It hurt as if I had been hit all over my body. Blood gushed from my shoulders and forehead, and my stomach rumbled as if someone had violently shaken me. It felt like I had crossed an irreversible river. Unrefined breaths and violent coughs erupted at the same time. There was a pungent and unpleasant taste of blood in my mouth.
"…Haa, haha…."
I managed to clear my cloudy vision and forced my stiff, frozen grip. However, the bloody construct that should have fallen to the floor turned into a handful of light and disappeared the moment Knox ran out of breath. It seemed that the magic that the caster had taken shape had also vanished with his death.
'So, have the mutant demons stopped?'
I rubbed my eyelids, which were still bleeding, and stumbled to my feet. Then, for a moment, I turned my gaze to Knox, who had dyed the pure white snow a dark red, and then turned my head resolutely away. There was nothing to sympathize with. He was the one who tried to kill me. Above all, he was the cause of this war. I didn't have to feel guilty or mourn.
"…Yet, Kyle is on the battlefield."
There was someone there whom I had to protect. I gritted my teeth and dragged my feet.
I wish I could ride somewhere…
"Ms. Shu!"
Just as I was thinking about it, I heard James' voice behind me. He was also approaching me, looking a mess. He held a sword in his right hand and horse reins in his left.
"Fuhu."
"…."
"Puh, ahaha. Puhat, haha…."
Even though I knew it wasn't the situation, I burst out laughing. This situation was so absurd, proud, annoying, happy, sad, strange, and ridiculous all at once. It was as if emotions I didn't even know I had were mixed up and burst out. James had a similar expression to mine. In the meantime, he handed over the reins as calmly as possible.
"Even if I tell you to wait in a safe place, you won't listen."
I replied with a face that didn't even have a smile. "Because His Highness is the safest."
"That's right. There's no safer place in the North than by His Highness Kyle's side."
"…."
"Your Highness, thank you." James said to me, who was about to get on the horse. "Perhaps it's a foolish thing to say… but His Highness looked happiest when he was by your side, Ms. Shu."
"Sir James."
"He was lonely for too long. He came to this cold land as if he were being pushed away, and finally put his heart into this place. We could have relieved His Highness's loneliness, but we could not make His Highness laugh so much."
"…."
"Ms. Shu has done something that no one else in this estate has ever done. That's…"
I was somewhat unsettled by James's earnest gaze, and I tightened my grip on the reins. While my whole body was throbbing, I could feel a particularly clear, sour sensation in my eyelids.
"Please protect Your Highness." I looked down at James and said with a commitment.
"Yes."
It was a word I said to him, and it was also a word I said to myself.
"I'll keep him safe."
No matter what, absolutely.
It was a night with a fierce wind blowing endlessly. On a field of darkness, Kyle Blake was frantically moving forward. Every time his arm cut wildly through the air, snowflakes, the cold winter wind, and those who fearlessly stood in his way were slashed and fell.
Kyle did not burn with hostility against those who surrendered. Those who laid down their weapons were quickly dragged away by soldiers from the North, and torture of prisoners of war was strictly prohibited. However, those who had already become enemies were never spared. His sword cut through the air with precision, and he didn't even look at the fallen person. He didn't want to sympathize with those who gave their lives helplessly because of someone's orders. There were other people who were truly worried about.
"I don't want to bleed unnecessarily."
Kyle straightened his sword. A red light burned like flames from the elongated sword blade. Lorenz, who was standing still in the chaos, also turned to look at Kyle. His green eyes, now devoid of their previous dullness, threw off a gloomy and boring light. His armor was also half covered in blood.
"Yes. I thought I would come this far." Lorenz's eyes glowed sinisterly like a beast seizing an opportunity. Kyle had seen people who were born and raised in the Yellow City often look at him like that.
"I don't have to save face anymore."
"Didn't you talk about rebellion?"
Lorenz shook his sword loudly. The blood of the North was splattered in a mess on the snowfields. Kyle knew where the uncooled blood came from, so he couldn't help but wrinkle his expression.
"It's just a trivial expense of moving a chess piece." The emperor replied in an arrogant voice. "This is the last time I've paid a bargain like that. Once I have a long life in my hands, I don't need anyone to notice."
In eternity, everything would be trivial. Kyle understood Lorenz's words, but at the same time, he didn't understand his inner thoughts. What was the meaning of eternal life that forgot all meaning and value? In the end, he would become a slave to desire.
"I should have killed you then," Lorenz said lowly. Kyle also responded with a tone devoid of a smile.
"I think the same way."
Lorenz's black-stained sword and Kyle's sword, surrounded by red light, clashed. The two clashed fiercely without backing down. He was not afraid of injury and relentlessly aimed for the opponent's life. Kyle saw his meanness permeating Lorenz's swordsmanship. It was completely different from Belial. While Belial showed off his abilities and ambitions more openly to overcome his status as the second son, Lorenz was more of a hidden claw, waiting for a second opportunity. They knew that their qualities were not outstanding, and instead of breaking through head-on, they tried to cut off the opponent's breath for an opportunity.
However, Kyle had no intention of dying obediently. He wanted to survive, and now he had someone he wanted to live with. He had met the only person who would make him happy, and he wanted to make her happy.
Swish!
The metal collided, making a scream-like noise. The soldiers, overwhelmed by the two, hesitated and retreated. His expression turned pale as if he was a little tired. Kyle lunged at him fiercely, his sword clenched. At this moment, he didn't feel any pain. It was full of a heart that beat fiercely as if it were about to run forward, a blazing magical power, and a will to survive.
His black boots stepped firmly on the frozen ground. He put his strength into his front foot and drew his sword horizontally, and the snow shattered and flew without a trace of melting. The sword, which was meant to crush everything in its path, scratched Lorenz's shoulder greatly.
Of course, Lorenz did not back down easily. With a cold, expressionless demeanor, he swung his sword so fast that it was difficult to follow it with his eyes, and stabbed at his neck as if he were driving a stake into the ground. His sword pierced where Kyle's head had just been.
At that moment, someone jumped off a horse and shouted: "Your Highness!"
Kyle looked back in surprise. It wasn't just because of Shu's joining. Someone was riding behind the horse. A person who didn't fit in with this battlefield. The woman who chose to live in seclusion only to survive had green eyes full of hostility.
"Sen!"
Shu threw something at Sen, who was running ahead. It was a small snack that looked like a sacred seed.
"You know what? You emperor child." Shu grinned. Even in this urgent situation, she had a face full of confidence, like someone who had found some answer.
Sen squeezed the chocolate in her hand. She inadvertently tightened her grip, and the small sweets crushed slightly. As she was running on horseback, she naturally remembered what Shu had said.
"I chose you again this time."
She didn't know what that meant. However, at least she knew that she had an opportunity. Since Belial became like that, there had not been a day without complaining about Lorenz. It was a time when she endured the desire for revenge that grew with a heart for Belial like a knife blade.
And today, the day came when Lorenz could be cut off. Just before putting the sunflower seed chocolate in her mouth, Sen looked behind her in amazement. Shu looked determined.
"You know, Shu." Sen said with a touch of dry lips. "You love this place more than anyone else."
The sweetness spread along the tip of her tongue. She thought of an invisible system window.
[Ice, Ding! Sunflower Seed Chocolate | Consumes 5% Miracle Points | You can stop time for 1 minute.]
In an instant, the world stopped like a lie. In perfect silence, Sen stood alone. She felt as if she had become the only protagonist in this world. The main character who gets a happy ending of a story that someone watches with affectionate gaze.
She stepped on blood and dirt, ice and crushed snowflakes, corpses and swords. Sen's white and determined hand snatched the sword from Lorenz's hardened hand. In the quiet world, only the sound of cold air entering her lungs was clear.
"Lorenz."
Nothing in the world lasts forever. Therefore, everyone lives intensely. No one did anything wrong. At least that's what Sen thought. Desire and desire fought, and the greater desire only won.
"Even if you die, you cannot have this land."
One minute.
It was enough time to avenge someone.