Failed Possession Chapter-44

**Ch-44**

—

Elena could not rise from where she had collapsed.

There was still no strength in her legs, her body felt hollow, and her head spun.

Is this because my willpower has been depleted? Or…

Elena bit her lip hard.

‘Yuri.’

Yuri was fighting.

Against the old demonic master whom even Elena’s full-power magic and Haryeong, a Fifth-tier warrior, had failed to bring down—Yuri was fighting him.

“N-no… don’t…”

The murmur slipped out unconsciously.

With every exchange, blood sprayed from Yuri’s body. Of course it did—his opponent was that monster. And each time more blood burst out, Yuri’s body staggered harder.

Far away, Haryeong sat collapsed, gasping as she regulated her injuries. Elena still couldn’t use magic.

But… she couldn’t just watch anymore.

Grinding her teeth, Elena forced herself upright. The wand trembling in her hand felt unbearably heavy—she could barely even lift it.

‘Please… please…’

She aimed the wand and begged the mana.

At this rate, Yuri was going to die.

If Yuri died, she and Haryeong would die too—but right now, Elena didn’t care about that. The only thing that mattered was that Yuri must not die.

‘…’

Yuri?

Was that really Yuri?

Up until the Blood Fiend Ghost had appeared, Yuri had just been Yuri.

The Yuri she knew.
The one she met in Aldor.
The Yuri she had watched for half a year.

But the Yuri now—

She didn’t want to think about it.

Someday she would have to, but not now. Please.

Elena pleaded with the mana again. She begged for a spell that could turn this situation around.

“Ah… ah…”

But the mana did not move.

Her exhausted will power could not form a spell structure capable of drawing in the dense mana around her. Right now, there was nothing she could do.

A mage who cannot use magic is utterly powerless.

If only I were stronger.

If I had been strong enough that Yuri never needed to step forward—

A dark thought writhed deep in her chest. A rotten, disgusting thought she couldn’t even bear to look at head-on.

Panting, Elena dragged her feet forward. The mana stubbornly refused to answer.

Then—then at least with her body—

—Crack.

A sickening sound rang out.

The battle ended.

Unbelievably—

The one who died was the Blood Fiend Ghost.

“Yu… Yuri?”

Again, Elena called his name without thinking.

Even while feeling a faint suspicion that maybe she shouldn’t be calling that being by that name, she had nothing else to call him.

“Yuri… Yuri? Yuri…!”

Her legs dragged uselessly.

The Blood Fiend Ghost lay slack, his chest destroyed—and Yuri had collapsed over him.

No… no…

Terrible thoughts flooded her mind.

Her legs gave out. She couldn’t even fall properly and pitched forward. Her nose hit the ground; blood streamed out. Dirt stuck to the blood in her mouth, turning to mud.

She didn’t care.

Gasping in terror, Elena clawed forward with her hands.

“My lady.”

A voice spoke.

Haryeong.

Haryeong stood there, pale as a corpse, clutching her abdomen.

“Crawling like that… you look like a grub.”

A joke. Now?

Elena lifted her mud-smeared face and glared.

Haryeong shrugged one shoulder—her left side hurt too much to move both.

“Please don’t glare like that. The situation is so dreadful I was merely trying to lighten the mood with a silly joke.”

“…”

“Oh dear. My lady, I’ve always had some confidence in my sense of humor, but judging by your expression, that confidence seems to be crumbling.”

“Yuri?”

Elena cut her off.

“What about Yuri?”

Haryeong stared at her with emotionless eyes for a moment.

“He’s alive.”

Elena’s expression changed instantly—but Haryeong didn’t miss the other emotions mixed with that relief.

“What will you do?”

“…?”

“My lady, you have many flaws, but also clear strengths. I don’t think you’re wise, but I do think you’re intelligent.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“If you order me to kill him, I will obey.”

Elena’s cheek twitched.

“Honestly, I don’t want to. But you are my employer, so if you command it, I have no choice.”

“Haryeong… what are you talking about?”

“If killing him is distasteful, shall we at least restrain him?”

She glanced toward Yuri.

“Personally, I recommend that option. As I said, I don’t want to kill Yuri.”

“…”

“But… unpleasant as it is, I think restraining him may be necessary. You’re exhausted, my lady. And my internal injuries are serious as well. I don’t know Yuri’s condition, but if he regains consciousness and becomes violent, I can’t guarantee I can protect you.”

“Violent…? What do you mean violent? Do you think Yuri would attack us?”

“It’s not impossible.”

She wasn’t joking.

“You’re intelligent, my lady. You know, don’t you? Yuri is a Possessor. I never heard it directly, but the circumstances make it obvious. Otherwise none of this makes sense.”

Elena couldn’t answer and bit her lip.

“There are many cases of exposed Possessors harming those around them and disappearing.”

“Yuri wouldn’t do that.”

“I think so too. But everything we’ve seen about Yuri until now… may have been a lie.”

“Stop.”

She didn’t want to hear more—because she already knew.

Elena shook her head hard.

“I won’t kill him… and I won’t restrain him either.”

“Understood.”

Haryeong nodded obediently.

She had only suggested it for Elena’s safety. Truly, she didn’t want to do it either. The Yuri she had known wouldn’t rampage.

If he did…

Then everything had simply been a lie from the beginning.

And honestly—she might even admire that level of deception.

“Hmm.”

Haryeong examined Yuri and the dead Blood Fiend Ghost.

Even watching from closer, she still couldn’t understand how Yuri had killed him.

To her, it had just looked like a punch.

That punch had shattered both the Blood Fiend Ghost’s protective qi and his chest at once.

Using Aura at Fourth tier already made no sense. And piercing protective aura with a bare fist?

Even for a Possessor, that was beyond comprehension.

“Lots of minor injuries, but the internal damage isn’t severe. Looks like he exhausted all his inner energy and collapsed.”

She took Yuri’s left hand. The wrist the Blood Fiend Ghost had grabbed was cleanly broken.

If he’d squeezed harder, it might have been crushed or severed.

“Hmm.”

She searched the Blood Fiend Ghost’s belongings—nothing valuable. Maybe his hideout held something, but finding it wouldn’t be easy.

She stomped the bloodied corpse’s face a few times, then touched her aching side.

The medicine helped, but her organs still throbbed. It would take time to fully recover. Still, she could move better now.

“Let’s go down.”

Nothing else should happen, but it was safer to descend than stay longer on this monster-infested mountain.

Haryeong hoisted Yuri onto her back, pulled bandages from her pack, and tied him securely to herself.

“My lady, are you alright?”

“Yeah… I can walk now.”

Elena’s face and clothes were still caked in mud. She was so mentally shaken that she hadn’t even thought about cleaning herself. Haryeong let out a short, heavy sigh and shifted Yuri to her side with one arm.

“My lady. Stop fooling around and come here.”

Normally she would have been scolded for such insolent wording, but Elena only blinked blankly, saying nothing. Her condition really wasn’t good.

‘Understandable.’

Even Haryeong had been shocked stiff by the revelation that Yuri was a Possessor. For Elena, it must be far worse.

Haryeong walked up to the dazed Elena and, without even asking permission, scooped her up in her arms.

“I can walk on my own.”

“It’ll be faster if I carry both of you and run than if you walk.”

“…”

“Well, this is something. I didn’t learn martial arts to carry people around, but with things like this, what choice do I have?”

No answer came.

Haryeong didn’t bother swallowing her sigh this time—she just let it out.

“What a troublesome life.”

Muttering that, she started running.

—

—

Before losing consciousness, Yuri had wondered:

If I pass out like this… what happens to me?

Where will I wake up?

He’d seen the Blood Fiend Ghost die, but worries still crowded his mind.

“…”

Maybe he wouldn’t wake at all.
Maybe he’d be tied up.
Imprisoned somewhere.

All kinds of thoughts crossed his mind.

But when he opened his eyes, it was nothing dramatic.

A ceiling.

It was the ceiling of an inn room in the lower village of Lagos.

Yuri stared blankly upward and moved his fingers. He wasn’t bound, but when he moved his left hand, a sharp, tingling pain shot through it.

‘Right… it was broken.’

Judging by the pressure, it was wrapped in bandages. The rest of his body ached here and there too.

“You’re awake.”

A voice came from beside him.

“As you can see, this is the village inn.”

“…”

“I went through quite a bit of trouble, you know. You were unconscious, and Lady Elena couldn’t walk properly. Ever tried running down a mountain carrying two people?”

“…”

“It was my first time too. Not very enjoyable. I’m not someone who sweats easily, but running while carrying two people had me drenched.”

Yuri didn’t turn his head.

He was afraid.

More afraid of seeing Haryeong and Elena’s expressions than of the Blood Fiend Ghost’s red palm or murderous gaze.

“Fortunately, we ran into other adventurers halfway down and got some help. Not for free, of course. But paying them and handing you over while I carried only Lady Elena was better than running the whole way with both of you.”

Haryeong wasn’t the only one there. He could sense Elena too.

But Elena hadn’t said a single word while Haryeong kept talking.

“Oh, you probably don’t know. The old monster who attacked us earlier was a demonic master called the Blood Fiend Ghost. Honestly, meeting him at all was terrible luck—but in a way, you could say we were lucky. Ten years ago, he was one of the Seven Evils of the Demonic Cult.”

Yuri’s shoulders flinched.

The Seven Evils were on par with Martial Zeniths.

Seventh Order.

“You’re reacting. Good—your ears still work.”

“…”

“Well, that was long ago. He’d injured his dantian and suffered deviation, so his rank had fallen. Thinking about it calmly now, his actual combat strength was probably around a flawed Sixth Order.”

Even Sixth Order would have meant total annihilation, but the Blood Fiend Ghost had been unstable in many ways. His inner energy wasn’t deep, and his meridians weren’t sound. He couldn’t have fought for long.

‘We were lucky…’

Yuri agreed.

Even landing Blazing Burst Fist into the Blood Fiend Ghost’s chest at the end had been luck.

If the old monster hadn’t allowed close-quarters combat…
If he’d used long weapons instead of palm techniques…
If he’d decided from the start to kill Yuri…
If he hadn’t exposed his chest while grabbing Yuri’s left hand…

“Lucky or not, we almost died. If you hadn’t stepped in, Lady Elena and I would’ve been chewed up in that stinking Blood Fiend Ghost’s mouth and reunited in his stomach.”

He couldn’t keep staring at the ceiling forever just because he was scared.

He had stepped forward precisely because he didn’t want regrets.

He had already resolved himself back then.

Yuri clenched his fist beneath the blanket and sat up.

He looked at Haryeong first. Pale, bandaged on her limbs—but she seemed fine.

Then Elena.

Her clothes were clean. She didn’t look hurt.

Without realizing it, Yuri let out a sigh of relief.

“Yuri.”

Their eyes met, and Elena spoke.

Yuri didn’t answer. He simply held her gaze.

“There’s something… no, something I have to ask. You must—must answer.”

Of course.

Yuri slowly nodded.

“And… you can’t lie.”

Her eyes trembled. Her voice shook.

She was asking, but she clearly didn’t want to hear the answer.

Still, she couldn’t avoid it. If ignored now, it would rot and fester someday.

She had already seen.

Already realized.

“Are you… a Possessor?”

So she had no choice but to ask.

Yuri’s lips parted.

But no voice came out.

He thought he had prepared himself, resolved himself—but now that he faced it, he couldn’t speak. He didn’t want to.

He thought about lying.

*What Possessor? What are you talking about?*
*Hiding inner energy? I don’t know what you mean.*
*My rank increased? Maybe it was enlightenment.*
*Even Full Moon Play said my talent was great.*
*Aura? That too—just another breakthrough.*
*I might die. I didn’t want to die.*
*I didn’t want you to die.*

“…Yeah.”

He couldn’t lie.

Didn’t want to.

He had wondered if a day like this might come. He’d tried not to get caught—but you never know what happens in life.

That was why he’d tried to leave Elena’s estate.

If he kept some distance, maybe he could avoid being exposed.

“Since… when?”

He had imagined what Elena’s face would look like if she found out.

Anger.
Hatred.
Calling him liar, ghost, monster.
Trying to kill him.

It wasn’t like that at all.

Elena looked like she might burst into tears.

‘Ah.’

He didn’t want to be found out.