Chapter 345

Chapter 345

In the end, I headed to the square at the intersection leading to Countess Alshine’s mansion, which was located in Heulin.

I couldn’t find the bustling scene of people that was always there.

Since it was always daytime, I didn’t know how much time had passed. I must have spent several days running around Heulin from corner to corner.

I didn’t feel hungry, and I couldn’t sleep.

I couldn’t precisely determine what it was, but it was clear that this space drove people insane.

“Ugh.”

I collapsed on the ground. The sky was still clear, but the bright sunlight reminded me of unpleasant memories. Why on earth was it such clear weather?

“No, no.”

I shook my head, trying to deny it. I didn’t want to articulate the terrible reason that came to mind.

“He’ll come to rescue me.”

Kaichen won’t let me go.

“My savior has outstanding abilities.”

I laughed, imagining Kaichen’s face.

His face, which was smiling, suddenly twisted as he reached out to me with a desperate expression, calling out my name…

‘Dalia—-!’

My smiling face froze stiffly.

Why do I remember his agonizing expression more instead of his smiling face?

I don’t want to think about it right now. I closed my eyes again.

Should I just sleep a little? Will Kaichen come to rescue me if I sleep and wake up? Can I sleep well?

How long should I wait?

How much time has passed?

How much longer do I have to wait?

I opened my eyes. The clear sky made it hard to breathe.

I comforted myself that this was fine, but the sticky black mass under my feet slowly consumed me like a swamp.

“Ah…”

With a short gasp, my eyes began to hurt as if they were going to fall out. I crouched down and gasped for breath.

An animalistic sob escapes my lips. It wasn’t a cry but a groan of pain.

I wanted to think positively, but my brain, accustomed to the worst, quickly filled my mind with negative thoughts.

“Damn it! Please save me! Please save me! Please save me!”

Why?

Why me again?

I heard an unpleasant ringing in my ears, and my head vibrated like it would explode.

“Get me out of here!”

My voice was a clear cry. Something I’d said before, so many times. It rang so loudly that I wondered if the vibrations would blow my body apart.

I have to hold on. I have to wait for Kaichen to come to my rescue.

But it hurt more than I thought it would.

“Ahhh…

The medium trapped in time magic wasn’t affected. The enchantment, triggered by the medium’s wishes, merely placed a certain radius under its influence.

Exchetra wanted to drastically shrink the sphere of influence of time magic so that it would only apply to me.

To do so, she chose Heulin as the setting and used instead of the wishes of the medium, the driving force of the time magic this time was the caster, her.

A genius was a genius. No matter how long she had studied and experimented with forbidden magic, she had never succeeded so perfectly.

Exchetra knew that I, who had survived as a medium of time magic in the North, could enter it even if I couldn’t use my magic.

Perhaps that’s when Exchetra drastically modified her plan.

The original target of the time magic would have been Kaichen, who was the only one capable of breaking it, but after I broke it in the north, she must have changed her plans.

Maybe she created the Forbidden Magic Circle because she was worried that mages would combine their powers to break through it. Or maybe she’s just this to hide her abilities?

‘Ugh… insane, but insanely smart.’

I was no Exchetra and could never follow her thoughts.

Exetra always had a meticulous plan, but the country’s presence in the middle was a variable. This added a lot of extra work, but in the end, Exchetra accomplished her goal.

I don’t know how much time has passed or how much longer I’ll be trapped.

I had to breathe, breathe. I have to keep thinking. Anything goes.

Run, stupid run.

I have to hold on.

What about the passage of time here? Is it like in Acrab, where you spend a hundred years, and it’s only one day outside?

I walk out of here, and it could be a hundred years outside.

Oh, that’s the worst.

I don’t even expect time to flow the same outside and inside the magic. The mad Exchetra wouldn’t be so generous.

As I thought frantically, my body’s trembling stopped, though only slightly. I stood up, drenched in a cold sweat. I tried to think as hopefully as possible, but I could barely breathe.

She couldn’t be crazy again.

“You say that as if you’re not crazy.”

I don’t even know if I’m sane anymore, to be honest.

I let out a grunt of pain and pushed myself up. I can’t stay still.