Becoming a Shadow in the New World

Muttering to herself, Yukina Himeragi felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier, and her vision darkening, even though she felt she could still hold on.

Just as the last glimmer of vision was about to disappear, a pull came from behind her collar, causing Himeragi Yukina to take a step back and waking her from her drowsy state.

She immediately gripped the Snow Wolf tightly, her instincts honed by the Lion King's organization causing her to instinctively turn around, intending to shoot the person behind her.

This set of smooth and flowing movements was abruptly stopped by Himeragi Yukina the moment she saw the person pulling her from behind.

The sudden stop caused the dazed Yukina Himeragi to lose her balance and fall towards the person who had caught her.

"boom!"

A huge rock fell from above and crashed heavily onto the spot where Yukina Himeragi had just been standing.

This scene was witnessed by Yukina Himeragi, but at this moment she had no energy to thank Sid for pulling her back earlier.

"S-Senior, what are you doing here?"

Lying on Sid's chest, Yukina Himeragi fought against the overwhelming fatigue within her and asked intermittently.

Perhaps it was a misperception caused by physical weakness, but in Yukina Himeragi's eyes, Sid's face seemed to stiffen for a moment when he heard her question, but after just blinking, it turned into an expression full of worry and tension.

"What do you think? You told me to relax, but how can I relax when there's such a big commotion?"

I don't know what you were thinking. This place is about to collapse, and the guards are all fleeing for their lives, yet you're still heading towards the bottom.

"Don't say anything, I'll take you upstairs now."

As Sid said this, he grabbed Himeragi Yukina's hand and turned around to try to pull her upstairs, but she broke free.

"Clang—"

The Snow Wolf plunged into the ground with a thud.

Himeragi Yukina, supporting the upright Snow Wolf, shook her head at Sid.

"Senior, you go up first. I need to go rescue people now. There might still be one person left down there."

"Yukina! Going to rescue people now will only get you killed. What's more important than your own life? Listen to me, I'll take you up first, and then I'll tell the guards about this so they can go rescue people."

Sid began to offer advice.

"Will the guards rescue her, senior?"

Himeragi Yukina asked in return.

Yeah, is that even possible?

If they have a 10% chance of surviving if they go to rescue that person now, then once they reach the ground, that person's chance of survival will be zero.

Because by then the Foundation Gate will most likely have collapsed, and even if it hasn't, the guards wouldn't risk their lives to break into a building that could collapse at any moment.

"Senior, I am very grateful to you for saving me, but she saved my life, and I must go save her. Senior, you go ahead first, I will be there soon."

After catching her breath, Yukina Himeragi said those words in a firm yet bewildered tone, then immediately turned around, intending to continue heading to the bottom. She completely missed the fleeting look of sudden realization on Sid's face after hearing Yukina Himeragi's words.

"What does it look like?"

"Eh?!"

As Sid grabbed her shoulder, Yukina Himeragi, who had asked the question, let out a puzzled sound.

"What do you mean, 'hey'? Get up here. Don't you know your own condition? You'll only risk your life if you do it alone. Tell me what she looks like, and I'll help you save her."

Under Sid's domineering influence, Himeragi Yukina subconsciously obeyed Sid's words, climbed onto Sid's back, and let Sid carry her.

"Blue hair, a girl who was as tall as my chest."

She whispered Astaluti's physical characteristics, then pursed her lips and spoke again as Sid started running.

"Senior, do you think we can survive?"

"Why don't you just put me down, senior? You can definitely survive on your own. I don't want to... I don't want to cause your death."

Sid sighed as he felt his clothes on his back starting to get damp.

She's still just a little girl; let's give her some encouragement.

Thinking this, Sid spoke in an encouraging tone.

"Of course we can, of course we can get back alive."

"But this place is about to collapse..."

"Hey, Setsuna, I promise you, this building will definitely not collapse before we get back to the ground, and I will bring you back to the ground in the end, okay? If possible, could you please shut your mouth and stop jinxing me? I want to... live too."

Finally, replying in a trembling, fearful voice better suits the character of a minor character.

At that moment, Yukina Himeragi was lying on Sid's back, so she didn't see Sid's face, which was completely inconsistent with the fear, apprehension, and anxiety in his voice. Instead, it was filled with indifference and coldness.

But precisely because she didn't see it, Yukina Himeragi's chaotic heart, which had been in turmoil after the battle with Rudolf, finally calmed down because of Sid's words at this moment.

No one knows what kind of feelings Yukina Himeragi had when she ran down there, including herself.

Himeragi Yukina is very grateful to Astallo for saving her, but would she really risk her life to rush to the underground layer just because she couldn't see Astallo on the surface?

She didn't know. She might hesitate for a few seconds before coming down, or she might give up on saving Astaluti because she was afraid of death.

But it's absolutely impossible to enter the foundation gate, which could collapse at any moment, to save Astallo without even thinking about it.

Because this was a journey to death, she was taken to the deep mountains by the Lion King Organization when she was just a child, and she only left now to monitor the Fourth Progenitor. How could someone who has just tasted the beauty of the world so easily ignore the word "death"?

Unless, she entered the Keystone Gate with the intention of dying.

At the very bottom of the Foundation Gate, when Rudolf tells her the Lion King Organization's true purpose in sending her to monitor the Fourth Progenitor, she doesn't know what to do.

Himeragi Yukina was never stupid. There were too many strange things about this mission, so many that she, as the person involved, could guess the general idea at any time if she wanted to. However, she kept burying her head in the sand and refused to think about it.

But after Rudolf revealed the truth, even if she didn't want to think about it, she knew the truth: the Lion King Organization, which had saved her, taught her, and raised her, planned to send her to Akatsuki Kojo.

She blocked Akatsuki's attack and left the Foundation Gate because of her survival instinct.

After leaving the Keystone Gate and arriving on the ground, theoretically safe, she didn't know what to do.

Continue to pretend you know nothing, complete the Lion King Organization's plan, and send yourself to Akatsuki Kojo's bed to become a blood partner?

It would have been better if she hadn't known; now that she knows, the thought of this plan makes her feel nauseous.

Leaving the Lion King organization seems like a solution, but what happens after that?

Once she leaves the Lion King Organization, her qualification as an attack magician will be revoked. And how will she survive if she has no other survival skills besides the martial arts and spiritual power that the Lion King Organization trained her in from childhood?

Should they seek refuge with other forces?

Would any powerful organization really be willing to accept a traitor who was raised from childhood but betrayed them on his first mission, even at the cost of offending the Lion King Organization?

It was with this thought in mind that Yukina Himeragi risked her life to enter the Keystone Gate after seeing that Astallo was not by Rudolph's side and deducing that Astallo had not come up with her... She wanted to die.

But now, lying on Sid's back, feeling the warmth emanating from Sid through his clothes, Himeragi Yukina remembered.

The feeling she experienced when the Shadow healed her, the feeling she had experienced before.

She had already experienced this when she first encountered Rudolf in battle, was injured, and Sid arrived to treat her.

Why was she not stunned when Sid was treating her, but stunned when Shadow was healing her?

That's because... when Sid was healing her, she didn't have anything to worry about; she just needed to complete the Lion King Organization's mission.

While being healed by the shadows, she didn't know what to do, enveloped by the loneliness of being abandoned by the Lion King organization.

So she was stunned at that moment, craving the warmth and comfort that embraced her, as if she didn't need to think about anything.

Even now, the exhaustion that made her body ache was still there, and her body, which had been forcibly drained of spiritual energy, craved a replenishment of energy. But with Sid's words, she felt as if she had come into her mother's arms, warm and without having to think about the future.

Sid's words brought her... peace of mind!

"Thank you, Senior."

Noticing the drowsiness in Himeragi Yukina's voice, Sid knew that Himeragi Yukina was at her limit, both mentally and physically.

"No need to thank me. Just consider this God's punishment for me, the bad guy who found something and didn't return it."

I can't use a serious tone to cheer Himeragi Yukina up again.

Unaware of what Yukina Himeragi was thinking at that moment, Sid, with that in mind, chose to continue to relax Yukina Himeragi with jokes.

"No...no, senior, you are a good, a good person, a very good person."

Her voice grew weaker and weaker. After saying those words with unwavering determination, Yukina Himeragi felt the warmth from Sid's body through her clothes and fainted on Sid's back.

"If I were to die here with my seniors, it would be a good ending for me."

These were Yukina Himeragi's last thoughts before she fainted.

Chapter 42 Nine Points

Feeling Himeragi Yukina's breathing gradually become steady behind him, Sid turned around and glanced back. After confirming that Himeragi Yukina was asleep, a slight smile appeared on Sid's lips, and his eyes narrowed.

Golden magic emanated from his body, bypassing Yukina Himeragi who was clinging to his back, and swirling together in the air to form a golden vortex.

The golden cyclone spun for several seconds before exploding in the air. The golden magic merged into the cement, and a second later, the shaky foundation gate stopped shaking.

"No, this is too suspicious. A Shadow-level expert wouldn't come back specifically to reinforce a house he damaged."

His voice was different from the trembling tone he used when talking to Himeragi Yukina; it was steady and indifferent.

With these words, the Foundation Gate, which had stopped shaking, began to shake again, though the amplitude of the shaking was much smaller than before. At least for the time being, there was no need to worry about the Foundation Gate collapsing.