Episode 135: Rudbeckia, Who Doesn’t Want to Regret #5
“This, this is—!”
The dark mage stared, eyes wide, at the shadows surging toward him like waves. Saint Yohan had opened his Mindscape. How? His condition should have been at its worst!
“I need to escape…”
He hastily moved his feet, but he only circled in place. It meant he was already within the domain. The dark mage, his face drained of color, turned his gaze to Yohan standing at the center.
“…”
Yohan was staring at him with eyes wide open—filled with nothing but rage. Even with his mana twisted from magic poisoning, he didn’t flinch. His sheer mental fortitude sent chills down the dark mage’s spine.
Saaaah…!
Soon, the entire cave was swallowed by shadows.
In the pitch-black darkness, he lost all sensation in his body. For a moment, the dark mage thought his soul had been pulled from him. The feeling was that alien.
He had to get out. That was his immediate conclusion. The dark mage reached out into the void, but his spells didn’t activate. The space itself was blocking all magic.
‘Damn it!’
If that was the case, he would have to use his own life force to cast spells—but that would be a burden even for him.
If he died first, he wouldn’t be able to pray to the Four Kings!
Kugugugugu—!
Then it happened. The ground beneath his feet twisted, and a massive tremor shook the space. The sky brightened as a colossal gear rose at its center.
The dark mage stared blankly upward. A breathtaking sight—yet it evoked the most extreme terror. The sheer power emanating from it was overwhelming.
Even someone who walked the path of defiance couldn’t help but waver…!
“Boundless Abyss.”
At that moment, Yohan’s voice resounded.
Kugugugung—!
The gear began to turn.
And suddenly, the ground beneath him collapsed. The dark mage realized his feet were no longer touching the floor. He was falling.
“What the—!”
Gravity twisted. His body, his soul, everything was being pulled from the void into the depths below. His vision darkened as if it were burning away.
“This… What is this…!?”
The enormous gear turned slowly. Something was awakening at its core.
Thud.
And the moment the gear (wheel) stopped, the entire space distorted. His senses twisted. His breathing became difficult, and it was impossible to keep his balance. Even his mind was barely holding on.
“Khak—!”
The foreign sensation was too much. The dark mage collapsed onto the ground. His body wouldn’t move. No, it was as if he had forgotten how to move altogether.
With warped senses, he barely managed to lift his gaze. Yohan stood before him, bleeding.
“Ah…”
That was the last thing he saw.
***
Yohan held the unconscious Rudbeckia in his arms.
She remained limp, but fortunately, her breathing and pulse had returned to normal. It was thanks to Yohan pushing out the magic poisoning and purifying the mana around her.
“Haa… Haa…”
Cradling her, Yohan took deep breaths and gathered his mana. He had already overexerted himself—now, he had to escape before losing consciousness.
Whoooom—!
Magic surged, creating a powerful gust of wind. His body felt like it was being torn apart, and his mind drifted into a haze, but he endured. If he collapsed now, they would both die.
Kwaang—!
Yohan created a Distortion orb and blasted a hole in the ceiling, launching himself upward.
Shhh!
The soil scattered lightly, revealing an opening. He squeezed through.
Blood dripped from his nose. The internal damage from the magic poisoning was so severe that blood also trickled from his lips. The pain was excruciating, but his focus never wavered.
Kwaang!
He tore through the earth, emerging at last. The cracks in the space had been sealed, and sunlight streamed down from the sky.
He scanned his surroundings cautiously. Fortunately, there were no demonic beasts. It seemed the other warriors had handled the cleanup.
“Haaah…!”
Yohan finally curled in on himself, exhaling deeply. His mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood.
But he couldn’t afford to pass out yet.
He tightened his grip on Rudbeckia and forced his legs to move. If he kept heading toward an area with weaker magic, they would eventually escape the lair.
Of course, he couldn’t move quickly. Even standing was a struggle, and he was carrying Rudbeckia, who remained unconscious.
Rustle.
As he pressed forward without stopping, the sound of twigs being crushed reached his ears.
Yohan halted his steps, heightening his senses and drawing upon his mana. The process brought another wave of excruciating pain, but he clenched his teeth and endured it.
-Krrrk! Krrrk!
The source of the sound was beasts—Class 1-ranked creatures. They were kobolds, known for moving in packs.
-Krrr…
Yet, the kobolds did not immediately lunge at him. The aura emanating from Yohan was anything but ordinary.
‘They’re still in their right minds.’
Most beasts in the Demonic lair lost all reason, succumbing to madness.
But now, the rift had closed. With the dark energy fading, the creatures had regained their sense of fear.
Yohan pointed his fingers at them.
Fwoosh!
Mana gathered, forming a sphere of energy ready to be unleashed.
-Krrk?!
Sensing the ominous power, the kobolds instinctively backed away. Eliminating them was an option, but instead, Yohan raised his outstretched arm toward the sky.
And then—he fired.
Boom—!
A deafening explosion echoed through the air as the sphere burst. Though its power was not overwhelming, it was more than enough to intimidate the kobolds.
-Krrrk! Krrrk!
The creatures scurried away in fear. Yohan let out a relieved sigh.
‘Two more times.’
In his current state, he could fire the rupture point only twice more. He had to escape the Demonic lair before exhausting those chances.
Still, the situation was not too bad. The explosion he had just launched served as a signal to those outside.
Moreover, with such a large blast in the sky, any rational beasts would hesitate to approach.
Yohan resumed walking, his weary steps carrying him forward.
About thirty minutes passed.
“Ugh…”
Rudbeckia stirred.
Yohan softly called her name.
“Rudbeckia.”
“Ah…”
She slowly opened her eyes, meeting his gaze.
His blue eyes were dim, his face pale is covered in dried blood.
“A-Are you okay?!”
Rudbeckia hurriedly pushed herself up. Though she was also in poor condition and wobbled at first, she managed to steady herself better than Yohan.
“I’m fine. What about you?”
“I think I’m okay… It’s just a bit exhausting.”
“That’s good. Let’s keep moving.”
“Yes…!”
Yohan and Rudbeckia trudged through the forest.
Their steps were slow and arduous, but thankfully, no more beasts appeared—likely due to the lingering effects of the earlier explosion.
“…I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”
Rudbeckia suddenly broke the silence with an apology.
Yohan tilted his head slightly.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“If I had defended better, this wouldn’t have happened…”
If she had used magic instead of blocking with her body, she might have been able to counter the spell. The thought of her mistake weighed heavily on her mind.
“It was an ambush, wasn’t it?”
“Huh? Yes…”
“Then, that’s that.”
Yohan continued, his tone firm but calm.
“The fact that you managed to react quickly and move at all in such a dire moment is impressive.”
Bodyguards trained for protection might have handled it differently, but Rudbeckia was a mage—someone meant to be protected. Making a swift decision and acting upon it in such a moment was no easy feat.
“And we don’t even know if you could’ve stopped it. It was a curse woven from dark energy. As far as I see it, the choice you made was the best possible one.”
No one could predict what might have happened otherwise. If he had been captured, the dark mages’ plan would have succeeded, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.
“So don’t blame yourself. You did well, Rudbeckia.”
With that, Yohan gave her a small smile.
“…”
Rudbeckia pressed her lips together and lowered her head slightly.
“Thank you… for saying that.”
“I’m just telling the truth.”
They kept walking, step by step, through the forest. Though they had to pause occasionally due to dizziness, they never lingered long. They had to get out before nightfall.
Step. Step.
Neither spoke further. Partly because of exhaustion, but mostly because there was simply nothing more to say.
“…”
“…”
However, the silence between them was tinged with awkwardness.
Rudbeckia felt uncomfortable with the silence and the awkwardness between her and Yohan. She disliked that there wasn’t much to talk about.
She wanted Yohan to always have enjoyable moments. To make that happen, she needed stamina, but in their current state, that was impossible.
Both of them were exhausted.
In fact, Yohan’s condition could be considered severe.
Even though he appeared fine, his pale—no, almost white—complexion and his unsteady breathing made it clear.
Because of that, she couldn’t bring herself to start a conversation…
The silence continued until Rudbeckia finally spoke when they took a short break. Since Yohan’s condition had improved somewhat, she was able to talk.
“Um, Director…?”
“Go ahead.”
She fidgeted with her fingers, glanced at him cautiously, and then spoke carefully.
“T-That confession from earlier… It doesn’t count, okay? I only said it because I thought it was my last moment…!”
Was that really important right now?
Yohan blinked in confusion, and seeing his expression, Rudbeckia quickly added,
“Of course, I meant it…!”
She clenched and unclenched her hands while looking at him.
“But I said it because I thought it was the end… So, it wasn’t an official confession…”
Then, she took a small breath.
“So, please think of what I said back then as just practice. Because I want to do my real confession… properly.”
It might not have been the most appropriate time, but Rudbeckia was serious.
Before talking about anything else, she needed to make this clear.
“I already knew.”
Yohan chuckled softly as he responded.
“But… You said you’d give me an answer once we returned, right?”
“…I did.”
“What were you going to say…?”
Earlier, Rudbeckia had insisted that her confession didn’t count, but now she was curious. What would his answer have been?
“I was going to say that since we haven’t gotten to know each other properly yet, we should take some more time. People’s feelings can change.”
“…Does that mean rejection?”
“I think I left a lot of possibilities open. Besides, when I reject someone, I do it firmly.”
As Yohan flashed a refreshing smile, Rudbeckia parted her lips slightly, then quickly averted her gaze.
“O-Oh, I see?”
“Yeah.”
“…”
Silence filled the space again.
But this time, it wasn’t an awkward silence.
It was a quiet pause caused by a strange, indescribable atmosphere.
Then, Rudbeckia’s eyes lit up.
“Oh…! By the way, this doesn’t count as using up one of my chances, right?”
“I know.”
Yohan chuckled again.
She was acting selfishly, but her desperate expression felt undeniably endearing.
Boom!
At that moment—
Magic exploded in the sky.
“The signal came.”
Yohan rose to his feet.
Judging by the proximity, the reinforcements would arrive soon.
“It looks like the guards saw my signal.”
“You sent a signal?”
“When you were asleep.”
Yohan extended his hand toward her.
Rudbeckia looked at that hand.
His wounded fingertips.
His palm, stained with blood.
But the warmth from it was unmistakable.
“Yes…!”
She grasped his hand tightly.
As if she would never let go.