I Became the Emperor’s Sleeping Pill - Chapter 82

Schedule: Tuesday and Friday

“I don’t know. We can talk later. We need to save these people first. The longer we wait, the more lives are at stake.”

“Yes! But we have to talk later, Sister. There’s so much I need to tell you!”

“Alright.”

With a nod to Luigia, Lysei called over Trey, who was approaching them. “If you still have some of His Majesty’s blood, please coat my blade with it.”

Trey pulled a small vial from inside his coat and carefully poured its contents onto Lysei’s sword.

“Then, I wish you good fortune.”

At Lysei’s words, Luigia cheered, “Fighting!” and grabbed Trey’s hand. Lysei echoed the cheer and extended her hand to Edin.

Edin, thrilled that the unsettling events he’d witnessed since the street parade would now be faced alongside Lysei, grasped her hand. As soon as their hands met, he saw the swirling black smoke before them. With her by his side, he was certain the dark magic posed no threat.

Lysei, with her eyes that could see the Empire’s most dangerous threat—dark magic—and himself, with the ability to neutralize it. If this wasn’t fate, he didn’t know what was. Completely forgetting that there was another person who could also see dark magic, Edin charged toward the encroaching darkness, his mind filled with visions of a future shared with Lysei.

Lysei, too, began to cut through the dark magic with her blood-coated sword. With Edin’s hand in hers, each swing of her blade made the darkness vanish instantly.

“See over there? That’s where the heretics are gathered.” Lysei pointed to a spot where the dark magic was so densely concentrated it appeared as a solid black mass.

Just as Edin had done in the original story, finding and eliminating the heretics who were turning the North into a graveyard of dark magic seemed the quickest way to resolve the situation. With this in mind, Lysei urged Edin toward the mass.

“Sei, we don’t know how many heretics are there. It would be better to clear a path as we go.”

“No, they’ll just keep generating more dark magic. The fastest way to end this is to strike at the heart of their power and kill the heretics directly.”

Edin had considered the same tactic, but the thought of leading Lysei into a potential ambush, where unforeseen dangers could injure her, made him hesitate.

Lysei, realizing his reluctance stemmed from his concern for her, called out to Theor, who was fighting alongside the ducal forces against the Empress’s troops. “Theor! Cover us!”

While Edin hesitated, Lysei pulled him along toward the concentration of dark magic. At her call, Theor quickly divided his forces, sending a contingent to follow close behind them.

As Lysei and Edin neutralized the dark magic on their way to the heretics’ gathering point, the Empress’s forces tried desperately to stop them. Theor and his soldiers swiftly dispatched these opponents, clearing a path for Lysei and Edin.

Despite this being their first coordinated battle, they moved with remarkable synchronicity. Lysei felt a surge of exhilaration.

The visible dark magic was powerless. No matter how the heretics tried to use it against them, Lysei and Edin’s swords effortlessly dispelled it, rendering their efforts futile.

The six heretics, sent to devastate the North, fell easily before Edin and Lysei’s combined assault. With their defeat, the dark magic that had blanketed the village began to dissipate.

In the process of subduing the heretics, four were killed, and two were taken prisoner. This proved to be a grave mistake. To those who wielded dark magic, ropes and soldiers blind to their power were meaningless restraints.

Normally, Edin or Theor would have recognized this. However, the unexpectedly swift suppression of the northern rebellion, coupled with the presence of two individuals capable of seeing dark magic, had led to a lapse in their vigilance.

The two captured heretics used their dark magic to kill their guards and lunged at Lysei and Luigia.

At that moment, Edin and Theor were a short distance away, discussing strategy. Lysei, sensing the dark magic, instinctively swung her sword to deflect the attack aimed at Luigia, only then realizing the danger.

Fortunately, Edin, with his shadow-like ability to teleport, instantly appeared beside Lysei and took the full brunt of the dark magic attack, shielding her from harm.

However, weakened from neutralizing so much dark magic and having just used his shadow step, Edin collapsed unconscious from the direct hit.

“Edin! …Edin, wake up…!” Lysei cradled him while deflecting the incoming dark magic with her sword.

“Trey!” She cried out, reaching for him.

Trey rushed to her side, grasped her hand, and with a sweep of the blood-coated sword, eradicated the dark magic before swiftly decapitating the heretics.

The heretics, meant for captivity, were instead met with an immediate and decisive end. Lysei, her voice filled with anguish, cried out again for the unconscious Edin, who had sacrificed himself to protect her.