Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 415

415.

[This one has really lost its mind, huh?]

Rapis, having easily blocked the attack, let out a dumbfounded chuckle. The monster, after hesitating for a moment, charged forward again. This time, it wasn’t an attack but a mere passing. At the end of its swift flight was a dense forest. It felt like it had a purpose beyond simply running away. It seemed to be trying to lure them in.

[Is it really looking down on me this much?]

“Um, I don’t know if it’s just me, but it feels like it keeps targeting me.”

[Don’t worry. It’s not just you.]

“Hmm, I thought so.”

[It attacked only you in the city, right? It can’t be a coincidence.]

Isana looked around with a stiff expression. Below, she could see the residents blankly looking up at the sky. There was a commotion as the building collapsed, but fortunately, no one seemed to be seriously injured. The fact that the village was attacked meant that it wasn’t just her they were after. She could roughly guess what their goal was. Thanks to Rapis, the monster was scared, so it would be fine for a while. But she couldn’t completely relax.

“What do we do now?”

[Well, we need to find their base. Shall we move as it wants for now?]

With that answer, Rapis turned his body. Just in time, the sky serpent monster was disappearing into the forest. Rapis leisurely followed its path. The forest they arrived at was eerily silent. It didn’t feel like the vibrant season just before summer. As Isana landed and surveyed the surroundings, Rapis also shrunk his size and returned to his human form. The monster that had arrived earlier was nowhere to be seen.

“Is it here?”

“Yeah. It’s nearby. But I can’t pinpoint the exact location.”

Muttering to himself, Rapis reached out and touched Isana’s head. Surprised by his sudden action, Isana blinked.

“Rapis-nim?”

“Well, fine. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll see it through to the end.”

“Yes?”

Rapis then mumbled something, and a warm energy spread from where he touched. Isana felt like something was covering her. It was like being wrapped in a transparent cloth. The feeling didn’t disappear even after Rapis took his hand away.

“I’ll go take a look around. I’ve put up a barrier, so don’t move from here.”

“Yes? But…”

“I have a plan. You’ll just be in the way if you’re with me.”

Hearing him say that, Isana obediently shut her mouth. In fact, it would have been useless even if she had insisted. Rapis had already disappeared. The fact that he just said what he had to say and disappeared was so like him that she didn’t even have the energy to get angry. Isana sighed lightly and looked around.

A chilling wind blew through the silent forest. She had only been to this forest when she was very young, so her memories were vague, but it didn’t seem to have this kind of atmosphere originally. She couldn’t even guess what would happen next.

* * *

My bad feeling soon became a reality. When I started using the Eye of the Spirit [a magical ability to see distant events] to examine the Imperial Palace, what came into my view was the sight of a terribly damaged building. In the meantime, one side of the Imperial Palace’s outer wall had almost completely collapsed. The corpse of a large monster was also lying in the middle of the main office. As expected, the Archduke seemed to have targeted Isana first.

The situation seemed to have been settled, and people were cleaning up the scene. The Imperial Guards were also there, but Isana was nowhere to be seen in the Imperial Palace. Since Rapis wasn’t visible either, it seemed that he had moved with only Isana. The only consolation was that the Imperial Guards seemed calm. If Isana had been running away as if being chased, the remaining Imperial Guards wouldn’t have been calmly cleaning up the scene. Their calmness meant that at least it wasn’t an imminent emergency.

After that, I focused all my attention on finding Isana. Fortunately, I was able to find him wandering not long after. Contrary to my expectation that he would be far away, he was surprisingly in a forest quite close to the Imperial Palace. But Rapis, who I thought would be with him, was nowhere to be seen.

‘What, why is Isana alone?’

Surely he wouldn’t have left him alone in this situation. If it was Rapis, he would have immediately noticed the situation of being attacked in the Imperial City and returning. He would also know that Isana’s heart was suitable for sacrifice. There was no way he would leave him alone in this situation. I held onto a glimmer of hope and expanded the Eye of the Spirit to the entire mountain. But still, I couldn’t find Rapis. It was absurd, but it seemed that the worst was true.

‘Just you wait until I find you.’

Isana was looking around with an anxious expression. He didn’t even summon Naias [his spirit companion] and was just clutching his sword tightly. It would be better to be with a spirit to prepare for an ambush, but it seemed he thought he should save as much mana as possible. I gritted my teeth again, but I sighed and calmed myself down. Even if I had to catch Rapis later and deal with him, it was more important to reassure Isana now. I immediately moved to him and landed. He seemed surprised by my sudden appearance and widened his eyes.

“Isana…”

“El? You… ah, wait. Don’t come closer.”

“What?”

I was frowning at his incomprehensible reaction. Suddenly, a black aura surged from the ground and pierced through his body. His body, bent over greatly, floated helplessly into the air. With a small cough, red blood spurted from his open mouth in an unreal scene.

“Isana!”

My body moved before my mind could grasp the situation. I attacked and cut off the black aura, and the body that had been hanging fell helplessly. I rushed over and barely caught him.

“Isana! Wake up! Isana!”

Isana’s unconscious body slumped in my arms. Red blood was gushing out from the pierced area. My hands trembled as I tried to examine the wound. It was near his heart.

A very bad thought came to mind. Before the image that came to mind could materialize, I hurriedly poured healing magic. Fortunately, it was slower than usual, but it worked. Soon, clean skin was revealed through the torn clothes. But Isana still showed no reaction. I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. I looked down at the pressed area again. I was holding his heart, but I couldn’t feel its unique beat. I quickly put my ear to it, but it was still silent.

“No way.”

My healing power as the Water Spirit King is powerful enough to regenerate even a heart that has been split in half. Even if it was completely detached, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Yes, as long as the owner of that body is alive.

I stared blankly at the motionless Isana. His skin was clearly healed, and the bleeding had completely stopped. But there was no heartbeat. How long can a human last with a stopped heart? In a state where the heart is pierced or pulled out? How many seconds did it take from when he was attacked until I used healing magic? My head was confused and not working properly.

“Hehehe.”

I was about to use healing magic again when I heard a low laugh. I turned blankly and saw a man standing there. He was wearing a jet-black robe and a black cloak. Dull blonde hair covered his gaunt face. Once, I thought he looked quite like Isana, but now there was nothing similar.

“Too bad, Water Spirit King. I won this time.”

He smiled sinisterly and raised his hand as if to show off. I saw the red mass he was holding. As soon as I realized what it was, my eyes burned.

“You…”

“That child was originally intended to be the final sacrifice to decorate this long ritual. I was sorry that I missed him in the middle, but in the end, it went as I intended.”

My head felt like it would go crazy with boiling anger. I was so angry that I couldn’t do anything. I can’t kill him. Cold reason repeatedly warned. This is different from Karian. He will surely die if I touch him even a little too much. I’m not calm enough to control my emotions right now. I know everything. But my whole body trembled as I tried to control my anger. First of all, I had to take what was in his hand.

“Hahaha! Isana that child will also regard it as an honor! This heart will be the last foundation for the great birth!”

At that moment, the red mass in his hand burst and blood flowed down. I was startled and my face immediately hardened. But the guy also seemed surprised by the unintended phenomenon and widened his eyes. The blood that flowed down spread along the guy’s arm. After a while, a red light began to rise from the blood and began to wrap around the guy’s body.

“W-What is this…!”

The words he shouted in panic could not be uttered to the end. He was lying on the floor as if completely wrapped in ropes. He had an expression on his face that he couldn’t understand what was happening to him. I was just as surprised, so I just watched. Then I heard a breath from below. As soon as I reflexively lowered my gaze, my eyes widened. Isana was awake.

“…Isana?”

“Ah, damn it. I thought I was going to die in pain.”

He frowned slightly and grumbled as he got up.

“How…”

“How did you happen to show up at that exact moment? I was trying to catch him before he attacked as much as possible, but in the end, I used the last resort.”

“Last resort?”

“It’s a good thing the timing was right, if you had come even a little earlier, the plan I had worked so hard on would have been ruined. Well, anyway, it was successful, so it’s okay.”

I slowly took my hand away and stepped back from him. This guy is not Isana. It was just that I couldn’t tell whether it was a delicately made fake or someone else had entered that body, so I couldn’t decide on the disposal right away. From the point of confusing this part, it was already not an ordinary existence. As I stared at him, the one disguised as Isana asked as if he was wondering.

“Why are you making that face?”

“Who are you.”

“What? What… ah, this is still the same.”

He made a dumbfounded expression and clicked his tongue as if he realized the cause. Then, his short hair gradually began to grow and began to be dyed in a dark color. The face of a boy who had grown up but still had a youthful air disappeared, and facial features that were so flashy that they hurt my eyes appeared. It was a face that I couldn’t help but recognize.

“Rapis?”

As if responding to the name I muttered, his lips drew a clear arc. His face, which was so confident that it seemed arrogant, was really Rapis. As soon as I realized that fact, the strength drained from my shoulders.

“…Isana is?”

“I hid him nearby.”

“Liar. I searched the forest and couldn’t see him.”

“That’s because I put up a barrier. Who would just hide in this situation?”

“A barrier that even spirits can’t see? Even for you, you wouldn’t be able to create that right away. You said it took a long time just to make the frame when you forcibly confined me.”

“What are you talking about? It’s been a while since I found another way.”

“Another way?”

“Minerva lent me the Veil of Concealment [a powerful artifact that grants invisibility] before. I roughly applied it. A wide area is impossible, but one person can be conditionally applied.”

At those words, one memory came to mind. It must have been when Deron had to secretly go to the Demon World someday. I asked Miné for the Veil of Concealment, and Rapis also showed interest at that time and obtained a part of it. At best, it was only about the size of a handkerchief, and I know that the maintenance time was not very long. I never thought that he would be able to imitate the unique ability of the wind even similarly with that. Now, that talent was beyond surprising and even scary. Apart from that, it was still the same that I couldn’t understand this situation.

“I didn’t know you would do this much for Isana.”

To hide the real Isana and become bait in his form. It was an unimaginable thing considering his usual personality. Then Rapis made a dumbfounded expression.

“What are you talking about? You asked me to take care of Isana.”

“Because of that one word?”

“Then what else would it be because of?”

I was speechless for a moment. The many words I knew could not become one sentence and only wandered around in my head and scattered. I gave up looking for something to say and turned to look at the wriggling Archduke. The guy with his face contorted was still mumbling. From the looks of it, he seemed to be trying to commit suicide by biting his tongue. I was wondering if I should put something in his mouth, but I decided to use a simpler method. To freeze it just enough not to die. Soon, white frost formed and the guy’s resistance stopped. Rapis whistled lightly when he saw that.

“You managed to stop just before death. I was going to stop you if you seemed like you were going to kill him because I deliberately kept him alive. Since he’s connected to an evil god, it would have been more of a headache if I had just killed him. Well, I guess it was an unnecessary worry from the beginning.”

“You’re right. I can’t kill him now.”

“Does that sound like you would have killed him if it wasn’t?”

“Then would you just leave this alone?”

As I muttered lowly, a different light appeared in the eyes looking at me. I was dumbfounded because he had an expression as if he had heard an unexpected answer. How much of a pushover do you see me as?

“More than that, what was that earlier? That red mass.”

“A sealing formation made with my blood. I thought they would aim for the heart, so I emptied that area and prepared it in advance. I prepared it just in case, but it worked properly.”

“…Can you disguise that too?”

“I even transform into a human, so changing the location of organs temporarily is nothing. I’ve already put it back now.”

Was that why I couldn’t feel his heartbeat? When I tried to touch my chest, he immediately pulled his body away. It was a reaction like someone who was startled. I was puzzled and looked up, and his gaze, which seemed surprised as if he was actually surprised, reached me.

“What?”

“You didn’t have a heartbeat at all earlier. So I’m trying to check the condition again.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I told you I put it back properly. You even used healing magic, so what’s the point of checking again? My skin is all healed, so I’m completely fine now.”

After answering indifferently, Rapis took a step back. He even waved his hand as if telling me not to come closer. As I was looking at him, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. It seems like it’s not just now, but it’s been repeated several times, but I couldn’t remember exactly when it started.