Chapter 442: The Fall of Usher (4)

Chapter 442: The Fall of Usher (4)

"Pu-haa!"

It was already the middle of the night when Tudor and Bianca crawled out of the water.

The air was icy cold. The wind cut like a knife.

As they turned their heads, they could see the Usher mansion casting a grim shadow over the swampy area that was filled with evil spirits of the Red Death.

"Get it."

"...Yes."

Tudor took Bianca's outstretched hand. Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

Hand in hand, they raced down the mountain path.

pudeudeug-

A bird flapped its wings behind them.

Tudor and Bianca ran frantically through the dead trees that sprouted up like spines from burned corpses.

Their faces and bodies were scratched by sharp branches and thorns, but they had no time to think about it.

Red death dancing with phosphorus and sulfur fire and water mist wandering over the swamp.

Tudor and Bianca ran to their deaths through the darkness, relying on the fading favor of the saintess.

pudeudeug-

The sound of birds flapping their wings came a little closer.

Then.

...thud!

Tudor stopped running and fell to his knees on the ground.

Bianca gasped and helped him up.

"Tudor, are you okay?"

"...um."

A reddish glow continued to spread across Tudor's side where Bianca's arrow had grazed him.

It was a fatal wound, even if it only grazed.

Bianca hesitated for a moment, then spoke with determination.

"Get up."

"...."

But Tudor shook his head.

"You never know when the demon will come after you. Vikir told us never to let our guard down until we're over the ridge."

"Do you think I'm letting my guard down right now?"

"Uh. It looks that way."

Tudor quietly pushed Bianca away.

"You go ahead. I'll get some rest and catch up."

"Don't give a shit."

Bianca closes the distance that Tudor pushed away.

She grabbed Tudor by the scruff of the neck and spoke.

"You realize there's nothing cool about what you're doing, right?"

"I'm not doing this to be cool. Do you still not know me?"

"So you know me?"

"...."

Tudor and Bianca's gazes locked for a moment.

Tudor spoke in a low voice.

"That night. You saved me when I nearly lost my life within the family, and you risked your own."

"...."

"Now it's my turn. I can't walk anymore anyway. Let me do something for you one last time."

Tudor's eyes, dying of blood loss and hypothermia, sparked.

It was the last spark of light that only a being who sensed the end of his life could give off.

...But.

"If you have the stamina for bullshit, walk."

Bianca's glare was even more overwhelming than Tudor's.

"That night. I may have saved you, but you saved me."

"...."

"Do you have any idea how relieved and grateful I was to see you still alive at the end of where I ran with my lungs bursting... Do you know how relieved and grateful I was at that time?"

Bianca curled her arms around Tudor's shoulders and pulled him close.

Then she growled.

"So live, somehow. As long as I live, you live. When I'm dead, it's up to you whether to search or not."

"...."

Tudor was speechless at Bianca's non-threatening threat.

Soon, they were climbing the mountain path again.

"He'll be fine. With some potions and a holy power poultice, he should be up and about in no time."

"Well, do you think we can do that? We have to go over the ridge...."

"Yes, if you stay still."

"Huh? What's that...?"

Bianca didn't even have time to ask.

hwag!

Vikir scooped Tudor up on the spot. With Bianca on his side, he started running up the hill.

"What?"

Bianca panicked, but then squeezed her eyes shut.

Vikir's strength and speed were immense, and even with Tudor and Bianca on his back, he could climb the steep rock face in the blink of an eye.

It was like a bird gliding.

'...Thank God.'

Vikir was also relieved by the current situation.

In the original story, this was the place where Tudor died, and where Bianca's mind went crazy.

Usher's restoration operation.

It was supposed to happen much later than it did, but it was the right place.

Prior to the restoration of Usher, Tudor is gravely wounded while attempting to stop Bianca from being brainwashed by a demon, and as a result, he is unable to penetrate the Daylily of the Demon Legion and dies a long, hard death after leading his allies to safety.

Bianca is driven to madness by the guilt of having failed to restore her family name and of having harmed Tudor, her lifelong childhood friend and lover who had been there for her in her darkest time.

... But fate has changed.

Tudor survives, and Bianca's sanity is restored.

This was only possible because, at a crucial moment, Bianca refused to be brainwashed by Madeline.

" ...I guess we have to thank Lovegood."

Vikir stared at the brooch in Bianca's hair.

A hairpin with a pink heart-shaped brooch attached to it.

It's called a "love shield.

It was an artifact that Vikir had gotten back in the day when he participated in the University League.

To be more precise, Vikir had gotten Decarabia as a reward for his excellent performance in the University League.

At the time, there was a student named Merlini Lovegood who had better grades than Vikir, and the prize she received was this artifact called 'Love Shield'.

'The artifact I won is called the Love Shield. It's a hairpin with a heart-shaped brooch, and it's supposed to protect against any kind of powerful brainwashing or mind control magic once you wear it, but only if you have someone you truly love by your side!'

The effect of this artifact, called the Love Shield, is a one-time defense against all powerful brainwashing.

However, the artifact requires the presence of someone you truly love for it to work.

<Dear Vikir>.

<With love?>

<-PS. Merlinie Lovegood, President of Vi*Sa*Mo->

-'Perfume, skin lotion, shoes, belts, hats, sunglasses, shirts, bags, fountain pens, ties, wallets, sneakers, hairpins... Oh my. There is also an artifact that was used as a prize in the university league. Also, what is this? It's the key to the carriage?'

In the past, Lovegood had mailed the artifact to Vikir as a gesture of fandom, and Vikir had kept it and handed it to Bianca before infiltrating the Usher mansion.

'Take these with you.'

Bianca with a hairpin, Tudor with red and black firecrackers.

Vikir's preparation, just in case, saved Tudor and Bianca from a harsh fate.

" ...It's the first time I've seen a face.."

Vikir, who was looking at his own face in a puddle on the ground, turned his head.

kkoog-

He saw Tudor fainting and Bianca's hands clasped together as she looked at Tudor.

* * *

Then.

Vikir found a temporary camp on the ridge, and in a pit covered with fallen leaves, he took out the potion he had placed beforehand and fed it to Tudor.

"...Huagh? Why am I still alive?"

Bianca cried out as Tudor woke up with a loud scream.

Just then.

pudeudeug-

The sound of a bird flapping its wings came from far behind them.

Up on the ridge, Vikir stood in full view of Usher's mansion.

just as expected.

[...Find them! ...Must find them!]

He could hear Madeline's poisoned voice and the sounds of Usher's knights moving about.

Tudor and Bianca's eyes widened.

"Get ready."

Vikir spoke.

"It's time to pay them back."