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Join the ServerIt took a long while for the tumultuous emotions churning within her to finally settle.
Yulim Wilivia rapped her knuckles against her forehead.
‘How much time had passed this time?’
‘No… I can’t afford to waste any more time like this…’
The leaves covering her eyes were already tattered and withered. Yulim Wilivia had barely taken a few steps when the two leaves spontaneously ignited, crumbling into ash in an instant.
Thankfully, the moment she felt the leaves catch fire, Yulim Wilivia instinctively squeezed her eyes shut and slapped them away from her face, narrowly avoiding the stinging ashes.
Yet, without the protective barrier of the leaves, the instant Yulim Wilivia opened her eyes, she was confronted by the blazing crimson greatsword.
Upon perceiving the blade’s sudden appearance, Yulim Wilivia immediately shut her eyes, hoping that this might spare her from the greatsword’s piercing thrust.
But…
Thud—
Yulim Wilivia felt herself impaled once more, reliving the chilling sensation of death.
‘Closing my eyes was utterly useless!’
It was then that Yulim Wilivia finally understood. With her vision completely darkened, just as it was every time she drifted into slumber, she had effectively returned to the curse’s core domain. The curse could still influence her!
‘So that means…’
‘Is it only by keeping my eyes open and remaining conscious, while simultaneously having my vision obscured and senses shielded, that I can truly evade the curse’s interference?’
Considering her current predicament, Yulim Wilivia swiftly began to devise a countermeasure.
She had only seven leaves left hidden on her person. Each of those seven was a precious emergency ration, and every single one used meant one less available.
‘Then I can only search for a substitute.’
Yulim Wilivia cast her gaze downwards at the dress she wore, her lips pressing into a thin line.
Riiiiip—
Without a moment’s hesitation, Yulim Wilivia tore a strip from her dress hem.
The hem, which had originally only reached her knees, became even shorter, revealing the pale thighs previously concealed beneath the fabric.
While it wasn’t quite short enough to expose her ‘absolute territory,’ for the frightened girl, it was already a deeply embarrassing revelation.
Yulim Wilivia, however, understood perfectly that in this place, shame offered neither sustenance nor protection from the agonizing pain of being impaled.
She folded the torn fabric, making sure it was thick enough to block out all light. After a quick glance in the divine sword’s direction, she swiftly tied it over her eyes, using it as a makeshift blindfold to shield her senses.
With everything prepared, Yulim Wilivia resumed her arduous journey forward.
Thankfully, for the subsequent stretch of the path, no further divine echoes materialized to force her to halt.
Yet, seeing nothing and unable to actively perceive her surroundings, she could only press on, guided solely by the last image imprinted in her mind.
Consequently, the girl would frequently trip over searing hot rocks or stumble, plummeting into pits of various depths.
Through this arduous, stumbling progression, in a mere few days, the girl transformed into a grime-covered Cinderella.
Her dress was soiled with dirt, and the shortened hem, after countless falls and intimate contact with the scorching ground, had become charred black. It even sparked tiny red embers, rendering it even more dilapidated.
Her desperate magic shield now demanded a constant influx of her own mana to sustain it, lest it swiftly falter and shatter.
Should the magic shield fail here, the intense heat would instantly scald her!
Fortunately, her earlier conservation efforts had left her with a comfortable reserve of mana.
Yulim Wilivia was still basking in this sense of relief when, the very next moment, her foot met empty air, and her body pitched uncontrollably forward.
Instead of solid ground, her fall plunged her into a viscous fluid. A searing heat, more intense than anything she had yet encountered, instantly enveloped her, and the magic shield protecting her entire body began to rapidly dissipate.
‘This… this means I’ve fallen into lava!’
Yulim Wilivia’s face went stark white. Realizing her terrifying predicament, she frantically channeled every ounce of mana within her, pouring it into the magic shield without regard for cost. Simultaneously, she began to thrash, desperately fighting to keep herself from sinking further.
With the blindfold still obscuring her vision, she could only grope blindly for anything to push against, yet no solid ground could be found ahead.
‘No, I must turn back and find another path!’
Yulim Wilivia made an immediate, decisive choice.
Only by scrambling back in the direction she had come from did her hand finally brush against a searing hot stone.
Without a moment to register the searing pain in her hand, Yulim Wilivia exerted all her strength, yanking herself from the molten lava. Only then did the terrifying heat radiating from her body begin to subside.
Yulim Wilivia tore away a corner of her blindfold, gazing with lingering trepidation at the spot where she had fallen. The charred, shell-like crimson surface had collapsed, revealing the fiery red lava slowly churning beneath.
Before she could even register relief, a sudden, piercing pain lanced through her head.
The next instant, the blazing crimson greatsword was already at her chest.
Thwip!
“Aaaahhh—!”
Overwhelmed by excruciating pain, Yulim Wilivia couldn’t suppress a shriek. She writhed on the scorched earth, clutching her forehead in torment.
Once more, she endured the torment of death by impalement.
But this was not the end. Through her blurring vision, she could vaguely discern countless other sharp swords materializing across the charred earth.
Yulim Wilivia’s pupils dilated, and her thin lips trembled uncontrollably.
“No… please… no…”
The girl’s desperate pleas proved utterly useless; the swords mercilessly aimed themselves at her.
Thwip!
Thwip!
Pinned to the scorched earth by countless greatswords, she lay utterly motionless, unable to even muster a scream.
Despite the absence of physical wounds, she felt as though a thousand swords were piercing her very heart.
The oppressive heat of her surroundings relentlessly assaulted her mind, leaving her utterly exhausted, body and soul.
The thoughts swirling in her mind were no longer of surrender, but of the ultimate escape: ending her own life.
“It hurts… it hurts so much…”
“Perhaps… it would be better to just… die like this…”
The girl lay weakly sprawled on the scorched earth, her dark golden eyes fixed unblinkingly on the blazing crimson greatsword impaled in the charred lava not far in the distance.
Her pupils gradually unfocused, losing their vibrant light, and the magic shield enveloping her body began to flicker erratically, threatening to vanish.
At this dire moment, the girl’s flame of life was on the verge of extinguishing.
At this very moment, the girl’s perilous journey was about to begin anew.
****
[It’s not time for this to end yet, little one~]
From the depths of the void, a soft chuckle suddenly echoed.
And precisely as the laughter faded, from the distant depths of the Xigelili Great Grassland, a monstrous vortex of crimson mana erupted. A wave of red ripples, akin to a sweeping blizzard, surged forth, instantly engulfing the entire continent.
Every demonic beast across the land felt a sudden surge of power within their bodies. One by one, they raised their heads, their gazes drawn towards the direction of the Xigelili Great Grassland.
The sky above that region was slowly transforming into a deep, ominous crimson.
A blood-red moon hung suspended in the high heavens.
Innumerable demonic beasts began to prostrate themselves in reverence.
Bowing before their newborn sovereign.
Meanwhile, the girl sprawled on the scorched earth was also brushed by the crimson ripple, her entire body trembling as if struck by lightning.
Yulim Wilivia’s eyes snapped back into focus, her gaze clearing completely.
Laboriously, she pushed herself upright on the scorched earth, shaking her head, which still throbbed faintly. She then looked down at her hands, a hint of confusion lingering in her expression.
‘But… I thought I was already—’
Only moments ago, she had truly felt herself standing on the precipice of death.
Yet now… everything felt utterly different.
Yulim Wilivia clenched her fists. Not only had her mana and physical strength been completely restored to their peak, but her senses had also sharpened, making her keenly aware of her surroundings.
Just then, a crimson greatsword materialized, and Yulim Wilivia instantly perceived its presence.
As she stared at the greatsword, its trajectory towards her seemed to slow, making it feel as though she could effortlessly evade its strike!
Yulim Wilivia attempted to shift her body aside.
However, she discovered her body was utterly paralyzed, forcing her to watch helplessly as the blade plunged into her chest.
Thwip—
‘Well, I was still impaled without any resistance.’
After yet another experience of ‘dying at light speed,’ as it felt.
Yulim Wilivia regained her composure, then swiftly adjusted her blindfold, effectively shielding her senses once more.
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Looking For My Child's Father! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Looking For My Child's Father
