Chapter 53: As Long as Evil Exists

I lay panting on the stone floor.

My right eye had swollen completely shut. Several of my ribs were broken again, and my right arm was bent backward at an unnatural angle just above the elbow.

My muscles were on the verge of giving out. Whenever I tried to move my legs, they trembled uncontrollably, and blood was still seeping from the bite wounds across different parts of my body.

Killing the remaining white creatures after destroying the Core had taken much longer than I expected. Driven mad by the death of the goat-headed giant, the monsters had attacked me without fear, and some continued crawling even after their bodies had been torn apart.

By the time I killed the last one, I no longer had the strength to remain standing.

In the end, I had collapsed onto the floor of the ruined temple.

I looked up at the moon with my only open eye.

The moon was perfectly clear. Despite the hundreds of shattered creatures, collapsed walls, and black stains spread across the snow around me, the sky was incredibly peaceful.

"So peaceful..."

Only a few minutes ago, screams and explosions had echoed through this place. Now, I could hear nothing except the faint hum of the cold wind passing between the stones.

I looked at the System notifications in front of me.

[Overlap Cleared.]

[Reward calculation complete.]

[Eclipsie Points Earned: 20]

[Current Eclipsie Points: 26]

Twenty Eclipsie Points...

Before this, I had streamed, completed missions, and tried to escape the punishment of wearing a bunny-girl outfit just to earn a few points. Now, a single Overlap had given me twenty.

The size of the reward seemed reasonable compared to the danger I had faced. I had come close to death several times, broken most of the bones in my body at least once, and killed more creatures than I could remember.

When I opened my stats screen, I noticed several other changes.

[Strength: 18 (+20)]

[Agility: 18 (+20)]

[Endurance: 19 (+20)]

[Permanent Stat Increases]

Aside from the temporary twenty points provided by the potions, my Strength had increased by five, my Agility by six, and my Endurance by five.

I had been forced to train for hours just to gain a single point through normal exercise. Here, my body had constantly pushed beyond its limits, running hundreds of times, avoiding attacks, and forcing itself to endure blows it normally couldn’t withstand.

Considering all the physical pain I had gone through, a total increase of sixteen points seemed quite reasonable.

"Maybe you could’ve given me a little more, you stingy System..."

The System didn’t respond to my complaint.

No matter how peaceful things felt right now, I still had something to do. I needed to check on the people I had left behind.

I planted my uninjured left arm against the ground and tried to stand. My muscles began trembling at the slightest movement, and the pain spreading from my ribs took my breath away.

"Ahhh... Damn it..."

I tried again, but I could only lift my body a few centimeters. When my head began to spin, I fell onto my back again.

"Sir Guardian, are you sleeping?"

My entire body tensed at the voice coming from nearby.

I quickly turned my head while reaching for the bat with my left hand. Although the sudden movement made my broken ribs hurt even more, I managed to prepare myself for an attack.

But there was no monster in front of me.

Cecilia stood a few steps away, the blue tips of her white hair moving gently in the wind. Her blue eyes examined me with concern as she held her crystal necklace in both hands.

Seeing her, I let out a relieved breath.

"I told you to stay behind, kid..."

"But you won!" she immediately replied. "And you’re badly hurt."

She pulled a small bottle filled with blue liquid from her necklace and held it out to me.

The moment I saw the healing potion, all my worries disappeared.

I snatched the bottle from her hand like a starving monster, pulled the cap off with my teeth, and drank the entire thing at once.

"Hey, slow—"

Before Cecilia could finish her sentence, the potion began taking effect.

The warmth spreading through my body reached my broken ribs first. I felt a brief pain as the bones moved back into place, then my right arm began straightening before my eyes.

My swollen eye opened. The bite wounds closed, my torn muscles joined back together, and within seconds, every trace of pain disappeared from my body.

I drew a deep breath into my lungs.

My exhaustion was completely gone, and my energy had returned.

After standing, I checked my arms and legs. Although my clothes were torn and covered in blood, not a single scar remained on my skin.

I was falling a little more in love with these potions every time I used one.

"We should go back to the others," I said.

"They’re safe."

Cecilia’s answer made me stop.

"What?"

"The Guardians arrived. While you were fighting here, lots of lights appeared in the sky. Some of them went down to the people and started healing the injured."

I turned toward the rocky area.

In the distance, I could see lights of different colors moving between the trees and stone ruins. Blue, red, and golden glows were gradually approaching our location.

The real Guardians must have entered the moment the Overlap was cleared.

Knowing the people were safe lifted a great weight from my shoulders.

Then I realized I was facing another problem.

If the Guardians found me, I might have to explain who I was. I didn’t trust the name Orochimaru to fool them for very long.

Even worse, if they discovered my identity, they would learn that I was Noctis, the boy cast out by the Evernight family.

I couldn’t allow that to happen.

When Cecilia approached me, the concern had completely disappeared from her face.

"Sir Guardian, you were so cool!"

She began excitedly moving her little arms as she reenacted my fight.

"First, you swung your bat like this, and the bad monster went flying—bam! Then you hit the other one—boom! Then they all jumped on you, but you blew them up—BAAAM!"

She ran between the stones while making her own sound effects and pretended to bring an imaginary bat down on the monsters.

"Then the goat monster came and threw you into the wall. I was really scared, but you got back up!"

I decided to stop her before she explained how I had defeated the goat-headed creature. I wasn’t sure that part belonged in my heroic story.

I approached her and stroked her white hair. As the blue tips slipped between my fingers, Cecilia leaned her head a little farther into my hand.

"Haha... I guess I was a little cool."

"You were amazing!" Her blue eyes lit up again. "You’re the coolest Guardian I’ve ever seen after my dad."

The pride she felt for her father was obvious from her expression. Being mentioned in the same sentence as him felt nicer than I expected.

"That’s nice to hear."

I looked back toward the approaching lights.

I could hear voices now as well. Some people were searching the ruins for survivors, while another group was moving toward the temple.

It was time for me to leave.

"Little one."

Cecilia turned toward me.

"Sir Guardian has to go now."

Her cheerful expression immediately changed.

"Huh? Aren’t you coming with us?"

I shook my head.

I transformed Umbrella into an umbrella and rested it against my shoulder. Then I straightened my back, trying to look as cool as possible.

I needed something impressive for a hero to say before leaving.

I spoke the first sentence that came to mind in a serious voice.

"As long as evil exists, I cannot rest."

Cecilia’s eyes shone with admiration.

Unable to believe that it had worked, I turned around. Before she could ask any more questions, I began walking toward the dark path between the ruins.

"Take care, Sir Guardian!" she called after me.

Without turning around, I raised one hand and waved.

"Don’t get separated from your family again, little one."

Cecilia continued watching my black-armored back until I disappeared among the rocks.

By the time the Guardians’ lights reached her, I had already entered the forest.

Once I was sure I had gone far enough, I lowered the umbrella from my shoulder and let out a relieved breath. The cool image I had maintained for the past few minutes disappeared at the same time.

"How am I supposed to get home now?"

If I took out my phone and checked my location, I could easily find the route from the park to my apartment. Even though the surroundings still looked strange from the Overlap’s effects, the satellite connection should have returned by now.

I reached into the pocket beneath my armor.

My fingers touched small, sharp pieces.

I froze.

"Wait..."

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!"

I checked my pocket more carefully.

"My phone?!"

When I pulled my hand out, my palm held pieces of the cracked screen, bent metal, and a small section of what remained of the phone’s back cover.

I stared at them in silence for several seconds.

Then I let out a scream that echoed throughout the park.

"MY PHONE!"

Considering that the goat-headed creature had thrown me through walls, dozens of monsters had piled on top of me, and Umbrella had blown up the entire temple, expecting the device to remain intact would have been stupid.

Even so, I didn’t want to accept the truth.

I dropped to my knees and stared at the broken pieces in my palm.

"My angel’s number..."

The people saved in my contacts passed through my mind.

"Eris..."

I was supposed to meet Eris tomorrow to buy cosplay materials. She was going to message me where we would meet, but now there was no way for me to receive it.

On top of that, I was supposed to train with my angel in the morning.

"My God, I promised to meet Eris tomorrow, and my angel! Our morning workout—"

I looked around.

Shattered trees, stone paths buried beneath the ice, and collapsed ancient buildings surrounded me. Within a few hours, I had killed hundreds of creatures, blown up a temple, and nearly died twice.

"Well... I guess the morning workout isn’t happening anyway."

My expression turned serious when I remembered that my angel also lived near the park.

The Overlap had swallowed several nearby buildings. How close was her home to this area?

Maybe she had been trapped inside too.

The thought tightened my chest, but then I remembered that she could perform forty perfect pull-ups in a row and run for hours without getting tired.

She wasn’t normal.

Even though I hadn’t wanted to admit it before, there was a good chance she was strong enough to protect herself.

"I hope you’re okay, my angel..."

I stood and looked around.

I had no phone, none of the buildings looked familiar, and I needed to leave the area without being caught by the real Guardians.

I stared at the strange landscape and let out a long sigh.

"I guess I’ll have to find my own way home."