# Chapter 92
Luan paced back and forth in the room with an anxious look. His large sigh dispersed into the dusty air.
Perhaps entrusting his only loyal servant with the task of investigating Arzel’s background had been a great mistake. Maybe it would have been wiser to leave this place as quickly as possible. Although the promised three days had passed, Luan remained trapped in Arzel’s castle without receiving any significant news. The longer he stayed alone, the more impatient he became.
Finally, as the sun took on a reddish hue, Luan began packing earlier than planned. He intended either to go first and wait for his loyal servant to return with useful information or to depart immediately when he appeared in this room. Even as he gathered his few clothes, his heart, shrunk to the size of a bean, beat incessantly. He had never been so frightened, even when he had perfectly anticipated his father’s death. Back then, he was blinded by revenge and anger, ready to charge in prepared to die. Having lost everything he had, he thought he had nothing left to lose. But now that his plans had gone awry and he had experienced the betrayal of the one he had clung to like a lifeline, all the fears he had postponed descended upon him at once.
With his fluttering heart, after packing his belongings, Luan finally headed to the carpet placed in the middle of the room. The original intricate pattern had become blurred from countless overlapping footprints and accumulated dust. Luan lifted the edge of the circular carpet. Then he pushed away the rectangular door positioned beneath it. Black smoke suddenly surged up, then scattered in all directions with a bluish tint. Luan habitually reached his hand into the hole. His fingertips touched the smooth surface of glass.
It was fortunate that Luan had been able to use this space, which had once served as storage for Maran country magicians, as his quarters. Among numerous ancient potions in unidentifiable large glass bottles, he could store an item as precious as his life. Since this passage could never be discovered without performing a specific ritual, it was perfect for hiding valuable items.
This was effectively the only card he held. The past plan to gradually choke the life out of his brother continued to help Luan to this day. He was repeatedly grateful that his younger self had not simply cut off Ludin’s neck.
“There are so many…”
The potions seemed endless, no matter how many he took out. When he had brought them, he had a carriage, but now travel would be inconvenient. There was concern that the bottles might break on a galloping horse. Luan placed all the potion bottles on the floor and contemplated briefly. Half of these were fakes with various impurities mixed in, just in case. So far, what he had given to Ludin in exchange was half fake and half real. Being a simple deception, it could be exposed soon, but it could at least buy some time. Judging from Ludin’s lack of reaction when they last met, it seemed he hadn’t yet noticed anything unusual about the antidote.
Luan gathered half of them and wrapped them in thick cloth. He intended to leave the remaining half here for later. The blue smoke turned black again as the small door was sealed. While carefully covering the carpet, Luan anxiously glanced at the doorway once more.
The bundle of bottles was quite heavy. Luan slung it over his shoulder and carefully stepped outside. The door made a small click as it closed. He descended the tower with footsteps even quieter. As he went down from the top-floor storage, the view of the widely spread plain gradually disappeared from sight. When Luan finally set foot on the ground, he took a large step in the direction of the reddish sunset.
“Huk…”
But his hastening legs suddenly lost their freedom and stiffened in the blink of an eye. An invisible string tightly wrapped around his ankle. The object restraining him persistently constricted his steps with a chilling sensation like a living snake. Losing his balance and staggering, Luan saw Devan’s cold smile enter his field of vision.
“So this rat finally crawls out.”
Spitting out a few more incomprehensible curses, Devan snapped his fingers. The snake that had been tightly binding his ankle instantly climbed up his knees and waist, wrapping around Luan’s neck. Unable to move his now freed legs, Luan rolled on the ground, letting out a painful groan. A cracked sound escaped from his throat as his airway was blocked. Simultaneously, the rounded bundle slipped from his grasp, despite his desperate effort to hold on.
Ignoring Luan, who was gasping with a flushed face, Devan reached for the bundle. If this was indeed the antidote, his plan would be a success. His continuous surveillance of Luan’s movements, even amidst the chaos of searching for Ludin, had paid off. The only choice left for him was to flee, so Devan had just waited for him to crawl out holding the antidote of his own accord.
While Devan examined the contents of the bundle, Luan let out a suppressed scream in an even higher pitch.
“Shut up.”
Glass bottles wrapped tightly in thick cloth were visible. The shape of the bottles and the color of the liquid matched the potion he had seen before. Devan made an annoyed expression at the continuous screaming. He was already mentally drained from maintaining stronger magic than usual.
“What are you saying?”
As he waved his hand, the terrible scream that had been ringing in his ears instantly stopped. Luan exhaled rough breaths and regulated his breathing for a while. Then, with bulging eyes, he stared at the bottle Devan was holding.
“It’s useless to take it.”
“What?”
“It’s not what you want. If you thought it was the antidote, you’re mistaken.”
There was a moment of silence. Soon, Devan slowly bent his knee and directly stared at Luan, who was sitting down. Luan’s gaze, still heaving his chest, was wavering faintly. A glass bottle suddenly approached before his unstable eyes. The blue liquid gently sloshed following Devan’s hand movements.
“You’re saying this is fake?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then why are you escaping with it?”
Luan’s eyeballs rolled around.
“Because I’ve already moved the real ones.”
“…”
“If you kill me, you’ll never know their location.”
“What bullshit.”
Devan sneered. He then lightly slapped Luan’s cheek with the hand not holding the potion bottle.
“Do I still look like an idiot to you?”
“…”
“No answer, huh…”
His head quietly tilted. The sight of him trying desperately to hide his flustered appearance was both amusing and repulsive.
“Are you less afraid now?”
With Devan’s low question, silence fell again. Cold gaze and anxious gaze clashed silently. Luan was speechless at the unexpected reaction. He had thought mentioning the antidote would make him tread carefully, but why was he so confident? Was he just bluffing? Or did he know something? Come to think of it, everything was strange. He thought Arzel and Ludin had teamed up, so why was this bastard coming to kill him instead of Arzel? Where was Ludin? Or was he lying in a sickbed?
While Luan’s mind was in tumult, Devan’s mind was also spinning dizzily. Luan was the first to speak. Unaware that his voice was trembling, he suddenly shouted with a vicious face.
“What I’ve been giving to Ludin all this time is this. Fake! He won’t live much longer. He’ll soon find out. Seeing that you’ve come looking for me like this, perhaps he’s already dying.”
“…”
Looking at the calm Devan, Luan threw his final card.
“If you’re so suspicious, go ahead and take them. Those potions. By the time you discover they’re all fake, it will be too late. Even if you question my skeleton, the dead cannot speak. You’ll lose him forever.”
Devan slowly interpreted his words. Yes, he knew that part was true. It was a story he had definitely heard from Jiman, so he understood that the potions so far had been fake. The question was whether the potions this bastard was carrying out now were real… He had used magic even while he was away, so if Luan had moved the real antidote separately, he wouldn’t have missed it. But what if he had missed something? What if he hadn’t noticed because he was preoccupied with finding Ludin? Devan gritted his teeth. He found the situation vexing; though he knew it was clearly a desperate struggle, he couldn’t easily make a decision. Because it was a matter concerning the life of none other than Ludin, Devan was extremely cautious. One method was to answer lies with lies.
“It’s become annoying, but it doesn’t matter.”
He rose lightly.
“…What? What are you saying? Do you understand correctly? Even if you take that, Ludin will die! It’s ineffective. It’s fake!”
“To be precise, it’s not fake. It’s just the real thing mixed with something else.”
At this calm statement, Luan’s eyes widened. How did he know that? Had Ludin already collapsed, and they had examined the antidote? Enough time had passed for the mixture to be revealed. Yes, it wasn’t strange that they had discovered in advance that there was a problem with the potion. What was truly strange was Devan’s attitude as he spoke about it. He wasn’t worried about that fact at all.
Looking at Luan’s openly confused face, Devan smiled gently.
“Why would I leave you alone while knowing your shallow trick? It might be troublesome, but there’s a way to turn the fake into real. So Ludin’s life, which you’re so worried about, is safe enough with this alone… but what about your life?”
“…”
“Aren’t you curious too?”
Luan’s face turned ashen. There’s a way? His mind became foggy at this new information. That’s impossible… it can’t be…
But what if it’s true? What if he loses everything like this?
In his chaotic mind, numerous questions burst one after another. One bomb triggered another, and that fire sparked new flames. Luan endlessly followed the tangled questions, searching for an appropriate answer. With a feeling like he might vomit at any moment, he staggered down the path of questions that seemed to have no exit.
When he reached a dead end, his eyes, full of fear, suddenly changed.
“What the…?”
Devan frowned at the sight of Luan suddenly standing up. With a pale face and trembling body, he seemed to have fallen into a proper state of panic. In reality, there was no such method. The purpose was merely to throw him off balance by appearing relaxed instead of playing along with that annoying game. After that, he intended to negotiate with the cornered rat who had no cards left to play. A faint smile appeared on Devan’s lips as he contemplated how to end this. But before he could implement any of the hundreds of tortures that came to mind, Luan abruptly charged forward. It was an unbelievable speed for someone who had been trembling with fear.
For a moment, Devan thought Luan was escaping. That’s because he passed by him, rushing away at high speed. But when he turned around with a cruel smile, he saw Luan stopped not far away. He was holding the cloth bundle that Devan had placed on the ground.
For a fleeting moment, a truly happy expression crossed his face. And before Devan could even realize it, both hands soared high into the sky, then plummeted to the ground like an arrow. A miserable sound sharply resonated through the air.
Crash!
The sound of small glass pieces scattering seemed almost cheerful in a way. Blue liquid flowed like tears beneath the shattered glass bottles.
Pure evil.