"Surrender your soul!"
"All your desires will be fulfilled. I will grant you endless power, wealth, and women!"
As if out of endless darkness, a cold will suddenly sent him this message.
Unas was jolted awake from his stupor and answered instinctively, "If I want those things, I'll get them myself. No matter how good they are, if someone else gives them to me, they're still secondhand. Sorry, I'm a mental germaphobe. I can't stand secondhand goods."
"Surrender your soul, and I will grant you eternal life."
"What use is eternal life to an empty shell without a soul? Speaking of which, who are you? Where am I?"
"I am a god! I am your master! Submit to me, and I shall..."
"You're really full of yourself. Sorry, I'm an atheist, and I'm not gay either. I'm not playing master and servant with you!" Unas mercilessly cut the voice off.
"Surrender your soul..."
All right, now it's stuck on repeat.
Ignoring the broken record, Unas "swam" through the darkness for a while, unable to tell up from down or any direction from another. Suddenly, a speck of green light appeared ahead.
Green was a very inauspicious color for a man, but the light seemed warm and was slowly growing larger, so he swam toward it.
The moment he touched the green light, brightness burst forth and the darkness receded. Unas opened his eyes.
A dim sky came into view, and the noisy sounds around him gradually reached his ears. The green light had pulled him out of the darkness and back to reality.
"Lokolomashido! You're finally awake!"
A pair of silver eyes glistening with tears suddenly appeared before him. Only then did he make out Beryl Bladesong's tear-streaked face.
"So your eyes are silver. I never noticed before."
"Waaah!" The old elf woman suddenly burst into tears and threw herself onto his chest.
He could hardly enjoy the attention, though. When the elf touched his chest, his heart began to ache again.
He took hold of Beryl's shoulders and sat up. The Night Elf sobbed loudly in his arms as Unas's head gradually cleared.
I actually survived the Dreadlord's curse!
Even Divine Shield isn't invincible. Anything really is possible in a world of magic. I can't be so reckless just because I have my invincibility anymore.
When the black light of the curse had pierced his chest, he had truly thought he was finished.
Now that he thought about it, the mighty system must have saved him once again.
The moment his heart had shattered, the experience from killing the Dreadlord had leveled him up. The full-body restoration from the level-up had restored his nearly shattered heart, but the shock of his heart breaking and healing had also knocked him unconscious.
He hurriedly checked his system panel and saw that it read: Paladin level 25, experience 8%.
Strength +8, agility +4, constitution +7, energy +6. What a haul. His attributes were now: strength 66, agility 41, constitution 62, energy 57.
Apart from agility, they were all nearly three times those of an ordinary person. He had grown considerably stronger and had also gained two skill points, which he would save for later.
If he remembered correctly, the last time he had checked, he was still level 23 with 13% experience. This time, he had actually gained two levels at once!
Then again, a Dreadlord counted as a boss-level figure no matter how he looked at it, and he had killed a monster above his level. It was only natural for the experience reward to be generous.
But what was that voice in the darkness afterward? It sounded a lot like Bessarius. Could it have been the Dreadlord's final lingering resentment?
He would stop thinking about that for now. It was enough to be alive. After coming so close to death, Unas found the dim sky, the foul air, the noisy clamor, his aching heart, and the elf girl in his arms all so wonderful.
He patted the elf on the head and gently pushed her away. Looking into her tear-blurred eyes, Unas felt as though his heart was beginning to melt, so he hurriedly turned his attention elsewhere.
There's no way I'm falling for an old woman.
He turned to survey his surroundings. He was on top of the small hill in the center of the island in the lake, lying not far from the great hole that led into the demon's lair. More than a dozen soldiers sat resting behind him. When they saw him wake up, they seemed about to gather around, but seeing him embracing the elf, they held back.
"How long was I out?"
Beryl wiped her tears, smearing her face, and smiled through them. "Not long. They'd just carried you up here and said they were going to find a healing priest. I tried using the healing spell my dad taught me, and I actually brought you back to life! That's wonderful! I'm going to become a Druid too. It's settled!"
"Mm, Druids have a bright future. Work hard at it." Unas encouraged her with a serious expression, but inwardly he was snickering lewdly. Later you can turn into a leopard or a bear or something and let me ride you. Hehehe.
"Big Brother Unas, I'll do my best!" Beryl declared loudly, completely unaware of the lewd thoughts in his mind.
Just then, Korfax and Erigor appeared at the top of the mountain path with a priest in white robes. Unas finally stopped worrying when he saw them.
It seemed that after Bessarius died, the demon's spell had also lost its effect. The slaughter he had imagined had not happened.
Seeing that Unas was awake, the two men quickened their steps. Erigor hurriedly crouched down and took Unas by the shoulders, his eyes shining with pleasant surprise. "Brother Unas, are you all right?"
Unas felt that aside from his heart, there was nothing seriously wrong with him. He gripped Erigor's arm and used it for support as he stood, then moved his body around a little. "I'm perfectly fine."
The priest they had brought shrugged and turned to leave. There were piles of wounded soldiers after the battle, and this was his busiest time.
"Haha, good brother!" Erigor clapped him hard on the shoulder. "We all owe you this time. You're a demon-slaying hero through and through!"
"I only landed the final blow. Killing the Dreadlord was the result of everyone's efforts." Unas spoke modestly, but he could not hide the pride in his voice.
"It's best that you see it that way," Korfax, who stood beside them, said. He handed over a long cloth bundle. "These are your spoils. I took them off for you."
Unas took it curiously and opened the bundle. Inside were two curved black cylinders. Were these Bessarius's horns?
"Demon horns are the best trophies a noble could have to decorate his room, and these are the horns of Bessarius the Dreadlord! That's an honor you can boast about for the rest of your life!" Erigor's face was full of envy, jealousy, and resentment.
Seeing the envy on the two men's faces, Unas felt nothing in particular. He was not from this world and could not understand what the two noblemen were thinking. Besides, he was still living in a tent. What room did he have to decorate?
"Things from a demon don't seem very lucky. I don't want them, so you can have one each." With that, Unas thrust a horn into each man's hands.
Aside from showing them off when he bragged, the things were fucking useless. He wasn't a widow who had gone without for ages, so what did he need such long, thick cylinders for? He might as well use them to earn some goodwill.
"There's no such superstition. These are your spoils. We can't take them." Erigor's words were firm, but he held the horn in his hand, hesitating over whether to give it back.
Unas thoughtfully urged him, "Just consider them a loan. When I want them back, you can return them to me. How's that?"
"It's a deal!" Korfax agreed at once, wrapping the horn back up and tucking it into his belt.
Seeing that, Erigor also stammered as he put away the horn in his hand.
Noticing the delight the two men could not hide, Unas inwardly looked down on them. When will you ever reach my lofty state of mind, unmoved by possessions or personal misfortune?
Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out at the foot of the hill, and someone screamed, "Enemy attack! The enemy's attacking the far shore!"
The three men were startled and hurriedly looked across the lake. At that distance, they could only make out a mass of black dots pouring out of the woods by the shore.
"This is bad! The wounded soldiers' camp and the supply camp were left on the far shore, and Lord Tyrosus was sent there after he was wounded!" Erigor went pale with alarm.
Unas's heart tightened, and he began to worry about Gordon and the siblings Darian and his sister as well. They were all at the wounded soldiers' camp on the far shore.
The soldiers around them cried out in panic.
Korfax's firm voice rang out over the entire hilltop. "Everyone, don't panic! Pulhart is at the foot of the hill. Rally to him, all of you, and prepare to fight! The Holy Light will protect us!"
"The Holy Light will protect us!" The people on the hilltop shouted the slogan and followed Korfax down the hill.