Chapter 66: Dominic Huaton (Part 2)
Kang—!
Sparks flew in the air as the dagger ricocheted away.
It had been aid squarely at Dominic’s forehead, but it was deflected by the violet barrier that shimred into existence mid-air.
For a brief mont, we stood in tense silence. Then Dominic adjusted his glasses and spoke, his voice cold and steady.
“Who are you?”
“Soone who desperately wants you to rest in peace.”
“I don’t recall knowing you, but I am curious about your motives.”
“Oh, you don’t know? Did you kidnap and experint on people without a reason? I don’t have one either. Just die.”
Dominic opened the book floating before him.
He glanced briefly at the golden light radiating from , his expression calm, but his words carried an icy warning.
“If you turn back now, I won’t stop you.”
“A cautious madman? The heart must be weighing heavily on your mind, huh?”
“…….”
“That’s a problem, though. My goal was never your life to begin with.”
As my gaze shifted to the heart above the hill, Dominic’s cheek twitched. The re act of looking at it revealed just how obsessed he was with the heart.
“The heart already has an owner.”
“Yeah, it’s .”
His expression imdiately twisted into sothing feral, as though I’d struck a nerve.
“A worthless creature dares to—”
“Enough with the pretentious act. That’s the real you, isn’t it?”
“Do you truly believe a re human can wield that power?”
“And you think you can?”
“I’m different!”
His face contorted with rage, his voice brimming with unhinged conviction.
I had trampled on the culmination of his desires, and it clearly infuriated him. But you know what, Dominic? I feel the sa way.
If Dominic had been able to fully control the heart, he wouldn’t have t such a pitiful end in the original story.
He would’ve overwheld the Tobaron region, marched past the Elettor Fortress, and exacted his revenge on the Grand Duke beyond.
But that wasn’t how it went.
Sure, he had awakened Arena Huaton, but he couldn’t fully control her.
In the end, he was torn apart by his own daughter in her berserk rampage—a cruel, ironic death befitting a villain who had trampled upon countless lives.
‘Not this ti, though. Because I’m going to kill you first.’
Boom—!
“Ugh!”
The ground heaved violently under the pressure of the ongoing battles. Chira against Chira. Arena against Fenry.
Right now, the conflicts were evenly matched. But if Dominic regained control of the heart’s power, the tide would shift in an instant.
I needed to either finish him off or keep him in check before that happened.
“You fool!”
Dominic placed his hand on the book, and it began to glow with a crimson light.
The light spilled out, flooding the battlefield and driving the nearby Chiras into a frenzy.
The Light of Madness.
This was a side effect of the mana stones embedded in the Chiras, a dangerous light that amplified their madness.
But it was useless against .
I had already consud and conquered that madness to ascend to the third star.
Flash—
The ancient glyph radiating from began to steadily suppress the crimson light.
I reached for one of my remaining daggers—there were only two left—and threw it again.
This ti, it was a normal, unenchanted dagger, carrying no power whatsoever.
Once again, it bounced harmlessly off Dominic’s barrier. He didn’t even spare the dagger a glance, focusing instead on pouring the crimson light toward .
But soon, his expression stiffened.
The light, which could drive anyone who so much as brushed it into madness, wasn’t working on . Even the Chiras under his control hesitated, recoiling from my presence.
An adversary immune to his abilities.
One word flashed through his mind: Nesis.
‘Where did this person co from?’
It was as if I had dropped out of nowhere, appearing at the worst possible mont to ruin his plans.
Sensing the threat I posed, Dominic raised his hand toward the sky.
Boom—!
“……?”
A loud explosion echoed as black rain began to pour from above.
The range was too vast to avoid.
When the rain touched my skin, my expression hardened imdiately.
‘Chira fluids?’
Having been swallowed by a Chira before, I recognized the foul substance instantly.
Dominic must have prepared this for hunting Mimics—and now he was using it on .
‘This is bad.’
The fluids couldn’t be neutralized by Sacred Power.
Could I finish this before the paralyzing effects set in?
Pushing forward through the rain, I stopped just in front of Dominic and assud a throwing stance.
This was my last dagger.
Seeing , Dominic scoffed and generated another barrier.
I could tell what he was thinking: I’d been exposed to the Chira fluids, so all he had to do was wait for the paralysis to take effect.
Grinding my teeth, I hurled the dagger.
Though Dominic was a mage, he wasn’t the kind you’d find in a mage tower. His spells were focused on research rather than combat.
Most of his attacks, like the crimson light earlier, relied on ancient knowledge rather than personal skill.
That’s why he always surrounded himself with powerful Chiras.
But right now, there were no Chiras—or even Arena—to protect him.
Which ant…
Crash—!
“……!”
If I could break through the barrier, I could kill him.
Feigning with two earlier throws had lulled him into complacency. Now it was ti to bare my fangs.
Flash—!
The dagger I threw was imbued with Sacred Power.
As I expected, the violet barrier couldn’t withstand it.
The dagger pierced through, and light spilled out from the impact point as the barrier began to ripple violently.
The barrier seed to resist, trying to push the dagger out, but I wasn’t about to let that happen.
Clenching my fist, I aid a blow at the hilt of the embedded dagger.
My fist glowed white as I slamd it into the dagger’s poml.
Boom—!
The barrier shook violently, then shattered like fragile glass.
Dominic’s eyes widened in shock. For the first ti, he was fully exposed.
I raised my crossbow, aiming directly at him.
“Got you.”
“…….”
But his reaction was odd.
Despite being in a vulnerable position for the first ti, his expression remained calm.
I knew why.
The crossbow’s aim shifted slightly, moving away from Dominic’s face. Instead, I aid at the book floating behind him.
The crack in his composure was imdiate.
“No, don’t!”
“Yes. Watch.”
Thwip, thwip, thwip—!
Three bolts, all imbued with Sacred Power, shot through the book.
The thick cover was pierced, and the book trembled violently before dropping to the ground.
Dark liquid seeped out from the holes, and the book began to deflate, like a punctured balloon.
Screeeaaach—!!!
A blood-curdling scream erupted from Dominic.
As the crumpled book quivered on the ground, Dominic convulsed, writhing in pain.
I snatched up the dagger from the ground and charged.
He rolled weakly across the pile of corpses, his body losing its stability.
The dagger in my hand shimred with a radiant white light.
It struck true, driving into Dominic’s jaw just as he tried to rise.
Thud—!
Not giving him a mont to recover, I yanked his head back by the hair, pinning him to the ground with the blade.
His bloodshot eyes stared up at with venomous intent, his hands clawing weakly in my direction.
Without hesitation, I crossed my arms and twisted his neck violently.
Crack—!
His head lolled to the side, nearly torn from his shoulders.
I wasn’t done.
Pulling the dagger from his jaw, I drove it straight into his heart.
Pouring Sacred Power into the wound, I watched as Dominic’s body spasd, then went still.
It was over in the span of three breaths.
Before I even realized it, Dominic lay lifeless at my feet.
Hoo—
Exhaling sharply, I stood up and glanced around.
The violet ash from his crumbled book scattered in the air, leaving only scorched remains where it had fallen.
That book had been Dominic’s secret weakness.
‘It was his heart. Literally.’
Dominic was essentially a Chira. The book had acted as his core—without it, he couldn’t survive.
“Finally…”
As the realization set in, the battlefield around seed to grow even more chaotic.
The remaining Chiras, now completely uncontrolled, turned on everything in sight, wreaking havoc indiscriminately.
The heart’s influence was growing. I had to act fast and claim it before things spiraled further.
I turned to head toward the heart, but suddenly, a chilling sensation crept over my entire body.
“…What?”
A wave of unease pressed down on , tightening its grip like an iron vise.
Sothing was wrong—terribly wrong.
My instincts scread at to look back toward the hill where the heart resided.
The morning sun had begun to rise, its first light breaking over the battlefield.
But the sunlight never reached .
Instead, it was smothered by an intense, blood-red glow emanating from the heart.
The crimson radiance spread like wildfire, saturating the battlefield and swallowing the remaining Chiras in its grasp.
Kiaaaak—!
A guttural scream erupted from the horde of Chiras.
The creatures, who had been rampaging uncontrollably monts ago, abruptly shifted their behavior.
Their movents beca unified, their scattered groups rging together in an eerie display of order.
The once-chaotic swarm was now consolidating, moving as if guided by a singular will.
“This is bad—really bad!”
Panic surged within as I quickly pieced together what was happening.
With Dominic dead, the heart had begun to assert its dominance, taking full control of the battlefield.
I had overlooked one critical variable: the absence of a counterbalance.
I had only planned for Dominic’s removal, never considering what would happen to the heart in the wake of his death.
It wasn’t in the story—none of this was supposed to happen.
‘Then what about Arena?!’
My head snapped toward the direction where I’d last seen Arena.
Far off in the distance, I spotted Fenry.
She was sprinting toward , her movents frantic, her face twisted in alarm.
Sothing was wrong—very wrong.
Why was she looking at like that?
“Get out of there! You’re in danger!”
Fenry’s desperate shout cut through the chaos.
The warning ca just a second too late.
Schlk—!
“…Hkk!”
A stabbing pain tore through my abdon.
I staggered, gasping as I looked down to find a bloodied hand piercing through my stomach from behind.
No.
This wasn’t Arena’s hand.
It was much larger, rougher—more monstrous.
“D-Dominic?”
I twisted my head, forcing myself to look over my shoulder.
There he stood, his neck grotesquely twisted at an unnatural angle, his lifeless eyes staring blankly ahead.
Dominic’s body—no, what was left of him—hovered behind like a marionette, its movents jagged and unnatural.
And then the corpses on the ground began to stir.
One by one, the lifeless Chira bodies crawled toward , their broken forms animated by the sa crimson glow that emanated from the heart.
A horrifying sight that sent a shiver down my spine.
“…This is insane.”
Was the heart capable of even controlling the dead?
Its influence had expanded far beyond what I could have imagined.
I needed to get out of here, now.
But my body wouldn’t move.
The familiar tingling in my limbs told why.
‘…The Chira fluids.’
The paralysis had finally set in.
I was trapped, helpless as Dominic’s disjointed movents brought him closer.
His mangled hand grabbed the dagger embedded in his chest—the very one I had plunged into his heart monts ago—and ripped it out with a sickening squelch.
He raised the bloodstained blade, aiming it toward my throat.
“Shi—!”
The words caught in my throat as I coughed violently, blood spraying from my lips.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t escape.
Was this how it was going to end?
As Dominic’s hand descended toward , my shadow began to writhe and bubble.
And then, bursting forth from the darkness—
“Dammit!”
Swish, swish, swish—!
The sharp whistle of slicing wind filled the air.
Golden hair streaked across my vision, and when my sight cleared, Dominic’s body lay scattered in dozens of pieces.
Even the crawling corpses had been shredded into unrecognizable chunks.
I was yanked to the ground, and Fenry’s fierce eyes stared down at as she examined my wounds.
Her face twisted in frustration and fury as she muttered through clenched teeth.
“Damn it… You’re weaker than I thought.”
A hole the size of a fist had been punched straight through my stomach.
Blood gushed uncontrollably, pooling beneath at an alarming rate.
“Why’d you even ask for the damn potion if you can’t handle yourself?”
Fenry reached into my belongings, frantically searching for the potion she had given earlier.
Finding the small bottle, she poured it directly over the wound.
The gaping hole began to close rapidly, flesh knitting itself together in a miraculous display.
But the bleeding didn’t stop.
It wasn’t normal.
“You’ve been poisoned too, haven’t you? It’s the paralysis toxin—the blood won’t clot because of it.”
My breathing grew shallow. My vision blurred.
Fenry’s usual composure faltered for the first ti.
Her expression darkened as she looked at , then back at the heart glowing ominously above.
Suddenly—
Wooong—!
“……!”
A soft, silvery light began to emanate from my chest.
Fenry’s sharp gaze locked onto the source of the glow: the Dark Rose brooch pinned to my chest.
It was a treasure of Beneta, one crafted ticulously by Dorneth over the course of several months.
A blessed artifact imbued with divine protection.
The brooch pulsed gently, wrapping its power around my grievous wound, temporarily halting the blood loss.
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