# 68
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“I'm sorry, Elinor.”
“Heck, heck…”
“I wanted to say that the child loves you as much as you love him. But if you are not there for the child, what will he do?”
Matthias calmed Elinor down.
All he wanted was to stop her antics, he didn't want to hurt her.
"Stay by the kid's side until the end. You're his family too, right?"
“But, what do we do now?”
said Elinor, sobbing.
“I have no holy power. Heck, if I didn’t even use the life force I was born with, I wouldn’t have any way to try.”
“Hilliard has held out with nothing for ten years.”
Matthias whispered.
"You've repaired the sealing array, so now all we have to do is find your sister and ask for her help. It's like a ready-made cake that only needs to be placed with candles. Do you think I can't do that?"
“I will do everything as you want. So please, don’t think bad thoughts.”
Pulse pulse.
The sound of a rapidly beating heart rang in Elinor's ears.
The body touching her was very hot.
But Matthias did not leave her.
In fact, he no longer intended to leave her.
He was unbearably anxious, agitated, and frightened.
He wanted to keep it.
Even if you reject him.
Even if he had to offer his remaining life.
Elinor gradually calmed down from her crying.
At some point, Charlotte's urging voice stopped.
Instead, the sound of Matthias's heart and the pure voice of the bird filled the place.
Biiii-
Elinor slowly looked up.
A golden bird was hovering above their heads.
He scatters a bright light, like he did when he protected the child in the dueling tournament.
Swish Swish.
It was as if golden snow was falling.
The light surrounding the black earth was bright, beautiful, and calm.
As if he was comforting the wounded.
Even the dry valley tainted by black magic seemed alive at that moment.
When the light settled sufficiently on the dry ground.
Foom-
Changes began to occur in the quiet valley.
* * *
Late at night, at the entrance to the valley lit by torches.
“One, two.”
“Hey, watch out over there!”
The knights were carefully clearing away the rubble where not even the dust had settled yet.
There was a sudden collapse of the valley wall due to the spreading black magic.
Three wounded and five missing.
It was a major accident that cannot be underestimated.
Especially since among the missing are Duke Hilliard and Elinor, who came to help him.
“Speed up!”
Logan shouted.
"The inside is full of dark magic. We don't have time. Move faster!"
The debris was mixed with contaminated and uncontaminated parts.
So, the knights sprinkled holy water while moving the stones ceaessly.
Their backs were wet with sweat from the hard work, but no one slowed down.
Because a moment of rest may turn missing persons into victims.
Logan bit his lower lip.
“My brother…”
He hoped he would be okay until he found him.
Mathias was Hilliard's backbone.
He was the one who pulled out Hilliard, who was slowly deteriorating due to the problem of black magic contamination.
But if the older brother died in this accident...?
Logan shook his head.
He couldn't even imagine Hilliard's future without Matthias.
Even Logan himf felt that he could not handle the role of Matthias.
He could vigorously guard the borders, and Cornelia administered the territory as an agent.
All of this was possible because Matthias, the Duke, was protecting them from the front.
“This is not the time to think.”
Logan raised his arms as he supervised the knights.
“Instead of thinking about uess things, it is better to remove another stone.”
Then he joined the knights and began removing stones himf.
The moon gradually tilted in the sky.
Meanwhile, the debris blocking the canyon gorge has lessened, and some of the victims who died have been recovered.
But still no sign of Matthias and Elinor.
It was both comforting and disturbing at the same time that time was passing, which only added to the anxiety.
Dawn was beginning to break in the distance across the valley.
The valley was now filled with the breaths of the exhausted.
Logan felt exhausted, his eyes automatically closed, but he gritted his teeth and moved his body.
When he was transporting a large stone.
“Wait?”
There was a small gap through which a single person could move.
Behind that gap, a blurry human ghost appeared.
Logan's face lit up. He quickly removed the stones.
Joy spread across his face.
"Brother! Miss Elinor!"
“Your Highness the Duke!”
Matthias appeared through the narrow gap.
He holds Elinor's hand tightly from behind.
They looked very exhausted, but fortunately, they did not appear to be injured.
The knights ran towards them, shedding tears.
“Your Highness the Duke! Thank God you are fine.”
“We thought a disaster was going to happen. Thank God for your safety.”
“Brother, are you injured?”
At that moment, Elinor felt dizzy and stumbled.
While Logan reflexively tried to grab her, Matthias grabbed her shoulders tightly.
"Are you well?"
“Sorry. I felt dizzy all of a sudden...”
Elinor lowered her head and breathed heavily.
Matthias frowned.
“As I expected, you have exhausted yourf a lot. Using holy power in one go has exhausted you.”
“I said it's not my strength.”
"anyway."
“Brother, is Miss Elinor okay…?”
Logan asked cautiously, watching Matthias.
For some reason, the two seemed to be closer than they were, which made him more cautious.
Matthias nodded.
“No external injuries, but she needs a medical examination. Where is the doctor?”
"Waiting over there. Are you injured, brother?"
"No. Thanks for your rescue efforts, Logan. Now everything is fine."
Logan exhaled a relieved breath.
Maybe because the stress suddenly eased.
He forgot that the mixed ruins also contained parts tainted by black magic, and made the mistake of touching them carelessly.
"Yes."
While he was about to take off his leather gloves,
Biiii-
The golden bird flew out of Elinor and purified the black magic that stained Logan's hand.
Logan examined his hand with wide eyes.
“The dark magic has disappeared…?”
He met Matthias' eyes and said:
“We will clean the valley soon.”
“Brother, do you mean…!”
“Once Miss Elinor recovers, we will begin the refining process. So, inform the knights in advance and prepare them.”
Logan's face lit up.
So did the knights who overheard the conversation.
The dark magic that tormented Hilliard for ten years.
Finally, the day came to get rid of him.
* * *
Charlotte's voice heard in the polluted valley.
Was it just a hallucination caused by black magic?
'I almost actually jumped into the valley...'
In the border castle, to which she returned with difficulty.
Elinor curled up in a tub filled with hot water.
The life force is certainly a great force.
But no matter how powerful the life force was, it could not revive an array covering a huge valley.
Especially if it's one person's life like Elinor's.
But at that time, Elinor did not notice anything strange.
She thought she should follow Charlotte's words.
She thought she was lending a helping hand.
Without realizing that this was leading her to death.