Chapter 33: Confrontation and Vivianne

A surge of heat rose from below my belly button, and the power and speed transmitted through the sword exceeded my expectations.

Serk!

The mana-infused sword sliced through the Knight’s throat as if cutting through air.

‘Awakening.’

It was truly a breathtaking timing.

Perhaps the daily sparring sessions with Nickel after his evolution had been helpful.

I kicked away the collapsing Knight, pulled out the sword embedded in my shoulder, and stood up.

Undead creatures continued to swarm relentlessly.

Thud!

Using the last handful of mana, I shattered the Warrior’s jaw.

Luckily, breaking through the combat frenzy put out the urgent fire, but the awakened mana was pitifully scarce.

Even after dealing with the Warrior, the mana from the depleted combat frenzy rapidly lost its strength.

‘But it’s enough.’

The approaching undead suddenly stopped in their tracks.

And desperate cries for help filled the air.

“Please, spare me!”

In the blink of an eye, Nickel, with the sword impaled through Firemon’s neck, was waiting for me.

Was Bloody Dan dead?

As I looked at the location where Nickel had fought, I saw the neatly severed neck of Bloody Dan’s corpse, with blood spilling out.

Of course, I had anticipated his victory, but seeing it with my own eyes was impressive.

I approached Nickel, still holding the sword in one hand.

“How do you feel?”

“Sob. I made a mistake. Please spare me.”

“Where is the ring?”

“It’s there! At home! Please, spare me.”

Trembling, I forcibly lifted Nickel, who was clutching his severed arm, and made him stand.

Then, I led him towards the cabin.

“Quickly summon back the undead.”

“Understood.”

But why does he keep using informal speech?

With the sword pressed against his abdomen, I asked, “Why? Why?”

“I… I’m sorry.”

Inside the cabin, I found out the location of the ring from Nickel.

Fortunately, he hadn’t lied.

“So, you had it all along. I thought you might have sold it.”

“P-please spare me.”

With the ring back on my finger, I instructed Nickel to drag Firemon outside.

Alongside Firemon, I brought Dan’s corpse with me.

While I was at it, I also took Dan’s artifact, a mask he used to wear.

At first glance, the mask appeared ordinary, covering Dan’s entire face. However, it had the ability to change the wearer’s appearance.

“Ah, Lord Adrias? P-please spare me. I will become your servant. If you want me to lick your feet, I will. If you want me to bark like a dog, I will. Please show me mercy…”

Swoosh!

“Ugh!”

I pierced Firemon’s heart with Dan’s sword, causing him to let out a final scream of injustice before his head slumped.

“There’s no need to keep unnecessary elements.”

Even if it weren’t for those elements, I would have killed him anyway. I’m not the kind of person to forgive the one who attacked first without reason.

I made sure he was truly dead and then stood up from my position.

“Nickel, take care of the guards outside.”

Nickel tilted his head and gestured towards himself, mimicking slitting his own throat.

When did he kill them? I never gave the order.

Seemingly reading my thoughts, Nickel pointed to a direction.

There, the bodies of the guards who had intruded into the cemetery were sprawled on the ground.

Well, it’s understandable that they would come to check after all the commotion.

“Bring those bodies as well.”

While Nickel retrieved the bodies, I took a potion.

A fiery pain surged from my left shoulder, which had been severely damaged.

‘I’ve done enough, and in the end, I won.’

Thanks to that, I even awakened the Dual Core.

I hadn’t come here for this purpose in the first place, but Firemon’s sudden rampage turned things in my favor.

By doing so, I prevented the large-scale war caused by Dan.

Even if the future changed, I had decided to avoid war at all costs.

‘In the game, I died dozens of times because of war. If I can prevent a war, I will do so without hesitation.’

As Nickel brought the guards’ bodies, I carefully placed them considering angles and directions.

And with Dan’s sword, I created wounds on the bodies of the guards.

I did the same with Firemon’s corpse.

I shattered Dan’s shoulder with the skeleton warrior’s mace and placed the Knight’s sword next to Dan’s body.

Finally, I positioned the Poison Zombie beside them.

Perhaps they would naturally become poisoned over time.

‘This should help cover it up.’

Although I don’t know if it will fool anyone, at least it will buy some time.

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The training grounds of the Knight Academy’s combat division were quiet as the sun began to set.

Partly due to it being the weekend, but mainly because no one trained in the training grounds when they had their own private practice rooms.

However, for some time now, one student had been using the training grounds consistently.

“I thought they wouldn’t last long, but they’re impressive.”

“Yeah, it’s been about a month, right?”

“Yeah, it’s been around that long.”

“But why did they suddenly start using the training grounds?”

“It’s not me. Why don’t you go and ask them?”

Vivianne Velocan didn’t even blink at the voices coming from nearby.

No, she was so focused on her training that she hadn’t even realized someone was watching her.

Swish!

She swung her sword at a pace almost three times slower than usual.

She exerted every effort to feel every single movement of her muscles and continued her simulated battle against an imaginary opponent.

Both the imagined opponent and Vivianne, who faced them, were slower in their attacks and defenses than usual.

Because of the slower movements, she was able to read all of her opponent’s attacks and defenses.

On the other hand, her own attacks and defenses were also easily seen through.

Thanks to this, a fierce mental battle took place in her mind as her hands manipulated the sword with various changes, mesmerizing her opponent.

“Not enough.”

More! More!

Her talent was shining.

This is not the end, merely just this much.

Her wrists and fingertips showed movements that approached their limits.

And then, miraculously, her sword seemed to dance as if it had escaped from her hand.

“It’s here!”

“Wow, she’s really amazing.”

It was the Dance of the Specter.

As students passed by and witnessed her movements, they all referred to her swordsmanship as “Gimumu”, which means “Ghost Dance” in Korean.

“I wonder if we could train like her every day?”

“I can’t even last a week. I’d bet all my belongings on it.”

“Well, yeah. It was too much to only focus on training, excluding eating and sleeping.”

At that moment, students from other divisions appeared from elsewhere and noticed Vivianne.

“Hey, that’s impressive, amazing!”

“Is Vivianne going to be the champion of this year’s tournament?”

“It’s possible. How did she suddenly awaken like this?”

As they exchanged their opinions, they greeted the students who had come earlier to watch Vivianne with joy.

“Are you here to watch?”

“Yeah, we were just about to leave.”

“Really? Oh, now that I see Vivianne, I remember something. The last time I was in the same group as Vivianne, we defeated a Dark Mage in the Magic Division. What was his name again?”

“I don’t know his name. Why?”

“Well, he went to the private clinic in Alben Street. It just reminded me when I saw Vivianne.”

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and someone intervened.

Their hair was a verdant green.

“Adrias Cromwell’s in the clinic?”

Startled by Vivian’s sudden movement, the students scattered in surprise.

Then, the person who spoke nodded and said,

“Uh, well, I’m not exactly sure, but it looks like he’s injured somewhere.”

Upon hearing those words, Vivianne fell into deep thought.

After the events in Bolrick Territory, she had been closely observing Adrian’s Cromwell.

A voice, similar to the fairy she encountered in her dream.

However, he showed no interest in her whatsoever.

If it was indeed the fairy, then he should have shown some interest in her.

‘Is it just a coincidence that our voices sound the same?’

It bothered her that they happened to be in the same place at the same time.

So, one day after all the classes were over, she went to find him.

Surely… surely, if he is the fairy, he can’t ignore me.

However, Adrian’s Cromwell completely ignored her.

Instead, he seemed clueless about why she was following him.

So she decided to let go of him and focus on her training.

For the sake of her shining talent, as the fairy had mentioned.

“…?”

Vivian, who had stopped her thoughts, suddenly realized that she was on a train.

“When did I get on?”

And naturally, her footsteps led her to get off at Alben Street and head to the clinic.

As if being drawn by something, she smoothly entered the clinic.

She approached a staff member and asked,

“Adrian Cromwell.”

“Yes? Ah, if you’re a acquaintance of Adrian Cromwell, he’s in the trauma treatment room over there.”

Following the staff member’s instructions, she headed towards the trauma treatment room.

Standing in front of the door, she couldn’t understand why she had come here.

“I should be training….”

At that moment, the door creaked open.

“Vivianne?”

It was the voice of the fairy.

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The shoulder injury couldn’t fully heal with just the healing potion because I had pushed myself too hard.

As soon as I returned to the academy by train, I headed straight to the clinic in Alben Street.

If it had been a weekday, I would have visited the clinic within the department, but it was closed on weekends.

“Huh?”

When I got off at Alben Street, a knight student looked at me as if he knew me.

Who is it? I don’t recognize their face.

Ignoring the person, I went to the clinic.

Fortunately, there weren’t many customers, so I was able to have surgery right away.

“Ugh, sigh. How did it come to this?”

“How it came to this.”

The bald therapist who saw my injury clicked his tongue.

Enduring the pain, I underwent his surgery without anesthesia.

“You, according to your personal information, you were a student in the Magic Department.”

“Yes.”

“Not only your body, but also the fact that you don’t even make a sound of pain, you seem just like a knight student.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“Of course it’s a compliment! These days, those so-called wizards are weak and useless! I worry every day about what will happen if there’s a war.”

That war.

I stopped it.

I smiled and played along.

“Yes, of course. Absolutely.”

After the surgery that lasted close to 30 minutes, he said,

“You endured quite a lot of pain. Be careful using your arm for at least a month, and pay the fee at the front desk.”

“Yes, thank you.”

I expressed my gratitude and walked outside as he instructed.

No, I tried to leave.

When I opened the door, I immediately saw someone’s forehead.

“Vivianne?”

Surprised by the unexpected presence, I called out her name.

As her name was called, she looked up at me and suddenly delivered a body blow.

“Oof!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, I doubled over, gasping for breath.

Wondering what on earth was going on, I looked at Vivianne, who was embracing me and pressing her face against mine.

“Hehe. It feels good.”

I couldn’t bring myself to refute the therapist’s words.

Because of the memories of young Vivianne flickering in my mind, I couldn’t push her away and left her alone for a while.

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“Sorry.”

After some time had passed, Vivianne stood up, surprised by her own actions.

I lightly waved my hand, indicating that it was alright, as she bowed her waist in apology.

Curiosity arose about why she came here, regardless of what had happened.

“But why did you suddenly…? How did you know I was here?”

“I heard. From the others.”

Her words reminded me of the knight student I encountered when getting off the train.

So, he must have told her.

“So, did you come to see me?”

In response to my question, Vivianne tilted her head and then finally spoke.

“I don’t know either.”

“Who else would know if Vivianne doesn’t?”

I wasn’t familiar with Vivianne as I hadn’t interacted with her as a colleague.

After all, she was originally a villain, just a target to defeat in the game.

In such a twist of fate, I returned with her on the train.

“This stop is Rios Dormitory…”

Due to Vivianne getting off first from the train that arrived at the Knight Department’s dormitory, we awkwardly shook hands with each other, not having exchanged a word during the journey.

“Please go ahead.”

“Okay.”

She nodded and waved her hand slightly.

As she got off and the train departed, she gradually disappeared from my sight.

‘It must be because of the seal of sloth, right?’

It’s probably why I’m suspicious, thinking I sound like the fairy.

Still, it’s fortunate that she seems brighter than before.

I even started to think that maybe, unlike in the game, she won’t become a villain.

‘If that’s the case, it’s advantageous. I already know when the incidents that were supposed to happen would occur, so I should take a look.’

Assuming that I can survive without revealing my true identity until then, I had confidence in myself.

Surely, my actions have already changed the future significantly.

Moreover, unlike the game’s Adrias, I wasn’t merely a puppet who only listened to Charon’s words.

‘I’ll change the negative future as much as possible. Even if it means losing the positive future along with it, it doesn’t matter. What I want is to survive, not to use future information for a showdown.’

And if possible, I threw my gaze outside the train, dreaming of a small yet significant hope to live happily with my family.

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