not to know.

I couldn’t know the future after everything ended, and it was hard to distinguish if it was an emotion stemming from the goal of survival.

But it wasn’t. I know now. In that moment of contemplation, when my eyes met Erendil’s, I was able to make up my mind.

If my sacrifice could defeat the Great Devil, if it could allow Erendil and the others I cared for to live peacefully, unlike in the game, I thought it was well worth it.

Well, to be honest, it was a decision made more because of Erendil than the latter reason. Should I say the answer came when our eyes met?

‘Actually, I had this in mind as a last resort.’

If the summoned Great Devil wasn’t in an incomplete state contrary to our predictions, or if the battle situation really took a turn for the worst.

I had thought that maybe we could trap that thing inside the amulet at such a time.

It didn’t necessarily have to be me. If that thing could be dragged in here with us, any Sword Master could do it.

To be honest, if I had told Faorn, he might have tried it. But there was one reason I didn’t bother to tell him.

At that time, I thought we could end all situations not as difficultly as now. We had hope.

Using winds and the amulet for Erendil’s javelin throw seemed very positive until we actually tried it.

‘It was already too late to change tactics earlier.’

The Great Devil that had rushed at me so fast I could barely perceive it. It was impossible to communicate in that interval, and the Great Devil would have heard anyway.

It was an unavoidable situation. Honestly, I didn’t think we could catch that thing with what Erendil and I had practiced.

Of course, leading it to my intentions at exactly the right timing 2 seconds later was out of the question. If that failed, would I have the strength to bring the Great Devil here again?

Just one attempt had split my side open. It wouldn’t fall for it again. The thing that seemed fine even after being hit by the spear didn’t look like it would fall after being hit once more.

“…”

The reason I could have these stray thoughts was because the enormous darkness standing before me was glaring at the shattered amulet fragments scattered from my hand.

It was strange. It looked as if it was being pressured by something, unable to move.

Come to think of it, the unpleasantness I felt was worse than before. It wasn’t this bad when it was just Erendil and me.

Hmm, I wonder if it feels even worse for that thing. Since its race is different, that could be possible. Well, whatever the case, there was really nothing to fear now.

This was the best I could do. If that thing had a way to get out of here, it would have been a battle that ended in our defeat anyway.

But judging from its reaction, it didn’t seem to have such a method. My heart felt a little more at ease.

No, is it wrong to say I felt at ease? It seems I still wanted to live even in this situation. Seeing that there was still some disappointment left.

Hmm. I’m once again realizing how fickle the human heart is. Just 10 seconds ago, I had nothing to fear.

‘Because it was a life as good as dead anyway.’

That’s why I was openly continuing my thoughts in front of that thing. But now it’s different again. Should I say I want to live even one more minute?

I applied the hemostatic agent I had stored in winds to my side. It wouldn’t be enough for such a large wound, but still.

And I slowly widened the distance. I wanted to recover even a little bit of strength. Even though I knew it was a life as good as dead.

I wanted to live a little longer, and with nothing to lose, I also wanted to try fighting that thing. Or not. I don’t even understand my own heart.

“You… do you know what you just did?”

It called out to me.

“Judging by your reaction, it seems I did well.”

Laughter burst out. It was funny to see that thing, which was so terrifying earlier, unable to move and now glaring at me.

“This place is Lu Nuada’s…”

“I don’t care about that. It seems you can’t get out of here either.”

It was out of the blue that the name of the empire’s god of light came up, but I didn’t particularly want to know. What mattered was its reaction.

“…”

“Well, if you could, you would have killed me and left already. That’s fortunate. Even though it was a place your attack couldn’t reach, I was still worried.”

I think I understood why this thing suddenly started talking. Right after I broke the amulet, it might have thought it could get out through me.

Anger filled its eyes. I relaxed the strength in my feet. I felt the indistinct ground swallowing my feet.

If that was what the Great Devil was thinking, I had no intention of letting myself be caught. I thought it would be more fun to drive it crazy with curiosity.

I was also prepared to end my own life. It won’t kill me. It would probably try to find another way through countless tortures or mental brainwashing. Of course, there is no such way.

“What on earth are you?”

Suddenly, the Great Devil narrowed its eyes.

“I thought something was strange. It’s impossible to interfere at every crucial moment.”

“Who knows.”

It seems that thing is also an intelligent being. The way it’s talking now, where did that wordless attack from earlier go?

“The sense of incongruity is the same. The soul I feel from you…”

But the Great Devil couldn’t continue. Boom- The indistinct and blurry world began to shake. Was it the aftermath of breaking the amulet?

I was trying to slowly hide underground, but it seemed there was no need for that. The earth’s axis was collapsing and the sky was splitting.

Thud thud thud- Indistinct things were falling down, down. Even the blurry sky. There was nothing in the split sky.

It was pitch black, but it was hard to call that a color. Should I say it was nothingness? The season that doesn’t exist in the world was collapsing.

It wasn’t the end I had imagined. I had thought about that thing’s mind collapsing here after my death.

Well, this didn’t seem bad either. I was going to end my own life if it found me anyway. This is probably better than that.

“I’ll tell you about that in the next life.”

“Carl Schurtafen!”

It charged towards me in the collapsing world. But it didn’t reach me. It felt like even time and space were collapsing.

The distance between it and me was slowly widening, and I was descending downwards along with the broken season that doesn’t exist in the world.

The season that doesn’t exist in the world. In a way, saying it doesn’t exist in the world seems to mean another world.

Perhaps when the amulet was destroyed, that other world collapsed. I fell.

Now I couldn’t see ahead, and even my senses were fading. My thoughts were maintained but didn’t continue for long. The world was drifting away from me.

***

The snowy plain was quiet. After Carl Schurtafen disappeared with the Great Devil before her eyes, Erendil immediately prepared to throw her spear.

Two seconds is a tight timeframe. The emperor had physically learned through training with her knight that she needed to take her stance and throw the spear as soon as they disappeared.

That’s why, while others were confused, only Erendil took her stance and acted. Just as they had practiced, just as she had done earlier.

She took her run-up without even looking at the ground, and using the rotation and strength of her entire body as she had learned, she threw the spear at the place she had agreed upon with her knight.

Teme’s Spear cut through the air. The sound of air splitting was exceptionally clear over the quiet battlefield after the Great Devil had disappeared.

Erendil hoped that the vicious darkness from earlier would appear again in the space where she had thrown her spear.

‘Please.’

And she hoped that it would strike that darkness’s vital point and kill it, or if not that, that it would disappear from this world like in the distant past.

But the darkness didn’t appear. The spear had only cut through empty air.

Erendil sensed that something had gone wrong. Could Carl Schurtafen have been defeated? Her worry was great. Her heart was anxious.

Nevertheless, she retrieved the spear again. They had also trained to be ready to throw the spear at any time in preparation for such a situation.

The subsequent spear throws were Erendil’s decision. No one knew at what moment or from where it would emerge. But the Great Devil did not appear.

No matter how long they waited and waited and waited, the Great Devil, which had seemed like it would dye the world in darkness, did not show itself.

The same was true for her knight, Carl Schurtafen. Erendil waited in a stance holding her spear, but there was no end in sight.

There was a limit to how long they could wait. Faorn had died bleeding, and the other Sword Masters were not in good condition either.

“Your Majesty, let’s retreat for a moment.”

Despite Rudehrn’s advice, Erendil did not step back. She only let the people below rest.

The Sword Masters took turns guarding the emperor’s side while receiving healing. Erendil didn’t sleep for the first two days.

She endured with willpower. But her limit came. It was already amazing that she had endured for two days in a state exhausted by the Great Devil’s killing intent and pressure.

Eventually, Rudehrn moved her when she collapsed. Erendil woke up two days later. And until then, neither the Great Devil nor Carlyn had appeared.

“Perhaps Sir Carl Schurtafen sealed the Great Devil with himself in that world.”

It was Count Campbell’s words. The disappearance of Carl Schurtafen and the Great Devil made no sense otherwise.

And most of the knights and soldiers already thought this was the truth. Many were shedding tears at the knight’s noble sacrifice.

Only Erendil found it hard to believe. She stubbornly waited a few more days. It was because the darkness that had dyed the plain remained the same.

Even after the Great Devil disappeared, the darkness-dyed plain did not return to normal. Erendil believed that her knight was fighting the Great Devil in the blurry world.

And she thought she should wait to help Schurtafen the moment he came out. But she couldn’t keep doing that.

The death toll alone was in the tens of thousands. There were even more injured. The current supplies were insufficient for proper resupply and treatment.

In the end, Erendil had no choice but to leave some intact soldiers as a monitoring team and retreat with the main force.

It had been a long time since the Great Devil hadn’t appeared even though the plain was dyed in darkness. It took some time for the somewhat unsatisfying end of the battle to be determined.

The world thought that Carl Schurtafen’s sacrifice had driven away the Great Devil. And the Romanek Plain was still under strict surveillance.

Erendil headed to the plain whenever she had time. Hoping that her knight might return. But Carl Schurtafen did not come back.

Five years passed like that.

***

It was hard to express accurately. There were no thoughts. No, were there? I’m not sure. It felt like falling asleep underwater.

It seemed like my consciousness kept descending deeper into the water. Should I say it felt like floating?

Yes. It seems I was swimming in an unconscious world that I couldn’t perceive. And what broke that was a somewhat familiar sound, “ding.”