Richard's corpse collapsed lifelessly to the ground, and the undead servants trailing behind him froze as if a power source had been suddenly cut off, before one by one falling down as well.
The noisy forest regained its silence in that instant.
"Huff huff! Huff huff!"
The heavy sound of Lynch's breathing echoed through the woods.
After a while...
"Clang!" The heavy Cross Sword dropped to the ground.
Lynch sank down onto the ground, exhausted.
His gaze was dazed—sometimes falling upon Richard's body, the head severed cleanly from it, and sometimes shifting to the nearby undead servants—as though struggling to process what had just occurred.
"I... I did it? Did I really do it?"
He could hardly believe it.
It was a strange mix of emotions. Joy? Excitement? Perhaps all of these. But above all, an overwhelming exhaustion.
It felt as though all the strength had been drained from his body, leaving him utterly spent; his spirit sagged in unparalleled weakness. At this moment, all he wished for was to collapse onto the ground, sleep deeply, and escape from the burden of thinking or acting.
But the tree desires silence, and yet the wind does not cease.
Before Lynch could catch his breath, a plume of black smoke suddenly rose from Richard's body. The smoke hovered midair like a hunting hound sniffing for prey, then darted forward like an arrow directly toward Lynch.
Lynch was too drained to evade; the speed was far beyond anything he could react to. In an instant, the black smoke burrowed into his body.
One catastrophe followed another!
Before Lynch could comprehend what the black smoke was about, a deafening rumble—'Boom! Boom!'—sounded near his ears. He looked up and saw an enormous figure climbing up the slope, its long arms reaching outward.
It was none other than the horrifying alchemy creation that always stayed at Richard's side!
"Ha... Haha!"
Watching the towering monstrosity before him, Lynch was struck with an inexplicable bitterness. All his efforts, his struggles, his desperate fight to survive—it all seemed like a cruel joke. Was this the way fate toyed with him?
He didn't bother to dwell on why the spellcaster's death hadn't stopped the servants from moving, why they could operate autonomously. He simply gave in to despair, closing his eyes in resignation.
Yet the anticipated outcome—death—never arrived. Lynch waited, and waited, but still, nothing happened.
Slowly, his survival instincts began stirring again, taking hold of his rational mind.
He opened his eyes, only to discover that the alchemy creation before him wasn't attacking him. Its behavior... seemed odd.
It stood on the grass, swiveling its head to look around. First, it directed its gaze at Richard's fallen body, then raised its two long mechanical arms to examine them closely. Afterward, it lowered its head to inspect its torso, as if scrutinizing itself.
The pair of cold, emotionless eyes that were once devoid of life now carried a spark of expression.
Sorrow? Grief? And a touch of desolation?
After staring for a while, a tear slid from the corner of the creature's eye. Without a word, it moved its massive frame with a melancholic air and slowly walked away, vanishing into the depths of the forest.
"This is..."
The sudden twist of events took Lynch entirely by surprise. Only after the creature had disappeared into the distance did he feel the thrilling rush of surviving such calamity.
"That black smoke!"
A memory flashed in his mind—the black smoke just moments ago. He hurriedly sat up and carefully began examining his body.
After an intense inspection, he found no visible abnormalities. Yet, there was now a black-marked symbol imprinted on his chest.
"An imprint... Is this a Spiritual Imprint?"
The mark's sensation reminded him of the Spiritual Imprint that the Tower had once planted on the apprentices—but this one seemed deeper, more profound.
Unable to deduce its nature after extensive checking, Lynch gave up. Seeing that it didn't seem harmful, he decided to address the matter later, once he returned.
"Lynch..."
A voice called to him from the bushes nearby. It was Yuri, whom Lynch had hidden there.
Lynch immediately rose, dragging his fatigued body toward the voice. He parted the bushes and helped Yuri out.
Yuri's condition was dire; his face was pale beyond recognition, his body devoid of strength. The wound on his chest had worsened, turning larger, while his internal organs had been completely corroded.
The power of the Dissolving Beam was simply overwhelming—even the regenerative cells of an Abyss Worm were no match for it.
At this moment, Yuri was nothing more than a flickering flame, moments away from extinguishing.
Lynch pulled out a plant from his Space Pocket, chewed it, and applied it to Yuri's wound.
Yuri weakly waved his hand. "Save yourself the effort. I won't make it."
Lynch responded, "This is paralysis grass. It'll ease the pain, so you can pass on with dignity."
Yuri tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Ha... Haha."
Then, he began laughing.
Facing the imminence of death, the knight bore no trace of fear or unwillingness. Instead, he appeared utterly at peace.
After laughing for a moment, Yuri remarked, "So you're not a fool after all."
"No..."
"Compared to you, all of us look like fools." He sighed deeply, his gaze drifting toward Richard's body.
He had witnessed everything earlier—the way Lynch had lured Richard into the Corrupted Forest, leveraged the magical plants there to attack him, and ultimately orchestrated a one-on-one confrontation that ended with Lynch's courageous and decisive counterattack.
In terms of intelligence, bravery, and personal combat ability, Lynch outshone all the apprentices of their generation.
He had clawed his way to survival in a situation destined to end in death.
Yuri exhaled a sigh of regret. "What a pity—only now do I realize who you truly are. Fighting alongside you is the greatest honor of my life. If only I'd understood sooner... I imagine we'd have been fast friends."
Lynch shrugged. "We already are."
"Ha... Haha... Cough!"
Laughing turned into choking, and blood spilled from Yuri's mouth.
Knowing his time was running short, Yuri seized Lynch's arm urgently. "Lynch, since we're friends, I have a favor to ask. I hope you'll agree."
Lynch replied, "Say it."
Yuri pointed to the Cross Sword lying on the ground. "My homeland is the Tulip Domain in Saladin Kingdom. It's a prosperous place—you'll find people who know of it within Saladin Kingdom."
Lynch nodded. "I've heard of it. Flowers bloom there year-round."
Yuri smiled. "You're quite the scholar."
After a brief pause, he continued, "If you ever make it to the human world, I hope you'll visit my homeland and deliver my Cross Sword to my father."
"And..."
With great effort, Yuri removed the Space Pocket from his belt. "Inside this are some Magic Stones I've gathered and a collection of materials. I need you to do me a favor—to buy something crucial for me. The rest of the items will be yours. Please, it's a matter of honor!"
Using the last of his strength, he clutched Lynch's arm firmly with a serious expression.
Lynch understood how vital these final words were to Yuri. Solemnly, he promised, "As long as it's within my power, I swear to do it."
Yuri added, "I promised Alice I'd gift her a magic wand like yours that could transform, but now I can't deliver it myself... I can only entrust it to you..."
The word "you" barely escaped Yuri's lips before his voice fell silent, his eyes losing their light.
"Yuri? Yuri?"
Lynch called out several times but received no answer.
He fell into a heavy silence.
After a moment, he smiled bitterly at Yuri's corpse and muttered, "You really are the embodiment of naivety. How could you be so gullible and innocent? That woman—she's just a manipulative green tea bitch... A scheming green tea you didn't see through, huh? A simp, Yuri—a complete simp! In your next life, keep your eyes open."
He kept smiling through his words, but as he did, tears streamed down his face.