Chapter 9 Part 11
Upon seeing the unseen, Elia could finally grasp it. She used all her strength to cut the thread with both hands. It left a mark on her palm, as if a knife had sliced it.
“Ouch…!”
A sharp pain struck her. Blood dripped from the severed thread. Although Elia had cut the connecting thread, the black string still dangled from the Duke’s neck. Duke Tartan stood there like a puppet with its strings cut, his eyes still cloudy but gradually regaining clarity. Elia called to him firmly.
“Duke, come to your senses.”
“What… what have I done?”
His grip loosened, and the Sun Sword fell to the ground, losing its glow. His right arm was already charred black.
‘I need to retrieve the sword first.’
Talking to the Duke would come after. As Elia reached for the sword on the ground, a dark boot stepped into the black mist, and a robed figure retrieved the Sun Sword before her.
“Wait…!”
He, too, was not recognized by the sword, and his hand ignited. Elia, trying to approach, had to recoil from the fierce flames. The mysterious man extinguished the flames with his magic and wrapped the entire sword in a cloth.
“We will meet again soon.”
“…!”
His voice was alien, like a rewound recording. His pale hand parted the black mist, and he disappeared with a puff of smoke. Once the man vanished, the objects shrouded in the black mist began to reappear. Overgrown bushes, the estate beyond, and the sound of soldiers cutting down monsters. And then,
“Elia!”
It was Aksion’s voice. However, Elia’s gaze, along with everyone else’s, was fixed on the sky. It was still bright daylight, but half of the sun was obscured by a black oval.
‘A total solar eclipse.’
The most ominous sign in the empire. In the past, a total eclipse had appeared half a year before the sun disappeared. The shadow of the half-covered sun seemed to swallow Elia in darkness.
‘The timeline has accelerated.’
If her predictions were correct, it was over two years early. Elia’s face, staring up at the sun, turned rapidly pale. Her expression hardened, and her body lost strength. Slowly, her hearing faded. Through her closing vision, she saw Aksion.
‘No, this can’t be.’
His mouth moved, calling her name. In the slow-approaching darkness, her consciousness flickered. The only thing she felt was the warmth of someone holding her. Elia lost consciousness in his arms.
* * *
Is it peaceful, or is it chaotic? In an uncertain state, her eyelids fluttered. The light was dim enough not to hurt her eyes. Familiar ceiling. Elia realized she was in her bedroom in Mahart Castle. And who was keeping watch by her bed.
“Aksi…”
Her parched throat caught. She coughed repeatedly. A chair creaked as he rose and lifted her head. Lukewarm water touched her lips. Elia focused on wetting her throat, which felt parched.
‘How long have I been lying here?’
The swarming monsters and black mist. The Mahart Duke waiting for her in that chaos. Ultimately, an unknown figure had taken the Sun Sword. Not only that, but the shadow covering the sun. The phenomenon that heralded destruction had arrived years early. That was her last memory.
“It’s been three days since you last woke up.”
He spoke, reading her gaze. His face was shadowed, struggling to contain something. Elia reached out and touched Aksion’s cheek. His expression twisted at the warmth.
“I thought my heart would stop.”
She had worried him again. His sigh-like confession pained her. Aksion held her hand and kissed its back.
“Still, I’m grateful you woke up.”
“Sorry for worrying you. I must have used too much magic.”
That day, Elia had crossed the taboo of her lifespan. She didn’t know how much life she had traded, but it wasn’t enough to kill her immediately.
‘I’m just a bit tired, but there’s nothing seriously wrong.’
Elia decided to keep this to herself.
“Promise me you won’t push yourself like that again.”
“I promise.”
How many times had she made this promise? While Elia was pondering, he sighed once more.
“It doesn’t sound convincing, but I’ll trust you.”
He gently shook her nose, treating her like a child, but she didn’t mind.
“What about the monsters? Are the knights all safe?”
“After you activated the barrier, everyone returned to their posts. As for the knights, we have injuries but no casualties on our side.”
The barrier had worked. Additionally, thanks to Sasha’s support, the Silver Knights suffered minimal damage. Elia was relieved by Aksion’s words but sensed something was off.
‘The Silver Knights are safe, but others aren’t.’
During the barrier’s formation, monsters had infiltrated the estate, causing significant damage to the villagers and parts of the town. Consequently, soldiers and the Gem Knights who protected them would have also suffered.
‘But the Duke…’
Elia remembered not seeing the Duke and his knights during the battle with the monsters.
“Where is the Duke now?”
“He is under arrest.”
“What?”
Elia was surprised by the unexpected answer.
“He focused all his efforts on evacuating the saint during the attack on the estate.”
Duke Tartan had been absent because he was escorting the saint, Sharon, who had declared her pilgrimage ended and requested the Duke’s assistance. The saint, protected by the Gold Knights, escaped to the north. Meanwhile, the Duke, left behind, tried to kill Elia in the mist.
‘The Duke was under mind control.’
She remembered the black string around his neck. Whoever had tied and controlled Tartan must be… Elia raised her head, her eyes clear and unwavering.
“Aksion, there’s something I haven’t told you.”
Now, she was certain. It was time to reveal everything. At her words, he met her gaze, as if he had been waiting.
“Please, tell me.”
“I have experienced the future.”
She had been unaware of her fate as a sacrificial lamb, only savoring sweet moments, not knowing they were poisoned. Having turned back time, Elia was struggling to escape the same future.
“The sun will disappear soon. A black dog will devour it.”
The total solar eclipse was the evidence. Aksion listened seriously to her story. Naturally. The world’s end was at stake. What could be more important?
‘He might not believe me, though.’
But this guess was wrong.
“So, I was to be sacrificed to summon that dog…”
“It must have been painful.”
“…”
“It must have been terrifying and frightening, more than I can imagine. Alone.”
He was concerned only about Elia, not the world’s fate. She clearly remembered his grim reaper-like appearance on the day of the sacrifice. Everyone treated him as a demon, but to Elia, he was salvation, the last hope. Back then and even now.
“Still… it wasn’t all scary. Because you saved me then.”
She was saying that he had ended her immense suffering and now was her only hope. Elia bit her lip to hold back tears. His thumb slipped between her teeth and made her open her mouth.
“Bite my finger instead.”
Unable to do so, Elia covered her teeth with her lips.
“Don’t hold back anything in front of me.”
At his words, tears flowed. Elia cried in his arms until her pent-up tears dried. Aksion wiped her tear-streaked face with a cold cloth.
“When the black dog appears.”
“I will stop it from swallowing anything from the start.”
Aksion spoke casually about preventing the world’s destruction.
‘Can he really do that?’
Fear mixed with a desire to believe it could be true. This faith was only possible because of Aksion. Elia decided to trust him. And to trust herself in believing him.
