ITITPS 19

Chapter : 19

First—Serena isn’t dead yet.

Second—she’s close enough to hear us talk.

Her hearing is nearly as sharp as a beastkin’s, so the only possible locations are within three rooms—front or back.

Front, or back. A fifty-fifty chance.
Pick wrong and the lie I told earlier is blown wide open.

I hid my tension and prodded Eris casually.

“Nice trick, copying Serena. But how’d you sneak into the boiler room? Ilya should’ve been blocking the way.”

“Oh? So what you said earlier really wasn’t a lie?”

I’d taken a guess—lucky it was the right one.

Eris now seemed to fully believe my lie, and began bragging freely about what she’d done.

“How I got into the boiler room? Might sound impossible from a human perspective, but I can walk just fine on top of a moving train!

Carrying one puny human is nothing!
I just opened the outer ceiling and climbed in—so of course we never ran into each other—wahahaha!”

Yeah right. As if someone could walk on a 600 km/h maglev train.

Honestly, strutting like it’s impressive just because she managed it on a 20 km/h steam train? Spare me.

Her specialties: cruel pranks.
Her hobby: bragging.
Bonus trait: loves the sound of her own explanations.

Unlike the others—who swing fists first and talk later—Eris was actually one of the easier ones to kill.

[(Attack now—I’ve heard enough)]
[(Listen a little longer)]

I know everything about Eris—her powers and her personality.
Now that I knew where Serena was, I didn’t need anything else.

Without hesitation, I chose the first option.

“Right! And for your information, this body is one of the Four Generals serving—”

No need to hear another word.

My avatar’s twin-chainblade shot toward her like a striking serpent.

And then—

RRRRRRIP!
A massive wall of earth erupted from the floor of the train, rising between us.

My blade dug halfway through the earthen barrier—
but did not reach Eris.

Suspended mid-air after the failed strike, a chill ran down my spine.

Wait. If that happens—

SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!

A horrifying shriek split my eardrums.

Shoving a pillar of earth through a speeding train meant only one thing—it would slow down.

The massive metal beast, pierced through with multiple earth walls, screamed in protest.

KUGUGUNG!
KWAANG!
The rear carriages slammed together in a chain collision, momentum ramming them forward.
The boom rattled my entire body.

“Ngh!”

[HP slightly reduced.]

The impact flung me backward.
My spine hit the wall with a crash.
It didn’t hurt, but my full HP bar dipped down a notch.

The train, forced to a grinding halt, finally began slowing.

Right about now, Mikael and Ilya would be rushing this way.

“You really are rude. Hey, Hero—didn’t you know when the villain starts explaining, the protagonist is supposed to politely listen? It’s basic manners.”

“…Yeah… sure…”

“No sincerity in that answer at all!”

I simply saw no point in responding.
I had zero intention of engaging in a dumb conversation with Eris.

—Crap!

The ground rumbled ominously beneath me.
I sprang to my right.

CRASH!

The floor I’d been standing on moments ago shattered.

Splintered wood, split by the earlier earth piercing, sprayed razor-sharp fragments across my cheek.

Warm blood dripped down my face.

[You are exposed to dense mana.]
[Warning! HP dropped to YELLOW zone.]

Hrk. Thick blood rose up my throat.

While I spat crimson onto the floor, dodging further attacks—

“Asha!”

“Anastasia!”

Two voices—feral and rough, sweet and beautiful—rang from behind me.

Still airborne, I twisted into a backward flip and shouted to them,

“Ilya! Mikael! Get back!”

[(Push them aside and take the hit)]
[(Ignore them and focus on attacking fake Serena)]

My voice vanished before it even reached them.

5, 4, 3…
A choice nearly identical to last time.
My answer was already decided.

With one second left, I picked the first option.

Reacting instantly, my avatar shoved both men away—

“A—Asha!”

[Ilya’s affection +10]
[Mikael’s affection +5]

THUD.

“Ugh…!”

With a satisfying crunch, a sharp spear of hardened earth stabbed through my abdomen.

***

“Ashaaaaa!”

A pillar of earth burst from the floor and impaled Asha’s stomach.

Blood sprayed.
Asha doubled over, coughing violently.

Ilya was thrown back into a nightmare he’d lived once already.

He screamed, desperation boiling from deep inside.

He would not lose her again—
Not again.

His pale fingertips darkened to demonic grey.

The thick mana unique to the demon race—normally sealed entirely within him—began seeping out.

“My lord! Are you insane?! Asha’s hurting!”

The roar snapped Ilya back just before he lost control.

Asha’s arm trembled—likely from his loose magic aura.
His heart dropped into a cold pit.

Asha isn’t like before. If I release my power…

Asha might die because of him.

That was a truth far too terrifying for Ilya to bear.

Shaking, he forced himself calm and rushed to support her.
His fingers slowly faded back to white.

“Ilya, wait.”

But Asha was already standing.

Despite the gaping hole in her stomach, blood spilling down her front, she pressed her hand over the wound without a single change in expression.

Her composure nearly made Ilya cry.

She motioned him close.
He bent at once.
Her lips brushed his ear.

“Serena’s in the boiler room. So…”

“…U-understood.”

His breathing was ragged, voice hoarse.

Asha leapt away like a cat, silent and swift.

Kicking off walls and twisting mid-air—
movements Ilya could never hope to mimic.

He unsheathed his sword, regret burning in his chest.

If my past self had joined her sooner…

Ilya had never fought an earth demon before.

He only joined the hero’s party after Asha had already resolved the kidnapping case, the train incident, and the slave market.

Asha never reminisced about enemies she killed.
She only faced forward.

Ilya, with his own childhood scars and silence, had never asked for details.

“You don’t need to pay attention to me.”
“But I want to.”
“…I don’t understand you.”

Among all the polite cold shoulders he offered everyone,
Asha was the only one who kept walking toward him.

Time passed, trust grew—but Ilya never exchanged deep talk with the others.

Thus, all he knew was the simple fact:
“Asha’s group killed an earth demon on a train.”

“My lord! Focus!”

“My apologies!”

Lost in thought, Ilya snapped back as Mikael swung his curved blade.

Mikael intercepted the fake Serena charging after Asha.

Mikael guarded the boiler room hall.
Ilya stood before the door to Car 2.

Their blades clashed against the demon’s, sparks flying.

“Hey! Three-on-one is cheating!”

“Didn’t you know? Demons are supposed to be ganged up on. Unless—”

Oh no. He’s starting again.

Ilya sighed at Mikael.

The party’s No.1 aggro magnet—
the man with the Nightmare Mouth—
Mikael slowly looked the demon up and down.

His red eyes curved upward in a mocking smirk.

“Pfft.”

“W-What?! Why’re you laughing like that?!”

She’s fallen for it.

Ilya clicked his tongue.

How could a high-ranking demon have zero dignity?

Every demon he’d met after joining, like Wind’s Pan and Fire’s Lef, radiated overwhelming presence.

But this one?
Almost laughable.

“No, no! Don’t mind me! I just find it kinda pathetic—how a demon trembles at two humans attacking at once~”

“WHAT?!”

The switch flipped.
Fake Serena flared up like a firework, turning beet red with rage.

“You’ll regret saying that!”

“Funny—dying types always say that.”

RRRRRRUMBLE!

The floor surged beneath them.
Ilya carved footholds through rising walls of dirt.

Mikael spun his blade, whipping dust into a storm.

Only the hero’s holy sword could kill a high demon.

He clenched his teeth—refusing the familiar hopelessness.

They just needed to buy time.
Until Asha returned.

***

CRACK!
I smashed the locked wooden door and burst into the boiler room.

The train had stopped, yet boiling heat still slammed into me.

“Serena!”

Serena lay collapsed, bound tightly in black cloth.
Blood dripped from a wound in her right shoulder.

She must’ve fought at first—but had fainted from exhaustion.

I tore a strip of her robe and pressed it to the wound, pulled the gag from her mouth, then slashed the bindings.

“KYAAAACK!”

“Yikes.”

Just as expected—the cloth was part of Eris.
I sliced away the demon blood with my holy sword.

Serena is taller than me by ten centimeters—but my current strength is just a hair short of Ilya’s.

I sheathed the sword and was about to lift her when Serena’s eyes fluttered open.

“Asha…?”

“Serena! You back with me?”

“Seems that way.”

She grimaced, clutching her head as she slowly sat up.

“The others are fighting the demon. So listen—Serena.”

Afraid Eris might hear through the earth, I whispered.

Serena blinked her blue eyes.

“No problem for me—wait. Asha.”

She stopped mid-nod—eyes dropping to my stomach.

Looks like she’d only now realized the injury.

Her pupils trembled wildly.

“Your stomach—!!”