"Rudeus!"

The moment the boy fell down, Alaric's heart skipped a beat.

Hurriedly, he turned his head back, keeping his mind running at maximum capacity.

What should The King do?

If he were to return there now, they would definitely be surrounded by demons.

If so, wouldn't everything be in vain?

And Alaric didn't have the confidence to fight all of them, especially when he had to protect the injured Rudeus at the same time.

Or should The King keep running?

No!

That wasn't his personality.

If Alaric left Rudeus here, wouldn't that prove that he was a bastard, a piece of shit, a son of a bitch?

If that was the case, what should he do?

"Damn it!"

Right now, he was in a very difficult internal struggle.

The King had two choices.

But ironically, both of them were the worst choices.

"Alaric!"

The King's name came out of Rudeus' mouth.

At that moment, a faint smile appeared on the boy's pale face.

"Keep running! Don't mind me! Don't look back! Don't stop!"

Having been with Alaric for a while, Rudeus naturally understood what was going on in Alaric's mind.

And it wasn't a good thing.

So, the boy made the decision for him.

"But…"

"No buts!"

Rudeus forced himself to stand up despite the pain in his side.

Blood was still flowing out profusely.

This wound was really serious.

"I will live! I will definitely not die! Please trust me!"

With that, Rudeus gritted his teeth and ran away from that place before the demons could catch up.

***

"No…"

Alaric knew that abandoning Rudeus was not the right thing.

But… his body and mind had no intention of returning there.

Why?

Was The King a hypocrite?

"Hah…"

He let out a tired chuckle.

"A hero like me can't even save a kid?"

Then, Alaric clenched his teeth and started to accelerate.

Rudeus had said that the boy would live…

So, as the boy's friend, companion, master, and perhaps even an older brother… The King had to have faith in him.

"Don't disappoint me, Rudeus…"

After saying that, the gun in The King's hand transformed into a sword.

And then, a dense murderous intent flashed in his eyes, of course directed at those demons.

"…I'll kill you all, you rotten demons."

Putting all his strength and will into his arm, Alaric swung his sword with such force that it felt like he could really split a mountain in two.

Whoosh!

***

"So scared…"

This wound was so painful that Rudeus felt as if he could faint from the pain at any moment.

It felt as if he was trapped in the 18th layer of hell.

But…

If one compared the pain Rudeus was experiencing now to the pain he experienced back in that village…

…This was no different from being bitten by an ant to be frank.

And Rudeus being chased by a bunch of ferocious demons?

"Pft!"

The time when he was in that village was a hundred times more desperate than this.

"…Damn it."

Gritting his teeth, trying to crawl forward, Rudeus's body couldn't stop trembling.

"Chase after that brat! He definitely can't run far from here!"

"With that wound, it's hard to even walk, let alone run."

And from behind, he could hear the demons' voices filled with sarcasm.

Damn it!

Alaric was right.

If Rudeus let his guard down even for a moment, if he made even the slightest mistake, death would be certain.

"I'm so scared… I don't want to die…"

The boy's body began to tremble even more than before.

It wasn't because of pain, but because the fear of demons had once again welled up in his chest.

"But..."

But strangely enough... Rudeus didn't feel that much scared.

It was true that he was feeling extremely scared, but this fear was nothing compared to what he felt back in that village.

Why?

"Could it be because... I'm slowly improving?"

A smile suddenly appeared on Rudeus' lips despite the current situation being inappropriate.

"As expected... my method worked."

Drip... Drip... Drip...

While the boy was still muttering, blood was still flowing from his side.

This was not good at all.

Rudeus stopped walking, looked around, confirmed that there was a rather shabby pharmacy nearby, and without delay ran straight inside.

Back when he was still with Alaric, The King had forced Rudeus to remember a lot of information about demons.

For example:

— Demons are the ultimate enemy of humans.

— A single demon can defeat two well-trained knights. Or even more.

— Demons have a lifespan three times longer than humans.

And most importantly…

— Demons are very sensitive to human blood. If a person bleeds, even just a drop, those demons will become like hunting dogs.

Just as Rudeus realized there was a rather deep wound on his side, he immediately recalled Alaric's words.

So, the reason he ran into this area was to use the scent of the dead to hide his own.

However, it wasn't that effective.

Because demons could smell the difference between the blood of the dead and the blood of the living.

That was why Rudeus needed to treat his wound right away.

Fortunately, the pharmacy was quite small, so it didn't take him long to find a bottle of antiseptic.

"...I'll be fine… I'll be fine… I'll be fine…."

After reassuring himself over and over again, Rudeus clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.

Without hesitation, he directly poured the entire bottle of antiseptic onto his still open wound.

"Argh!!!!!!!!!!"

It was a piercing pain.

It was as if Rudeus' entire body had been torn apart, then put back together, only to be torn apart again.

To be honest, the boy wanted to die instantly.

However, Rudeus's unquenchable will to survive allowed him to retain a bit of consciousness.

"Pant… Pant… Pant…"

Not giving himself a chance to rest, he continued to act.

Pulling out a dagger from his waist, Rudeus then placed the blade on the candle that was burning red.

"Gulp…"

Looking at the dagger that had changed color, the boy silently prayed in his heart.

"Please… Gods… Please… Just for once…"

And then… taking a deep breath, the boy pressed the dagger blade against the wound on his side without a moment of hesitation.

"…!"

This inhuman pain only made the boy want to scream loudly right away.

But, Rudeus stopped himself in time by biting down on a towel.

"...It hurts."

Two lines of tears uncontrollably flowed from the corners of Rudeus' eyes.

This pain was truly insane.

But… it was… worth it.

This method was working very well.

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