I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - 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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As if trying to protect me, Casian stepped forward and blocked my path.
“Miss! Please stay back!”
I hurriedly got to my feet and retreated behind Casian. He was facing the wyvern head-on with his sword drawn, ready to leap toward us.
“Get behind the nearest tree!”
He shouted urgently. I looked around trembling. Not far away, there was an old tree with a trunk slightly thicker than the others.
After glancing at Casian once, I immediately began running quickly in that direction.
Right now, it seemed like me taking shelter in a safe place would help him too.
But that’s when it happened.
Whether my sudden movement had acted as a stimulus, the wyvern suddenly turned its body and flew toward me.
With its rough wingbeats, the dagger that had been lodged in the creature’s shoulder blade fell out helplessly and rolled on the ground.
I met the eyes of the wyvern approaching with terrifying momentum and let out a scream.
But perhaps due to extreme fear, my voice wouldn’t come out properly.
Clang-!!
Suddenly a flash of light flickered before my eyes, and the wyvern bounced far away as if it had hit something.
Casian, who had approached at the speed of light, was already blocking my path.
“The, the, sword…”
I muttered in disbelief with trembling lips. A blue aura was rippling and emanating from Casian’s sword.
“Miss! Quickly!”
I snapped to my senses at Casian’s shout and hurriedly ran toward the tree again. Then I quickly hid behind it.
‘That’s Casian’s ability…’
I only had a moment to organize my thoughts. When I glanced toward where the wyvern had fallen, I could see the monster staggering but getting back up again.
It was an unbelievable recovery rate even seeing it with my own eyes.
But something was strange.
Another presence could be felt from the direction completely opposite to where the wyvern was.
“Ca, Casian… behind us…”
At my frightened voice, he looked toward me. Then he muttered with a hardened expression.
“…Ha. Miss, it seems you’ll need to come back this way again.”
I stared into the dark thicket with trembling eyes.
Something unidentifiable was moving in the darkness.
“That’s…”
Clouds covered the moonlight, making the view a bit clearer. I slowly covered my mouth.
There was no mistake. Several pairs of eyes were glowing sharply in the darkness, staring toward us.
“…Those are the Nephas I mentioned earlier. Please come back toward me slowly so as not to provoke them.”
At Casian’s whispered voice, I took steps one by one. Cold sweat was seeping from my hands.
“Grrrrrowl…”
A chilling sound echoed from the grass. When I finally felt my back touching Casian’s, I slowly turned my head.
But something was flowing down from his left arm.
“Ca, Casian…”
Only then did I notice the wound clearly carved into his arm.
From the wound that looked quite deep at first glance, red blood was flowing out continuously.
“Blo, blood…”
I muttered with a trembling voice.
It seemed he had been injured while blocking the wyvern that had rushed at me earlier.
“I’m fine. Please don’t worry about anything.”
I closed my eyes tightly and opened them like someone trying to wake from a dream to calm my frantically beating heart.
My hands and feet were gradually growing cold and stiff from fear. Every time I exhaled, a fierce anxiety that I might really die swept over me.
But what was even more frightening than that was…
“Casian. Do, do you remember what I said this morning?”
He kept his body fixed toward the wyvern while glancing his head toward me.
“Yes?”
“I, I said that if we were both going to die, you should save your own life first.”
The shadows of the Nephas were gradually approaching from the opposite side.
We were completely surrounded. I continued speaking with a trembling voice.
“This won’t work. Ca, Casian should at least run away.”
“…”
“Casian is the youngest elite soldier, right? You, you can shake off all these things… if you put your mind to it.”
I tried to sound calm and forced the corners of my mouth up. This was the best option for now.
I was entirely responsible for creating this situation. In other words, it was all my fault.
But I couldn’t let an innocent young knight with a bright future ahead of him die.
If we were both going to die, it was better for at least Casian to survive.
‘As for me, well, it was a life I got for free anyway.’
Not even noticing that my eyes were welling up with tears, I tried to force a smile.
The sound of fallen leaves and branches breaking on the ground grew louder. The Nephas seemed to be getting closer.
“Li, listen to me. Quickly. It’s an order.”
I muttered pleadingly. But Casian didn’t move easily.
Just as I was about to say something more, he finally answered after being silent.
“Even if I run away, His Grace will kill me anyway.”
My lips parted slightly at the unexpected answer. Soon, bitter tears seeped between them.
“There were rumors throughout the castle that Miss was an incredibly brave person, but that wasn’t true.”
Casian muttered in a playful voice as if trying to reassure me.
“That, that’s not it…”
I was about to say something with a distorted face.
He instantly pressed my shoulder down with one hand, making me sit on the ground.
Then he thrust his sword blade into the mouth of a Nephas that had suddenly rushed right up to us.
Before I could even be surprised by the sudden situation, the monster’s blood poured down over my head.
Covered in that hot, fishy substance, I flailed about before freezing in place.
Clang!!
The light emanating from Casian’s sword flashed frantically before my eyes.
Casian, who had pulled his sword from the Nephas’s snout at an unbelievable speed, now parried the claws of another one that had rushed from the opposite side.
The monster let out a single scream and bounced far away, hitting a tree. Then it slid down to the ground.
I trembled at the sight of the Nephas lying limp as if dead.
Its dark red skin was covered with strange and chilling protrusions, and its head had the eerie shape of an insect.
As I tried to step back, something caught my foot, so I slowly looked down.
The corpse of another Nephas with a sword stuck in its snout was right at my feet.
When I pulled my foot away, I saw my shoe soaked with warm blood. Just as I shrank back from the foul smell emanating from it.
“Kieeeeeek!!”
An eerie cry that seemed to tear my eardrums echoed from behind.
This time the wyvern was charging at Casian. With one wing half-torn.
Casian quickly turned his body and leaped toward it.
I stared blankly at the brutal battle unfolding cruelly under the moonlight. Perhaps because Nephas blood had gotten in my eyes, my entire vision was blood red.
Casian was parrying the wyvern’s relentless attacks with only a single sword.
Every time the wyvern swung its sharply protruding claws, light flashed from Casian’s sword.
The shadows of monster and human became entangled together, emanating an unapproachable aura, while warning sounds continued to ring in my head.
“Ca, Casian…”
He was getting tired as time passed. His movements were becoming sluggish enough for even me to notice.
However, the wyvern showed no signs of tiring despite having one wing half-torn.
Every time the monster roared, the blade-like teeth packed densely in its mouth glinted.
The wind whipped fiercely. Perhaps because their momentum was too powerful, the Nephas couldn’t easily rush in.
That’s when it happened.
“Grk-!!”
In an instant, Casian’s stance collapsed as he drove his sword blade into the ground.
When he came to his senses, the wyvern’s claws had pierced through his right thigh.
I covered my mouth with a face filled with horror. The wyvern that had successfully attacked slowly retreated backward.
As the claws that had been embedded in Casian’s thigh pulled out, red blood poured helplessly from the wound.
He seemed to be desperately trying to maintain his balance. But soon his legs gave out and he staggered.
At that moment, the wyvern raised its head once more and charged at him.
Razor-sharp teeth gleamed from its gaping maw.
“No-!!”
My sharp scream echoed through the forest.
Everything appeared clearly as if in slow motion.
The surroundings soaked in blood, and the wyvern’s teeth flying precisely toward Casian’s neck.
The Nephas, having caught the scent of blood, didn’t miss their chance and came charging at us from all directions.
I burst into tears and hung my head low.
I could instinctively tell. In just a few seconds, they would tear Casian to shreds.
And I didn’t have the courage to witness that scene.
Guilt and sorrow, anger and fear tangled together, roughly tearing through my mind. I let out a pained groan while clenching my fists so tightly that my nails dug in.
But something was strange.
Neither Casian’s screams nor the monsters’ roars could be heard. The surroundings remained quiet for several seconds.
As my panic slowly subsided, the sounds around me became clear.
Despite the fierce battle that had been unfolding, the forest held only the sound of wind brushing past the trees.
I slowly lifted my tear-stained face.
Under the moonlight, I could see Casian collapsed on the ground.
Having been frozen in place, I soon frantically crawled across the ground toward him.
“Ca, Casian! Snap out of it!!”
Battered and broken, he was frowning while breaking out in cold sweat. Sticky blood continued to seep from the gaping hole in his thigh.
I shook him more roughly.
“Casian…!! Casian!!”
“Just leave him be.”
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice echoed from above my head.
I looked up in surprise.
Using the moonlight as his shadow, a mysterious man was looking down at us.
With one hand casually placed on the head of the wyvern that had been savagely charging at Casian just moments before.
My mouth slowly fell open at that bizarre scene.
“You are…”
As if it were a soft blanket, the wyvern purred and rubbed its head against the man’s hand.
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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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