CH 47.1

There was a sudden bang and the stone wall eventually collapsed. Julia couldn’t even let out a scream as she rolled her body to the side. Her legs gave out and she slumped onto the floor, but she still couldn’t afford to lie still. As it had missed its prey once, the beast then turned its head towards her while exhaling such fetid breaths.

Julia had no intention of being treated like this. She hurriedly sprinted down the endless corridor all the while ignoring the sharp pain that had been digging into her legs.

[▷ Magical Dagger

A dagger that had been imbued with the powerful magic of Grand Duke Agares. Number of usage left : 1.]

She called forth the system window in order to try and distinguish her path, but then, she thought of an item she had already forgotten about. She didn’t think too much about it and immediately equipped herself with it. A sharp dagger was grasped inside her hand with a snap at once.

She could definitely do it—was what she thought. No matter how strong that monster was, it would still not be able to reach Agares’s magic. She then calculated that if she were to hide herself in a corner and stabbed it with the dagger as soon as it appeared, she might have a chance to win.

But her hopes were shattered right at an instant. The end of the aisle, which was simply a dead end, was already right in front of her.

“Grrrrrr.”

She could still hear the sound of a four-legged beast chasing after her frantically from behind. Julia turned her body around while clutching on the sword with both of her hands. A pair of pupils, just like those slits of a crocodile’s, were keenly watching her with a terrifying glow.

‘I’m scared. I don’t want to die.’

The wall that had been hit by the beast crumbled away helplessly like crumbs of biscuits. As she looked at it closely, it had not been just the fingernails, but all over its body was dripping with venom as well. She could be sure that a human like her would have melted right away at the slightest touch of it.

‘I will live. I will definitely live—no matter what……’

She had no intention of dying like this in vain. Her shoulders trembled with visceral fear, but she still tightened her grip on the grasped sword.

The beast’s dark red mouth slowly widened itself. In response, she opened her eyes and raised the dagger at once.

“Just stop sleeping and save me now, you bad Bael!”

“You’re even gutsier than I thought. You actually dare to call upon the King’s name.”

The moment when the beast’s shadow had touched her, a red magic circle instantly bloomed all around herself.

As he made an appearance amidst the flickering magical powers, Bael tugged Julia to his back and narrowed his eyes. At the same time, a suffocating weight began to permeate through the cramped space.

“Kieeeekk!”

With her eyes wide open, she caught a sight of the rapidly changing situation right before her eyes.

Bael had only stepped forward, but the beast that seemed nearly three meters tall was already screaming in agony. In addition, a ghastly sound was emitted from the monster’s body. All the bones in its body appeared to be crushed and shattered as if they had been pulverized by a lump of iron.

But Bael wasn’t done with it at all. After killing the beast with a complete burst, he slowly stretched out his hand. Then, a dull crackling sound began to echo from the floor that they had been standing on. It seemed like Bael intended to tear apart the whole space itself.

Surprised, Julia instantly grabbed onto his arm.

“Demon King, if the tower were to collapse like this…!”

“They still have to pay the price for trying to take what is rightfully mine.”

As he twisted his lips, a powerful surge of magic began swirling from his fingertips. The pitch-black space shattered like a piece of paper and the sun’s rays from the outside eventually stung her eyes.

As if everything she had experienced was just a mere dream, they were already standing right in the middle of an ordinary hall before she even realized it.

* * *

As the sun went down, the vast field was all dyed golden. The nearby trees and flowers swayed slightly in the wind  that was caused by the huge wings fluttering about.

Bael folded his wings and landed while Julia crept out of his arms before putting down her feet on the floor.

“Ah, sorry.”

She could feel a sense of pain in her knee, which had been scratched hard by her own previous fall. Julia stumbled and was just about to fall, but Bael supported her waist.

She apologized softly and waited for Bael to let her go, but he didn’t open his mouth nor did he loosen his arms at all. A moment of silence soon passed and as he reluctantly let go of her waist, Julia eventually walked off alone and took a seat among the flowers in full bloom.

All she could ever see were flowering blossoms as well as the slow-moving clouds over the horizon. It was an unrealistic space that had been entirely different from the psychedelic labyrinth from earlier. Nevertheless, the scenery was so beautiful that Julia eventually relaxed her body which had been tensed up all along.

‘I almost died, but it was just a hallucination.’

After getting out of the dark labyrinth, Julia became dazed by the sight of the tower in front of her. Bael had already destroyed the space itself, but the tower was still intact—without a scratch at all. In fact, not even a single piece of debris could be found.

Bael then gave her a brief explanation. It was said that this floor had been enchanted to dig into the weaknesses of its prey while creating a virtual space before imprisoning them forever.

Julia was rather dubious at first. No matter how hallucinatory it might have been, the tense moments that remained were still so vivid in her mind.

Meanwhile, she discovered an object that stood right in front of the pillar. The beast, which had just tried to kill her, was guarding the entrance in the form of an ordinary stone sculpture.

The roaring figure along with its opened mouth had been utterly vivid as if it was alive. Nevertheless, it was just a stone statue and even if she had waited for it, it wouldn’t be rushing over to devour Julia.

“…”