My Illusion Is Survival - Chapter 70

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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 70

 

The Holy Maiden’s private prayer room, located in the deepest part of the temple.

 

There, Yulia knelt on the cold stone floor as always, gazing at the divine statue before her with yearning eyes.

 

“Oh God. Please… give me an answer.”

 

This prayer had continued for several days now.

 

Yet the figure before her remained silent as ever, and the prayer room was quiet as a tomb.

 

“Are you here again today, Yulia?”

 

In the end, instead of the voice she had been waiting for, someone else called Yulia’s name.

 

“I can’t hear anything, Theo.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Lady Achrasia’s voice… I can no longer hear it.”

 

Theodor Basen.

 

Theodor, a priest who stayed at the temple following Yulia, could only feel sorry for her.

 

“Are there already rumors circulating in society?”

 

“Rumors?”

 

“That a real Holy Maiden has appeared, and the fake one is holed up in a prayer room waiting for God’s answer that never comes.”

 

“There are no such rumors. You are the real Holy Maiden.”

 

Indeed, there were no such rumors. What happened in the North that day had been hushed up. However, Theodor knew about the ‘real Holy Maiden’ that Yulia mentioned.

 

“Was the light you saw that day really purification?”

 

“Since it erased all the dark magic, it can only be called purification. And it was better than mine. I can’t erase that much dark magic at once.”

 

Her voice was so pained when she spoke that it was difficult to ask any more questions.

 

But just then.

 

“Lady Yulia, Lord Theodor! This is terrible! You need to come see this right away!”

 

A young lower priest rushed into the prayer room.

 

“What is this commotion in this place?”

 

“I’m sorry. But this is truly urgent.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“Azel Viotz has attacked the Maclairen Count’s family. An urgent message came from the Imperial Court, so you should go see immediately.”

 

It was certainly news that couldn’t be ignored.

 

“Yulia.”

 

“It’s fine. Let’s go right away.”

 

In the end, the three of them rushed out of the prayer room without delay.

 

Meanwhile, behind them.

 

“…Someone other than Yulia purified dark magic?”

 

That can’t be right?

 

With a small murmur, a shadow that had been secretly watching the scene hastily disappeared.

 

*

 

Step, step, step.

 

Azel’s footsteps on the dirty marble floor were resolute.

 

His expression was cold, and his eyes, mixed with anger, were red as blood.

 

“P-please spare me-”

 

Slash-!

 

Soon blood splattered.

 

Even though the eyes of someone who had fallen at his feet were still wide with shock, Azel didn’t care. He simply continued walking with dead black eyes filled with blood.

 

“Cough.”

 

Around that time, a bloody cough erupted from ahead.

 

Shane was smiling brightly as if welcoming Azel.

 

“Now I understand why everyone told me to be careful of you.”

 

Even with his mouth soaked in blood, his eyes were still alive.

 

“Having experienced it firsthand, I get it. Everyone knew. That you’re not just some human, but a disaster.”

 

Indeed, who would have imagined that the Empire’s most notorious villain would storm into a count’s residence in broad daylight, right in the center of the capital?

 

However, Azel had easily achieved this result without anyone’s help.

 

“I didn’t expect you to really come alone. You should have brought her along. I wanted to see her in person.”

 

His leisurely steps finally headed toward Shane.

 

“To burn down someone’s house and not say a single word, how cold of you.”

 

Even seeing Shane’s stubbornness in not wanting to show an unsightly appearance, he remained silent.

 

He simply reached out and grasped the illusion pendant that had fallen to the floor.

 

“So you came looking for that after all?”

 

Only after holding it in his hand did his red lips move for the first time.

 

“Shut up.”

 

“How heartless.”

 

He wasn’t talking to Shane.

 

[Unleash your power. You want to shut that bastard’s mouth, don’t you?]

 

[If you hesitate, you’ll be too late. Look at this time too. When you locked the door, he tried to steal her through dreams.]

 

[She’s trying to leave you too.]

 

The voice in his head kept talking to him.

 

[Are you going to regret it only after everything is taken away?]

 

However, he could still endure it.

 

“Please, just. Be quiet.”

 

For now, at least.

 

*

 

Several hours had already passed since Azel left this place.

 

Thanks to that, my body had returned to normal, but that didn’t mean I could go outside.

 

“I need to go to Azel.”

 

“You cannot leave.”

 

Even though anxiety kept gnawing at me, Simoer blocked the door according to Azel’s orders and wouldn’t let me go.

 

“You said you’d help me.”

 

“I said I would help as long as there were no orders from my master. This is my master’s order. You cannot leave.”

 

There wasn’t even a trace of his usual playfulness on his cold, expressionless face, which made me even more anxious.

 

“If Azel goes berserk, it’s all over.”

 

“My master will be fine. Maclairen is no match for him.”

 

“I’m not worried about Azel losing!”

 

Just as I finally raised my voice, the tightly closed door opened with a click.

 

When I rushed over, I could see Azel’s figure through the gap in the open door.

 

“Then what were you worried about?”

 

Unlike his monotonous voice, there was a strong smell of blood coming from him.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re hurt?”

 

When I reached out and cupped his pale cheek, he naturally leaned into it. It was an affectionate gesture, unlike just before he left.

 

“As if. Rather, you seemed worried that I might kill everything there. Your face is quite pale.”

 

However, Azel’s eyes were still cold, and I could feel the edge in his calmly spoken words.

 

He casually removed my hand and walked past me into the room.

 

“It’ll be fine from now on.”

 

With a thud, the illusion pendant fell onto the bed. But it wasn’t in perfect condition.

 

The illusion pendant, split in half, was completely broken.

 

“What happened to Shane?”

 

“He’s alive.”

 

“….”

 

“That’s what you were curious about, right?”

 

Only after seeing me unable to speak carelessly did an expression appear on Azel’s face.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that? You were the one who said it was uncomfortable and told me to act like myself, like usual.”

 

By the time the artificially created smile formed on my retina, the distance between him and me had suddenly grown much closer.

 

“Surprisingly, you’re not even asking about Arachne’s Thread. Were you that worried about Shane MacLauren?”

 

When I barely managed to move my frozen body and lowered my head, I could see something in Azel’s hand.

 

It was Arachne’s Thread that would have been stored in Shane’s mansion.

 

“You were searching for it so desperately.”

 

Just as I was about to unconsciously take it, a small flame rose from Azel’s fingertips.

 

“What are you doing right now-!”

 

That fire burned all the thin threads completely.

 

“…Azel.”

 

“You don’t need to be so heartbroken. It’s not just this—the spring water and flowers have been gone for a long time too.”

 

“Are you insane?”

 

“I’m perfectly sane. More than ever before.”

 

From my perspective, he was absolutely not sane. If he had truly been sane, he would never have done something like this.

 

“You said it was absolutely impossible to stay by my side, right? I thought about it. Then how could I possibly keep you here?”

 

Soon, even more shocking words followed.

 

“If the regression doesn’t end, you’ll continue to stay by my side. Right?”

 

“…!”

 

“That’s why you came here in the first place.”

 

Even so, Azel was looking at me with an indifferent face, smiling.

 

“From now on, you’ll only live here.”

 

“Are you saying you’ll confine me?”

 

“I realized that no matter how much effort I put into being charming, it’s useless.”

 

With that, he put a necklace around my neck.

 

“This is compensation for breaking your pendant. It blocks mana and prevents you from using magic, so don’t bother with futile efforts.”

 

The necklace that sparkled brilliantly depending on the angle of light was a ‘shackle’ indicating that I could never escape from this place.

 

“Don’t forget. You’ll never be able to leave here.”

 

It was the beginning of days where I could never predict even one step ahead.

 

*

 

But when exactly one day had passed like that,

 

I couldn’t help but question this full-scale confinement life.

 

“…Is this really confinement?”

 

No matter how I thought about it, something was strange.

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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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