CH 167

Dane had definitely said that all of the members of Aruntal were dead with his own mouth. It may have been a trick, but Sina had thought that he might have recruited a new crew.

Sina could sense that the opponents were people from the empire. Among them, Sina was more concerned about those wielding a sword rather than the magicians. The magicians must be Dane’s disciples, but there was no way that Dane had taught the prosecutors as well.

Sina was barely dodging the attacks. The opponents’ skills were clearly superior compared to Sina’s, but they were patiently driving Sina into the corner in a calm manner. They were using the Baltic Sword just like Sina, but were at a considerably better level.

‘Such skilled swordsmen using the Baltic Sword certainly must be some of the Imperial knights.’

Sina looked at one of the opponent’s eyes, the only exposed part of their face. Unique-colored amber eyes were staring directly at her, but Sina couldn’t recall anyone with a similar eye color as her opponent’s. Sina wondered whether he was the Captain of the Order of the Capital, but Pavan had green eyes.

At that moment, Sina flinched and turned her waist upon feeling the murderous intent directed toward her. The other two opponents that were wielding a sword suddenly began to intervene and attack her together while she was focused on the opponent with amber eyes who was standing in front of her.

The other two opponents pushed Sina toward each other’s attacks again and again, almost as if they were twins working in perfect harmony. Sina realized that both of their skills were on par with her.

Acknowledging that she could not hold out for much longer, Sina bit her lips and used Dispersing Fog, the fourth stage of the Baltic Sword, which she was not yet accustomed to using.

Sina’s sword instantly rushed toward the back of the two opponents' like a fog.

The two opponents who had been attacking Sina with ease were a little late in responding to Sina’s sudden attack. However, Sina’s sword wasn’t fast enough to make them suffer any critical injuries either. The Dispersing Fog that Sina used was an ability that she was not fully accustomed to yet, and thus it failed to leave any fatal wounds on the opponents and narrowly grazed against them.

One of the opponents was wounded on the cheek, while the other on the forehead. The opponents quickly stepped back when their robes were cut.

Sina felt her whole body suddenly becoming stiff within seconds of using Dispersing Fog. The performance of Dispersing Fog was forced to a halt as Sina’s movements slowed down.

Then, at that moment, Sina stopped moving due to the sudden intense pain in her thigh.

The man with amber eyes had stabbed his sword into Sina’s thigh when she let her guard down for a short second.

Sina held back a painful groan and stepped back as the opponent twisted his sword to widen her wound.

Sina was helpless after losing her tempo. She felt as if she could collapse at any time, but she couldn’t bear to do so, since Juan had yet to wake up.

Then, the opponent with amber eyes quickly approached Sina and her in the chest. The moment Sina flinched, Elkiehl was held in the opponent’s hand.

Sina dropped her sword due to the opponent’s attack that struck the back of her hand.

Then, as if to make a clean final blow, the opponent grabbed Sina by the collar and aimed the tip of his sword at her neck.

It was then.

“If you move just a little bit from that position, I will kill you.”

The light but heavy voice that echoed stopped everyone’s movement in their tracks.

***

Before anyone knew it, Juan had raised himself up with an exhausted face. His face was still pale and it looked like moving was uncomfortable for him, but the murderous intent and energy emanating from him felt so sharp that it felt as if it could cut skin.

Juan no longer had Sutra with him, let alone any other weapons, but everyone here felt as if the tip of a sword was touching their throats. The opponents realized that Juan’s declaration to kill everyone if they killed Sina was the real deal. No matter how long it took, he would keep his word.

“I know that I look like I could die at any moment, but I still have enough energy to kill all the people here before I die. However, I’ll let you go if you lower your swords.”

The man with amber eyes remained still with his sword still pointed at Sina. He was calmly waiting for Dane’s order.

“There’s no point in holding her hostage. Especially you, the one who is pointing your sword at her.”

Dane, who had remained silent until then, slowly opened his mouth.

“That woman is worthless. Let her go.”

The man with amber eyes immediately let Sina go upon hearing Dane’s order.

Sina stumbled and collapsed to the ground right away due to the wound on her thigh.

Juan quietly looked at Sina and then turned his head toward Dane.

“I could clearly hear you even when I wasn’t able to move an inch, Dane.”

Dane grinned, while Juan continued to speak.

“I can see just how sincerely you have served me until now. Now, piss off. I know that you’ll show up before me even if I tell you to never appear in front of me again. So, if you do, I’ll kill you right away without even giving you any time to make an excuse.”

“I’ll look forward to it, emperor. I hope that you try your best to do so.”

The members of Aruntal stood around Dane, almost as if they were surrounding him.

“Progress is a result of repeated failures. Everything including yourself and what has happened today is just one of my many failures,” Dane said.

Dane put the tip of his cane on the ground and drew a circle. Then glittering chunks of darkness crept up from it and instantly wrapped around Dane and the members of Aruntal.

Then, the lumpy darkness melted and disappeared as if it had never existed.

***

As soon as Dane disappeared with the members of Aruntal, the remnants of the darkness that filled the surrounding area also disappeared.

Juan could sense that Dane’s presence had fully disappeared when Mananen McLeir’s body, the tilted walls that were unique to the Magic Tower, as well as the floor full of dust and soil appeared before them.

As soon as Juan let his guard down, he stumbled.

Sina quickly approached him and helped him up.

“Are you okay? How is your wound?” Sina asked.

“I’m fine. It will get better after a short break. You should take care of your own wound first.”

Juan examined the wound on Sina’s thigh. Fortunately, the bleeding was not that bad, since the sword hadn’t touched any arteries.

Juan watched Sina press down on her wound, and then opened his mouth.

“I have a question.”

Sina looked at Juan. She could see from his face that he had heard the entire conversation between herself and Dane.

Juan could sensitively read all the signs, and so, he had been able to feel all of the hesitation and agitation in Sina’s trembling hands, as well as the temptation caused by Dane’s urging.

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

Sina smiled bitterly upon hearing Juan’s question.

“Should I have killed you?”

“I thought that there was nothing I could do even if you did decide to kill me. After all, I’m definitely not the emperor of your ideals,” Juan shrugged.

Hearing that, Sina swept her hair. She still couldn’t tell if she had made the right decision. In fact, she felt that she might come to regret her choice. Nevertheless, she would have made the same decision even if she was put in the same situation again.

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Sina slowly opened her mouth and spoke in a quiet voice.

“On the night when you exterminated the Order of the Blue Rose at Laus Mountain, you took care of me when I was on the verge of death. At that time, you saved my life. I often wondered why you saved me back then; was it because you wanted to threaten me with my weakness? Or was it because you like me? No—it was neither.”

Juan remained silent.

“I think you did that because you wanted me to follow you around and watch you, nag you, and hold you whenever you start going down the wrong path. You wanted me to be your counterbalance, an anchor that you could hold on to when you are about to go too far, and be a watchdog meant to see if you’re going in the right direction or not.”

Juan lifted the corner of his lips and turned his eyes away.

“That’s an overstatement. I just decided to have mercy on you because you were in terrible shape.”

“Is that why you gave me your essence?”

Juan did not answer. If he had saved Sina just because he felt sorry for her, then helping her recover would have been enough, since he had the ability to do so. However, he had given Sina his essence, something that he had only given to his adopted children. Thus, Sina was able to follow Juan’s journey based on the power that was granted to her.

“I don’t think you gave me your essence because I had enormous power or potential like Gerard, Nienna, Dismas, and Ras. You probably expected me to play a different role than them. I don’t know if I’ve been faithful to that role so far…” Sina murmured as if she was reciting despite Juan’s silence. “…but I am still able to feel some hope from the way you wanted someone to watch over you. I can still hope that you will be able to love humans even without Dane’s dirty tricks, and that you could be the true emperor on your own.”

Juan remained silent for a long time, but soon opened his mouth.

“I might end up disappointing you… and there could be a better path. You could have chosen someone with much more kindness in their heart and made him the emperor of your ideals. But…”

“But why does it have to be you? Why can’t I choose one of the many strong men who are like the many stars in the sky and serve him as the emperor?”

Sina recited what Juan was about to say. In fact, this was the same question Juan had asked Sina on the desolate hill of the battlefield where Anya massacred the Imperial Army. Sina had not been able to answer his question at the time, but now she could answer with confidence.

“You’re right, Juan. There are many stars in the sky…”

Sina was given a chance to choose from as many options as the stars in the sky today. It was only after facing the vast and myriad options that Sina realized the most important truth…

“…but there is only one sun. It may be dark now because it’s covered by the clouds, but the fact that there is only one sun doesn’t change and it never will. You are my only sun, Juan.”

***

The place where Mananen McLeir’s body was enshrined was located at a significantly lower level in the basement of the huge Magic Tower. It was so far away that it wasn’t a distance that a person could travel on foot in a single day.

Sina had been able to enter this place with the help of Dane’s magic on her way down, but she couldn’t do so on her way back.

“How did you go back and forth when you used to be the emperor?” Sina asked.

“I used to run,” Juan answered briefly to Sina’s question. “We could have made use of teleportation magic if we had made some necessary preparation before entering. But we haven’t done that, have we? So, I can carry you on my back and run if you don’t mind.”

“No thanks. Let’s just walk slowly.”

“No matter how well trained you are, it will take at least a week if you walk.”

Sina fell silent; she wanted to avoid walking for a week without food or water, especially when Jaun had not even fully recovered just yet.

Meanwhile, Juan was checking something near Mananen McLeir’s body as if he was awaiting Sina’s decision.

Sina took a while to seriously consider whether she should get on Juan’s back, but then she inadvertently noticed Juan leaning down with a frown.

“Are you okay?”

“I may have become more dependent on mana than I used to be when I was the emperor, but Barth Baltic’s horns alone aren’t enough to make me fall into such a mess for this long. It seems like Dane has played some dirty tricks on me.”

“What’s the problem? Can I at least change your bandage for you?”

“That’s a funny question. My mana circuit has become distorted, causing the physical recovery to progress poorly. The distorted mana circuit has caused my cells to be in an unusual state, which has resulted in the formation of several malignancies. It’s not a big deal though. All the damaged parts will burn away as soon as my mana circuit starts to work properly again.”

“Okay. I have no idea what any of that meant, but you’re basically saying that your condition is not normal, right?”

“Right.”

Sina felt incredulous upon seeing Juan give her such an honest answer. If you looked at it in another way, Juan was telling her that he was currently in a weak state. Such a response was quite surprising to her, since, until now Juan rarely ever showed his weak sides. Sina wondered if she was beginning to gain Juan’s trust.

“I’m afraid of spiders.”

Juan looked at Sina as if he was dumbfounded by her sudden words.

Seeing this, Sina also made a perplexed expression, since she had just opened her mouth unknowingly.

“I… I felt like I should tell you my weakness, since you showed me your weak side.”

“What am I supposed to do with your weakness anyway? Do you seriously think that it would be necessary for me to take advantage of your weakness if I’m put in a situation where I have to deal with you?”

“My fear is not just limited to letting out a simple scream; I’m scared of spiders to the extent that I can’t even move until the spider disappears from my field of view. Don’t speak of it as if it’s not a big deal. If you ever have to threaten me, make sure to use spiders. The more colorful they are, the more they scare me. I don’t even know what I would have done had Dane brought out a spider and used it to threaten me.”

At this point, Sina didn’t even know what she was talking about herself.

Juan continued to look at her with dumbfounded eyes for a while, and then shook his head and began to check Mananen McLeir’s body again.

An awkward silence fell between the two.

Soon, Juan opened his mouth as if he couldn’t stand the silence.

“I’m not particularly afraid of anything, so don’t expect a reply from me.”

Sina didn’t answer.