Chapter 41

“Ugh!”

 

The lord let out a shallow groan and sat down.

 

Lexion’s eyes were startled at my sudden action, and then he brought the purification stone he was holding to the lord.

 

In an instant, the thoughts of the lord were absorbed into the purification stone.

 

“Ah! Mmm, my head…!”

 

“Lord!”

 

When the lord screamed, the knights acted as if they were going to rush at any moment.

 

However, since the lord was taken hostage, they could not approach recklessly.

 

Eventually, the purification succeeded and the lord collapsed.

 

When the lord fell, the knights tried to narrow the distance further, and Lexion drew his sword and blocked it.

 

Aiden came up to me and scolded me.

 

“Lady, you were too reckless.”

 

“It was the only way I could think of.”

 

“Ugh…What is this?”

 

At that time, fortunately, the lord had a bewildered expression as he rubbed his head after he had regained consciousness.

 

It was a natural reaction because he would not remember what happened during that period.

 

“You were tainted with thoughts.”

 

“Me?”

 

The lord was startled by Aiden’s words and pointed at himself.

 

Then he was astonished to realize that his knights were besieging us.

 

“Guys, what is this? Get back now.”

 

At the command of the lord, the knights retreated.

 

“Hey, why am I here?”

 

“Ummm.”

 

Few people were freed from the dominion of thoughts and swayed back and forth.

 

Looking back at the situation, it seemed that the source of thought had been purified and he was gradually regaining consciousness.

 

The lord, who later heard about the situation from Aiden, apologized again and again, saying that he was sorry for making a mistake.

 

“I’m really sorry! I made a big mistake. I have nothing to say. These are the people who helped our estate…”

 

The lord cried and apologized over and over again.

 

Lexion spoke calmly.

 

“First, I have to deal with the remaining thoughts.”

 

“Of course. I am very sorry, Your Excellency.”

 

The lord repeatedly apologized, and he ordered the knights to bring the rest of the purification stones.

 

I let out a sigh of relief at the situation that ended more quickly than I expected.

 

Anyway, it seemed like a good thing to choose the 3rd option.

 

But the book was still floating in the air.

 

Since the event was closed, it should disappear naturally…but why wasn’t it disappearing?

 

‘I’m anxious. Why is it still active? Are things not over yet?’

 

I looked around, trying to find any possible danger.

 

“Ma’am, I’m sorry.”

 

Then John came up to me with his weeping face.

 

I was very surprised by the look on his face.

 

Feeling pitiful for some reason, I gently stroked his hair and said.

 

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

 

It was then.

 

I wondered if there was a black aura swirling around John, and his eyes changed terribly.

 

“Huh?”

 

Surprisingly, there was no time to defend.

 

John picked up a piece of glass in his hand and tried to cut my throat.

 

But before he could reach me, a large hand stopped John’s hand.

 

As if to protect me, a warm body temperature was transmitted behind my back.

 

A red liquid dripped onto the white hand.

 

It was blood.

 

It was as if his skin had been torn because he had blocked the shards of glass with his bare hands.

 

I shouted after realizing that it was Lexion.

 

“Le-Lexion!”

 

Meanwhile, Lexion twisted John’s hand.

 

“Ugh!”

 

John let out a groan of his own.

 

Lexion threw John away as if he didn’t even fit into the castle.

 

At this, John was pushed forcefully against the wall.

 

My eyes widened, not knowing how things were going.

 

I was even more embarrassed because I thought that I had already removed the source.

 

Usually, if you purify the source, the residual thoughts tend to fade.

 

‘Obviously, everyone was in the mood to calm down…’

 

Then a cold voice rang in my ear.

 

“Titi, you’re too far forward.”

 

Lexion dragged his sword along with those words and approached John who was stuck in the wall.

 

In his left hand, there was a shard of glass that John had stuck in, and blood continued to drip.

 

“Argh!”

 

John growled like an animal howling, and his whole body turned black.

 

At that moment, the book began to guide again.

 

― The root of the thoughts is excited and malice is amplified. Cleanse should be attempted in a hurry.

 

‘Wasn’t the source of the thoughts from the lord?’

 

I quickly looked towards the lord.

 

He was still foolish with his kind eyes.

 

At that time, the knights around us rushed to Lexion with their eyes wide open.

 

It was as if the figure to protect was John.

 

‘No way…!’

 

I quickly looked at John.

 

His skin was dark and flaky.

 

It seemed that the source of the thought had replaced the host.

 

This was my mistake.

 

It wasn’t something that could be solved so easily.

 

“Aiden! Do you have more purification stones?!”

 

“That was the last one. Maybe other knights have…”

 

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“I don’t have time for that!”

 

Before I could even listen to Aiden, I hurriedly ran towards John.

 

At the same time, it was because Lexion raised his sword to beat the knights around him and tried to kill John.

 

“No, Lexion! Stop!”

 

Lexion stopped moving at my shrill voice.

 

John growled like a ferocious beast and acted as if he was going to run to Lexion at any moment.

 

Thoughts were happening too fast.

 

It seemed that it was on the verge of a runaway as it entered the body of a weak boy.

 

John no longer looked human.

 

His fingernails and toenails were sharp.

 

It was like the process of becoming a beast.

 

“That child is the source of thoughts! He cannot be killed!”

 

I quickly shouted and ran to Lexion.

 

The root of thought has the property of spreading it like poison the moment it is killed.

 

If Lexion kills John, there was a high probability that the source would stick to the nearest, which was Lexion.

 

Of course, I knew that Lexion was transcendent, so he won’t be the one to face it, but the people around him were different.

 

It was a poison that could spread quickly like an epidemic and cause the land to die.

 

Therefore, the host had to be tied up to prevent the poison from spreading.

 

As I approached, John immediately looked at me like he was going to tear me to pieces and ran towards me.

 

Lexion pushed John away with the back of his sword and protected me.

 

“The malice is getting stronger. We need to clean it up right now.”

 

“Aiden, bring more purification stones now!”

 

“Yes!”

 

Aiden hurriedly left the hall.

 

Lexion hurriedly bound John with an aura.

 

As John struggled to escape, he suddenly began to gather the thoughts of his surroundings on me.

 

“Ahh!”

 

The knights, the mute young man, and even the trembling little lord screamed.

 

As their groans grew louder, the black aura around John was amplified.

 

― It needs to be fixed soon. Please clean up quickly! The more the delay, the worse the results.

 

The book hastily sounded a warning beep.

 

In the end, it meant that we couldn’t wait for Aiden to bring the purification stones.

 

‘Is that the only way?’

 

I said while holding Lexion’s arm with a determined face.

 

“I can do it.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I heard that malice is life for evil dragons. Asta is the power that takes away life, so I will have to absorb the malice.”

 

As the book said earlier that Asta can be used to purify, it was a way for sure.

 

However, from Lexion’s point of view, who knew nothing, it was only a hypothesis.

 

He immediately objected.

 

“It’s not certain yet, but you can’t directly test it on your body. There may be side effects. Then it will be difficult when you become the host.”

 

“After I used power on the evil dragon last time, my body became lighter. The speed of self-recovery has also increased. I got better quickly, as if it was from the help to the previous injuries.”

 

“…”

 

“Asta is fundamentally the power to take the lives of others, so I think my physical strength has been restored.”

 

“Is that really true?”

 

Lexion asked with his eyes wide open.

 

I nodded with calm eyes.

 

Lexion wiped his lips with his hand and fell into anguish.

 

After a while he said,

 

“Promise me you’ll stop if you feel anything strange, Titi.”

 

“What?”

 

“There is nothing more precious than your life.”

 

“…”

 

I was speechless.

 

I stared at him, not ready to answer.

 

His eyes were so serious that he didn’t seem to be telling a lie.

 

He was genuinely making such an offer.

 

‘Why do you value me so much?’

 

It was strange.

 

The former Lexion was a man who was willing to sacrifice himself for a cause.

 

He, of course, did not force sacrifices on others, but he did not stop those who came forward to do so.

 

If we didn’t stop the fixation of thoughts right now, there was a high possibility that this land would become a dead land.

 

Then more purification stones would be needed, and it would take time to find the amount used for it.

 

Besides, this place was not far from the capital.

 

Of course, as a subject of the emperor, Lexion must do his best not to damage the capital, so he must prioritize rectifying the situation.

 

Lexion has always been like that.

 

He was a person who faithfully does his job no matter how the emperor acts.

 

He was the kind of person who does what he believes to be right, even if it was against me.

 

But in this messy situation, why did he think of me first?

 

That wasn’t the right thing to do.

 

“Promise me, Titi.”

 

When I didn’t answer, Lexion urged me.

 

I closed my lips and nodded.

 

Then he let me go.

 

I walked over to the growling John.

 

Lexion came close to me and pressed John with an aura to block any possible danger.

 

“Argh!”

 

John shook his body violently.

 

He seemed to know what I was going to do.

 

I removed the ring and placed my hand on John’s head.

 

“[Asta.]”

 

“Argh!”

 

A blue light wrapped around John.

 

John gasped in pain.

 

“Ahh…!”

 

Eventually, the malice that had stayed with him began to flow into me.