As she leaped high through the fog, the bud with a black hole was revealed in her body.

As soon as the Mummy Queen recognized their existence, she undid the bandages wrapped around her body and swung around as if to swallow them both.

And Van.

“Please put strength into your body.”

He threw Cadel over the bud.

“This crazy……!”

The roots rushed fiercely, aiming for Cadel, who was plunging into the empty land. However, before the roots even touched Cadel’s body, the sword that flew straight in cut them in two.

The crashed Cadel rolled on the floor. The ribs that hit the hard floor were shocked, and his eyes went blank for a moment. Cadel reflexively grabbed his chest, breathed hard, raised his head, and examined Van.

“……!”

In his field of vision, the figure of Van, who was about to be swallowed up by the bud, came into view. Dozens of stretched bandages wrapped around Van, and Van was falling into it with his greatsword raised. The unfolding scene was unreal.

“Van!”

A tearing scream came out. That cry seemed to have reached him, and for a brief moment, his gaze met Van’s red eyes through the gap in the bandage.

“Go, Commander!”

That was the last answer.

Van was completely encased in the bud. The bud that swallowed him seemed satisfied and retrieved all its bandages to defend its body. Cadel’s eyes trembled in vain.

‘It works like this?’

It was impossible. It was not supposed to happen.

‘How can you be like this from the start? Does it make sense to be so unkind from the start? Don’t make me laugh!’

Cadel, who rose in a hurry, tried to run toward the bud. However, the roots that caught the movement rose as if they had been waiting, making it impossible to approach.

“Van! Van, you crazy bastard! I told you to attack. Who told you to be eaten? Who told you to go to hell!”

He shouted desperately and took a backward step to avoid the root’s attack.

It was terrible. If this was a normal game, he would have left the stage and started over without hesitation. He must have made up for his regrettable mistake, planned a strategy that would not hurt anyone, and cleared it without incident.

‘Did I have to train first? Should I change Van’s weapon first? Yeah, I should have. I was too hasty with the story. I don’t know anything properly, but I’m motivated ahead of time…….’

A sense of premature despair rushed in unstoppably like a tidal wave and shook his whole body. Cadel didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t even confirm whether Van was really dead or not, and his steps didn’t fall backward to decide to run away. Contrary to his urgent mind, his body, unable to perform any action, creaked as if it were out of order.

“There, there he is! It’s the magician!”

“Oyy! What are you doing not running away!”

It was Ron and Babyl who found him. They hurriedly ran towards Cadel and grabbed him by the arm as he stood there blankly.

“Let’s go now!”

“Van…… Van is in there…….”

“I saw it, too!”

Babyl frowned as he dragged on the mesmerized Cadel. While on the run around the outskirts, Babyl also saw it. The way Van was eaten by the Mummy Queen to send Cadel away.

He was sorry but he couldn’t help Van, he didn’t have the heart to help. It was in Babyl’s best interest to get out safely through the short time he had earned for him.

If there was a minimum duty, it was to get the hardened Cadel out of there. It was to protect the human that Van wanted to protect. Because of that, Babyl tried to run towards the exit, dragging the frozen Cadel.

However.

“Let go.”

“Don’t be stubborn. Now is the time―”

“Let go!”

Somehow, Cadel twisted his arm violently and escaped Babyl’s grasp.

Of course, he knew that it was difficult to accept the situation of having to leave behind one’s men and run away. It must be painful. However, one must distinguish when to be stubborn and when not to be stubborn. Nothing was more meaningless than wasting the other person’s sacrifice with useless stubbornness.

With the last remaining patience, Babyl turned his head back to Cadel. But looking back, he could no longer hold onto Cadel.

“That’s…….”

The buds of the monsters were swelling like crazy. The stretched body wriggled strangely as if it were about to explode at any moment. In addition, a red aura reminiscent of bright red blood was overflowing along the gaps in the bandage, which had become extremely thin due to internal expansion.

Ron and Babyl stopped, forgetting that they were running away. And Cadel, the first to discover it, felt goosebumps running down his back.

‘Is that, by any chance, Blood Sword?’

[Blood Flow Sword]

An awakening skill possessed by Berserker Van Herdos, which was activated when his greatsword contained a certain amount of blood. One of its characteristics was the flood of red auras resembling blood.

Van Herdos’ attack power varied greatly before and after the [Blood Sword] state, and because of this, his true value was evaluated to shine more and more in the latter half of the battle.

‘But undead doesn’t bleed…….’

It was when he narrowed his eyes at the incomprehensible situation.

Kkiiiieek!

With a loud scream that rang through the bones, the Mummy Queen’s center, which had swelled to its limit, finally exploded. Accompanied by strong winds, the bursting aura swept the area, dyeing it red.

Cadel reflexively covered his face from the wave of aura that hit him. A thick bloody wind blew dust and dirt. As he endured the stinging pain and barely lifted his eyelids, a new system window appeared before his eyes.

Cadel’s mouth dropped open after confirming the contents.

「Congratulations! You’ve cleared the main quest, ‘The Cursed Land’!」

「Attribute points have increased by 10.」

「Fame has increased by 5.」

「You have acquired the new title [Mercenary of the Smog Plains].」

「You have acquired a hidden item [Queen’s Bandage].」