I succeeded in escaping from the Human Realm to the Demon Realm with Kyle and Rene.

As I did, I recalled the last words I threw at Hamel.

I told him the truth was where Terias lost his arm.

I wondered what kind of judgment Hamel would make after seeing it.

Would he feel like the world he knew was being denied, or would he pretend not to know the truth like other humans?

…Perhaps Hamel already knew.

If so, is there still hope for the Demon Realm?

Such thoughts tormented me endlessly.

I could only hope inwardly.

That Hamel was different from other humans.

If Hamel became our enemy, the destruction of the Demon Clan would be inevitable.

No matter how hard I tried, could I possibly succeed where Adel, who possessed such genius potential and ability, had failed?

In a way, the words I left with Hamel at the end were a gamble.

Words that could shake Hamel’s psyche.

Whether it shook Hamel or brought him to my side, it wouldn't hurt.

More importantly,

“…Ugh.”

*Splurt-*

Blood and gastric juices mixed and poured onto the floor.

I had used too much power, and my internal injuries weren’t healing easily.

To make matters worse, I was inside a Gate.

Naturally, my condition could only worsen.

I took a deep breath.

Rene and Kyle still showed no signs of waking up.

‘They’re not dead, are they?’

A sudden wave of anxiety washed over me, and I checked their breathing.

Then, I flinched.

I could feel Kyle’s faint but steady breathing.

But Rene’s breathing was so faint it felt like it would cease at any moment.

“My Lady!”

“…”

There was no answer from Rene.

Her face had turned pale at some point.

My steps grew urgent.

*Thump, thump-*

I squeezed out every last ounce of strength and ran towards the Gate’s exit.

‘Slow. Too slow.’

But there was nothing inside the Gate that I could use to teleport.

In this situation, this was my top speed.

‘Please, let no one die.’

Too many had already died.

I didn’t want to see any more deaths of those around me.

I wanted to save them.

All of them.

*Rumble-*

After pushing myself to the limit, I finally reached the end of the Gate.

I took one step toward the shimmering exit.

The next moment, my body was transported outside the exit.

And the moment I saw the scenery outside…

“…!”

I had to force my eyes open.

In the original story, this Gate I had written connected to ‘somewhere.’

That ‘somewhere’ was, of course, random.

Just like when I first escaped from Arsene’s territory to the Bares family.

And this place wasn’t the Bares mansion.

It was only natural since I had used the Gate near the Nina family to save Rene and Kyle.

Then where was this place?

‘A prison.’

I had fallen into a place blocked by countless iron bars.

I looked around.

The musty smell of moisture and the faint sunlight streaming in between the bars behind me.

Except for that, we had fallen into a place with no light.

“…Damn it.”

I gritted my teeth.

I needed professional medical facilities to treat Rene and Kyle.

If only I had some potions…

But we were helpless, having already used up all the potions Kyle had.

*Sigh.*

‘There must be some way…’

My body continued to rot with each passing moment.

And now I think I knew the penalty for the ‘Body Cohesion’ I had used.

*Slide-*

I felt around one of my eyes.

I hadn’t noticed because of the chaos, but…

Except for the Eye of Arrogance, I couldn’t see out of the other eye.

Permanent loss of sight.

That was the penalty of Body Cohesion.

‘Have I completely lost my sight…’

I felt a wave of despair.

And at the same time, agony.

In fact, losing one eye was inevitable.

I had been overusing the Eye of Arrogance and even used Body Cohesion with Chaos…

Whenever I used the Eye of Arrogance, my other eye had to bear the overload.

If I had used it according to the exact conditions… but I kept forcing the Eye of Arrogance open.

So losing one eye was a foregone conclusion.

…Could my sight be restored?

I sighed as I felt my blind eye.

‘This is the end, isn’t it?’

I thought I had barely escaped from the Human Realm to the Demon Realm…

But to die like this in a place I don’t even know…

But I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.

I took out the information paper from my pocket and used my blood as ink to write down the information I wanted.

『 My location and how to escape. 』

…No answer.

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