MTM 157

“Hahaha! This is insane! Are you serious? You’re really going to send that to Reina?!”

On a bridge in Carseon, under the sunlight, Allen clutched his stomach and burst into hysterical laughter. Passersby glanced at him as he roared with laughter, his face flushed red like someone who had been drinking. Leon looked devastated beyond recovery.

“…I shouldn’t have shown it.”

Leon let out a sigh and murmured to himself.

Last night, he had been convinced he wasn’t drunk, but it was clear he wasn’t in his right mind due to the effects of alcohol. He should have kept it a secret since Zed had pointed it out once, but a baseless sense of confidence kicked in, and he ended up showing the letter to Allen as well. And as expected, Allen relentlessly teased him.

He laughed so loudly the entire way back to Carseon Castle early in the morning. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Leon glared at Allen.

“No matter how sorrowfully you cry in an empty nest, is there any chance that a bird that has already flown away to find its mate will return?”

“…What?”

Startled. Allen, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped in his tracks. His smile vanished completely. Leon narrowed his eyes and met his gaze head-on.

“What are you even talking about? What did you say about the bird? Don’t tell me you think I’m jealous of the relationship between you and Reina?”

Allen, dumbfounded by Leon’s analogy, asked. Instead of an answer, Leon sent a look of affirmation, which prompted Allen to laugh in disbelief.

“Hey, if that were really the case, unauthorized copyyou and I would have been enemies a long time ago. You jerk!”

“Ah!”

Allen roughly ruffled Leon’s hair. Leon was seething with annoyance, but he realized that Allen’s gaze was actually directed somewhere else entirely, not at him. Come to think of it, even while teasing him, Allen kept stopping to glance at Ser, who had fallen behind.

“The situation over there looks really bad. Leon, you go ask.”

When he turned around, he saw Ser constantly trying to contact Harto, oblivious to the commotion caused by them.

“Why are you treating me like that? If you’re curious, go ask him yourself.”

“…….”

When Leon replied sullenly, Allen’s expression stiffened for a moment, then he approached Ser.

“Hey… what’s wrong? You can’t get in touch with…?”

Allen paused mid-sentence. It was because Ser’s eyes were stained red as if he were about to burst into tears.

“W-what? Why the sudden….”

Allen stammered in confusion at Ser’s unusual behavior. Unable to hide his nervousness, Ser gripped the communication device tightly and said,

“The connection suddenly cut off while I was talking to Harto. I tried contacting Zed, but there was no response. Something definitely has happened…”

“I thought it was something serious. They must be too busy doing something and can’t pick up.”

It was a somewhat embarrassing thing to bring up so early in the morning, but Allen tried to lighten the heavy atmosphere with a lighthearted joke. However, Ser glared at Allen; he had absolutely no room to joke.

“Do you think I’m acting like this because I’m clueless?”

“That’s not it, but…”

Feeling embarrassed, Allen quickly lost his spirit and shut his mouth. Unable to overcome his anxiety, Ser looked around while biting his fingernails until they were red.

“It feels ominous. I have a bad feeling about this….”

Ser had felt restless ever since leaving Etheria. He was overcome with regrets, wondering if Zed should have confessed the whole truth to Harto, and if they should have told him everything about meeting the witch yesterday.

Perhaps due to past experiences, his intuition was exceptionally keen. It felt as though this relationship would become a tangled ball of yarn that would never be unraveled if it wasn’t solved right now.

“Ser….”

Allen reached out his hand out of pity after noticing blood on the tip of his fingernail.

Rumble!

“Emergency! Everyone clear the way! Secure a passage to the square!”

With the sound of the heavy castle gates opening, a considerable number of holy knights crossed the bridge. Startled by the sudden appearance of the knights, the residents and the group hurriedly stepped aside.

“What’s going on? Did something happen in the square?”

Leon hurriedly approached Ser and Allen and asked. Allen glanced at Ser’s anxious expression once, then grabbed the shoulder of a knight who was walking past him.

“Ah! W-what is this…!”

The seemingly sturdy knight was helplessly brought to a halt by Allen’s brute strength.

“Hey, what’s going on? Why is everyone making such a fuss? What happened in the square?”

“Well… a huge commotion has just broken out at Logos Grand Library.”

“At the library?”

Immediately after hearing those words, Ser’s eyes trembled. It was the place Harto had mentioned a moment ago over the communication device.

“Did a monster appear?”

The knight shook his head in response to Leon’s question.

“I am not certain about that. visit our siteHowever, I received word that our commander is currently in danger…”

As the name of the holy knights’ commander was mentioned, all three of them pictured the same person.

After letting the holy knight go, Allen immediately turned to look at Ser and Leon.

“You two go to the library. I’ll head to the temple.”

“Why the temple? Harto and Zed must be together. Let’s all head to the library….”

“Someone needs to know exactly what’s going on. I’ll meet with the Archpriest to check the situation and join in. In my experience, looking into this side has often helped resolve things faster.”

Ser nodded silently when he realized that Allen also sensed the seriousness of the situation.

“Alright. If anything happens, make sure to contact me through the communications device.”

“Go quickly!”

At Ser’s urging, Allen shouted and headed straight for the temple. Leon and Ser hurried toward the square where the holy knights were heading.

***

Sssss-.

A cool wind swept through Silpirnoa. Amidst the rustling of leaves, a mournful sound, indistinguishable as to whether it bel​visit our site​onged to a beast or a man, mingled in.

“Hic….”

Beneath the thick shade cast by the dense trees, the black slime moved slowly. Wherever he passed, black puddles formed on the damp ground.

“Hng… haa, hng…!”

The black slime finally burst into tears as he crawled deep into the forest. The teardrops soon soaked his body and seeped into the earth.

Harto wanted to hide in an abyss where not a single ray of light could penetrate, where even the sound of the wind could not reach, and just disappear. But guilt would not let Harto go and tormented him.

‘Why did you lie?’

I didn’t mean to lie. I was just, I was just scared…

‘Can you say that everything is a misunderstanding?’

‘But, Zed. I…’

‘Did you really not try to deceive me for even a single moment?!’

Every single word Zed said tore at his heart. The fact that he had inflicted an indelible wound on the person most precious to him was painful. Despite countless opportunities, he could not speak honestly. Far from confessing the truth with his own mouth, he ended up having his identity exposed in the worst possible way.

‘It’s fine as long as they don’t know I’m Hartiros. If, by any chance, they seem like they might notice… I can just run away…’

The complacent and cowardly thoughts he had harbored in the past came to mind. He wanted to beat himself up for believing that simply disappearing before his identity was revealed would suffice. The fact that such complacency had ultimately pushed Zed into a deeper hell plunged him into despair.

Zed loved him exactly as he was. He embraced even his monstrous form, and even after knowing he was Hartiros, he tried to stay with him. He was such a kind and warm-hearted person who was willing to share his warmth.

“Zed… Zed…. I’m sorry… Hng, I’m sorry….”

Harto sobbed as he repeatedly called out the name of the man he no longer deserved to even say. He wanted to disappear. That was the only way to escape the agony of this terrible guilt.

‘Yes… leaving like this would be a blessing for Yibin.’

Beep-.

When the cold mechanical voice pronounced death, he was not sad. On the contrary, he felt comfort in being able to leave without any regrets. Since there was no one who truly wanted him, he had no attachment to life, and consequently, he felt lighthearted.

But this place was different. Even though he knew it was his destiny to kill him, he couldn’t help but love Zed. He firmly believed that with that power, he could change his fate.

‘Why did you deceive me?’

He shouldn’t have been born again from the beginning. He shouldn’t have followed Zed. No, he should have left immediately, even the moment he found out he was Ares Carseon. Or he should have ended it now. Only then would Zed stop suffering.

Hartiros was doomed and was going to die soon.

‘…I have to end this.’

The moment he made up his mind, the tears that had been flowing ceaselessly from Harto’s eyes stopped. At the same time, the black demonic energy slowly rising from his body began to indiscriminately drain the life force around him.

Wherever Harto passed, plants burned black and wilted, and where clear water had gushed out, a thick, unpleasant black liquid mixed in. Harto looked down at his body turning ash. He considered it his true, hideous form.

Rumble, boom, thud-!

“……!”

It was then. His heart began to pulsate with a bizarre sound. He didn’t even have time to scream. Extreme pain, as if his whole body were being burned, overwhelmed him.

‘It hurts. It hurts… It hurts…!’

This was not merely physical pain. The agony, originating from deep within his body, was a sensation that felt like it was destroying the very roots of his soul. Thump, thump. The demonic energy erupting from his beating heart boiled like lava, and a hellish burning sensation burrowed into Harto.