Chapter 170

Anxiety lingered like a cloying afterscent, refusing to dissipate.

No matter how I tried to shake it off, it was practically impossible to shed the pain that had tormented me for over half my life.

Even now, if I closed my eyes, the times I was locked in a solitary cell and tortured came flooding back vividly.

“…….”

When I first opened my eyes, I was dumbfounded by how flimsy the chains binding my limbs were, but I was truly glad they were there.

Every time I shifted, the chains would clatter, reminding me of my situation.

Seeing the chains, at least the thought of heading straight for the capital didn’t cross my mind.

Lerwon took a deep breath as he lay on the bed.

Iris Viden would not kill Theo.

She was incredibly intrigued by his information of unknown origin.

When he found out that the source was a prophetic dream, a highly unrealistic and suspicious source, he was aghast.

According to Theo himself, the future he saw in his dreams had long since been distorted, and he was only utilizing fragmented information obtained through them—

‘That alone is remarkable enough.’

That power of unknown origin would be endlessly coveted as well.

Even if Iris had kidnapped Theo, there was no reason anywhere to kill him.

That was the single thread of thought that suppressed Lerwon’s anxiety.

[Ah! Sunbae! Can you hear me?!]

At that moment, Theo’s voice sounded as if a bolt of lightning had struck from the sky.

As crazy as I was, I wasn’t at the point of hearing auditory hallucinations.

That meant Theo had actually contacted me through some means.

“Ha, hahaha!”

Realizing that, Lerwon first burst out laughing.

[What? Did I connect to the wrong person?]

The moment the call connected, the other party burst into laughter, and Theo, flustered, seemed to hit something. Yet, Lerwon couldn’t stop laughing.

To think that in a kidnapped situation, he could contact someone while avoiding Iris’s eyes—such a reckless act was possible.

It was more than reckless; it was insane. And yet, to pull it off so casually, Theo Lisitoel was undoubtedly not in his right mind.

[Sunbae, are you really okay?!]

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

I had laughed so much that a tear had even welled up.

Lerwon lightly wiped the tear from the corner of his eye and asked in a serious tone, as if he had never laughed.

“Theo, are you okay?”

[Um, my ankle and fingers are kind of shattered and I think my head is a little cracked, but I’m still breathing, so I guess I’m fine?]

Hearing Theo’s words, Lerwon blankly mulled them over.

…How was that okay in any way?

His light tone, as if he were visiting a friend’s house, helped to calm my heart, which was on the verge of becoming hopelessly heavy.

[Sunbae, I’m fine, and I’m going to try to escape right now, so don’t even think about coming back here, and just stay put in the capital!]

“Tell me where you are. I’ll come with people right away.”

[No, that’s not what’s important right—]

It’s not! Theo’s words were cut off mid-sentence.

“Theo, Theo?!”

I called out urgently, but no more voices could be heard.

“Damn it!!”

To be cut off already. Could it be that Iris found out and he had to cut the call short?

“Damn it.”

Lerwon slammed his fist down and calmed the anger that was paralyzing his reason.

Mordegard, who served Iris, was no fool.

He would have used a method where there was a limited time, or the call would naturally disconnect if clues or content about the location were leaked to the outside.

Either way, it was his own fault for underestimating Mordegard even for a moment.

He shouldn’t have asked for the location so easily.

“No, there’s a way.”

There must be other ways to track the location.

However, in this tied-up state, I wouldn’t be able to move an inch.

Lerwon easily undid the flimsy chains binding his arms and legs.

As expected, as if she had used magic to know the moment the chains were undone, Laurel burst through the window in a single motion and tried to subdue Lerwon.

Resisting would only waste time.

“?”

Seeing Lerwon get caught so easily without resistance, Laurel furrowed her brow.

She had thought that forcibly breaking the chains meant he was heading for the capital, which was why she subdued him immediately…. Even if he was a bit drained, wasn’t he being caught too obediently?

Towards the bewildered Laurel, Lerwon got straight to the point.

“Laurel-sunbae, I got a call from Theo.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I need tracking magic. Please tell Lilia to call either Professor Beatrice or Professor Evan.”

As he had instructed, I won’t go up to the capital.

However, there must be one or two things he could do even in the Lisitoel county.

“So, Theo is?”

“He’s safe.”

He knew he was safe. In that case, it was his turn to act.

Lerwon suddenly recalled the story Theo had told him about the elephant.

The story of an elephant tied up since it was young, living its entire life under the illusion that it could never break free from its stake.

He couldn’t remember his impression of the story when he heard it.

He was just overjoyed at his subsequent words that he would take responsibility for having interfered in his life.

‘If you interfered in my life, then the same goes for me. Theo Lisitoel.’

I too have interfered in your life.

So I will definitely save you.

And this time, with my own strength, I will pull out the rope and stake that bind me.

* * *

The communication magic cut off.

“Why did it cut off!”

I still had things to say.

As soon as the call disconnected, I relentlessly slapped the back of the man next to me.

“Explain, quickly!”

“…You’re treating me surprisingly rough.”

“Should I be treating you nicely?”

Mordegard fell silent at my deadpan question.

No matter how roughly I treated Mordegard, could it compare to what I went through in this underground prison?

And now he was lecturing me about rough treatment? Did he boil his conscience for soup?

I knew he was a man without a conscience in the first place.

“So why did it cut off?”

“There’s a risk of being tracked, so it cuts off after one minute.”

“You should have said so sooner!”

Thwack, thwack, I even balled my hands into fists and gave Mordegard a good beating before I felt a little better.

This was for choking me.

I quickly grabbed the end of the chain tied to his body and escaped the underground prison.

Building a mansion inside a dungeon, what a creatively insane idea.

This kind of thing must be Iris’s real weapon.

A way of catching the opponent off guard with a brilliant idea that a normal person wouldn’t even think of. It would be one thing if she were an ally, but for an opponent, it was a headache.

Because such things were possible, she must have been able to rise from the bottom to the high position of the Master of Gold.

“Tell me how to escape right now. Before I show you what real rough treatment is.”

At the threat that wasn’t much of a threat, Mordegard seemed to comply moderately.

He would think that resisting was meaningless. Besides, he had to get the counter-curse method for Iris out of me.

He would probably think it was better to be obedient and get what he wanted rather than show hostility and raise the opponent’s guard.

Thoroughly calculative. Though I was the same way.

“So how far along do you think Iris’s curse is?”

“Do not speak my master’s name so easily.”

“Then should the kidnapping victim address the kidnapper as the Master of Gold or Lady Iris Viden?”

That doesn’t make sense, does it?

Mordegard had no rebuttal to my point.

In many ways, this was a strange companionship.

“I need to at least grasp the extent of it to be more motivated to make it, don’t you think?”

“…….”

As expected, no answer.

Was he reluctant to directly mention his master’s information to a hostile party?

Especially since it was core information, not just any information.

“The shape of the talisman also changes depending on the degree of progression, so hurry up.”

《There’s no such thing, is there?》

‘It’s a blatant lie.’

Either way, he had no way of knowing.

The reason I learned the counter-curse method was all thanks to my contract with Albedo.

“…She falls into a deep sleep for more than half the day, and sometimes melts into an unknown form before returning to human form again.”

“…….”

What is that? I don’t know, it’s scary.

My expression almost stiffened for a moment, but I managed to compose myself, remembering I was in front of Mordegard.

My heart was pounding. Since he might be able to hear my heartbeat like Fel, I hid my hands behind my back and used the ‘I am the Writer’ skill in the same way I had used it in front of Fel.

“Since when?”

“It’s been a month.”

《We’re in trouble.》

At that moment, Albedo’s voice, directly transmitted to my mind, rang out clearly.

‘What is it?’

My instincts as a living being screamed loudly.

A premonition that if I listened to Albedo’s words as they were, something irreversible would happen.

《A being that has become like that cannot be turned back with a mere talisman. Because that is a creature that has ‘become’ that way.》

Controlling my heartbeat was meaningless.

The disaster that had unfolded in the game was about to happen.

‘A flowing fate cannot be stopped.’

It felt as if the world was shouting that at me—

“!!!”

I was completely exposed to a sudden surprise attack.

Pooow!

With a sound like something exploding, the death that had loomed over me instantly retreated.

“Piit!”

Along with the sound of the explosion, I heard Lou’s small cry.

Having hastily taken a few steps back from Mordegard, I wiped away the sweat trickling down my chin.

I witnessed the aftermath of the attack with my own two eyes.

I don’t know what he did, but he had instantly broken the chains and launched an attack that could have been fatal if it had been a direct hit.

If Lou hadn’t protected me, I would have died without a doubt. It was that destructive of an attack.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Your method cannot stop my master.”

“What made you think that?”

“Your heartbeat. You tried to control it, but it suddenly started racing.”

So he found out about what I was most worried about.

I stared straight at Mordegard, who was exuding a killing intent so thick it made it difficult to even breathe.

“Say it with your own mouth. Is destruction or death the only end for my master now?”

《Yes, that is the only way. If you don’t kill that human, Iris, she will be swallowed by the beast and the world will be destroyed.》

An unwanted confirmation.

Ha, nothing ever comes easy, does it?

“Yeah. If you don’t kill Iris, the world will be destroyed.”

“In that case, I will kill you.”

The killing intent, thick as poison, only grew thicker.

My skin tingled, and it felt like my head could fly off at any moment.

The only reason Mordegard wasn’t attacking me right now was probably because his attack had been blocked by Lou earlier.

The only fortunate thing was that he didn’t seem to know that Lou was exhausted from the protective magic earlier.

“It doesn’t matter if you have one or two trump cards hidden. No, lay them all out.”

Mordegard’s face was terrifyingly serious.

“After I kill you, I will report what I’ve learned.”

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