Chương 48: Chapter 47

Ronin had prepared himself for a nightmare. According to Furen Boswe, this was the creature that had appeared during the disaster in his original timeline. The cosmic being. The existence that had descended upon the banquet and left behind countless deaths. The creature that had taken away Furen's eyesight and left her carrying the scars of that night for the rest of her life. He had expected something beyond reason. Something that would justify the fear and desperation he remembered from the past.

The kingdom was still prepared for a difficult battle. Even if the creature had changed from the one in his memories, no one underestimated its strength. But this... Ronin's expression darkened. Had the creature changed because the timeline had changed? Or had something else happened? His gaze moved toward the restrained soul. Furen had told him that the monster possessed human intelligence. It did not attack randomly. It chose its targets. It ignored certain people while deliberately pursuing others.

That was not the behavior of a simple beast. Ronin understood immediately. The person who completed the final magic formula had most likely willingly sacrificed themselves. They had offered their soul to the creature in exchange for control. By eliminating the caster, sealing the soul, and interrupting the ritual before it fully developed, they had already changed the course of events. Even if they had failed to discover the true problem with the barrier... Even if he still did not understand why it had changed...

They had managed to save people. For now, that was enough. Ronin took a slow breath. He looked back toward the creature. He had been prepared to face the being that had haunted Furen's memories. The monster that had stolen her vision. The existence that had prevented his beloved from ever living peacefully again. Yet what stood before him was not that same creature. It was only a dragon. A powerful one. But not the cosmic existence he had expected. Ronin's eyes narrowed. Something was wrong.

Had the soul not cared enough? No. That would mean the creature lacked the intelligence Furen had described. His thoughts immediately returned to the barrier. He turned his attention toward the magical formation. It remained unchanged. Silvery blue. Stable. It had not turned red. There was no sign of failure. Meaning something had happened. Someone had repaired the barrier before the disaster. Or... The barrier had never truly been broken. But that was impossible. He had felt it. He had sensed the difference.

Something had changed. Before Ronin could continue searching for the answer, the dragon moved. The time for questions had ended. Now, they had to fight. … On Nina's side, Lucian had taken control of the body. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Unfortunately, no matter how desperately they wanted to, they could not change its physical condition.

Nina had completely overridden the physique before falling asleep, leaving them with a body that was far weaker than any of them would have preferred. Lily had been forced into the subconscious by Damien, while the System had disappeared somewhere to stabilize the host. Under normal circumstances, that would not have worried Lucian. The System was always the first line of defense. Whenever one of the barriers came under attack, the System would intercept the force before it could ever reach the first barrier.

Only if the System itself failed to stop the attack would the barriers activate, each one absorbing the remaining force before passing whatever was left to the next. In other words... The barriers were never supposed to be the first thing protecting them. Today, however, the System was gone. Lucian quietly looked around the safe house. The people inside had gradually relaxed after seeing the battle outside continue without reaching them.

Although many of the nobles still held their weapons tightly, ready to defend themselves if necessary, they no longer looked as frightened as before. Good. Hopefully, all of this preparation would end up being unnecessary. They still had over two hundred barriers protecting them, with several additional personal barriers surrounding individual people. Lucian sincerely hoped they would never need to rely on them. As his gaze swept across the room, he frowned. Those two... Why did they look so familiar?

Without taking his eyes off them, he called into the shared consciousness.

"Can someone wake Lily? We need to know what's happening." Damien nodded before disappearing deeper into their consciousness. After a short while, he returned with Lily, who still looked somewhat dazed after being forced into the subconscious. Lucian glanced toward her.

"Can you move?" Before Lily could answer, Elias interrupted.

"We don't have time for this. The System's gone, the dragon has already appeared, and we still have to rotate through everyone if these barriers start breaking." Lucian looked toward Lily.

"Can you release control of the body's physical state?"

"I can't." Lily frowned after trying with any success.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I literally can't. Until my assigned task is complete, I can't relinquish control."

"... Damn."

"You all heard her." The others nodded. There was no point worrying about something they could not change. Then Lily suddenly froze.

"... Wait." She rushed toward the edge of their shared consciousness and looked outside through Lucian's senses.

"What are they doing?" Everyone followed her gaze. Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt stood among the remaining fighters, weapons already drawn as they prepared themselves for battle.

"... That's insane."

"Exactly." Before anyone could say anything else, Lucian suddenly felt it. A faint tremor. It wasn't coming from the nobles. Nor from the dragon. It was... Different. A chill ran down his spine. His instincts screamed. Something was wrong. Lucian immediately searched for the source, extending his senses as far as he could. Nothing. He couldn't find it. Yet the feeling refused to disappear. Whatever it was... It was dangerous. Then the dragon moved.

Locked in battle only moments before, the massive creature suddenly turned toward the safe house. Its crimson eyes fixed themselves upon the building. Dark mana gathered within its mouth.

"No..." A sphere of black fire condensed before erupting forward. Lucian immediately understood. The System wasn't here. No one was going to stop the attack before it reached them. He gritted his teeth. Then he poured every ounce of his will into reinforcing the barriers. He only needed the first one to hold. If it stopped there... They would still have one hundred and ninety-nine remaining. The fireball struck. The first barrier shattered. Lucian barely flinched. The attack had weakened. But so had he.

The second barrier broke apart moments later. His hands began to tremble. The third barrier collapsed. Then the fourth. The fifth. The sixth. One after another, the barriers shattered beneath the overwhelming force. Each time another barrier disappeared, the black flames grew slightly smaller. Slightly weaker. Yet each impact demanded even more from Lucian than the last. His body remained perfectly still, but his persona felt as though it were being pulled apart piece by piece. The seventh barrier fell.

Then the eighth. The ninth. The tenth. By the time the tenth barrier shattered into fragments of light, Lucian's vision had begun to blur. His legs felt weak. It took everything he had just to remain standing. The eleventh barrier became his final gamble. Lucian gathered what little strength he had left and forced every remaining ounce of his will into it. The dying remnants of the fireball slammed against the barrier. A tiny black flame struggled against the shimmering wall. Then... It vanished. Silence.

Lucian staggered backward. His persona felt painfully drained, and even his abilities seemed noticeably weaker than before.

"... Someone..." He forced the words out.

"Take over."

"If another attack like that comes..."

"... the barriers won't last."

"Got it." Elias immediately stepped forward.

"Lily, you stay back." She looked at him.

"What?"

"You'll be our last rotation."

"If everyone else falls, we still need someone capable of taking control." Lily reluctantly nodded. Before Lucian's consciousness was pulled back into the depths of the subconscious, he forced himself to speak one last time.

"... There is someone..."

"... someone among us is influencing the dragon." The room inside their shared consciousness fell silent.

"... What?"

"... Damn."

"That's not good." Elias immediately took control of the body. As he settled into place, he looked toward Lucian's fading figure.

"Don't worry."

"I'll make sure everyone survives."