My Ruin to You - Chapter 95

“…….”

The moment Merrick tried to say something, Valen shook his head, pressing a finger to his lips. Grrrrl. A grotesque growl, like that of a beast rolling in its throat, spread through the wind. It was a sound familiar to all of them—the noise of the infected they heard every night inside the castle.

This time, Roseline heard it clearly too. The moment she took a sharp breath beneath her hood, Valen released her hand.

“Roseline.”
“……Yes.”

Grrrk, gggk.

Even as they spoke, the sounds grew closer. There were too many—both the noises and the presences. He pulled Roseline into an embrace from behind and removed her hood. Then, he pointed into the distance. A small, faint flicker of light shimmered between the dark trees.

“See the light?”
Roseline nodded.

“Cast a barrier around yourself. You have enough magic for that.”
Roseline nodded once more and obediently wrapped a barrier around herself. Then, Valen gripped her shoulders tightly and gave her back a light push.

“Run, Roseline.”
“A-Alone?”

Pushed a couple of steps away by Valen’s force, Roseline spun around to face him. She didn’t like the idea of running away alone in this dire situation, leaving Valen and Merrick behind.

“I’ll be right there. It won’t take long.”
“But……”
“That’s an order.”

His firm tone cut off Roseline’s hesitation as he gestured toward the light with his eyes. Feeling that any further resistance would only be a nuisance, Roseline reluctantly nodded.

“I’ll bring the others. I’ll come back for sure.”

Watching Roseline stagger backward, Valen faintly curved his lips. But the surroundings were too dark for Roseline to see. Taking one last deep breath, Roseline sprinted toward the light.

Tap-tap. Once Roseline’s footsteps had faded into the distance, Valen slowly turned toward the direction where the presence of the infected grew stronger.

“Bow.”

As Valen reached out his hand, Merrick took the bow from his back and handed it to him. Valen lightly pulled the string, as if testing its tension. A taut, tense energy traveled from the bowstring to his fingertips.

“Arrow.”

Merrick drew two arrows from the quiver and passed them to Valen. Valen nocked them together on the string.

Swoosh.

The moment a faint rustling came from beyond the bushes, the bowstring drew taut. A vivid red light flashed at Valen’s fingertips. His magic, imbued in the arrowheads, bloomed like flames, slicing through the dark forest as they flew swiftly.

“Ggrk……!”
“Kkh!”

It was a direct hit. The moment the arrow struck the center of the infected’s forehead, raging flames engulfed its entire body. The fire swallowed the infected from head to toe in an instant, and the blazing flames illuminated the darkness of the forest.

“Huh?”

A hollow laugh burst from Merrick’s lips as he prepared to suppress the flames. About a dozen infected stood before them, each with a chain around their necks like leashes, connected to long metal rods. And at the other end of those rods—people.

Their method was clear, they used the infected to intimidate travelers, then robbed them. There were around twenty of them. Some rode on donkeys, but most stood frozen, gripping axes and spears, blinking in shock. As the chained infected writhed, trying to flee the burning corpses, their handlers strained to keep them under control.

“Oh dear, oh dear. So it’s Manifestors we’ve stumbled upon?”

A man seated on a donkey at the center sneered.

“What a sight.”

Valen, seeing no worth in a reply, rested the bow against Merrick’s chest and turned away.

“Go ahead.”
“Yes, I’ll follow shortly.”

Between the living and the infected, they numbered at least thirty—yet neither Valen, who walked off without hesitation, nor Merrick, left alone, showed even a flicker of concern. If anything, it was the bandits who were rattled. The moment those arrows had struck, burning two infected at once, unease had spread among them. Nervous glances were exchanged.

They knew. If they were facing a Manifestor capable of taking on thirty enemies at once, survival was a distant hope.

A belated regret washed over them. They’d heard it was just some noble girl with a single mercenary—easy pickings. But something had gone wrong. The so-called “escort” didn’t feel like any ordinary man.