Chapter 1204. The Demon King of Sunset's Castle (24)

'You guys aren't the only ones who want to cry. I want to cry, too. Guys, I'm sad, too.'

"..."

"..."

'The atmosphere sure is gloomy.'

Obviously, it didn't feel like we won.

Last time, I tried to hide my emotions in the command center, but I couldn't even do that right now.

Their expressions surprised me, but it wasn't really awkward.

After all, I had already announced that I didn't have long to live, but it felt like things had gotten worse. For a moment, I felt like they were being too emotional, but after seeing myself, I understood why they reacted that way.

'It's pretty bad even in my eyes.'

The person before me had done a great job. They had dropped many things to indicate that I was dying, but all of this took place before I appeared.

Even while preparing for the raid and the Cursed Elf Queen Elena dungeon, they had to have gradually leaked some information that my body was deteriorating.

As expected, I recalled some memories before the merge.

'I was completely ruined.'

I looked so bad that I wondered whether I could be any worse.

After the fierce battle, my skin looked dull and dead beneath my torn top. Gray spots were all over me, and it looked like I was already rotting, even though I was still alive.

The black veins all over me stood out the most, even in my eyes.

There wasn't a single part of me that looked normal.

Blood and pus flowed from my eyes and legs; my pitiful, skeletal-like figure looked lifeless as well.

My face reflected on Nam Goong-Seon's shield looked really pale.

Compared to the other parts of my body, my face looked normal.

'Makes sense. The head is normally the last to go.'

I needed to act with my face, so this was the right thing to do. The gray spots had already spread to my chest as if signaling that I really didn't have much time left.

The sight made everyone feel upset.

Woo Hyo-Yeol mumbled in disbelief, "I'm sure... I'm sure it wasn't this bad..."

"It's probably the consequence of using his powers. If you think about the amount of holy power Mr. Lee Ki-Young had used during this expedition..." Nam Goong-Seon trailed off.

"Is there... Is there a cure?" William asked.

"..."

'It's impossible to cure this.'

If this were caused by mana or holy power, it wouldn't be that difficult to improve my condition, but this was caused by alchemy. Not only was it a completely different area, but the alchemists on this continent weren't skilled enough to figure out my condition.

It was even more ridiculous than prehistoric humans witnessing the might of the 21st-century civilization.

It was a strange phenomenon that Rohen couldn't understand at the moment. They could only say that something unknown was killing me slowly.

After covering myself, I stood up as if I were fine.

"You..." Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

"It's nothing. I want a report on the damages and how long it'll take to treat the entire expedition team..." I requested.

"That's not important right now, Mr. Lee Ki-Young," William argued.

"That's the most important right now. Like I said, we don't have time to waste. Now that you've seen this, there's no need to explain," I told him.

"After you've stabilized a bit—"

"Are you going to make me repeat myself again? I believe we finished discussing this last time. Stabilizing myself... Yeah, it's needed, but I can't do that right now. I can't waste my time on trivial things like that," I interrupted William.

"It's not a trivial matter," William said.

"Many people are bound to die during an expedition, and I'm just one of those people. I don't have any intention of receiving special treatment, so—"

"With that arm of yours?" Woo Hyo-Yeol questioned.

"..."

"How many do you see?" Woo Hyo-Yeol asked.

'He has sharp eyes.'

"What are you saying? Are you..."

William looked at me with suspicion. I couldn't move one of my arms, and my eyes lacked focus.

"..."

"..."

"What are you..."

"I don't really know the burden you're carrying, but shouldn't you at least prioritize taking care of yourself so that you won't become a burden?

"You're the heart of this expedition. Do you really think that continuing the expedition in your current state is beneficial to the expedition team? You can barely see, and if you push yourself further, you might really end up losing your vision," Woo Hyo-Yeol explained.

"..."

"There are only a few steps left, so you don't have to be anxious. You probably have no idea how anxious you looked while we were raiding the Elf Queen dungeon," Woo Hyo-Yeol added.

'It wasn't the one doing that...'

The one before me had to be the one behind it. He probably couldn't remember the moment Lee Ki-Young and Lee Ji-Hye had reset him, but he probably felt that something was out of place.

He was anxious and scared of the phenomenon that was happening to him. He probably believed that he was getting closer to the truth as they got closer to the end, so I understood why he wanted to end this expedition as soon as possible.

'They were probably scared, but it's only natural.'

"That's..." I said.'

"I'm telling you to trust us," Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

"What?"

"It's not my place to say this, but you remind me of my old self. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Woo Hyo-Yeol asked.

'No, this is different from that. You're just an asshole... and I really can't trust you guys. And even if you changed, you haven't changed that much. You're still a mess.'

"I'm not trying to say that you're incompetent. It's actually the opposite. If you fall, these guys will fall as well. If you're really doing this for Rohen, like you said, then you should take care of yourself at least until the end of the expedition," Woo Hyo-Yeol added.

It was a surprisingly rational point, and essentially, this conversation was over.

If I were to resist, I'd just be seen as stubborn.

Naturally, I looked around as if I had no choice but to accept it. Obviously, no one sided with me, including William, who looked at me as if he wanted to abandon everything.

Nam Goong-Seon didn't take my side as well, while Lim Chae-Ryeong was still busy crying.

I still couldn't move one of my arms, and my eyes were still out of focus, but I acted as if I were fine. Will, who was still crying, helped me up. After being guided into the camp that was set up while we were dawdling...

"The priests..." William said.

"I'm fine," I told him.

"Pardon?"

"You already know that holy power is useless on me. Rather than wasting holy power on me... focus on helping the priests recover their holy power. We don't have a lot of time left until the next expedition," I instructed him.

"But Mr. Lee Ki-Young—"

"I don't know if I should be relieved... but I'm not in pain," I said.

"What about someone who can at least take care of you?" William suggested.

"I told you, I'm fine. How many times do I need to tell you? Look after the expedition members instead of me. We suffered unprecedented damage, so I'm sure they're mentally exhausted," I told him.

"..."

"Please," I added.

In response to my words, he walked out slowly, but he was clearly unwilling to do so.

Then, as if I had been waiting for him to leave, I screamed, "

Aaaaah!

"

I breathed heavily while grabbing my chest.

'I'm sure he's in front of the door.'

I could tell without seeing it.

"

Ahhhhh... ack!

" I yelled.

"..."

"

Ugh... ugh... ack...

"

'It hurts...'

The twenty-three-year-old Flower Ki-Young was fighting against the pain right now.

I gnashed my teeth, afraid that my scream would echo outside my room. I focused on the voices in front of the door.

As expected, I heard two voices saying clichéd lines.

Those voices belonged to none other than William and Woo Hyo-Yeol.

"Stop," Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"You..."

"What exactly can you do by going into that room right now?" Woo Hyo-Yeol questioned.

"I..."

"If you're here to show sympathy, you might as well forget it. That is actually an insult. If you really want to help him, it's better to help the troops rather than comforting him half-heartedly," Woo Hyo-Yeol told him.

"Mr. Woo Hyo-Yeol, you're really—are you suggesting that we should just leave Mr. Lee Ki-Young alone?!" William argued.

'I can hear everything because you guys are yelling.'

"Are you really acting in his best interest? He's dying, damn it! He's dying! Even now... he's dying... He's enduring the pain alone... while screaming! Shit! How can you even say that after hearing his screams," William added.

'If you two are going to fight, you should fight somewhere else.'

The fact that they had forgotten to put up a soundproofing barrier told me just how worked up they were. Of course, there was a chance that they thought I wouldn't hear them because I was in pain, but Will's voice was getting louder.

I wasn't sure if he wanted everyone to hear him or if his goal was to crush the expedition team's morale, but it was unlike him to yell like that.

At this point, I got worried, and I felt like I had to cover his mouth.

"His eyes... arms... his entire body is falling apart! I'm sure you saw it with your own eyes! You saw his deteriorating body, blood-covered arm... and that gray chest..." William said.

"How about you let go of me?" Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

William had to have grabbed Woo Hyo-Yeol's collar.

"How could you suggest that we leave him alone... after hearing his screams?! You know how much he cares about you... how could you say something like that?! How could you?! People like you... People like you!" William yelled.

'I feel like he hears those words often.'

"You know nothing... Watch your mouth and don't speak carelessly," Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

A clash between two fiercely proud prodigies. It was a shame that I could only experience that legendary moment through sound alone.

"I'm telling you to stop talking as if you're the only one who's worried about him, idiot," Woo Hyo-Yeol added.

"Then..."

"..."

"..."

"There might be a way to save him," Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

"What?"

'What do you have in mind?'

"I'm thinking about getting an elixir," Woo Hyo-Yeol revealed.

'You think that will be enough? No...'

"..."

"It's fine if it's not an elixir, but I'm sure there's something at the end of this expedition. It doesn't matter if it's the credit for taking down the Demon King of Sunset or one of his items.

"If we don't get it this time, then we'll look into the next one. Even if it's necromancy or magic that disrupts the laws of the system, like reverse celestial magic or something, I don't care. I'm not going to hesitate, even if it means reducing the GENIUSES to nothing but blood," Woo Hyo-Yeol explained.

"..."

"He has to survive on this continent," Woo Hyo-Yeol added.

"You..."

"Even if I have to crawl through a heap of filth and bodies, I will save him..." Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

'Hyo-Yeol...'

"You should just focus on your job," Woo Hyo-Yeol told William.

Yeah, this kind of desperation was necessary. They needed to be a little more desperate. They needed to cry, shed blood, endure constant fear, and grit their teeth every day.

'I can't die no matter what.'

To ensure that Lee Ki-Young wouldn't discard him, he had to become much stronger than he was at the moment.