Vol 3. Chapter 92: Not Misleading, You Know?

“It’s over. No one’s going to be able to hurt you.” Aesphyra held Vinny and murmured softly, perhaps not even realizing herself just how gentle her voice was in that moment.

She didn’t know what Vinny had been through just now, but at this moment he was like a lost, bewildered traveler who had finally found the road home.

Vinny said nothing. He only silently wrapped his arms tighter around Aesphyra’s back, sinking into that uniquely girlish softness and fragrance.

Unlike the earlier chill with no trace of warmth, this familiar scent was full of security and heat, just like the campfire on shore.

Her words lacked their usual playful charm; calm and steady, they nonetheless gave Vinny an immense sense of stability.

When Shicodale and Mirexia caught up and saw Aesphyra holding Vinny, they didn’t have the leisure to react to that sight. Their attention was instead drawn to the thing behind Aesphyra.

“That is...?” Mirexia stared, brows knitting tightly, at that glaring streak of blood-red.

Seeing this, Shicodale’s face likewise froze in shock and horror.

The story had to start from that morning. That morning, as always, Shicodale went to call Vinny up for breakfast, but got no response. Shicodale had assumed Vinny just wanted to sleep in today, so he didn’t keep calling him. He left the food and went off to do other housework.

But when afternoon came and Shicodale still hadn’t seen Vinny get up, he started to feel that something was strange. He knocked on Vinny’s door, trying to wake him, but again got no response.

With no other choice, Shicodale pushed open Vinny’s door. Fortunately, Vinny didn’t have the habit of locking it. After all, only the two of them lived in the whole manor house; Shicodale would never be so rude as to open the door without knocking, so Vinny had no need to lock it.

When Shicodale entered the room, he found Vinny curled up on the bed. His lips were pale, his whole body trembling and drenched in cold sweat. No one knew where the blanket had been kicked off to. Vinny was hugging his own shoulders tightly, as if he were freezing.

Shicodale hurried over to shake him, asking what was wrong, where it hurt, but all he got were a few muddled, slurred fragments from Vinny, like someone whose fever had cooked his brain.

You had to understand: a magician with mana flowing through his body almost never got sick. They basically wouldn’t catch colds or fevers. Symptoms like these had to be caused by something far more serious, far more complicated.

Shicodale was scared out of his wits on the spot, but in her panic he had no idea who to go to. He completely forgot about going to the Academy’s chapel to find priests or nuns. At a time like this, all he could think about was which of Vinny’s friends might be reliable and actually useful.

So he thought of Mirexia. He ran to the Student Council in a fluster and, panting, said he wanted to see Mirexia. The students manning the front desk didn’t know what he wanted or what could be so urgent, but they still had to follow procedure, so they told him he could explain the situation to them and they would pass it on to Mirexia.

Shicodale was frantic. He felt that if things had to go up the chain step by step, by the time the message actually reached Mirexia it might already be tomorrow. Just when he was completely at a loss, fortunately Mirexia happened to be walking out of the office to the main hall. Seeing Shicodale appear at the Student Council, she couldn’t help finding it a little strange. She had a strong impression of Vinny’s roommate, but as far as she knew his personality was pretty reserved and he didn’t like showing his face.

When she heard from Shicodale that Vinny was sick—and so sick he was already delirious—Mirexia was deeply stunned. It had all come too suddenly. He’d clearly been fine before; why had he suddenly fallen ill today, the moment break started??

Mirexia could only put down her Student Council work and leave things to her vice-president while she went to Vinny’s dorm to check on him, and she also notified the priests and nuns to come examine him.

Under the healing of the chapel’s priests and nuns, Vinny’s complexion improved somewhat, but he still didn’t wake up.

Shicodale then guessed that maybe this was some side effect from the time Vinny had gone to [Painting Hall Tower] and been hit by the star.

But the priest said that Vinny’s current mental confusion and mana turbulence were being caused by something else. It seemed more like he had been affected by some kind of over-wave resonance.

The priest could only cure the problem of Vinny’s mana constantly running wild and depleting itself. As for his mental condition, they were helpless. They would have to ask higher-ranking clergy who specialized in the mental field to take a look—but those higher-level mental clerics had just so happened to go to the Holy Capital of the Church to study and were out on assignment. They still hadn’t returned.

It was all just that “coincidental.”

After Vinny’s condition stabilized somewhat, the priest wrote up a prescription for him and told Shicodale that if things got worse again, he should call them—then they left.

Mirexia and Shicodale stayed by Vinny’s side. During that time, Mirexia had an urgent matter she had to go deal with, so she told Shicodale to watch over Vinny and said she’d be back in a while.

And it was during that little window that Vinny, whose condition was supposed to be stable, suddenly got worse.

After Mirexia left, he suddenly opened his eyes. Just as Shicodale was wondering in surprise whether Vinny’s condition had improved, he saw that Vinny’s eyes were shot through with terrifying blood-red veins, like he was seeing something unspeakably horrifying.

Vinny shot up from the bed, put on his clothes, and headed straight for the door. No matter how Shicodale called out to him, Vinny didn’t respond at all.

Vinny’s condition was terribly strange. Shicodale panicked, but had no idea how to stop him and was afraid of hurting him.

He had no idea what Vinny was trying to do, and he was worried about Vinny’s safety. With no way to go directly ask someone else for help, Shicodale had no choice but to follow him. But the moment they stepped out the door, Vinny vanished without a trace.

That made Shicodale completely lose it. He began wandering in circles like a headless fly, shouting Vinny’s name as he went.

Just as he was exhausted and about to collapse to the ground and sob, a handkerchief appeared in front of him.

When he saw who it was, Shicodale’s face lit up with sudden joy.

After Shicodale explained Vinny’s condition and what was going on, Aesphyra stayed calm and told Shicodale not to panic. She told him to go find Mirexia for help, and very deliberately instructed him not to go to mentors or priests and nuns about this for now. As for Vinny, she would go find him herself.

And then, everything that happened afterward unfolded: Aesphyra found Vinny, who had run off and gone missing, out in the wild. After Shicodale found Mirexia, Mirexia took Shicodale and searched everywhere for Vinny. With Shicodale leading the way, things went much more smoothly. They quickly found Vinny and Aesphyra.

“You... weren’t you here to kill me?”

“Vinny, if you ask that one more time, I’m going to find something to stuff in your mouth, you know?” Aesphyra tilted her head. Her eyes looked like she was smiling, yet somehow didn’t seem to be smiling at all.

“That is... what?” Mirexia stared in utter shock at the huge sword behind Aesphyra, its bulging, living veins swelling like some kind of creature.

“Vinny, can you see clearly now what exactly it is that’s been ‘guiding’ you?” Aesphyra said calmly.

“Guiding me? A... divine sword?” Vinny said hesitantly.

“Take another look.”

Guided by Aesphyra, Vinny lifted his head and looked at the “divine sword” over Aesphyra’s shoulder.

“This is—?!” Vinny’s eyes went wide. The instant he saw the true form of that so-called “divine sword,” he nearly fell onto his backside. A wave of lingering dread surged up in his heart.

How could this horrifying blood-colored greatsword, its whole surface covered in pulsing, living veins and sharp blood spikes, be anything but familiar? It was identical to that sword that had suddenly appeared in his mind back in [Painting Hall Tower].

This was the first time Vinny had seen the true face of this evil [Divine Armament]. The whole thing looked like a living organism that never stopped pumping blood, its central crossguard serving as its heart.

‘Tsk. You were just a hair away from success. Your luck’s really something, isn’t it?’

“You... you’re [Blood-Debt]??” Vinny stared warily at the blood-red demonic sword.

Aesphyra turned around as well, shielding Vinny behind her. Her gaze locked onto the sword, whose entire body exuded danger. At some point she had already drawn the Hero’s holy sword into her hand.

“Those scenes from before—were you the one misleading me? Did you fabricate them in my mind?” Vinny demanded.

‘I thought you were just a weak-willed livestock vessel for feeding me, but I didn’t expect you to be this hard to deal with. Not only did I fail to beguile you, you even woke up at the critical moment.’

‘Fine. I’m impressed. It proves you’re not just some consumable who only deserves to be feedstock.’ The voice rang in Vinny’s head as [Blood-Debt] slowly rose into the air.

‘Vinny Facilis, I’m getting more and more interested in you.’

“Ugh, get lost, get lost, get lost! Interested in me? Maybe take a look in the mirror at what you are first. You’re disgusting as hell!” Vinny pressed his pale lips together. The moment he felt a bit better, he immediately started running his mouth. But even as he spat harsh words, he still shrank a little further behind Aesphyra.

“You dare shove fake slide-shows into my head to trick me, trying to ‘guide’ me into becoming your expendable—damn thing, you really deserve to die!”

‘I guided you, sure. But fake illusions? That might not be the case, you know?’ [Blood-Debt] let out a “giggling” laugh.

‘Who can say whether what I showed you was false?’

‘For all you know, that was a precise prophecy of the future.’

‘You don’t seriously think you’re on “the same side” as them, do you? They’re going to cast you aside sooner or later. One day, you’ll understand that only embracing power is the one true path.’

‘Honestly, you’re not even sure in your own heart that you won’t end up with that outcome someday, are you?’

“Poisonous lies.”

‘Heh. You can lie to me, but you can’t lie to yourself, you know? My ability isn’t big enough to fabricate scenes that don’t exist at all. Just like a sprout can’t grow without soil and roots, the images you saw all have their foundations.’

‘If those scenes you saw truly didn’t exist at all, then no matter how hard I tried to seduce you, they still wouldn’t appear. Only if they really exist can I draw them out. In other words, all I can do is amplify—I can’t create something out of nothing.’

“Utter nonsense. Don’t think you can mislead me again!” Vinny frowned.

‘Heh. The fact you can talk like that means you yourself must know something, right? So how long can you keep lying to yourself??’

‘Also, dear Hero, stop secretly gathering mana for a sneak attack. If I dared show up here, I can leave here unscathed. Don’t waste the effort.’ [Blood-Debt] sneered. Its voice, just like before, couldn’t be identified as male or female.

Aesphyra said nothing. In the blink of an eye, several nets of lightning dropped from the sky and locked down the area.

[Dense Thunder-Numbing Net]

And just as those lightning nets were about to envelop [Blood-Debt], [Blood-Debt] vanished from where it had been. The nets snapped shut on empty air.

It just... disappeared into thin air??

Everyone stared at the sight in stunned disbelief.

No wonder it could become a legendary evil [Divine Armament], slipping away even after being hunted down again and again throughout history. Its talent for running away was this outrageous—even to the point of effectively teleporting. Never mind that no one yet understood how.

“That was [Blood-Debt], wasn’t it?” Mirexia stepped forward, face grave.

“It pretty much had to be. Just as sly and filthy as the rumors say.” Aesphyra answered leisurely.

“C-Classmate Vinny, a-are you okay? Are you all right? That horrible blood-sword didn’t hurt you, did it?” Shicodale hurried over to check whether Vinny was injured.

“No. I’m fine.”

With [Blood-Debt]’s influence on him gone, Vinny realized what he had been doing just now and immediately let go of Aesphyra, putting some distance between them.

Even so, he was still a bit weak. While he’d been under [Blood-Debt]’s influence, his mana had been in constant turbulence—a state of self-consumption—which left him utterly exhausted now.

It felt just like having a brutal flu back in his previous life, his whole body drained.

“What are you all doing here? And why am I here? Why is it dark already? What exactly happened before this?” Vinny rubbed his head and voiced his questions.

“Vinny, you don’t remember anything?” Mirexia’s brows drew together.

“If you mean what actually happened out here, then I don’t. My memories from earlier are all jumbled. Everything just feels foggy. I can barely remember what I dreamed about; other than that, I don’t remember a thing.” Vinny shook his head.

“Before this, you...” Mirexia recounted the entire day’s events to Vinny.

“So I’ve been out of it since this morning? Then... no one came to ask me to play cards?” Vinny asked hesitantly.

“Of course not. You’ve been sleeping at home all day without any consciousness at all. Tonight you suddenly got up and started moving and walked all the way here.”

After hearing Mirexia’s explanation, Vinny fell silent.

Sure enough, everything from before had been illusions.

[Blood-Debt] really was cunning. When his mind had been just about to clear up a little—but he still couldn’t distinguish reality from illusion—it had blended real-world scenes into the illusion to mislead him.

In the illusion, the final frame had been Aesphyra about to kill him. Everything after that was the real scene: Aesphyra truly had been standing in front of him, and the surroundings really had been identical.

If it hadn’t been for the way Aesphyra’s tone and gaze felt so familiar, making him blank out, or if his will had been just a bit less firm, then perhaps [Blood-Debt] really would have succeeded by now.