[…!]
Laura’s clone kept looking around, glancing at the ground again.
Here’s the mark drawn with chalk!
This is the right spot!
Then I must have eaten it exactly!
Laura’s sad expression immediately turned into one of grievance.
Aslan, who knew about the existence of the Evil God and could see it, had predicted that he would not let his guard down against Laura.
He had prepared an attack that could not be countered at all.
What would happen if Laura’s clone suddenly fell from the sky when mana could not be used?
There would be no way to stop it.
In fact, until the shadow cast down, they wouldn’t even know it was coming.
While Sylvia unexpectedly drew her sword from Aslan’s neck and unleashed a wondrous technique to crush the Stone Golem, the Stone Golem would infinitely regenerate at least until tomorrow morning, no matter how much it was slashed.
Thus, it was no problem to bind Sylvia’s feet.
Now all that remained was to force Aslan to kneel in the designated spot and feed him to Laura’s clone.
However, what Irene had not anticipated was the appearance of another wielder of immense power.
She believed she had blocked all tricky maneuvers through the barrier.
She had never expected that someone besides Sylvia, who could hide in the shadows, would show up with overwhelming strength against Irene.
Thus, Irene found herself helplessly bound by the magic tool and unable to escape.
Together with Aslan, they were swallowed by Laura.
They were embarking on a distant journey.
[···!!]
Then, I did nothing wrong, right?
I only threw myself while growing in size at Irene’s signal as planned.
If it’s a mistake, then I’m guilty of following the plan too well.
[···!]
Laura, keeping an eye on the busy Sylvia dealing with the Stone Golem and the small green-haired one, quickly minimized herself back to the size of a human hand.
And then, Swoosh, Swoosh.
In an instant, Laura crawled across the ground, escaping from the scene.
‘Aah! The Evil God has fled!’
Emilia, hiding below the stairs and watching everything, widened her eyes.
She was told to just scream moderately from downstairs!
Everything would go well!
But what is this!?
Irene has disappeared, and the Evil God is running away!
‘I don’t know! From now on, it’s everyone for themselves…!’
Emilia immediately turned around and began silently descending the stairs again.
Though there was a battle with the Stone Golem, she moved with a sound so quiet that even Sylvia would not notice.
It was a highly refined technique, honed from sneaking in and out of the dining hall to steal bread for late-night snacks.
‘See, I was totally against attacking Count Vermont!’
Now what should she do?
Irene, who confidently asserted that if she just fed Aslan to the Evil God, they could roast him, had disappeared.
Aslan had also vanished, but his escort knight and other forces were still unharmed.
So, what would happen to Tales now?
Imagining it once, Emilia’s face turned pale.
‘It’s annihilation! Annihilation! The Demon King’s army is going to swarm!’
Now Tales is finished!
The enraged Vermont forces would land and come rushing!
She had to run away quickly!
Before that terrifying necromancer, dark knight, and the undead legion arrived!
First, she had to go to her father and inform him of the emergency…!
“Ugh!”
Thud!
Emilia dashed out the back door and ran down the forest path, only to collide with something and fall backward.
It seemed she couldn’t see well as it was already dark outside.
Rubbing her sore forehead, Emilia cast a flash magic spell.
At that moment, a small light source was created before her, emitting light.
“Snap!”
“Eek!!!”
A skeleton suddenly appeared right in front of her, rapidly clattering its jaw.
Emilia’s face turned pale as she quickly recoiled.
Overwhelming fear surged through her, but her extreme survival instinct moved her body faster than her fear froze it.
‘I’m going to die! I’m going to die! I don’t want to die!!!’
Without looking back, Emilia began sprinting down the steep mountain path.
Though she was a noble who had never experienced intense exercise.
her will to live propelled her forward, and she dashed down the dark and rugged mountain trail.
In no time, Emilia reached the bottom of the mountain.
Having come this far, she thought it would be enough and looked back, only to find the skeleton she had encountered earlier was nowhere to be seen.
It seemed she had successfully shaken it off.
Just as Emilia was about to let out a sigh of relief.
“Clatter! Clack!”
“Gyahhhh!?”
From the darkness came the sound of rattling, and dozens of skeletons jumped out, surrounding Emilia in an instant.
At that moment, a silver-haired girl appeared from behind, tilting her head.
“That’s strange. I heard you were kidnapped…”
“Ah, um… Well, the Count saved me! I escaped quickly!”
“So where is Aslan now?”
“T-The Count is…”
Emilia’s mouth gradually closed as she tried to fabricate a lie.
With an expressionless face.
No, perhaps it was a face that seemed to be smiling, staring back at her with two blue eyes.
It wasn’t a gaze that was genuinely curious.
It was a mysterious look as if piercing through her mind completely.
A gaze that seemed to know everything already.
Faced with the fierce eyes of the necromancer leading the undead legion, Emilia froze.
“Hmm. Are you giving up your excuses? That’s boring. Skeletons, bind Emilia.”
“Clatter!”
“Ugh!”
At the command of the expressionless necromancer, the skeleton soldiers moved without hesitation.
Sitting before the skeleton soldiers approaching with ropes, Emilia felt the looming terror of death.
The undead legion would handle her here, and then head for Tales Island.
Ah! Tales is truly finished now!
***
It’s dark.
It’s cold.
Being trapped in a world of utter darkness, floating without a place to step is quite a sight.
If I didn’t know where I was, I would surely panic, overwhelmed by a vague sense of fear.
‘This is a place connected to Laura’s clone. The Shadow World, perhaps.’
This place is within Laura’s clone…
One of the powers of the Evil God, Laura.
It is to possess another world that is completely separate from reality.
That said, it’s not as if she is an absolute being who can create and manipulate the Shadow World at will.
She can only control the entry and exit of beings to and from the Shadow World.
So what exactly is the Shadow World?
In a word, a nightmare.
The memories of those who fall into the Shadow World play back in a jumbled mess, like a broken video tape.
‘Irene must have thought to drop me here to find out what kind of conspiracy I was plotting.’
Thanks to eavesdropping, I grasped Irene’s strategy completely.
She pushed me into the Shadow World.
Amidst the chaotic playback of memories, she intended to extract only the desired information.
However, Irene’s plan had completely backfired.
Originally, Irene should have been observing my memories as a spectator from the real world.
But now, she was drifting through this darkness alongside me.
“Oh, sh*t! Aslan, you son of a…!”
Clank, Clank.
Just as she seemed to regain her senses, I began to hear Irene’s voice accompanied by the sound of chains rattling beside me.
“What have you done to me? Where is this place?”
“Why are you asking me? You should know best, sister.”
“Oh! No way!? Ahhhh! Laura! Seriously! You should have checked what was down there before you ate me…!”
At first, she looked confused, perhaps still not fully awake.
But soon, she grasped the situation and started to wail.
Then she quickly turned her focus to breaking the handcuffs.
“It’s useless. It’s a magic tool that even Sylvia’s incredible strength can’t break.”
“Then I’ll just tear your arms off…!”
“Are you sure? Even if you free your hands and you can become lost here?”
“…!”
Irene let out a hiccup, sounding flustered.
The clanking of the chain ceased.
This place, the Shadow World, is a space that does not adhere to the laws of physics of the real world.
In the real world, these handcuffs only physically bind us.
But in the Shadow World, they serve the purpose of magically binding us.
Irene, being well-acquainted with the Shadow World, would surely understand what it means to become lost here alone.
If she fails to find a way out, even if her body returns to the real world, her mind would never return, becoming a husk.
‘Of course, I have no such worries.’
However, for Aslan, who is loved by the Evil God, it’s a different story.
This place is also within the influence of Laura.
So this world cannot harm me.
While finding an exit might be impossible, at least I won’t end up as a husk spending my remaining days painting the walls with my filth.
“Damn it…”
Realizing that fact, Irene gritted her teeth and held onto my hand tightly.
Ah, her grip is too strong.
Even if the handcuffs were removed, she wouldn’t let go, gripping my fingers so tightly that they felt like they might break.
“So what’s your plan… after screwing me over like this? Are you going to leave me here and escape by yourself? I won’t let that happen.”
“No. Now that we’re here, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to spend a little time leisurely.”
“…What?”
The Shadow World randomly replays the memories of those who have fallen into it.
So what happens if two people fall in instead of one?
The answer is simple.
The shared memories of those two will begin to play back.
This means I could uncover everything that happened between Aslan and Irene in the past.
If I’m lucky, I might even find out the location of Neomium.
“Hey, hey!? Aslan! What are you doing…!?”
I swam through the dark space, flailing my limbs.
Then, from the other end, a stream of light began to emerge, enveloping us.
Irene, flustered, grabbed my arm and tried to hold me back, but it was already too late.
The light had turned into a rapidly passing image, like a shooting star, and was swallowing us whole.
“Ugh…”
I opened my eyes to the sound of Irene’s groans tickling my ears.
This place… is it the Vermont mansion?
It seems to be the mansion I know, but the atmosphere feels strangely different.
The hallway feels much darker and eerier.
And at the end of that hallway.
I caught sight of a girl’s back that felt oddly familiar.
“Huh.”
It was a young Irene.
That small girl was kneeling, peering through the gap of a door.
