The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

27 – EP2. one night love

“Why on earth did you do something so reckless?”

Sein asked Angel.

“Just… I just thought there was a higher chance of survival.”

Angel replied.

“No, that’s not it. A chance of survival? Giving up on me was more likely. But why go this far to help me? Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt?”

“Afraid. Is there anyone who isn’t afraid? But, even when it’s scary, sometimes you have to move forward. You came here knowing that, didn’t you?”

Sein looked at him with a complicated expression.

“Why are you doing this to such an extent?”

“Just…”

Because I don’t want to see that sad face that followed my cutting remark.

Angel swallowed the rest of his words. His clothes were soaked in blood. He was wearing armor underneath, but it seemed to have been pierced.

“You’re injured right now. What if it gets really dangerous?”

“My divine power will recover soon. Just healing will do.”

Angel said casually.

His focus on efficiency, disregarding pain, seemed somewhat eerie.

Sein frowned as she looked at him lying there.

“I’ll stand guard for a moment and be back.”

She went outside the door, glancing around. She even checked the hidden spots, but there was no significant gain.

She leaned against the door, deep in thought.

Why was he helping himself to this extent? Even when he could have been hurt instead, he helped himself, giving up on the possibility of getting hurt.

The injuries on his body were quietly painful.

She thought she should feel gratitude toward him, but the dominant feeling in her heart was sadness.

…Maybe I should have just married him.

She mocked herself inwardly.

Nonsense. If she had married him, she would have gone crazy or committed suicide. If this situation hadn’t happened, she wouldn’t have known him this well. She would have just thought of him vaguely as a good and strategic person, as she had seen him as a comrade. Who could have known that he was this self-sacrificing?

The sight of the guard refusing the last offer was still vivid in her memory.

Watching him, she felt a complex emotion she had never experienced before. This feeling lingered in her heart, amplifying the sadness.

Thump, thump. She heard her heart beating. The sound of her own heartbeat brought a sense of calmness.

She quietly enjoyed the silence.

And soon, that silence was shattered.

The guards swarmed in an enormous number.

She thought the guards would disperse and search them little by little, but they stayed together, thinking they wouldn’t have gone far knowing that Angel was injured.

As a result, she was suddenly faced with an enormous number of enemies.

She tightly grasped the sword hilt in silence.

“Go!”

With the signal, the guards charged at once.

She initiated the battle.

The one charging from the front had his throat swiftly cut, and she evaded the attack from the side before piercing with her sword.

Yet, her cheek was grazed by an enemy’s blade, and her breaths were becoming shallower.

She relentlessly continued to pierce, slash, and stab the enemies without mercy.

After a few minutes, her muscles began to scream in agony. Her movements slowed, and the injuries increased.

“Give up now.”

The commander of the guards spoke indifferently. There were still countless enemies, and she was almost at her limit.

“No.”

There was no way out, unlike before. She was alone, injured, and low on strength.

Despite that, why did she continue to fight? She knew she had almost no chance of winning.

“Come on.”

However, she fought brightly, laughing while fighting the enemy. She learned from Angel not to give up. She learned how to find hope in desperate situations. But she couldn’t find hope. At least not now. Hope was not just hidden; it was simply absent.

Yet, the reason she fought until the end was…

“He’s behind me. If I give up, he dies too.”

She had been lonely all her life.

She never received proper love from her family; she only fought for freedom.

But now, from the one who reached out to her, she finally found a reason to fight even if she couldn’t win.

At least, she would bring all the enemies down as comrades. That was her resolution—to let them live.

She sang her emotions with the sword.

He felt gratitude, apology, no.

She now melted her love, realized only now, into the sword.

Until the end, she emitted eternal immortal emotions at the end of life.

If he could receive the repayment of the emotions she felt, he would be the only one who sacrificed himself for her to survive.

She felt the destruction of the world surrounding her that she had never experienced before.

Until just before life extinguished, even for just a few minutes. Her world was reassembled around him.

“Thank you.”

One sword strike.

It was not clean. The speed slowed down and the arm using the technique trembled.

“I’m sorry.”

Once again, one sword strike.

This time it was better than before. With a single stroke, it cut through the unknown power.

“I love you.”

One last sword strike.

As if it weren’t visible, it was cut without even a minimal reaction.

She realized that her emotions, awakened from the dichotomy of life and death, broke the shackles that had bound her.

She discovered the freedom she had been searching for all her life just now.

A thread of light shimmered around the sword.

The final inspection.

She realized it.

The emotions she had embraced in him. The freedom she had finally obtained. And through that, she achieved enlightenment.

She became a high expert in the face of death.

She smiled.

I can still fight more.

Her sword drew a line on the ground.

“If you cross this line, you die.”

With a smile on her face drenched in blood and sweat, she spoke.

“Come at me.”

She rushed in like a beast. The threads of golden energy shining brightly harvested all life around her.

The golden lion began to rampage.

Angel barely recovered and opened the door. In front of her stood Sein, now covered in blood.

The surroundings were filled with corpses, corpses, and more corpses. There was no sign of life.

“We won.”

She said with a smile.

Angel hastily cast a spell to restore her energy. It didn’t do much for her wounds, but it increased the vitality in her body.

Only then did Angel realize that all the guards were dead.

Sein approached Angel and embraced her.

“I was worried.”

“Just needed some healing, that’s all.”

“Still, it’s a relief nothing major happened.”

Angel patted Sein’s head, resting on his shoulder.

“You’re alive.”

“Yeah.”

“Thank goodness you’re alive.”

“Yeah…”

After a while, soldiers tore pieces of cloth from their garments and tied them around Angel’s body. Since most were still fresh, it was mainly a matter of stopping the bleeding.

“Now, let’s go.”

To complete the objective they set out for.

“Yeah.”

She smiled brightly. Once she escaped her father’s threats, she had resolved to convey her pure feelings to him without any schemes.

It was time to fulfill the final purpose.

They searched all the rooms in the basement, and found a small note. It was a simple note that read ‘Things to do.’ They unfolded it without much expectation.

“What is this…?”

The note contained predictions for various situations and actions to be taken accordingly. Simply put, it outlined ways to eliminate obstacles.

Three months ago, the one who insulted Luderan was disguised as drowning in alcohol and killed.

A year ago, the one who had a power struggle with Luderan was secretly abducted, tortured, and killed.

The deeds were marked with an X, and the word ‘Completed’ was written.

Looking ahead, they found plans for Jacop Luderan himself killing his own brothers.

They turned the note again to see the last page with writing.

“Marriage of Sein and the warrior. If the warrior rejects the engagement, kill. If the warrior accepts, have the wedding as soon as possible.”

If Rufus doesn’t come to the wedding, spread a rumor that he couldn’t attend the wedding because of his illness and assassinate him. If Rufus does come, after the wedding, kill Tia and spread false accusations that Rufus killed my nephew out of his hatred towards me. Then, administer a drug to Rufus, extract a false confession, and execute him. Afterwards, point out Cirendel as the mastermind behind Rufus.

If a knight dies in the middle of the wedding, kill Tia to avoid suspicion and stage her execution as Rufus’ doing. If Saint dies in the middle, also stage his execution as Rufus’ doing. To piece together the broken wedding, kill Tia as well and make her an adult, and then adopt my nephew, who is struggling after the death of his siblings, and marry him off to the knight. If the knight refuses, kill him.”

They were speechless.