Chapter 56: Give Up?

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Give Up?

The problem was that he now had to keep running from the Empress. However, when he looked back, he saw that woman charging after him like an enraged demon. Victor couldn’t help but make a disgusted face at the sight.

’She’s seriously persistent.’

And how was he supposed to lose her now? He’d gotten lucky before because she was far away, but the Empress was now too close for him to think he could leave her behind simply by turning a few corners.

Suddenly, he felt a chill that threatened to snap his spine in half. When he looked toward the source of that terrible sensation, he saw the woman pointing a finger at him. It wasn’t until he heard a "Bang!" come out of the Empress’s mouth that he understood what that gesture was for.

A beam of white light shot down the street, and Victor, remembering the Penitent that had died instantly as though its body were made of paper, threw himself into one of the alleys.

He rolled across the ground to avoid losing too much momentum, then immediately got back up and continued running.

’What the hell is that thing?! Why can she shoot with her finger?!’

Could it have been magic, like the kind he’d seen before? Magic seemed even better than firearms, but since he hadn’t obtained anything related to it from the gacha, let alone from the corpses of the Golden Bone Penitents, he knew next to nothing about the subject.

’Damn it. She must have gotten that ability from the Penitents.’

Before he could question his bad luck for not obtaining anything similar, he turned the next corner, placing one hand against the wall, only to come to an abrupt stop when he found himself facing a dead end.

A few moments later, the Empress stopped at the entrance to the alley. She gripped her whip tightly, as though struggling to suppress her anger beneath that sinister smile attempting to imitate friendliness. Then, she began walking slowly toward Victor.

"Run out of options, Wheel of Fortune?" she said. She stretched the whip between both hands, making it crack through the entire alley.

Victor didn’t answer. He remained silent, thinking, which irritated the Empress and twisted her smile into an ugly expression of fury and disgust.

"Out of options, you say? I still have a few tricks up my sleeve," Victor whispered.

He raised his sword with both hands and looked the Empress in the eyes. She was surprised, then smiled again. Was this going to be a fight between two participants? She seemed hesitant, but eventually stepped closer to Victor.

He didn’t let himself be intimidated either. He cautiously advanced toward her, pointing his sword at the woman’s neck. The Empress then lashed her whip against the ground and charged at Victor. He did the same, running toward her, but his movement was different.

He used the burst of speed granted by the Gale Mantle and, in the blink of an eye, shot past the Empress, who was pushed back a few inches by the gust of wind.

Victor resumed his escape, glancing over his shoulder to check whether she was following him, but he didn’t see her leave the alley. Regardless of whether she intended to pursue him or not, he kept moving without stopping for the next few minutes.

Later, he rested on a bed inside a small house.

’I haven’t smelled her scent again. Did she get tired of chasing me? I mean, escaping right under her nose twice must have been a slipup on her part, but doing it a third time... She must have been furious.’

He wanted to believe the Empress was stupid and had finally grown tired of chasing someone who clearly wasn’t going to let himself be caught. People like her preyed on the weak, but Victor wasn’t particularly weak anymore.

If he could escape that woman more than once, surely he could also escape the Wendigo alongside Brika.

But getting back to the matter at hand, the day had been far too exhausting. Running, running, and running everywhere wore down both body and spirit. And although the Fairy Tear could calm him down, the stress kept piling up.

’Staying near the Center of the Scenario wasn’t a good idea, but at least I discovered a couple of interesting things, like the woman trapped inside the bubble. Although the way she was dressed was... peculiar, she’s probably the one who activated the event.’

And if she had activated the event, was it possible that she had a more important role than the others? He might find out if he freed her, but he couldn’t risk having another stalker chasing him around.

Opening the System window, Victor stared at the quest "The Hero’s Will," which remained active despite everything.

’How is she doing?’

He hadn’t thought about it because he’d been focused on getting stronger, but perhaps he simply didn’t want to imagine what the young goblin had been going through over the past few days. However, as long as she remained alive, he could keep fighting for his own survival.

’I think it’s about time I started heading back toward the dark area of the scenario. I can kill more Penitents along the way. Besides... I feel like I’m running out of time.’

That feeling gnawed at the deepest parts of his subconscious. He knew he could die at any moment because of this quest, but if he hadn’t been forced to complete it, would he have left Brika to her fate?

The answer made him feel like garbage. The truth was that Victor would have abandoned her to her fate. And it wouldn’t have been personal, since survival meant valuing your own life over that of a stranger. But Brika was no longer a complete stranger.

Maybe that’s why he felt guilty thinking about it. Deep down, he was still far too naive, even if he tried not to make the same mistake he’d made with Ajax.

He sighed tiredly, and an hour later, got up again to continue on his way. This routine made him feel like a robot whose only purpose was to perform a single task, but at least that one task could make him stronger.

And so he continued on his way, unaware that scattered throughout this vast scenario were other souls with roles that would determine their fates by the end of the event—and perhaps the fate of the scenario itself.