IBDFSML Chapter 49

How much time had passed?

"…Ugh."

I slowly opened my eyes, my consciousness faint and hazy.

'…What happened?'

My whole body ached, like I had tumbled down a flight of stairs.

I barely managed to lift my head and look around.

'…This place.'

It was the desolate, snowy field I'd grown tired of seeing over the past few days.

As if the string of recent events had all been a lie, peaceful clouds drifted above my head, and quiet breaths puffed from my mouth like mist.

I lay there blinking for a moment, but then suddenly jolted upright in alarm.

"…Sion?!"

'What happened to Sion?!'

Right before I lost consciousness, Sion had pulled me into his arms, shielding me with his body. He had protected me from the impact.

But even so, I still fainted.

That could only mean… Sion must have taken an even greater blow.

'No way…….'

Unconsciously, the original novel came to mind.

In the original, Sion had died alone, just like this, in a lonely, white snowfield.

A rush of fear and anxiety overwhelmed me.

I immediately scrambled up and cried out his name with all my might.

"Sion! Where are you, Sion!!!"

'Please…'

Just then, something bumped against the back of my head.

"…!?"

Startled, I spun around, and saw something half-buried in the snow.

It was Sion's hand.

"…!!!"

I sprang forward and frantically began digging through the snow with both hands.

First his hand, then his arm, and eventually his face came into view, his eyes were closed.

I brushed the snow off his face in a panic and desperately called out to him.

"Sion, wake up!"

But Sion's cold, rigid body didn't move a muscle.

My heart dropped in an instant.

'No matter how strong Sion is, he's in danger if he's unconscious!'

In the original story too, even powerful aura users like Sion and the main male lead, despite having great resistance to extreme cold, would fall into critical condition if they lost consciousness. Once unconscious, they couldn't circulate their inner aura and would be at risk of hypothermia.

I hurriedly touched Sion's face.

'…Too cold.'

My hands were also frozen stiff, but I could still feel how cold his face was.

Worse yet, his complexion was deathly pale, and his lips had turned blue.

I slapped his cheeks lightly.

I needed to wake him up, somehow.

"Sion, wake up! Open your eyes!"

But there was no response.

"Ugh, what do I do……?"

Tears welled up in my eyes from the growing panic.

Meanwhile, more snow began to fall and cover Sion's face again. I used my body and wings to shield him from the cold.

'No… I just barely started changing Sion's fate! I can't let him die again, so alone and miserable like before…!'

Gritting my teeth, I pulled with all my strength, trying to lift Sion's body.

It was no use.

"…Ugh… sob…"

Helplessness and frustration welled up inside me, and tears spilled over.

For the first time since becoming Sion's fan fairy, I truly resented myself.

"…What kind of 'fan fairy' am I…? Change his fate? What a joke…! If this is how it's going to be, I should've been made into something stronger, something that could actually protect Sion, not this tiny, useless fairy form…!!!"

I shouted into the air.

Then...

Ding!

[You have acquired the fan skill!

<Devotion That Transcends Species>]

A system message appeared before my eyes.

"Devotion… that transcends species?"

It was a new fan skill, one I hadn't seen in what felt like a million years.

In a daze, I read the skill description below.

[<Devotion That Transcends Species>: True devotion transcends even the limits of species! Your sincere heart for your favorite won't be bound by any constraint. With unwavering passion, transcend the species barrier for your fave!]

"…!!!"

My eyes widened.

I wasn't sure how, but out of the desperate need to save Sion, and the painful helplessness I felt in this tiny body, this new fan skill had been born.

"In that case…!"

Steeling myself, I focused on Sion and activated the new skill.

"<Devotion That Transcends Species>…!!"

At the same time, a blinding light burst from around my heart.

Flash—!

"…!!!???"

The light rapidly expanded, enveloping my entire floating body.

'Wh-What is this…!?'

My whole body was engulfed in a warm, fuzzy sensation.

And just as I started to feel like something was off with my sense of balance...

Thud.

My feet touched the ground.

With a strange feeling, I looked down.

And then, I involuntarily let out a sound.

"…Huh?"

What I saw were not the stubby little legs of a fairy barely three heads tall, but long, normal human legs.

"…Wha-Whaaa?!"

I instinctively looked down at my hands.

Just the same, they were no longer tiny fairy fingers, but long, slender human ones.

It finally hit me.

"No way… I turned into a human?!"

Apparently, this new fan skill came with a temporary "human transformation" effect.

'If that's the case…!'

I moved my arms and legs, checking the functionality of my new body, patting myself here and there.

Thankfully, the pajamas I had been wearing as a fairy, the pink coat Sion had made for me, and the warm winter boots had all resized themselves perfectly to my new human form.

I had narrowly avoided the tragic fate of growing in size and freezing naked next to Sion.

I hurried over to Sion and shouted.

"Alright! Don't worry anymore, Sion! I'll take care of everything… somehow!"

I quickly brushed the snow off his body with both hands.

Then, I gently lifted his upper body and draped one of his arms over my shoulder.

"Heave-ho…!"

I looked around frantically.

'First things first, I need to get us out of this snow and cold!'

Even more than myself, I had to keep Sion's body warm until he regained consciousness.

That's when I noticed a rocky cliff nearby, and in it, a crevice just big enough to fit two people.

"…Perfect."

I decided I had to move Sion there no matter what.

I steadied my breath, clenched my teeth, and hoisted Sion onto my back.

"Hyaaah…!"

And immediately collapsed into the snow under his weight.

Sion's tall frame was far too heavy for me to carry.

'Damn it.'

Grunting, I wriggled out from under him.

"Huff, huff… What's the point of turning human if I'm still this weak…?"

So much for the transformation, I was still a flimsy weakling with zero strength.

'But I can't give up!'

If I let go now, both Sion and I would freeze to death together.

'Just 10 meters. I just need to go 10 meters!'

I stood up again, brushing snow off myself, and looked down at Sion lying sprawled in the snow.

This time, instead of trying to carry him on my back, I grabbed the edge of the robe attached to the shoulder of his armor and wrapped it around my body, pulling with all the strength I had.

"Eyaaaah…!!!"

Rustle—

'It's working!'

Thanks to the soft, freshly fallen snow, Sion's body began to slide, little by little.

It wasn't exactly a graceful sight, dragging him like a sack of rice, but I trudged through the snow step by step.

At last, I finally reached the crevice in the cliff.

"Haa… Haa……"

It was smaller and darker than expected inside, but spacious enough for two people to escape the blizzard.

Using the last of my strength, I dragged Sion inside, then collapsed beside him.

"…Haa, haa, haa……"

As I caught my breath and glanced over, Sion's eyes were still closed, his face still pale.

'I have to warm him up…'