"I'm definitely not going to make it this time."
"Save your strength and stop talking. Triss will slow down time for you in a moment, and I'll cast Time Exile on you every six hours. That should be enough to keep you going until we reach the Sun Holy City. Don't be so gloomy, Palanno.
"You're a knight who pursues true love. There are still so many goddesses on this continent waiting for you to fawn over them.
"How lonely they'd be without you."
After safely leaving the Isus Delta through the secret passage Triss had used to escape years ago, Murphy was treating Lord Palanno during a temporary rest in a bend of the Palom River.
The man's condition was beyond description.
The three sunwood stakes driven into his body had thoroughly mangled the body of the high-ranking vampire. Even the blood now flowing from him was thick and scalding, a sign that the blood inside Palanno was nearly dried up and could no longer circulate.
For a vampire, this condition was practically incurable. The next step was the loss of all vitality, followed by turning into a faded stone statue.
The agony of the process was indescribable. Palanno himself could feel eternal silence drawing near. His once-bright face was already pale and gaunt, and now he grasped Murphy's wrist, apparently intending to share his last wish before he died.
But Murphy wasn't quite so pessimistic.
He was trying to comfort Palanno and lift his spirits, but the Rose Knight took advantage of one last moment of clarity to pull a bloodstained little booklet from his coat. Shaking, he pressed it into Murphy's hands, then spoke with a heavy, fervent breath:
"I'll hold on until the very end. That's my way as a knight. But if I should fall