The Artificial Dimension - Sector 4.Simulation Sub-Level: The Abyssal Chasm (Hidden Caverns).01:15 PM.
The frantic, desperate retreat from the epicenter of the explosion was a blur of adrenaline, burning lungs, and the suffocating stench of sulfur.
After fleeing the pulverized remains of the corpse mountain and the terrifying revelation of Professor Vane's true demonic identity, Rudeus and Princess Veronica plunged into the labyrinthine network of jagged, obsidian tunnels bordering the main cavern. They navigated blindly for what felt like hours, prioritizing absolute distance over direction, until Rudeus's veteran Vanguard instincts finally locked onto a suitable defensible position.
They eventually found a small, narrow cave recessed deep within the cavern walls of the 4th Floor. Its entrance was naturally obscured by a thick cluster of glowing, bioluminescent stalagmites, rendering it nearly invisible from the main thoroughfare.
The moment they crossed the threshold into the damp, freezing gloom of the cave, the adrenaline abruptly crashed out of their systems.
Rudeus didn't say a word. He immediately dropped heavily to his knees. His armored fingers, trembling slightly from muscle fatigue, worked frantically at the leather straps and iron buckles of his cheap, standard-issue combat armor. He stripped off the heavy, dented black iron breastplate, letting it clatter loudly against the stone floor. He pulled off his cracked helmet, tossing it aside, and finally unlaced his heavy, steel-toed combat boots, exhaling a long, ragged sigh of relief as his blistered feet hit the cool rock.
Veronica, mirroring his exhaustion, unfastened the scorched and torn layers of her silver-blue royal combat uniform, discarding the heavier protective plating until she was left in her breathable, form-fitting practical under-tunic and trousers.
Rudeus slumped backward, sitting heavily on a wide, flat protrusion of cold rock. He leaned his head against the cavern wall, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.
A few feet away, Veronica, still panting, adjusted her grip on Adelina's comatose body. She stepped toward a smooth patch of the cave floor and began to lower the unconscious commoner girl down onto the bare stone.
"Hey," Rudeus's voice suddenly cut through the gloom, sharp and authoritative.
Veronica froze, hovering halfway to the ground.
"You're not literally about to put her directly onto the freezing, damp stone surface without any blankets or insulation, right?" Rudeus asked, opening one crimson eye to glare at her.
In his past life on Earth, operating as one of the members of the Vanguard's elite Wombat Squad, Rudeus had spent countless miserable nights camping in hostile, freezing environments alongside his Captain Melissa and his team. He knew the absolute, fundamental rules of survival. Placing an unconscious, magically depleted casualty directly onto a cold, heat-sapping surface was a guaranteed death sentence by hypothermia.
Veronica didn't answer. She just stopped midway, her arms straining under Adelina's dead weight. She bit her lower lip, suddenly feeling incredibly foolish. She was royalty. She had been raised in palaces with heated floors and goose-down mattresses. She absolutely didn't know the first thing about wilderness survival or field triage, and she felt a sharp pang of inadequacy.
Rudeus let out a long, heavy sigh, shaking his head. He pushed himself off the rock.
He reached into his enchanted satchel and pulled out a massive, heavy, fur-lined winter coat. Because this specific coat had been tailored for the brutal, sub-zero winters of the Northern Duchy, it was incredibly thick, insulated with magical beast pelts, and inherently waterproof. It was the absolute best possible substitute for a medical thermal blanket.
He walked over and spread the massive coat out evenly over the flattest section of the stone floor, creating a thick, warm barrier against the cold earth.
"There. Put her down here now," Rudeus ordered gently, stepping back.
Veronica nodded mutely, her oceanic eyes reflecting a deep, reluctant gratitude. She carefully, gently lowered Adelina's comatose body onto the thick fur coat, ensuring the girl's head was supported.
Once Adelina was secured, Rudeus walked back to his designated corner. He sat heavily on the floor, leaning his broad back and the side of his head directly against the freezing, jagged stone wall, crossing his arms over his chest.
A heavy, suffocating silence descended upon the small cave.
It wasn't a comfortable, companionable silence. It was a silence filled with the crushing, overwhelming weight of consequence, trauma, and the terrifying reality of their situation.
The silence dragged on for an agonizing ten minutes. The only sounds were the slow, steady dripping of condensation from the cave roof and the ragged, shallow breathing of the comatose girl resting on the fur coat.
Finally, unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere a second longer, Veronica spoke first.
"I..."
Veronica's voice cracked in the darkness. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.
"...Sigh. I'm so incredibly sorry, Rudeus," Veronica whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears. She buried the lower half of her face into her knees, starting to visibly sulk, consumed entirely by a spiraling, suffocating guilt.
"Now that we are actually trapped in this horrific situation... I don't even know what to do anymore."
Rudeus let out a slow, deeply cynical sigh at her confession.
He was genuinely, profoundly disappointed. Not just in her foolish, suicidal decision to charge into the boss fight, but in the entire, catastrophic tactical failure that had led them to be trapped in a freezing cave with a comatose liability.
Even though it had looked like the terrifying Greater Demon General Dratkthar was entirely dead—having been bound by the divine chains and reverting to the frail, unconscious body of Professor Vane—Rudeus knew the brutal, uncompromising lore of the universe better than anyone.
Dratkthar was absolutely not dead.
That massive, apocalyptic explosion earlier had merely rendered his physical vessel temporarily unconscious. The Architect of Agony was a conceptual monster. No matter how many times you physically damaged him, no matter how much divine light you poured into him, it would only eventually make him stronger. Every strike against him forced the attacker to feel exertion, pain, and despair—and Dratkthar actively, parasitically fed on that exact agony to fuel his abyssal core.
Even in his currently weakened, suppressed state, Rudeus knew from the game's brutal scaling metrics that Dratkthar was still unimaginably strong. Or, infinitely worse, the distant Demon King might have somehow actively funneled emergency abyssal energy into Vane's body to ensure his subordinate could proceed with the grand plan, especially since all of the Architect's meticulous infiltration schemes had been violently foiled by Rudeus and the Night Ravens over the last three months.
Rudeus didn't offer her a verbal reply. He didn't offer empty comforts or tell her that everything was going to be fine. He simply ignored her apology, his mind calculating survival probabilities.
He slowly turned his head, looking at the Princess huddled in the corner.
He noticed she was shivering. The ambient temperature of the 4th Floor's cavern systems dropped precipitously when away from the magma fissures. Because she had discarded the ruined outer layers of her combat uniform, she was only wearing a thin, breathable linen under-tunic. She hadn't packed a winter coat for a standard combat exam.
Rudeus sighed again, a sound of profound, long-suffering exasperation.
Without a word, he reached down and grabbed the hem of his own dark-grey, heavy-duty combat tunic. In one smooth, practiced motion, he pulled the thick garment entirely over his head, leaving himself completely bare-chested in the freezing cave.
"Here..." Rudeus muttered gruffly, blindly tossing the heavy, warm tunic through the gloom directly into her lap.
Veronica flinched as the heavy fabric hit her. Her oceanic eyes snapped open.
Her gaze immediately locked onto him. Her face, previously pale from fear and cold, instantaneously flushed a violent, burning shade of crimson red. Her eyes widened to the absolute limits of human physiology.
"Wha-what the hell are you doing?!" Veronica shrieked, a pitch of aristocratic, maidenly panic entering her voice.
She violently slapped both of her hands over her eyes, desperately trying to protect her royal purity from whatever indecent, barbaric act she assumed the 'Defect' was currently initiating in the dark.
But... curiosity, mixed with the strange, fluttering sensation in her chest, won over her modesty.
Very slowly, she parted her index and middle fingers, creating a small, scandalous slit to peek through. Her oceanic blue eyes drifted downward.
She stared.
She saw exactly how physically, incredibly fit he had become. Even in the dim, blue light of the cavern moss, the shadows perfectly highlighted the deep, chiseled ridges of his abdominal muscles, the thick, powerful cords of his obliques, and the broad, heavily scarred expanse of his chest and shoulders. He didn't look like a pampered fifteen-year-old noble. He looked like a statue of a seasoned, battle-hardened gladiator carved from dark marble.
Suddenly, a barrage of highly inappropriate, deeply indecent, and completely un-royal thoughts violently invaded her mind. She felt a strange, intoxicating heat pooling in her lower stomach.
'Goddess above...' Veronica thought, her breath hitching.
She frantically, violently shook her head, trying to dislodge the thoughts, a tiny, embarrassing bead of drool threatening to form at the corner of her lips as she openly, shamelessly ogled Rudeus's undeniably handsome, muscular physique.
Rudeus, who was currently busy adjusting the bandages on his wrists, seemed entirely, completely oblivious to her internal meltdown and her peeking fingers.
"I said, here," Rudeus repeated, gesturing vaguely toward the tunic in her lap.
Veronica blinked, the haze of her indecent thoughts abruptly clearing as her brain finally processed the gesture.
"Ahh... I see..." Veronica stammered, her hands slowly dropping from her burning face.
She clutched the heavy, oversized tunic. It carried his scent—a mixture of iron, sweat, and something inherently, dangerously masculine.
"...I honestly thought you were about to try and do something indecent to me," Veronica admitted in a tiny, mortified whisper, hurriedly pulling his massive tunic over her head. The garment swamped her small frame, the hem reaching halfway down her thighs, but it instantly provided a massive, enveloping cocoon of profound warmth. It mostly covered her upper body, shielding her from the biting cave chill.
Rudeus stopped adjusting his bandages. He slowly raised his head, fixing her with an incredibly flat, unamused stare. He raised a single, highly judgmental eyebrow.
"Seriously?" Rudeus deadpanned, completely baffled by her ego. "We are trapped in a freezing dungeon with a comatose girl and a dormant Demon General hunting us, and you genuinely think I'm going to try and assault you?"
He let out a short, cynical scoff, shaking his head.
"Whatever, Princess. Try not to freeze to death."
While Veronica, still deeply flushed and profoundly embarrassed, focused her eyes intensely on a random patch of empty air to avoid looking at his bare chest, Rudeus returned to his dark, tactical contemplations.
'As far as I can explicitly remember the intricate mechanical lore of the visual novel...' Rudeus thought inwardly, his mind shifting through vast archives of gaming data.
'The flow of time inside this specific, highly encrypted artificial dimension is drastically dilated compared to the outside world. Spending an entire twenty-four hour day in here is mathematically equivalent to exactly one hour passing in the original world.'
A cold, heavy dread settled over his heart as he ran the calculations.
'Which means... if the faculty takes five hours to realize the simulation has gone catastrophically wrong, bypass the demonic encryption, and mount a rescue operation... we actively, desperately need to survive and hide in this godforsaken cave for five entire days before Dratkthar's sensory magic recovers and he finds us.'
Rudeus tilted his head back, staring up at the jagged, dripping stone ceiling of the cave.
'Why the absolute hell am I in this catastrophic situation?' Rudeus asked himself, a bitter, resentful anger bubbling up.
His initial, highly logical conclusion was to entirely blame Veronica. He thought that she was the sole, root cause of this disaster, and that this entire suicide run into the boss room was her meticulously calculated plan all along, which was exactly why she had been in such a desperate, frantic rush on the upper floors.
But then, he slowly shook his head, dismissing the theory.
'No. That's giving her far too much tactical credit. It might be a far more tragic, cosmic coincidence,' Rudeus reasoned internally. 'Veronica, both in the canonical game lore and right now, is fundamentally quite dumb when it comes to raw, boots-on-the-ground combat strategy. She isn't this maliciously smart. Even in the game's timeline, she always explicitly needed Adelina's protagonist-level intuition to perfect her overarching political plans.'
Rudeus looked down at his own calloused hands.
'And I am currently far, far weaker than Adelina's awakened state. Even now, with my Vanguard experience and this new physique, I am absolutely not confident that I can successfully kill Dratkthar in a head-to-head confrontation.'
He recalled the brief glimpse of the Demon General on the corpse mountain.
As Rudeus saw Dratkthar earlier, he realized the demon was fundamentally more powerful now than he was in the game's early chapters. The absolute, sole reason Dratkthar had been successfully pinned down and temporarily defeated by Veronica's spell was because he had gotten completely, arrogantly caught off guard by the unexpected mental assault, and because he possessed a massive, exploitable ego.
Even in the visual novel, Dratkthar was always highly predictable purely because of his towering, narcissistic ego. That was his weakness. Unlike the original, canonical version of Rudeus...
'Wait,' Rudeus thought, a pang of retroactive pity hitting him. 'The entire reason the original, canonical Rudeus got defeated so effortlessly and humiliatingly by Adelina's hand in the early game wasn't because he was inherently weak... it was because he was a pathetic, tragic simp. He fell completely, hopelessly head over heels in love with Veronica so much that it blinded his rationality and ruined his potential.'
'Sigh. Whatever. I cannot fix the past, and I cannot fight a Demon General tonight. I just want to go to sleep...'
Rudeus slowly began to close his heavy crimson eyes. The sheer, catastrophic physical exhaustion of the day finally overwhelmed his military discipline. After barely a minute, he slipped into a deep, uncomfortable sleep. He slept leaning against the freezing, jagged surface of the cave wall, which was an absolutely terrible, highly dangerous tactical decision since he didn't have any upper clothing to insulate his core. He was practically guaranteeing that he would contract a severe illness, but his body simply shut down.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the small cave.
Veronica was wide awake. She was sitting cross-legged, anxiously biting her perfectly manicured nails, staring intensely at the glowing blue System Window hovering in the air before her.
She was in a state of deep, spiraling panic. She absolutely didn't know what to do on how to raise Rudeus's numerical affection parameter anymore.
It felt incredibly, disgustingly manipulative to actively scheme ways to raise his affection while they were trapped in a life-or-death scenario. It felt like she was treating his genuine emotions as a cheap currency. But this was the absolute, only way. It was the only predetermined, systemic path to save Amanda from her destined decapitation, and to save herself from the flintlock pistol.
This might seem like an incredibly selfish, sociopathic reason to pursue a relationship, but she genuinely didn't have a choice. She was a prisoner of fate. She needed to strictly, flawlessly follow the terrifying objectives of the Quest the System had unilaterally forced upon them.
If she could simply, outright tell him the truth... if she could explain that she was seeing a glowing blue screen that dictated the future, which only she could perceive... perhaps they could strategize together. But she was utterly, profoundly terrified that Rudeus—the pragmatic, cynical survivor—would immediately write her off as completely insane, severing their fragile alliance entirely.
'Sigh...' Veronica sighed inwardly, pulling his heavy tunic tighter around her shivering frame.
She didn't know the lore. She didn't know the time dilation. She had absolutely no idea how many days they were destined to spend trapped in this dark, freezing cave. Since the professors and the proctors had deliberately kept the temporal mechanics of the simulation grounds highly classified, she had no concept of how many hours they had already wasted.
All she knew was that she was currently, incredibly, painfully hungry.
'I really, truly should have remembered to pack some emergency field rations,' Veronica reprimanded herself inwardly, pressing a hand against her empty abdomen.
As if summoned by her thoughts, her stomach betrayed her royal dignity.
-GROWL!
The sound was loud, long, and incredibly embarrassing in the quiet cave.
Veronica flinched, her eyes immediately darting toward Rudeus's heavy leather satchel resting on the floor near his boots. Her starving stomach was practically begging her to quietly sneak over, snatch his satchel, and ruthlessly rummage through it to find whatever high-calorie military rations he had packed.
But she fiercely resisted the primal urge. It was already incredibly, unforgivably unfair that she was actively, secretly manipulating him for System points. If she stooped to literally stealing his survival food while he slept, that would be entirely, unspeakably ungrateful. She owed him a massive debt already. He hadn't scolded her for her suicidal charge, he had given up his coat for the commoner, he had given up his shirt for her, and he was the one who had successfully located this hidden cave to begin with.
She gritted her teeth, deciding to endure the hunger.
Suddenly, a gruff, incredibly tired voice echoed from the shadows.
"If you are that hungry, Princess, just go grab some food from the bag."
Veronica shrieked softly, jumping a foot in the air.
"Ho-how did you know I was hungry?!" Veronica gasped, her oceanic eyes wide with shock. She had been absolutely certain that Rudeus had fallen into a deep sleep twenty minutes ago.
Rudeus didn't open his eyes. He kept his head leaning against the cold stone, a small, highly amused smirk touching his lips.
"Seriously? Did you really, genuinely think I wouldn't even notice that you were starving?" Rudeus drawled lazily, his Vanguard senses never truly turning off. "I literally just heard your stomach growling loud enough to wake a dragon. Also, judging by my internal biological clock, I bet it's already around 2:10 in the afternoon, and we skipped lunch. So..."
Rudeus waved a hand vaguely toward his boots.
"...Just grab some food already before you pass out and become another liability."
Veronica was profoundly, deeply embarrassed by his blunt assessment. What he explicitly said was completely accurate, and she was mortified that her "growling stomach" had been so loudly broadcasted to the boy she was trying to impress.
However, hunger won over pride.
Veronica crawled across the stone floor, her cheeks burning. She carefully opened the heavy leather flap of Rudeus's satchel. She started meticulously rummaging through the meticulously organized tactical compartments. To her immense surprise, she found a neat stack of ten pre-packaged, high-protein roast beef sandwiches preserved in stasis-wrap.
She carefully grabbed a single one, leaving the rest for him and Adelina.
She looked back at his sleeping form.
"Thanks," Veronica whispered, her voice incredibly soft and genuine.
"You're welcome," Rudeus replied blindly, his breathing evening out again.
Veronica sat back against the wall, unwrapping the simple, utilitarian meal. It wasn't a five-course royal banquet, but as she took the first bite, it tasted like absolute heaven. She ate in silence, watching over the two sleeping figures in the dark.
***
The Artificial Dimension - Sector 4.Day 2 - 02:00 AM.
It was already the dead of night within the simulated parameters of the cavern.
After Veronica and Rudeus had finished eating their meager dinner in tense silence, they had both finally succumbed to heavy, dreamless sleep.
However, the artificial dimension was not a static environment. The dungeon actively sought to test the endurance of its occupants.
Without warning, a massive, simulated subterranean storm violently materialized within the massive cavern outside their cave.
-BOOM!
A blinding flash of purple arcane lightning illuminated the mouth of their small cave, immediately followed by an earth-shattering clap of thunder that shook dust from the ceiling.
"...A storm? A literal thunderstorm appeared down here in the middle of the night?" Veronica gasped, violently jolted awake by the sudden, deafening thunder. She sat up, clutching Rudeus's oversized tunic tightly around herself as a freezing, gale-force wind howled past the cave entrance, dropping the ambient temperature to near-freezing.
She quickly looked over at Adelina. The commoner girl was still locked in her deep coma, but she was sleeping perfectly comfortably, completely insulated by the massive, fur-lined Northern coat.
Then, Veronica turned her head to check on Rudeus.
Her heart dropped into her stomach.
Rudeus was curled into a tight, miserable ball on the bare stone floor. He was violently, uncontrollably trembling. He had his arms crossed tightly over his bare chest, his large hands desperately clutching his own shoulders, his knuckles white as he subconsciously tried to generate body heat.
Veronica's eyes widened in absolute, paralyzing panic. She threw off her lethargy and rushed across the cave floor on her hands and knees.
She reached him and immediately pressed her bare, trembling hand directly against his forehead.
'He... he is burning up!' Veronica screamed inwardly, jerking her hand back as if she had touched a hot stove. She reached out and touched his cheek, confirming the terrifying reality.
"He has an incredibly high fever!" Veronica whispered frantically to herself, her breath frosting in the freezing air.
The consequences of his selfless actions had caught up to him. By giving away his coat and his heavy tunic, and sleeping bare-chested against the freezing, damp stone after a day of catastrophic physical exertion, his immune system had completely collapsed.
"Wha-what am I going to do?!" Veronica panicked, her aristocratic composure entirely shattering. She had absolutely no idea how to treat a severe fever in a wilderness environment.
She frantically scrambled over to his satchel, tearing through the compartments, desperately trying to find any medical supplies, high-tier restorative potions, or at least basic herbal remedies. But she failed. She found bandages and sharpening stones, but no medicine. The final potion had been the one he forced her to drink.
"Mel... Mel... Mel..."
A weak, raspy, completely broken voice echoed from the shadows.
Veronica froze, her hands still buried in the satchel. She looked back at Rudeus.
Rudeus was violently shivering, trapped in the grip of a delirious, agonizing fever-dream. He blindly reached out with a trembling hand in the dark.
His fingers found the edge of her tunic. He clutched the fabric with a desperate, terrifying strength.
"Please...." Rudeus whimpered, his voice cracking with a profound, soul-shattering agony that Veronica had never heard from him before. He sounded like a terrified, broken child.
"Please... stay with me, Mel... don't abandon me again... please, I can't do this alone..."
A single, hot tear leaked from the corner of his tightly shut right eye, tracking a clean line through the dirt and soot on his cheek. He coughed, a harsh, wet, rattling sound that terrified her.
Veronica's heart physically ached at the sight of the 'Monster' breaking down in tears. She moved closer, gently prying his fingers from her tunic and holding his large, burning hand in both of her own. She reached up with the sleeve of the tunic he had given her and softly, carefully wiped the tear from his cheek.
'It seems the fever is making him hallucinate. He is dreaming about something horrific, and he clearly mistook me for someone else,' Veronica deduced inwardly, her chest tightening with an unfamiliar, deeply unsettling emotion.
'Though... who the absolute hell is Mel?'
Veronica frowned, her mind racing.
'I have literally known him, and observed him from afar, for his entire life at the estate and the academy. I have absolutely never heard the name 'Mel' associated with him. Who is this woman that makes the unbreakable Rudeus Blackfyre cry in his sleep?'
She felt a sharp, entirely irrational, and deeply confusing pang of intense jealousy pierce her heart. She didn't know who Mel was, but she hated that this unknown woman commanded such profound, vulnerable devotion from him.
She let out a long, shaky sigh, violently pushing the inappropriate jealousy aside. She needed to focus on keeping him alive, not interrogating his fever-dreams.
"I need a bowl. I need water to cool his core temperature," Veronica muttered to herself, her survival instincts finally kicking in.
She stood up and frantically searched the small cave, desperately hoping to find a discarded helmet, a hollow rock, or at least a shallow depression that could hold water.
She failed to find anything remotely resembling a bowl in the dry cave.
She bit her lip, her oceanic eyes darting toward the howling, freezing storm raging outside the cave entrance. She had to find a way.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her pristine, white silk royal handkerchief.
Without a second thought for her own safety, Veronica sprinted to the mouth of the cave. She extended her arm directly out into the freezing, torrential downpour, letting the driving rain quickly soak the delicate silk fabric until it was heavy with icy water.
She rushed back inside, shivering violently as the cold wind whipped her hair.
She didn't hesitate. She knelt directly beside his head.
-CLUTCH!
She tightly wrung out the excessive, dripping water from the handkerchief onto the stone floor, ensuring it was damp and freezing, but not drowning him.
She leaned over and gently, carefully placed the icy, folded silk cloth directly across his burning forehead.
"Haah... haah... haah... haah..." Rudeus gasped repeatedly, his chest heaving as the freezing cloth shocked his system. He subconsciously leaned into her touch, seeking the cold relief.
"Mel... Mel... please don't abandon me... please..." Rudeus murmured again, his voice weaker now, the name escaping his lips like a dying prayer.
Veronica let out another, much heavier sigh. She completely ignored the phantom woman he was calling for. She adjusted her position, sitting cross-legged directly beside him on the cold stone. She gently took his burning hand back into her own, anchoring him to reality.
She focused her absolute, entirely undivided attention on tending to Rudeus. She continuously removed the handkerchief, braved the storm to soak it in the freezing rain, and reapplied it to his forehead for the entire, grueling duration of the night.
'Sigh... just who the hell is Mel?' Veronica asked herself inwardly, staring down at his troubled, sleeping face, her heart a chaotic battlefield of fear, gratitude, and a strange, blossoming devotion.
***
The Artificial Dimension - Sector 4.Day 2 - 10:00 AM.
The simulated subterranean storm had finally passed, leaving behind a cold, damp stillness in the cavern.
Despite Veronica's tireless, desperate nursing throughout the night, Rudeus was still incredibly sick. The fever had broken slightly, but it had settled deep into his chest.
However, driven by the absolute, uncompromising discipline of his past life, Rudeus forcefully, violently wrenched himself awake.
He slowly opened his crimson eyes. His vision was incredibly blurred, swimming with dark spots, and he felt a massive, throbbing headache splitting his skull with every heartbeat. Every muscle in his body screamed in agonizing protest.
'I absolutely, definitively should not have given my goddamn upper shirt to Veronica,' Rudeus groaned inwardly, a wave of intense, bitter regret washing over him. He had prioritized her comfort over his own tactical readiness, and now he was paying the price. He was severely compromised.
He slowly turned his heavy head, fighting through the nausea.
His eyes widened in sudden, spiking panic.
He saw Adelina sleeping peacefully on the coat, but the spot next to him was entirely empty. Veronica was not in the cave.
"Veronica!" Rudeus croaked, his voice a harsh, dry rasp that tore at his inflamed throat.
He pushed himself up onto his elbows.
"Veronica?!" he called out louder, coughing violently into his fist.
Panic seized him. Had she abandoned him? Had she gone out to fight the demon alone? Had she been taken?
"Veronica!!!"
Ignoring the screaming agony in his muscles and the dizzying vertigo, he forcefully planted his hands on the stone and shoved himself up to a standing position.
"AGGH!!"
The world tilted violently on its axis. His legs, weakened by the fever, completely gave out beneath him. Rudeus stumbled backward, his vision going black as he began to fall toward the hard stone floor.
Suddenly, a blur of silver and blue rushed through the cave entrance.
"Rudeus!"
Veronica had just stepped back inside the cave, carefully carrying a large, surprisingly well-carved wooden bowl filled to the brim with fresh, cold water, which she had miraculously managed to find and scavenge from a ruined adventurer's camp near the cavern waterfall.
Seeing him collapsing, Veronica didn't hesitate. She immediately, smoothly dropped the precious wooden bowl, letting the water spill across the stone, and sprinted with superhuman speed toward him.
She slid across the floor, extending her arms, and managed to perfectly catch Rudeus's massive, falling body against her own chest before his head hit the rock.
She grunted under his heavy weight, slowly lowering them both safely down to the floor until she was kneeling, cradling his upper body in her lap.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Veronica scolded him, her voice a mixture of profound relief and fierce, maternal anger. "You need to rest right now! You were incredibly, terrifyingly sick yesterday night! You have a massive, dangerous fever! If it weren't for me actively cooling you down all night, you would still be convulsing and clutching your shoulders on the floor!"
Rudeus, leaning heavily against her chest, blinked rapidly, trying to bring her flushed, angry face into focus. He felt the soft fabric of his own tunic beneath his cheek, and he smelled the faint scent of rain and lilies.
He let out a long, ragged, incredibly exhausted sigh.
"Thanks..." Rudeus whispered, his voice incredibly weak, staring up into her oceanic blue eyes.
He closed his eyes, leaning fully into her embrace, the fight temporarily leaving his body.
"Thanks... really... for everything you did."
Veronica's breath hitched. She stared down at his vulnerable, sleeping face. Her aristocratic mask completely vanished. Her head immediately, violently shifted away, her face flushing a brilliant, burning shade of shy crimson.
"It-it's absolutely nothing," Veronica stammered, her voice incredibly small, refusing to look down at him.
At that precise moment, the silent, omnipresent system formally notified her.
[ System Notification: ]
[ +20 Relationship Points awarded towards the Target: Rudeus Maximilian Blackfyre. ]
[ Relationship Status Update: ]
[ Trust ------------> Friends ]
[ Current Accumulated Relationship Status to the Target: 45 Relationship Points. ]
Veronica's oceanic eyes widened to their absolute limits as she read the glowing blue text hovering in the dark cave.
A massive, overwhelming wave of pure, unadulterated joy and relief crashed over her heart. It was the best possible news she could have received. She had officially breached the 'Trust' barrier. They were categorized as 'Friends'.
She only had a mere 5 Love Points left to acquire. Just five points stood between her and the prerequisite required to formally, finally apologize to him and alter her destiny.
With incredible, surprising gentleness, she carefully maneuvered her arms out from under him. She gently laid his heavy body down onto the stone, making sure he was resting entirely on the thick fabric of the dark-grey tunic she had taken off and spread out for him.
She leaned over him, her voice a soft, comforting whisper.
"You really need to go back to sleep, Rudeus. Your body needs to fight the infection," Veronica instructed, gently brushing a lock of sweaty green hair from his forehead. "I will keep watch. I promise, I will wake you up when it's time for lunch, and again later for dinner."
Rudeus, hovering on the edge of sleep, gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
"Thanks..." he murmured, his breathing evening out immediately.
For the entirety of the long, grueling day, Veronica proved her worth. She completely abandoned her royal pride. She spent her time meticulously tending to Rudeus—cooling his forehead, forcing him to sip water—while maintaining a vigilant, paranoid watch over the cave entrance for any signs of Dratkthar, and simultaneously monitoring Adelina's stable, comatose vitals.
Eventually, the artificial sun set, and it was evening again.
Rudeus was sitting up, leaning against the cave wall. His fever had broken significantly, though he still looked pale and exhausted. He was currently eating a hot, perfectly roasted beef sandwich. Veronica had scavenged dry wood from the cavern and successfully built a small, contained, smokeless campfire using basic ignition magic.
"...Thanks, for all of this," Rudeus mumbled around a mouthful of hot food, genuinely enjoying the meal. He was profoundly, deeply grateful for everything Veronica had done for him while he was incapacitated. He knew he would have likely died of exposure without her intervention.
Suddenly, the System notified her again.
[ System Notification: ]
[ +10 Relationship Points awarded towards the Target: Rudeus Maximilian Blackfyre. ]
[ Relationship Status Update: ]
[ Friends (Status Maintained) ]
[ Current Accumulated Relationship Status to the Target: 55 Relationship Points. ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS! You have successfully surpassed the minimum prerequisite requirement for Objective 1. ]
[ You are now authorized to formally, sincerely apologize to the Target. Proceed immediately. ]
Veronica saw the glowing text. She let out a long, silent sigh of absolute, monumental relief, offering a quiet prayer of thanks to whatever deity controlled the System.
She smiled warmly, nodding her head to herself. She was finally, truly satisfied. The threshold was crossed.
She took a delicate bite of a perfectly roasted cavern mushroom, which she had carefully scavenged and purified earlier from outside the cave.
Rudeus, noticing her eating, raised a highly skeptical, slightly paranoid eyebrow.
"Hey..." Rudeus croaked, his voice still raspy.
"Hmm?" Veronica raised an eyebrow in response, thoroughly enjoying the earthy flavor of the roasted mushroom.
"...Exactly where the hell did you get that mushroom from?" Rudeus asked, his survival instincts flaring. Eating unverified subterranean fungus was a massive gamble.
"Do you want some?" Veronica offered, holding it out on a stick. "It's actually quite delicious. I gathered a small cluster of them earlier from just outside the cave, near the base of the waterfall."
"...I see. I see...." Rudeus nodded slowly, his voice sounding thick and congested from the lingering sickness. He decided to trust her magical purification skills.
He finished his sandwich, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I'll go to sleep first. Take the first watch," Rudeus announced, preparing to slide back down onto the tunic.
"Wait..."
Veronica suddenly reached across the small campfire. She firmly, desperately grabbed his large, calloused hand with both of her own, physically stopping him from lying down.
Rudeus froze, looking at her hands gripping his.
"I... I need to say something to you," Veronica stated, her voice trembling slightly, but laced with an absolute, unbreakable resolve.
"I need to say something to you right now."
Her oceanic blue eyes locked onto his crimson ones. There was no arrogance. There was no teasing. There was only a profound, terrifying vulnerability.
Rudeus let out a heavy sigh, sensing the monumental emotional weight of the impending conversation.
"Fine. Let's hear it..." Rudeus said, remaining seated.
The moment he gave her permission, Veronica began to visibly, violently tremble. It wasn't the cold. It was the sheer terror of confronting her own sins.
Rudeus looked at her trembling shoulders, a feeling of deep anticipation mixing with his exhaustion. As he expertly read her body language, he realized this wasn't going to be a quick conversation.
"Listen. Let's just talk about this tomorrow morning when my head is clear..." Rudeus offered gently, attempting to pull his hand back.
"WAIT!" Veronica screamed, her voice echoing shrilly in the cave, desperately tightening her grip on his hand to stop him from retreating.
She closed her eyes, took a massive, shuddering breath, and physically gathered every shattered piece of her courage together.
"I-I'm so incredibly sorry!"
The words tore from her throat, raw and bleeding.
"For... for absolutely everything..."
Rudeus's crimson eyes widened in genuine surprise. He raised a single, confused eyebrow.
"What for exactly?" Rudeus asked, his voice guarded.
"For absolutely everything...." Veronica repeated, tears immediately springing to her eyes, spilling over her lashes. "For everything that I personally did to you. From the very first day we met when we were children... until right now."
Rudeus let out a long, slow sigh as he finally heard the words.
Veronica didn't stop. The dam had burst.
"I am so sorry I called you a defect. I am sorry I let Aemond push you into the pond. I am sorry I laughed when you cried. I am sorry I treated you like a diseased animal. I am sorry I never stopped them. I am sorry for everything, Rudeus! I am so, so sorry!" she babbled frantically, weeping openly, her voice echoing with years of suppressed guilt.
He listened to her. He heard the genuine, agonizing sincerity in her voice.
But... Damien's soul was old. And the memories of the abused boy he inhabited were deeply, permanently scarred into his psyche.
He fundamentally did not want to accept her apology. Because he knew, from a lifetime of brutal reality, that he still deeply hated the person she used to be. Even if she knelt before him and wept blood, even if she kept offering her most sincere, heartfelt apologies until the end of time... he simply did not want to listen to a magical cure-all for a decade of systematic torture. Trauma was not erased by a single, tearful "sorry."
He slowly, firmly raised his free hand.
"Stop," Rudeus commanded, his voice cold, flat, and absolute.
Veronica froze, her breath hitching.
"Is-isn't it enough?" Veronica stammered, fresh tears pouring down her flushed cheeks, desperation bleeding into her tone. "I-I can keep going... I can explain—"
"Enough! I said stop." Rudeus interrupted harshly.
He let out a heavy, incredibly tired sigh, reaching up to run his hand through his messy green hair. He looked her dead in the eye, his crimson gaze devoid of any comforting warmth.
"It's just that...." Rudeus paused, choosing his words with surgical precision.
"I simply cannot accept your apology."
When Veronica heard those six devastating words, her heart literally stopped beating in her chest.
A profound, icy shock rippled through her entire body. She had done everything right. She had achieved the required System points. She had laid her soul bare. And he had flatly rejected her.
But... surprisingly, instead of lashing out at him with her usual aristocratic fury, or aggressively pushing him and demanding he accept her apology because she was a Princess... Veronica simply slumped forward.
She accepted his judgment.
She knew, with sudden, crystal-clear, heartbreaking clarity, that it was truly, fundamentally impossible to simply 'forget' what she had done. It was entirely unreasonable to expect him to instantly forgive a decade of torture just because she finally felt guilty.
"I-I see..." Veronica whispered, her voice completely hollow, devoid of life.
She slowly released his hand, pulling her arms back against her chest.
And then, she started to cry. It wasn't a performative weep. It was the deep, ugly, soul-wrenching sobbing of a person who realized they were entirely beyond redemption.
"It's all my fault, right? It's entirely my fault..." Veronica sobbed, rocking back and forth. "I should have... I should have even tried to be actual friends with you when we were still young, when we were innocent. And yet... and yet... hic, hic, hic!"
She choked on her own tears, gasping for air.
"I actively, deliberately chose to be a cruel, sadistic asshole to you instead."
She looked up at him, her beautiful face contorted in absolute agony, her tears dripping steadily onto her tunic.
"You-you're absolutely right, Rudeus...."
She looked down at her own trembling hands, disgust twisting her features.
"I'm just an evil, worthless bitch..."
Driven by a sudden, overwhelming, uncontrollable surge of pure self-hatred, Veronica raised her clenched fist.
She brutally, violently slammed her own fist directly into the side of her own head.
-SLAM!
"I'm a bitch."
-SLAM!
"I'm a worthless bitch."
-SLAM!
"I'm a monster!"
-SLAM!
"I AM A GODDAMN, HEARTLESS BITCH!" she screamed hysterically, repeatedly, violently pounding her own skull, actively trying to inflict physical pain to match the agonizing guilt tearing apart her soul.
Rudeus's eyes widened in horror. He immediately lunged forward across the fire to try and physically stop her.
"Stop it!" Rudeus yelled, grabbing for her wrists.
But Veronica violently resisted. Fueled by hysteria, she thrashed against his grip, desperate to keep punishing herself. She wanted to suffer. She wanted to feel the exact same, helpless physical agony that she had inflicted upon Rudeus for years.
"Enough!" Rudeus grunted, struggling to pin her arms. Because of his lingering fever and severe physical weakness, he couldn't grapple her properly without hurting her.
He needed to snap her out of the hysterical spiral immediately.
He pulled his right hand back.
-SLAP!
The sharp, stinging sound of his open palm striking her cheek echoed like a gunshot in the small cave.
Veronica's oceanic eyes widened in absolute shock. The hysteria vanished instantly, replaced by stunned silence. She slowly raised a trembling hand to her stinging, reddened cheek, staring at him.
"ENOUGH!" Rudeus roared, his voice trembling slightly.
He didn't pull back. He didn't yell at her anymore.
Slowly, and incredibly gently, Rudeus moved forward. He wrapped his large, muscular arms entirely around her trembling shoulders, pulling her forward until her face was buried securely against his broad chest.
He hugged her.
He honestly didn't even fully rationalize why he was doing this, or why he was offering physical comfort to his former abuser. But as he looked at her violently punishing herself, he saw a horrifying reflection of himself. He saw the exact same, self-destructive, agonizing guilt he had experienced in his past life when Melissa died. He remembered blaming himself endlessly, and he remembered trying to violently end his own life multiple times because he couldn't bear the crushing weight of Melissa's death.
He knew exactly what absolute, suffocating self-hatred looked like.
"Enough... please...." Rudeus whispered softly, his voice cracking with his own buried trauma as he hugged her tightly, anchoring her to the present.
"Please... stop hurting yourself."
When Veronica felt the heat of his chest, the solid, undeniable reality of his embrace... the final, fragile dam holding back her emotions completely, catastrophically shattered.
Veronica threw her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest, and began to cry with absolute, uninhibited abandonment.
"Hic, hic, hic! WAAAAHHHH~~!"
Her wails echoed loudly off the cavern walls, a raw, primal sound of pure grief and release.
"WAAAAHHHH~!"
Rudeus didn't pull away. He slowly raised his hand and gently, rhythmically began to stroke her silver-blue hair. He used the sleeve of his tunic to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks as she cried louder and louder. He didn't scold her for breaking down. He didn't slap her face again. Because he saw his own broken soul reflected in her desperation, he simply held her, letting her cry out the poison of her past.
For a full, uninterrupted five minutes, the only sound in the cave was her weeping and the crackle of the campfire.
Eventually, the tears subsided into exhausted hiccups.
They sat together in the glow of the fire, side by side.
Veronica didn't pull away. She gently, comfortably rested the side of her head directly against his broad shoulder, completely exhausted, completely drained, but feeling lighter than she had in a decade.
Rudeus accepted the gesture. He didn't push her away. He let her do whatever she needed to feel safe.
"I'm so sorry..." Veronica whispered again, her voice a tiny, fragile breath against his shoulder.
Rudeus only nodded slowly, staring into the flames.
Then, he finally replied.
"Listen to me. Even though I absolutely cannot, and will not, accept your apology for the past right now...."
Rudeus slowly turned his head, looking down at her resting against his shoulder. She tilted her head up, meeting his gaze.
"...I am willing to try," Rudeus offered, his voice incredibly soft, but carrying the heavy weight of a genuine promise.
"I am willing to try to reconcile with you. We can see where this goes."
He slowly lifted his right hand, offering it to her palm up in the space between them.
"So... let's just try again, alright?" Rudeus asked, a small, tentative, but incredibly genuine and hearty smile breaking across his handsome face.
Veronica stared at his outstretched hand.
A massive, overwhelming wave of heat rushed up her neck. Her face flushed a brilliant, undeniable shade of deep red.
Rudeus noticed the blush. His smile widened into a teasing grin.
"Wait. Did you genuinely just blush?" Rudeus asked, letting out a short, highly amused laugh that broke the heavy tension entirely.
He didn't wait for her to take his hand. He simply reached out and began to gently, affectionately pat the top of her silver-blue head, exactly like he had done on the dirt path.
Veronica accepted the head-pats, a radiant, incredibly beautiful smile blooming across her tear-stained face.
"Yes," Veronica whispered, her voice filled with a profound, unshakeable hope.
She reached out and firmly, securely grabbed his large, calloused hand, intertwining her delicate fingers with his.
"Let's try again."
She squeezed his hand, her oceanic eyes shining with a brilliance that rivaled the stars.
"Let's start completely over...."
"...My Eternal Star."
At that precise, monumental moment, a massive cascade of brilliant, golden light suddenly illuminated the dark cave.
The System Interface materialized in front of Veronica, completely dominating her vision, flashing with a series of urgent, triumphant notifications.
[ System Notification: ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS ON SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING OBJECTIVE 1! ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED ALL MANDATORY OBJECTIVES! ]
[ QUEST SUCCEEDED! ]
[ Calculating Rewards... ]
[ Rewards Distributed: ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS ON OBTAINING THE SUPREME ILLUMINATION ART: 'NIGHT'S DEVOURER'! ]
[ +10 Relationship Points awarded. ]
[ Relationship Status Update: ]
[ Friends ------------> Close Friend ]
[ Current Accumulated Relationship Status to the Target: 65 Relationship Points. ]
Veronica's eyes widened in absolute shock as she felt an unimaginable, terrifyingly massive surge of cosmic power violently inject itself directly into her mana core. She could literally feel the fabric of her magical pathways expanding, evolving, ascending to a completely different tier of existence.
She blinked, focusing her eyes on the massive wall of text detailing the new ability's information that was currently scrolling rapidly across the blue screen.
[Night's Devourer]
[ System Log Entry – Starweavers' Conclave Archive (Forbidden Celestial Tier) ]
[ Skill Name: ] Night's Devouring
[ Type: ] Ultimate • Active • Area Denial / Inversion
[ Grade: ] Mythic (SSS+) — Astral Sovereign Tier
[ Attribute: ] Celestial Light / Perfect Shadow Inversion.
[ Mana Cost: ] 100% of total stellar essence (no external crystals or potions allowed).
[ Core Toll: ] Temporary Mana Core Devouring (see below).
[ Cooldown: ] 90 days (real-time) — cannot be shortened by any magical means.
[ Cast Time: ] 5 seconds (whispered incantation: "The stars remember darkness… and now they forget me too.")
[ Range: ] 1-kilometer radius (Grand Starweaver) → 7-kilometer radius (Astral Sovereign).
[ Duration: ] 20 minutes base → up to 3 hours at maximum mastery.
[Skill Description]
The caster reaches directly into the primordial fabric of the heavens and violently inverts every single source of light within the designated target zone. The Sun, the moon, torches, magical glows, and starlight itself—all are instantly devoured and folded into an absolute, suffocating, starless void. The battlefield or city plunges into a darkness so conceptually complete that even divine sight and advanced light-based detection magics entirely fail. Only the caster (and anyone physically marked with their personal constellation sigil) retains perfect, unimpeded vision.
The heavens always take their absolute price… but only for a time.
[Primary Effects]
Absolute Light Inversion Field:
Every light source is instantly nullified and violently converted into raw, weaponized shadow energy.
All incoming light, radiance, and fire-based magic is instantly dispelled on contact, granting the caster massive, instantaneous essence recovery.
Stellar Sight (Caster Exclusive):
Grants perfect 360° omnivision in total, absolute darkness.
All hidden, stealthed, or invisible enemies appear as glowing, readable constellations that only the caster can perceive.
Agility is increased by +70%, evasion by +200%, and physical movement becomes conceptually, perfectly silent.
Inverted Amplification:
All standard Illumination techniques cast inside the field instantly evolve into shadow-inverted forms and gain +5 ranks (becoming unblockable and causing unhealable wounds).
Devoured Radiance (Passive Drain):
Every living enemy creature trapped within the void loses 2% of their maximum HP per second.
All stolen life-force radiance is directly funneled back to the caster (up to 60% HP + mana recovery).
[The Toll: Temporary Mana Core Devouring]
The exact instant the skill's duration ends (or is forcibly canceled by the caster), the inverted void violently turns inward and temporarily, entirely devours the caster's own Mana Core.
The Mana Core is conceptually shattered to zero. All mana reserves drop to absolute zero.
All Illumination magic is entirely sealed for 30 days (base) → 21 days at maximum mastery.
During this punishing period:
Absolutely no mana regeneration occurs whatsoever.
The caster cannot cast any light, stellar, or basic spells.
All physical stats are permanently reduced by 20% due to catastrophic core exhaustion.
After the 30-day seal formally expires, the Mana Core automatically, miraculously begins to regenerate (achieving full recovery in an additional 7 days). No external ritual or sacrifice is required — the stars simply, quietly return what they borrowed.
Veronica let out a long, deeply exasperated sigh inwardly as she skimmed the terrifying, unnecessarily massive wall of text detailing the apocalyptic skill she had just received.
It was undeniably the most powerful, game-breaking spell she had ever laid eyes on, capable of leveling cities and conquering armies.
But... as she stared at the glowing blue text, she realized something profound.
She didn't care.
She still gently tightened her grip on his hand. She slowly turned her head, looking away from the mythic spell, and looked back at him.
Rudeus, exhausted by the emotional confrontation and still recovering from his fever, had already closed his eyes. He had fallen into a deep, peaceful sleep, sitting upright, his head resting lightly against the stone wall above her.
She looked at his relaxed, handsome face, illuminated by the dying embers of the campfire.
She let out a soft, affectionate click of her tongue. Though slightly annoyed that he had fallen asleep on her again during such a monumental moment, she couldn't stop the wide, radiant smile from spreading across her face.
She was incredibly, overwhelmingly happy.
She realized that the suffocating, terrifying 'Man Hate Complex'—the traumatic phobia that had ruled her entire life, rendering her incapable of trusting or being near any male—was finally, entirely cured. The psychological chains had shattered. She was currently sitting pressed against him, gripping his hand tightly, and she felt absolutely no nausea, no panic, no need to force herself or tell herself "This is necessary for survival!"
She just felt warm. She felt incredibly safe.
She was profoundly, endlessly thankful to him for absolutely everything. Even though he didn't grant her the easy absolution of accepting her apology, she didn't care. The fact that he was willing to start over together, to try and genuinely be friends, was infinitely more valuable than a hollow forgiveness. She was already perfectly, entirely satisfied with that.
Because after all, in the suffocating, terrifying darkness of her cursed destiny...
He was the absolute only light that shone brightly enough to guide her home.
He was her Eternal Star.