Chapter 230: Side Story 22
The sensation of a sharp sword piercing through flesh was vivid.
Sabina almost reflexively loosened her grip on the sword.
Though she had swung a sword countless times, this was the first time she had resolved to take a life.
Her first murder.
When Sabina was faced with the situation of having to take another person’s life, her eyes trembled uncontrollably.
The pressure was overwhelming beyond imagination.
She swallowed a groan, clenched her teeth, and drove the sword in.
‘Even if the Grand Prince uses the Magic Tower, it’s impossible for him to get here in just a few minutes.’
Physically speaking.
He wouldn’t have prepared a forced summoning scroll like Calin did.
That left them with only one possible ending.
Waiting hopelessly for the Grand Prince to arrive and being helplessly attacked.
‘Or trying to escape and getting caught and mercilessly killed.’
Either way, it was a death sentence.
What’s the point of barely surviving alone?
If she had chosen that, she would have already crossed the mountains and fled outside the territory.
‘If not me, then who else would take the Grand Duke’s life?’
Who would dare to even think about it?
Thus, she made the best choice she could.
The devil’s malice would engulf all life here and still greedily crave more.
Her intention was to protect everyone from the Grand Duke.
‘And….’
Sabina knew Tristan’s wish well.
She hoped the Grand Duke, born under the same fate, would find peace.
It seemed like the human thing to do.
The sticky blood flowing along Sabina’s sword blade heated her hand.
“Ugh…”
She felt like she was going to vomit.
But, turning away from it, she finally pierced through the Grand Duke’s heart completely.
He, bound by his own shadow, was still frozen like a statue even as he bled.
As if he was never a living being to begin with.
“Ha!”
“Hmm…!”
Those who survived were dumbfounded, doubting their own eyes.
They were so shocked they couldn’t even speak properly.
“The Grand Duke is dead, dead…!”
Even Calin, who was relatively less shocked, couldn’t finish his sentence.
‘What did I just see?’
Killed the Grand Duke?
Is there anyone in this world who has the right to execute him summarily?
Even the Emperor wouldn’t dare to treat Valentine carelessly, let alone be wary of him!
The Emperor’s dogs, no, the mages who are struggling even against Valentine, prove it.
Sabina spoke calmly.
“If I don’t kill him, I die. You know that.”
“But if you kill the Grand Duke, you will die too!”
“If I’m going to die either way, it’s better if more people live.”
Calin, the genius shaman, opened his mouth stupidly.
He didn’t know who she was or what was happening.
And, he felt like he would feel better only if he could beat Yannick, who had suddenly summoned him to this place.
For a moment, his heart raced.
‘Damn, that’s impressive…’
Who is she?
A knight?
She looked like a noble lady raised in luxury…
He genuinely wanted to ask her name.
Then, Calin’s eyes widened suddenly.
He noticed the Grand Duke’s fingertips, which had been motionless, twitching.
“Retreat immediately!”
He shouted urgently, his expression hardening.
But the Grand Duke was faster.
He firmly grasped the sword blade embedded in his body.
Sabina could only blankly watch the bizarre scene of the Grand Duke pulling the sword out of his body.
“Is he… alive?”
How is that possible?
She had definitely pierced his heart.
That sensation was still vivid in her hand.
If he was human, he couldn’t possibly be alive after being stabbed in the heart…
…she thought, until that moment.
Bang-!!
A tremendous noise exploded right in front of her.
“Madam!”
Before she could even comprehend, she lost her hearing instantly, and a ringing noise was the only thing she heard in her ears.
At the same time, Sabina was caught up in a powerful shock.
When she regained consciousness, she was already sprawled on the ground in a mess.
“Ugh.”
Sabina barely managed to drag her hand, which refused to move, to her ear.
It was damp with blood.
Seeing the red blood pooled thickly on the floor, she couldn’t guess where it was coming from her body.
Her whole body just felt hot.
As if burning up.
Breathing was difficult.
Something seemed wrong with her bones…
‘I think I’m going to pass out.’
She forced her eyes open, which were about to close.
Sabina, still holding her ringing ears, strained to lift her head.
The surviving knights were holding their swords, and the uncollapsed mages were holding up their staffs.
All of them were blocking in front of her.
“His Highness the Grand Duke has suffered a fatal wound. Hold on by any means!”
Despite their resolute shouts, all their faces were pale, and they seemed to have lost their will to fight.
But perhaps because Sabina had taken the initiative to throw herself into the fray, knowing there was no chance of winning, they confronted the Grand Duke.
‘Are they fools?’
They had barely survived because she threw herself in, but why were they willingly entering the fire pit?
Of course, even if they ran away, the chances of survival were extremely low, but wasn’t it worth trying?
“Go…”
With a cracked voice, Sabina stuttered out.
“Anyway, he’s after me…”
The Grand Duke’s gaze, blurred as if clouded by fog, had been fixed on Sabina from the beginning.
The reason was clear.
Everyone else was insignificant, easily swept aside by a flick of his finger, but she was the only one who had managed to wound him.
“Speak sense! What knight abandons their lord and flees!”
“There’s no mage who would do that either.”
However, Grand Duke Valentine paid them no heed.
He moved unhesitatingly.
His presence was even more imposing than before he was stabbed.
His movement, rigid and static like a statue, noticeably quickened.
He flung aside the knights and mages in his way as if they were mere nuisances.
Literally tossed them aside.
Watching people being thrown into the air, drawing parabolas, felt unreal.
Behind him, as he charged towards Sabina, only wreckage remained as if a storm had passed.
A shadow loomed over Sabina.
So huge it felt like she would be crushed by it.
“Kuk…”
And then he grasped her throat with a hand that could pierce through a person.
Sabina quickly grabbed and tore at the Grand Duke’s hand.
As expected, he didn’t budge.
‘My feet, can’t reach.’
Struggling desperately to breathe, she flailed, but her airway tightened more and more.
Her vision slowly turned black.
“Madam! Ugh, Madam!”
Yannick, dragging his broken leg, desperately tried to reach her.
Gerald seemed to have lost consciousness completely. Lying down bleeding, it was impossible to tell if he was dead or alive.
Calin kept mumbling, reciting a spell.
“…Please, please! Damn it! Damn it all!”
The spell that worked before seemed to be a fluke, as unfortunately, nothing was working now.
It was strangely desperate for someone who was suddenly summoned without any connection and caught up in a tremendous incident.
‘Is this the end?’
She thought she had lost sensation from being caught in the explosion, but the pain of being strangled was unimaginably terrible.
But perhaps it was a blessing.
Once the pain surpassed its limit, she couldn’t feel anything at all.
Strangely, even laughter escaped her.
‘My neck is being strangled by a monster who can smash barriers with bare hands and pierce people with a finger.’
Strangely, he didn’t snap her neck immediately.
Most of the people thrown by his hand seemed to have survived as well.
Now, it meant he didn’t even have that much strength left.
She closed her eyes as if relieved.
‘At least that’s a relief.’
Though she wasn’t killed instantly, she knew she wouldn’t live much longer.
The Grand Duke’s sudden rush towards Sabina must have been for that reason.
Her strike had been quite fatal to the devil.
Not a bad outcome for the price of her life.
“Sabina!”
That’s when it happened.
Just as Sabina’s airway, which seemed almost at its end, suddenly opened up.
“Ugh, Cough, Choke…!”
The grip on her throat loosened abruptly, and air rushed in violently.
She coughed violently.
Each time, her lungs felt like they were being pierced by sharp awls, causing excruciating pain.
“Cough, Cough, Sigh…”
Tears of physiology streamed down her cheeks.
She didn’t have the energy to wipe her eyes and just blinked.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if she had fainted on the spot, but the intense pain kept her mind clear at that moment.
‘It hurts.’
She seemed to be tightly held in someone’s embrace.
“Grand…”
The Grand Prince?
As if her vocal cords were damaged, she couldn’t properly utter that word.
So she couldn’t even ask why.
Tristan Valentine, holding Sabina, looked down at her with a face full of desperation.
‘Did he just call my name…?’
His black eyes, which she thought had lost all human emotion, flickered.
Almost as if they were about to cry.
Chapter 230: Side Story 22
The sensation of a sharp sword piercing through flesh was vivid.
Sabina almost reflexively loosened her grip on the sword.
Though she had swung a sword countless times, this was the first time she had resolved to take a life.
Her first murder.
When Sabina was faced with the situation of having to take another person’s life, her eyes trembled uncontrollably.
The pressure was overwhelming beyond imagination.
She swallowed a groan, clenched her teeth, and drove the sword in.
‘Even if the Grand Prince uses the Magic Tower, it’s impossible for him to get here in just a few minutes.’
Physically speaking.
He wouldn’t have prepared a forced summoning scroll like Calin did.
That left them with only one possible ending.
Waiting hopelessly for the Grand Prince to arrive and being helplessly attacked.
‘Or trying to escape and getting caught and mercilessly killed.’
Either way, it was a death sentence.
What’s the point of barely surviving alone?
If she had chosen that, she would have already crossed the mountains and fled outside the territory.
‘If not me, then who else would take the Grand Duke’s life?’
Who would dare to even think about it?
Thus, she made the best choice she could.
The devil’s malice would engulf all life here and still greedily crave more.
Her intention was to protect everyone from the Grand Duke.
‘And….’
Sabina knew Tristan’s wish well.
She hoped the Grand Duke, born under the same fate, would find peace.
It seemed like the human thing to do.
The sticky blood flowing along Sabina’s sword blade heated her hand.
“Ugh…”
She felt like she was going to vomit.
But, turning away from it, she finally pierced through the Grand Duke’s heart completely.
He, bound by his own shadow, was still frozen like a statue even as he bled.
As if he was never a living being to begin with.
“Ha!”
“Hmm…!”
Those who survived were dumbfounded, doubting their own eyes.
They were so shocked they couldn’t even speak properly.
“The Grand Duke is dead, dead…!”
Even Calin, who was relatively less shocked, couldn’t finish his sentence.
‘What did I just see?’
Killed the Grand Duke?
Is there anyone in this world who has the right to execute him summarily?
Even the Emperor wouldn’t dare to treat Valentine carelessly, let alone be wary of him!
The Emperor’s dogs, no, the mages who are struggling even against Valentine, prove it.
Sabina spoke calmly.
“If I don’t kill him, I die. You know that.”
“But if you kill the Grand Duke, you will die too!”
“If I’m going to die either way, it’s better if more people live.”
Calin, the genius shaman, opened his mouth stupidly.
He didn’t know who she was or what was happening.
And, he felt like he would feel better only if he could beat Yannick, who had suddenly summoned him to this place.
For a moment, his heart raced.
‘Damn, that’s impressive…’
Who is she?
A knight?
She looked like a noble lady raised in luxury…
He genuinely wanted to ask her name.
Then, Calin’s eyes widened suddenly.
He noticed the Grand Duke’s fingertips, which had been motionless, twitching.
“Retreat immediately!”
He shouted urgently, his expression hardening.
But the Grand Duke was faster.
He firmly grasped the sword blade embedded in his body.
Sabina could only blankly watch the bizarre scene of the Grand Duke pulling the sword out of his body.
“Is he… alive?”
How is that possible?
She had definitely pierced his heart.
That sensation was still vivid in her hand.
If he was human, he couldn’t possibly be alive after being stabbed in the heart…
…she thought, until that moment.
Bang-!!
A tremendous noise exploded right in front of her.
“Madam!”
Before she could even comprehend, she lost her hearing instantly, and a ringing noise was the only thing she heard in her ears.
At the same time, Sabina was caught up in a powerful shock.
When she regained consciousness, she was already sprawled on the ground in a mess.
“Ugh.”
Sabina barely managed to drag her hand, which refused to move, to her ear.
It was damp with blood.
Seeing the red blood pooled thickly on the floor, she couldn’t guess where it was coming from her body.
Her whole body just felt hot.
As if burning up.
Breathing was difficult.
Something seemed wrong with her bones…
‘I think I’m going to pass out.’
She forced her eyes open, which were about to close.
Sabina, still holding her ringing ears, strained to lift her head.
The surviving knights were holding their swords, and the uncollapsed mages were holding up their staffs.
All of them were blocking in front of her.
“His Highness the Grand Duke has suffered a fatal wound. Hold on by any means!”
Despite their resolute shouts, all their faces were pale, and they seemed to have lost their will to fight.
But perhaps because Sabina had taken the initiative to throw herself into the fray, knowing there was no chance of winning, they confronted the Grand Duke.
‘Are they fools?’
They had barely survived because she threw herself in, but why were they willingly entering the fire pit?
Of course, even if they ran away, the chances of survival were extremely low, but wasn’t it worth trying?
“Go…”
With a cracked voice, Sabina stuttered out.
“Anyway, he’s after me…”
The Grand Duke’s gaze, blurred as if clouded by fog, had been fixed on Sabina from the beginning.
The reason was clear.
Everyone else was insignificant, easily swept aside by a flick of his finger, but she was the only one who had managed to wound him.
“Speak sense! What knight abandons their lord and flees!”
“There’s no mage who would do that either.”
However, Grand Duke Valentine paid them no heed.
He moved unhesitatingly.
His presence was even more imposing than before he was stabbed.
His movement, rigid and static like a statue, noticeably quickened.
He flung aside the knights and mages in his way as if they were mere nuisances.
Literally tossed them aside.
Watching people being thrown into the air, drawing parabolas, felt unreal.
Behind him, as he charged towards Sabina, only wreckage remained as if a storm had passed.
A shadow loomed over Sabina.
So huge it felt like she would be crushed by it.
“Kuk…”
And then he grasped her throat with a hand that could pierce through a person.
Sabina quickly grabbed and tore at the Grand Duke’s hand.
As expected, he didn’t budge.
‘My feet, can’t reach.’
Struggling desperately to breathe, she flailed, but her airway tightened more and more.
Her vision slowly turned black.
“Madam! Ugh, Madam!”
Yannick, dragging his broken leg, desperately tried to reach her.
Gerald seemed to have lost consciousness completely. Lying down bleeding, it was impossible to tell if he was dead or alive.
Calin kept mumbling, reciting a spell.
“…Please, please! Damn it! Damn it all!”
The spell that worked before seemed to be a fluke, as unfortunately, nothing was working now.
It was strangely desperate for someone who was suddenly summoned without any connection and caught up in a tremendous incident.
‘Is this the end?’
She thought she had lost sensation from being caught in the explosion, but the pain of being strangled was unimaginably terrible.
But perhaps it was a blessing.
Once the pain surpassed its limit, she couldn’t feel anything at all.
Strangely, even laughter escaped her.
‘My neck is being strangled by a monster who can smash barriers with bare hands and pierce people with a finger.’
Strangely, he didn’t snap her neck immediately.
Most of the people thrown by his hand seemed to have survived as well.
Now, it meant he didn’t even have that much strength left.
She closed her eyes as if relieved.
‘At least that’s a relief.’
Though she wasn’t killed instantly, she knew she wouldn’t live much longer.
The Grand Duke’s sudden rush towards Sabina must have been for that reason.
Her strike had been quite fatal to the devil.
Not a bad outcome for the price of her life.
“Sabina!”
That’s when it happened.
Just as Sabina’s airway, which seemed almost at its end, suddenly opened up.
“Ugh, Cough, Choke…!”
The grip on her throat loosened abruptly, and air rushed in violently.
She coughed violently.
Each time, her lungs felt like they were being pierced by sharp awls, causing excruciating pain.
“Cough, Cough, Sigh…”
Tears of physiology streamed down her cheeks.
She didn’t have the energy to wipe her eyes and just blinked.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if she had fainted on the spot, but the intense pain kept her mind clear at that moment.
‘It hurts.’
She seemed to be tightly held in someone’s embrace.
“Grand…”
The Grand Prince?
As if her vocal cords were damaged, she couldn’t properly utter that word.
So she couldn’t even ask why.
Tristan Valentine, holding Sabina, looked down at her with a face full of desperation.
‘Did he just call my name…?’
His black eyes, which she thought had lost all human emotion, flickered.
Almost as if they were about to cry.
