TMLOP 95

Chapter 95

 Only Love Completes Him

Senelia’s face turned deathly pale.
She clapped both hands over her mouth, unable to suppress her shock.

“Th–that… why, why is that happening…?”

Her voice trembled as she stammered, and her legs gave out.
Lucalina quickly caught her before she could collapse.

It was impossible for Senelia to accept what she was seeing.
This phenomenon… it was supposed to happen to Cliffd, not to Benerucia!

“The berserk phenomenon—why is it happening to Ben?!”

Senelia’s voice rose without her meaning to.
Lucalina instantly covered her mouth.

Thankfully, thanks to that quick action, they didn’t attract the monsters’ attention.
It was a mistake Senelia would never have made under normal circumstances—proof that her mind was in utter chaos.

Was this what Cliffd’s confident smile meant before they entered the hunting ground?
Had he planned for Benerucia’s rampage from the start?

Senelia pressed her cold fingertips hard with her nails, unable to hide her panic.

“Do you… know about the berserk phenomenon?” Lucalina asked in disbelief.

Berserk.

It was something that occurred among Aura users and mages—a condition that could even be weaponized against them.
That’s why only highly skilled Aura users or senior mages, who knew how to prevent it, were even told of its existence.

So it was natural that Lucalina would be shocked that Senelia knew of it.

The berserk phenomenon happened when someone tried to draw out Aura or mana beyond their personal limits.
Only shamans could directly absorb and use external mana.

Normally, users drew upon the mana stored within their own bodies, converting it into Aura or magical energy.
However, there existed a forbidden technique—one that forced open the body’s internal balance.

By deliberately disrupting the circulation of Aura or the mana circle, a person could forcibly take in external mana and unleash explosive power.

But the danger was this: once broken, could the body restore that balance?

If it couldn’t—if the Aura or mana inside began to erupt uncontrollably, no longer obeying its master’s will—
that was called berserk.

And once it began, the Aura or mana that leaked out fused with the corrupted mana in the surrounding environment.
It would never return to its owner, simply draining away until there was nothing left.

When that happened, the victim’s internal mana was completely depleted, and death was inevitable.

In other words—Benerucia was now in the midst of berserk, his Aura mixing with the corrupted mana of nearby monsters.

That was why Senelia hadn’t been able to sense him right away.

“…We have to go. Now.”

At that moment, Senelia’s mind was filled with only one thought—to save Benerucia.

Eight years.

For eight long years, she had lived seeing only one person, breathing only for him.
Unless one has lived that way, one cannot understand it.

Senelia did not know how to live without Benerucia.
So she had to save him.
Because that was the only way she herself could live.

Without even answering Lucalina’s question, she grabbed her wrist and began to chant a spell.

“To Ben.”

The incantation was filled with pure desperation.

When Benerucia had first entered the barrier, it was chaos.

High-class monsters devoured one another—or controlled the weaker ones.
When a monster ate another, it grew stronger.

The inside of the hunting ground looked as though someone had intentionally created a breeding ground for monsters.
Countless low-level creatures served as food for the first-class beasts.

Anyone else witnessing that grotesque sight would have vomited—or fainted from horror.

But Benerucia had gone to war at fifteen and didn’t return until twenty-one.
His life had never been easy or peaceful.
Even after returning, he was constantly sent back to the battlefield or to hunt down monsters.

So to him, this scene was unpleasant—but bearable.

If I retreat here, every bit of blame will fall on Selly.

More than anything, Benerucia had a reason he couldn’t back down.

So he kept cutting down monsters.
No matter how many he felled, they didn’t seem to end—but slowly, the number began to decrease.

Years of blood and war had forged him into someone who could endure.
His entire body was soaked in monster blood.

Wrapped in golden Aura, Benerucia swung his sword relentlessly.

Normally, he would have conserved his Aura, using it only when necessary.
But even a Swordmaster was human.
He no longer had the stamina to be frugal.

Better to pour everything out in one burst—to end this quickly.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Then, amid the carnage, he heard a despairing roar.

“GRRAAAHHHH!!!”

A monster with three lion heads, seven serpent tails, the muscular body of a black hound—
and a body three times larger than his own.

It was a Zero-Class Monster—the progenitor of all monsters in this place.

“Cliffd… you insane bastard!”

For the first time, Benerucia cursed his brother aloud.

No wonder there had been so many monsters—Cliffd had brought the very core of the monster forest here!

If there had been any shred of calm left in him, it vanished completely.

This… might be something even he couldn’t resolve alive.
Because a Zero-Class monster required at least two Swordmasters working together to defeat.

…Selly.

Benerucia thought of trembling Senelia.
He had promised her—he would come back alive.

If he wanted to keep that promise, perhaps it would be wiser to abandon everything now—
to escape with Senelia and disappear somewhere together.

“…What a ridiculous thought.”

He laughed bitterly at himself, even in that moment.
Senelia could never live that way.

Benerucia was a man who could survive on love alone.

After Lucalina left for the battlefield, Cliffd had constantly sent women to Benerucia’s bed.
At first, he refused them.

“My dear brother… your loyalty to Luna is truly something.”

But once he realized that rejecting them made Lucalina’s position more dangerous,
Benerucia stopped resisting and accepted whoever Cliffd sent.

What they felt afterward didn’t matter to him.

Bastard.

It was a word Benerucia had heard many times.
He was always polite on the surface—but his heart was untouchable.

He was a man who could become cruel for the sake of his love.

Honestly, if only Senelia could be safe—
he wouldn’t care if the barrier collapsed and the monsters slaughtered every noble outside.

The only reason he had lived honorably all this time
was because the woman he once loved, Lucalina, had valued that honor.
And he had avoided war
because the woman he now loved, Senelia, wished for peace.

Every final decision in his life had always been guided by love.

So he couldn’t just run away with Senelia.
Because what she wanted to protect wasn’t only herself—
but also her mother, her estate, and her people.

Benerucia couldn’t betray the things she loved.

So instead, he chose to give up the one thing she didn’t love the most.

“I’m sorry, Selly.”

He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his promise to her.
So he offered an apology she would never hear.

Soon, golden Aura enveloped his entire body.

“Khuk—!”

Benerucia coughed up blood.
The Aura that had flowed so smoothly began to thrash violently.
A crushing pain seized his heart—
and then, the Aura circulating within him lost its balance.

After that… his vision slowly darkened.

As soon as Senelia teleported to where he was, her body collapsed forward.
Her physical form couldn’t withstand the shock of absorbing and expelling that much mana at once.

“Careful, Lady Daphnen,” Lucalina said, catching her by the waist before she fell.

“Ben…!”

But Senelia couldn’t care less about herself.
Right before her eyes, Benerucia was surrounded by corrupted mana,
his reason gone, slaughtering monsters like a madman.

“…Stay back, my lady.”

Lucalina stepped in front of her when she tried to rush toward him.

“Let me go…!” Senelia struggled violently.

But Lucalina shouted, desperate,

“It’s already too late! Ben—he’s no different from the monsters now!”