IPUAVNP Chapter 143

Chapter 143

 

At first, she didn’t feel it—the fact that something had pierced into her body.

But in an instant, all the strength drained from her.

And when Simon Elders screamed and drove the dagger in to the hilt, Brody finally realized it.

It was over.

The time she had wished to live just like everyone else, the future she had dreamed of with the person she had wanted to share that time with, the happiness she had once held while dreaming of that future—all of it was gone.

“Aaaargh!”

Simon Elders let out a crazed scream and knocked Brody to the ground.

Then, as he climbed on top of her fallen body and gripped the dagger, a blue light emanated from the magic stone embedded in the hilt.

Just as Amidal had said, the magic stone was responding to his will, unleashing its power.

“Ahaha!”

Finally.

Finally, the chance had come to undo his wretched life.

He burst into a maniacal laugh and lifted his head toward the ceiling. Then, he began chanting an incantation in the ancient language Amidal had taught him.

A spell to steal another’s abilities and make them his own.

The power drawn from a dying life and this sacred space gathered toward him—until someone shattered the concentration with a thunderous roar.

“Brody!”

Just as Simon Elders had only two verses of the incantation left, Kyle burst into the main hall, covered in blood, and charged straight at him.

“No…!”

Simon Elders’ face turned deathly pale at the sight of Kyle coming to kill him. Reversing time was only possible if he remained alive.

Feeling an imminent threat to his life, he scrambled to his feet and grabbed an iron poker lying near the altar.

Swinging it wildly at the approaching Kyle, he screamed,

“Don’t come near me! I said, don’t come near me!”

But it was a futile resistance.

Kyle didn’t hesitate as he swung his sword at Simon Elders.

“!?”

The sword sliced through the air.

Simon Elders stood motionless, staring at Kyle.

Then, the iron poker in his grip slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground. Blood quickly soaked through his clothes.

“Gah…!”

His knees buckled.

He collapsed onto the floor as a deep wound ran from his neck down to his abdomen. Blood gushed out—it was a fatal wound.

Kyle didn’t bother confirming Simon Elders’ death.

“Brody!”

He ran toward Brody, who lay on the floor.

His gaze immediately fixed on the dagger lodged in her heart.

The magic stone had lost its glow, powerless now that its wielder’s grip had fallen away.

Kyle dropped to his knees in front of Brody, his body trembling from the shock.

His quivering hands reached out to her.

“Brody…”

He struggled to comprehend the scene before him.

Holding Brody’s dying body in his arms, he could only repeat the same words, over and over.

“No, Brody. No…”

Her ragged, gasping breaths tore his heart to shreds. His whole body burned as if it were on fire, making it impossible to breathe.

And then, overwhelmed by fear, Kyle broke down into a helpless sobbing like a child.

“Brody, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me alone here….”

Brody gazed at Kyle, who clung to her and wept desperately.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but only ragged breaths escaped.

Her blinking slowed.

Her body stiffened.

Kyle screamed at her as she kept trying to close her eyes.

“Brody, open your eyes! Please, don’t close them!”

It was a desperate, pleading cry.

And as if answering that plea, Brody used the last of her strength to open her eyes and look up at Kyle.

She met his gaze directly. Without a single flicker of hesitation.

For him, who was so afraid.

“Brody…?”

Her eyes remained steady and serene.

Her lips, once gasping for breath, stilled.

Her chest, once heaving, lay silent.

Brody died with her eyes open.

“Brody!”

Kyle’s heart plummeted.

It felt as though the world was collapsing, his soul shattering into pieces.

He shook her lifeless body, calling her name, screaming for her to wake up.

But Brody only stared back at him, cold and still.

With eyes that had lost their warmth.

And soon, the temple echoed with the wretched cries of a man who had lost everything.

 

***

 

“How much farther to the temple?”

As Alexander and Roden’s wolves raced through the forest toward the temple’s location, a sudden sense of unease struck Alexander. He turned to the butler running beside him.

But it wasn’t the butler who answered.

“Leader! The temple is just over that hill! But….”

From the skies, Kernels frowned at the sight unfolding in front of the temple.

When Alexander and the wolves crested the hill moments later, they, too, furrowed their brows.

The temple grounds were drenched in blood, as if a battle had taken place.

And the battle wasn’t over yet.

Among the scattered corpses, only two humans remained standing.

Two humans, covered in blood, facing off against tigers.

Two humans who had no business fighting such monsters.

Yet they stood at the temple entrance, as if guarding it with their lives.

And then, someone recognized them and shouted.

“Leader! Aren’t those the Oswald twins?!”

“Why are they here…?”

They were supposed to have followed Kyle.

And yet, why were they here?

As murmurs spread among the wolves, Alexander wasted no time.

It didn’t matter why they were here—what mattered was that they were moments from death.

Alexander and the wolves charged toward the tigers attacking the twins.

Meanwhile, Kernels rushed to the twins, who had collapsed in exhaustion at the sight of reinforcements.

“You two-what the hell happened?! Weren’t you following Lord Kyle? Why are you here?!”

The twins, who had withstood relentless attacks for nearly twenty minutes, were too dazed to answer.

They simply lay on the ground, barely conscious.

But even as they gasped for breath, they managed to squeeze out a response when Kernels mentioned ‘Lord Kyle.’

“The captain is inside… **** it, someone go check…”

“In the temple?”

Kernels asked in shock, but the twins gave no further reply.

Without hesitation, Kernels flapped his wings and flew into the temple in search of Kyle.

Inside, a strange, beast-like wailing echoed through the halls.

He never would have guessed the source of the sound, but something drew him toward it.

When he reached the temple’s main hall, he froze at the sight before him.

Kyle was there, clutching a lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Lord Kyle! What’s wrong? What happened—?!”

Hovering in the air, Kernels shouted in alarm, but the moment he saw the body in Kyle’s arms, he dropped to the ground.

A dagger was lodged in the chest of the lifeless figure—Brody.

“The rabbit…”

Kernels’s body went rigid as he stared in disbelief.

‘Why is Brody dead…?’

Of course, he couldn’t bring himself to voice the question. Nor could he ask what had happened.

As he sat there, dazed, a strange voice suddenly echoed through the chamber.

“Heh… Heh heh heh…”

It was a faint chuckle, yet it filled the entire hall.

Moments later, from behind a massive mirror at the far end, a figure cloaked in a dark robe emerged, walking with slow, deliberate steps.

The figure’s body was hunched and emaciated, almost skeletal from starvation.

She clicked her tongue when she saw Simon Elders’s corpse sprawled across the floor and chuckled.

“I had a feeling, so I came to check… And as expected, that pathetic tiger failed to turn back time.”

Kyle had been grieving, paying no attention to anything else. But the moment he heard that voice, he lifted his head.

Even though they had never met before, he instinctively knew who she was—Amidal, the Dark Witch.

The sinister, oppressive aura surrounding her left no doubt.

Kyle’s grief ignited into pure rage. His hand immediately reached for the sword he had dropped nearby.

But Amidal only smirked and stopped in front of him.

“Do you really think a mere sword can kill me?”

Kyle was unfazed by her mockery. He didn’t care if he had to cut her down a thousand times—he would carve her apart.

Amidal sensed his burning hatred, yet she simply cackled, her twisted laughter echoing in the chamber.

Then, opening her mouth, an abyss where even her tongue was invisible, she spoke.

“But before you try to kill me, there’s something you should know. I wasn’t the one who truly killed that rabbit. Nor was it that tiger. It was you.”

Kyle’s sword slipped from his fingers.

His pupils, which had been steady despite his fury, now trembled violently.

“If you hadn’t killed Simon Elders, he would have turned back time, and she would still be alive.”

Amidal’s laughter grew louder.

“Of course, had he gone back far enough, the timeline might have twisted, and you two may never have met. But at least she would have been alive, somewhere.”

Her words shook Kyle’s mind to its core.

‘If I hadn’t killed Simon Elders… Brody might still be alive?’

That single thought shattered the last thread of sanity he had left.

Kyle stared at Brody’s lifeless face, his eyes consumed by despair.

“Lord Kyle! Don’t listen to her! Don’t listen to a word that witch says!”

Kernels shouted desperately.

But Kyle was already lost.

He had neither the will nor the strength to resist.

As Amidal watched him crumble, she smiled in delight and finally spoke the words she had been waiting to say.

“Do you want to bring her back?”

It was a strange question—one that sounded almost like an offer.

Kyle’s ashen face turned toward her, and what he saw was a coiled black serpent.

The serpent whispered to him.

“Give me your blood and your soul, and in return… I will bring your woman back to life.”

To surrender one’s blood and soul to the Dark Witch meant complete and utter damnation. The body would perish, and the soul would be enslaved to her for eternity.

“Lord Kyle, don’t listen! If you do, you’ll die!” Kernels screamed.

But Kyle only looked at Brody.

His own life didn’t matter. If she was gone, he was already dead.

A world without her light was nothing more than eternal winter.

If one of them had to live, it had to be Brody.

It had to be.

“…If I give you those things, can you really bring her back?”

Amidal’s smile widened, splitting her face into a monstrous grin beneath her hood.

“Of course.”

Hearing her answer, Kyle made his decision without hesitation.

“Then take them.”

“No! Lord Kyle!”

Kernels’s desperate scream rang out.

But Kyle had already made up his mind.

“Take my soul, take my blood, take my flesh and bones—I don’t care. As long as Brody lives, I’ll give you everything.”