Volume 3, Chapter 53 – Gluttony

The figure in front of her was actually someone Yeluo knew.

Lancelot.

Among the entire Knights of the Round Table, he was Fisiel’s most capable assistant, and also the most senior Paladin.

She did not know what had happened to Lancelot, but the fact that the Paladin before her had thrown himself in front of her to block Grinrui’s lethal strike was something that truly existed in reality.

‘Why…?’

‘Why did he save me?’

Yeluo wanted to ask that.

But for some reason, no matter what, she could not open her mouth.

She clearly had already decided not to resist.

She clearly was not of the human race, clearly she was just a lowly Half-beast who could be cast aside at any time.

In the past, Yeluo had stubbornly “talked back” in front of the old Beastman and those other Beastmen, but even that had only been her desperately trying to protect the last shred of dignity left behind by her dead father.

But Yeluo actually understood.

She understood her status in the eyes of the Half-beasts.

She was a chieftain who could be replaced at any time, a chess piece that could be abandoned at will.

Even though she was like that, she had been protected over and over again.

Her mother had died at the hands of the undead for her sake.

Her father had also died at the hands of the undead for her sake.

Those could all be said to be understandable, but now, why would a Paladin who had nothing to do with her want to protect her?

Someone like her simply was not worth it.

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“Hurry and go.”

While Yeluo was staring blankly and thinking of these things, the Lancelot in front of her said those words once more.

At the same time as he gripped Grinrui’s weapon-wielding hands with all his strength, he used a strained voice to speak to Yeluo.

“He is temporarily already under my control. You must hurry and go.”

Hurry and go.

Lancelot’s words seemed to gain a kind of magic and began to echo in Yeluo’s mind.

Almost subconsciously, Yeluo started to slowly retreat.

But after only a few steps back, Yeluo abruptly forced herself to stop retreating.

At this moment, in Yeluo’s heart, while Lancelot’s words kept repeating, there was also a tiny voice shouting “You can’t go” and desperately stopping her.

‘You cannot go.’

‘You cannot go.’

That voice kept repeating those words over and over.

And at the same time, there was another voice constantly repeating and shouting “Hurry and go.”

But did she really, truly want to leave like this?

Yeluo’s gaze could not help but fall on the bracelet around her wrist.

On the bracelet, a faint light was flickering.

“Yes, I cannot go.”

Biting her lip, Yeluo spoke softly, in a voice so low it was as if only she herself could hear it.

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“I cannot go. Maybe I can still save him.”

In the end, as if she had made up her mind about something, Yeluo placed her hand on the bracelet.

Then, she slowly closed her eyes.

After she closed her eyes, Yeluo’s field of vision did not fall into darkness. Instead, what stretched out before her was a world of blood-red.

“Do you desire power?”

It seemed that long ago, a certain voice had asked her that very same question.

“Do you desire power?”

“What kind of power can you give me?”

“The more beautiful, the more precious the memories you trade to me, the stronger the power I will grant you.”

In that blood-red world, that voice spoke this way.

“Then, can it defeat a Legendary?”

“Legendary?”

The voice fell silent for a moment.

“Of that level, it is an easy matter.”

“An easy matter?”

Yeluo was stunned.

She had originally thought Gluttony could only give her power that matched a Legendary, but from what Gluttony was saying, it seemed the power it could grant her was even stronger than Legendary.

“I see. So that is how it is.”

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Having understood, Yeluo could not help but show a self-mocking, bitter smile.

“All this time, the power I could have had was even greater than Legendary? If it is this kind of power, then trading away my most precious memories can be understood.”

“Then, do you desire power?”

“Yes.”

Unlike her resolute refusal before, this time, Yeluo chose to agree.

“Your request has been understood. Beginning memory extraction.”

In just an instant, Yeluo felt a sharp pain in her head.

But after a mere second of agony, there was nothing at all.

“Memory has been extracted. The deal is sealed. Power transfer beginning.”

In that instant, Yeluo began to experience power she had never felt before.

It was as if the entire world had become centered around her. Even if she closed her eyes, she could still easily sense the movements of every blade of grass and every tree around her.

And in front of her, Grinrui, who had once been someone of the Legendary-tier whom she could only look up to, was now, in her eyes, nothing more than an existence that could not withstand a single blow.

In just a second, unprecedented, mighty power filled her entire body.

But…

Yeluo instead felt that her heart had become hollow.

It was as if something most important had been lost, but no matter how she tried to remember, she could not recall it.

And at the same time, Grinrui finally broke free from Lancelot’s hands.

After retreating a few steps and realizing that Lancelot was so exhausted that he could not even open his eyes, he looked with utter disdain at the dying Paladin in front of him.

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“You can still stand even though you cannot open your eyes. Honestly, that really surprises me. But it seems the Half-beast you wanted to save was too scared to run.”

“Well, how does it feel that the person you wanted to save in your final moments refused to appreciate it? Isn’t it pathetic?”

Lancelot struggled painfully to open his mouth to say something, but no sound would come out.

However, in that very instant.

Yeluo, who had been standing behind Lancelot and trembling, suddenly appeared in front of him.

And when Grinrui saw Yeluo suddenly appear right before his eyes, at just a single glance, all his composure vanished. Instead, his eyes opened wide on their own.

At this moment, Yeluo stood with her back to Grinrui. Her gaze, complicated and conflicted, fell on the Lancelot before her whose chest had caved in and who was on the verge of death. She slowly let out a sigh.

“I will not leave. But I promise you, these Beastmen, I can wipe them all out.”

“…”

The dying Paladin, in the end, was still unable to say anything.

Only at the very last moment did a gentle smile appear on the Paladin’s face.

After that, in Yeluo’s eyes, the Paladin turned into countless motes of light and was slowly carried away by the wind.

While Yeluo quietly watched Lancelot slowly fade away, Grinrui had already slipped far away from her.

In the next second, Grinrui, who had put a great distance between himself and Yeluo, saw his vision blur.

Then, the cute cat-eared girl was suddenly standing prettily right in front of him.

“Where did you think you were going, General?”

With that casual greeting, Grinrui felt as if he had been plunged into an icy abyss.