Episode 143

“Yvonne.”

“Yes, Hilde.”

Hildebrandt knew instantly that the Yvonne before him wasn’t real. These days, she never spoke so casually unless he told her to.

And besides—

“Hilde, why are you sitting on the floor?”

There was no way she’d treat him with such tenderness. Yet this Yvonne knelt before him, gently stroked his cheek, and wrapped him in a warm embrace. His fear grew. If this was an illusion, he shouldn’t be able to feel her touch—but her chest was rising and falling like something truly alive.

Even the soft skin brushing his face felt real.

“Hilde, why are you trembling so much?”

He trembled violently as he laughed. It was clear now—his second awakening had begun. And not by normal means.

“Kiss me, Hilde.”

Yvonne whispered the plea, then kissed him first. Hildebrandt didn’t move at first, but as she slipped her tongue into his mouth with practiced ease, he reversed the motion and deepened the kiss, exploring her eagerly.

“Hh…”

As Yvonne was laid down on the floor, her platinum hair fanned out across the carpet like a shimmering veil.

“You need to undress, Hilde.”

She broke the kiss and reached for his clothing. The Yvonne before him was fake. But he didn’t want to believe it.

“Come closer, Hilde.”

She parted his shirt and slid her hand inside. Hildebrandt sneered at her.

“Ugh!”

“Die, Yvonne.”

“Agh…!”

Hildebrandt began to strangle her.

He hated Yvonne for abandoning him. He had loved her that deeply—but the fear that she might love Yurian Leonhardt instead never left him.

When she told him she loved him, it only confirmed the truth: her love was no longer his. The Yvonne he wanted—the illusion of her—was something he could never have again.

“If I can’t have you, no one will.”

“Fufufu…”

In that moment, Yvonne vanished into dust. Hildebrandt returned to his cold, emotionless self. The tear rolling down his cheek felt like ice.

“If I don’t have you, then nothing else matters.”

Only then did he finally understand.

And with that realization, his wild mana surged violently.

BOOM!

With a deafening explosion, the palace where the emperor had stood collapsed. His magic had completely slipped beyond his control.

* * *

“Your Grace. Are we really making the right choice by going in alone?”

“Yes.”

Yurian had stationed his men around the outskirts of the capital. They were prepared to storm the city at a moment’s notice.

But Yurian chose a small team of only his most trusted subordinates to infiltrate the Imperial Palace first. It was for one purpose—to confront the emperor.

Originally, Evony and two other ability-users he trusted had planned to go with him. But they had diverted to the western tower to rescue Yvonne.

Yurian had wanted to go himself. But if he did, the emperor might try to kill Yvonne. Hildebrandt was the kind of man who would rather see her dead than let anyone else have her.

That was the only way Yurian could ensure Yvonne’s survival. Even if the rebellion failed, he wanted her to remain uninvolved—and alive.

So, he headed for the emperor’s palace.

BOOM!

A thunderous crash echoed as a building collapsed. The shattering of columns and debris crashing down rang sharply in his ears.

“What the—?!”

Yurian quickly regained his composure. He already knew Yvonne was imprisoned in the western tower, so the collapse of the emperor’s palace didn’t shake his focus.

Rumble…!

A sudden tremor spread through the ground. A strong earthquake was fracturing the floor beneath them. Maybe the palace’s collapse had something to do with this earthquake after all.

“We’re going to the western tower.”

“But, Your Grace—!”

“Just follow me.”

Without another word, Yurian raced toward the western tower. Even though Evony had gone ahead, he couldn’t be sure. And with tremors this strong, the tower was likely to fall. Solid buildings were crumbling left and right—there was no way a tower built just for confinement would remain intact.

Yurian pushed his abilities to their limit as he sped toward the tower. Thanks to his invisibility skill, the nearby knights couldn’t see him.

The ground continued to shake violently. If he lost concentration for even a moment, he felt like he’d crash face-first into the earth.

He didn’t know if Yvonne was safe. Just that thought alone made his heart pound so hard, he could barely think.

Then, in an instant, Yurian reached the western tower.

It had already collapsed.

Nearby knights lay dead, bloodied as if they’d been ambushed. But it wasn’t debris that had killed them. The dents in their armor, the bruises on their faces, and their split lips made that clear.

Evony had been there. That meant Yvonne was still alive. No other ability but physical enhancement—especially one of Evony’s intermediate level—could have done that. And if an earthquake had struck, she could’ve escaped while carrying Yvonne on her back.

“Hah…”

Only then did Yurian finally feel a sense of relief.

But an even greater problem had arisen.

“Aaaahhh!”
“Run!”
“Your Majesty!”

Among the chaos, he heard Francis’s voice. And a tremendous roar.

Yurian was still using his power, so sounds from far away reached him as if they were right beside his ears.

“Get a hold of yourself, Your Majesty!”
“Find Yvonne!”
“Your Majesty!”
“Ack!”
“Aaaagh!”
“Ughhh!”

Multiple voices screamed at once. It sounded like the survivors of the palace collapse crying out in terror.

Yurian was no longer afraid of Hildebrandt.

He had fully completed his second awakening.

With that conviction, Yurian drew his sword—and headed straight for the emperor.

* * *

“Ugh… Evony?”

Yvonne awoke in some underground place. The problem was—she herself was unharmed, but right in front of her lay Evony, collapsed and bleeding.

“Evony!”

Yvonne looked around, trying to understand the situation. This was clearly an underground waterway. A path stretched ahead, and beside it, a stream of water ran through the connected drainage channel. It must have been a sewer passage managing the wastewater of the imperial palace.

The trouble was, although this area had been built like a fortress, something had caused it to collapse.

“Evony! Wake up!”

Evony had been injured while protecting Yvonne from the falling debris. No matter how strong a physical enhancement user she was, she wasn’t a top-tier one who could use her ability indefinitely. Intermediate-level ability-users were still remarkable, but when their powers weren’t active, they were just slightly stronger than ordinary people. If Evony had been a top-tier user, even when not using her power, she would’ve seemed inhuman.

“Evony!”

Blood streamed down Evony’s forehead, and Yvonne began to grow more and more afraid. The path ahead was blocked.

She turned to check the other side, hoping to take Evony with her. But the opposite path was also collapsed, stones blocking both exits.

They were trapped. Like rats in a sealed jar.

Even worse—

Drip drip drip…

Water had begun seeping in, likely because the center of the channel was blocked. As Yvonne realized that she and Evony might drown in here, her body began to shake.

“Evony! Please! Wake up, Evony!”

Evony appeared to have suffered a serious head injury—she was completely unconscious, and her lips were growing pale.

To make things worse, the space was almost pitch-black. And yet, Evony’s face was so pale, it was still clearly visible.

Yvonne, trembling with fear, grabbed Evony’s wrist to check for a pulse—to reassure herself.

Drip drip drip drip…

She was terrified.

If only she had been a healer.

“Yvonne appears to be a Guide.”

Not a calming-type support role—if only she had been a powerful ability-user.

Yvonne felt bitter resentment. If she had been gifted with even the most common ability, physical enhancement… she might’ve been able to protect Evony before she got hurt.

“Ugh… Evony…”

Grief welled up inside her. She felt like Evony was hurt because she was weak and helpless. And now, they might drown together.

She didn’t want to die like this. If she had to die, she wanted to die with Yurian. She wanted to fight beside him, and carve out a future together.

Yvonne gently laid Evony down and wiped her tears. Then she began clearing away the rubble.

“Ugh…”

Her legs still wouldn’t move properly. But she had to act. It felt like the muscles in her arms were nearly gone too.

She couldn’t lift the large stones—so she started with the smaller ones.

The sound of rushing water was growing louder. Because of that, Yvonne had to stop and reposition Evony so she wouldn’t drown while she worked. She propped her up, half-seated, against the wall, and then turned her focus to the pile of rocks blocking the opposite side—where the water wasn’t rushing in.

Clack, clatter, thunk. Yvonne hurriedly tossed aside stone after stone.

“Ugh…”

Her palms were torn open, and her collarbone throbbed. As she lifted a particularly large rock, she saw a faint beam of light pierce through the pile.

She leaned closer, trying to get a better look.

Whoooosh!

At that moment, water surged in violently from behind.