Chapter 379: The Demise of the Chef

“Who’s your hostage?!”

Seizing the brief opening, a tower shield that filled most of Patrick’s vision charged toward the Bishop. Behind it was Aive, her eyes blazing with killing intent.

The Flaming Hand Armor materialized a longsword burning with furious flames, which she brought down mercilessly upon the Bishop. The wine, still in the air, ignited in the wind and scorched Patrick’s face, searing his flesh with pain.

“Damn it, stay away from me!” Protective energy coalesced around Patrick, coating his body and gear in a layer of phantom-like frost. “Malak! What are you still gawking at?!”

As if startled from a dream, the Martial Monk drew his Exotic Sword and stepped between Aive and Patrick, holding the blade horizontally. “Miss Awei, my apologies, but I have my dut—”

“Get out of my way!”

Aive’s chaotic golden hair flew up as she charged, the Half-Elf rushing straight at the Martial Monk. Malak tried to dodge, but the heavy tower shield bore down on him like an avalanche, compressing the space he had to use his Martial Arts to the absolute minimum.

Longer weapons typically hold an advantage over shorter ones, but what good is a long weapon if there’s no room to wield it?

BOOM! Barely ten seconds had passed. Malak had just spotted an opening on Aive’s flank and was preparing to counterattack, but her tower shield suddenly pivoted at an impossible angle and accelerated, crashing toward his face with a thunderous sonic boom. Caught completely off guard, the Martial Monk only had time to raise his arm to block. The next instant, he was sent flying backward as if struck by a carriage.

The sounds of shattering metal and bone mingled in the air. No one knew just how much damage Aive’s Shield Strike had inflicted on the fellow Half-Elf Martial Monk. He didn’t even have time to let out a muffled grunt before he passed out completely.

“—” Silvia, who was holding the ropes binding Daniel and Liya, stood frozen in place, staring blankly at her Half-Elf companion. ‘When did she get so strong?’

Perhaps some of the credit belonged to the Acceleration Technique she had cast, but even without her help, Malak would have been no match for Aive!

“That’s my girl! You truly are my daughter!” Liya, having just broken free from her bonds, leaped up excitedly and pumped her fist. “That’s it! Show these vermin what you’re made of!”

“Tsk!” Patrick’s expression darkened, his face twisting with cruelty. The well-mannered facade he had worn moments ago vanished in an instant. “Useless piece of trash!”

“Don’t think for a second I’m afraid of you. This is my home turf! In the name of my master—die!”

“Aive, get back!” The moment the Bishop of the Molten Iron Barrier’s fingertips began to glow with negative energy, Ron knew something was wrong. As he acted, an ice wall instantly erupted from the ground at Patrick’s feet. The terrain manipulation caused by the Arcane Magic blasted Patrick backward, shattering his Magic Armor and coating his entire body in a thick layer of frost.

“Too late!” Patrick laughed. Though he was nearly frozen solid, his spell had already been unleashed. It shot forth as a streak of light, piercing through the ice wall and the person behind it.

“No one can escape my Death Finger!” the disheveled Bishop shrieked hysterically. His body flickered, growing intangible as the now unsupported chunks of ice slid off him, no longer able to impede his movement. “Just you wait! None of you will escape! Not a single one!”

Etherealization. Once he fully merged with the overlapping space on the edge of the Astral Plane, no one here would be able to catch or track him. But right now, no one cared whether the Bishop lived or died.

“Aive!” Daniel cried in alarm, rushing toward the spot behind the ice wall. Ron dispelled the spell, not stopping the father who was frantic with worry for his daughter. Since neither side of the wall was visible to the other, he completely understood Daniel’s feelings.

However, the situation was slightly different from what he imagined.

Aive had lowered her sword and shield, her gaze vacant as she stared straight ahead. There, another figure had taken advantage of the instant the ice wall rose to leap in front of her, intercepting the target of Patrick’s spell.

“Baka?!” Daniel was stunned too. He looked the ordinary, if somewhat burly, man up and down. “You… why did you…”

When did he get here? When did he rush over? And why would he throw himself in front of Aive?

No one knew. He was just an ordinary man. In the chaos just now, no one would have paid any attention to someone who posed almost no threat.

Baka was still standing, but his body had begun to tremble uncontrollably. His veins bulged as purplish-blue patterns appeared on his hairy limbs, spreading rapidly toward his neck and face.

“Boss,” the Ogre grimaced, “my neck’s not listening to me anymore. Can you check on me? Is Miss…?”

“I… I’m fine,” Aive said, moving to stand in front of Baka. She saw the man’s expression gradually relax. “Why would you do that?”

As a veteran Warrior and a Half-Elf, her constitution was far superior to that of an ordinary man like Baka. Unless her luck was absolutely abysmal, it was nearly impossible for a single spell to kill her.

‘The cook’s sacrifice was admirable, but was it really worth it?’

“No, it was worth it, Miss Awei,” Baka said, his speech becoming strained. Unintelligible growls rumbled in his throat from time to time. “I’m a villain, wicked beyond redemption. I’ve killed so many people I can’t even remember them all.”

“I thought I would die at your hands, just like my Mage friend, Henry. But your parents, and the Lord, gave me another chance—a chance to start over as a new man.”

“But… but… COUGH, COUGH,” he hacked. Large patches of skin and muscle on his face and body were rapidly decaying and sloughing off. As one of the most powerful spells, Death Finger not only caused an agonizing death but could also resurrect its victim as a zombie, bound to obey the Caster’s will. Baka was clearly beginning to turn. “I’ve been helping in your family’s tavern. Even though I was just cooking, I always felt like my hands were stained with blood, even when they were only holding potatoes and carrots.”

“In Rose City, no one would have known your past,” Liya said, walking over. She looked at the cook she had personally vouched for, but her eyes were devoid of emotion. “You could have lived on, until the day you died. The world would have held no trace of you.”

In an Elf’s long life, partings through life and death are commonplace. As they age, even their own experiences can begin to feel like someone else’s story, let alone the lives of others.

“Madam, you…” Baka tried to smile, but a twitch of his face only revealed two rows of teeth, no longer covered by his cheeks. “I’m only human. I would wash my hands thirty or forty times a day, but it only made me feel dirtier. I finally understand. You can’t escape the past. It will follow you forever.”

“There’s only one way to atone for your sins, even just a little. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait too long.”

Baka called out Ron’s name, his voice raspy. “Lord, can you lend me a hand? I don’t want to cause any more trouble for you all. I think… I think I’m about to turn into something el—”