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The Extra Saved the Terminally Ill Princess and Ran Away - Chapter 20
🕑 Added 2024-12-30 14:08:12 +0000 UTCChapter 20: Confession (2)
***
Darkness enveloped my skin, so thick I couldn't see a hand in front of my face. Lili hadn't yet developed the skill to maintain two spells simultaneously.
Besides, the magic she was preparing now was consuming enough magical energy to push her to her limits.
I took a step back, closing the distance between us. In the story, the beast had shown a clear preference for targeting Selina rather than Ian during their confrontation.
Even in the darkness, I could feel its cold gaze deliberately boring into me.
The creature seemed aware that its eyes glowed in the darkness just like any beast's.
'Ian really is a genius, damn him.'
I could manage in these unfavorable conditions thanks to Finn's experience and my time as an assassin moving through darkness. But Ian?
What the hell was he?
He'd overcome this situation through pure combat instinct alone, with no prior experience. And he'd protected Selina for a full five minutes.
A snicker escaped through my nose involuntarily, my tightly closed lips curling upward without my notice.
And for good reason—I couldn't imagine failing to hold out for just three minutes when even Ian had barely managed five.
-Despite the Lycansthrope giving no warning, Ian instinctively dodged its massive paw as it hammered down toward his entire body.
Just as described in the story, its heavy, solid paw with hidden dagger-like claws came rushing at me.
-Clang! Slash.
I deflected with my sword from upper right to lower left, then rotated my wrist to slash upward.
With a wet sound, a line of bright blood appeared in the beast's pitch-black mane, spattering across its face and momentarily catching my eye.
I found it oddly puzzling that while the story claimed the beast had given no warning signs, I could clearly sense its paw rushing toward me with killing intent.
Was it simply described that way because Ian wasn't yet at that level?
Since Ian was the protagonist, it made sense that the story would be told from his perspective.
-Grrrr... grrr...
As if unwilling to give me time to think, the beast melted back into the darkness, waiting for another chance to ambush me.
The scent of beast blood carried on the barely perceptible wind, stinging my mucous membranes.
The beast seemed unaware how overwhelmingly pungent its blood smelled to humans. Otherwise, it wouldn't keep lingering in one spot, letting its scent build up so strongly.
I smirked toward the source of the smell, where the beast's presence was glaringly obvious. The undergrowth rustled in response.
Then my vision filled with its pitch-black form, darker than the surrounding darkness, its luminescent eyes staring straight at me. This beast seemed to have quite the hot-tempered personality.
"Idiot."
Until now, I'd only noticed its presence when it got close enough to strike, forcing me to block before counterattacking.
But the situation now was completely different, prompting my taunt.
An assassin waiting patiently for their target versus a mere beast. Though calling it "mere" might be inappropriate given its overwhelming size, presence, and power.
Still, we shared the same vital weak points as living creatures.
I ducked forward under the full-force swipe of its front paw, closed in right to its face, and carved a line of light—starting at its groin and ending at its jaw.
The sound that followed was too violent to be described as a mere "whoosh"—crimson flesh visible through the split black hide twitched as blood gushed forth.
-KYAAAAK!! KYAAAAK!
The beast screamed in agony, but the sound wasn't quite right.
That's because my sword stroke, which had split its belly open like a curtain, had also bisected the jaw that had been jutting toward me.
-Grrrrlll...
The Lycansthrope's tongue lolled out between its split jaw, dragging on the ground as it moved.
The grotesque sight reminded me of an alien's mouth from some American movie.
'Does that mean it can lay eggs in people's stomachs too?'
"Pfft."
Laughter burst out despite the gravity of the situation. The absurdity of having enough leisure to make such silly jokes in this situation was just too funny.
-Kuhk, kuhk.
Unable to breathe properly through its popcorn-split mouth, the beast retreated into the darkness with painful, urgent gasps.
That's what it got for falling for my low-level provocation.
I thought about pursuing and finishing it off right there, but anxiety held me back—such overconfidence might lead to disaster. Instead, I glanced at Lili with my eyes.
She stood with eyes closed in concentration, gradually gathering that opaque magical energy in her palm.
Though I wasn't a mage and couldn't sense magic or gauge how much power different spells required, comparing it to the descriptions of Selina's magic in the original story, I estimated Lili's spell would be complete in about 20-30 seconds.
'Things seem to be going too smoothly, though.'
Feeling uneasy about how easily everything was progressing, I watched the beast intently.
Why had Ian and Selina struggled so desperately against something of this level?
As that question arose, I hurriedly recalled the description of the beast's appearance from the original story.
-House-sized with fur so black it seemed to devour light itself, the only way to visually judge its form was by its fangs reflecting the light of the mission's target orb.
House-sized... check.
Pitch-black to the point of being darkness itself... that mostly fits too.
Its appearance only visible by its fangs reflecting the orb's light... also true, but...
Why? Something felt off. While all the story's descriptions matched this beast, my instincts screamed that this couldn't be what had given Ian and Selina such trouble.
Though I'd never seen Selina in person, I knew Ian's abilities firsthand from our championship match.
That Ian, while not yet able to defeat me, was strong enough that I couldn't beat him without taking any damage.
Something felt wrong about the story claiming that Ian and Selina together could barely defend against a mere house-sized Lycansthrope.
So I gripped my sword tighter and stared into the darkness where the clearly fading beast lurked.
But before I needed to act, Lili opened her eyes, signaling her spell was ready.
"I'm ready."
I pointed my sword toward the beast's presence—so obvious that even Lili could pinpoint it by smell despite its attempts at hiding.
"...Just fire toward that direction."
"Seems so."
As she answered, Lili positioned her slightly spread hands with the beast between them, then clapped them shut.
With a crushing sound, the beast vanished without even a faint death cry.
"Hah, ha... huu...."
"Are you alright?"
Lili showed clear signs of exhaustion—understandable, given she'd just used magic that crushed space itself around anything in her field of vision, regardless of size.
I hadn't suggested she save her magic because the story's description had made me doubt I could handle it alone.
"It's fine... canceling a spell after starting it wouldn't recover any magic anyway..."
Another absurd aspect of this world. Or perhaps it was surprisingly realistic?
As if there's no reward without payment, mages in this world always consumed the full amount of magical energy even if they abandoned a spell mid-casting. Without exception.
"Well, you must be tired after annihilating something house-sized."
"...House-sized?"
"Wasn't it the size of a house?"
Lili looked up at me with questioning eyes.
"It was the largest beast I've seen, true."
Then she pointed out something I'd misunderstood... or rather, mistakenly assumed.
"But it wasn't house-sized, was it? Houses are usually much bigger than that, aren't they?"
The critical difference between my definition of "house-sized" as a modern person used to moldy one-room apartments,
And what "house-sized" meant to Lili and Ian, royalty and nobility in this fantasy world.
Then Ian's inner thoughts upon first seeing the Lycansthrope flashed through my mind:
-But there was no need to track its location. If I wanted to attack, I just had to swing my sword forward—its bulk would be blocking my path no matter where I looked.
-Gulp.
'...Unlike in the original story, there isn't just one Lycansthrope.'
I couldn't be completely certain, but I was convinced. It had to be true.
I hurriedly turned to warn Lili not to let her guard down.
"Hm?"
I saw Lili looking at me with those bright eyes I'd seen somewhere before. And behind her, an enormous mass of pure darkness.
It displayed a black so overwhelming that the previous beast's dark mane paled in comparison.
"Your Highness!!"
Using every ounce of strength I had, I kicked off the ground and threw myself between Lili and that darkness.
-BOOM!!
Instead of Lili, I took the full impact of that black paw, being thrown like a dart to slam into a tree in the forest.
"Guh!"
"B-Berry!!"
Then came a low growl like a roar. Just that sound was enough to gauge its size. I wondered if it could even be classified as part of the wolf family anymore, given its scale.
'Fuck, it looks at least twice the size of the previous one.'
How this massive creature had approached us silently didn't matter anymore. What mattered was not over there, but over here.
The searing pain shooting through my shoulder blade into my spine.
My left arm, which hadn't been able to block the surprise attack with my sword, was bent in an unnatural direction, and my left shoulder was torn to shreds, blood gushing from the mess of flesh.
The warning bells that had signaled my plans going awry,
Now urgently warned of mortal danger. Not just to me, but to Lili as well.
