DOTD Chapter 21

But that wasn’t the divine power that flashed into my mind.

 

‘Evan…!’

 

Goosebumps rose as I recalled the exact moment when the number of monsters suddenly increased from one or two at first.

 

It must have been when the monsters suddenly swarmed,

 

‘Wasn’t it after I got separated from Evan?’ 

 

Of course, I knew that divine power was the only way to keep demonic power in check, but I didn’t know the specifics of the synergy between the two.

 

Doesn’t that mean I don’t have to go far, just be around Evan?

 

“Huh?”

 

Glancing in Evan’s direction, I realized in hindsight that the spatial warping magic was centered around Adrian and me.

 

“How long have we been in subspace?”

 

“I don’t want to be disturbed.”

 

“Well, I see…”

 

Regaining his composure, Adrian returned to his usual nonchalant expression and pulled me into his arms.

 

It was a gesture of not wanting to be separated, but it also seemed to contain a good deal of frustration with Evan.

 

What the hell was going on between them when I wasn’t around?

 

Although I don’t know the details, I’m pretty sure he said something that irritated Adrian.

 

‘Something about a misunderstanding, like I’m running away from him, or something like that…?’

 

To say the least, he’s a bit of an idiot for believing a stranger’s words.

 

“You idiot.”

 

“I…?”

 

I slapped Adrian’s arm lightly as he trapped me in his arms.

 

He gives me an exasperated look when I pull away from his embrace, not sure what it means.

 

“Do you really not know me that well, are you an idiot?”

 

“…You hate me too, don’t you?”

 

Again, the burrowing, crawling voice slams into Adrian’s broad forearm.

 

No, she raised her hand to strike back, but her wrist was grabbed firmly.

 

Squinting in frustration, she looked up at Adrian, and he answered cautiously.

 

“You’re hurt.”

 

So if I hit you, I get hurt, right? That’s good because you have a strong body.

 

Just as I was about to tell him to let go because I’m not going to hit him, one side of the room we were in cracked, and the opaque barrier collapsed with a crash, like glass shattering.

 

It shattered with a loud crack, and we were back in the space before the surrounding landscape distorted.

 

“Huh, what the…”

 

Standing directly in front of the crack was Evan, sword in hand, breathing heavily.

 

“You broke Adrian’s magic…?”

 

Did Adrian use magic casually? That couldn’t be right.

 

Evan missed his swing with a look of pain as he strained his poor body to break the spell.

 

His legs gave out, one knee buckled, and his entire body collapsed to the ground.

 

Rowan quickly scooped Evan up.

 

“Evan…”

 

Guilt stabbed at my conscience, seeing him so broken, even if I hadn’t intended it.

 

But at least now I could intercede to stop them from fighting anymore, so I could heal Evan and…

 

Rowan’s gaze shifted to my captive wrists, and when his eyes locked with Adrian’s, he began to glare ferociously.

 

Adrian didn’t avert his gaze.

 

A sigh escaped from deep within me as I watched the two men glare at each other without losing.

 

‘We’ve got a long way to go.’

 

🦋

 

Meanwhile, things were hectic throughout the Tower of Gold, where the monsters were battling it out.

 

In the Crystal Chamber, mages of the highest rank, including Yzmel, were brought in to fill Adrian’s absence to maintain the circle and repair the broken crystal chamber.

 

Throughout the tower, battles against monsters were raging under the command of the great wizards.

 

An unusually large number of wizards rushed to the center tower to deal with the monsters, but as they struggled to keep up with the numbers, good news arrived.

 

One of the wizards who rushed to the council chamber to report the situation exclaimed, hopefully.

 

“Suddenly the monsters have regrouped and there are no incoming ones. Now we just have to deal with the ones that remain, and we’ll be over the hump.”

 

The monsters had stopped attacking.

 

No one knows why, but it happened around the time Bella joined Evan and Adrian’s fight.

 

“We’ll prioritize the ones inside the tower. Don’t let your guard down until the end. Afterward is the most important thing, make sure you kill them.”

 

“Yes, sir!”

 

Yzmel gave the order without taking his hands off the council seat.

 

It was fortunate that the monsters had retreated faster than expected, but with no idea what was causing them, they couldn’t let their guard down.

 

Still, it was fortunate that their quick action hadn’t caused too much damage.

 

At last, Yzmel thought, he could breathe easy.

 

Then another thought entered his mind.

 

‘That wizard…’

 

I’d guessed it had something to do with the Empire, but now something else bothered me more than that.

 

‘What the hell is her connection to Adrian?’

 

He ran over all the clues he could glean from Bella and settled on one.

 

The most peculiar part was the black magic on her.

 

‘Heart-killing magic… I’ve heard of it somewhere before. Where?’

 

There had to be a reason why magic that didn’t kill people, but merely took away their heart function, was black magic.

 

‘Oh, why don’t I remember?’ 

 

Somewhere along the line, he’d heard that it was a black magic that could be abused, but he couldn’t recall the exact information.

 

He stopped thinking out of frustration and redirected his thoughts.

 

‘None of this matters, I need to find out if she’s a spy for the Empire or not… Ah!’

 

At that moment, a thought flashed through his brain, and Yzmel couldn’t help but gasp in horror.

 

He remembered someone he had heard of who had used heart-killing magic before.

 

‘Former Master…’ 

 

It was a spell used by a wizard who had been sentenced to death by a trial for disrupting the magical order with black magic and causing a disturbance in the world.

 

Anxiety welled up in Yzmel’s heart.

 

‘So, Adrian, what happens if it becomes known that you used that magic?’

 

🦋

 

‘What… have you guys been fighting again?’ 

 

My dark villain friends used to fight without even trying. They weren’t even that close, but they fought regularly.

 

Not verbal, of course, but physical.

 

At first, I thought it was a duel, but later I realized it wasn’t.

 

Sometimes I would ask them why they fought afterward, and they wouldn’t tell me.

 

‘Are you sure you’re not going to tell me?’

 

‘…’

 

They were even moderate with each other and didn’t fight.

 

‘We just went at it full force and always got hurt badly…’

 

In that sense, it’s a good thing we were friends. If they were normal people, they’d be dead.

 

They never fought in front of me, I don’t know if it was intentional or coincidental, but they never fought in front of me.

 

Sometimes, I would see them fighting… and I couldn’t stand it.

 

And I couldn’t stand by and watch.

 

The way I stopped them was simple.

 

Instead of telling them to stop fighting, I would say, ‘I’m hungry.’

 

And to my surprise, they stopped fighting.

 

‘Bella, are you hungry?’

 

‘Let’s eat.’

 

It was a little ridiculous that it worked every time.

 

‘What’s the point of starting a fight if it’s going to end so easily…’

 

Each time, my role was to mediate or clean up after my injured friends… Oh, yeah? It’s pretty much the same as now.

 

“Here we go.”

 

We’re now in a healing room quite a distance away from the aftermath of the battle to treat Evan.

 

Helping him heal brought back memories of being with my friends for a moment.

 

‘At this rate, I might as well learn healing magic professionally.’

 

Maybe it’s just my mood, but I feel like I could use a lot of it…

 

Sitting on the couch next to Evan’s bed, Rowan leans against the wall with his arms crossed behind him.

 

“It doesn’t hurt now, does it?”

 

Evan looks down at his palm and nods.

 

There are bandages everywhere that the healing magic hasn’t completely healed.

 

The sight of it pricks his conscience a little, so he breaks down and nods, his voice bright and cheerful.

 

“It’ll probably be fine, since I’m fairly capable of healing.”

 

“…”

 

He didn’t respond to the words.

 

A breathless silence descended, unbelievable after the commotion earlier.

 

No one dared to speak. In the silence, a scene from just a few hours earlier flashed through my mind.

 

I had to mediate a fight between Adrian and Evan, and I had to explain the situation.

 

‘The problem with that was that it was very brief.’

 

My explanation was one sentence.

 

‘Adrian is my friend.’