EVHE 67

Chapter 67

“Don’t frown.”

I pressed down on Calix’s furrowed brow with my finger.

He already looked sharp and severe, and with that expression he seemed like he might kill someone at any moment.

When he stopped scowling and just stared blankly, I realized the reason—
I was still sitting on top of him.

Only then did I scramble off him.

“Here. If it’s hard to get up, you can grab my hand!”

I held out my hand to him with a triumphant look, as though I were being overly generous. He shot me a displeased glance but quietly took my hand.

Maybe because of the difference in our strength, it was only after a lot of straining with both hands that I finally managed to pull him to his feet.

“Sigh… Honestly, you…”

Calix rubbed his forehead like he was exhausted.

Then, a dark shape swept across my vision. A fluttering hem landed on my shoulder.

It was the robe he had been wearing earlier. With a disapproving look, Calix tied the robe tightly around me.

It must have had some warming enchantment on it, because I was instantly warm. When I looked down at the soft clinking sound, I saw the same gaudy yellow brooch attached, completely mismatched as always.

“There’s no point asking why you’re here again.”

At his sighing words, I couldn’t think of anything to say and just gave a silly giggle.

‘Come to think of it, this isn’t the time for this.’

In the original story, the attack happened toward the end of the first day. Olivia had found Calix while on her way back.

Which meant the priority right now was to get him to the safe zone.

Even if Bistad was using forbidden sorcery, a crowded safe zone and a deserted forest were worlds apart.

If he got hurt, there would at least be healers skilled in recovery magic in the safe zone.

But Calix never took my words at face value. Extraordinary measures were needed.

“Calix, listen carefully.”

I gripped his arms tightly.

Then I fixed him with a serious, almost grim gaze I had never shown before.

“The guys who kidnapped me last time… I think they chased me here to Alois.”

At my exaggerated lie, Calix’s expression faltered briefly.

“They dragged me here because of them! So we have to hurry back to the safe zone!”

I shut my mouth tightly as if refusing to accept any further objections.

And I burned holes in him with my eyes, demanding he agree.

“…You’re saying those men came all the way here?”

It seemed like he was starting to believe me.

Seizing the chance, I showed him my dirt-stained clothes and scraped skin.

I even teared up, pretending to be in pain though I felt none.

‘Say you’ll take me back. Please!’

Once we got to the safe zone, I planned to make sure he never left again—by feigning sickness or even by threatening him!

But no matter how long I waited, Calix gave no answer.

Instead, his arm snaked around my waist and yanked me toward him. I stumbled helplessly into his grasp.

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

His low voice rumbled above my forehead. His aura had suddenly turned cold.

“Let’s go.”

He released me only to grab my wrist and pull me along sharply.

‘W-well, either way, we’re going to the safe zone, right?’

It wasn’t quite what I expected, but the result was the same.

Good! I cheered inwardly as I hurried after him.

“I’m still glad I ran into you. I was worried no one would show up.”

I chattered behind him nonstop, more to chase away my fear than to vent my complaints.

Then suddenly, Calix stopped. My forehead bumped into his back with a thud.

After walking straight ahead, he abruptly turned and stared at me with his crimson eyes. His hands gripped my shoulders.

“W-what?”

And then, with a firm push, he forced me down to the ground.

“Stay here.”

He said it casually, but his voice made me uneasy.

“Calix, wait…!”

Realizing what he meant, I tried to grab him, but my hand didn’t reach.

That escape skill he bragged about wasn’t a bluff after all—Calix vanished from sight in an instant.

If my guess was right, this was Bistad’s ambush.

‘Already?!’

I hadn’t expected the story to play out exactly the same as the original, but this was too soon.

I hurried to stand and follow him when something clinked in my pocket.

‘I should’ve given him the amulet first.’

I had been so focused on dragging him to safety that I forgot.

But now Calix had disappeared in the blink of an eye. I had no way of knowing where he went. Instead, a metallic scent of blood drifted in on the wind.

I ran in that direction. If he could fight them off alone, great—but if not, he’d at least need the amulet.

But my plan didn’t last long.

With a boom, the ground shook. Then, an immense pressure pressed down on me from above, like the sky itself had collapsed.

I fell flat, barely catching myself with trembling arms.

‘W-what is this?’

I couldn’t breathe properly. The weight was crushing, suffocating.

My vision spun, my head throbbed, and my stomach churned.

‘Stay focused!’

I clawed at the gritty earth. My fingers scraped raw, and that pain was the only thing keeping me awake.

I wrapped myself in a protective barrier and activated the amulet. Breathing became a little easier. The pressure remained, but with effort I could move.

Two massive explosions boomed in quick succession. None of Calix’s abilities involved explosions.

Worse, scorching heat poured from where the sound had come.

‘Hurry…’

I clenched the amulet harder, and thicker layers of barriers formed around me.

‘I shouldn’t use up all its power.’

The amulet held many enchantments, but I couldn’t replenish it once they were spent.

Balancing my strength carefully, I finally reached the source of the pressure.

And froze.

Blood spattered the scene ahead. I ducked behind a tree, collapsing in a crouch as my legs gave out.

‘Calix!’

The situation wasn’t as hopeless as I’d feared.

There weren’t many enemies, and their skills weren’t exceptional. The explosions must have been a bluff—Calix didn’t seem hurt.

Even so, he wasn’t dispatching them easily.

‘It’s the pressure.’

That suffocating magic pressing down on the very air was hindering him.

‘Olivia?’

I desperately searched for her. But no matter where I looked, there was no trace of her.

‘What on earth is she doing?!’

If she’d come back in time, if she knew the story, she must know how dangerous this was.

Even if she couldn’t save him like in the original, shouldn’t she at least try? Or was I just being naive?

Just then, I heard a low chanting voice nearby. Calm yet resonant. My ears pricked instinctively.

I pushed through the brush, following the sound.

‘There.’

Standing before a magic circle belching purple smoke was the man who had dragged me here.

This oppressive air had to be pouring out of that magic circle.

If I disrupted it, maybe things would change. Even if I couldn’t fight the assailants directly…

‘I can do this.’

I’d been through so much already.

Maybe luck had saved me most of the time, but I had never failed to overcome.

‘Better me than Calix dying here.’

No one else was here to save him. No one else to resolve this disaster.

‘They said they couldn’t kill me, didn’t they?’

If that was true, that was why they’d abandoned me earlier.

I crept into the bushes behind the man.

The closer I got, the heavier the pressure became, until I thought I’d burst into tears. I bit down hard, strengthening the amulet’s shield.

‘One chance.’

If I could just destroy this, Calix could handle the rest.

I steadied my breath and picked up a stone. Just like in the prison, I coated it with crystals, making it larger.

Could I really do it? Asking that was meaningless.

I had to. I had resolved to break through everything and claim the future I wanted.

The man paused his chant, maybe short of breath. The crushing force wavered for a moment.

I seized the chance, bursting from the brush.

Before he could resume, I smashed the crystal-covered rock into the back of his head.

As with before, he collapsed helplessly, crumpling forward.

The glowing circle went dark, and the purple smoke dissipated. Instantly, the suffocating pressure vanished.

‘Did it work?!’

I whipped my head toward Calix.

The moment the pressure lifted, his eyes sharpened. Shadowy serpents burst from the ground, coiling around the attackers.

He slashed at them with his sword, crimson light blazing from the blade.

None could escape the shadow-snakes. None could withstand his ferocious strikes.

Those who tried to flee were swiftly caught.

Earlier, it had been a struggle of clashing blades, but now it was different.

Calix was overwhelming them.

At last, I wiped the sweat dripping from my forehead with the back of my hand.

‘That… that should be it, right?’

In the original story, Olivia only found Calix after it was all over, injured. There had been no detailed explanation of the sorcery.

So I still didn’t know exactly what kind of spell it was.

That uncertainty kept my heart pounding furiously, unable to calm.