[Vol. 7] Chapter 270: Back to the Starting Point Again
It was as if two forces were crashing into each other inside the giant gray monster. Its once stable body would suddenly swell up, then violently shrink back down. It even started ripping apart its own body like it was hurting itself.
The scene was pure chaos. Even Prince Xiluo, who had seen it as a mortal enemy, had completely stopped attacking, unsure what to do.
"Princess Carinvega! Sob... Please, stay strong! Hold on! I’ll go find a priest right now!!!"
The [Flying Flower Sword], Yir, had already rushed to Carinvega’s side. Crying while wiping away tears, he desperately poured healing potions into the princess’s mouth.
But it was clear that, even with the highest quality potions Xiluo had provided, they couldn’t heal a heart that had been completely crushed.
The potion slid down her throat but then flowed back out from the corner of her mouth, mixed with blood from her damaged organs.
Because she had lost so much blood, Carinvega’s once bright and beautiful two-colored eyes had lost their shine. Her consciousness was quickly fading away.
"Cough… cough cough... Big brother... cough..."
She tried to move her lips, wanting to say something, but an ordinary human body simply couldn’t keep going under such injuries.
The world in front of her slowly lost all color, and her ears filled with a noisy, buzzing sound.
Through it, she could faintly hear shouting like.
“Get away! Stop pretending to care! This must be your trick! You're alive now—happy?!”
“It wasn’t me! I would never have allowed this to happen… And she is my sister, so you better shut your f*king mouth, or I will f*king kill you.”
—but Carinvega could no longer understand their words clearly.
In her fading consciousness, the girl understood one cruel fact. It was so sudden, so bitter… She was going to die.
Why... why did everything suddenly turn out like this?
No, now that she thought about it, the warning signs had appeared much earlier. She just hadn’t noticed them, because her heart was too confused and worried.
She had relied too much on the "game storyline" and on her vague sense of luck. Because of that, she had lost the sharp instincts she once had.
That strange magician had already attacked them once before, and it had been clear he was targeting Carinvega Frederick specifically.
With all the chaos in Sainz and the weakened defenses, how could he not sneak back into the city?
Looking back now, he must have been an assassin sent by her father, the Emperor. Originally, he was probably supposed to kill her older brother to start a war.
But for some reason, he changed his target at the last moment and turned his weapon toward her instead.
Maybe what her older brother said was right, whether it was Xiluo or herself, to the Emperor, every one of his children was just a useful chess piece, a convenient tool.
When the time came to achieve a bigger goal, he could abandon them without any hesitation or guilt.
The real reason for killing someone from the Imperial family was to start a war, and it had to happen during this moment of chaos to be the most effective.
That's why, back in the [Morst Underground Labyrinth], when the strange magician attacked them, he wasn’t actually trying to kill the princess there.
He already knew Headmaster Lucine would come and stop him. That attack was just a distraction, it gave him a chance to sneak something (or someone) into their group during the confusion.
Orluk had been his real target back then. The enemy used Orluk’s inner doubts and weaknesses, tricked her into working for them, and secretly brought foreign enemies into the Academy City.
Now that she thought about it, Orluk had started acting strange from around that time...
She felt a wave of worry. Were Rosie and the others safe? Would Orluk survive? And what about her big brother...?
Wait. Hold on. Wasn’t she supposed to be dead? Why could she still think about all these things?
The moment she realized how strange that was, the foggy chaos around her suddenly cleared up, like clouds being swept away.
Carinvega looked around in shock. She found herself standing completely naked in a world of nothingness.
There was no sky, no ground, no edges. Only endless white mist all around her. It felt like she was the only thing that existed here.
"Where... is this place?"
No—wait!
She knew this place.
Her pupils shrank slightly as a forgotten memory suddenly came back.
Back then, after staying up too late playing the yuri romance game [Starlight Concerto], she had died from exhaustion.
When she lost consciousness, she hadn’t immediately been reborn into another world. Instead, she had first appeared in a place just like this. This vast, empty, white space. She stayed there until a golden star streaked across the sky...
Thinking about it now, this must be a place for souls waiting to be reborn, some kind of "transfer station" between worlds.
She never expected that after dying, she would come back here again. Could it be she was trapped in an endless cycle of reincarnation? Would she be reborn again?
Well, either way, if there really was some god in charge of her rebirth, they should show up soon.
Maybe this time, she could complain a little, try to negotiate for a better life…
Also, what was that golden star she saw back then, anyway...?
While Carinvega was still aimlessly lost in her thoughts, a voice suddenly echoed through the empty space without any warning, making her jump in surprise.
"Hey hey hey~ Can you hear me? Testing, 1-2-3-4-5-6! If you can hear me, say something back, okay?"
"A-A real god actually showed up!?"
Yeah, right!!
That voice, light and playful like a singing bird but also a little annoying, was something she could never forget for as long as she lived!
The nervous feeling she had just now completely disappeared. Feeling a little dumbfounded, the girl quickly looked around, trying to find where the familiar voice was coming from. Then she shouted up at the sky:
"Miss Violet? Is that you talking? Where did you run off to before? And what is this place?!"
"Whoa, slow down... why so many questions right away..."
The voice, definitely Miss Violet's voice, sounded a bit helpless, then lazily dodged the questions and said,
"Anyway, we don't have much time, so let's keep it short. First, yes, your body in the real world is already dead. The one here is your soul. This place... well, I don't really know what it is either. Normally, no one else should be able to reach you here, but I 'borrowed' a little power and managed to talk to you for a while."
"Ah... So I really... already died..."
Hearing such a clear answer from Miss Violet, Carinvega's last bit of hope faded.
Her face darkened for a moment, but she quickly pulled herself together, nodding seriously.
"I understand! So Miss Violet, you came here to help me send a final message, right?! There are a few things I still need to say! First—"
"Whoa, stop stop stop! Who said anything about listening to your last words! Why is your way of thinking always so different from everyone else's..."
Miss Violet’s voice sounded half-laughing, half-crying as she quickly cut her off, then shifted into a much more serious tone.
"Listen carefully, Carinvega. Even though your body has stopped living, it doesn't mean you're truly dead yet. There’s still a real chance to turn this around."
"As long as you can find your true self and find [Them]."