Chapter 291-292

Chapter 291

Kaichen thought it was raining heavily.

But the piercing scent of blood proved that it was not rain but something else falling from the sky.

He recognized the figure standing tall among the ruined buildings. Kaichen confirmed Dalia’s location using the magical bracelet he had given her as a gift.

No matter where he looked, there was only one person who was still alive.

So, seeing the person standing dazed, drenched in blood, and hands to her chest, he knew it was her. He wanted to rush her to the healing medic to check her safety.

But his body, which had no strength left even to move a finger, was screaming that it would collapse if he took a single step. Kaichen felt his body weakened as if he were about to die.

Even as he looked around the terrible situation around them and at Dalia, who was emitting a completely different magical power from what he had known, his first thought was that he should understand her, lest she get hurt.

“Dalia.”

With the last of his strength, he forced his lips to move.

Dalia gazed at the rain of blood pouring from the sky and slowly turned her head to him. Her once sparkling black eyes, filled with boundless affection, now radiated a painfully sorrowful glint.

Even in her horrifyingly bloodstained state, Kaichen felt a pang in his chest when he saw her expression. He wanted to rush to her and hold her in his arms, telling her not to worry, no matter what had happened or what she had done.

Regardless of the circumstances, he felt he could embrace her, even if she intended to bring down the empire.

“Master.”

It was the same voice as always. The rain of blood halted. Dalia stared with deep eyes that revealed nothing of her emotions and spoke in a broken voice.

“It’s too late.”

Understanding the meaning of those words, Kaichen put strength into his legs.

Even though breathing was difficult due to his muscles crying out in agony and his depleted mana, he took one step, then another, toward her.

“If it’s too hard… desperately call for me.”

How fervently he must have called for her. How much she must have waited for him.

Warmth surged, and something wanted to come out of his throat, but he forcibly suppressed it and swallowed hard. He felt something trickling from his lips.

He reached out his hand.

He could feel the delicate shoulders through his palm. Feeling her cold body temperature, Kaichen once again cried out.

He embraced Dalia’s body, which seemed like it might disappear at any moment, tightly. There were no touches on the waist or back like usual.

Dahlia spoke with blank eyes as if she had lost her emotions, like a doll whose strings had been cut.

“Master, I…”

Her voice seemed like it might not even come out. Dalia’s body was so cold that it made him think even a corpse might be warmer. Kaichen held her even tighter, trying to share his body warmth.

“Dalia.”

“Master… I…”

Kaichen felt something warm flowing from his eyes. “You did well…”

He wanted to say he was sorry for being late, that he couldn’t console her as before. He tried to say it was all right, but his mouth trembled.

So he expressed the words she probably wanted to hear the most right now, the words he wanted to say the most.

Her trembling body seemed to affirm that he was not wrong in saying those words. Kaichen buried his face in Dalia’s shoulder.

“Well done, you did well.. “

Silence followed.

“Thank you for enduring this.”

Even though he arrived late, even though he knew nothing, he was glad she was alive. He wanted to say an apology, than the words he was saying right now.

“Thank you for waiting…”

But it was the only thing he could say to her now.

* * *

“What are you talking about…?”

“Well, what’s the story?”

I could only bite my lip in silence, looking at Exchetra. She had never intended to tell me anything.

“My amusement ends here. I’ll just watch.”

After smiling crookedly for a while, she stood up. I wanted to hold onto her and get any information, but she had already given quite a bit of information for free. Exchetra shook her hand with an arrogant and seductive smile.

“You’ll lose.”

I said it with determination. I knew I had lost in many confrontations, but in the end, that’s how it would be.

“I’m prepared for that.”

Exchetra’s expression didn’t seem to waver, and answered my words. “Yes, I guess so. But wouldn’t a villain struggle until the end?”

“Knowing that you would lose anyway… why do you still do this?”

“Maybe because I know I’m going to lose.”

Exchetra looked into the air as if she were thinking for a moment, then tilted her head slightly and continued.

“If it’s going to be a losing battle anyway, then shouldn’t I ensure there’s no winner?”

“…”

“Isn’t what that you call a draw?”

Exchetra smirked and concealed her face as if she had no intention of continuing the conversation.

The tightly closed door didn’t open. As her figure disappeared like an illusion, I was struck again on the back of my head.

Chapter 292

“Ha… Haha!”

Just as Exchetra said, I was useless and foolish.

The leader of Momalhut, a black mage so exceptional that he could be compared to Kaichen, and a transmigrator like me— I thought I had to find those three, but it wasn’t the case.

There weren’t three of them. I finally found out that all of them were none other than Princess Exchetra.

Even though I had obtained the information we wanted for so long, I was trapped in a cage, and I couldn’t even get up. The current reality was nothing to be happy about.

A draw? How could this be a draw? Our side had already lost many times.

Moreover, she didn’t answer the question.

I only assumed that she was inside for a very long time. She had lost entirely her original self and seemed to have become just ‘Exchetra’ herself.

Just like how I’m entirely Dalia now.

With a clinking sound, our roof was torn off, and our bodies were dragged underground by a rough hand.

I was devastated. How many years have you been working behind the scenes?

Knowing she would lose, did she make countless plans to keep the winner from being happy?

Was it necessary to go to such lengths?

While my mind was away, my body wasn’t. I instinctively screamed in response to the excruciating torture inflicted on me.

‘No, no. Exchetra… that woman wanted to win.’

She may have struggled. Maybe she wanted to escape out of the villain character. Perhaps she wriggled on the ground like I did because she wanted to live like me.

Did she decide to walk down a twisted path because she felt there was no limit to how much she could struggle?

As she said, the fates of the supporting character and the main character are different.

Maybe she held hope when she knew I lived. But ultimately, fate is fate. Can I truly change the ending of this novel?

Maybe I was completely wrong about everything.

Everything Exchetra said felt like a contradiction. I couldn’t sense any sincerity in her words, not even a bit.

Fate? Main character? Supporting character? No.

She was just enjoying herself. This moment right now. She enjoyed the feeling of winning, and she enjoyed watching me suffer in defeat.

Did Exchetra truly desire a draw?

‘I don’t know.’

I didn’t want to believe her words.

What’s the fate of a supporting character and the main character?

I’m alive, after all. It doesn’t make sense to say I lived as a supporting character. Fate can be changed. There’s no such thing as a predetermined destiny from the moment of birth.

She was wrong, and it had to be that way. It was the only way Kaichen could survive.

‘There’s no way I’ll die.’

Even if it’s a predetermined destiny, you can still defy it.

“Darn it! Why do I have to do this in the first place?”

“You’re just doing what you’re told.”

“Why torture a woman who isn’t rebelling and is just screaming…?”

“She told us to give her just enough pain so that she doesn’t die. Disable one of her arms or legs. That’s all.”

I listened to their conversation, hoping for some helpful information, as they cruelly subjected my body to their torment.

Torture wasn’t that terrifying. It was just a physical response that made the brain perceive ‘pain’ in response to strong pain inflicted on my body.

I had endured much worse than this, and I had experienced countless deaths. They also had no intention of killing me.

Even so, I felt the pain in my body because I was still capable of feeling pain.

“Ugh… Aaah!”

My voice was hoarse. It’s been a long time since I screamed and laughed that my vocal cords were sore.

I couldn’t feel one of my legs properly. The beautiful robe Kaichen had given me was now crumpled and lying on the ground.

I wrinkled my nose at the pungent smell and muttered complaints in my mind. Then, my facial muscles screamed that they were in pain.

There’s nowhere I’m not hurting.  The current situation, which reminded me of a horrifying dream, just irritated me.

But I could hold on. This level of pain was manageable. After all, compared to the hundred years of memory in time magic, this was like eating bread while lying down.

‘Still… I’m getting a bit tired.’

I thought it was okay because Kaichen, Master, would come to save me.

I also knew that the people chattering changed every hour. They took turns torturing me, perhaps thinking that changing things up would make the torment more painful, or maybe they wanted to persuade me.

Thanks to that, I realized that quite a few people were staying in the basement of this dilapated small building.

I would have to hold on until Kaichen or Julius comes to save me. If I escaped from here or took action, it was clear that I would become the primary suspect in the Lamia’s murder case.

I had no choice but to endure. Whether it was Kaichen or Julius, I had to endure until they saved me.

‘Ah…’

When the third day came, my body was a complete wreck. It felt like my eyes would pop out of my socket. Still, the nightmare I had seen in my dreams three days ago was more painful.

No matter what I did, I had that nightmare every time I fell asleep. Watching Kaichen die in front of my eyes was more terrible and painful than all the torture inflicted on me.