Planning Ahead
"Hah… Hah… Well… This is bad," Eren muttered, his breath ragged as he lay on the cold stone floor. His eyes wandered up to the cavern ceiling before trailing down to his trembling hands. He closed his eyes and let out a long, tired sigh. "This is… bad," he muttered, his voice strained.
He had been at it for hours—three, maybe more—trying to draw the damn magic circle. But now, he was completely drained, out of mana, and stuck. His hands shook as he attempted to push himself off the ground, only to collapse back with a groan.
"Damn it…" The pain shot through his body, a reminder of how screwed he really was. No strength, no stamina left. He was done for.
'Tsk. I should've known this was pointless,' he thought bitterly, frustration boiling beneath the surface. He had ignored the signs, kept pushing, and now he was paying for it.
The array he was trying to draw was meant to be a simple trap, something he'd used countless times in the game. It wasn't complicated—just an array to emit bloodlust, scare off any mana beasts wandering too close to the cave. But now, it felt like even luck had turned its back on him.
"Damn bad luck," he spat, anger flashing in his eyes. It wasn't new. Luck had never been on his side. His life had been a constant stream of misfortune—from being shunned by his family, to becoming the monster he hated.
He still didn't understand how it happened. Why had he turned into this? The same villain he'd despised in the game. Why?
There were no answers. He didn't enjoy the suffering he caused, didn't find pleasure in the violence. Yet he kept going, taking revenge he didn't fully comprehend.
She had tried to stop him once. She had cried for him to end it, told him she loved him. But even then, he couldn't stop.
"Hah, what am I even thinking about?" Eren muttered, shaking his head. He hadn't realized it, but a single tear had slipped from his eye, tracing a path down his cheek. Now, he felt everything. All the guilt, the weight of his actions.
He wiped his face roughly. "I just need to make it through today," he whispered, trying to calm his racing thoughts.
Time wasn't on his side. His condition was deteriorating quickly, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how little room he had to maneuver. The moment the cursed chain around his neck decided it was time to drag him to the academy, it would all go downhill. His mana would go wild, his location would be revealed, and if he was still here when that happened… well, he wouldn't last long.
If his mana ran dry in this forest, death would come swiftly—whether by his own hand or by the claws of a mana beast, it didn't matter. The outcome was the same.
"Tsk. It just never ends, does it?" He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair.
His thoughts drifted to Kira. She had to be somewhere in the eastern part of the human territory by now. That's where she'd run into… that thing. He wasn't entirely sure where she was, but the glimpses he saw during the game gave him a clue. Whatever had turned her into the villainess she would become had something to do with a relic she found in one of the conquered worlds.
Conquered worlds weren't exactly dungeons, but they weren't normal either. Portals led to these worlds, and the guardians had taken care of most of the dangerous mana beasts that once roamed there. Now, these places were used for training, preparing the next generation for the battles ahead.
It was in one of these worlds that Kira encountered the relic.
"I have to hurry; I can't let her get that relic before me…."
Well, it seems his true motive somehow leaked out.