EP: 94
“What are you doing…”
Muriel nervously paced back and forth, watching Kaiton with her eyes. He was fighting against the creature that had finally appeared. It was a demon harboring a fragment of Ur’s sculpture, just as the rumors had said.
The creature had a peculiar appearance, as if it had mixed the features of a fish, an alligator, and a dinosaur. It had giant and eerie fish-like eyeballs that occupied half of its face, an alligator-like snout and skin, and long, swift legs reminiscent of a dinosaur. The creature was a corrupted spirit, but Muriel had never seen a spirit with such a form. It meant that it wasn’t a naturally formed monster.
She had discovered it by chance while trying to fill the belly of the nagging pony who never stopped asking for food. It was good that the search had not dragged on any longer, but Muriel became anxious when she realized Kaiton wasn’t using her pacio even when facing the demon.
“Fen, can you go and help Kaiton?”
Muriel whispered to Fen, who was standing beside her. Fen was on high alert, like a guard dog trying to protect Muriel, and was closely watching the demon.
“Stay still. Fen is here to protect you.”
As if he’d somehow heard her, Kaiton, who was facing the demon, turned around and said firmly. It was unbelievable that he would let his guard down while the demon was relentlessly attacking him. Muriel’s hands became sweaty with anxiety, fearing that he might be caught by the tail of the rock-like demon. However, Kaiton himself seemed calm. He stared at Muriel with a resolute expression as if making sure she heard him.
“Alright…! Look ahead, please!!”
As soon as Muriel shouted, the demon struck at Kaiton. Without looking back, Kaiton dropped a back thunderbolt and hit it accurately. But the demon didn’t stop.. As powerful as Kaiton’s attack was, it wouldn’t be enough to bring down the demon’s much faster regenerative ability. The demon, resembling an alligator and a fish, continued its charge and absorbed Kaiton’s pacio. In an instant, Kaiton’s body turned pale like the demon.
“No… Kaiton!”
Muriel ran out, clutching her heart that seemed to sank.
“How audacious… Who are you trying to imitate?”
The provoked Kaiton, with a wild and crazed smile like he’d gone berserk, gathered the dark lightning into a massive ball. His black cloak fluttered as if it would fly away, and the powerful force pushed the rock-like demon back. The black lightning, as if gathering the darkness of the world, grew as large as the demon’s body, but there was no movement in Muriel’s pacio.
Kaiton’s face turned pale, and cold sweat formed on his forehead. It was evidence that he was nearing his limit. Yet, stubbornly… What was he going to do if he really turned into a demon.. Restlessly, Muriel ran, tightly biting her dry and chapped lips. As if to protect her, Fen bit her clothes and wouldn’t let go, but she struggled and pushed, edging closer to him.
She was thinking to at least give him a slap or something so he would stop being so stubborn, when another demon, identical in appearance, appeared on the opposite side. A demon bearing a fragment… Two of them.
“Kasal… this bastard….”
***
Kaiton and Muriel evacuated for the time being. No matter how powerful Kaiton was, it was impossible for him to face two demons who had absorbed people’s pacio and rapidly regenerated and gained immense strength at the same time. That is, without using Muriel’s pacio.
As Muriel flew in his embrace, she frowned at the cold body temperature she felt over his clothes. He pretended to be fine, but his face was pale and bloodless, and cold breath leaked out whenever he shook his chest.
“You’re as cold as an ice sheet… Are you alright?”
“I’ll manage.”
Muriel’s annoyance and uneasiness exploded at his indifferent attitude towards his own physical condition.
“You’ll manage? Are you crazy?! Have you lost your damn mind? Why aren’t you using my pacio? Are you really trying to become a demon? Why on earth are you acting like this?”
“It seemed like you liked me but you were trying to push me away… It bothered me. So I was curious what would happen if I were to bleed.”
“…What did you say?”
He was joking, right? She wanted to ask that, but Kaiton, looking down at Muriel’s astonished face with a blank expression, said bluntly.
“When you admitted that you do like me and won’t push me away, then… I was planning to use your pacio again then.”
“Ha! You’re insane…! Why are you so reckless, you?”
Kaien seemed sincere. It was an arrogant idea that he could not have thought of unless he was certain Muriel liked him. Muriel was seething with such anger she couldn’t say anything for a while. She just glared at Kaien. She wanted to punch him, but his complexion was too poor for her to do so.
“Since I said, ‘I shouldn’t love you’… you’re not going to still hang on to that, are you?”
Admitting her love… Muriel couldn’t easily open her mouth in response to Kaiton’s remark. Kaiton might become a demon, so she wondered why she still hesitated. What was the problem with some empty memories? Still, she couldn’t bring herself to answer easily, so her lips remained sealed.
“It’s okay. I don’t intend to become a demon either.”
“…”
Kaiton smiled bitterly.
“Instead… I’m doing this.”
Kaiton lifted Muriel’s hand and placed it on his face. As if telling her to cover her face like a child playing peek-a-boo. In a situation where there were two demons wreaking havoc, both possessing fragments of Ur, why was he doing such a thing?
“Why…? Shouldn’t we at least see so we can run away?”
“I won’t do anything to put you in danger. There’s no need for you to see, so just cover it properly.”
As if covering her face with just her hands wasn’t enough, he swept her hair forward and hung it over her face like a curtain.
“You have to stay like this so I won’t be bothered.”
Muriel glared at Kaiton through the gaps in her ghostly, drooping hair. Still, when Muriel didn’t remove her hands from her face, Kaiton pushed up the corners of his mouth in satisfaction.
“The way you get restless when worried about me… I’ll be the only one to see it. So cover properly. Then I’ll use your pacio.”
“…”
“Answer.”
He still cared about Ondal. It was foolish. Even if Ondal had Sharan’s eyes, she was always by his side. Muriel couldn’t understand what the hell was wrong with him. But she complied with his grumpy stubbornness for a moment because the hand that had briefly touched hers was chillingly cold. She thought he’d be in big trouble if his pacio dropped even a little more.
“You know what? You’re such a foolish idiot.”
Muriel murmured with both hands on her cheeks, and Kaien, momentarily surprised, widened his eyes before bursting into laughter, shaking his head. His laughter was so soft and delightful that it could be mistaken for enjoying being insulted.
“…Yeah. I’ve always been a fool.”
I’m glad you know… A sweet voice came through as if it would melt away while she was sulking alone. It was a tender voice from Kaiton, which she hadn’t heard since the incident with the Dream Butterfly, and her immunity to it had completely disappeared.
“Keep covering it well, Mure. You’re going to do that, aren’t you?”
Before she knew it, she was called Mure again. Her heart began to beat like it would explode in response to his soft questioning tone, so Muriel covered her face with her hands before he could question again. The cheeks she held were burning hot.
“I understand… Be careful, too, Kaiton.”
***
“Hng….”
With a groan, blood trickled from tightly pressed lips. Muriel exhaled heavily despite not knowing pain. Her cold breath left a blurry trace before dispersing.
When Kaiton took her pacio, it felt as if all the blood was being drained from her body, replaced with icy water. The chilling sensation pierced her veins like sharp ice, spreading throughout her body. Muriel had to exert all her strength in order to endure and suppress the urge to scream at him to quit right away. It felt as though her heart was about to stop. Her entire body trembled like laundry in a dehydrator.
Muriel watched Kaiton fight against the demon while forcing herself to stand, her weakened knees threatening to give out. She saw Kaiton’s expression stiffen when she lowered her hand from her face. How ridiculous… Even in this situation, Kaiton’s strange obsession amused her. But her heart warmed slightly. She could endure the deathly coldness a little longer.
Yes… Just a little more…
Just a tiny bit longer…
If it weren’t for Kaiton, Muriel would have already let go. However, she endured with clenched teeth at the thought that if she collapsed now, Kaiton might be in danger.
The demon, resembling a mix of fish and crocodile, had stolen countless people’s pacio over time and unleashed an enormous amount of magic power with each spell. Kaiton skillfully blocked the monstrous attacks, constantly depleting Muriel’s paio that barely refilled in one go. No, it felt like he was taking it away before it even filled up. Like a greedy plunderer with an insatiable appetite.
Why was he being so stubborn if he was going to do this…
As if seeking compensation for his previous restraint, Kaiton ruthlessly took what was hers more mercilessly than ever. Exploiting the gaps in the demon’s defenses, he cast another massive spell.
“Gasp…!”
An involuntary cry escaped her. Finally, her knees gave way. She should speak up and say she couldn’t endure any longer… But she couldn’t open her mouth as if it was frozen.
At that moment, the other demon, seemingly seizing the opportunity, approached Muriel and surrounded her. It didn’t take away her pacio since she had a fragment of Ur, but she was still exposed to the misfortune and terror brought by the living calamity.
“Krr…ugh!”
A terrible emptiness and melancholy. Sharp misfortune and fear that pierced into a frozen, cold heart. Muriel eventually trembled and lost consciousness.
In her collapsing, blurry vision, she thought she could see Kaiton’s face rushing at her. However, unable to distinguish between illusion and reality, Muriel believed it to be a phantom she had created. Kaiton, white with fear. She was undoubtedly seeing an illusion.
