IITYVA 26

Chapter 26

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the formless energy struck Akes again.

He gave a slight scoff, as if it were laughable, easily dodging the attack and approaching us.

“Einra, get back!”

As Aas shouted, two masked men lunged at him.

“Aas—!”

In that moment, I snapped back to my senses.

I tried to spring to my feet, but before I could even move, something blocked my way.

“You should be looking at me.”

Akes lowered his head toward me and slowly brushed my cheek with one hand.

I gritted my teeth and swatted his hand away.

“…What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Einra, I’m hurt. It’s been so long since we’ve met, and that’s all you have to say?”

He exaggeratedly drooped his eyes, pretending to be sad.

I clenched my fists and practically spat the words.

“That boy has nothing to do with this. Don’t you dare lay a finger on him. If you have business, take it up with me.”

“Oh? Are you sure about that?”

Akes smiled with amusement, as though he’d just heard something entertaining.

As he raised his hand, a sharp, refined force of energy completely enveloped me.

“Einra—!”

Aas’s voice calling out to me felt distant.

I instinctively reached out to escape, but the moment my hand touched the mana layer, a sharp pain shot through me and blood dripped down.

“It’s best not to struggle.”

Akes, watching me, said softly.

“Aura is an attack-type mana. Just touching it can wound you.”

“……”

I ignored him and tried to summon my affinity with nature.

But my connection was completely blocked. It didn’t even budge.

‘Why… Why isn’t it working…?’

Tears welled up in my eyes out of frustration.

My clenched fists dug my nails deep into my palms.

Seeing me struggle to call on my affinity, Akes tilted his head, puzzled.

“Hm, that’s strange. Didn’t you say to deal with you if I had business?”

“……”

“I’m doing exactly as you asked. So why that face?”

Shing.
With a chilling sound, a silver blade lifted my chin.

Our eyes met. The point of the sword grazed my neck, leaving a stinging pain.

Even through the blurring of my vision from tears, I could clearly see Akes looking down at me with that serene expression.

Suddenly, a strange sorrow began to spread from deep within my chest.

Slowly but relentlessly, it consumed me.

He was someone I wanted to approach.

But he was someone who avoided me.

And watching him avoid me was terrifying.

He was someone I wanted to approach so badly that I feared his rejection.

And now that very person was pointing a sword at me without a hint of remorse.

My clenched fists lost their strength.

All my willpower slowly drained away.

“Einra—!”

Aas’s voice suddenly rang out, sharp as if tearing through the air.

That voice snapped me back.

Strength began returning to my hands.

I felt empty. I had no motivation.

…Even so.

Even so, I—

“I have to.”

No matter what it took, I had to protect Aas.

I couldn’t even recall the reason. I just—just had to.

I wanted to protect him.

So—

“I won’t give up…!”

Clenching my fists tightly, I scraped together every last bit of my affinity with nature from within.

A metallic taste spread in my mouth, and my hands trembled—but none of that mattered.

Just as I was about to pour all that affinity into the blocked layer—

Shaa―

With the sound of something slicing through the air, the aura surrounding me vanished.

“Ah…!”

My affinity dispersed at once, and the next moment, my knees gave out from the sudden relief. My lungs ached as I gasped for breath.

“Huff, huff…”

I steadied myself as I caught my breath.

As my vision slowly cleared, I heard the distinct sound of metal clashing.

‘Swords…?’

I forced my still-blurry eyes upward and saw the gleam of swords reflecting the moonlight.

Two blades clashed at high speed, ringing sharply.

I couldn’t even follow their movements clearly.

I stared blankly at the scene—until I noticed something strange.

‘The person wielding the sword…?’

One of them was Akes.

That was obvious. He had tried to kill me, been interrupted, and now was in a sword fight.

But the person facing him—

“…Akes?”

I muttered blankly.

Maybe he heard me even in the heat of battle, because his shoulder flinched and his attacks became even more aggressive.

Clang, clang, clang, crash—!

Every kind of sword sound filled the room.

Sometimes, sparks flew as their blades clashed violently.

After several exchanges, one of the swords flew from its wielder’s hand and embedded itself in the wall.

The opposing sword didn’t miss the opening and drove straight into the other’s chest.

Thud.

The chilling sound of sharp metal tearing through flesh rang out.

‘Akes’—the one who had been pierced through the heart—lost balance and collapsed.

Thump. The dull sound echoed.

The other ‘Akes’ delivered a final blow to his fallen enemy’s neck, then swiftly turned to me.

“Einra…!”

He started running toward me—but suddenly stopped.

He paused a few steps away, hesitating before turning his body slowly.

He looked uncertain.

I stared blankly at his back and murmured faintly.

“…Akes?”

He flinched and looked back at me.

I asked again, in a daze.

“Are you… really Akes?”

“…Einra.”

He spoke my name in a low voice.

It was exactly the same voice I’d heard earlier from the other ‘Akes’…

But it felt entirely different.

I turned and looked at the body of the fallen ‘Akes,’ who, now that the illusion spell had faded, had a completely unfamiliar face.

Then I looked over at the two masked men who had attacked Aas earlier.

Their lifeless bodies lay beside scattered shards of what looked like shattered glass.

My eyes swept the wreckage of the ruined room—finally stopping on the man standing before me.

His loosely hanging black hair, those matured red eyes deeper than I remembered, and that beautiful yet familiar face…

And the clothes he wore—they were unmistakably the ones Aas had been wearing moments ago.

…So really, truly, Aas was—

“You were Akes…?”

My voice trembled without me realizing.

At that moment, I couldn’t think about the fact that I had nearly died, or that three corpses lay before me.

My overwhelmed mind could only process what was right in front of me.

Akes was silent for a while, then slowly opened his mouth.

“…If my face makes you uncomfortable, I can leave for a moment.”

And as if he truly meant to, he began turning away.

Panicking, I scrambled to my feet.

The only thought in my head was that I had to stop him.

As I rushed off the bed, I tripped over my long skirt and fell.

“……!”

I didn’t even have time to scream.

Akes—who had come to me at some point—caught me tightly.

“Einra, are you alrigh—”

Before he could finish, I instinctively grabbed his arm.

He flinched, startled by the sudden grip.

And it was only then that I realized what I had done.

“S-sorry…”

I tried to pull my hand away, but Akes caught it again before I could.

“…What are you sorry for?”

“……”

“This is all my fault.”

He murmured softly, then slowly reached up and gently touched the wound on my neck.

As the ticklish sensation made my shoulders twitch, his voice reached my ear.

“There’s nothing you need to apologize for, Einra. This is all because of my selfishness.”

His quiet breath brushed against my ear.

That slight touch gave me a strange, unfamiliar feeling—and suddenly, I realized.

The Akes standing before me wasn’t the awkward boy I once knew.

He was now a full-grown twenty-one-year-old man.

My whole body stiffened.

‘…Crap. So basically…’

Right now, I was alone in my room in the middle of the night… with an adult man.

My face flushed red in an instant.

My heart pounded—this time, for an entirely different reason.

I couldn’t stop noticing how tightly he held my hand or the fingers brushing against my neck.

Like a clumsy puppet, I slowly began stepping backward.

“R-right? Um… It’s late, so… why don’t we talk tomorrow after some sleep?”