---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------

Chapter 116
The massive Anaconda resting its body against the cave ceiling noticed my movement, and in that instant, it began turning its head toward ‌‌‌me.
Screeeech!
The ‌‌Silver Earthworm in the distance unleashed a tremendous burst of flame, ‌‌‌ventilating the surroundings. The ‌‌Anaconda's gaze shifted back toward it.
Watching Enoch and Diego struggling against ‌‌another Anaconda in the distance, I climbed onto the body of the ‌‌Anaconda boasting an absurdly thick frame.
The scales were slippery, making the ascent considerably difficult, but since the creature wasn't making any major movements, I managed to reach its head safely.
Kneeling on one knee ‌‌‌‌atop the Anaconda's head, I shouted toward Enoch.
"Enoch! Get away!!"
Enoch, who had been frantically driving his sword into the Anaconda's head, belatedly noticed me. He quickly withdrew his blade and descended along the creature's scales.
I aimed a flare round at the body, avoiding the section where Diego was caught, then pulled the trigger.
Whoosh—! Boom! Crash!
The Anaconda's body shattered from the direct hit of the burning projectile. The ‌‌creature shrieked ‌and writhed in agony, and in the process, Diego's clothes tore as he was caught between its teeth, sending him plummeting downward.
Before I could even confirm Diego's fate, the Anaconda beneath my feet moved.
If Jenath was watching us through these Anacondas' eyes—
If he truly was the Island's architect—
Then I had ‌‌to show him.
That no ‌‌‌‌matter what he desired, things would never go his way.
"Damn ‌‌it. I'm not dying pathetically like this."
I rapidly descended along the Anaconda's head, and the moment it opened its mouth, I hooked my feet on its lower jaw, gripped its upper ‌‌‌jaw with my hands, aimed a flare round into its mouth, ‌‌‌and pulled the trigger.
Boom!
Kwaaaaaaagh!
The Anaconda's head exploded with its death cry, and the recoil sent me flying.
As the head burst apart, a putrid purple gas spread through the air, and in that moment, I inadvertently inhaled the fumes.
But plummeting toward the ground left ‌‌me no time to dwell on such things.
As I approached the rough earth below with my eyes squeezed shut, someone barely caught me. It was ‌‌‌Enoch and Kaiden.
The two men spread their arms to catch me, then looked alarmed as they checked my condition. My lower back was somewhat sore, but at least I was still alive.
I couldn't yet confirm what had happened to Diego, but everyone else seemed to be unharmed.
'Thank goodness.' ‌
Of course, ‌‌‌‌it was fortunate for them—not for me.
The putrid stench that had accompanied ‌‌the purple smoke seemed ‌‌to linger in the air around me. My head spun as if I might vomit, and my stomach ‌‌‌churned with nausea. ‌‌‌‌
Cradled in Enoch and Kaiden's arms, I lost consciousness.
* * *
When I came to, the sun was blazing at midday.
I was lying on soft leaves, and Kaiden's robe draped gently across my shoulders.
My body felt incredibly heavy. ‌‌‌Had I caught another illness? It seemed I had finally collapsed under the weight of accumulated exhaustion. Like a waterlogged sponge, my body was so heavy I had no desire to rise.
'My head aches terribly too.'
Accompanied by a severe headache, my mind felt tangled and dizzy. My consciousness was hazy.
A foul stench wafted from somewhere.
'What is that smell?'
It was unmistakably the same one I had detected just before losing consciousness.
The stench was exactly like rotting mold, and a hazy smoke seemed to fill the air ‌around me.
I wondered how everyone else was doing, but the desire to escape this nauseating headache was far more pressing. Eventually, I closed my eyes to try sleeping a bit longer.
Then, a small sound reached my ears from behind. It seemed everyone had gathered and settled behind me.
"Margaret, are you awake?"
"Doesn't seem like it."
Kaiden's and Enoch's voices came in turn. Along with rustling ‌‌‌‌sounds, I could hear the crackling of firewood burning.
"What about Diego?"
"He hasn't regained consciousness yet."
Rujeep answered ‌‌Enoch's question. Since Diego fell to the ground, I hadn't been able to confirm whether he was alive or dead, and it seemed his condition was indeed serious.
I wanted to get up and hear the details, but my eyelids felt heavy and my body felt heavy too. I ‌‌‌‌‌decided to just listen to their conversation in silence.
"What on earth happened?"
Enoch explained calmly in response to Rujeep's question.
"Diego and I were surveying the area around the Barrier when we encountered a group of Anacondas. They seemed to be searching for something. This wasn't even their original habitat, but it appears that after evolving, they no longer distinguish between habitats."
Rujeep opened his mouth upon hearing those words.
"I've been thinking about this for ‍‌a while, but the Monsters seem unusually aggressive toward Flone Young Lady. I've even wondered if Monsters are being drawn here because of her. I'm not blaming her—it's purely ‌‌‌‌a question. Why might that be?"
A long silence fell over Rujeep's question.
Enoch and Kaiden said nothing, and only the crackling sound of burning firewood lingered in the ‌‌air.
After a while, Kaiden spoke first.
"Margaret is certainly suspicious. At first, I even wondered if she might be a spy wearing Margaret's face."
"That's a plausible theory. Flone Young Lady has certainly changed enough that you could say she's become a different person."
As I listened to Rujeep and Kaiden's words, I quietly swallowed my breath.
I naturally expected them to view me with suspicion, and because of that, I had once even considered running away alone.
But I thought ‌‌‌‌that after spending all this time together, we had long since moved past the stage of such suspicion...
It seemed I had been far too careless.
After Rujeep finished ‌speaking, Kaiden lowered his voice even further.
Because of that, their voices came and went, becoming difficult to hear. The conversation was so fragmented that ‌I felt frustrated trying to follow the flow.
"When the time comes... ‌‌‌Margaret will definitely be the key..."
The words I could barely ‌‌make out sounded terribly ominous.
"The way she freely handles magical artifacts is also suspicious... Honestly, even the Eastern Continent language..."
"...Margaret might be the most dangerous person..."
My mouth went dry at the fragmentary conversation.
"...temporarily seal Margaret's magical power..."
"...run a test..."
And the flow of the conversation that followed was utterly shocking.
My mind went ‌completely blank.
Were these really the people I had come to know? Was I dreaming right now?
No. I must have misheard. These men who had shown me infinite trust until now couldn't possibly suddenly call me suspicious, test me, and talk about killing me if they didn't like what they found.
I must be ‌‌mishearing this, surely.
"How exactly would we seal the magical power..."
But the conversation that followed only heightened my anxiety. Now I couldn't even tell who was speaking.
My lips trembled uncontrollably. The stench of rotting mold continued to assault my nostrils, and my mind ‌grew increasingly hazy.
"The magical artifact the Crown Prince provided...."
"And lure the Monsters... verify the test's success, then... we simply kill her."
Wait, what?
Am I hearing this correctly? They're saying they'll lure Monsters to kill me, right now?
"...agree with Rodban's words.... ...seal her away... ‌‌‌‌‌and Margaret.... ...when she wakes tomorrow... we'll ‌‌proceed accordingly." ‌
With those words, the conversation ended.
I wanted to dismiss it as a mishearing and ask them what they ‌‌‌‌‌meant.
But it felt as though a tiny spark that had remained dormant within me suddenly ignited.
'The immutable law of the original work'.
No matter how the story twisted, it would ultimately proceed according to the original narrative—such was the law.
Was I perhaps destined to be killed by the male leads in some other manner?
'...No, get a grip.'
Confused as I was, the Kaiden and Enoch I knew would never do such a thing. Never.
Just yesterday, they had shown me unwavering trust and faith. Yes, there was no way they would. ‌‌‌‌
'But if they've been driven to extreme circumstances and felt their lives threatened, couldn't their ‌‌‌‌‌judgment momentarily falter?'
Such ominous thoughts kept ‌‌creeping in.
'I'll ask them directly tomorrow, depending on how things seem.'
The Enoch and Kaiden I knew would surely laugh and ask what nonsense that was. And they might embrace me, telling ‌‌‌me not to worry.
With that thought, my ‌‌‌heart eased considerably. I drifted quietly to sleep.
* * *
The next morning, ‌‌‌
the headache persisted. The foul stench I'd smelled yesterday continued to linger at the tip of my nose.
I scanned my surroundings, but I couldn't locate the source ‌‌‌of the smell.
'Perhaps it's just a sensation.'
I yawned and tilted my head. My senses might ‌‌‌have been heightened because my sleep had been restless the night before.
'Yes, everything I heard yesterday must have ‌‌‌‌‌been a dream.'
I ‌‌‌‌tried to dismiss ‌it that way, but the atmosphere among our group felt decidedly off.
Enoch was always difficult to read by expression alone, so I overlooked him, but Rujeep and Kaiden were definitely suspicious.
Rujeep watching me so obviously, Kaiden observing me ‌‌‌‌persistently, and Diego still lying down with his eyes closed and bandages wrapped around his body.
The atmosphere was ‌hardly conducive to asking about the conversation I'd overheard last night.
"Margaret, are you feeling alright?"
Enoch approached me. In that instant, a tremendous headache struck, and my vision blurred.
And above Enoch's head, as I looked at him, grotesque horns suddenly sprouted. His face twisted savagely, his lips split wide into a sinister smile.

---------------
Brought to you by Valir ‌‌‌Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------