Chapter 54: A Reason to Keep Living.

With his body trembling and his breath ragged, Elias began forcing himself to stand. Even though his whole body screamed in pain, he didn’t care, and he quickly gripped his sword tight as Vladir and the White Dreadclaw walked toward him.

But as they walked, Vladir felt his body start to lose its balance, his vision turning blurry. And it wasn’t just him. The White Dreadclaw was in the same condition.

*Cough!

Suddenly, Vladir dropped to his knees and coughed up black blood.

"Poison?" he said, gasping for breath.

"I smeared my sword with poison. It might not take effect right away with a single slash, but you two got hit by my blade several times. Even if the effect isn’t at its max, it should be enough to weaken you."

Elias then raised his sword toward them.

"Come on. I can’t run. I don’t have the strength left to run at you."

Vladir glared at Elias with an irritated look, enduring the pain of the poison in his body.

"You bastard, Elias! You always use dirty tricks in a fight. Where’s your sense of honor as a knight?"

Hearing that, Elias only snorted lightly with a faint smile, then drove his sword into the ground.

"How many times have you called me ’bastard’ now? Aren’t you bored of it? And it seems there’s some kind of misunderstanding here. I’m not a knight, and this isn’t a duel or a fight for honor."

Elias then took out his five Grade B mana stones, and they floated above his head as the mana inside them seeped into Elias’s body.

"This is war." he continued, then pulled his sword from the ground and pointed it forward again, "Anything goes as long as you win. Be thankful I used a low-dose poison. If I’d used the powder poison, you’d be melting to death in seconds like your subordinates."

Hearing that, Vladir was clearly even more irritated. The reason was that he kept getting caught by Elias’s tricks, and that Elias’s words weren’t covered by any knightly code or rule of war.

And what he hated most was being compared to his subordinates.

In short, Elias was just saying what he believed was right.

Doing anything just to win in a war? It was absurd!

The man then stood up, using his sword as a crutch. Then he shot toward Elias, the White Dreadclaw following close behind.

Elias stayed where he was and let the two come to him.

The White Dreadclaw immediately lunged at Elias, trying to claw him. But Elias blocked the attack, and with mana already channeled into his sword and his legs, he could hold it off with ease.

Not giving Elias time to counterattack, Vladir launched an attack from Elias’s blind spot and swung his sword at Elias’s vital point.

But since the slash carried neither mana nor energy, Elias simply shifted his body back a little before kicking Vladir in the stomach with a leg he’d already coated in mana.

*Cough!

Vladir coughed as pain spread through his stomach. Then Elias kicked his chest, sending him stumbling backward.

And just as he finished with Vladir, the White Dreadclaw was about to strike with its other claw.

Realizing that, Elias immediately shoved it back, and as the tiger lost its balance, Elias stabbed it with his sword, which was already coated in mana.

*Roar!

The tiger roared in pain as Elias’s sword pierced it. Even though Elias had been aiming for its heart, unfortunately he missed slightly and couldn’t hit it.

But that was still good, because he’d made a hole in its body. After all, his sword was coated in poison too.

But as he was about to pull his sword out with the mana thread, Vladir punched him hard from the side. The blow to his face made Elias stagger back a little.

*Bam!

But he quickly steadied himself. He immediately answered Vladir’s punch with a punch to his face as well. As a result, Vladir staggered backward too.

Before Vladir could regain his balance, Elias pulled him in with a mana thread, then slammed his forehead hard into Vladir’s.

*Thud!

Vladir staggered and stumbled back several steps. His head hurt right away, especially his forehead. The headbutt was so hard that Vladir’s forehead split open and bled, his vision blurring, along with a dizziness from a concussion.

On the other side, Elias suffered the same, though not as badly as Vladir, and he quickly managed to steady himself.

Then, as he was about to turn toward where the White Dreadclaw was, a huge tail suddenly appeared in front of him and slammed into Elias hard.

*Bam! Thud!

Elias was sent flying and bounced off the ground several times. While he was still in the air, he shot a mana thread from his fingertip toward the tiger. And once the thread had wrapped around its neck, Elias yanked it hard, so the tiger was pulled and flew toward him.

’At the very least, I have to destroy the sinews in its body if I can’t kill it right away.’

When the tiger got close, Elias immediately cut off the mana thread. Then, with his leg coated in mana, he stomped his foot against the sword still stuck in the tiger’s chest.

The moment his foot touched the hilt, Elias quickly channeled mana into the sword and immediately pulled his foot back.

*Boom!

*Roar!

The mana inside Elias’s sword exploded inside the tiger’s body. The tiger roared loudly in agony as its sinews and muscles blew apart.

Elias then landed smoothly on the ground, and looked again at the tiger lying there. Judging by the blood around its mouth, it seemed to be coughing up blood.

’With five mana stones as supply, I can channel mana into my sword fast. Then when the sword can barely hold the mana anymore, I cut the flow off, and that causes an explosion which... should’ve been a huge one.’

Unfortunately, it had only widened the wound without really destroying any vital organs.

*Thud!

Elias only now felt the effects of the tiger’s tail blow. He immediately dropped to his knees and clutched his chest, his face growing even paler, his pupils trembling as if he could lose consciousness at any moment.

Just as he was trying to steady his breathing and stand, Vladir was suddenly right behind him with his sword ready to swing.

"The perfect position for a beheading."

"Behind you, Elias!" Evelyn and Elysia screamed.

*Slash!

Elias reflexively ducked a little lower and managed to dodge it. Then he quickly spun his body and kicked Vladir’s ankle with his heel.

But he was already too weak to move properly. As a result, the kick, meant to break Vladir’s balance, had no effect at all.

*Thud!

Since Elias’s kick hadn’t affected him, Vladir kicked Elias. Luckily, Elias managed to shield his face with his arm, but because of it, he was sent flying sideways and hit the ground.

*Cough!

"Ugh..."

"Look out, Elias!"

Before Elias could lift himself up, a blast of red breath shot toward him from behind and slammed into his back.

"Ugh!"

He was sent flying forward again, and in front of him was Vladir, his sword already coated with mana.

"Hmph!"

Vladir swung his sword at Elias, creating a red sword energy that streaked toward him.

’What?!’

Seeing the sword energy rushing at him, Elias immediately summoned a Space Arcana in front of him, as big as his own body.

*Boom!

The attack was blocked, but Elias couldn’t withstand the impact and the explosion.

"Khuk!"

Elias lost his balance, fell, and hit the ground hard. Dust billowed around his body, blocking his view for a moment before slowly fading.

*Thump...

Behind the thinning dust, Elias could be seen lying limp, face up. His body barely moved, while his breathing sounded heavy and irregular.

"No! Elias!"

Elysia screamed again when she saw Elias’s increasingly pitiful condition. With tears still soaking her face, she immediately gathered all her mana into her sword.

But in the middle of the process, Elysia coughed up blood from the backlash of overusing mana, and her body, which hadn’t recovered yet, couldn’t bear it.

But of course Elysia wasn’t going to stop there. She forced herself to keep gathering as much mana as possible into her sword.

*Cough!

She coughed up blood again and her chest began to hurt. Her breathing was ragged, and it was agonizing even though it was only an internal injury.

"Stop it, Elysia..." Evelyn said, her gaze still fixed on Elias.

Hearing that, Elysia finally realized that she couldn’t do anything. She felt like she’d fallen into a deep abyss of despair.

But she knew it wasn’t just her. Even her own sister, Evelyn, had to be going through the same thing.

Unable to do anything. Powerless, only able to watch the person they considered "important" get beaten to a pulp, hurt, and even lose an arm.

Elysia then lowered her face. Her right hand touched her aching chest and her tears began to drip onto the ground.

’This hurts. It hurts so much even though it’s only an internal injury. Elias, I’m sorry... You must be suffering so much...’

On the other side, Elias was still staring upward. He wanted to see whether it was morning now or still night. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell because of the thick foliage.

His breathing was ragged, his eyes were growing heavy, and his pupils had begun to tremble as the light in his eyes started to fade.

"Why are you doing this?"

Suddenly, a man’s voice echoed in his mind.

’I don’t know.’

"Why do you go this far to fight an enemy so much stronger than you?"

’I don’t know.’

"Is it because of the Main Quest? Why didn’t you refuse it? Are you afraid of dying?"

’I couldn’t refuse it because I’m afraid of dying.’

"Are you tired?"

’Extremely.’

"Do you want to rest?"

’Even if I want to, I can’t. I still have work I haven’t finished.’

"Work isn’t something mandatory. If you’re tired, you can stop to rest or take leave."

’I know that.’

"Then why don’t you just stop? Rest, sleep for a long time."

’...because I still have responsibilities I have to fulfill. I made a promise to Evelyn and Elysia. I still haven’t found the Heartbloom for those two girls’ mother.’

"How will you look for it in your current condition? Even if you were fine, you have no information, and you don’t have much time left."

’I know. But I’m still going to look for it. Even if I end up dying, I don’t mind.’

"Don’t you think about your little sister?"

’My... little sister?’

"Your little sister must be waiting for you at home right now. She must be imagining what you’re doing at this very moment. She must also be impatient for you to send your letter at the end of the month.

"And before the month has even ended, your sister gets a letter, but not about your life as a Caretaker. A letter notifying her that you’re dead. Do you want to make that girl sad?"

’Mira... No. I don’t.’

"So do you still want to die?"

’Not anymore. I have to stay alive! The only family I have is waiting for me at home.’

*Boom!

"Oh my~ what a mess."

"Is this the place?"

"According to Master, yes, it’s here."

"Once this is over, I’m going to ask for my ’share’ tonight with Master. How dare he make me work! The payment is that his ’seed’ has to be inside my belly!"

"I’m hungry."

"Can you guys calm down?"

"It’s scary here..."

A sudden explosion went off, sending dust flying. Evelyn, Elysia, and Vladir, who saw it, were clearly shocked and curious.

Then from within the dust, seven shadowy figures talking among themselves began to appear.

* * *