51
The flash of light that left Baek Woojin's hand unfortunately did not pierce through Benedict.
Crack─!!
The halberd that had been screaming ended up shattering into pieces the moment it touched the black current, scattering in all directions. But that alone was enough to create a massive ripple in the meaningless back-and-forth battle.
"Kraaaagh!!"
Some of the fragments scattering in all directions embedded themselves into the black current, and just as the ashen color contained within them had clouded Olivia's gold, it invaded even Benedict's darkness and began expanding its territory.
Sizzle...
As Benedict clutched his face hidden beneath his robe and screamed, the black energy dyed gray melted like liquid and flowed down to the floor, and even his shadow, which had been endlessly spewing black currents, began to quake.
'Now!!'
She didn't know what had happened, but Lee Dayoung instinctively realized that if not now, there would be no other chance, and she poured all her magical power into whipping toward the spot where the current had melted.
Having raised all her concentration, the whip precisely targeted the gap in the current and lashed Benedict's body.
"……?!"
Contrary to her expectation that his arm would be torn off or he'd be a mangled mess rolling on the floor, Benedict's body crumpled like squishy mud and peeled away from his body.
"What the..."
Lee Dayoung did not continue her attack even in the opening that followed.
There was no need to.
Gurgle.
Starting from the point where his arm was torn off, Benedict's body slowly melted and completely seeped into his own shadow that had been unstably quaking, then completely vanished along with the shadow.
"Hah..."
She had prepared for death, but rendered that resolve meaningless by the target disappearing before her eyes, Lee Dayoung sat down on the floor with her tension released for the first time in the nine years since she joined the guild.
"Baek Woojin!!"
However, at Hong Yeonha's urgent shout from behind, Lee Dayoung quickly gathered herself and stood up. And she urgently ran to the side of Hong Yeonha, who had slumped beside Baek Woojin—lying there spewing blood from every hole in his body—not knowing what to do.
"Young lady. You're in the way, so please step aside."
"Save him! You have to save him no matter what!!"
Lee Dayoung wanted to do the same.
Unless she was a fool, she couldn't not know who had created that flash of light that flew at the very end.
'Damn it! What the hell did he do?'
His breathing had nearly stopped, and his pulse had weakened to the point where it wouldn't be strange if it stopped right then and there. In this state, even potions were unusable.
Potions ultimately exerted their effects based on the user's vitality.
For the target to recover from wounds without paying a price, a healer with healing skills was needed rather than a potion.
'Lee Yura, that damn woman, is on an expedition with Bugilma......'
Right at that moment when all the circumstances were whispering of Baek Woojin's death.
"Would you please step aside."
"......?"
Before Lee Dayoung could even turn her head at the voice that seemed to demand reverence, Olivia, who had undone her sanctuary and come outside, pushed Lee Dayoung aside first and knelt before the fallen Baek Woojin.
'I got... pushed back...?'
Regardless of who the opponent was, even though she had lost much of her strength, Lee Dayoung was quite shocked by the fact that she had been pushed away so easily.
"As expected, my eyes are not wrong."
"You can save him, right? You're a saintess candidate!!"
"Quiet."
Olivia set the holy grail on the floor, then took out a dagger from her bosom and slit her palm to draw blood.
Drip.
Drops of blood flowing from her palm began falling one by one into the holy grail, and when it filled to about a single mouthful, Olivia placed both hands together and prayed toward the holy grail.
Then, the golden light from before flowed out of the holy grail before disappearing, and Olivia's blood that had been contained within had transformed into an incredibly transparent water droplet.
Olivia very carefully held it in her mouth, then gently lifted the chin of the fallen Baek Woojin and overlapped her lips with his just like that.
"Phew, with this, if you rest for a few days, you will be fully cured without any aftereffects."
At that answer, Hong Yeonha quickly came closer and checked Baek Woojin's breathing and pulse.
"Thank goodness..."
Baek Woojin's breathing, which had been so precarious that it wouldn't have been strange if it stopped right then, had returned to the level of a person sleeping normally, and his seemingly stopped pulse was also beating powerfully.
"First of all, I thank you once again for saving us."
Confirming that Baek Woojin's safety was secured, Olivia stood up and bowed deeply to Lee Dayoung and Hong Yeonha to express her gratitude.
"And I apologize. Originally, I intended to recite the prayer of blessing for you all, but I ended up consuming all the remaining divine power just a moment ago."
Olivia rummaged through her wide sleeves and took out three silver medals engraved with six pairs of wings, placing them in Lee Dayoung and Hong Yeonha's hands.
"These are marks indicating you are benefactors of the Order. If there is an Order nearby and you find yourselves in a situation where you must borrow the Order's power, please show these marks. If you do so, all brothers and sisters of the Order will aid you benefactors."
Crack.
As they received the medals from Olivia, cracks began forming in the world.
"I plan to conduct purification work here until support arrives. If it's alright with you......"
However, Olivia seemed completely unaware of this fact and continued speaking.
"How would you──"
The moment the sky collapsed through the cracks that had formed, the entire world was dyed in black and white.
"Are linked dungeons always like this?"
"Young lady. This is my first time too, so even if you ask me, I wouldn't know."
The two looked at each other in the world that had been dyed gray and completely frozen, then shifted their gazes to Baek Woojin, who was lying there covered in blood.
"When we get out, contact grandfather and tell him to book a VIP room."
"Wouldn't it be faster if you did it yourself?"
"I'm going to look into this guy's broken weapons."
"I'm telling Bugilma everything."
Hong Yeonha responded by extending her middle finger instead of answering, and just like that, the world completely collapsed.
**
'Where is this......?'
Regaining consciousness, Baek Woojin blinked at a scenery that was unfamiliar yet didn't feel entirely alien.
"Found you."
"......?"
While he was blankly standing under the sunlight filtering through the leaves, a tall man suddenly stuck his head out from beside him.
"I knew it would be like this."
"Knew what would be like what."
'......?'
What he heard was definitely his own voice, but the one speaking right now was not himself.
"You said you completely flipped it?"
"Flipped what. I just said what I was thinking."
At that moment, he realized.
The scenery he was looking at right now was scenery seen from someone else's perspective.
"□□ says □□ is □□□ □□"
The moment he recognized that fact, the entire world became unstable as if static had appeared, and their conversation also became garbled, making it completely impossible to understand what they were saying to each other.
Bzzzt──!!
The world became completely filled with static, and as if changing the channel, a scenery that was the complete opposite of the warm scenery he had been looking at just a moment ago unfolded.
A crumbling and burning temple.
"□□!!"
A young man came inside through the flames. And the moment the young man's face came closer into his blurry vision.
"Gasp...?!"
When he came to his senses, the first thing that came into view was surprisingly not an unfamiliar ceiling, but Hong Yeonha's worried face.
"It's okay. It's all over."
"......?"
Naturally, he remembered all the circumstances before losing consciousness, so he didn't not know what she meant when she said it was okay and everything was over.
What truly baffled him was not her words, but her actions.
"Are you thirsty? Wait a moment."
Hong Yeonha, who had been wiping the cold sweat drenching his forehead with a handkerchief, went somewhere for a moment and then came back with a glass of lukewarm water.
"Can you sit up?"
"Y-yes..."
"What. Didn't we agree to speak casually?"
"No, well, the situation back then was a bit..."
Baek Woojin blinked at Hong Yeonha's excessively close behavior and quickly sat up.
"Phew."
When the water moistened his parched tongue and throat, he finally felt a bit more alive.
"You need an explanation of the situation, right?"
"Well, it roughly ended well, didn't it?"
"I suppose so. It's all thanks to you."
"Then how about bringing me another glass of water."
"Alright."
At Hong Yeonha's actions of obediently taking the empty glass and bringing it back filled with fresh water, Baek Woojin thought he needed to be even more careful with his words from now on.
"First, take this."
Hong Yeonha personally placed the silver medal she had received from Olivia into Baek Woojin's hand.
"She said it's a mark that allows you to receive help from the Order. But I think it might be the key to opening the next linked dungeon."
"How do you use it?"
"I don't know either."
"I see."
Since it wasn't important right now, Baek Woojin put the medal in his item box and closed it.
"More importantly, how many days was I lying down?"
"Today is the seventh day."
"Crazy."
When he left home, he had said he'd be back within five days at most. Yet he had exceeded that by two whole days without even contacting them.
Given Madam Jang's personality, it was highly likely that everything was completely flipped right now.
"I contacted your family."
"Thanks... directly?"
"Yeah. Directly."
When Baek Woojin blinked, Hong Yeonha smiled with her characteristic confident smile, took out Baek Woojin's smartphone from her bosom, placed it on his hand, and stood up.
"I didn't say anything unnecessary."
"I hope so."
"I'll go call the doctor, so play around with that in the meantime."
Hong Yeonha cleared the empty glass and left the hospital room.
'How did she unlock it... ah, fingerprint.'
Baek Woojin, praying that Hong Yeonha hadn't said anything unnecessary, opened his smartphone.
[ Unread messages 99+ ]
A truly anxiety-inducing number.