Chapter 315
Haa, haa.
Night had fallen. In the forest shrouded in darkness, shallow, labored breaths could be heard.
"Please wait for me, Simon."
They say trials make a girl stronger. Kamibarez, her body covered in scars and scratches, was making her way back to where Simon was.
In the subspace she was dragging along, there were all sorts of berries, antidotes, and the corpses of monsters.
"I will save Simon no matter what…!"
She was almost there.
Her steps, pushing through the thick undergrowth, stopped when she got near the place where Simon lay.
A jolt of fear struck her. What if something had happened to Simon while she was away?
'This is no time to act like a fool!'
She wiped her hazy eyes with her sleeve, and reached Simon's location.
"Simon!!"
Thankfully, Simon was still there, just as she had left him.
She threw aside the subspace and rushed over to check his condition. She made sure his breathing was steady, pressed her ear to his chest, and laid her hand on his forehead.
"…Huh?"
Somehow…
He looked much better than before. His eyes were still closed, but his breathing was calm, and the color had returned to his face.
'A-amazing stamina.'
There was nothing else she could say but that it was truly amazing.
Since Simon was holding out with all his strength, now it was her turn to fix things. She pulled the subspace closer, spread out the items, and began her work.
Crackle, crackle.
The fire, as if Simon had prepared it in advance, was already lit on dry logs. She fanned it, blowing to make the flames grow stronger.
Tap, tap.
Using a flat rock as a cutting board, she crushed fruits to squeeze out their juice. She chopped herbs finely and set them aside, then dragged over the corpse of the dire wolf she had just caught.
There were no werewolves in this forest, but this was the next best thing.
Squelch!
During the island survival test, the thought of butchering a monster had been unimaginable for her, but with Simon's life at stake, hesitation and fear were luxuries she could not afford. She boldly slit open its belly and took the necessary organs.
The only thought in her mind was that she had to save Simon.
She quickly finished and pulled out the portable magic cauldron from the antidote kit. She took Simon's as well, carrying both in her hands as she ran.
"Water! Water!"
There was a stream nearby. She ran hard enough to make her lungs burn, filled the cauldrons to the brim with water, and ran back.
"Ah!"
But she tripped on a vine and fell with a thud. The water from both cauldrons spilled out, and a wave of sorrow and helplessness rushed through her, but she had no time to sit and wallow.
She ran back to the stream, filled them again, and returned.
"I will definitely save you, Simon!"
She murmured it over and over, as if engraving the vow into herself.
When she returned safely, she set the magic cauldrons over the fire—one directly over the high flame, the other a little farther away—and began preparing the antidote.
Following her Toxicology textbook, she added berries and detoxifying herbs in order.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
She blew on the fire, skimmed off oil with a ladle, and tossed in powdered ingredients. In the cauldron over the high flame, she dropped in the entire gallbladder of the dire wolf.
With only about an hour left before the test ended, she finally completed the antidote.
'Now I just have to feed it to Simon!'
She lifted the entire magic cauldron and brought it to him. Kneeling politely beside his head, she took a deep breath.
Thump, thump, thump!
Even the chirping of the night birds could not be heard over the pounding of her heart.
Before her, the blue-haired boy lay defenseless, his face slightly frowning in his sleep.
And from this angle—
From this angle, his neck was clearly visible.
'F-focus.'
Closing her eyes for a moment to steady her breath, she scooped up a spoonful of antidote and brought it toward Simon's lips.
Tremble, tremble.
But suddenly her hands shook uncontrollably, and half the antidote spilled.
'Why, why am I shaking like this!'
To fail at the very last step after making it all!
Still, she mustered her courage, this time holding the spoon carefully with both hands, scooping up the antidote, and bringing it to Simon's mouth.
But… how was she supposed to make him take it?
"S-Simon? Say 'ah' for me."
As if understanding her words, Simon actually opened his mouth. Kamibarez quickly poured the antidote into the gap and made him swallow.
Simon closed his mouth again, and she scooped another spoonful.
"Say 'ah'!"
As she continued feeding him spoonfuls of the antidote, she felt her body gradually heating up.
Blood rushed to her face, her nose tingled, and an involuntary, breathless sound escaped her lips.
Her eyes kept…
Kept drifting toward Simon's neck.
She had just unlocked Ursula's blood while gathering herbs and fighting monsters.
Something dreadful from the depths of her being lifted its head and whispered to her.
Forget the antidote.
Sink your fangs into that white neck right now.
Wasn't that, ultimately, what she truly desired?
Every time she leaned in to feed Simon the antidote, her fangs gleamed, threatening to go straight for his neck.
Her whole body and soul craved Simon's blood.
'No.'
She steeled her mind.
She could never harm Simon.
She would not yield to this filthy instinct.
With great effort, she gave him the third spoonful of the antidote.
Then—
Cough! Cough!
Simon coughed.
"Simon!"
Shuddering at the bitterness, Simon frowned slightly and looked at Kamibarez.
"…Wow, this stuff works instantly."
"Uuugh!"
A sob of relief escaped Kamibarez's lips.
"Simo-o-on!!"
She threw her arms around him, and Simon, smiling, gently patted her head.
"Thanks, Kami, you worked hard."
"Hhhhk! Aaahng!"
The medicine was effective. Simon was now able to move with ease.
Once Kamibarez calmed down, Simon asked about the situation.
"How much time is left?"
"L-less than an hour."
"Let's go right away."
Simon stood up, flexed and unflexed his fist, then looked back at her.
"We still have to get revenge on that scorpion."
She wiped the tears clinging to the corners of her eyes, and answered with a bright smile.
"Yes! Simon!"
Kamibarez had also taken the antidote in advance.
The two of them ran quickly and returned to the desert.
It was said that scorpions were mostly active at night, when it was darker than during the day.
'Come out, come out.'
Simon, in plain sight, stirred up Darkness, walking forward while sprinkling the blood of the dire wolf Kamibarez had caught earlier.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The response came immediately. As if it too had been waiting for the unfinished duel, the sandy ground began to rise.
"Simon! Over there!"
"Yeah, I see it too. But…"
Two mounds of sand were rising. Soon, two scorpion tails flashed out, springing up and slamming down.
Crash!
Simon and Kamibarez stepped back at the same time to avoid it. A smile formed at Simon's lips.
"Looks like it brought its mate."
—Kiiiiiiiiii!
They were two desert scorpions. One of them, judging by its broken armor and traces of bleeding, was clearly the same one they had fought earlier.
It seemed riled up from its injury, moving in a highly aggressive manner.
"Ready?"
"Yes! Simon!"
Even though their number had doubled, as long as they were prepared for the venom, the danger of the desert scorpion was greatly reduced.
The two scorpions charged forward, kicking up sand.
"Come out."
Simon dropped the golem core to the ground as he spoke. Around the core, the already-prepared Cloud was swirling.
"Blood Golem."
The golem core and the Cloud gathered together at the center as if fusing, and soon, two massive arms rose, blocking the charging scorpion head-on.
Rumble!
The torso, legs, and face quickly took shape. Slowly rising to its feet, the Blood Golem pressed down the scorpion it had seized, overpowering it with sheer strength.
Ssss.
Simon moved his arm. Then, with one hand still pressing the scorpion's face, the Blood Golem began smashing the scorpion's armor with the other hand, breaking through and driving its fist into bare flesh.
Blood spurted, and Simon's wounds began to heal with the "Vampiric" effect.
Vwoom!
The remaining scorpion was facing Kamibarez. She kept hopping back to evade while preparing black magic.
Once again, the binding skill from Haematology shot out.
Simon, too, charged in, raising the remaining Cloud from creating the Blood Golem.
The two of them moved like crossing flashes. Red and blue-green trails fluttered like ribbon strings, tangling the two scorpions together.
The scorpions swung their tails at them, but it was useless.
'I can see every move they make!'
Having fought them once already, their attack patterns had become familiar. The enraged scorpions released clouds of poisonous mist, but now, with immunity and having taken the antidote, their condition would not falter from venom.
And then—
'It's ready.'
While dodging frantically, Simon had completed a new curse.
He turned to the side and shouted.
"Kami! Fall back now!"
"Yes!"
Kamibarez retreated, and Simon activated the curse magic circle. It was shaped like two magic circles joined together, resembling a yin-yang symbol.
Simon separated them, attaching one to each scorpion.
The curse effect activated.
The two scorpions, which had been united in attacking the humans, locked eyes with each other, then roared and began to fight among themselves.
Crunch!
They smashed each other's armor with their tails, swung their forelegs, and slammed into each other in a fierce struggle.
"S-Simon! This is…?"
"It's a curse of hostility, one of the four great curses Bahil taught me."
One of the four major curses Bahil had taught him.
Formed of two circles as one, when attached to two different targets, the cursed targets would feel extreme hostility toward each other and begin fighting.
It was, in effect, almost exclusively a monster-targeted curse.
Of course, it could be used on humans to cause hostility, but if they realized they were cursed, they would not fight among allies.
Bahil had explained that if the curse were secretly cast, it might serve as a tool for sowing discord.
While the scorpions clashed, Kamibarez used Blood Thread to bind the two together.
"Return, Blood Golem."
Simon entered the finishing stage.
The Blood Golem's body collapsed like melting ice cream, leaving only the golem core. The body then turned into Cloud and returned to Simon's magic circle.
Then, Simon disrupted the amplification of the Cloud in the magic circle, and drew out a dark-blue bow and arrow.
With the arrow set to the string, Simon aimed at the scorpions.
The scorpions, bound by Kamibarez's restraint, came to their senses as the curse effect faded, but—
'It's already too late!'
The moment Simon released the string, the dark beam of destruction focused into a single point pierced between the two scorpions.
Flash!
The surroundings were dyed in darkness.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!
A massive explosion swallowed everything. The dark shockwave, spreading out in a fan shape from the point of impact, tore the scorpions to shreds.
In the towering spray of sand and the roaring aftershock, Simon and Kamibarez raised their arms to shield their faces.
"Haaaah."
Simon dispersed the dark bow into the air, exhaling the breath he had held.
Kamibarez beamed.
"We, we did it, Simon!"
"Kami, you worked hard too."
The two finally smiled and high-fived.
They had barely cleared it with five minutes left before the end of the test.