First Runaway

Shana grabbed Lucian’s hand immediately.

Lucian tried to keep his other hand over his face, but when Shana pulled with force, his arm fell away helplessly.

Red blood spread across his pale face like spilled paint, centered around his nose and mouth.

Lucian sank to his knees, his hands trembling violently.

His condition was clearly abnormal to anyone who looked at him.

‘Why did it suddenly get this bad…!’

It was partly because he had used large-scale magic repeatedly in such a short span of time.

But more than that, it was likely because he had used fire magic while maintaining a barrier.

“Lucian….”

“Sha, Sha… you should’ve stayed inside the barrier… it’s dangerous….”

Lucian said this while gently stroking Shana’s hair, forcing a smile.

“I’m fine.

It’s just… just a nosebleed.”

Blood was smeared around his lips.

He didn’t look fine at all.

When he noticed blood staining Shana’s hair, he immediately pulled his hand away.

“Let’s go back.

You can’t keep going like this.”

“…We still have to… deal with all the monsters here….”

“Don’t say something so ridiculous.

I’ll support you, so lean on my shoulder.

Hurry.”

As Shana moved to help him, Lucian suddenly stretched his hand forward.

From his shaking fingers, a small fireball flew out.

Breaking through the weakened white flames, it struck a werewolf that had been creeping up behind Shana, bursting its body in an instant.

“Uh… ngh….”

Even that small spell would be fatal to him in his current state.

A sound like claws scraping against his insides rose from his throat.

Unable to withstand the pressure building inside him, blood burst violently from his mouth.

This time, the amount was incomparable to before.

“Lu, Lucian.”

Her hands trembled, unbecoming of an apothecary.

Her mind turned blank, every piece of medical knowledge slipping away.

There was too much blood.

Too much.

Unlike the dark, clotted blood earlier, this was a vivid, fresh red.

Shana’s breathing began to quicken.

Is he going to die?

No way.

Lucian?

Shana grabbed Lucian’s shoulders.

‘Get a grip!’

Right now, the most important thing was that she didn’t panic.

She was an apothecary.

Even if she was a mana-less person incapable of using magic, Lucian’s life rested in her hands.

‘I can save him.

Not yet… I can still save him.’

Mana Rejection Syndrome had flared up again.

Inside his body, the force rejecting mana and the force generating it were violently colliding.

‘And this place is saturated with demonic energy.’

If demonic energy entered his body through his wounds now, that would be the worst-case scenario.

“Ugh… kuh.”

As if her worst fear were becoming reality, Lucian vomited blood once more.

Seeing this, Shana forcibly pried open his mouth.

“Lucian, open your mouth. Now.”

She pulled a bottle of water from her bag, intending to wash away the blood clogging his airway.

But the moment she leaned closer, she realized the situation was far more serious than she’d thought.

The hardened clots of blood in his throat and around his mouth were already contaminated with demonic energy.

Careful not to let the tainted blood slip down his airway, she forced his mouth open wider.

Sticky red liquid clung together in thick masses near his throat.

His skin was burning hot.

Her hands kept slipping because of the blood.

When Lucian reflexively closed his mouth, his sharp fangs scraped her finger, but she didn’t care and pushed her hand in deeper.

“Ah… ah… ngh….”

“Just a little more.

Hang on, Lucian.”

Shana finally managed to pull out the dark, clotted mass of blood with her fingers.

When she threw it to the ground, it burst open, blood pooling on the floor.

Lucian gasped for breath, completely drained.

Grrrrr…!

As if the scent of blood were a signal, the werewolves that had been distant dots moments ago now circled the wall of white flame, searching for an opening.

Saliva dripped from their jaws, murderous intent radiating from their poison-laced fangs.

A single bite would paralyze the entire body, leading to a gruesome death.

In the worst case, the victim would turn into a werewolf themselves.

She had to avoid all of them.

She had to support Lucian, who was drifting in and out of consciousness.

And she had to make it back to the tent.

How?

In the midst of despair, Shana checked her wrist.

The bracelet Lucian had given her for emergencies, enchanted with an absolute defense spell that would activate only twice.

“Lucian, this bracelet activates twice, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“And the acceleration spell is already on your body.”

Shana quickly calculated the distance and direction to the tent.

“…We’re going back like this.

Lucian, don’t use any more magic.

Do you hear me?”

She intended to escape this hell by using the two remaining protection spells as shields.

But at that moment, Lucian staggered to his feet and lightly scooped her up in his arms.

Then he split the werewolf pack with a wall of red flames and charged straight through the opening.

“What are you doing?!”

“Shasha… I told you. I’m fine.”

He tried to sound normal, but the ends of his words blurred.

“If I can’t even handle this… I’ll have to give up the captain’s position. Right?”

As he spoke, Lucian’s body burned like a furnace.

The heat radiating from his shoulder and chest made it uncomfortable just being held by him.

Only then did Shana realize it.

The reason he was pushing himself this close to a mana rampage lay in the position he had just mentioned.

Three years on the battlefield while suffering from Mana Rejection Syndrome.

There was no way there wouldn’t be lasting consequences.

Lucian whispered low by her ear.

Even his breath felt like fire.

Yet the heat brushing against her cheek was strangely ticklish.

“…If we make it back alive… grant me one wish.”

“What? Is that really the time to say something like that?”

Lucian tried to smile, but only one corner of his mouth barely lifted into a strained grin.

Along with that smile, a massive fireball erupted from his hand, sweeping through the werewolf pack.

“Lucian!

Put me down right now!”

Ignoring her completely, Lucian ran forward at full speed.

Despite his ruined condition, an indistinguishable blaze burned in his blue eyes—purpose, killing intent, or madness.

As Lucian crossed the battlefield carrying Shana, every werewolf that touched his blue flames exploded without even a chance to scream.

Not a corpse, not a single bone remained.

It was fire reminiscent of divine wrath.

‘Why… why are you using magic this strong?’

Just cutting off their escape routes or opening a path would have been enough.

Was he losing control over his mana because of the rampage?

Shana shouted desperately.

“Lucian, stop it!

At this rate, you’ll die!”

The number of monsters dwindled rapidly.

In exchange, the strain on Lucian’s body became increasingly obvious.

His casting speed slowed, and the time it took him to prepare the next spell grew imperceptibly longer.

Blue lightning burst from his hand, piercing the remaining nearby werewolves.

He wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand and laughed roughly.

Then, his body swayed.

Shana jumped down from his arms and barely managed to catch him as he collapsed.

“You insane bastard!”

She shouted while clutching his neck.

Grand ducal heir or not, she couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Why are you doing this?!

Why?!”

Lucian seemed determined not to stop until every last monster was gone.

Shana grabbed his cheeks with both hands, forcing him to look at her.

“You’re in no condition to think about missions.

Let’s just go.

Now.”

“…I have to… finish it.”

He looked like he was about to collapse, yet he muttered stubbornly and tried to stand again.

“Why do you have to finish it?

Leave the rest to the guards!”

“……”

Lucian didn’t answer.

His unfocused eyes no longer reflected Shana.

“Shasha… are you scared?”

At those words, Shana froze.

A memory she had buried deep in the past surfaced.

When she was very young.

When she’d wandered into the forest outside the castle and been surrounded by monsters.

Back then too, Lucian had protected her with eyes like he would burn everything to the ground.

That was the day he’d used magic for the first time, despite the pain of Mana Rejection Syndrome, just to save her.

‘Shasha… are you scared?’

As he said that, he turned every monster before her eyes into ash.

Honestly, at the time, the expressionless Lucian unleashing massive magic had been more frightening.

But the worry flickering in his eyes melted her fear.

She knew he’d overexerted himself for her sake.

She’d taken his hand and returned to the grand ducal castle with him.

But now, with his mind clouded by mana overload…

There was no way he was consciously remembering that moment.

There was no way he was erasing every monster here just because she might be afraid.

Yeah.

‘It must be my imagination.’

With his consciousness fading, he was surely acting on pure instinct.

Like he had on the battlefield.

Shana tightened her grip on his collar.

‘…Even if I have to drag him, I have to get us out of here.’

But Lucian’s unfocused gaze shifted toward the approaching monsters.

If she left him like this, he would definitely try to break free and keep fighting.

There was no way she could escape while restraining someone who’d lost all reason.

The words Lucian had murmured the day he saved her came back to her.

‘Shasha… don’t cry.

Let’s go home.’

Those were the words of a blood-soaked young Lucian, reaching out his hand to her.

Shana loosened her grip on his collar.

Lucian had surely forgotten that day.

After saving countless people, there was no reason for him to remember it.

If he’d held onto even a fragment of childhood sentiment, he wouldn’t have treated her like a stranger after graduating from the academy.

It was a memory only she carried.

A memory precious only to her.

This Lucian wasn’t acting based on that past.

Avoiding his face, she rested her forehead against his shoulder and spoke.

“I’m not afraid of monsters anymore.

So let’s just go back.”

“……”

Lucian didn’t respond.

It was as if he couldn’t hear her at all.

“Lucian, let’s go back.”

She didn’t give up and said it once more.

Believing that the Lucian she knew would hear her.

“…You’re not scared anymore?”

“Yeah.

I just want to go back.

So let’s go.”

Only then did Lucian’s frozen legs finally move.