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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Is this… real?”
Rin asked, pointing at the statue.
Kurika coughed awkwardly, trying to avoid her gaze, but he couldn’t offer a proper explanation.
“You mean to say King Callius is actually Kurika?”
Adriana stepped forward and stood directly in front of Kurika. She had been uncomfortable around him before, but her surprise seemed to have overridden her apprehension.
“It’s a long story.”
Kurika didn’t deny it.
Now it made sense why he, a beast-kin, was hiding his face in a city full of his own kind.
He had told me about it before, back in my past life when we were sharing drinks, talking about our lives outside the Demon Realm Forest.
I had told him I was just a student at the academy, and he had launched into a long, detailed story about his past.
He must have wanted to confide in someone. At that moment, he hadn’t been the formidable King Kurika, but simply a weary beast-kin seeking solace in a shared drink.
I stepped forward.
“Let’s go. We all know Kurika is amazing. What difference does it make if he was even more amazing in the past?”
“Can we really just brush this aside?”
Adriana looked incredulous. Sen and Rin also seemed curious, but they knew it wasn’t their place to pry into Kurika’s past.
We moved on.
“I didn’t expect there to be a statue of you.”
I whispered to Kurika as we followed the girls.
He looked at me, surprised.
“I’m more surprised that you knew about it.”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you? You told me in my past life.”
“……What exactly did my past self tell you?”
“Think of it as a sign of our close friendship.”
“Hmm.”
Kurika seemed to want to ask how much I knew about him, but he closed his mouth, probably worried that the girls might overhear something they shouldn’t.
We stopped near the entrance of the Royal Palace.
Only invited guests or those who worked for the royal family were allowed beyond this point.
“There are many ways to get inside.”
There were plenty of ways to sneak in.
I could stop time, or we could use Rin’s shadow powers.
“I’ll do it. We need to get Eris and the others out, and my power is more suitable for that than stopping time.”
Rin volunteered.
She was right.
My power to stop time wasn’t ideal for large-scale operations or long durations.
Rin had been imprisoned in Batian because of Prince Oliver, but she had managed to escape, taking the other prisoners with her through her shadow powers. She was reliable.
“Um, I’ll pass.”
Sen immediately refused.
It seemed she hadn’t enjoyed her previous experience of escaping from prison through Rin’s shadow.
“Hmm, I’ll wait outside as well.”
Kurika, still wary of the power she had received from the Goddess of Death, also declined. He was rather large, so he wasn’t suited for stealth operations anyway.
“I’ll go. Those are my companions we’re rescuing.”
Adriana grabbed her staff, ready to join us. The Grand Witch had given her the staff as a gift. The Grand Witch was currently resting at an inn outside the Demon Realm Forest.
She was one tough old woman.
So it was just Rin, Adriana, and me.
Sen and Kurika would wait for us near the palace.
“……”
I felt a bit nervous about entering Rin’s shadow, and she seemed to sense my apprehension.
She smiled playfully.
“You’re entering my shadow?”
“Well… yes.”
“What if I don’t let you out? Will you be stuck with me forever?”
“That’s creepy, stop saying that.”
Her words sent a shiver down my spine. I remembered a nightmare I had once had, something similar to this, and I quickly pushed the memory aside. It had been truly terrifying.
“Wait, if you can store things in your shadow, can you also…”
Adriana, seemingly struck by a sudden epiphany, crossed her arms and started muttering to herself. I smacked her on the back of the head and grabbed Rin’s hand.
“Ow!”
“Let’s go.”
And so, we were swallowed by Rin’s shadow.
There was no sense of time or space within her shadow. I simply felt a strange emptiness, and then…
We were inside the palace.
“Wow, that was a unique experience.”
“I can see why you wouldn’t want to do that again. It wasn’t physically uncomfortable, but it was unsettling.”
I wiggled my fingers, still feeling a bit disoriented, while Adriana shared her thoughts.
We seemed to be in the palace basement.
“Ugh… Haa…”
Rin was lying on the ground, struggling to breathe.
Adriana and I were fine, but Rin, who had brought us here, was in bad shape. She clutched her chest, her face pale, sweat dripping from her brow.
“Rin!”
I rushed to her side and lifted her into my arms. Adriana immediately stepped forward, channeling her mana through her staff.
“Hold on tight.”
She cast a healing spell, and Rin’s breathing steadied. She slowly pulled away from me.
“I-I’m okay. It’s probably because I haven’t used this power in a while.”
Her face was still pale, and I couldn’t help but worry.
“Don’t push yourself. If it gets too dangerous, we can escape with my power.”
Rin nodded weakly.
“Th-this is the basement entrance. The prison is further inside… but I couldn’t reach it.”
“This is enough. I’ll lead the way. Adriana, please help Rin.”
“Okay, I’ll keep casting healing spells.”
Rin insisted she was fine, but I was still worried. It was a useful power, but it was connected to the Goddess of Death. I didn’t want to use it unless absolutely necessary.
‘I’ll use my power to get us out of here.’
Rin’s death might trigger the apocalypse, but I couldn’t predict what other dangers might arise.
I remembered how she had lost control of her powers that night at the Bairn competition…
‘No, wait.’
A sudden realization struck me, and I unconsciously touched the dagger in my pocket.
What if Rin didn’t die, but instead awakened as the apocalypse?
Could I use this dagger to stop her?
It was a possibility, however unlikely. But for now, rescuing Eris was my priority.
We headed deeper into the basement, towards the prison.
It wasn’t difficult.
The power to stop time was incredibly useful.
I froze the guards, easily subduing them, and entered the prison. I found the keys and quickly located Eris’s cell.
Rin’s condition continued to worsen. Even Adriana’s healing magic was no longer effective.
“D-Daniel, you’re going too fast.”
“Sorry.”
My anxiety must have been showing. We reached the deepest level of the prison, where Eris and her companions were being held.
Even Jaegua, a beast-kin and a direct subordinate of the Beast King, was imprisoned.
The situation must be serious.
‘What if he refuses to escape…?’
It didn’t matter.
I didn’t care about the dwarf. I was only here for Eris. If Jaegua refused to cooperate, I would knock him unconscious and leave him behind.
We finally reached Eris’s cell.
Even in the dim light of the torches, her golden hair shone brightly. She was sitting with her eyes closed, her elegance and beauty undimmed despite her imprisonment.
As if sensing our presence, she opened her eyes and spoke, even though we were still some distance away.
“Daniel?”
I felt a surge of emotion.
“Eris!”
I wanted to rush to her cell and greet her with a smile, but…
I couldn’t bring myself to smile. The pain in my chest was a constant reminder… of Rin.
She was suffering because of me, because she had used her powers to help me rescue Eris.
I couldn’t smile in front of Eris, knowing how much Rin was hurting.
“D-Daniel?”
Eris tried to greet me, but she must have sensed something was wrong. Her voice trembled slightly as she called out my name.
“Huh? The kid?”
“How did you get in here?”
Jaegua, the beast-kin, and Hatsim Bellok, the dwarf, spoke from their cells, breaking the tension. I was relieved. I could imagine what Eris was about to say, and…
It made me uneasy.
“Let’s talk after we get out of here. We don’t have time for a chat.”
Rin was in pain.
I inserted the key into the lock, but Eris reached out through the bars, stopping me.
“Wait!”
“What’s wrong?”
I snapped at her, my impatience getting the better of me.
Eris flinched, then explained,
“I’m grateful that you came to rescue us, but… we can’t escape right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means we’re caught up in a messy situation.”
Hatsim answered from his cell.
I wanted to ask for a proper explanation, but…
The sound of footsteps echoed through the prison. The guards must have discovered their unconscious colleague.
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