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As Todd's fingers barely intertwined with Vasha's, her body, which had been helplessly drawn upward by the puppet strings binding her limbs, suddenly came to a halt.
Above Todd, Vasha's violet hair cascaded down like clusters of wisteria blossoms.
"Kh…!"
Todd quickly realized one hand wasn't enough to hold her. Making a snap decision, he gripped Vasha's hand tightly with both of his. But her body showed no sign of coming down.
"Damn it, what the hell is that door?!"
He threw all his weight into pulling her down, but Todd was too light for it to make much of a difference. Soon enough, even his own body began to float up, following Vasha into the air.
"Ugh…!"
Still, Todd refused to let go of her hand. It was pure stubborn determination.
A piercing light stabbed at his corneas like needles. But instead of closing his eyes, Todd forced them wide open with resolve.
That light.
It always took something from him.
Just like when he lost his family, he couldn't just stand by and watch helplessly with his hands hanging. Todd clung to Vasha with all his might.
Before he could float any higher, someone unexpectedly threw himself forward and barely caught hold of Todd, Matteus.
Pulling hard on Todd's waist, Matteus muttered internally with frustration.
'Seriously… What the hell am I even doing right now?'
Just moments ago, the Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil had activated, a vampire had suddenly appeared, and now some mysterious portal was sucking the vampire in! The entire situation was beyond what Matteus could make sense of. But what he understood the least… was why he had jumped in.
He wasn't forced into it, he chose to help the vampire. And yet, his body had moved on its own.
'Ha, maybe I got attached just because we escaped from the Menorah together.'
While Matteus was busy sarcastically chastising himself, Todd could feel Vasha's hand, slick with sweat, slipping through his grasp. He grit his teeth.
Vasha looked down at him desperately. She wanted to squeeze his hand back, to hold on, but no strength came to her.
'No wonder I thought things were going too well…'
Her previous ordeal hadn't even ended, yet a power had conveniently appeared and aided her. She had found it suspicious from the start.
Fortune is as fragile as a thin glass, easy to shatter.
Yes, it had helped her save Todd from the Strigon, but the moment that goal was achieved, it shattered like glass.
Just like stepping on those shattered glass shards left wounds behind, the aftermath of the luck that Rasa had granted her was excruciating.
Vasha didn't know exactly what Rasa was, but she wasn't clueless either. Given the talk of 'rewards' and being brought into this world, it was clear the being behind it all was no ordinary force.
No matter how much she struggled, Vasha would never escape Rasa's grasp.
'In the end… I won't be able to escape this door.'
It wasn't so much resignation as it was a rational conclusion.
If that were the case, she should at least say something to Todd before they were separated. After all, Todd knew nothing about what was happening.
'Because I never told him anything…'
But there was no time left for regret. And Vasha wasn't in a condition to say much anyway. At most, she'd be able to get a few words out.
Forcing down the blood welling in her throat, Vasha looked down at Todd, his face pale as he gazed up at her, and spoke with effort.
"I'll… be okay… So, make sure… huff… you eat properly, okay? Kh! And, stop… huff rushing into dangerous places like you always do…"
"Damn it, why are you talking like that? Don't give up! Something like this, we can get through it…!"
Todd's head was tilted back so far it looked like his neck might snap. His eyes shimmered with moisture, but he stubbornly refused to cry. The bloodshot whites of his eyes showed how fiercely he was trying to hold himself together.
But as time passed, even Todd, who desperately denied the reality, began to grasp what the outcome would be.
And then, as if a dam had burst, tears finally slid down his cheeks, tears that had only welled up before, even in the face of death.
"Ah…"
Vasha let out a soft sigh.
In all the months they had spent together, Todd had never cried. Not once. Even when haunted by nightmares of his family's death, he'd only contorted his face, never shedding a tear.
It was as if crying meant revealing a weakness, and so he always lashed out like a porcupine, barbed and aggressive on all sides.
But today, Todd had cried, twice. And it was both times because of Vasha.
His usually guarded expression had crumbled, and his still-youthful cheeks were soaked with tears.
At first, she had been secretly touched that Todd had cared so much about her. But now, she just wished he wouldn't worry about her at all.
'Just as I thought… this kid looks better when he's smiling than crying…'
Her usual proud, smug self, the one who scoffed at Todd for not knowing obvious things, seemed to flicker and overlap with the Todd standing there now.
Would Todd be okay after she disappeared like this?
Unable to shake her concern for him, Vasha struggled to speak, forcing each word out.
"I'm… just going away for a little while, that's all… Still, I'm… huff… your contractor… huff and you… are my familiar…"
Raspy breaths and the sound of blood bubbling filled the spaces between her words.
Todd could only watch helplessly as Vasha struggled. Tears streamed steadily down his face.
"No…"
He shook his head violently, rejecting everything she was saying.
"Then take me with you! Don't leave me alone again!"
Vasha, too, thought she might actually feel more at ease if that were possible.
But that door wasn't going to accommodate her wishes.
'If we end up in the same place, that's the best-case scenario… but if we get separated…'
The thought of Todd becoming lost and alone in another world sent chills down her spine.
Considering all the potential side effects of teleportation magic, landing in a random location would actually be on the better end. In the worst case, only a part of Todd's body might make it through.
With her resolve firm, Vasha gave Todd the best smile she could manage.
If this was goodbye, who knew when, or if, they'd meet again.
She didn't want his last memory of her to be her coughing up blood.
FWIP—!
As if the door had run out of patience with the delay, something radiant shot out from it and wrapped tightly around Vasha.
Her body, now completely bound, was violently pulled toward the light.
Their hands, still clasped together, began to slip apart under the force. Todd reached out again and again to hold onto her hand, but in the very last moment, Vasha suddenly jerked her hand free.
"Vashaaaa!"
"I'll come back. I promise."
With those final words, Vasha, still smiling, was fully consumed by the light and disappeared into the door.
Pop!
As though night had closed its eyes, a gate of light rose with its back to the night sky, and then shut.
What remained was only suffocating silence and chilling darkness.
As the upward pull vanished, their balance was thrown off, and both Matteus and Todd, who had been dragging Vasha down with all their might, tumbled to the ground.
Thud!
"Ugh!"
Matteus struggled to lift himself up. Perhaps it was because of the exhausting day he had, but even just falling felt like being beaten all over.
Before his eyes, he saw a small figure curled up tightly on the ground, not moving an inch.
"Hey, kid… are you alright?"
Matteus called out worriedly, but it was in vain, Todd didn't seem to hear a thing. As if in disbelief, Todd blindly groped at the dirt.
"Aaah…"
She had just been there a moment ago. He had barely breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had escaped from Strigon safely…
Why give hope at all?
It was as if the world itself had declared that he was incapable of protecting anything.
Everything that had happened so far now felt like a lie. Only the trace of Vasha's blood left on Todd's clothes testified to her disappearance.
Scratch.
Unable to accept the reality in front of him, Todd's nails dug deep into the dirt, leaving long trails.
He could still vividly feel Vasha's hand in his own. But now, all his palm held was damp earth.
Desperately, again and again, Todd clawed at the ground. And then, something shiny caught his eye.
It was the golden goblet, a legacy of Van Drake, which had fallen from his arms during the fall.
If only it hadn't been for that goblet…
If he hadn't gone to the auction house, he wouldn't have crossed paths with Strigon. And if that hadn't happened, Vasha wouldn't have had to rush in to confront Strigon on his behalf.
All of this, because of that goblet.
…And if that's the case, then ultimately, it's my fault for wanting it back.
After all his revenge was over, it was just a meaningless object. But Todd's lingering attachment to it…
<Did you get what you came for?>
The image of Vasha, who only relaxed once she saw Todd had recovered what he was after, floated faintly before his eyes.
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