Chapter 180

Chapter 180

Translator: Yonnee

—

“B-Blanc?”

As I was surprised, I stuttered back.

Right, I forgot—I could communicate with Blanc through something like telepathy.

There were a few times before that Blanc talked to me through this method, but it completely slipped my mind because I rarely ever conveyed my thoughts to him like this.

It’s true that you really can’t think with a clear head while you’re panicking. It’s pathetic that I didn’t think of this earlier.

Blanc must not have known until now, too, that his thoughts would be successfully delivered to me. After all, I was merely a specter.

Anyway, it’s good that we could communicate like this. Once I realized that it was possible, it was easy to send messages through telepathy.

I gritted my teeth and started to answer him.

[ Blanc, you’re just in time. I followed after Rosé just now and— ]

But Blanc cut me off urgently.

[ Where are you? Are you in the palace? Are you with us? We need to get back to the tower! ]

He usually talked with an easy, meandering tone, but this time, he spoke clearly and rapidly. This was enough to know just how flustered Blanc was.

But as I processed his words, I couldn’t figure it out.

Why was he telling me to go back to the tower? It didn’t make sense.

[ The more time you’re not in a body, the more your soul disappears! The only reason Rosé Artius managed to stay alive for so long was because she never left the tower! ]

As I listened to Blanc, I could feel the twinging pain getting worse and worse. Rosé might really kill me like this.

Even so, I gnashed my teeth once more and moved. I had to be as close to the tower as I possibly could.

I can’t die here.

I had to do everything I could to ensure that.

Moving away from Rosé, who was still in the middle of hexing me, I ran to the tower.

[ Blanc, Rosé Artius is out at the empty clearing outside the palace! The exact location is… ]

But the very moment I managed to say where she was, I collapsed.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Mercy.

After being crushed into a wall, she struggled to stand up again. And she recalled the illusion that Rosé Artius had seen.

The spell that Mercy cast on her was, particularly, an illusion spell that would show the target’s deepest fear. It was also the most powerful spell that Mercy had in her arsenal.

All she meant to do was to momentarily stun Rosé so that she could snag Rosé’s bag, and it was for the sake of securing evidence that she was a dark mage.

…But Mercy couldn’t help but be surprised. The person she saw in Rosé’s memories was not one she ever expected.

‘It was undoubtedly Marquis Evnen.’

The marquis who was murdered by Rosteratu.

Marquis Evnen was someone who had been utterly desperate to become a mage. He even set up an altar for black magic inside his own mansion.

And he appeared in the illusion spell that Mercy had cast.

Meaning, he was the person Rosé Artius was the most terrified of.

‘Just what the hell happened in that place.’

Rosé Artius and Marquis Evnen.

It was a connection that she had never even thought of.

It’s a pain that she couldn’t ask Marquis Evnen directly since he’s already dead.

As if they had been purged, all of the members of his household had disappeared. There was no one left that she could ask regarding the marquis.

For now, the utmost priority was to report back to Albert.

‘While I was tailing Rosé Artius, I sent a message to tell His Majesty I’m here.’

Mercy rose to her feet, letting out a groan. After she had been flung to the solid wall, it felt as if all the bones in her body were screaming. It even felt like her wrist was crushed.

“Gotta hurry up and head back to the palace…”

At that moment, the tower’s main door burst open. As the door slammed to its adjacent wall, the huge sound made Mercy grimace. But the person who entered through that open door was Albert.

“Your Majesty? What are you doing here…”

Messily disheveled hair, heavily distorted expression.

But right now, it was not important how unkempt Albert looked.

In his arms, the white dragon was shrieking horribly.

The sight of the pained, writhing dragon was familiar. And ominous.

Both Mercy and Albert knew what this meant.

Graaaah!

There was one single phenomenon that would make a dragon cub screech eerily like this.

When its death was imminent.

“…Is it time for this white dragon to die?”

The dragon cub’s cries were wholly unexpected. Mercy looked up at Albert’s expression, tense.

However, he shook his head.

“No, there should still be time. The contractor’s soul is in a more precarious state than him.”

“…To the point that he’s crying like this.”

Albert and Mercy exchanged glances. The two of them quickly rushed out of the tower and moved through the sky.

“Mercy, where did Rosé Artius head to?”

At this, her expression darkened.

“I apologize, sire. I don’t know where she went. After I cast my illusion spell on her, she attacked me furiously and I lost consciousness for a while…”

“I-I know where.”

Hearing the conversation around him, Blanc laboriously spoke up.

“I-It’s where we teleported with you before, Albert.”

“…You were able to hear Jung-in’s voice then.”

Despite writhing tremendously, Blanc nodded.

As Blanc struggled to endure all the pain, Albert stroked the dragon cub’s head once. Then, Albert accelerated his pace.

“You did well, dragon cub.”

His words were completely sincere.

Anxious, Mercy asked Blanc.

“Will Miss Jung-in also feel this much pain?”

“…The silver lining in this situation is that she won’t be able to feel any pain while she’s in that soul state—unless it’s the pain of death. This dragon cub is suffering from this much pain because death draws close.”

It’s as if Albert moved at the speed of light. They arrived at that empty clearing in no time at all.

And, he soon faced Rosé Artius, who was sitting in the middle of a magic circle.

Rosé’s unfocused eyes were gradually regaining their color. Cautiously sitting down in front of her, Albert drew his lips into a gentle, worried smile.

“Whatever it was that you saw, Rosé, you have to calm down. You don’t have to do this.”

“……”

Despite Albert’s relaxed tone, she said nothing. The magic circle around her continued to glow.

He knew exactly what this was.

This magic circle, which glimmered with a deadly red hue, was a dark mage’s magic circle.

It was to cast a taboo spell based upon the spellcaster’s own lifeforce soul—and there was no stopping it unless the spellcaster herself would cease what she was doing.

Graaaah!

Blanc, who was in Albert’s arms, cried out once more.

If Albert failed to coax Rosé here, both Jung-in and Blanc would die.

So, he must stop Rosé Artius’s spell.

Immediately.