'Damn.'
I couldn't stop myf from shouting insults.
My choice was good, but who would have expected that I would actually fall into a portal?
The dry, uncomfortable air in my mouth confirmed that I was inside a portal.
"Yes."
I raised my head.
Dark skies as if the sun would never shine, humid air that stuck to the skin.
The ground sinks under my feet with every step in a disgusting way, and the plants in a strange environment that I have never seen before.
'Whether here or in South Korea, the views of the gates are similar.'
If a monster suddenly appeared here, that would be the worst.
'So far, it's fine.'
I breathed slowly.
No, actually, it wasn't that good!
My heart was beating as if it was going to explode.
There was no one to see me, so I wanted to fall to the ground and crawl on all fours.
“What am I supposed to do?”
A loud voice rang out from afar.
I didn't know where the sound came from, but it was most likely the roar of a monster inside this portal.
My shoulders trembled and I gritted my teeth hard.
“I'm scared.
I'm so scared.”
I felt like I couldn't do anything.
I vividly recalled the memory of being crushed and killed by a monster emerging from an explosive portal.
I closed my eyes tightly and held back a scream that almost exploded.
I have to move, but if I keep sitting here like an idiot, I might become food for the monster!
I can't go...
At that moment, I remembered a face.
'Choice carries responsibility, Miu.'
The cat said that with a mysterious expression.
The little boy who wrote in a nice handwriting to ask me not to quarrel with his brother.
'Ma'am, ma'am!'
The voices of magicians who said that I was their spiritual center and their ideal.
And…
'My guide.'
The man who was confusing my head with his unusually kind words.
Yes, I have come to rescue that annoying, arrogant Emperor.
I raised my hand and hit myf.
Smell.
Takh, Takh!
Three hits.
After these blows, I regained my composure.
I hit myf so hard that I cut my lip, and I smelled blood.
“Hilaria, why is this woman’s hand so cruel?”
I groaned as I moved my body.
Fortunately, the training I received at the center while working as a mentor was deeply ingrained in my mind.
This gate was a mixture of different terrains.
But this extreme silence means that there is either a powerful boss monster hiding, or…
'Maybe it's a mental attack type monster.'
Both are very bad.
If the Emperor had really fallen here, I should have heard sounds of battle from somewhere, but it was too quiet.
Except for the monster's intermittent roar, I heard nothing else.
I curled up like a caterpillar, hiding in the bushes, while holding my breath.
'The most important thing is to avoid encountering the monster.'
The Emperor may have fainted due to the explosion of his power.
Or perhaps he was subjected to a mental attack.
The problem is that saving the Emperor is good, but I can barely protect myf.
Not even a great witch can use magic freely!
There were no clear records about whether mages could fight properly inside the gates.
Wizards cannot stand the air of portals, which means that no one ever emerges from them after an actual battle.
But it's been said that attacking monsters that emerge from blast gates with magic is possible, so I'm assuming I can.
In case of emergency, I can fire the fire spear and escape.
“So, I must quickly find that Emperor, restore him to his state, destroy the core, and get out.
And in the process, he must not know that it is me.
Damn, isn’t the difficulty level of this mission wrong?”
Before meeting the Emperor, I had to open the system window to change my appearance.
Because of the sudden mission, I fell here without being able to change my form.
Long, flowing red hair, thin nightgowns that did not protect against the cold, and bright red eyes.
Hilaria.
I am not the companion that the Emperor so eagerly seeks, but I am now in my form as I appear in the daytime.
'Duchess Ariel in her pajamas.'
If Casey sees me, he'll faint.
I laughed sarcastically and calmly called up the system window.
But there was silence.
"What is this?
What's wrong?
The system window?"
My heart beat anxiously.
No, please, don't do this!
“System window?”
I couldn't scream out loud in this situation, so I called her quietly several times.
But calm remained.
After a few terrifying minutes, I had to confess.
The system window is down.
“This is crazy...”
The difficulty of saving the Emperor increased a hundred times.
“If the system window doesn't work, I can't use magic now, and...”
I can't change my appearance into the Night Maid.
“Huh.
Haha.”
To guide Casey in Hilaria's form and save him?
In this situation?
Is this possible?
“Shall I go out?”
No, I can't even get out?
I felt like I was losing my mind.
Humans are truly malicious creatures.
I used to feel upset and anxious about the system window that I thought was controlling me, but now that it was gone, I felt like I was going crazy even more.
"Lucy, my mentor!
Aren't you my mentor?
What am I supposed to do…"
She played with my hair violently.
Fortunately, there were no monsters around.
No sign of flying monsters.
It seemed like I could move on foot, so I decided to hide behind trees while moving around.
My heart beat with increasing anxiety.
Since I can't see the system window, I can't check the Emperor's status, but if I saw it, it would probably be flashing red now.
'If Casey was really here alone...'
If the status window had summoned me for this reason...
'The empire will collapse.'
No matter how the original story progressed, if an SSS-rank Awaken was consumed by a blast portal, we would all reach the end of doom together.
At that moment, the scene changed.
“I'm out of the woods.”
I looked around and saw rocks without any greenery.
In rocky mountain terrain, there are usually insects.
“Ooh.”
Fortunately, they are not offensive monsters?
At that moment, I felt something scary.
Yes, as I felt when you died
‘Ah!’
It rolled quickly.
Then, boom!
Something landed where I was standing.
I almost hiccuped from fear, but I held it in.
'Ahh, disgusting.'
I hid behind a huge rock, and saw a huge white caterpillar.
A rising monster crushes the place where you were with its body.
I felt like I was going to faint.
'If he crushed me there, I would have died!'
It does not attack humans, but it is dangerous because of its enormous size and movement.
When I looked carefully, I saw holes in the rocks, and these huge larvae seemed to be living in them.
Yes!
While I was holding back my screams of disgust, my well-trained mind was telling me how to get out of this terrain.
Yes, let's do it.
I have to live no matter what.
I came to save someone, didn't I?
I gritted my teeth.
'Caesis, I will get you out of here and save you no matter what it takes.'
So, don't die and wait for me.
It was painful.
"my brother."
A little kid, it was his brother.
Casey felt a headache as if his brain was being stabbed.
His brother was always nice, so why did he feel so strange today?
Why did he feel that his brother, who did not speak, was the most familiar?
He felt that his imagination was making him a dirty, vile monster.
Just like his mother said.
Casey wanted to hold his little brother's hand that was clinging to him, but he shook his head because of the eyes watching him.
“I'm sorry.”
"my brother?"
“I can't play with you.
Go to your mother.”
“I want to play with my brother.”
“No, Louis.
Come back.”
He knew that his big eyes were filled with disappointment and tears, but he could not move freely.
The relationship between his parents, the Emperor and the Empress, was at its worst.
The two princes inherited their parents' abilities, and one became an awakener and the other a wizard.
The cold confrontation between the spouses extended to their children and those who support them.
Therefore, the daily routine of the two little princes was full of pain and suffering.
Just like this moment.
“You monster, what are you doing to my son!”
His mother ran from somewhere and snatched Louis's hand.
Then she slapped Casey's cheek, who was standing still.
Bam!