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Chapter 90
Jaeyllin dodged Belialian at the last moment, just like before.
But this time, Belialian seemed to have expected her evasion. It sharply changed course and dove in toward her right side.
Because her sword was in her right hand, Jaeyllin couldn’t swing to strike Belialian’s head.
Instead, she instinctively raised her arm to protect her head. Belialian’s solid jaw clamped down deep into her arm.
“Ugh!”
There was no pain, but a revolting, bone-chilling sensation ran through her entire arm.
If this had been a real battle, the agony of her arm being ripped apart might have made her faint. But since this monster was only a hologram, Jaeyllin was able to remain conscious.
Only then did she feel Lionel’s absence. In all her training so far, she had never once been bitten by a monster.
Lionel always waited, letting Jaeyllin try to resolve things on her own. But the moment her safety was in real danger, he intervened immediately and finished off the monster.
She had never realized how difficult and demanding that must have been for him, too busy focusing on her training. Only after being bitten did she grasp just how large Lionel’s absence felt.
Now, Lionel wasn’t here to protect her. Even if he were, she knew she couldn’t keep relying on him anymore. Just because he hadn’t told her how to handle what came next didn’t mean she could give up. Right here, right now, she had to do what she could.
Surely he had some unavoidable reason. Even if help arrived late, she believed someone would come for her—and with that conviction, Jaeyllin moved.
While Belialian was distracted biting her arm, Jaeyllin switched her sword to her left hand and slashed through its right pair of wings.
Losing one wing, Belialian staggered, unable to keep its balance—but still refused to unclench its jaws from her arm.
Jaeyllin thrust her sword into Belialian’s jaw. The monster thrashed in agony, shuddering violently, yet still would not let go of her arm.
Thud.
Suddenly, a longsword flew from somewhere and pierced straight through the monster’s torso.
A crude shard of pale wood—poplar—filled her vision. It was Lionel’s sword.
The blade ran clean through Belialian’s center. After flapping feebly a few times, the monster lost all strength and fell to the ground.
Lionel, who had hurled his sword upon seeing Jaeyllin in danger from a distance, finally appeared before her.
After reclaiming his sword from Belialian’s corpse, he extended a hand toward her.
“I-I’m fine. I can stand up on my own.”
Lionel’s expression stiffened. Even though one of her arms was a wreck, Jaeyllin refused his help.
With a wound like that, she must surely have felt that disgusting sensation even if not pain.
She hated monsters so much, couldn’t even look at them at first—yet now, despite how hard it must be, she rejected him. Lionel couldn’t understand why.
Adrian… You leaned on that man so easily, so why not me?
Jaeyllin still wouldn’t look at him. She had been acting strangely since yesterday—pushing him away, then returning to normal, only to push him away again.
What’s throwing you into such confusion? Or… am I just imagining it?
A small ember flared in his chest.
Lionel slowly brushed aside a strand of hair that had fallen forward. With a long exhale, he finally spoke.
“Why didn’t you signal your position?”
His tone was calm as usual, yet the air around him felt chilling.
Realizing Lionel was angry, Jaeyllin hunched her shoulders.
Since the academy, she had never seen him like this. Sometimes he frowned faintly, but he always wore a smile. She never imagined Lionel’s voice could turn this cold with anger.
“I did! I-I did signal—”
They had practiced together dozens, hundreds of times. She could never forget the sequence ingrained through repetition. She protested, but Lionel didn’t believe her.
“No one on the team received anything from you.”
“What? I-I definitely sent it…”
Jaeyllin shook her head, frightened. Lionel’s relentless questioning felt alien to her.
“Do you know what you’ve done to your teammates? Do you realize the harm you caused them?”
Arriving a step later than Lionel, Nathan saw a side of him he’d never witnessed before and quickly stepped in.
“Hey, what’s with you? Why are you yelling at Jaeyllin? Step back and calm down.”
Lionel was usually the one to mediate quarrels, so Nathan never expected he’d have to take that role.
Even as Nathan intervened, Lionel showed no sign of calming down. Jaeyllin’s lips quivered, clearly shaken.
“Think about Jaeyllin. How do you think she feels when you lash out like this?”
“Does it look like I’m lashing out?”
“Yes.”
The Lionel Nathan knew was not the type to snap at others just because a plan went awry. In fact, Lionel didn’t even seem to realize he was angry.
When Nathan pressed him again, Lionel raked a hand through his hair and stepped back. His usually neat hair was now messy and tangled.
Nathan turned to Jaeyllin, offering his hand.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt?”
Jaeyllin nodded and tried to take his hand to stand.
But her right arm, bitten by Belialian, wouldn’t move. It felt paralyzed.
“S-something’s wrong. My right arm won’t move.”
“The hologram system has registered it as an injury and given you a penalty. Once Heren treats you, the penalty will be lifted.”
“O-okay.”
Jaeyllin offered her uninjured arm and accepted Nathan’s help.
From a step away, Lionel’s eyes sharpened, burning as they locked onto their joined hands.
Just as Jaeyllin tried to rise with Nathan’s support—
“Ah!”
A groan burst from her lips when Nathan pulled her wrist. The wrist she had twisted earlier throbbed so badly she couldn’t hold back a cry.
Jaeyllin collapsed back down.
“What’s wrong?”
“It… it hurts.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Lionel shoved Nathan aside.
His eyes glared at Nathan with a hint of warning.
“Contact Heren. Tell her to come here immediately.”
“Y-yeah, okay.”
Nathan stepped back with a sour expression. Lionel was oddly forceful today.
Normally he persuaded gently, never pushing his will so bluntly. He had never forced anyone like this.
Even so, Nathan complied and contacted Heren, sharing their location.
Meanwhile, Lionel examined Jaeyllin’s injury. He carefully pulled back her sleeve to reveal her wrist.
Though her other arm looked worse on the surface, that one hadn’t truly been harmed by the monster, so it was fine.
But this wrist injury was real. The pain was fully hers.
Jaeyllin showed slight reluctance, but Lionel ignored it. Checking the wound came first.
Her wrist was visibly swollen to a severe degree. For it to have gotten this bad without her realizing…
When he had seen Belialian attacking her earlier, it felt like his blood had turned upside down.
He didn’t know why, but his heart had pounded violently out of control.
This change unsettled him. The fact that he couldn’t rein in his emotions irritated him.
Lionel bit his lip, trying desperately to regain his composure.
Soon after, Heren arrived.
While Heren treated Jaeyllin’s wounds, Lionel never took his eyes off her—not once. Nathan had been watching him from the beginning.
Lionel wasn’t angry because the plan had failed. Nathan could bet his entire magic on that.
That wasn’t who Lionel was. Even if someone was forced to leave from battle incapacitation, Lionel would have found another plan and led the team forward.
He might express regret, but to attack someone with accusations like this? Never.
Nathan’s thoughts stumbled to a halt.
Wait a second… Don’t tell me Lionel was angry because he was worried about Jaeyllin?
Hah… If that was true, then the path ahead would be full of thorns. Nathan could already see that Lionel’s love life would be anything but smooth.
While waiting for Heren, Jaeyllin shrank into herself, not even daring to glance in Lionel’s direction.
Only Lionel continued to stare at her intently. For someone so warm and kind to everyone else, his behavior now was utterly absurd.
