I Became a Ruined Character in a Dark Fantasy-Chapter 367

Ian's eyes widened as he whipped his head around.

—Perhaps it saw you falling. It was quite a dramatic descent.

Ignoring the leisurely whisper, he decided this wasn't the time for verbal sparring.

Ian quickly scanned his surroundings, narrowing his eyes. Unlike the whisper, there were no signs of an impending attack.

Of course, that wasn't surprising. His senses were still being disturbed. In this place, his sensory abilities were only marginally better than an ordinary person's. His trait, Intuition, was only fully effective within the limits of his five senses.

Still, he didn't intend to dismiss the whisper.

Clicking his tongue briefly, Ian spoke. "Lucy."

"Yes... yes, I'm listening, Sir Ian." Lucia snapped out of her daze and responded.

Ian, looking down at the armor, quickly added as he worked with his hands. "Can you walk?"

Lucia tilted her head slightly in confusion but answered without delay. "I'll check."

She pressed her hands against the ground and tried to stand, but immediately wobbled and fell back down. It seemed her strength hadn't returned. It was only natural. Besides the mental shock, she had just been coughing up blood.

Before that, she had overexerted herself praying, lost consciousness while restrained by an avatar, and barely survived the ordeal. If she hadn't been an apostle of the gods, it wouldn't have been strange if she'd already lost her life.

After several attempts, Lucia finally stood, catching her breath as she spoke. "I think I can walk. Running, though, is still out of the question."

She doesn't look like she can even walk.

Muttering this inwardly, Ian gave her a once-over. Dust and dirt completely covered Lucia's cracked and dented equipment. Still, most of it remained intact. Even the flail secured diagonally to her back was still in place.

"Wait here a moment. I'm almost done." Ian, who had been speaking, finished adjusting his armor and slipped it on.

He swiftly secured each joint, rotating his arms to test the fit. Though it didn't fit him perfectly, there was no discomfort in the movement. Picking up Lucia's fallen hooded cloak from the ground, Ian stood and turned.

Wrapping the cloak around his arm, he moved forward, his gaze fixed on a boulder in the middle of the valley that stood as tall as he did.

"Sir Ian?" Puzzled, Lucia tilted her head in as Ian halted. He retrieved a dagger from his pocket dimension with his left hand. He couldn't even remember when he had placed it there.

Approaching the boulder with the cloak, he raised his left arm.

Crunch!

The dagger's magic-infused blade pierced through the cloak and sunk deeply into the rock behind it. Fortunately, the boulder wasn't exceptionally hard.

Ignoring the potential damage to the blade, Ian drove it in with all his strength, simultaneously drawing on his chaos power. Chaos power and magic surged through the dagger's hilt and spread into the cloak fixed against the boulder.

Shaaah...

The cloak writhed as if it were alive. This hooded cloak, which had absorbed divine power exceptionally well, was equally adept at drawing in both mana and Chaos Power.

It was then that a low whisper echoed in Ian's mind.

—Oh, trying to use it as bait, are you? Quite the clever deception.

Acting like you know it all.

Snorting, Ian continued channeling magic and chaos power into the cloak. Perhaps thanks to absorbing the avatar's essence, the fragments that should have been empty were now brimming with chaos energy.

Crkk...

The chaos power seeped into the boulder beneath the cloak, spreading violet cracks across its dark surface. Though Ian didn't know what would come to attack, creating this much of a distraction was necessary to fully divert their attention.

—Mind sharing a bit with me? It'll be helpful—like just now.

Geez, You sure talk a lot.

Thinking this, Ian glanced at the fluttering cloak. Violet ripples of haze spread faintly into the surroundings with each movement of the fabric. Yet the cloak didn't immediately expel all the magic and chaos power it had absorbed.

Once Ian confirmed the violet cracks spreading across the boulder, he finally released the dagger hilt and turned around.

"Why did you pour chaos into it?" As he approached, Lucia, who had been staring blankly, asked.

Ian stopped in front of her, bent down, and replied, "I'll explain it later."

You'll find out soon enough, anyway.

Adding this inwardly, Ian wrapped an arm around Lucia's back and under her knees, lifting her in one swift motion. Having done this once before, the process felt smooth and natural.

Though Lucia's eyes widened in surprise, she didn't struggle and allowed herself to be carried.

"This is probably the first time I've been carried like this since I was a child." She only murmured the words awkwardly.

"You're still a child," Ian smirked softly as he glanced away. By now, even he could feel an ominous presence creeping closer.

"Look carefully for a place we can hide, Lucy."

Before Lucia could even nod, Ian dashed up the sloped path.

***

Rustle—

Ian and Lucia had hidden beneath a rock close to the cliff. The rock jutted out diagonally like a roof, forcing both of them to crawl inside.

Fortunately, the interior sloped downward in the opposite direction, allowing them to remain fully hidden while peeking out above.

Ian's narrowed gaze scanned the valley below.

It will be better if they're starving. That way, they'd kill each other off.

As he thought this, his eyes lingered on the boulder with violet cracks spreading across it. The cloak he'd fixed beneath the rock rippled gently in the wind.

—So you never intended to fight at all. How unexpected. I thought you enjoyed fighting.

The whisper tickled his mind again.

Enjoy? Yeah, right.

Ian's nose twitched faintly in irritation. Given where he was, he'd have his fill of battles soon enough. But without proper rest or recovery, avoiding conflict whenever possible was the wiser choice.

"What are you waiting for?" Lucia whispered faintly, barely moving her lips. A trace of tension had already settled in her eyes.

Ian shrugged his shoulders as he turned, his gaze shifting abruptly beyond Lucia.

"I still don't see any—" Lucia's words were cut off as Ian's palm suddenly covered her lips.

Startled, she froze momentarily, but it didn't last long.

Her eyes widened in shock. Wisps of pale mist were seeping into the crevice where they were hiding.

Thud...

At that moment, the sound of footsteps, previously absent, echoed through the air. Not from the opposite side, but from the cliff behind them where they were hiding.

Thud... crack...

After several tremors, a long, jet-black leg emerged through the rolling mist. Lucia held her breath as Ian fixated his gaze on the leg, its silhouette hazy through the thickening fog.

The leg's dark, desiccated skin resembled stretched leather, akin to an elongated elephant's leg. Clearly, the mist enveloping them was emanating from this creature.

Thud...

A massive beast wreathed in thick fog descended into the valley. Its movements seemed slow, but its speed was deceptively swift. The rolling, milky haze could not entirely conceal its form or movements.

Six long, spindly legs carried a grotesquely swollen body, writhing with tentacles. Amid the haze, countless violet eyes gleamed, flickering in and out of sight before vanishing once more into the mist.

I never thought I'd see that thing up close.

It was a sight enough to bring back Ian's memories of the game. The massive shadow patrolling the distant borders had looked exactly like this. Back then, he had assumed it was nothing more than a background element, crafted solely to enhance the atmosphere.

Thud...

But now, it was no longer just a game. This was reality.

The massive beast had descended deep into the valley and finally stopped. Its head emerged faintly through the swirling fog. Black horns spiraled out wildly in jagged patterns, while countless glowing eyes with slit pupils shone erratically beneath them.

Its mouth, surrounded by writhing tentacles, opened wide in a grotesque display before plunging into the mist below. There was no need to wonder what it was trying to consume. The answer was obvious.

Crash!

The sound of rocks shattering echoed through the fog. While the beast's mist appeared to dampen sounds and hide its presence, it couldn't entirely mask the noise of stone breaking apart.

Crunch... crack... snap...

The slow, deliberate sounds gradually faded. Soon after, violet light spread through the mist like blooming flowers. The creature's horns and eyes were glowing with an ominous hue.

—Oh dear, it seems the stimulus was too much after all.

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As the whisper echoed in Ian's mind, the massive beast raised its head.

BOOOOOM—OOOOO!

A roar shook the valley, reverberating through the air. The violet glow in its horns and eyes flared brighter, and the mist pouring from its body thickened and churned violently.

Shhhh—

Amidst it all, streaks of purple light shot into the air. What emerged were creatures much smaller, their forms resembling mummified pterosaurs in Ian's eyes.

They were undoubtedly symbiotic beings, hiding within the mist and living alongside the massive beast.

—Blinded by madness, is it? Was this your plan all along, friend? Impressive.

The whisper murmured in low admiration.

Not even close.

Ian thought to himself, but he kept his gaze fixed on the roaring giant beast.

Its erratic movements, heightened by an overdose of chaos power, made it impossible to predict where it would go. If it charged in their direction, they would have to flee immediately.

Fortunately, that didn't happen.

BOOOOOM—OOOOO!

The massive beast turned toward the opposite side of the valley, letting out a roar that seemed to shake the entire gorge. It disappeared into the distance, leaving no sound of footsteps behind, thanks to the mist pouring down like a waterfall.

Only after the creature had completely vanished did Ian remove his hand from Lucia's mouth.

"My goodness." Lucia exhaled a long sigh of relief as if she'd been waiting for this moment. Turning to Ian with a dazed expression, she stammered out her next words.

"Are we going to face monsters like that in the future?"

"Well, I don't think so," Ian replied while looking down at the gorge where the mist was dissipating.

Lucia blinked in surprise. "No?"

"Think about the things that came from the Wall. Creatures like that wouldn't be common here, even in this place... probably."

The thinning mist revealed an area that looked bombarded. The boulder where Ian had secured the cloak, of course, was gone without a trace.

"At the very least, with a beast like that rampaging, the other monsters in the area will probably keep their heads down for a while."

Though I didn't exactly intend for this outcome.

Ian kept that thought to himself as he trailed off. Finally relaxing, Lucia let her head droop, a long sigh escaping her lips. It seemed she'd used up what little energy she had left.

It was immediately after this that the whisper returned, slithering into Ian's mind.

—I'm glad my advice was useful. I'll gladly accept your thanks, friend.

Ian frowned slightly and glanced down at his right hand. Wrapped around his middle finger was a black serpent. Swamp's Resentment gazed at him with obsidian-like eyes, its forked tongue flicking out.

—Ah, you're finally looking at me.

The smug whisper drew Ian's voice low and steady.

"I don't recall giving you permission to take over my familiar's body."

From the moment it whispered to him, Ian had already figured out what it was. A faint memory of a dream now barely recalled. At the final moment, he had grabbed onto something—its writhing fingers left behind by the nameless creature.

"What are you talking about?" Lucia asked, her confusion clear as she looked up at Ian. Then, naturally, her gaze followed his.

As she did, it chuckled quietly, its voice whispering again.

—I never wanted to become such a lowly creature, either. My original plan was to burrow into your soul and take root there.

The words were more than enough to make Ian's gaze grow even colder.