The trees cracked under the weight of frost and chaos.
Blades of wind cutting through the frozen forest like howls.
Frost and shattered bark filled the air, ice creeping along the roots and trunks like veins of death.
And in the middle of it all.
Noah stood, spear in hand, chest rising and falling heavily, blood running down his arms, his body bruised and worn.
Across from him, the old butler brushed ash off his shoulder.
Unfazed by the raw battlefield around them.
His tuck sword remained gripped in one hand.
The other neatly tucked behind his back.
Nnot once breaking the illusion of discipline.
He stepped beside the maid, whose poison-drenched blade still shimmered green, lips twitching into a tight smile.
The butler said calmly, his eyes fixed on Noah.
"...the young master has one of the sin curses.
The maid tilted her head.
The old man said, wiping a bit of dried blood off his cheek with the back of his hand.
"Anyone who harbors intent to kill him… their limbs shatter upon contact.
It activates on proximity and intent."
"That little monster."
Her body trembled, not with fear but with fury.
A sickly green mist erupted from her feet, swirling upward like smoke from the underworld.
Her eyes glowed an unnatural green, pulsing, her breath fogging in short bursts.
Behind her, the air rippled as poisoned daggers began to materialize in a perfect circle, floating and rotating around her like a twisted halo.
"I'll strip that blessing from your bones."
With a furious scream, she launched the first wave of daggers.
They spiraled toward Noah like a swarm of angry insects.
They were green, glowing, and dripping with venom that could kill beasts ten times his size.
Noah spun, twisting his spear to deflect one, two...but the third nicked his shoulder.
Then the fourth slashed his ribs.
The fifth grazed his thigh.
He staggered, and the system's voice echoed in his mind.
[Warning: Detection of advanced poison in bloodstream! ]
「Organ functions are beginning to shut down 」
「Mana channels compromised」
「Magic usage restricted」
「Estimated time before system shutdown: 4 minutes 」
His breaths became ragged.
Cold sweat dripped down his neck from the sheer fear of what was happening inside his body.
He whispered, stumbling as his knee buckled.
He tried to cast a second-circle spell, even something basic.
'If I had I was a demonic disciple like the previous game route, things would probably have been different...
This stupid sin curse isn't even doing anything...what the hell?'
It was like trying to drink from a shattered cup.
The daggers circling her faster now, green flames dancing in her hair like a crown of madness.
"Try using your precious little spear now!
Or has your magic finally left you, boy?!"
Noah gritted his teeth, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
It wasn't air that came out.
He was drowning from the inside.
And still, his hands wouldn't let go of the spear.
He saw the butler darting forward again.
The sharp lunge of his tuck sword nearly invisible.
Noah barely leaned away in time.
The blade nicked the side of his neck.
Not enough to kill, but enough to remind him...this was it.
His body was dying from over exacting itself.
In fact it was admirable how much he was holding on when he had gone way past his limit.
He took another hit, barely parrying.
His breath was shallow now.
Noah fell to one knee.
His hands trembled as he stabbed the spear into the ground to support himself.
The world had gone quiet.
Noah was on his knees.
The ground beneath him had turned brittle.
Grass froze, wilting into jagged icicles that cracked beneath his fingers.
Wildflowers, once swaying gently under the light breeze, crystallized into fragile ghosts of themselves.
Then shattered with a soft, haunting tinkling sound as if mourning alongside him.
All around him, nature retreated in fear.
Or maybe it was pity.
His hands, still trembling, slick with sweat and blood, dug into the soil.
The weight of his body sagged forward, his spine curving as if the world had finally leaned too far on him and he was done trying to hold it back.
The two Black Vassals approached, silent as shadows.
Their presence drew closer, but Noah didn't raise his head.
He didn't lift his arms.
His breathing was shallow.
One corner of his lip was split.
His face was pale, drawn.
He wasn't trying to hide the pain anymore.
His eyes were wide open but unfocused.
That thought clung to him.
His mind, once sharp, clever and always plotting,now felt like glass after a storm.
Reflecting a thousand memories, but none of them made sense anymore.
None of them made him feel whole.
He could hear the crunch of boots behind him.
They were coming to finish what they'd started.
But even that... didn't stir him.
'Let them,' he thought.
His fingers curled into fists, but it was weak.
"Was any of this worth it?"
He whispered, more to himself than anyone else.
His voice was hoarse and fragile.
This time as Hajun, not the cold mask he wore at Ravenwood.
He let the words bleed out.
"I can only help but laugh at all the things that have happened...
I only wanted to prove this world could get a better ending..."
His throat tightened.
"I only wanted to survive...in this body at first...
But the world kept pushing.
Kept dragging me deeper.
So I played the role... I made myself cruel, just so I wouldn't get eaten alive."
His head dipped lower.
His forehead nearly touched the ground.
"Even if I win… what's left of me?
I don't even know who I am anymore."
Not just from the battle, but something deeper—something that had been building all along.
He could hear Elira's faint giggle now.
She wanted to see him break.
"Should I just… let go?"
"Would I wake up back in my world?
Or is this hell just another layer?
Another punishment for wanting something better?"
He didn't know anymore.
The weight in his chest.
The despair curling like a cold hand around his spine.
His mana was all depleted and gone.
His organs burned with poison and over exaction.
His arms barely moved.
All that was left was this moment.
Give up… or keep going.