023. Distortion (4)
Even as Owen responded to the call from the contact point, his mind was still preoccupied with Lucia.
He had done it, but…
What thoughts had she had because of his words, what conclusions had she reached…
Not being able to see it with his own eyes left him feeling regretful in many ways.
However, the situation was serious, so he couldn’t linger around and stay in the tent.
Letting out a sigh, Owen mounted his black horse again.
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According to the report received through the contact point, the location was said to be in the middle of the forest, making it impossible to reach by foot.
Owen swiftly rode his horse, aiming to arrive as quickly as possible, so it didn’t take long to reach the middle.
“….”
Arriving at the reported area, Owen immediately drew his sword.
There was no time for hesitation.
The scene was already a mess.
Half of the search team gathered there were injured, some seemed to be seriously wounded, lying weakly on the ground.
There seemed to be no fatalities, but it was still a gruesome scene.
To him, coming from Earth, and moreover, from modern society, it was unfamiliar and cruel.
But there was no room for hesitation.
The members of the search team were only capable of handling a few at best.
He had to deal with the massive monster in front of him right away.
Swoosh-.
In an instant, he pierced the heart of the large monster with his jet-black sword.
The reason Owen had leaped onto the monster’s body was to aim for its chest.
“Krrrk…!”
The monster, with its heart pierced, thrashed around, causing the ground to tremble as a creature about three times the size of a person writhed beneath him.
As Owen was thrown off the monster’s body, its chest was pierced.
“Support the injured and move them.”
Having dealt with the large monster, Owen immediately turned to the search team and gave orders.
“And relay that the hunting competition must be stopped. Large monsters are coming from the front.”
“Yes, understood.”
The search team nodded in response to Owen’s orders and began taking care of the wounded before heading back to the base.
Owen watched them leave for a moment before assessing the situation around him.
Perhaps a large monster had suddenly emerged from the middle.
Not only that, but the surrounding monsters seemed to be in disarray, rampaging without regaining their senses.
With a grim expression, he pulled out his sword.
Dealing with the approaching horde of monsters one by one with his sword was inefficient due to their numbers.
He had no choice but to resort to the method he had used earlier, using his sword to engulf the surroundings.
The black haze emanating from Owen’s fingertips gradually filled the surroundings like a thick fog.
The air, now engulfed in darkness like an abyss, soon began to swallow up all life in the vicinity.
From the bodies of the large monster and the surrounding monsters to the towering trees, dense grass, and flowers.
In an instant, everything withered away.
“….”
Watching the black smoke-like haze swiftly consume all life around him, Owen clenched his fists.
Then, as if lying, the surging dark haze disappeared.
All that remained were the corpses of the deceased.
Somehow, Owen felt familiar with this sight.
Even though it was impossible.
It felt like something he had experienced dozens of times before.
As if it were an event he had been through for a very long time.
-Dreadful.
At the same time, a voice, unfamiliar yet familiar, echoed in his mind.
-I don’t want this ability.
Father, please…
The pleading voice was young and pitiful.
Following that, the child’s figure appeared.
The child looked to be about twelve at most.
His small hands and feet proved he had not yet reached adolescence.
The voice that hadn’t hit puberty yet and the height that was far from adult-like were in harmony.
“You’re being noisy.”
Even as the young child clung, the one who appeared as the child’s father was firm.
With a stern voice, the child’s father scolded him.
“Do you want to be hit?”
It wasn’t a phrase one would expect from a father.
However, he spoke violent words without hesitation.
The child, trembling at his father’s words, bowed his head.
“…No, I’m sorry.”
Upon closer inspection, the child’s body was already full of scars.
Hidden skillfully under his clothes, the marks of beatings were visible wherever his sleeves were lifted.
The body full of marks of punishment showed that the child had suffered abuse for a long time.
“Do not disappoint me anymore. Go to the forest for practice. You know you’ll receive a harsher punishment from your mother if you tell her about this, right?”
“…Yes.”
At the cruel words of his father, the child nodded.
Then, weakly, he turned and left the room.
Leaving the room, the child left the mansion and rode a horse.
With equestrian skills that were hard to believe for his age, the child rode for a long time until he reached the forest and stopped his horse.
Without hesitation, he walked into the forest.
Step by step.
Slowly making his way into the forest, the child soon emanated a dark aura from his fingertips.
The dark aura resembled the darkness Owen had just conjured, or rather, it perfectly matched it.
Just weaker and lighter.
The risen darkness slowly spread around.
Unlike Owen, the amount of darkness the child spread was not significant.
It was nowhere near what Owen had done.
But the destructiveness remained.
The plants in the area covered by darkness withered, and the animals living there lost their lives.
“…Horrible.”
The child muttered once again.
In his dim vision, lay the bodies of the small animals he had killed.
The child’s eyes were filled with indescribable sadness, self-blame, and self-loathing.
As if becoming a flawed being himself, all negative emotions were directed towards him.
[Your Highness.]
Lost in memories for a while, Owen was finally able to return to ‘reality’ when he heard a voice calling him through the communication device.
“…Ah. Speak, Kyeong.”
[The forest entrance is currently in chaos… If you’re okay, could you come back immediately?]
“The entrance?”
When Owen questioned the search party’s demand to return to the entrance, a response quickly came back as if puzzled.
[According to the search party’s full report, they have found ‘distortion’ phenomena in three locations, but strangely, a large number of medium-sized monsters keep flocking to the entrance.]
Upon hearing that monsters were continuously increasing at the entrance, Owen fell silent.
It was natural for the structure of the forest to distort when distortions occurred.
However, if they were densely concentrated in one place, there had to be a reason.
And the most fitting reason in the current situation was-.
‘Bella.’
It was Bella, who had awakened as a saint.
If she, who had just awakened and couldn’t handle her divine power well, had passed through the forest entrance and arrived at headquarters, it was natural for many monsters to gather around her.
Distortions often occurred due to external influences, especially divine powers.
If she had simply leaked divine power without attacking or defending.
They could smell it and gather.
[Thanks to Your Highness’s message to stop the hunting competition, knights and mages have returned and are trying to contain it, but there are too many, so it seems like everyone should come.]
At the mention of everyone needing to come back, Owen expressed his doubts once again.
“Everyone?”
They might be out due to the search party’s call, but the rest of the team should have returned to normal.
In response to the uncertain voice, the other person added:
[Yes. There are three places where distortions have occurred. One is where Your Highness is, and we needed someone to take charge of the other two places. One was taken care of by Lord Matopju, and the other by Marquis Ceres.]
In other words, it meant that Luis was the only transcendent being left at the beginning.
In a rather serious situation, Owen immediately took the floor.
Lucia was in the mansion at the headquarters.
If the beginning collapses, everyone there will be in danger.
It was natural for Lucia to be in danger.
“I see. Then I will return to the beginning immediately.”
Having come to that conclusion, Owen quickly finished his reply and hung up the call.
He then ran at full speed towards the edge of the forest.
Urging his horse on as if in a horse race, he quickly found the group facing the demons.
And even from a distance, he could see the nobles watching anxiously.
Naturally, Lucia and Bella were among them.
Lucia was surrounded by noble ladies and gentlemen, while Bella stood alone.
Upon seeing where the nobles were gathered, Owen headed there instead of joining the group facing the demons.
As Owen approached, the faces of the two lit up.
Bella was the first to speak.
“Your Grace-.”
“Lucia.”
However, as she spoke, Owen interjected.
Thanks to him, Bella’s voice was drowned out.
Instead, everyone’s gaze turned to Owen.
Even Bella, who had spoken, looked at Owen with surprise.
“This place is dangerous. Make sure to stay inside.”
As Owen spoke, he took Lucia’s hand and lifted her up, a gesture that seemed unfamiliar to everyone.
But Lucia naturally took Owen’s hand as if such actions were familiar to her, subtly leaning on him at the same time.
Deliberately positioning themselves in a way that was visible to everyone was clearly intentional.
“I couldn’t just sit still in the tent worrying about you.”
Lucia’s demeanor was like that of a cunning cat.
So, she looked like the epitome of a typical villainess in a romance novel.
Owen’s gaze was once again captivated by Lucia’s demeanor.
Although he had been captivated by her from the start, it was a feeling of falling for her once again.
“…You don’t need to worry. I won’t get hurt.”
While his words may have seemed arrogant at first glance, no one could deny it.
Because it was the truth.
“So, please go inside. I’ll take care of this place.”
“Got it. Should everyone go in? It seems like it will take some time to organize everything.”
Upon Owen’s words, Lucia quickly nodded and suggested, looking around at the people.
Even as she spoke, she still leaned on Owen.
Her actions, including making eye contact with everyone present, seemed to convey that she would imprint this scene on everyone’s minds.
“Yes, let’s do that.”
“Sounds good.”
“Okay.”
Naturally, everyone nodded in agreement with her suggestion.
While in the original work, everyone turned their backs on Lucia after Bella’s appearance, among those present, no one knew Bella’s true identity yet.
At most, Owen was the only one who knew her true identity, but at the moment, Owen had no intention of revealing Bella’s identity.
Throughout his return, he had been preoccupied with worrying about Lucia, and now he was filled with the thought of quickly defeating the demons.
“Alright. Everyone, have a quiet teatime inside.”
The nobles who had agreed to go inside began to move one by one.
“See you later, Owen.”
Even Lucia bid Owen farewell and left, leaving only one person behind.
It was Bella.