* * *

Meanwhile, at Lydon’s side, Cadel’s absence was discovered.

“Where did you take the human, Lydon!”

“Ahaha! Who knows?”

It took them quite a long time to notice even though the magic spell was maintained for 5 seconds. If Elder Melphis hadn’t realized that he was under the spell, Lydon could have bought Cadel more time, but all that had to be done was done.

Lydon was delighted to learn that Cadel’s fresh plan has helped the elder’s blood pressure rise. Six ice giants and fairy warriors surrounded him, but Lydon didn’t seem intimidated at all. He shrugged his shoulders at Melphis, who had reached the limit of his anger as if he was about to collapse.

“I don’t know why everyone gets so upset when they see me. It’s your incompetent power that missed the human, not mine. If it was me, I wouldn’t have missed the target right under my nose! Haha!”

“That human can’t get out of the forest anyway! Don’t make us waste our energy on something useless, let’s stop the joke―”

“Alas, I don’t know, I don’t know. It’s gotten boring.”

Ignoring Melphis’s words, Lydon turned on his heel and strode away. The fairy warriors blocking his path retreated backward, following him. Lydon waved to them as he made his way through the clearing.

“I’m gonna go take a nap now. If you disturb me, I’ll make your wings suffer the same fate as Aiden’s wings, so you’re all off-limits. Bye!”

Along with Melphis’ tearing roar, Lydon’s joyful laughter echoed through the forest.

* * *

The golden eyes that fluctuated along with the slow-moving eyelids disappeared and appeared again and again. Van’s gaze, which had been staring at the barrier blocking the forest, moved slowly.

“Commander…….”

As if just calling his name was overpowering, his Adam’s apple moved greatly under his closed lips. Van took a deep breath. The sight of Lumen sitting helplessly under the barrier filled his eyes.

“Commander was left in that forest…… because of me, right?”

Van had seen Cadel’s illusion. He was vaguely aware that he was saying and doing things that were different from usual, that he would never normally do.

‘Lately, because of Lumen, we’ve had less time alone. We’re only going around the entrance of the forest for a bit anyway, so would you like to move together?’

He knew something wasn’t right. But he didn’t pursue that suspicion.

‘I feel safe next to you, Van.’

Because he liked the way he spoke, the way he looked at him. He liked the gentle touch.

He enjoyed it. Stupidly.

‘I want to keep walking like this. How about you?’

The moment when Cadel’s gaze seemed to yearn for something, and he realized that maybe it was him Cadel was yearning for. The moment he let go of a tension he shouldn’t have, and cast his desire over Cadel.

He blacked out, as it were.

He barely opened his eyes after wandering in the pitch-black darkness without dreaming. Then what he saw was not Cadel fretting about himself but Lumen with empty eyes as if he had lost the world.

“I failed. I should have gotten Leader…… out of there. I didn’t. I’m sorry.”

Lumen’s voice was uncharacteristically self-mocking, but Van did not accept his apology. He had no intention of admitting Lumen’s fault. Cadel threw himself again into this dangerous forest to save his foolishly unconscious subordinate, and this was the result.

It was all his fault that Cadel was trapped in the forest. It was all his fault. What was going on in there now? What was Cadel doing?

Was Cadel, was Cadel alive?

The dull throbbing of his heart was ominous. If he could, Van wanted to rip it out and throw it on the floor. Alive. He didn’t want to think about it, and he didn’t want to be disturbed by it.

He was stupid and weak, but Cadel was not. Despite his sacrificial and spontaneous nature, he was not a man who would easily throw away his life.

Cadel always did the best he could. If Cadel was left alone after sending Lumen and Van out of the barrier, it meant that Cadel had the confidence to survive somehow. His confidence was always correct.

“If you have time to apologize to me, why don’t you tear down the barrier? And don’t act like Commander is dead when he is not.”

“……I guess you don’t see my sword.”

Lumen gestured to the sword stuck in the ground. It was a sword that had never been seen to come out of its sheath. Van wondered how precious the sword was. Lumen’s sword, which he saw for the first time, had a dull appearance with its blade chipped here and there.

However, Van looked at it silently and took out his greatsword. Then, carefully unwrapping the bandage around the greatsword, he spoke as calmly as possible.

“It wasn’t even broken. Did you give up already without even using it until it broke? Maybe it’s because you’re a well-bred aristocrat, so you’re quick to give up. I hope you don’t treat Commander’s life as a limited-edition dessert that has been sold out. If you’re really sorry, try hanging on a little more desperately.”

Van provoked Lumen as naturally as breathing. He didn’t like Lumen from the first time he saw him, and he didn’t like sharing the commander’s attention with him, but Van recognized Lumen’s ability. Therefore, it was better to have Lumen’s help to save Cadel than to let him sprawl like such a broken puppet.

As if he had noticed Van’s intentions, Lumen, who had been dead the whole time and had no expression, spat out a hollow laugh. For a moment, he stared vaguely at the sword on the ground, but then he gripped the handle and spoke with his usual sarcasm.

“If my sword breaks, who will kill the fairies? The sacrifice should be made by your cheap-looking sword. Are you sure you can break the barrier down now that you’re talking big? I’m sure you’re not powerful enough to cut off a head like what you did with the witch.”

“This is a precious greatsword given to me by Commander. It’s of a quality that can’t be compared to your shallow longsword.”

Continuing a meaningless verbal fight, Van wrapped the loose bandage around his right arm and fixed it. Holding the greatsword with one hand, he took a deep breath.

Along with the red aura that began to flow from his body, his eyes were also stained red.

There was no tower in the world that would never fall, no rock that would never wear out, and likewise, no spell that would last forever. Van flashed a murderous glare at the insolent barrier in front of him.

“Get out of the way if you don’t want to get hurt, Lumen.”