RIAD Ch 7

“That crazy X!”

Confirming Kai’s dire situation—just moments from something terrible happening—Eliah launched herself forward.

But at the same time, an intense burst of light painfully flooded her vision, forcing her to shield her eyes with her palm. Her body, which had been charging forward with momentum, jolted to an unnatural stop.

In an instant, a swarm of fairy bugs surged toward her, forming a massive cluster that blocked her path. Like a hive of bees, they filled her field of view, obscuring Kai entirely.

These fairy bugs resembled the ones she’d defeated earlier. The difference, however, was that their bodysuit-like skin was green instead of red, and they were larger in size.

Their appearance was still revolting, but having seen them once before, she wasn’t particularly shocked. Instead, Eliah’s face twisted into an expression of irritation.

“Ha, seriously…”

She had no idea what was happening behind that wall of bugs. To calm her rising anxiety, she bit her lower lip and gripped her sword handle tightly. She intended to focus and take them out quickly.

A faint swirl of mana gathered, causing the silver blade to glow dimly. Focusing on her breathing, she could feel that she still had some stamina left.

Whoosh—

The hand-sized wings clashed together, stirring up a breeze.

Eliah concentrated on the sensation gathering near her chest and raised her sword. Since entering the fairy forest, her mana had noticeably increased, now wrapping around her heart like a gentle embrace.

With the fairy bugs forming such a dense swarm, aiming wasn’t necessary. She swung her sword forward in a wide arc.

With a sensation like slicing through soft fruit, five or six fairies scattered into green light.

Each time she swung her mana-infused sword in a broad stroke, multiple fairy bugs disintegrated.

Thinking only of efficiency, she carved her way through the swarm with concise, deliberate movements.

Emotion drained from her focused face, her pink hair whipping around as she moved. Sweat began to bead on her skin, making it glisten faintly. The more she pressed on, the more frantically the fairy bugs swarmed.

After swinging her sword about twenty times, ignoring the stinging sensations, the cluster finally thinned, revealing glimpses of the situation behind it.

Whoosh—

“Master… ugh… ah…”

Amid the sound of flapping wings, Kai’s struggling voice mixed in. From what she could see, the Fairy King was crawling over him. She rubbed her lower body against Kai’s without hesitation. Kai writhed, trying to break free, but with his limbs bound, his efforts were futile.

Eliah gripped her long sword tightly with both hands and thrust it forward. A mix of extreme rage and concentration caused a momentary dizziness. After stabbing her highly focused blade about ten times, the dark swarm of fairy bugs finally dispersed completely.

Without hesitation, she charged toward Kai. The Fairy King was grinding her hips against his thighs, shaking her body atop him. Kai, fixed to a platform, could only shed pitiful tears.

“You crazy XX! Get off!”

Eliah swung her sword horizontally, aiming straight for the Fairy King.

Contrary to her expectation that the Fairy King would dodge or counter, she was surprisingly compliant and took the stab head-on.

“Kyaa! My… my consciousness…!”

Even with the sword buried deep in her waist, the Fairy King continued to cling to Kai obsessively. Instead of blood, a thick green sparkle flowed from the wound. She didn’t seem to feel much pain.

Feeling less guilt now, Eliah pulled her sword back and struck again with force. The Fairy King, perhaps having lost all combat ability, didn’t fight back and only screamed.

“Kyaah! Stop it!”

The second slash sent her tumbling off the platform. Ignoring her sparkling, disintegrating body, she stubbornly tried to crawl back toward Kai. It was as if he were her sole purpose, no matter what happened to her.

“You stop it! Ugh, get away!”

Eliah recoiled at the grotesque sight. With her next strike piercing the Fairy King’s heart, the creature finally stopped moving. Her bright green eyes widened, and her screaming face froze like wax.

“Ah…”

Eliah stiffened in shock as well, but when the Fairy King’s green eyes rolled toward her, she couldn’t help but jump in alarm.

“What, what the—? You’re not dead?”

Just moments ago, the Fairy King had been shrieking like a madwoman, but now she stared blankly with her mouth agape. As Eliah raised her sword in caution, the Fairy King muttered with a face full of shock.

“The curse… it’s lifted…”

“Curse?”

At that moment, white text flooded her vision.

Ding!

[Notification: The curse of the Junabi Fairy King has been lifted by the power of the Sword of Vitality.]

Ding!

[Notification: Congratulations on completing the quest ‘The Fairy King’s Treasure (2).’]

[Hidden Story ‘Curse of the Continent’ unlocked.

Details are now available.]

‘What’s this hidden story? I’ve never heard of it before.’

Eliah skimmed through the notifications and immediately turned to Kai. She could check them later—escaping this bizarre forest was the priority.

“Kai!”

She quickly cut away the vines binding his hands and feet.

“Sniff…”

His eyes were red and teary, swollen from whatever torment he’d endured. For a moment, her throat tightened, and no words came out. She helped Kai sit up, facing him, and pulled his head into her embrace. Feeling his warmth calmed her own heart.

“…I’m sorry. I was too late, wasn’t I?”

“…No. Thank you for coming.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

As she held him, his body trembled faintly. Even for someone like him, the ordeal must have taken a toll. Eliah felt a heavy darkness settle in her chest.

He only had her to rely on, and she hadn’t been able to protect him—her heart ached with guilt.

“Ha…”

“Shh, it’s alright now.”

After some comforting pats, his ragged breathing steadied into a rhythm. The round head resting against her chest felt unusually fragile today. Kai buried his face in her embrace, a deep smile spreading across his lips as if this moment was all he’d longed for, though Eliah didn’t notice.

“Ugh, where did your clothes even go…?”

Eliah let out a sigh mixed with a grumble. It hadn’t been long since she’d bought him perfectly good clothes, and now they were gone.

“…”

“I knew this might happen, so I brought an extra set!”

Seeing Kai’s dejected look, she deliberately brightened her tone. Thankfully, she’d packed a spare outfit just in case.

Though she hadn’t expected it to come in handy this quickly.

She rummaged through her bag and handed the clothes to Kai. As he started dressing, she turned away—only to lock eyes with the Fairy King again.

Those unblinking eyes staring straight through her sent a chill down her spine. Eliah flinched but tried to hide it as she observed her.

“Uh…?”

“The curse is lifted, right? You!”

“What, what?”

The Fairy King, who had been muttering the same thing in a daze, suddenly sprang up and pointed at Eliah. Startled by her intensity, Eliah took a step back.

“Who are you?! I’ve been trapped here for 11 years because of this curse—how in the world did you break it?!”

Eliah was thrown off by the Fairy King’s sudden shift in demeanor. Her high-pitched voice and sharp tone were the same, but… it was as if someone possessed by madness had regained their senses.

The obsessive fixation on Kai was gone, replaced by a trembling, focused gaze as she spoke.

The “Hidden Story” notification from earlier and the Fairy King’s words were clearly connected.

“Tell me more about this curse.”

“How did you… the curse…”

“Hey. Fairy King.”

“Huh?”

“Tell me what the curse was and how it happened.”

Her innocent blinking felt almost hypocritical, considering she’d been straddling Kai just moments ago.

“Oh, right. So, it was 11 years ago. It was summer, around this time of year. The forest felt a bit darker than usual that day, and something seemed off.”

“Get to the point.”

“…Okay. If there’s a god in this world, I thought it must’ve been their doing. An absolute command got drilled into my head.”

Recalling that time, the Fairy King pressed her temple, her expression turning dreamy.

“What command?”

“‘Take the most beautiful man in the world.’ For the past 11 years, I couldn’t shake that thought. So…”

The Fairy King trailed off, glancing at Kai.

“I’m sorry. Really, I’m sorry! But it wasn’t my will.”

It seemed she truly had been controlled by something. Her attitude was starkly different from before Eliah stabbed her heart. With her pale green glow and fluttering wings, the Fairy King now looked oddly… cute, in a way she hadn’t before.

Eliah watched her hesitantly continue, her face a mix of confusion and curiosity.

“And the fairies changed too. They used to be kind, but they started attacking people… I was always in a daze. There’s no way this was a god’s will—it had to be a curse!”

Piecing together the Fairy King’s story and the notifications, the conclusion became clear.

Eliah’s power as the “Sword of Vitality” had undone the curse. It was a setting she’d never heard of in her time playing Deus.

‘Is this tied to a happy ending or something?’

“Gasp. Wait—are you a god?”

The Fairy King seemed to reach her own conclusion, gasping dramatically. She really must be a fairy—her naivety was almost too much.

“I’m not a god. So—”

“But you’re definitely someone important! Anyway, since I’m grateful, take this. It’s something valuable to humans.”

Cutting Eliah off, the Fairy King gathered the sparkling dust scattered around her. The coarse green grains quickly formed a handful, which she stuffed into a leaf pouch.

‘…Isn’t that her own blood?’

The casual way she swept up the sparkles suddenly struck Eliah as bizarre.

“Here! You’ll definitely need it somewhere. And my name’s Junabi. Remember it.”

[Fairy Dust:

A powder imbued with mystical energy. Amplifies specific forces.]

As Eliah reflexively took the pouch, an item window popped up. It seemed Junabi was right—it would be useful somewhere. Eliah decided there was no harm in keeping it and tucked it away.

The Fairy King, Junabi, appeared to be naturally talkative. Once she started, she chattered on without giving Eliah a chance to speak.

“And… oh! Right. You can take that one with you too.”

Junabi pointed to a corner of the undergrowth. It was a direction Eliah hadn’t noticed while focused on Kai. What she saw left her speechless.

“What?!”

“Sorry! I brought him here about a year ago. I was raising him to… take him. I really couldn’t help it.”

‘How long has he been there…?!’

Beneath the dark foliage was a small child. Maybe ten years old? A boy, his hands and feet bound with vines similar to those that had restrained Kai, sat pitifully crouched on the ground.

With glossy honey-blonde hair, fair skin, and an angelic, delicate face, he didn’t seem like an ordinary child—his appearance hinted at some notable status.

The boy stared straight at her with deep green eyes.