Chapter 52: A Desperate Resolve

Evelyn slowly closed her eyes, accepting the fate that had her on the brink of death.

*Boom!

The sound of a loud explosion rang out, followed by thick dust that blanketed the area around them.

But after several moments passed, Evelyn still hadn’t felt anything.

With her body completely powerless, she slowly opened her eyes just a little to see what had really happened.

And that was when she saw someone standing right in front of her with a wide Space Arcana.

"Elias...?"

With three Grade B mana stones floating above Elias, he was able to widen the Space Arcana beyond his own ability. He knew his Space Arcana Affinity wasn’t high, but just using it like this wasn’t that hard for Elias.

What made it hard was that he had to pour out a huge amount of mana to widen the Space Arcana. But with three Grade B mana stones supplying the mana, the mana problem was solved right away.

Elias honestly hadn’t known something like this could be done. Back when he was still playing the game, mana stones could only be used for bartering or as a substitute for currency, as fuel for transportation, and as the energy cores of monsters.

The three mana stones floating above him vanished like dust blown away by the wind. Instantly, Elias’s Space Arcana disappeared along with them.

He then turned to look at the two girls behind him. Elysia was unconscious from her earlier wounds, while Evelyn, who had the worst injuries, was still managing to hold on to a little bit of consciousness.

Elias furrowed his brow at the sight of the two girls, especially Evelyn’s condition, with half her face covered in blood and tears streaming from her eyes.

He shot Vladir a sharp glare.

’You damn bastard...’

His jaw started to tighten, and the veins at his temple began to throb as he looked at Vladir.

"What are you looking at, huh?"

Vladir was startled and immediately went on guard, sweat dripping down his cheek as he saw the expression on Elias’s face. He’d been surprised earlier when Elias suddenly showed up, but he still hadn’t taken him seriously. After all, the man wasn’t as strong as the two girls he’d fought before.

After glaring hard at Vladir, Elias let out a small breath before pulling out all one hundred defensive Magic Talismans he had and tossing them toward the two girls.

’The good news is I wasn’t too late. The bad news is they’re both badly hurt.’

The Magic Talismans floated over and began to circle around them, before a golden-yellow light covered the area.

The light had ten layers, each layer ten times stronger than the one before.

’These Magic Talismans are the best Defensive type I’ve got. Just one can block an attack of Grade C or above. With this, they’ll definitely be safe. On top of that, I’ll set up a support-type Magic Talisman for their recovery.’

Elias then took a green Magic Talisman out of his storage pouch. The Magic Talisman floated up, passing through all the barriers, and hovered above the two girls.

After that, green energy began to flow out of the Magic Talisman and soaked right into Evelyn and Elysia’s bodies.

With a faint voice and ragged breathing, Evelyn heavily raised one trembling hand toward Elias.

"...Elias..."

Elias looked at the girl for a moment before turning around and drawing his sword.

"I’m sorry, Lady. I should never have left you two. I should’ve been more careful and watchful about the disruptive variables. I never should’ve said that I’d find the Heartbloom to cure Madam."

"...no..."

Blue energy began to slowly wrap around Elias’s body.

"I’m truly sorry, Lady."

Elias’s grip on his sword’s hilt began to tighten, and the blue energy strengthened along with it, covering his entire body.

[Ding! Through your anger and deep regret, you have successfully created your own energy.]

[Your energy is still at level one. You still have some stat points. Only this time, the stat points can be used to raise its level. Would you like to use your stat points?]

’Two stat points.’

[Ding! Your energy has risen to level 3.]

[Your energy has increased rapidly!]

"I’ll bring you both back home to the mansion. And I’ll bring back the Heartbloom to cure Madam, too."

"...no... Elias..."

’Please don’t... Don’t go over there, Elias! I don’t want you to be like "that" again!’

Right before Elias shot off toward Vladir and the White Dreadclaw, he said:

"I promise."

After saying that, Elias dashed toward Vladir and the White Dreadclaw with his sword in his right hand and a twig in his left, the one he’d picked up earlier. Behind him he left Elysia, still unconscious, and Evelyn, who watched Elias go with tears in her eyes.

Vladir snorted, and an arrogant look immediately appeared on his face as Elias charged at him.

"Hmph! Are you insane? You’re going to fight me with that power of yours?"

"Shut up, you bastard."

Elias immediately released the twig in his left hand, which he’d already filled with mana. The twig shot straight toward Vladir and the White Dreadclaw like a small bullet, but with the destructive power of a cannon.

Vladir’s right hand was instantly wrapped in red energy, and the White Dreadclaw beside him immediately stepped in front of Vladir to block Elias’s attack.

Even though Vladir could have easily blocked Elias’s attack himself, he just felt that Elias wasn’t an opponent worthy of his effort.

Realizing his attack wouldn’t work on the White Dreadclaw, Elias immediately directed a mana thread to the flying twig, then raised his index finger upward.

Instantly, the twig’s direction shifted upward, and then Elias pointed forward again and locked onto Vladir as the target by connecting the mana thread on the twig to Vladir’s body.

Vladir was shocked when the twig was suddenly right above him.

*Boom!

With the distance already so close, Vladir had no time to react and took the attack directly. It created an explosion that sent the tiger in front of him flying toward Elias.

As the White Dreadclaw was blasted toward Elias, he met it with a sword already coated in his own blue energy and smeared with poison as well.

*Slash!

Elias managed to slash the tiger, and even though the wound was small, at least he’d been able to cut through its flesh and blood. After all, his sword was smeared with the potent poison made by Auntie Centipede.

After taking the slash, the tiger slammed into the ground hard. Then it shook its head and began roaring at Elias.

*Roar!

Then from behind him came the sound of Vladir starting to shout, loud and full of rage.

"Elias, you bastard!"

Elias looked at Vladir for a moment before turning back to the tiger on his right.

’Vladir’s strength is probably around C+, while this tiger might be Grade B. I can tell from their energy. But how did Vladir manage to control a monster this big? An artifact? A technique? I don’t know.

What matters most is how I can stall until the Team Captain gets here and evacuates the two girls.’

His mind began to fill with questions that were hard to find answers to in a situation like this. Even if the situation weren’t like this, he’d still have trouble finding the answers.

"What’s your real goal in targeting the Nocturne Expedition team? Don’t you know Nocturne is one of the three great powers of the Vloda Empire? Is Everhart trying to start a war between nations?"

’Let’s ask a few things while stalling for time.’

Vladir then wrapped his whole body in red energy before pointing his sword forward.

"If your goal is to stall, then it’s useless. Besides, all of this is the Count’s plan, I’m only his subordinate."

"You hold a pretty high rank as his subordinate. You should know a few things."

"Even if I did, I still wouldn’t tell you!"

Vladir shot forward toward Elias. On the other side, the White Dreadclaw also leaped at Elias.

Realizing that his plan to buy time had failed didn’t make Elias panic.

He immediately pulled ten wooden twigs out of his storage pouch. Then he quickly filled all the twigs with mana and aimed five of them at each of the two enemies.

"Hmph!"

But unfortunately, they deflected the twigs with ease.

"Cheap tricks!" Vladir said before charging at Elias again.

"Oh, yeah? Then can you dodge my cheap tricks again?"

Elias moved his fingers, controlling the mana threads that were still connected to the twigs from before.

Several of the twigs that Vladir and the White Dreadclaw had deflected suddenly turned. Two of them shot in from the side, while the rest headed for the ground around their feet.

*Boom! Boom!

The chain of explosions sent dirt scattering. Vladir quickly leaped to dodge the explosion beneath his feet, but his movement slowed a little.

Elias dashed forward, swinging his sword at the side of Vladir’s body that wasn’t fully protected yet.

*Slash!

Blood sprayed from a fairly deep wound.

"ARGH!"

Vladir hurriedly backed off, pressing a hand to his side. His face darkened when he saw the blood soaking his hand.

"You...!"

Elias didn’t give him the chance to go on. He immediately directed his mana threads to the remaining twigs, getting ready for his next attack.

But the White Dreadclaw suddenly let out a loud roar.

*Roar!

The mana energy around the monster surged. Its body slowly grew larger while the pressure it gave off rose drastically.

The White Dreadclaw’s energy kept climbing until it finally stopped at a level different from before.

’It leveled up?!’

Elias quickly backed off a few steps. The poison on his sword should have taken effect if it had gotten into the enemy’s body, but he didn’t yet know how effective it would be against the monster in front of him.

What was more worrying was that the White Dreadclaw didn’t seem to show any signs of weakening at all.

Vladir wiped the blood from his side, then chuckled softly.

"Don’t get too happy just because you managed to hurt me."

He raised his left hand and red energy began to wrap around his palm. At that very moment, a burning heat suddenly crept up from Elias’s left hand.

"What...?"

He then looked down and found that the same red energy was appearing on his left hand, spreading from the back of his hand to his wrist, and then up to his elbow.

He tried channeling mana to check it, but that strange sensation only grew stronger.

"What the hell is this?"

Elias tried to channel mana into his hand again, but now it hurt.

Vladir moved his left hand slightly. The red energy on Elias’s hand pulsed along with it, as if the two were connected.

"There’s a reason from the very beginning why the mana in your Magic Talismans kept disappearing."

Elias stared at Vladir with a confused look.

Vladir continued, "Why did the mana in your Magic Talismans disappear? Well, the answer is that the White Dreadclaw absorbed it."

Hearing that, Elias was shocked on the spot. And it wasn’t only Elias. Even Evelyn, whose consciousness was starting to return, was shocked.

’So that’s why Elysia and I couldn’t beat it. Even though we worked so hard to reach this level at our age. And all of it was just for this... To avoid this very thing!’

Just as Evelyn started to feel that all her hard work had been for nothing, Vladir spoke again.

"And that mark on your left hand has been there ever since we shook hands."

Elias’s eyes widened slightly as he remembered their first meeting. Back then, Vladir had refused to shake hands with his right hand and had responded with his left.

’Damn it! This guy...’

Vladir laughed at Elias, who clenched his jaw at the realization.

"Ah, I forgot one thing..."

The White Dreadclaw suddenly moved, and in an instant, the monster lunged at Elias from the front. Elias tried to dodge to the side, but he was too late.

The White Dreadclaw’s jaws clamped shut on his left hand.

*Crack!

"ARGH!"

Unbearable pain shot through his hand. The monster’s fangs pierced his flesh, while the pressure of its jaws felt like it was about to crush the bones in his hand.

"The energy coming out of your hand is an energy it hates with a passion." Vladir said, smiling wide at Elias.

The White Dreadclaw lifted its head, and Elias’s body was lifted off the ground along with it.

Before Elias could pull free, the monster shook its head savagely, slamming his body into the ground hard.

*Bam! Bam!

"Elias!" Evelyn screamed, tears soaking her face.

He was slammed so hard that the ground beneath him cracked. Blood ran from his forehead, while the wounds in his chest and ribs flared up again from the impact. His left hand was still trapped in the White Dreadclaw’s bite.

’It hurts like hell, damn it! Feels like I wanna cry...’

Elias tried to lift his sword with his right hand and slash at the monster’s head.

*Clang!

His slash left only a thin scratch, and the White Dreadclaw didn’t even loosen its bite.

The monster shook its head again, even harder.

Elias felt the bones in his left hand starting to crack. The pain was so intense that he almost lost consciousness.

’I can’t keep going like this.’

Elias then painfully raised his sword and slashed off his own left arm.

*Slash!

"Aghh!!!"

* * *