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Chapter 117
I startled backward with a gasp.
At that, he raised his eyebrows and stopped in place.
"How are you feeling? Is your head not hurting?"
Enoch asked me in his usual manner, though his face bore an uncanny, inhuman quality. I pressed my temples repeatedly.
I seemed to be seeing hallucinations.
"I feel terrible. My head hurts terribly. I'm seeing things that aren't there."
Just as Kaiden, standing beside Enoch, was about to respond to my answer, he opened his mouth.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps ‌‌‌echoed from somewhere. The earthen ground trembled faintly.
All their gazes, which had been fixed on ‌‌me, turned toward the direction of ‌‌‌the sound.
"It ‌‌seems ‌‌monsters are approaching in numbers."
At Enoch's words, ‌‌‌Kaiden spat out ‌‌a curse.
"Damn it, Margaret. Explanations later—cooperate with me now. We're going to seal your mana using your mana auxiliary device."
"What? Why?"
"That's... there's no ‌‌time to explain. I'm sorry."
Kaiden forcibly grabbed my ‌‌‌hand, the one wearing the ring. ‌‌‌
I was so startled in that moment that I shook off ‌‌his hand ‌‌‌and stepped back.
Kaiden looked at me with a bewildered expression. ‌‌
"...temporarily seal Margaret's mana..."
I had definitely heard those words yesterday.
Was it really not a dream?
"Explain even if there's no time. Why are you sealing my mana?"
"That's... because it's dangerous for you."
He spoke as if coaxing a small child with candy—not truthful words, but hollow reassurances ‌‌meant to calm me.
"We don't seem to have time to delay like this."
Rujeep approached me slowly. Another wave of headache crashed over me, and Rujeep's face twisted grotesquely.
Damn it, what is this? I keep seeing things that aren't there.
I shook my head with my face deeply furrowed and stepped back. The three men then looked at me with expressions of confusion.
"What are you planning to do after sealing my mana?"
"...Perhaps the most dangerous person is Margaret..."
"If that's the case, wouldn't it be worth ‌trying a test...?"
"Even if we test and kill her, it won't be too late...?"
If yesterday's conversation wasn't a dream, then perhaps they're planning to test me right ‌‌‌‌now. And if ‌‌they determine I'm a threat, they might kill me.
Yes, perhaps ‌‌I've been trusting these men too much all this while. Hadn't they ‌‌‌‌distrusted and disliked me from the moment we first met?
Could it be that I've been too naive with them?
The musty stench grew thicker. Feeling nauseous from the sickening, dizzying smell, I touched my forehead.
With my ‌‌head aching, I grew increasingly angry, and rage surged within me. Waves of injustice ‌‌‌and sorrow ‌‌crashed over me. Not only was my judgment clouded, but I kept hearing strange auditory hallucinations.
"What is this, Margaret? Wait, what's going on here? I think there's been a misunderstanding?"
Kaiden looked at me ‌‌with an awkward expression. Overwhelmed by creeping exhaustion, I exhaled a sigh with my brows furrowed.
"I can't believe anything ‌you say right now. I wish you'd explained things clearly before this misunderstanding took root."
"That's not it, Margaret...."
Kaiden took a step toward me, and in that instant, his face transformed into a savage form just like the others.
Horns sprouted from his head, his face elongated like a horse's, and when he opened his mouth, sharp teeth gleamed menacingly.
I stumbled backward in shock, and he licked his lips as he looked at me.
Men wearing ‌‌‌the masks of monsters crept slowly toward me. I drew out a flare and aimed it to keep them at bay.
Three men with faces so terrifying they made my skin crawl simultaneously raised their hands.
Watching them, I slowly picked up the bag that had fallen to the ground. Silver Earthworm, who had been watching carefully, quickly clung to the bag's strap.
Thud.
Thud.
A massive boom echoed from somewhere again. The heavy, searching footsteps made me tense instantly. They resembled the gait of the Orangutan Monster.
"Margaret, are you alright? Your nose is bleeding."
When a monster wearing Enoch's voice approached, I aimed the flare at it.
"It seems the toxic gas hasn't fully been detoxified yet?"
A monster wearing Kaiden's voice shouted. Its tone was higher than before.
Toxic gas? What had I been poisoned by? My head throbbed terribly and I felt awful, but it didn't feel like poison intoxication.
I tilted my head in confusion and rubbed my nose. Just as Enoch said, my nose was indeed bleeding. A hollow laugh escaped me.
Was my body falling apart? There was nothing strange about that. Both my mind and body felt like they'd reached their limits.
Perhaps that hypothesis I'd formed long ago was correct. Maybe all of this was an experiment pushing us without magic to our breaking point.
But what does the experimenter gain from doing this?
'Regardless, ‌I'm exhausted. I truly want to rest now.'
I slowly opened and closed my eyes, surveying ‌‌‌‌the three men ‌‌carefully.
"I've truly done my absolute best all this time."
Hollow laughter continued to pour ‌‌‌‌out of me.
"I've agonized countless times over whether I should just escape and survive alone."
My chest heaved up and down. My emotions surged as my heart began to race, and heat rushed to my head. ‌‌‌
I took ‌slow, deep breaths, trying to calm myself. Then I spoke steadily to the three men.
"Men who ‌‌hated ‌‌‌me from the start, despised me, doubted me, and caused me pain. What affection could there possibly be?"
Sigh.
As my emotions intensified, I drew in a deep breath. My eyes ‌‌burned hot. Unable to control my turbulent feelings, tears finally fell.
My emotions were strangely beyond my control.
"Margaret."
"Don't move."
I slightly adjusted the flare I'd ‌‌been aiming at the monster wearing Enoch's voice, now targeting the one wearing Kaiden's voice.
I roughly wiped away the tears streaming down my cheeks.
This heightened sensitivity I'd reached was itself the result of my efforts to subdue Anaconda and save everyone.
Since awakening on this Island, had there ever been a moment when I didn't act for ‌‌their ‌‌sake?
I'd endured every conceivable hardship, and now I was even seeing hallucinations. Memories of all the sacrifices I'd made for them flooded back, filling me with profound doubt.
"It seems I really need to move separately ‌‌‌‌now. I don't care what your intentions were—I hate being used."
"Margaret, it's a misunderstanding."
"I told you so. I wish you'd explained before a misunderstanding arose."
"No, there wasn't time to explain...."
A deep, resonant growl echoed through the air.
At that moment, a Monster finally emerged from the Thicket, pushing through the vegetation.
Blood dripped steadily.
This time, the nosebleed felt heavier than before. I wiped my nose roughly ‌‌‌‌with the back of my hand and ‌slowly retreated backward.
Enoch, Kaiden, and Rujeep all turned their urgent gazes between ‌‌me and the Monster.
The Monster charged toward us, and I immediately lowered the hammer of the flare gun and pulled the trigger.
A sharp crack split the air.
The flare struck the Monster's body, and its form exploded outward. But the real problem was the horde of Monsters that came pouring in ‌afterward.
My companions seemed too preoccupied with the Monsters rushing at them to approach me.
In that gap, I spun around and ran with all my speed.
"Margaret!"
A cry that sounded almost like a scream came from behind me, but I had no mind to consider their condition now.
Yes, it seemed the time had finally come for me to reach the Bunker alone.
My heart pounded rapidly. My breath came ‌‌‌‌‌in gasps, and my head still spun dizzily.
I ran without pause.
And I succeeded in completely losing Enoch ‌‌and his group.
It was only later that I realized I had been poisoned by the Anaconda's toxic gas.
* * *
The night before the incident,
After defeating the Anaconda Monster and carrying the collapsed Margaret to safety within the Barrier, Enoch ‌‌‌‌‌gazed at it with an anxious expression.
"Margaret is unconscious, and I'm uncertain how long the Barrier will hold."
Kaiden, who had hoisted Diego onto his back and entered the Barrier, examined it alongside Enoch.
"Still, since we reinforced the Barrier not long ago, it should hold until morning."
As they watched the Monsters swarming toward ‌‌‌the Barrier with tense faces, ‌‌Rujeep hurriedly brought a medical kit and began treating the unconscious Margaret and Diego.
Around the Barrier lay two massive Anaconda corpses, and strangely-shaped Monsters prowled the perimeter.
They sniffed the air as if searching for something, circling the area restlessly.
Kaiden, standing within the ‌‌Barrier and observing them, spoke quietly.
"They don't seem ‌‌‌to be searching ‌‌‌for Margaret."
Enoch nodded as if it were of little consequence.
"Monsters have been doing that for days now."
Kaiden regarded Enoch with complicated eyes.
Perhaps I think more rationally than Enoch does, he thought. ‌‌‌
Enoch is blind ‌when it comes to ‌‌‌‌Margaret. He is obsessed with her. That's why ‌‌he cannot judge her objectively.
I am not at that level yet. I could die for Margaret, but I am not ‌‌obsessed with her like Enoch is.
So perhaps it would be better if I made the rational judgments about Margaret going forward. ‌‌
The Monsters prowled around the Barrier for a long time before gradually disappearing. Only then did Enoch and Kaiden step away from the Barrier and check on Margaret's condition.
Fortunately, Margaret appeared to have no injuries, but her complexion was poor. Rujeep placed a hand on Margaret's cheek to assess her state and sighed.
"She appears to be poisoned by the Anaconda's toxic gas. The symptoms resemble those from ‌‌‌‌when ‌‌‌three people were poisoned by Anaconda gas on ‌‌‌the South Island and collapsed."

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