LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 293: Someone’s story in a terrible dream
Yuria was walking in darkness.
A darkness so deep she couldn’t see a single step ahead.
‘Where... am I?’
She was sure she had been talking to Shuen, then returned to the dormitory and laid down in bed, so why was she now standing here?
As Yuria wandered through the dark, confused, she suddenly heard a voice from one corner.
[Please...!]
A faint sound of a woman’s sobbing.
[Please...! Please... please, just...!]
Desperate. Urgent. A sorrowful voice that echoed in the darkness, soaked in deep sadness.
It wasn’t just sadness—it was closer to a scream, a cry that felt like it would suffocate anyone who heard it.
‘Who... is that?’
Perplexed, Yuria followed the voice, cautiously feeling her way along the walls until she saw a faint light leaking from a small hole. She exhaled in relief.
‘Is it here?’
Arriving in front of the tiny crack from which the light was seeping, Yuria placed her face near the hole, which was just big enough for a finger to fit through.
"Please...!"
She was curious about the identity of the person crying so pitifully. What had happened to make them weep so sorrowfully? What tragedy had occurred to make them scream so desperately? Yuria peered through the hole, but the sight that met her eyes made her pull back her face in shock.
‘What is... this?!’
Through the hole, she saw a woman dressed in splendid clothing, holding onto a man who had a massive hole through his body.
"Please, open your eyes..."
The woman was gently stroking the man's face with trembling hands, her pink hair soaked in blood, though she paid it no mind and continued.
"Please... please... I’m begging you. It’s all my fault. I’ll do anything... please!"
The woman beyond the hole kept caressing the man’s cheek, desperately pleading.
She was dressed in white, yet why did she seem so dark? The dissonance was unsettling, and Yuria watched with trembling eyes, unsure of why she was dressed like that or who the man in her arms was. As these unanswered questions began to weigh heavily on her, her heartbeat quickened.
"...Who’s there?"
Crash!
With a murderous voice, the woman turned her head, locking eyes with Yuria, who stumbled back, placing a hand on her chest in fear.
From beyond the wall, the woman’s voice echoed faintly, as if she had sensed Yuria’s presence.
"Can you use healing magic?"
"..."
"I... I can’t fix anyone anymore."
"..."
"So... so...! This person isn’t getting better...!"
"..."
"Even if I pour all my power into it, he’s not getting better."
"..."
"Can you save him?"
The woman spoke to Yuria with cold, murderous intent.
"If you can... I’ll spare you."
As soon as the woman's chilling voice faded, a powerful energy surged toward Yuria, causing the dark room to crack.
Crack.
As if something was about to break in, the dark space began to shatter, pieces falling away as light seeped in.
Crack, crack, crash!
Just as the woman’s hand began to emerge through the hole—
The dark space shattered, and Yuria’s vision began to brighten.
"Gasp... gasp..."
Drenched in sweat, Yuria sat up, gasping for air.
"What was that?"
It had been a nightmare.
A terrifyingly vivid nightmare.
Another peaceful day at the Lady’s mansion.
After returning from the valley, I bathed the Lady, then tucked her in with the blanket pulled up to her neck and closed my eyes.
Night had fallen.
Originally, we had planned to camp in a cave, but since the rain had stopped, we gave up on the idea and returned home. Now, I sighed in regret.
"Ricardo." "Yes?" "The rain stopped." "...Indeed, it did." "Do you want to keep playing?" "It’s midnight." "Humph."
Camping under the night sky would’ve been fun.
But I decided I couldn’t have a noble lady sleeping in a cave, so I brought her back to the mansion through the dark, and we quickly prepared for bed.
If there was one special event today...
"Ricardo." "Yes, my lady?" "There aren’t any ghosts, are there?" "I wouldn’t know." "Eek!"
Tonight, there was an event where the Lady and I would sleep together. Honestly, I didn’t think it was such a bad deal. I might even prefer this over the romantic idea of camping out.
Not that I was looking forward to sneakily touching the Lady’s treasure pouch. After all, I’ve been her loyal servant for 13 years.
I glanced at the Lady, who lay beside me in the narrow bed, and smiled softly.
"But, my lady." "Hm?" "Why are you in my bed?" "Just felt like it. It’s been a while since I’ve laid in your bed, Ricardo." "Your bed is bigger." "I let Gomtangi use it tonight." "...?"
The Lady buried her face in my chest and mumbled a short goodnight.
"Goodnight." "..." "Snore... snore...!"
It seemed like I wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight.
As soon as I closed my eyes, a strange scene unfolded before me. I had thought that, thanks to the Lady’s snoring, I wouldn’t be able to sleep...
‘Was her snoring a lullaby?’
Surprisingly, I fell asleep to the rhythm of the Lady’s snoring and, with a rueful smile, lifted my head.
It was nice to dream after such a long time.
Was this my first dream since becoming a Sword Master?
After reaching a level where I no longer needed to sleep, I hadn’t dreamed at all. This first dream in a long while made me smile with curiosity.
I’d wanted to dream something a little more risqué, though.
Like bathing with the Lady. Or the Lady in a bikini. Or the Lady’s under—anyway.
A blue sky. Birds flying. And then—
"Kill!"
The shout of someone filled with murderous intent.
I looked around awkwardly, filled with disappointment at this strange dream.
It was chaos.
Soldiers wielding swords surrounded me. Blood covered the battlefield. And there I was, holding a sword.
‘What’s going on?’
Surveying the scene, I noticed something.
The dark brown armor belonged to the Imperial Army. The white armor, completely mismatched with the battlefield, belonged to the cultists.
I let out a bitter laugh at the incongruity of the situation. The Imperial Army was being pushed back.
‘They’re losing.’
Outwardly, it looked even, but after analyzing the situation, I could tell the Imperial Army was at a disadvantage. I shook my head.
‘Even in a dream, I’m supposed to work?’
This arrogant dream made me sigh. Was this the fate of someone who’s possessed?
To top it off, this scene wasn’t even part of the novel.
‘Ugh, so annoying.’
It didn’t seem like the Imperial Army was losing because of poor quality. This was an elite group. No, it felt like there was no one on the battlefield capable of dealing with the core of the cultists.
Loen was probably guarding the Emperor. The Tower Master was likely protecting the magic tower. The strongest person on this battlefield was probably...
"Kill!!!"
A silver-haired boy—or rather, a girl—Mikhail.
It felt like I was looking at a future far ahead, during the full-scale war between the Empire and the cultists.
Mikhail’s sword radiated a white aura as she cut down her enemies, carefully avoiding their vital points. I couldn’t help but be impressed.
"This place is under my command. Move the wounded quickly, I’ll join the others afterward." "Yes, understood!" "There’s no time! Hurry!"
As expected, the main character is the main character.
I nodded at Mikhail’s calm command and shifted my gaze. Not far away, I heard an explosion.
A massive pillar of flame.
"Damn it! An ambush out of nowhere! It’s hard enough dealing with one archbishop!" "Kraaaagh! Kill that magician! In the name of God!" "God, my ass. Go find your mom, why don’t you."
Luine’s magic was raining down on the battlefield.
Everyone seemed to have grown well.
As protagonists of the novel. As comrades I could trust. Seeing how they had all grown into such reliable figures filled me with admiration.
And then—
Shhh...
A sword swung cleanly, and I let out an impressed sigh at the Crown Prince’s swordsmanship. He hadn’t been idle either.
Seeing the protagonists doing their best to seize victory on the battlefield was reassuring. At least in this dream, they were doing their part. I wished they could do the same in reality, but perhaps that was asking too much.
‘...Sigh.’
There were familiar faces among the cultists’ forces.
"Well, well... Isn’t that Mikhail? Did you like my gift from the capital?" "Damn it..." "My masterpiece!"
The mantis was there. The archbishops I had killed were there too.
And then—
"Disciple of the Spire, have you lost your way?" "Shit." "Pray to God. /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ So that you may go to a better place."
The Apostle of Mercy, Olaf, was also present on the battlefield.
It was a complete disaster. This battlefield. Though their numbers were even, the Empire was no match in quality. It was as if—
‘This looks unwinnable.’
The battlefield seemed to whisper of the Empire’s inevitable defeat. The strength of those present wasn’t yet enough to reach the Apostles.
No matter how strong they were, how could they win against an Apostle who could stitch their body back together after being torn apart? Honestly, I still didn’t understand how I managed to defeat an Apostle.
I shook my head and moved past them.
Eventually, I came to a halt in front of a group of Imperial soldiers surrounding someone.
They were launching an overwhelming offensive.
It was as if they believed that killing this person would secure victory in the war, so generals, magicians, and even Malik had joined the offensive, pouring everything they had into the attack.
But—
"Why?"
The person enduring the onslaught stood there unbothered.
His skill was overwhelming.
Despite Malik’s best efforts, gritting his teeth and unleashing a barrage of sword energy, the man remained calm, barely reacting.
Though the man’s face was obscured by the onslaught, I could tell at a glance that he possessed power on par with an Apostle.
And then—
Boom!
A woman broke through the ranks, charging toward the man with all her might, determined to kill him.
I let out a faint chuckle at the sight of the woman. I hadn’t realized she had such resolve.
"I’ll kill you...!"
"...Why?"
"I’ll tear you apart, shred you to pieces..."
"Why do you hate me so much?"
It was Yuria.
The woman, drenched in divine power and radiating both hatred and sorrow. Her body was already showing signs of overusing her holy magic, but despite that, she continued to pour divine power into her attacks, her hatred for the man in front of her driving her on. She looked different from the Yuria I knew.
‘Wow...’
She’s terrifying.
Is this what Yuria looks like when she’s angry? I should probably avoid getting on her bad side. I shuddered slightly at the thought.
Then, as I caught a glimpse of the man through the fading offensive, my breath stopped for a moment.
‘Wait...’
"I’ve lost so much because of you all."
‘Why am I there?’
"What did I do to deserve such anger?"
The person enduring the attack, the one standing alone, was me—only I had longer hair. With red hair and wielding Tyrfing, I was fending off Yuria’s offensive.
I looked... grim.
My face was handsome enough, but there was a heaviness to it, as if I were forcing myself to appear cheerful.
The expression I wore as I smiled at Yuria was complicated, as though I had a lot on my mind.
Of course, Yuria couldn’t have noticed.
"I’ll kill you."
"Why? Do you want to kill me like you did the other archbishops?"
"I’ll kill you with my own hands."
"Oh... Is this because of your father? Or is it because of that friend, Kyla, from the academy?"
"Shut up... Don’t you dare say her name with that filthy mouth."
"Pffft... Hahaha! This is ridiculous. You’re such a fool..."
"Ricardo!!!"
‘Wow...’
Even I thought dream-me was a piece of trash. I looked like such a third-rate villain that I wanted to punch myself.
In the dream, I swung my sword wide, taunting Yuria with a twisted smile.
"Still, have hope. Your father isn’t dead yet."
"...You think I’ll believe that?"
"Oh... What will you do if you don’t believe me? What can you even do?"
"..."
"He’s still alive, so don’t worry. Oh, of course, I never said he’s still human."
"You bastard!"
Dream-me coldly continued speaking as Yuria’s fury grew.
"Why? You took something precious from me too, so isn’t it only fair?"
"...Watch your words."
"Why act surprised? You knew what revenge could turn someone into."
"...You."
"Elixir."
"..."
"Bring it to me. Before I kill everyone."
As my sword carved a black void in the air, consuming the space around it, Yuria was sent flying.
Dream-me placed the tip of Tyrfing’s blade to Yuria’s neck as she lay struggling to keep her eyes open. I murmured something to her in a calm voice.
I couldn’t hear what I said, but—
It looked like I was saying, ‘I’m sorry.’
Yuria grabbed my ankle, her eyes filled with murderous intent.
"I’ll kill you."
Smiling, I responded to her.
"That would be nice."
"Wow..."
"???"
Back in the waking world, the Lady, who had been picking her nose, held out her finger to me.
"Wanna taste?"
"...What?"
"It’s good."
"...?"
I flopped back onto the bed, sighing at the Lady’s innocent face, and thought to myself.
It felt like I had just dreamed the most absurd nonsense.
"Don’t ignore me!"
"Enjoy your meal, my lady."
"Grr... fine."
"Wait! Don’t actually eat it."
"Grr..."
Really.
"Then give it to Gomtangi."
That dream... was utter nonsense.