Chapter 320 : I Wanted to See You

"I wanted to see you. A lot."

For once, her voice didn't tremble.

Though it did waver a little at the end.

Ashuban looked stunned, as if he had been hit by an unexpected attack.

He blinked at Viola, wondering what she meant.

Viola avoided his gaze and fiddled with the arrowhead she had been trimming.

"I... I know this isn't the right situation to say this... I know..."

Then, she raised her head and looked at Ashuban.

"But I have to say it. I won't regret it this time."

Viola took a deep breath and then stared into his blood-red eyes.

"Ashuban."

She said, as if reciting each word, filled with the most intense emotion she had.

"I like you. Like my heart is on fire."

"...Huh?"

Ashuban, who had been pierced through the heart by the unexpected attack, made an unidentifiable sound.

'I said it.'

Viola closed her eyes with a sense of accomplishment and her shoulders trembled slightly.

And then, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him, who was making a foolish expression.

"What about... you?"

"Huh? Ah? Me? That's?"

As Ashuban was flustered by the sudden confession attack, the Heavenly Demon advised him in a serious tone.

[My disciple. It seems this is really the last time. It's a chance that won't come again. Answer carefully.]

'No, this guy.'

Ashuban was dumbfounded by the Heavenly Demon's words, which sounded as if he had no chance of meeting a woman.

But thanks to that, he was able to calm down a little.

Ashuban swallowed dryly and then opened his mouth.

"Viola."

"Shh."

A white finger came and touched his lips.

It was cold.

Ashuban looked at the owner of the cold finger that had suddenly come.

Indigo eyes that shone with a mysterious light were looking at him.

"Don't say it now... As I said, I know this isn't the right situation to say this."

Viola smiled faintly.

"I have that much sense, too..."

Viola said, looking at his rarely flustered red eyes, as if whispering.

"After we save Bill, and then, tell me your answer. This is... my resolve, too. Got it?"

...Nod.

"Thank you."

Viola smiled shyly.

"So, don't die."

Ashuban, who had recovered from his fluster, said.

"I won't die. I have something to do."

"Don't get hurt either."

"I won't get hurt."

"...Okay."

Viola looked at him for a moment and then said.

"But, you know."

Ashuban met her eyes.

The deep blue eyes that resembled the color of the sea gradually came closer.

"Before we go, to steel my resolve..."

Ashuban thought he was about to be drawn into her deep blue eyes that resembled the sea.

That sea was churning with waves.

"Can't you... hug me just once?"

"..."

"Please. While you were gone, I had a really hard time."

Ashuban looked at her, who was holding back her tears.

There was a woman who had been chewing on the loss of a precious person, blaming herself as if she were self-harming every day, and spending her years in tears.

A woman who was so precarious that she seemed about to break.

"No?"

The Heavenly Demon, who couldn't watch any longer, chimed in.

[What are you doing? You pathetic fool. Can you even call yourself a man?]

As Ashuban was being scolded by the Heavenly Demon, he awkwardly opened his arms, and Viola carefully burrowed into his embrace.

She was surprisingly slender, enough to fit snugly in his arms.

"It's warm..."

Viola smiled softly, like a wounded little animal that had finally found a cozy home.

She, who was hugging Ashuban tightly as if she would disappear if he let go, burrowed deeper into his embrace and whispered in his ear with a faint voice.

"Ashuban... hug me like you're going to burst..."

Ashuban couldn't clearly distinguish whether this feeling was guilt, or something else.

"...If that's your wish."

Just, with the thought that this could compensate for the tears she must have shed all this time.

He just hugged her tightly.

Squeeze—

"Heung-ek."

Ah, was that too hard?

* * *

"Siri, wake up."

"Mmm..."

"Hurry up and wake up. We have to go and beat up Viola's little brother. So that he can come to his senses."

At those words, Viola glared at me, but anyway, I succeeded in waking Siri up.

"Ah, that's right... we have to beat him up..."

Siri got up, rubbing her eyes.

And after getting all ready, she looked at the black pit.

Before leaving, I asked one last time.

"Gentlemen. Is everyone ready?"

Viola nodded with a determined expression, holding her bow tightly.

"Yes!"

Siri, who had become more lively with a nap, raised her hand.

"Alright."

I stared at the black pit of the abyss and remembered the look in the Demon King's eyes.

Viola's younger brother, and the Demon King's son.

His name was, Bjoern Bisanbark.

Unlike Viola, who was born with one horn, he was a child who was born with three horns from birth.

Because of that powerful energy, his mother's body had become very weak and she had fallen ill.

After that, she had been sick for a long time and eventually passed away, so I heard that Viola had hated him very much at first.

And so, he, who had unintentionally made his mother who had given birth to him sick and had received all of his sister's hatred, came into the world with a heart full of guilt that it was all his fault.

He, who felt a heavy sense of mission that he had to take responsibility for it somehow, began to push himself to the limit by throwing himself into extreme situations.

As a result, by the time he reached adulthood, another horn had grown.

And so, the second Quadra Horn of the Kingdom of Sorrow was born.

To think that someone had become a Quadra Horn at such a young age, it was said that there was no precedent in the history of the Kingdom of Sorrow, which was teeming with strong people.

And so, Bjoern, who had received all the expectations...

The Demon King was said to be more worried about the strong Bjoern, who resembled him, than Viola, who was relatively weak and resembled her mother.

Because he was suffering from the original sin that he had killed his mother and come into the world.

Little by little. He had been eating away at himself.

And so, he, who had been relieving his guilt little by little by pushing himself into extreme situations.

One day, he noticed that the energy of the demon realm was unusual and realized that an S-rank magical beast had been born at the very bottom of the demon realm.

He immediately jumped into the demon realm and headed to the 7th floor alone...

And something had happened.

When the Demon King, who had returned from the battlefield, belatedly grasped the situation and went down to the 7th floor, it was already too late.

What the Demon King, who had hurriedly reached the 7th floor, witnessed was the horribly torn corpse of a magical beast and Bjoern, who was standing blankly in front of it, consumed by demonic energy.

—My son...

Aktir had called out to his son, but the one who had answered was the host who had been consumed by demonic energy.

He had pointed his sword at his own father, and the Demon King, who couldn't bring himself to harm him, had roughly beaten him up and then returned.

Should I say it was a relief?

He didn't come out of the 7th floor.

Even though his reason had disappeared, did the sense of duty that had been weighing on his heart remain?

He remained at the bottom of the demon realm and killed the S-rank magical beast that was about to be born from the thick demonic energy and will.

A wanderer who wandered the abyss, buried in responsibility, a sense of mission, and guilt.

That was the guardian of the abyss, Bjoern.

It wasn't that he had been eaten by the demonic energy, but that he had been eaten by his own guilt.

According to Aktir, who had clashed swords with him directly, it seemed that the purple sword, one of the nine famous swords of Ophosis, that he was holding had been stained with demonic energy first and had affected him.

Because no matter how precarious a Quadra Horn was, they were not weak enough to be consumed by that kind of demonic energy.

So, it would be more appropriate to say that he had become the host of the purple sword that had been consumed by demonic energy.

Well, if you only look at the conclusion, it's true that he was consumed by demonic energy, so you could say it's the same thing.

But in terms of planning a strategy and solving the situation, it was completely different.

'Hmm?'

Somehow, the situation was familiar.

Come to think of it, it was a similar situation to Wolfgang, the Black Tiger Knight, who had become the host of the Crimson Sword, Vlad.

"Hooo..."

When I looked to the side, Viola was taking a deep breath with a tense face.

"Viola."

"Hmm?"

"Don't worry too much. I've done something similar before."

Viola blinked.

"...Really? When?"

"Over there, in the lower neighborhood. At that time, I put a moonlight angel in his heart, but I don't think that will be enough this time."

"...Moonlight angel?"

Viola tilted her head.

"There's something like that."

"Okay."

"So, don't worry too much."

Viola looked at me.

"...Alright, thank you."

"You can thank me after we've safely finished the job. Or we might have to kill him."

"Uh, okay."

It was the Demon King's order.

No, it would be more appropriate to say it was a request.

So far, since he hadn't come out of the 7th floor, the problem hadn't gotten bigger.

But a king is a person who must prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Just as Duke Elsbears had done.

He had to face the problem without turning away from it.

To put it coldly, there was no guarantee that he would stay there forever.

And Aktir would occasionally go down to the 7th floor and talk to him, checking his condition.

And his power was getting stronger and stronger.

Whether he had killed the S-rank magical beast that was about to be born and absorbed its power, or whether it was because he was constantly staying on the 7th floor, which was full of demonic energy.

The reason was not clear.

But if this continued, even he might not be able to handle it.

As the king of the Kingdom of Sorrow.

The time had come to make a decision.

And another thing.

A desperate request not as the king of the Kingdom of Sorrow, but as a father.

—If you can't save him, please let him rest in peace. He's a child who has never rested peacefully since the moment he was born.

"..."

—Please.

I remember the look in his eyes when he looked at me.

He, who had looked so strong, had looked so precarious at that moment, as if he would collapse with a single touch.

...To think that death was the only resting place.

To think that a father would beg for his child to be killed.

It was wrong.

It was unjust.

Clap!

I clapped my hands to get their attention.

"Alright, I'll briefly explain the plan and then we'll go in. Listen carefully, since I'll only say it once."

Actually, it wasn't a very grand or elaborate plan.

But it would be effective.

Because the most effective plan is a simple plan.

And what was most important here was Siri's role.

Whether we would save the prince who had been eaten by guilt, or whether we would finally give him an unjust rest, it all depended on her.

With that thought, I looked at Siri, and Siri nodded confidently, as if telling me to trust her.

"Then... let's go."

We jumped into the pit at the same time.

* * *

It felt like I had fallen into a thick fog.

The turbid energy that had been seeping into the magic stone.

That disgusting turbid energy was crawling all over the place.

A disgusting darkness that was so thick that you couldn't see an inch in front of you.

"Siri."

I could hear the sound of a spell being chanted from the side.

"Light."

Thump!

A small light appeared and pushed back the darkness.

It wasn't an ordinary darkness.

It was like a slimy darkness that was alive and crawling.

Since it was a holy light imbued with divine power, it was able to push back this slimy darkness, but if it had been an ordinary torch, it would have been eaten up instead.

A deep darkness that was not out of place with the name 'abyss' was mixed with the turbid energy.

While the small light that had appeared on Siri's palm was slowly pushing back the darkness, Viola raised her hand and pointed to one place.

"...There."

There, a black figure, like a shadow, was kneeling on one knee with a sword stuck in the ground, engulfed in turbid energy and darkness.

At a glance, I would have thought it was a statue.

Woong—

The moment our gazes reached it, an ominous purple aura rose from the sword that was deeply embedded in the ground, like a torch, and breathed life into the shadow statue.

Kagagak...

He pulled the sword from the ground and slowly raised his body.

A purple light flashed from his eyes like a flame.

It was Bjoern, who had now become a proper guardian of the abyss.

I grinned and greeted him.

"Nice to meet you, Bjoern. I'm Ashuban Sherwood. Your sister's friend."

The guy stood diagonally, with the longsword that was tinged with an ominous purple light on his shoulder, and looked at me.

It was a lax posture that could not be considered that of a knight.

I frowned.

"Bjoern. What's with that disrespectful posture? Where are you putting your leg? Huh? And what's with that look? Are you glaring at me? Did your sister teach you that?"

"..."

"And, why is it so dark? Are you some kind of child of darkness?"

I could feel Viola's dumbfounded gaze, but I didn't care.

Bjoern pointed his sword at me without a word.

"This gloomy bastard. I was going to go easy on you because you're Viola's brother. But I can't. Let's get a beating."

The moment the guy was about to charge.

I said, raising the corner of my mouth.

"Siri, turn on the lights."

"Light!"

Hwaaaaaak!

A small sun rose, and a dazzling holy light scattered the darkness.

The bottom of the abyss became as bright as day.

(End of Chapter)