Chapter 101

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Episode 22 - Inevitability [4]

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My senses stretched across mountains, forests, rivers, and fields covered in flowers, probably red ones.

The distance my senses could reach began expanding faster and faster, at an absurd speed.

At first, the information arrived slowly, but the very next second an intense mental exhaustion hit me head-on.

It was not ordinary exhaustion. At that moment, I was grateful for my Trait preventing me from feeling pain.

Even so, the fatigue kept increasing. An overwhelming pressure fell over my head as the mental exhaustion worsened second after second.

I felt drops of blood sliding down from my nose.

I stopped and, the next instant, fell to my knees while the blood continued pouring endlessly.

A powerful dizziness struck me. The fatigue and mental exhaustion kept increasing without stopping.

My mind became almost blank, limited only to receiving information coming from kilometers and kilometers away.

30 kilometers, 50 kilometers, 75 kilometers... 230 kilometers, 280 kilometers...

...390 kilometers, 410 kilometers, 430 kilometers, and finally, 470 kilometers.

My senses could not advance any farther because of some kind of wall blocking everything.

All the information slammed into my head at the same time. I sensed every villain running toward Luminus and Kyle.

I perceived the presence of the Class 9 villain and all the Class 6, 7, and 8 villains advancing at full speed and nearly reaching the battlefield.

I also detected a few Class 5 villains. There were only a handful, perhaps because this was one of the most important branches of the Black Dawn Church and only high-class villains were stationed there.

However, I especially noticed five of them. One stood out even among the Class 5 villains, so I assumed he was their leader.

’I found you...’

That was my last thought before my consciousness began fading away.

It felt as though a short circuit had triggered a chain reaction inside my brain.

Blood began pouring out, flooding my airways and spilling from my mouth. It was also flowing from my ears and probably from the corners of my eyes.

"Hey, what... what the hell is happening to you, Adel...?"

Charlotte seemed to realize it immediately. She caught me, supporting me against her.

Before completely losing consciousness, I muttered with difficulty:

"Y-you have to give me... t-those potions... quickly..."

At the last moment, I released a huge quantity of mental recovery, fatigue recovery, and regeneration potions.

Finally, my consciousness faded away, and the world around me disappeared.

***

"Adel, hey, what the hell...?"

Charlotte laid Adel down on the cold, smooth black stone floor.

Large amounts of blood began pouring from the openings on his head.

His mouth, nose, ears, and even beneath the bandages covering his eyes were leaking faint drops of vivid crimson blood.

However, the bandages were not stained red at all. They remained completely white, as though every drop of blood was being expelled from beneath the cloth itself.

Charlotte stared at the dozen potions that had appeared out of nowhere.

She had also heard Adel’s murmur before he lost consciousness.

She was clearly confused. One moment earlier, Adel had been walking normally in front of her, and the next he had suddenly stopped. Then he dropped to his knees while blood began spilling onto the ground.

A second later, he was on the verge of collapsing completely. Charlotte managed to catch him against her before laying him on the floor.

’What just happened?’

Still confused, she had to do what Adel told her.

Although her strength had increased enormously, both Adel and Charlotte intended to completely clear the Memory Gate.

That meant if Adel died, Charlotte would never be able to clear the Memory Gate entirely on her own.

’Damn it... and how am I supposed to give him the potions?’

First, she prevented his own blood from completely choking him.

That alone took quite a while.

Afterward, Charlotte brought her ear close to Adel’s nose.

His breathing had returned.

He was no longer choking, so the only thing left was to give him the potions.

She first picked up the regeneration potions. If he was bleeding like this, he probably had internal injuries.

However, the moment Charlotte removed the cap from the bottle, she froze in place.

"Hey, hey, wait... I can’t give you the potions while you’re like this."

She placed the potion against his lips and let the liquid flow down, but in the very next instant Adel almost choked again.

Charlotte frowned as her thoughts sped up.

She tried to remember some medical classes from her previous life.

She had studied to obtain a medical certificate, so she knew some basic medicine, although in this world that knowledge worked differently.

She tried every method she could remember, but Adel always ended up on the verge of choking.

Then she remembered something.

"...."

She looked at Adel’s lips and then at the potion.

Her mind went blank as she replayed the thought that had just crossed her head.

"...!"

’That’s not... b-but it could work, right?’

She pressed her lips together so tightly they formed a straight line. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and finally opened them again.

She looked at Adel and muttered:

"I-I was only supposed to do this with someone I like... so I’m going to hit you really hard later for taking it from me."

The next moment, she took the potion in her hands and brought it to her mouth.

What she was about to do was something she could never forget.

***

"Ah...!!!"

Charlotte took a deep breath. Her face was completely red; however, the potions that had once been full...

Were now completely empty. Her mouth could still feel the different flavors of the three potions, each with different effects.

She wiped her lips while her breathing remained uneven. Then she glared at Adel and muttered:

"Now wake up, you son of a bitch."

She staggered and soon collapsed into a sitting position on a nearby rock. Her heart was pounding violently, and the heat had rushed all the way to her head.

However, her thoughts and the way she looked at Adel were filled with pure killing intent. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

’I-I gave him my... my first kiss, and not just one...’

She counted the number of potions there had been.

There were at least more than fifty.

She had lost her sense of taste, and now she could not even feel her tongue anymore.

But she did not care. She simply continued staring at Adel with a murderous expression, and then, shortly afterward...

"Cough...!"

Adel sat up while coughing as remnants of the potion liquid dripped from his lips.

Charlotte’s killing intent increased even further.

"Don’t you dare spit out or throw up the potions, bastard. I’m not giving them to you again."

Her eyes were completely sharp; however, Adel ignored her as he brought a hand to his head.

’Ugh, I can barely think clearly... shit, I’m never taking that fucking risk again.’

Using his senses beyond what he could afford at that moment would only end up killing him.

"That was close... really close."

He murmured . Charlotte heard him clearly and asked in a voice filled with anger, demanding an explanation:

"What the hell is wrong with you, you fucking bastard?"

Adel finally raised his head and focused on her. Then he answered weakly:

"I used my senses more than I could afford right now... to find the villains..."

He couldn’t tell her that he had done it to search for a certain group.

"Just for that, you’re completely fucking insane. You really are insane, you fucking bastard, son of a bitch."

She stood up and grabbed the collar of his shirt, nearly lifting him off the ground.

"What colorful words, huh."

That only made Charlotte stiffen even more.

She was close, so fucking close to punching him in the face, but Adel had already stood up and taken some distance from her.

At first, he staggered, but he quickly regained his balance. He lightly shook his head while organizing all the information his senses had provided him.

’Good, now I know where those bastards are.’

It didn’t take him long to locate them. He also concluded that the group of five peak Class 5 villains were the Invaders.

Shortly afterward, Adel turned toward Charlotte and said:

"Let’s go."

Charlotte’s gaze froze for a second.

’T-this... this guy is seriously ignoring me... I kissed him like fifty times just to give him those potions and he doesn’t even thank me... seriously, I swear I’ll kill him soon.’

Adel had already turned around and was walking in a fixed direction. Charlotte had stayed behind for a few seconds, trapped in her thoughts.

Then she clenched her fists and silently followed him.

But in her mind...

In her mind burned an overwhelming determination to strangle the blind idiot walking ahead of her.

She forcefully suppressed her impulses.

***

A massive structure stood before me.

It was like a palace, yet at the same time it resembled a temple.

In my vision, white lines outlined everything around me, tracing even the smallest details.

I used my senses and noticed guards at the entrances to the place.

They were two peak-stage Class 5 villains.

’All the Class 6 villains or higher have moved.’

I could sense some Class 6s, but they were probably only guarding areas of extreme importance.

However, my targets were nowhere near them. The five villains I was searching for were not far away.

At least near the entrance, inside some enormous room, sitting around a table and probably reviewing their plans.

I finally withdrew my senses and said to Charlotte:

"From this point on, we’ll be facing Class 5 villains. Be careful."

With my current strength, I could fight several Class 5s, as long as they weren’t a full group of peak Class 5s.

In response to my cold words, Charlotte said nothing, but ever since I regained consciousness, her emotions of anger, embarrassment, irritation, and so on...

Had increased tremendously.

’Ah, I seriously don’t know why she’s angry, but it’s not something I care about.’

I turned my back to her and started walking toward the entrance. I unsheathed my sword and began circulating Inverted Mana.

Soon, the guards noticed me and instantly moved.

I did the same.