How to Survive Against Villains Chapter 93

Chapter 93 – The Ring of Desire (3)

“Ugh…”

The mont I regained consciousness, an unbearable thirst overwheld .

What the hell just happened?

I had co into contact with the ring, and as soon as I put it on, following Retonicalus’s instructions, my consciousness had been completely wiped out.

What’s the current situation?

The question lingered only briefly as cool water suddenly moistened my parched lips, jolting my senses awake like rain on a drought-stricken land.

Water poured into my mouth, and I gulped it down like a goldfish, smacking my lips in satisfaction, when a cold voice broke through.

“You’ve got to be kidding .”

“…Huh?”

“How is it possible to look so annoying even while drinking water?”

Turning my head slightly, I saw Fenry crouched beside .

Her expression was a portrait of pure irritation, her face twisted with every ounce of annoyance the world could muster. And yet, her actions told a different story—she was holding a water bottle and carefully supporting my face so I could drink properly.

Could this… be a tsundere mont?

Was Fenry secretly a tsundere?

Any such illusions disappeared the mont she tipped the water bottle over and poured it all over my face.

“Gah—!”

Water rushed into my nose. Damn elf.

“If you’re awake, get up already. You don’t have ti to laze around.”

“What… what happened?”

“What do you think? It’s still a shitshow.”

Fenry tossed an hourglass at . Sitting up, I picked it up and examined it. The lower chamber of the hourglass was almost entirely filled with sand.

If the sand was supposed to run out after three days, that ant the three days I’d agreed upon with Dorneth were already up.

“Today’s the third day.”

It seed my assumption was correct.

‘I’ve been unconscious for nearly three days?’

I had suspected so ti had passed due to how dry my lips were, but I hadn’t imagined it was this much.

I glanced down at the Ring of Desire on my finger.

Its color remained dark and murky, as if it had been soaked in ink. However, the oppressive aura of death that had radiated from it had noticeably weakened.

The ring’s power was fading, just as Retonicalus had claid.

[The lingering will within the ring is just dregs. It will dissipate soon.]

‘How do you know that?’

[Because I’m the one who put it there.]

I was stunned to learn that Retonicalus had been the ring’s creator. When I asked what kind of will had been embedded in the ring, Retonicalus fell silent for a mont before answering with one word:

[Death.]

In my unconscious state, I had a long conversation with Retonicalus. What felt like a fleeting mont there had been three entire days in reality.

I didn’t see it as a waste of ti—I had gained critical insight into the curse.

‘Once the ring’s will dissipates, the dead will return to dust.’

I needed to confirm it.

“What happened to the dead?”

The atmosphere around us was quiet. Judging by the silence, there didn’t seem to be any zombie hordes nearby.

But my surroundings were dim, with only enough light to faintly make out Fenry’s face.

Why hadn’t she summoned a magical light orb?

That question was answered when Fenry pulled out a torch and lit it.

I groaned softly as I got a better look at her.

“…You look awful.”

“Don’t I look like a soldier who just rolled through a battlefield? Every bit of this is thanks to you. It’s 100% your fault, you bastard.”

“……”

I wanted to argue back, but the sight of her covered in dried blood left speechless.

Though her tone was as rough as ever, her slumped ears and the weariness in her voice made her seem utterly drained.

She reminded of a sad, dejected cat.

Fortunately, the blood covering her wasn’t hers.

The black, discolored blood.

And the stench.

It was the blood of the dead.

How much ti had she spent fighting with those things?

“Have the dead shown any changes?”

“Changes? If you’d asked a day ago, maybe. Now? I have no idea.”

“Huh? What do you an?”

Fenry pointed with the torch toward a spot in the distance.

Through my blurry vision, I saw a massive pile of rubble—large boulders stacked on top of each other. Looking up, it seed the rocks had been brought down to block the entrance to the tunnel.

“This is…”

“The place where we first set foot.”

“The mineral storage site?”

“Yeah.”

“Then that must be the tunnel?”

“Exactly. I collapsed the entrance to keep those bastards out.”

She explained that she had destroyed the rock wall to block the entrance and had been holding out ever since.

Fenry handed the torch.

What’s this?

The look on her face as she passed it to was strangely relieved, as if she’d just dropped a heavy burden from her shoulders.

Sothing felt off.

“For two days, I carried you around while doing everything imaginable. The damn dwarves wouldn’t open the door, the dead kept chasing us, and you’re ridiculously heavy.”

“……”

“I tried hiding, running, and fighting, but I couldn’t shake them off no matter what I did. Do you know why?”

Fenry’s gaze turned sharp, her eyes locking onto the Ring of Desire on my finger.

“It’s because of that damned ring. The aura it emits kept drawing them in. There are so many corpses buried in this mine that I thought it was a mass grave, not a mine.”

“…So?”

“So, their numbers have increased. There’s a constant stream of them crawling out through tiny cracks and holes in the tunnel. If you’d seen that grotesque sight, you’d understand why I seriously considered leaving you behind.”

A shiver ran up my spine.

She… considered abandoning ? Did she have to say it so brutally?

“Th-thank you for saving .”

“Don’t thank . If it weren’t for your sturdy body and regeneration, I would’ve been in danger too. To break through that long tunnel, I needed a solid shield.”

…A shield?

This elf… did she seriously use as a at shield?

I examined myself with the torch. My shirt was gone, and my pants were shredded to rags.

There were no wounds, but I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

“At least you woke up. Things were really dicey.”

“Are things still dangerous now?”

“They’re about to be.”

Fenry pulled out her pipe and took a deep drag. The smoke that erged had a faint green tint.

Clicking her tongue, she emptied the remnants of the Elf Stone from the pipe.

“The Elf Stone’s spent. I’m almost out of mana. As you can see, I don’t even have enough left to summon a light orb.”

“Isn’t the rock pile enough to hold them back?”

“If my mana’s draining, it ans I’m using it sowhere. Where do you think it’s going?”

“The rock pile?”

“No, you.”

As soon as she said that, a faint blue energy began to disperse from my body.

It seed like the magic Fenry had cast on was wearing off.

Thud—!

Rooaaarrr—!

“……”

Suddenly, the pile of rocks began to shake. From deep within the tunnel, a chorus of furious roars erupted all at once.

It wasn’t just one or two.

I groaned as I examined the blue energy fading from my body.

This energy… I’d experienced it before. Fenry had imbued with it.

“…Camouflage?”

“It’s an effective spell against mindless beings.”

“And it’s wearing off now?”

“I told you. No more Elf Stones. Do you have any idea how much mana it takes to mask the aura of that ring? I’ve done all I can.”

“So those rocks…”

“Do you really think a pile of rocks can stop them? Not a chance.”

Fenry stepped onto my shadow.

I wanted to snap at her for stepping on soone else’s shadow, but I could only look at her with growing apprehension.

Because I knew her pattern. I knew what elves like her did when they were cornered.

She toyed with her pipe briefly before looking at .

“You’re not planning to give up that ring, are you?”

“No.”

“Firm answer.”

“I have my reasons.”

“Then this is where I leave you. Survive until the dwarf gives the signal. I don’t even have the energy left to take care of myself anymore.”

“……”

Fenry slowly sank into my shadow.

Her smooth legs, slender waist, and stern face disappeared, leaving only one arm behind. As her thumb stuck out to give a mocking thumbs-up, I couldn’t help but think of a particular movie.

Why did this mont remind of Terminator? In that film, the Terminator declared, “I’ll be back.”

But this elf…

“This is a baton pass. I’ve done my part.”

…She clearly had no intention of coming back. She disappeared without hesitation, leaving with nothing but talk of the mine’s shares.

“She’s really gone.”

It wasn’t the first ti, so I wasn’t particularly surprised. After all the chaos we’d been through together, I had sohow grown used to it.

I didn’t feel disappointed.

‘She really did all she could.’

Just looking at her tattered state made it clear how fiercely she’d fought. For two days, she had carried through hordes of the dead.

Regardless of how she’d done it, she had kept alive until I woke up. That alone was worth the price she asked.

‘She doesn’t have any strength left to help anyway.’

Even if her expression was calm, I could tell she was at her limit.

She couldn’t hide it from my eyes.

That calm deanor? It was just another camouflage.

Mana depletion.

Since summoning the King of Shadows, she’d been relying on Elf Stones to maintain her mana. Three days was far too long for her body to endure. The side effects were bound to show.

She was probably sowhere, curled up and struggling to recover.

That’s why she had explained how I could survive.

‘Give up the ring… huh.’

If the dead were solely targeting the ring, then abandoning it could potentially save my life.

But I couldn’t give it up.

‘Because Retonicalus reacted to it.’

While the Undying’s heart had been a great boon to my survival, the entity known as Retonicalus was neither friendly nor hostile toward .

To , Retonicalus was an indifferent existence, showing interest only in a few things.

An absolute being trapped in deep ennui after living for eons.

[If you want to beco the ring’s master, I’ll help you.]

For the first ti, that listless existence had shown active interest.

Since its initial appearance, Retonicalus had remained silent. But now, it was reaching out.

If I beca the ring’s master, I might gain the chance to learn more about this mysterious being.

The heart was now a part of my body. The more I understood it, the greater my chances of survival. Giving up the ring wasn’t an option.

‘The curse will break soon. I just need to hold on until then.’

The abandoned mine’s curse was tied to the will of Retonicalus, embodied in Death.

If the ring’s power dissipated, the curse would vanish as well. And the three days I had promised Dorneth were almost up.

Tucking the hourglass into my pocket, I stared at the pile of rocks.

I just had to buy ti.

Boom—! Bang! BOOM!

A constant cacophony of loud noises reverberated.

The rock pile trembled violently.

The zombie horde was trying to push through.

“They’re really losing it in there.”

The sound of rocks being clawed and scraped echoed all the way to .

Monts later—

Crack—

A section of the rock pile crumbled with a soft thud, creating a gap just wide enough for a person to squeeze through.

Screech! Squeal!

Rotting arms burst through the opening, clawing and reaching.

It was like watching demons claw their way out of the gates of hell.

Gritting my teeth, I grabbed a pickaxe.

Standing in front of the gap, I swung the pickaxe like a madman, smashing zombie after zombie.

Foul-slling blood and rotten flesh splattered all over , but I couldn’t stop.

‘If they break through, it’s over.’

This place was spacious but had no exit.

It was a confined space, and if I got surrounded, there’d be no way out.

I had to hold the tunnel entrance at all costs.

From now on, my survival was entirely in my hands.