Episode 131: Rudbeckia, Who Doesn’t Want to Regret
Rudbeckia opened her eyes.
She was surrounded by deep darkness, unable to see even an inch ahead.
The moment she took a breath, something sharp and cold scraped against her lungs.
The air was thick and sticky, like rotten blood, seeping into her esophagus and tainting her insides.
The dense dark energy filling the space choked her, constricting her throat and weighing down her entire body.
That murky, viscous energy seeped into her skin, penetrating deep into her bones.
It was an environment where even staying sane was a challenge.
‘Where… am I?’
Rudbeckia grimaced as she looked around. But she saw nothing-no objects, no life.
Only an endless abyss of pitch-black void and the suffocating dark energy that gnawed at her lungs with every breath.
‘My head hurts…’
Her mind felt as if it were slowly twisting.
A throbbing pain intensified, and her vision wavered.
She pressed her fingertips against her temple, but all she could feel was the unsettling sensation of melting away into the darkness.
Instinctively, Rudbeckia understood.
This was not a place where life existed. It was a space corroded by decay and death.
‘If I stay here, it’ll be dangerous.’
A human’s life force is composed of mana.
They breathe in the mana present in the air, and even the water they drink and the food they eat contain traces of mana.
Dark energy, on the other hand, is its exact opposite. It was practically a poison.
Short-term exposure wouldn’t be lethal, but prolonged inhalation would inevitably harm one’s body.
If she wasn’t careful, she could die.
“Haa…”
Forcing herself to stay calm, Rudbeckia gathered her magical power.
She had no idea where this place was, but she needed to carve out an escape route, no matter what.
However-
“…It’s not working at all.”
Despair crept in quietly.
As expected of a place filled only with dark energy, not a single trace of mana remained here.
That must have been why those dark mages had chosen to trap Yohan in this place.
“Sigh…”
Rudbeckia let out a weary breath and tightly shut her eyes.
Even exhaling felt exhausting.
She couldn’t use magic.
She had no idea where she was.
Even the air brushing against her skin was cold and ominous.
There was nothing she could do.
But that didn’t mean she could simply sit still.
‘I have to get out. I need to move.’
Taking heavy steps, Rudbeckia reached out and placed her hand against a wall.
A cold, rough texture brushed against her fingertips.
One step.
Then another.
The darkness grew deeper, heavier.
The silence pressed down on her like a crushing weight.
But she couldn’t let this second chance slip away so easily.
***
Paah-!
Pure mana surged forth, purifying the dark energy.
The distorted cracks, like shattered glass, disappeared.
The darkness that had covered the sky gradually lifted, leaving only faint remnants, and the dark energy that had tainted the air scattered like grains of sand in the wind.
Since it was a rift within a special-grade demonic lair, both mana and mental strength had been significantly drained.
But there was no time to rest.
Drenched in sweat, Yohan, who had collapsed from exhaustion, took a ragged breath and forced himself to stand.
He immediately scanned his surroundings.
The knights and mages, utterly drained, lay on the ground, their bodies soaked in the blood of demonic beasts.
Healers were tending to the wounded.
Before them lay piles of mutilated corpses—
The remains of demonic beasts, hacked to pieces and scattered like heaps of flesh.
The blood-soaked ground and the grotesquely torn bodies painted a scene of utter devastation.
Even without witnessing the battle firsthand, the sheer brutality of the aftermath made it clear just how fierce the fight had been.
“Director…!”
As Yohan staggered, scanning his surroundings, a dust-covered Eris rushed toward him.
Like the others, she was drenched in the blood of demonic beasts, but she appeared uninjured.
Confirming that Eris was unharmed, Yohan hardened his expression and asked her,
“Give me a report.”
“Yes…!”
Eris quickly responded to his question. A situation report and summary were essential.
“We successfully defended against the sudden flood of demonic beasts and the ambush by the dark mages, but Aide Rudbeckia was hit by a spell and disappeared."
Yohan’s eyes narrowed.
“I already know that. But what happened to Rudbeckia? Have you found out anything?”
Rudbeckia had vanished. Yohan knew she had been taken somewhere while protecting him.
Even though he had been immobilized and concentrating, he was still aware of what had happened.
“According to the sensory mages, her mana suddenly disappeared. It seems she was affected by a spatial movement spell cast by the dark mages.”
“Spatial movement?”
Eris nodded.
“Yes… They say it’s a method that connects spaces through dark energy. It’s something impossible to achieve with mana.”
Yohan didn’t use teleportation magic himself because it required highly complex formulas and consumed vast amounts of mana, making it less efficient than high-speed movement.
But spatial movement using dark energy was different.
Since dark energy had a denser nature than mana, it was easier to link distant spaces together.
“Does that mean we have no way of knowing where she was taken?”
Yohan took a deep breath as he asked. In truth, he was struggling to contain his emotions.
Rudbeckia had thrown herself in harm’s way to protect him, and now she was in mortal danger.
But he is a Director.
Everyone placed their trust in him.
Since he essentially held the lives of his subordinates in his hands, maintaining composure was crucial.
“…Yes.”
“Why?”
When Yohan asked, Eris calmly continued her explanation.
“The area has very little mana, so we would need to track her through dark energy. But because this is a special-grade demonic lair, dark energy is spread too thickly.”
In short, the overwhelming presence of dark energy made it impossible to pinpoint her location.
“…Is there no way to find her?”
“Unfortunately… No.”
Eris lowered her head deeply.
Even though the dark mages’ ambush had taken them by surprise, allowing them to disrupt Yohan while he was sealing the rift was ultimately her failure.
She was in charge of leading the elite unit and the First Division.
Because of that, Aide Rudbeckia, who had been guarding Yohan, had gone missing, and now the situation had become much more complicated.
“…”
Yohan closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
Of course, he had no intention of blaming Eris or the other warriors.
Who could have predicted such an ambush? Even he had failed to notice it in advance.
They didn’t even know what kind of spell the enemy had used.
The fact that they had defended against both the demonic beast flood and the ambush with minimal casualties was already an impressive feat.
After steadying his breathing, Yohan began calculating his next course of action.
‘What should I do now?’
His heart urged him to scour this entire demonic lair to find Rudbeckia.
But his decisions carried the weight of many lives. He couldn’t afford to act recklessly.
The knights and mages had exhausted themselves repelling the demonic flood and the dark mages’ ambush.
On top of that, prolonged exposure to the thick dark energy of this special-grade lair had left them in poor condition.
Even the elite healers were struggling to speed up the recovery of minor injuries.
‘Damn it.’
Yohan clenched his fist violently in the air. His nails dug into his palm. His hand trembled.
His chest tightened. For the first time in ages, he felt the crushing weight of helplessness.
Since becoming an special-class mage, he had never experienced such frustration.
“…What will you do?”
Eris asked cautiously.
She, too, was desperate to go search for Rudbeckia immediately.
But logically, the best choice was to retreat for now—there were still demonic beasts remaining.
Yohan, who had been lost in thought with his eyes closed, spoke quietly.
“I’ll search for her alone.”
“…Excuse me? Are you saying you’ll go alone?”
Eris was momentarily taken aback. Had she misheard? She blinked in surprise and asked again.
Yohan stretched his body, checking if there were any issues with his movements. After confirming that he was fine, he nodded.
“Yes. Eris, I’m entrusting you with command of the unit. I will find Aide Rudbeckia and bring her back.”
“That’s too dangerous!”
Eris unintentionally raised her voice. Her shout echoed loudly, and her ashen-gray eyes wavered.
“The rift may have been stabilized, but there are still many demonic beasts left! And your condition isn’t normal either! Let us go with you!”
Despite her protests, Yohan remained resolute.
“I can’t put you all in danger as well. Besides, it will be more efficient if I go alone.”
Their target was him.
No doubt they were still lurking somewhere, waiting for another opportunity.
Rather than moving with the officers, it would be wiser to move alone using high-speed travel to locate them.
That would be faster and safer.
“But—”
“Eris, I’m asking this of you.”
“…”
Eris bit her lip and lowered her head. Rationally, it was an obviously bad decision, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse his request.
It was a request from the man she liked, after all.
And just like Yohan, she also wanted to find Rudbeckia.
“…After regrouping, we will re-enter and cooperate with the Margrave’s Celestial Knights to subjugate the remaining demonic beasts. That should lessen the burden on you, Director.”
Eris took a deep breath and looked Yohan in the eye.
“I cannot concede beyond this.”
“Alright, if you’re coming after regrouping, that’s fine.”
Yohan swept his sweat-drenched bangs back and began gathering mana for high-speed movement.
At that moment—
“Yohan? What’s going on?”
Francia and her squad, who had previously moved away from the heart of the demon-infested zone, returned. Their bodies were covered in dust and the blood of demonic beasts, clear evidence of the battle they had fought.
“It’s—”
Yohan briefly summarized what had happened.
After listening to his explanation, Francia widened her eyes.
“Aide Rudbeckia was kidnapped?”
“Kidnapped… Something similar, yes.”
She wasn’t exactly captured, but she had been transported somewhere. That was hardly different from an abduction.
“Hmm… Ah!”
Francia furrowed her brows, stroking her chin in thought. Then, as if something had clicked, she widened her eyes and extended her hand.
A faint light emerged from her fingertips. The thick, murky dark energy around them reacted to it, shifting and flowing like water following a current. The black haze dispersed, transforming into a soft blue mana.
It was purification.
“The problem is that there’s too much dark energy to track her, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then I can find her.”
“What do you mean…? Ah.”
Yohan was about to say it was impossible but then realized who was standing before him.
Francia Fervache.
A woman widely known as the Obsidian Saintess.
With her abilities, she could purify the obstructing dark energy and track the magical traces leading to Rudbeckia.
Rather than blindly scouring the entire area, they could significantly narrow down the search.
“The spot where Aide Rudbeckia disappeared still has lingering dark energy, right? If we use that to track her and purify the surrounding dark energy, we can find where it leads.”
Yohan swallowed hard.
He had been prepared to comb through the entire demon-infested zone, but now, they might be able to locate her far more easily.
“Let’s find her right away.”
Rudbeckia Freeche.
Leaving her behind was never an option to begin with.