No matter how much Derman’s body was falling apart, it didn’t mean the corrupted spirit inside him had weakened.
Of course, if the human host were to completely die, that’d be another story. But for now, he was still alive.
Naturally, the Marionette Line wouldn’t work.
And yet…
The Marionette Line, which was originally made of black threads, now had a murky purple hue.
How is it, Illusia? Holding up okay?
– Mhmm…
The true nature of the purple mana Jun was currently using—
It was none other than Javier’s mana, which he had extracted just before being pulled into the Mental Projection.
Just as I thought. It works well.
Javier.
What could be so special about the mana of that timid little imperial member?
But Javier had been one of the main villains in the game’s storyline.
Naturally, he had the power to match.
‘The blood of spirits… it really is effective.’
Javier’s ancestor or more precisely, his mother Beneth’s ancestor, had inherited the blood of a spirit.
Though so much time had passed that the bloodline had become extremely diluted, to the point where even its traces were hard to find—
That’s what makes bloodlines so fascinating.
Amazingly, Javier had been born with a strong expression of that spiritual trait.
Spirit mana, huh…
For an ordinary person, it was a power with no real use.
Just because someone was born with the blood of a spirit didn’t mean they could form a contract with one. In fact, even becoming aware of that power was quite difficult.
But conversely…
For the corrupted spirit implanted within the Evil Spirit Orb, Javier was a far superior host compared to any other.
In the game’s story, Javier lost even his mother when the corrupted spirit was implanted within him, and from that point on, he fell completely into darkness. He eventually grew to become one of the game’s main villains.
It was tragic in the game, but now… I can actually make use of it like this.
And it wasn’t just the corrupted spirits who favored the mana of those born with the blood of spirits.
Naturally, it applied to Illusia as well. Spirits of dreams, by their very nature, had incredible synergy with mental magic.
On top of that—
Mental magic itself is the counter to spirits. So, it works well against corrupted ones too.
Jun had seized on that coincidence perfectly, and that awareness was what made the current phenomenon possible.
“Let’s go in.”
– …Got it, Master…
Through the Marionette Line that connected them, Jun’s consciousness entered Derman’s mind.
What he saw there was deeply strange.
Perhaps because it was a space shaped by the unstable memories of a human mind, everything around him like objects, background, and even the air was blurry and indistinct.
And within that haze, Jun saw Derman being strangled on a bed.
“……”
And that face. It was identical to the one in the portrait Jun had seen.
Except for one thing: the expression of sheer terror.
“Please… please…”
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
Then who was it restraining the young Derman and strangling him?
“My mother.”
At that moment, Jun turned his gaze behind him.
Derman—
Not from the past, but the present one, his face covered in burn scars, was standing right beside Jun.
“She did that to you?”
“Yes. It was the evening after I’d finished my daily training and dinner.”
The young Derman on the bed was still struggling desperately.
Watching his own past self, Derman continued speaking.
“She muttered that she could only live if I disappeared.”
And right then, the woman on the bed, the mother, spoke as well.
“…if… gone… only then… can live…”
Her voice came through in broken, fragmented pieces.
It seemed that the Derman of the past, mentally unstable as he was, couldn’t remember that voice.
Most likely, all he could do in that moment was scream for his life in sheer terror.
“If I hadn’t existed…if I died, my mother could have lived.”
“You said your maternal family held a lot of power, didn’t you?”
“Yes. But even so, for a woman who had a child through an affair, that burden must’ve been unbearable. Even if she was a noble.”
In fact, because she was a noble, the burden may have been even heavier.
“Aaaaaaaaagh――!!!”
A piercing scream tore through the air.
Acid was splashed onto the child’s face, and even the mother’s hands, which were wrapped around his throat, began to melt away.
“That’s why I had to disappear.”
“That was your mother’s wish?”
“Maybe.”
The reason he couldn’t say for certain was likely because he hadn’t been able to hear her final words. He kept struggling in agony until the very end.
“Well… if that’s true, it’s actually more surprising that you survived at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“If she really wanted to erase every trace of your existence, she would’ve just poisoned you from the start.”
“……”
“Ah, ignore me. That was just pointless speculation.”
Jun closed his mouth, suddenly embarrassed by his own words.
They weren’t close enough to be having this kind of conversation anyway.
Besides, what he said had too many holes in it.
Maybe she left him alive out of some lingering maternal instinct.
Or perhaps, like the current Count Volletic, she had staged it all, pretending he was dead and raising him in secret.
Or maybe she feared that if she tried something as obvious as poisoning, others might become suspicious.
Naturally, Jun couldn’t draw any firm conclusions without proper information.
However—
“I see.”
Had other memories Jun wasn’t aware of surfaced in Derman’s mind?
He wore a faint smile.
For some reason…
That scar-covered face suddenly looked very much like the handsome young man in the portrait Jun had seen.
“I never knew why. I didn’t even want to think about it. And in the end, all that was left was emptiness.”
“……”
“I didn’t know what I wanted. I just moved through life, drifting along with the current. To me, the world was nothing but the Volletic territory.”
Even the talent he had once possessed had lost its brilliance after that incident.
And the one who extended a hand to the lost Derman… was none other than the Heavenly Church.
“They said they would help me regain my strength.”
“So that’s how you came to consume the Evil Spirit Orb.”
“That’s right.”
In truth, Derman had always known that the lifeline thrown to him was nothing more than a rotten rope.
“But I didn’t think twice about it. I figured I might as well use it to get revenge for my mother, who’d taken her own life.”
Looking back, it’s laughable. The truth is, it was his mother who had done wrong, and the former lord had been too busy defending such a wife.
But at the time, he neither had the will nor the strength to think that far.
“If only I’d tried, even just a little, to understand my mother’s intentions that day…”
If only he hadn’t avoided her after that day, if only he hadn’t chosen to run away.
Would he have made a slightly different choice back then?
“Hah. How ridiculous. I’ve never once lived with regrets… They say regret is always too late, no matter how soon it comes.”
It was all a meaningless fantasy.
He already knew full well that he was dying.
And so, he made the final choice he could.
“Still, not everything is too late.”
“……”
“The goal you seek lies beyond that.”
As he scattered the memories of his childhood, beyond them appeared the corrupted spirit.
“Kill it. Then the Sea Serpent will die as well.”
The reason the Sea Serpent had been able to rampage like that in the first place was because the corrupted spirit had gone berserk and devoured its soul.
In fact, the corrupted spirit before them. How could one even describe it…
It looked less like a spirit and more like a mass of polluted sludge.
A foul lump of filth, filled with all sorts of twisted things.
Jun stared at the spirit for a moment, then spoke.
“You’re forgetting one thing.”
“You know it, don’t you?”
“The Sea Serpent wasn’t sealed away because it was powerful.”
“That’s right.”
The Sea Serpent.
To put it simply: a sea dragon.
A being not so different from a dragon.
So why was such a creature in the fourth-level raid? Normally, you wouldn’t see one until the eighth or ninth floor at the earliest.
Yet the Sea Serpent was the raid boss of the fourth floor. The reason was—
“Because it’s a dragon on the verge of death.”
An ancient dragon.
One standing at the edge of death, returning to nature in the sea it called home.
But the death of a dragon is, in itself, a massive natural disaster.
The surge of immense magical power would sweep through the area, reshaping the surrounding nature entirely.
A year-long deluge would follow, flooding the island completely.
That was the reason the Sea Serpent had been sealed away according to the in-game lore.
“Still, we should be able to save our lives.”
“Well, I suppose you’re right.”
In reality, the island wouldn’t sink immediately just because the Sea Serpent died.
It would take at least a week.
More than enough time to evacuate.
“So, in the end, you’ve decided to spare him?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“It was Father’s wish.”
“……”
“He’s the one who put me in charge of the raid party.”
After his wife’s tragic suicide, the former viscount’s health had deteriorated, and he passed away at a relatively young age.
The only one he continued to care for until the end… was Derman.
“That’s why I’m letting him live.”
“I see.”
With those words, Jun summoned his mana.
A red heat began to gather at his fingertips.
“Any last words?”
Once the corrupted spirit was killed, Derman’s body would collapse instantly. It was inevitable.
That’s why Jun asked one last time.
“Not really.”
Derman showed no hint of regret about his own death.
Nor did he seem to be in pain.
“I see.”
And so, Jun felt no sympathy for him.
Sure, he had a tragic past.
But in the end, he was responsible for more than a few deaths.
The entire raid party had been absorbed and killed by that corrupted spirit.
And because of the Heavenly Church Derman brought in, two Blackguard knights had lost their lives as well.
So, Jun simply pointed his fingers at the corrupted spirit.
[Flare]
***
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
Had a hole opened in the sky?
A torrential rain poured down with overwhelming force.
In the middle of it all, Jun sat on a hospital bed, blankly staring up at the sky.
It was a strange sight.
Rain was pouring hard enough to make the word “downpour” feel inadequate. Yet the sky was bright, not a single cloud in sight.
“According to the records I read, it’s due to magical instability.”
“Right. Caused by the Sea Serpent’s death, isn’t it?”
“That’s correct.”
Aiden, who was sitting right next to Jun, seemed just as fascinated. He kept marveling as he stared out the window.
At the same time, he busied himself explaining what he knew to Jun.
“In the end, the [checkpoint] gets submerged either way.”
“Well, it’s unavoidable. That’s the price of failing the raid.”
The death of the Sea Serpent.
In truth, this was all that happened when a raid attempt failed.
Once unsealed, the original Sea Serpent didn’t go on a killing spree. Instead, it returned to nature, releasing all the magic it had accumulated into the surroundings just like now.
For humans, it was a disaster. But from nature’s perspective, it was a kind of cycle.
“Thanks to that, I do feel a little dizzy…”
Jun was feeling mildly nauseous due to the magical instability, but the rare sight unfolding before him made it feel somewhat worth it.
“Haha… It really was dangerous in more ways than one. Ugh.”
Still laughing, Aiden suddenly clutched his abdomen where Derman had stabbed him and grimaced.
“You’re lucky it ended there.”
“It’s all thanks to you, senior. If your shield had been even a second slower, my heart would’ve been pierced.”
“You’re saying that was because of me…?”
Jun’s shield at the time had been torn apart like paper.
Even so, it really was thanks to Jun.
Aiden hadn’t reacted to Derman’s magic. He’d responded to Jun’s magic instead.
“Yeah, well. Make sure you keep being grateful.”
“I always am.”
Jun let out a small chuckle as he looked at Aiden, who spoke with such a serious expression.
Just then—
Someone knocked on the door.
“It’s me.”
The third prince, Javier.
He had come to visit their hospital room.
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