Chapter 129
A black abyss reflected in Sylaria’s eyes.
A Maw, exactly her body’s size like a full-length mirror, yawned open before her in a threatening stretch. Facing the wide-open maw, she froze in place.
Inside her ears, her own heartbeat thudded loudly, sharply. Every cell in her body was warning her.
She would die.
At this rate, she would definitely die.
The Maw was far too close. As things stood, she would be sticking her head directly into the jaws of the monster emerging from it. She would be eaten, leaving not even a trace behind.
Sylaria’s fingertips trembled as the certainty of death washed over her. Just then, the Maw, once calm like a still lake, began to churn. The black void rippled as though preparing to vomit something out.
“No!”
Euclid hurled himself forward and snatched her away. In the same motion, he blasted the Maw with divine power and erased it completely. He barely managed to save her and exhaled raggedly.
“Are you alright?”
“…Yes.”
Sylaria answered in a daze. At her reply, Euclid pressed his lips together. With trembling hands, he pulled her into a fierce embrace.
“Haa…”
His deep sigh of relief brushed her ear. Only then did she truly feel she had escaped death.
She had really almost died just now. To have a Maw split open right before her eyes… If Euclid hadn’t reacted instantly, she would no longer belong to this world.
“……”
Still held in Euclid’s arms, Sylaria kneaded her own hands. They were stiff and cold as ice. Euclid grasped her chilled fingers tightly with his warm hand and murmured,
“It’s strange. It feels like someone is deliberately controlling the Maws.”
Sylaria flinched at his words. Now that he mentioned it, it really did seem that way. One appeared out of nowhere on the ceiling, and the next one appeared in the middle of the air as though aimed precisely to kill her.
‘Is that even possible?’
Controlling a Maw. She had never imagined such a thing.
The Empire had always regarded Maws as calamities that befall humans, like torrential rainstorms or earthquakes. Just as no one could manipulate the weather at will, so too were Maws beyond anyone’s control.
If controlling them were possible, the Empire would never have needed Holy Knights to fight monsters at the cost of innocent lives. It would have hunted down the one opening them instead.
But… could she really dismiss this?
Could someone be manipulating Maws from the shadows, beyond the Empire’s knowledge?
Maws appeared irregularly, in wildly varying sizes. Their unpredictability was the very reason they inspired such terror.
But what if all of that were someone’s intent?
What if someone were opening them whenever it suited them?
At the first spark of that possibility, Sylaria’s face turned pale. As she turned to Euclid with troubled eyes, the sound of footsteps approached.
“Good heavens…”
Cressida entered with Arendtert and recoiled in shock. Her face went white as she looked between Euclid, Sylaria, and Grizelle. Finally, she surveyed the wrecked room with a deep frown.
“What on earth happened here?”
“Grizelle, what did you plot while I was away from the palace?”
“Aren…? Why are you saying that? This was all because you—”
“Your Highness! We’ve apprehended an intruder!”
Just as Grizelle moved toward Arendtert to speak, a guard shouted from outside. They dragged in Wilder—dead drunk—and threw him before the Second Prince.
“This man was rummaging through the pantry in the kitchens.”
“What?”
Arendtert pinched his nose at the overwhelming stench of alcohol. Wilder had clearly drunk himself nearly senseless.
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