Chapter 69
“Gideon? Gideon, are you okay?”
When I didn’t move, Layla turned around and called my name.
I wanted to open my mouth in response to her voice, but it wasn’t as easy as I hoped.
— Answer me! Are you planning to humiliate me once again with that water swordsmanship of yours?!
The voice kept echoing inside my ears.
But it was so loud that it felt like it wasn’t just ringing in my ears—my entire head was vibrating.
The pain from the voice alone was enough to make my head throb.
“Ugh.”
I clutched my head and dropped to one knee.
My legs had gone weak from the unbearable pain in my head.
“Gideon? Are you alright?”
As soon as I collapsed, Layla rushed toward me with a startled look.
Holding my head, I forced my lips to move.
“I’m fine. It’s just… a bit of a headache…”
I answered Layla as I tried to stand again.
But the very next moment, I felt a splitting dizziness in my skull.
Because of that, my body swayed…
“…Ah.”
And I fell sideways.
If I had just collapsed where I stood, that would’ve been fine—but unfortunately, luck wasn’t on my side.
Of all places, I happened to fall down a slope.
I toppled onto the incline and began to roll down uncontrollably.
“Gideon!”
Layla reached out her hand, but she was far too late.
As I rolled down along Intezer’s rib cage, I saw the shocked faces of Layla and Sara growing distant.
I wanted to lift myself, grab onto something—anything—but I couldn’t muster any strength.
Every attempt to move was drowned in a surge of dizziness and pain that crushed my senses.
— I won’t let it happen twice! This time, I’ll repay every last bit of that humiliation!
Even as I rolled down, the voice continued to echo in my ears—in my head—with a deafening force.
“…Ah.”
Apparently, I had lost consciousness for a moment.
“Urgh…”
I came to my senses and quickly retraced my memory.
Just a moment ago, I was on Intezer’s back with Layla and Sara, sightseeing.
Then, suddenly, a strange voice only I could hear had started ringing in my head. Then came the overwhelming dizziness… and then…
“I rolled down below.”
I lifted my gaze upward.
Above me were Intezer’s exposed spine and its massive wing bones.
I had definitely rolled all the way down from up there along the slope.
‘No major injuries.’
It seemed the incline hadn’t been that steep after all.
Though, I had rolled quite a bit, leaving bruises all over my body, and my uniform was now covered in dirt.
Still, the fact that I was alive was enough.
‘This place I fell into…’
I had fallen off from Intezer’s spine—so this must be just below the backbone. In other words…
“…Ah, damn it.”
I immediately raised my head.
And there it was—a massive boulder loomed before me.
From afar, it had just looked like a sphere, but now that I was close, I could see that it wasn’t a sphere at all.
Up close, it clearly had the shape of a heart.
‘Of all the places to fall… it had to be here?’
I looked back and saw a metal fence a few meters away.
If only I had fallen outside that fence. Unfortunately, I had landed inside it.
‘This is bad.’
My eyes settled on the heart-shaped boulder before me.
Intezer had died hundreds of years ago. In that long time, every part of its corpse had been studied and analyzed thoroughly—
—except for that one heart.
No matter how much research was done, analyzing that heart had proven impossible.
No, it wasn’t just that—attempting to approach it for analysis was itself impossible.
‘Because anyone who gets too close turns to stone.’
The fact that I hadn’t turned into one yet meant I was still within a safe distance.
But that didn’t mean I could relax.
Even at this range, I could already feel its influence.
‘I… can’t breathe properly.’
Gasping for air, I tried to push myself up.
But my body still wouldn’t respond, and my head felt like it was splitting apart.
If only it had stopped there, but…
— I curse you! Wanderer of Water! I, Intezer, shall carve my curse into your very being!
“So damn noisy.”
A thunderous voice—loud enough to make my ears ache and my skull tremble—rang out again.
Regardless, Intezer’s wraith kept shouting.
— I have never forgotten you! Not once! I have never forgotten the sword that deflected my strike! I curse you, who brought me humiliation!
“Sorry, but you’ve got the wrong person. I’ve never even met you.”
I muttered under my breath and struggled to draw my sword from my waist.
Using it as a cane, I barely managed to get myself upright.
Turning my back on the massive heart, I staggered toward the fence—but before I could go far, I collapsed again.
‘Even after hundreds of years dead, and he’s still like this.’
The distance between me and the heart meant I probably wouldn’t turn to stone.
But that didn’t mean I could just lie here.
Because even standing within its range felt like it was draining the life out of me.
‘It feels like my life force is slipping away.’
If I couldn’t get beyond that fence, I might really die here.
So I tried to move again, but it wasn’t easy.
Every muscle screamed in pain with each attempt.
“Gideon!”
Someone called my name from afar.
I raised my head—Layla and Sara were running toward me from outside the fence.
“Gideon! Are you okay? I’ll—”
“Your Highness, no! It’s dangerous to cross this fence!”
“But Gideon… should we… should we call someone? Sara, you have a crystal sphere, right?”
“Y-Yes, I do.”
“Then use that to contact anyone—ah, no, first, call Instructor Luke…”
I could faintly hear the two girls talking in the distance, but they didn’t seem like they could help me right now.
If they tried to cross the fence to reach me, it would only make things worse.
‘I need to get out of this fence area as fast as possible.’
I tried to ignore Intezer’s constant screaming echoing in my ears and forced my feet to move again.
But, of course, nothing ever went smoothly.
— Wanderer of Water! You shall die here, under my curse!
I tried to ignore Intezer’s voice, but this time, his roar was too loud to be ignored.
It wasn’t just ringing in my head—it was physically painful. My skull felt like it was splitting open, and I clutched my head, collapsing again.
“My head…”
The pain was unbearable.
In all my life, I had never experienced such a headache.
It hurt so much that I could hardly move.
Even the slightest motion made me feel as if my skull would shatter into pieces.
— Look upon me! Upon me and my legion, who hold a grudge against you!
For a moment, I thought this damn dragon had finally lost it.
But when I painfully turned my body around and looked back toward the heart-shaped boulder—
—I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
‘Have I finally gone insane?’
Honestly, I didn’t think I had lost my mind.
Yet no matter how I looked at it, what I saw before me was something only a madman could possibly witness.
— I! We! Curse you, Wanderer of Water!
Standing where the stone heart had been, there was a black dragon.
The very same dragon I had seen in my dream—the Dragon Intezer.
It was smaller than the one from my dream, but there was no mistaking it—it was definitely Intezer.
And it wasn’t just the dragon I could see.
‘What… is that?’
All around the heart-shaped boulder, countless monsters had gathered.
Orcs, werewolves, dark elves—an entire army of monsters surrounded Intezer like a legion.
But despite this overwhelming scene, Layla and Sara, who were behind me, showed no reaction at all.
Meaning—these were illusions. Hallucinations visible only to me.
— We curse you! We shall haunt you forever! Forever!
“I told you… you’ve got the wrong guy.”
My instincts screamed at me.
If I made one wrong move here, those things would truly cling to me forever.
These hallucinations would continue to appear before my eyes, and Intezer’s voice would never stop echoing in my head.
That had to be the curse Intezer was talking about.
“This is insane.”
This wasn’t part of the plan.
When I played the game, there was never any storyline like this. I had never even heard of it.
Even hearing the voice of the long-dead Intezer was already a first for me.
‘What do I do now?’
If I ended up cursed here, it would be disastrous.
Forget the revival of the family or any secrets—before any of that, I’d truly lose my mind.
The problem was, I had no idea how to counter a curse like this.
I hadn’t expected anything like this to happen, so I had made no preparations whatsoever.
At this rate, I’d be completely overpowered by Intezer’s curse, endlessly tormented by his wraith and that legion of phantoms—
— Your filthy temper hasn’t changed, Intezer.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, another voice echoed out.
A calm, composed voice—completely different from Intezer’s.
At the same time, a blue light flared up from the back of my left hand. A glowing tattoo of a blue falcon began to shine.
— It’s enough that I alone take your curse.
That voice belonged to Peregrie.
Not long after I heard Peregrie’s voice, the blue light surrounded me completely.
For a moment, I didn’t understand what was happening—but as the blue glow wrapped around me…
“…Huh?”
Intezer’s voice vanished.
The phantom of Intezer still moved his mouth, roaring furiously, but no sound reached my ears anymore.
And it wasn’t just that.
‘My strength… it’s not draining away anymore.’
I could move my body again.
In fact, I even felt lighter than before.
— Descendant of my friend, use the power I’ve given you to banish those wraiths.
I pushed myself to my feet once more and looked straight at the dragon and its monstrous army before me.
Then I turned my eyes to my left hand.
The falcon-shaped tattoo still glowed, and I could feel an unfamiliar energy circulating through my body.
I instinctively understood how to use that power.
“Fuuu…”
I raised my left hand and focused on the energy within me.
Moments later, I swung my hand toward the dragon and its monsters.
Whoooosh—!
Wind—strong, torrential wind mixed with rain—erupted forth.
As the storm crashed into the dragon and the monsters, they all vanished instantly before my eyes.
Like dust swept away by a gale.
— You use it well. Continue to wield the power I’ve granted you wisely.
At Peregrie’s final words, I stood there, dazed for a moment.
Then I slowly turned and began to walk back.
Intezer’s voice was gone, and the pain throughout my body had completely disappeared.
“Gideon!”
As soon as I stepped outside the fence, Layla ran toward me.
“Are you alright? Your body—are you hurt anywhere?”
“Lady Layla, I’m fine… no, actually, I might not be.”
My head no longer hurt, and my body felt fine.
But as soon as I got away from Intezer’s heart, all the tension left my body, and my consciousness began to fade.
“Gideon?”
“Lady Layla, did you call for help?”
“Yes, Sara contacted Instructor Luke, so he should be here any minute…”
“Then, if you’ll excuse me… just for a moment.”
With that, I sat down—and then collapsed completely.
As I lost consciousness, I faintly heard Layla calling my name in panic.
But beyond her voice, another one echoed even more clearly.
— It was originally meant for my old friend, but it doesn’t seem bad for you to wield it either.
A calm, comforting voice.
— You seem to have grasped how to use my power. Use it well. Now, my strength will live on in future generations. For that alone… I am content.
Listening to Peregrie’s voice, I completely lost consciousness.