The next morning began with regret.
Not because the plan was bad.
The plan was actually solid.
The problem was that I was participating in it.
Those were two very different things.
The forest beyond Irlam Village was exactly as horrifying as I remembered.
Dense.
Dark.
Wet.
The air smelled like damp earth and rotting leaves.
Ancient trees blocked most of the sunlight, turning the entire forest into a gloomy maze of shadows.
Even worse—
The barrier was broken.
The village's shield was gone.
Which meant the monsters were already inside.
Fantastic.
I adjusted my grip on my cane.
Immediately regretted it.
A spike of icy pain shot through my left arm.
The black veins beneath my skin throbbed.
The dormant curse wasn't getting worse.
It was simply making sure I remained miserable.
A commitment I had to respect.
Ahead of me, Rem walked silently.
Her morningstar rested on her shoulder.
Her posture remained calm.
Alert.
Ready.
Unlike her usual self, she wasn't maintaining emotional distance.
She stayed half a step ahead of me.
Always positioned between me and the darkness.
Between me and danger.
Between me and literally anything capable of biting.
It was oddly touching.
And mildly embarrassing.
Because the reason was obvious.
She thought I was brave.
I wasn't.
I was operating entirely on spoilers and panic.
Fortunately, nobody had informed Rem.
Behind us, Ram scanned the canopy.
Small currents of wind drifted around her fingers.
Unlike her normal sarcastic self, she looked genuinely serious.
Which somehow made everything worse.
Because if even Ram was worried—
We were probably in trouble.
I glanced upward.
Nothing.
No rainbow-colored clown mage.
No magical artillery.
No Roswaal.
Just empty sky beyond the canopy.
A bad feeling settled into my stomach.
He promised he would be here.
Which meant he probably wouldn't.
"Anything?" I asked.
Ram shook her head.
"No movement."
Rem frowned.
"Too quiet."
I immediately hated hearing that.
Nothing good ever followed the phrase too quiet.
Then—
A growl echoed through the forest.
Low.
Deep.
Close.
The entire group stopped.
Another growl answered.
Then another.
Then another.
From behind.
From ahead.
From the trees.
From everywhere.
My blood turned to ice.
"...Well."
I swallowed.
"That's concerning."
Red eyes appeared within the fog.
One pair.
Then three.
Then ten.
Then dozens.
The Wolgarms emerged from the mist.
Not wolves.
Not dogs.
Monsters.
Their bodies were twisted and unnatural.
Dark mana leaked from their fur like black smoke.
Their jaws dripped saliva.
Their eyes glowed crimson.
Every survival instinct in my body immediately began screaming.
A dozen Wolgarms burst from the trees.
The forest exploded into chaos.
Rem moved first.
Her horn emerged.
A brilliant blue crystal growing from her forehead.
Power erupted around her.
The air shook.
For one terrifying moment—
I thought she was going to charge.
Just like the original timeline.
Just like the route that got everyone killed.
Then she glanced backward.
At me.
At the pale idiot with a cane.
At the guy who had spent three days coughing up black bile after deliberately getting cursed.
Something changed in her expression.
The rage remained.
But it became focused.
Controlled.
Directed.
Instead of charging—
She planted her feet.
"Stay behind me."
A Wolgarm lunged.
Her morningstar blurred.
CRACK.
The creature disappeared into a tree.
The tree lost.
A second beast attacked.
Then a third.
Rem intercepted both.
A defensive wall of iron and fury.
Thank God.
Because if Rem had gone berserk—
I would've been dead in the first thirty seconds.
Ram stepped beside me.
Wind blades sliced through the mist.
A Wolgarm dropped from a branch above us.
I reacted entirely on instinct.
Or panic.
Mostly panic.
My right hand moved.
A throwing knife left my fingers.
The blade spun wildly through the air.
Not gracefully.
Not skillfully.
It looked like something thrown by a man having a nervous breakdown.
Which was accurate.
The knife buried itself directly in the creature's eye.
The beast crashed into the dirt.
Dead.
I stared.
"...That actually worked."
Ram blinked.
Then looked at me.
"...How unfortunate."
"WHY IS EVERYTHING UNFORTUNATE TO YOU?"
The battle continued.
Minute after minute.
Fang.
Steel.
Blood.
Fog.
The forest became a whirlwind of violence.
Then the trees exploded.
Not metaphorically.
Actually exploded.
Wood shattered outward.
Branches snapped.
A massive shape emerged from the darkness.
The Wolgarm Boss.
My stomach immediately attempted to resign.
The creature was enormous.
Larger than a horse.
Its skull looked cracked.
Its body was covered in scars.
Its jaw was wide enough to fit an entire human torso.
The thing looked less like an animal and more like an extinction event.
Rem immediately shifted her attention.
Ram followed.
The smaller Wolgarms retreated around their alpha.
The forest grew still.
Then the Boss growled.
The sound shook my ribs.
And for the first time—
I looked toward the sky.
Waiting.
Expecting.
Hoping.
Roswaal's magic could erase this thing instantly.
One spell.
One laser.
One overwhelming display of power.
Instead—
Through a gap in the canopy—
I saw him.
Far above.
A colorful silhouette floating among the clouds.
Watching.
Not moving.
Not helping.
Watching.
The realization hit me harder than the monsters.
No.
No no no no no.
He was there.
He could see us.
He knew exactly what was happening.
And he was doing nothing.
Because the Gospel demanded suffering.
Because the timeline demanded tragedy.
Because somewhere inside that insane clown's head—
This was acceptable.
A cold sensation spread through my chest.
Far colder than the curse.
My teacher is trying to get me killed.
Not indirectly.
Not accidentally.
Not through negligence.
Deliberately.
The Boss charged.
The ground shook.
Rem intercepted it head-on.
The collision sounded like a cannon shot.
The forest erupted again.
Everything became motion.
Everything became violence.
Then something moved behind me.
Too fast.
Too sudden.
A Wolgarm.
A smaller one.
It had circled around.
Gone unnoticed.
Gone ignored.
And now—
It was lunging straight for me.
I tried to turn.
My arm spasmed.
Icy agony exploded through my nerves.
My fingers opened involuntarily.
The throwing knives slipped from my grasp.
"No—"
My injured leg failed.
The cane caught on a root.
And the Wolgarm hit me.
Jaws closed around my calf.
Shit! More curses now!
Pain exploded.
Absolute.
Total.
Unfiltered.
I screamed.
The beast's teeth tore through muscle.
Blood splashed across the dirt.
The world became white-hot agony.
It felt like my leg had been fed into a woodchipper.
I collapsed.
The Wolgarm dragged me through the mud.
The forest spun.
My vision blurred.
Somewhere, I heard Rem shouting.
Too far away.
Too busy fighting the Boss.
No one could reach me.
The beast opened its jaws.
Preparing to tear again.
And suddenly—
I was very aware of how much I did not want to die.
My right hand slammed against the creature's snout.
I forced my Gate open.
Pain exploded inside my chest.
Mana surged.
Wrong.
Broken.
Sluggish.
Like forcing boiling mud through a rusted straw.
I didn't care.
My Gate.
My future.
My health.
None of it mattered.
I just didn't want to get eaten.
"SHAMAK!"
Darkness erupted outward.
Pitch-black mana exploded directly into the battlefield.
The world vanished.
The Wolgarm yelped.
The Boss roared.
The forest disappeared beneath absolute darkness.
Then something burst behind my eyes.
Blood poured from my nose.
Then my eyes.
Capillaries ruptured under the strain.
The overdraw hit instantly.
My Gate screamed.
My body followed.
But the spell worked.
The Boss stumbled blindly.
Disoriented.
Lost.
And Rem—
Rem saw the opening.
Her horn blazed.
Blue mana exploded around her.
The morningstar descended.
BOOM.
The impact shook the clearing.
The Boss's skull shattered.
Bone.
Blood.
Dirt.
Everything erupted outward.
The massive creature collapsed.
Dead.
Completely dead.
Silence followed.
Then panic.
The remaining Wolgarms scattered.
Retreating into the forest.
Running from their fallen alpha.
The battle was over.
I collapsed into the mud.
Breathing hurt.
Existing hurt.
My leg felt like someone had replaced the muscle with broken glass.
Blood ran down my face.
I couldn't see properly.
My ears rang.
My Gate felt like it had been dragged behind a carriage.
I lay there wheezing.
Like a broken accordion.
Then the air suddenly became warm.
I already knew who it was.
Roswaal descended from the sky.
Graceful.
Elegant.
Spotless.
Not a speck of dirt on his robes.
Not a drop of blood.
Not a scratch.
He landed softly beside the battlefield.
As though arriving for a pleasant afternoon stroll.
"My, my..."
He clapped his hands together.
"What an extraooordinary struggle."
I wanted to throw something at him.
Unfortunately, standing was currently beyond my capabilities.
Roswaal smiled.
"I do apologize for my deee-layed arrival."
Liar.
"The fog was quite thick up there."
Liar.
"Visibility can be such a troublesome thing."
Liar.
Rem and Ram were already moving toward me.
Examining my leg.
Applying emergency treatment.
Neither noticed the exchange.
But I did.
I wiped blood from my eyes.
And stared directly at Roswaal.
He stared back.
Still smiling.
Always smiling.
The message passed between us without words.
I know you abandoned us.
His smile widened slightly.
And I know you survived anyway.