00091 <-- Episode 91: A Misaligned Heart (1) -->
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The group of Shihan, carrying the fallen Karen, left the open space for the time being. However, they could not move far.
Even if Sung Shi-han is like that, Zenon and Alita are still suffering from illnesses. They also have injuries from Karen.
No matter how trained they were as swordsmen, they were not in a condition to move for long periods of time. So they returned to the temple in Glam Village where Karen was hiding.
When the Shihan party returned, chaos broke out.
“Whoa!”
“teacher!”
The children fled around the temple in fear. Prinn Maria ran out and called Karen’s alias in shock.
“Oh my god! Prince Riana!”
Maria trembled as she looked back and forth between Shihan and Karen Inasius. Her gaze was particularly focused on Karen’s blood-stained clothes.
“Ah, what a difficult task this is… … .”
Zenon and Alita tilted their heads.
“……yes?”
“Is it a difficult task?”
Well, it was tough. The fight was so intense that hundreds of meters in radius were destroyed, and eventually even my heart burst. It was tough enough.
But Maria’s words did not have that nuance.
Okay, let’s just look at the situation.
A pair of men with swords came, claiming to be guests, and took the frail girl away. And in half a day, she came back covered in blood. Plus, the clothes she was wearing were tattered and torn, exposing her white flesh.
Anyone can see that this is the appearance of a ‘woman who has been treated badly by a man.’
Princip Maria wept bitterly.
“How could this happen to this poor child… … .”
And then he turned on his twin flames, glaring at Zeno.
“Surely not you!”
Zenon blinked.
“……to?”
Only then did Maria realize what kind of misunderstanding she had been having. And she also realized that she was the only one in this place who could be misunderstood.
Alita is a girl and Seongshihan is… … .
‘Surely a handsome and slender young man like that would do something like that? That rough and violent looking guy must be the culprit!’
… … Maria was only glaring at Zeno with that expression. This is why prejudice is so scary.
Zenon waved his hand in horror.
“No, that’s not it, is it?”
“Then why did this poor child end up like this?
“That, that’s what he did… … .”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Where in the world would a girl tear her own clothes?”
“That’s what I’m saying! No, why did you have to rip and tear your own clothes… .”
Zeno, reaching the peak of his frustration, let out his indignation.
It’s sad that children are scared of you, but who would have thought that you would be treated like this? Is being a little big such a big sin?
“Absolutely not! That never happened! You’ll know when you check!”
Alita rolled her eyes as she jabbed Zeno in the side with her elbow.
“… … What do you want me to check?”
After she had scolded her, she tried to comfort Maria.
“It’s not what you think, Prince. I’m a woman, too. I wouldn’t lie about something like that.”
Maria’s expression relaxed a little. Alita’s impression seemed quite good, and her head had also cooled down to some extent.
If you think about it, it’s a bit strange for a rapist to take a girl with him. It also doesn’t make sense for him to carry the victim back home after committing the crime.
“Oh, I understand. First, let’s go inside… … .”
Under the guidance of Prinn Maria, the group carried the unconscious Karen into the temple.
He clears a room and puts her on the bed. Of course, he takes off her bloody clothes before doing so. In this poor temple, even washing the bed sheets is a big deal.
So all the men were kicked out of the room, and Alita helped Maria.
Maria looked puzzled as she examined the unconscious Karen.
“Oh my god?”
Karen looked like she had suffered serious injuries, so I was prepared to see a horrific sight as I undressed her.
But there wasn’t a single wound on her body.
Maria blinked. Even the highest level of Prin’s healing arts couldn’t erase all the wounds in half a day.
So what is this?
‘… … someone stripped Rihanna of her clothes, tore them to shreds, put them back on, and then sprayed her with blood? And without even a single scratch?’
I don’t know the circumstances, but I know that’s nonsense.
Maria asked, looking at Alita.
“What on earth happened?”
The answer was lacking. So Alita deferred to the unconscious Karen. Well, figure it out.
“She’ll explain when she wakes up. We’re not in a position to talk about it… … .”
Alita was openly serious, so Maria couldn’t ask any more questions.
“Okay, but your condition doesn’t look good either.”
“Oh, I have the flu.”
“… … You were fine half a day ago, right?”
“They say illness comes silently, right? Knock knock knock!”
Alita coughed exaggeratedly.
I’m getting more and more confused. Why would someone who’s already sick insist on pretending to be sick?
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“Oh, yes.”
Eventually, Maria gave up pursuing the question further.
‘Yeah, Rihanna is okay… … .’
It was something I could ask about later.
“Please wait, I will prepare the medicine.”
Maria’s healing skills weren’t that great, but she was pretty good at handling medicine. With her help, Zenon and Alita were able to treat their illnesses.
Two more days passed since the group stayed at the temple in Glam Village.
Karen Inasius has not yet awakened.
***
I hear a voice. It’s the voice of an unfamiliar girl.
“… … I have a question, Shihan.”
A familiar male voice continues.
“What is it, Alita?”
“There’s that time-limited portal, right? Is there a reason why you only use it after you’ve rendered your opponent incapacitated? Can’t you just open it over their head as a surprise attack?”
“Hey, if you still have all your strength left, there’s no way the enemy will just get sucked in just by opening a dimensional gate, right?”
“But you were hit with the deadline ten years ago without any countermeasures, right? From what I’ve heard, it seems like you weren’t completely incapacitated at the time. Didn’t you still have a lot of strength left after defeating the Gwangje? Even if you were hit, there wouldn’t be much you could do, even for someone else… … .”
“Oh, that one and this one are a bit different.”
The man’s explanation slowly flowed into Karen’s hazy consciousness.
“The dimensional gate I returned to ten years ago is not the same as the one I’m opening now. Strictly speaking, neither Lisstein nor Sapharan opened the dimensional gate at that time.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ll have to explain in order. First, I opened the dimensional gate during the Zexengard incident. And I designated Zexengard as the target of the dimensional gate’s suction power. As a result, the dimensional gate sucked him in, but in terms of intent, I was the one who threw it.”
“Oh, so that’s why you’ve been using the expression ‘throw’ all along?”
“Yes, on the other hand, what happened to me has a different meaning. In the past, I was summoned to Terranor through a ritual offering the heart of the Lusclan royal family, right? That’s why I didn’t return to Earth even when the heart of the mad emperor burned, right?”
“But?”
“But it is also true that the Gwangje was the one who summoned me. I still don’t know exactly what he did, but ten years ago, Lilstein used the ashes left after the Gwangje’s heart burned. That’s how he erased the ‘contract of permission to exist’ that was on me.”
“… … You didn’t open a dimensional gate?”
“If it was simply a dimensional gate that opened, I could have easily endured it. Or I could have destroyed the dimensional gate itself. But at that time, I was not allowed to exist in Terranor, and this world had a reason to exclude me. That’s why the dimensional gate opened.”
“So the opening of the dimensional gate was the result, not the cause?”
“That’s right. The suction power of that dimensional gate was the power of the dimensional law itself. It wasn’t Lilstein or Sapharan who threw me. Even if I was a god-level swordsman and a floor master, there’s no way I could withstand something so enormous. Of course, I didn’t know this at the time, but I found out after returning to Earth and conducting dimensional research.”
The explanation contained a deep understanding of magic. Karen smiled involuntarily as she recalled the man’s name.
‘… … You’ve gotten stronger, Shihan.’
The past savior of the other world, Seong Si-han, was clearly able to use powerful magic that only the 9th floor magicians of the Ivory Tower could use. That’s why people called him the Floor Master.
However, he actually had little understanding of magic. He simply memorized it and copied and implemented the flow of magical power.
Most magic can be cast, but the nature of it is not widely understood. It is like knowing red and blue, but not knowing that they mix to make purple.
Even though I know about each magic, I don’t know about their relationships because their depth is shallow.
But now it was different. I had a sufficient understanding and depth of magic.
It was a happy thing.
As he becomes stronger, as his understanding of what he has deepens… … .
‘… … It will also become easier to get what you want.’
Karen was delighted as she somnambuled through the depths of her consciousness. Sung Si-han’s voice continued.
“But why are you asking this?”
I heard the girl’s reply.
“Just in case… … .”
It was the voice of the new relationship that the returned Seongshihan, called Alita, had formed.
“I thought that if someone opened a dimensional gate by surprise while waiting for the deadline, I might be sent back without being able to recover, just like that time.”
“That’s not true. Right now, I’m not the one who sacrificed my heart, but you, Alita, summoned me. As long as your heart doesn’t burn, I’m allowed to continue to exist on Terranor. The world won’t exclude me like it did back then.”
The girl sighed in relief.
“thank god.”
It was a voice that seemed genuinely concerned about Shihan’s safety. So Karen smiled in joy once again.
It was during that time.
She suddenly felt puzzled. It was because she realized that she was hearing the voices of Shihan and Alita.
‘ah……?’
She is dead. The dead cannot hear the voice of the living.
Karen also realized that she was ‘thinking’. The dead cannot think.
‘… …Why?’
Once she became aware of it, her consciousness, which had been sunken, began to rise violently to the surface.
“Ugh… … .”
Karen opened her eyes and groaned.
“oh?”
Alita, sitting by the bedside, noticed this.
“She’s awake!”
***
Karen slowly sat up and placed her hand on her chest. She could feel her heart pounding.
“My heart is beating… … .”
It was clearly a heart he had split open with his own hands. That heart was now beating normally inside his chest.
‘how?’
Karen felt puzzled and tried to get on the bed. But she had no strength. She could barely raise her upper body, and her whole body was sagging and extremely lethargic.
‘No, it’s not okay.’
Soon she realized what was happening.
The heart that is beating now is not actually regenerated. Less than 10% of the remaining heart is left, and the rest is the divine power condensed to the limit, materialized into reality, replacing the missing body parts.
‘So that’s why I have no strength… … .’
It doesn’t simply mean that she has no stamina. The enormous divine power that supported Karen’s power was completely consumed in replacing her lost heart.
Now she was no longer an immortal witch. She was just an ordinary woman, without even the divine powers of an apprentice priest.
Karen turned her head and looked up at Sung Si-han and asked.
“… … How did you do it?”
Even if he is the greatest savior in the world, it is absurd to bring the dead back to life. Shihan answered in a stiff voice.
“I didn’t do much.”
He didn’t revive Karen. He simply used the celestial sphere to channel all the divine power she had left into her heart.
“It was your own power that brought you back to life, Karen.”
Of course, if she hadn’t concentrated her regenerative powers like that, even an immortal witch wouldn’t have been able to come back to life.
“It’s amazing that you can operate the Honcheongi in that way too… … That’s amazing.”
Seong Si-han didn’t say anything in response.
The Karen in front of me had returned to the girl I remembered from ten years ago. She showed no hostility or murderous intent. Her tone was also affectionate and respectful.
I had complicated feelings.
Taking a deep breath, Shihan asked bluntly.
“… … Was this what you were planning from the beginning?”
I didn’t realize it during the battle. It was only after my head cooled down that I realized it.
We had anticipated Sung Si-han’s return, and had already confirmed it through the fake Karen’s trigger. If Karen really wanted to kill him, she should have prepared as best as she could by setting a trap and mobilizing her subordinates.
But she was waiting alone in this remote place.
It was the same during battle.
Karen was too relaxed when dealing with Shihan. She even handed him important information during the process. Information that would affect Shihan’s future actions, such as the black catalyst powder related to Lisstein.
It was clear that she was full of hostility and murderous intent, but there was no sincerity in it.
“Did you intend to die by my hands from the beginning?”
Karen answered weakly.
“… … Because I am not worthy of asking for your forgiveness, Shihan.”
Her voice continued as if she was talking to herself.
“You deserve revenge on me. If so, it is the traitor’s duty to exact that revenge as much as possible.”
But I never thought that the revenge that Sungshihan wanted would be her banishment from Terranor, not her death.
As a body that serves Kron Lizate, I cannot die anywhere but Terranore. So, I had no choice but to end it with a poor ending of suicide.
“… … I guess I don’t really have any talent for acting.”
The deadline was a crumpled impression.
“What is that?”
If you betrayed someone, you should ask for forgiveness, right? Since you can’t ask for forgiveness, you tried to die instead? What kind of nonsense is that?
I can’t understand Karen at all. She lowered her head.
“I don’t expect understanding, Shihan.”
‘No, I’m not saying I don’t want to understand, I’m just saying I don’t understand at all!’
Shihan blinked his eyes repeatedly, feeling frustrated. Karen continued.
“I asked why you betrayed me?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“I’ll tell you everything. But before that… … .”
She turned her gaze to look at Alita.
“Miss Alita… was it you who said that?”
“Yes? Yes, that’s right, but… … .”
Alita, who was standing next to him, answered cautiously, flinching.
Despite losing all her powers, Karen still had the air and grace of a queen. You couldn’t help but treat her with respect.
Karen continued calmly.
“I’m sorry, but could you leave me alone for a moment?”
