Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers - Chapter 120



119 – Decisive Battle (3)

The moment the magic circle began to engulf her feet, a chill ran through Rachel’s entire body.

A sensation like icy hands raking through my hair. Like being possessed by a demon. The goosebumps were so intense, I felt like if I lost focus even a little, my soul would be snatched away.

BEEEE.

Even tinnitus is screaming.

I barely clung to my flickering consciousness, just holding on.

“hhh, hhh.”

Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.

Rachel had skirted the line between life and death countless times. If nothing else, she knew exactly what it felt like to stand at death’s door.

This was it.

On the verge of sudden death.

No.

If I collapsed like this, it was absolutely over. If my knees even touched the ground here, I’d cross a river I could never return from.

That thought struck me instinctively.

I wanted to live longer.

I knew I was a sinful human, having killed so many people. Even so, I wanted to experience this world a little longer, to know happiness. To meet someone I loved, have a child, raise them, get a decent job and earn money, retire, and in my later years, take care of grandchildren—that kind of experience.

Was it too much to ask?

I guess it was.

The Goddess’s face seemed to appear and disappear. The situation of death, which had suddenly arrived right in front of me, felt both distant and close.

Decisively, I wasn’t ready yet.

So suddenly, and I hadn’t even conveyed my apologies and understanding to the people who deserved it.

It couldn’t end like this, right?

* * *

Crackle. Rachel ground her teeth. She decided to endure as much as she could. Squeezing out the last of her divine power to push her stamina to its limit.

She endured, endured, and endured some more.

“…Chel, Rachel!”

A man’s voice came.

“Open your eyes! I said open your eyes! Snap out of it! You’ll die here if you fall asleep!”

A warm yet urgent voice.

Rachel reached out a hand toward the direction where the sound had cleared. Before long, warmth was felt in her hand, and naturally, her eyes opened as a result.

“…Haaa.”

Rachel let out a long sigh. The choking breath she’d had until just now strangely unraveled all at once.

“Hey, you okay?”

The one who asked was none other than Erich. My beloved enemy. But a man with whom an ambiguous relationship remained, with a slight distance still separating us from fully conveying our hearts.

Rachel could easily guess what Erich had done.

She had gone to the brink of death, and this man had saved her.

“Huu, I’m okay.”

She was indebted to him once again.

She wouldn’t be able to repay him even if she handed over her entire military pension. Perhaps she would only be able to ease her debt of heart by serving him for life.

Anyway, now wasn’t the time to think that far ahead.

Rachel gripped her spear and bowed her head forward. She expelled all the stale air remaining in her lungs, then lifted her head again and took a stance.

“You’re okay. That’s one.”

Erich, who had patted Rachel’s shoulder, immediately turned his back. The movement was so rigid, like he had become a golem, that Rachel began to feel a sense of unease.

“Huh?”

Wait, no way?

*

A floating consciousness.

Tiria felt like she was underwater.

What in the world was happening?

As the Saintess of the Holy Spirit Church, Tiria was well-versed in demonic sacrifices. So, understanding what was happening to her wasn’t difficult.

This is a sacrifice using someone else’s life as a medium.

Multiple cackling voices echoed in her mind. Demons. They were salivating as they looked at Tiria’s soul.

Tiria focused her divine power.

She knew better than anyone that if she didn’t overcome this, she would fall asleep and never wake up again. So, she decided to endure.

It wasn’t easy.

No matter how chosen she was by the goddess, a mortal could never defeat a transcendant being. It seemed impossible to shake off the demons’ whispers with Lumina’s body. Her divine power was rapidly depleting, and soon her head went blank.

“Ah…”

Her eyes kept closing.

Before her eyelids completely shut, Tiria briefly spoke to Erich and captured his face in her mind.

The man who had shared life and death with her countless times.

At the same time, her benefactor who had taught her what true philanthropy was.

The thought of leaving that benefactor and passing on ahead made her angry, frustrated, resentful, and even sad. She couldn’t predict what color her eyes were at this moment.

Honestly, it was absurd.

Didn’t even have time to prepare my heart, and I’m about to die like this, so suddenly.

“Erich.”

Tiria, gasping for breath, spat out a single word that might be her last.

“I love you.”

And then, she closed her eyes.

Consciousness fades.

If there’s a heaven, I hope I can meet him again someday. If there’s a next life, I wish to be reborn with him, and be truly lovers then.

Still, it’s unavoidable to feel a little regret.

So Tiria offered a prayer.

To the Most High Four Goddesses, I beseech you, grant me the strength for one last kiss with the one I love.

“———.”

As if answering Tiria’s prayer, a warm voice reached her.

Strange.

A sound like none she’d ever heard.

Not the voice of the Goddess of Battle, nor the Goddess of Healing, nor the Goddess of Crafting.

Tiria had heard this voice before.

Leberon, the Goddess of Embracing, mentioned only in fringe sects.

As a Saintess, Tiria recognized Her voice instantly. And the moment she heard it, she felt the chilling cold that had been crushing her body vanish as if it were a lie.

When she regained her senses, Tiria was in Erich’s arms.

“…Haa, haa, huh?”

Breathing was getting easier.

“Are you alright?”

Tiria didn’t answer. She didn’t know if it was a dream or reality, she just clung tightly to his collar, not wanting to let go.

“Looks like she’s okay. That’s two now.”

“…Huh?”

Erich’s voice was clearly exhausted. Tiria hurriedly checked his complexion.

His face was dark.

Like a mage who had committed a forbidden act.

“Could it be, you…?”

Erich gave a bitter smile, offered an apology, and turned away.

*

Riyo and Miyo were sharp. The moment their strength started to ebb, they realized what was happening to them.

Magic circle, burnt offering, sacrifice.

They’d been had.

In the end, that pseudo-magician group called the Eight Shadows Society or whatever, was trying to end the fox sisters’ lives. As soon as they realized that, an indescribable rage blazed up from the depths of their hearts.

Their bodies were dying, but their minds were wide awake.

-Sister, are we going to die like this?

-No. We won’t die. Just trust me. Everything will be okay.

-If you’re lying to reassure me, don’t. I’m all grown up too. That mage-nation general activated some weird magic circle. We’ve probably become the objects of the sacrifice. If this keeps up, it’s only a matter of time before we lose our lives, right?!

Miyo couldn’t answer Riyo’s questioning. Because it was the correct answer.

The sisters knew each other’s hearts too well. Liyo, reading Miyo’s thoughts, didn’t get angrier.

Instead, she trembled with fear and leaned close.

-Sister, I’m scared.

-It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re not alone. We’re family, aren’t we? Even if we die, we’ll be together. Not that I should be saying this, but I’ve already died once, you know? When you die, that’s really it. There’s no pain, nothing. Yeah.

-Thinking I’ll never see Erich again, that’s what scares me the most, you know? There were so many things I wanted to do after escaping that deserted island.

-It’s the same for me, Liyo.

-We’re dying without even getting to say goodbye. It’s unfair. It’s empty. So goddamn empty!

-Calm down, Liyo. There has to be a way, let’s find it.

-What will happen to Erich? Will he be able to escape this island?

-I don’t know. If he surrenders to that general over there, maybe he can survive. But if he’s truly angry about what’s happened to us, he won’t surrender. And then he might be in for something terrible…

-I don’t want Erich to die.

-Neither do I.

A moment of silence.

Liyo asked.

-Sister.

-Yeah?

-What choice do you think Erich would make?

-Well, that man would definitely…

The fox sisters’ conversation ended there. A searing sensation, like being bitten on the nape of the neck, brought consciousness back.

“…Kyaah!”

It wasn’t like being bitten on the nape of the neck; it was being truly bitten.

It’s felt.

The thick, male scent I’d smelled almost every day for the past few months was being vividly branded onto my right shoulder.

It hurts like hell.

And that’s paradoxically what woke me up.

The fox sisters reached out their arms as one. With fern-like hands, they gripped the man’s back who’d bitten my neck, clinging on to make his teeth marks sink deeper into my shoulder.

The man exhaled, pulling his mouth away.

“…You’re awake.”

“Yeah.”

“How’s your body?”

“Fine.”

Rather, it was Erich who wasn’t fine.

“Your face…”

“Is it obvious?”

Erich wiped his nose with the back of his hand, and blood came away. His complexion was frozen like stone, and the hand he used to try and lift Riyo trembled like an aspen.

“You, what, did you do something?”

“Yeah, made a deal.”

The fox sisters realized it without either having to say a word first.

That Erich had offered his own life to someone in order to save them.

From noble mtl dot com

*

Rachel, Tyria, the fox sisters. I hauled them upright, catching my breath. My heart hammered like it wanted to explode, my vision swam like I had some kind of astigmatism.

Burning sacrifice. First time I’ve ever used it.

“Heh.”

It’s a joke. Lived my whole life telling people never to use it, then I go and use it myself, falling from grace.

No excuses.

I’ll die and go straight to hell.

But looking at the results? I’m pretty damn satisfied. Never expected those Holy Kingdom soldiers to come back to life, and I’m still standing here on my own two feet.

Yeah, for now.

When it’s time to pay the price, I might have to die.

The next moment, someone grabbed me by the collar, yanking me forward.

“You goddamn idiot—!!”

It was Major Adora.

“Are you crazy, using a burning sacrifice? It’s the most forbidden thing there is! Can you even see what’s happening to your body right now? Can you?!”

“Yes, I can.”

“You know that and you still offered yourself up! Are you trying to die that badly!”

“How many people in the world actually want to die? If I can save three people with one life… the exchange rate is three to one, so it’s a magical advantage, that’s all I’m saying.”

“You almost killed one more instead of saving anyone! Do you even get it?!”

I couldn’t say anything more. Even a bitter smile was impossible, because the Major’s eyes were brimming with tears.

“If you die, Senpai, if even you die! What’s going to happen to me, left all alone here…! Answer me! Huh?!”

“…Ah.”

The thought of having to do something before the women of the Holy Spirit Kingdom breathed their last made me disregard how the Major, left alone, must have felt. This was my mistake.

“Even so.”

“You had to make a decision quickly, didn’t you?”

“Sorry.”

“You say sorry and then think about dying here?”

“It’s true there wasn’t much else I could do.”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses!”

I avoided her gaze. Turning my head, I saw the fox sisters staring at me with blank expressions.

Beside them was the Saintess, Tiria. Tiria’s eyes were bluer than ever.

Finally, Rachel. She came over and slapped me across the face.

*Smack!*

“…Die, you idiot.”

Why was it? That one word, packed tight with suppressed emotion, felt more bitter than the slap itself.

Looks like I love you after all.

“N-no way…”

That’s when I heard the voice from the front.

“Just… how did you save them!”

Admiral Dietz pointed at me, raising his voice in disbelief.