For the heart - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 30

 

Nina and Casian made eye contact simultaneously. Without hesitation, both hid themselves in the darkness behind the inner pillars.

 

Tap, tap.

 

The sound of flat-soled shoes descending the stairs grew closer, and soon the figure that appeared was, as expected, Desmorak.

 

‘He hadn’t left work after all.’

 

In his hands, which had clearly been empty when he left earlier, was now a faded leather notebook.

 

Casian’s red eyes flashed with intense light upon seeing it.

 

Desmorak, who couldn’t even imagine that someone else might be inside the Maryeonso besides himself, approached the Kushis.

 

As if contemplating something, he stood there for quite a while with his head tilted at an angle.

 

Then he picked up a sharp skewer that had been standing to one side and thrust it firmly into the Kushis’s thigh.

 

“Graaah…”

 

As the weakened monster slowly writhed its body, the iron chains hanging from its limbs clanked noisily.

 

The sound echoed through the Maryeonso like a substitute for the pain the monster couldn’t express.

 

Nina’s eyes narrowed as she watched from behind the pillar.

 

She hadn’t noticed it before, but there were more puncture marks from skewers visible on the other thigh as well.

 

“This should be just right.”

 

It was clear he had been waiting for the monster’s strength to drain.

 

Moving to the side, Desmorak slowly turned what looked like a long handle embedded in the wall.

 

The gears inside engaged with a creaking, grinding sound of metal scraping against metal that echoed throughout the underground.

 

Simultaneously, the chains connected to the ceiling and walls pulled taut with a rattling sound, gradually lifting the monster’s limbs upward.

 

How long did the clattering sound of bearing that massive weight continue?

 

Soon the four-legged beast’s body was lifted into the air with its limbs spread wide.

 

A rough breath of ‘Grrrr…’ flowed from the Kushis.

 

Desmorak adjusted the handle little by little, delicately fine-tuning it as if orchestrating pain, before finally dusting off his hands with satisfaction.

 

Then he picked up the leather notebook he had brought earlier.

 

The worn, thin pages rustled as they turned, as if they had been viewed hundreds of times before.

 

“Just know that only I could have perfected it to this degree.”

 

It sounded like he was bragging to someone.

 

Desmorak approached the Kushis again with the notebook spread wide open. Blood from the thigh he had pierced with the iron skewer earlier had pooled thickly on the floor.

 

He soaked both hands thoroughly in it and drew a circle beneath the suspended Kushis.

 

Nina and Casian, watching this scene, instinctively knew he was about to cast a spell on the Kushis.

 

Soon he began muttering incantations in a low voice, weaving intricate red patterns within the circle drawn in blood.

 

As red smoke gradually rose from the patterns, the monster suspended in mid-air began writhing its body more violently than before, gasping for breath.

 

Nina quickly pulled up her shirt collar to cover her nose and mouth.

 

The acrid smoke was so terrible it felt like she might burst into coughing at any moment.

 

Desmorak, who was closer to it than they were, either because he was completely absorbed in his spell or because he had done this many times before, didn’t cough at all and instead chanted the incantations even faster.

 

“Grrrrr…”

 

The Kushis’s half-closed eyelids lifted, revealing black pupils that were rapidly changing to a murky grayish-white.

 

‘That’s how Baraguz’s eye color changed back then too.’

 

Nina recalled the Baraguz that had charged at her in the Training Grounds.

 

Now she finally understood why that monster’s pupils, which should have been jet black, had been that murky gray color.

 

Desmorak, who had been staring intently as if waiting for the monster’s pupils to change, placed his blood-stained hand near the Kushis’s heart.

 

Taking a deep breath, he began reciting a different incantation.

 

Unlike the previous spell he had repeated rapidly, this time he poured all his strength into it, crying out desperately.

 

With his eyes bulging wide, he chanted as if he might be sucked into the very spell he was reciting if he didn’t stay focused, as if he were wrestling with his own voice.

 

And not long after,

 

“Graaaaaaah—!”

 

A agonized roar burst from the monster.

 

‘The center of its chest… is splitting open!’

 

The more Desmorak chanted, the more the Kushis’s tough hide tore lengthwise with sickening ripping sounds.

 

Nina immediately recognized what those sounds were.

 

The sound of bones breaking.

 

The flesh of the chest was tearing, and the bones of the ribcage were shattering and being pushed aside.

 

Inside, the monster’s large, red heart was revealed, beating frantically.

 

‘What on earth are you doing, Desmorak!’

 

Nina was overwhelmed with shock.

 

She had thought he would cast a mental spell on the monster, never imagining he would tear flesh and break bones like this.

 

What meaning could this possibly have? If it died, it couldn’t be weaponized.

 

Nina’s breathing was becoming increasingly rapid. Even so, she couldn’t take her eyes off the bizarre sorcerer’s actions.

 

“Corpus mea— sanguis tua. Vetra cor— estara…”

 

It was a language she had never heard before.

 

As that incomprehensible language continued with difficulty, Nina felt as if something inside her own chest was being torn away.

 

Before she knew it, she had stopped breathing and watched the scene without even blinking.

 

Suddenly, Desmorak began thrusting both arms into the sides of the fully exposed heart.

 

Graaaaaaah—!

 

The iron chains clanked as if they might break at any moment along with the violently struggling monster.

 

Desmorak inserted his arms so deep, nearly to his shoulders, that he appeared to be embracing the monster.

 

“Corpus mea, sanguis tua. Vetra cor, estara…!”

 

“Grrrrgh—! Graaaaaaah—!”

 

The incantations bursting forth with gasping breaths and the monster’s roars echoed savagely through the underground.

 

A moment later, a large heart emerged in his hands.

 

‘Just now… he tore out the heart…?’

 

Nina’s bright blue eyes shook with tremendous shock.

 

She could hardly believe what had unfolded before her eyes.

 

Desmorak carefully placed the torn-out heart into a box he had prepared beforehand.

 

Even outside the monster’s body, the heart was still beating violently.

 

Then he hurriedly wiped the blood from his hands.

 

Chanting spells while tearing out the monster’s heart seemed quite taxing for him too, as he was breathing heavily.

 

Nevertheless, the sorcerer stood before the monster again with the leather notebook he had spread out earlier, as if he couldn’t afford to waste time.

 

“Tairen bel akra, naa orash eshtra nor…”

 

Placing his hand again on the Kushis’s chest that had been torn apart to remove the heart, he began chanting a different spell while holding the open notebook.

 

Clatter, clatter.

 

Then once again came the sound of bones moving as the ribs that had opened to reveal the heart returned to their protective position over the organs.

 

Muscle covered over them, and the long torn hide also healed back to its original state.

 

It was just like when Casian had healed Nina’s mangled body.

 

As soon as Desmorak finished reversing the monster’s wounds, he dropped his notebook and collapsed to the floor with a thud.

 

Casian carefully moved his body after watching Desmorak remain motionless for a while.

 

“Don’t.”

 

“It’s alright.”

 

Though Nina grabbed onto Casian, he firmly grasped both her arms to reassure her.

 

Casian approached Desmorak and carefully brought his fingertips to the side of his neck.

 

He didn’t channel any healing power, only checking whether he was dead or how serious his condition was.

 

Returning to Nina, Casian spoke to her in a voice less hushed than before.

 

“He won’t wake up until tomorrow morning at the earliest. He poured out all his strength and completely lost consciousness.”

 

“…What exactly did he do? Dark magic? I didn’t even know such sorcery existed.”

 

“Let’s get out of here first.”

 

Without answering Nina’s question, Casian led her toward the exit.

 

Nina, who had been weakly following him, suddenly stopped short.

 

“Wait. There’s something I want to check.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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