Damn them all, Koul cursed internally.
Only in his mind could he speak.
Although he couldn't fully make out her face, he knew Yui was beside him. And he could feel her hand on his even if he couldn't move.
The best he could do was slowly graze his index finger over her palm. This made her hold tighter onto him.
Fuck! I didn't want to die again and get my death counts deducted. But this bastard!!
Fuu~ he breathed out, painful and chiding.
Just how many fuckers will keep making my list?
If I die now, I will wake up 30-35 seconds before my death just like last time. It's not much time but I can—
FWOOSH!!!
A familiar sound hit his ears.
[Host, I might be wrong but… if you believe time will always rewind to the same point as in your last death, you're wrong. Each death shortens the rewind span. For example, if your previous death sent you back 35 seconds, the next may only send you back 30.]"
Koul stared silently with his half closed eyes. Although he couldn't see the system, he knew very well the system could see him.
He wanted to put on a face that read 'so you've been here all along' but his condition wouldn't let him.
And… why the hell am I able to hear you so clearly, yet can't make out what my lovely Yui is saying?!
Koul slowly steadied the little breath intake he could manage, exhaling aloud. Not that he could exhale any lower if he tried at the moment.
So time won't rewind 30-35 seconds. I'm betting on 30 this time. Or was it 30 the last time?
Ugh… I should have properly calculated it.
Even if he wanted to start calculating it right there, his body was too in a critical condition to cooperate with his mind. He couldn't thoroughly think things through.
About 30 seconds now? He guessed what the counting time to his death was currently at since he couldn't see it.
[Counting time till death: 29… 28… 27…]
Koul had accepted his death. He knew there was no way he'd be saved. The only thing he thought to prepare for was when time rewound.
Just because time was rewinding didn't mean he could magically avoid death again. He'd seen and experienced how the knight fought.
There was no possibility of him winning. The best he could do, which would still even prove difficult, was to avoid every of his attacks.
But even this could be impossible. The knight was fast and agile, after all.
But!
While Koul had accepted his death and started thinking of a way out when he regressed 30 seconds back, his knight, the vice captain, hadn't given up hope.
His gaze swept around the coliseum, looking for help. From anyone capable of giving it. And that was when his eyes fell on a king.
A king blessed with the ability to even give life back if he wished.
King Aziel.
His fiery red eyes met the vice captain's golden ones and they locked. He knew instantly what the vice captain was expecting of him.
But he couldn't care. He didn't care enough about Koul to want to save him.
He turned his head away, ignoring the vice captain's silent pleas.
But the vice captain didn't relent. He sought to rise and beseech king Aziel but before even he could rise, King Aziel's wife acted.
She tugged on King Aziel's clothes.
"Dear," she called softly, on the verge of tears.
Her eyes were glistened with tears, and her expression was soft and demanding.
King Aziel stared with exasperation, cursing Koul bitterly in his mind.
"Just when we could finally rid ourselves of that idiot," he lamented, turning toward the steps.
He walked down the steps, one at a time and very slow as he could because he didn't want to save Koul.
But he couldn't refuse his wife either, so he could only prolong the process.
[Counting time till death: 14… 13… 12…]
The vice captain stared with eyes filled with pleas, urging him to quicken his pace. Because Koul had turned more ashen, and they knew life would completely slip away from him soon.
But king Aziel, of course, ignored the vice captain. Until he felt his wife's stare on his back, causing him to shudder.
Instantly, his body split into multiple clones, each snapping into place one after another like a mirage racing down the steps toward Koul.
And in the blink of an eye, the King Aziel that was on the stairway vanished and reappeared before Koul, his trail of illusory doubles fading into nothing.
He stood tall before every one of them, and gazed down at Koul with disdain.
"Strip his chest bare," he commanded.
His voice was deep, carrying along an eerie thickness that made the knight's spine shudder.
The vice captain immediately tore open Koul's cloth and revealed his chest.
The round carve from the knight's last blow came to sight. The area around it had turned purple and some of his other injuries, like on his shoulder, could be seen.
King Aziel raised his hand, plucked a long strand of his bright golden hair and threw it forward.
"Thread of life: Restoration."
The hair floated before him, lighting up in bright golden glow.
Aziel directed his hand toward Koul like he was conducting a violin performance, and the golden strand floated toward Koul's chest.
It penetrated his chest, seeping in seamlessly.
While unknown and unseen to everyone else's eyes, King Aziel's crimson eyes that had started glowing could see the work of his strand within Koul's body.
The strand moved inside him, re-attaching his broken ribs. Then it slipped into Koul's heart next, restoring it to the normal shape.
As soon as it was restored, his heart resumed its normal rhythm, loud and steady.
THUMP! THUMP!
And at this—
GHHHHHK-haaAAAAGH!
A wet, raspy inhale tore from the depths of Koul's throat. His chest jerked upward, eyes fluttering open and wide.
[Counting time until death: 4… 3… 2… beep! beep! beep! Shut down.]