## Chapter 232 – Training (6)
Charlotte was the first to sense something was wrong.
“Ryoo?”
Ryoo didn’t hear her. Charlotte, realizing the gravity of the situation, immediately approached Clara to check on her.
“Clara, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
The wound itself was minor—something that would heal with a bit of spit. The important thing was that she had been injured.
The two of them examined Ryoo again.
His eyes were unfocused.
But a stronger will seemed to be dominating him.
Clara looked at Ryoo with a bewildered expression.
A deep anxiety bloomed within Charlotte. She had spent a lot of time with Ryoo, but she had never seen him like this.
“Ryoo, do you recognize me?”
Charlotte spoke with a desperate voice, but Ryoo didn’t seem to hear her. In fact, no one’s voice seemed to reach him now.
Ryoo slowly turned his head toward the direction of the sound. He dropped the spear he was holding and rushed at Clara. His movements were distinctly different from before.
Fast and powerful.
Above all, he showed no aversion to inflicting harm on his opponent.
Clara blocked Ryoo’s attacks, constantly thinking about his transformation.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Ryoo’s attacks grew fiercer, and Clara was soon focused on defense rather than offense. Neglecting a small crack would eventually lead to a great disaster. The minor scratches were multiplying.
He couldn’t have changed this much from simple training. He was exceeding his limits. This wasn’t good. Power awakened by external forces, not by one’s own will, would only corrode oneself.
“Ryoo, is that your real power?”
Clara asked with a worried tone.
“You don’t call something you can’t control power.”
Ryoo didn’t answer. Or rather, he couldn’t. Instead, he unleashed an even more intense barrage of attacks.
Moreover, as time passed, gray lightning crackled throughout his body. Clara’s expression hardened as she saw the magic power growing darker, as if trying to devour him.
If they left him alone like this, the situation would become uncontrollable. This was no longer simple training.
Ryoo was emerging as a more powerful being from all the pain and frustration he felt, but his own will was absent.
Clara had to acknowledge Ryoo’s transformation. Ryoo’s attacks were now threatening even to her. Attacks that had merely grazed her skin were becoming increasingly sharp.
She felt his deep murderous intent.
“Alright, it seems like you need some discipline.”
Clara steeled herself and accepted his attacks.
The fight between the two, which had ignited in an instant, became more intense. The surrounding trees and rocks were shattered into dust. Charlotte watched them from afar with a nervous heart.
Charlotte couldn’t rashly intervene. If she interfered with Clara’s movements or judgment, Ryoo could be seriously injured.
Clara blocked Ryoo’s attacks and quietly muttered.
“This might hurt a little.”
With the sound of the wind tearing, Clara’s fist grazed Ryoo’s face.
The wind pressure alone from her punch shattered the tree behind Ryoo. Judging that taking that head-on would be dangerous, even in his unconscious state, Ryoo’s movements became even faster.
The situation completely reversed, with Clara chasing after Ryoo, who was now running away.
Each time she swung her fist, the shape of the mountain changed, and the ground warped.
But was it because he couldn’t control his own power? Clara’s stance faltered for a moment.
Ryoo didn’t miss the gap and reached out directly towards her heart, but he realized it was a feint the moment his body fell to the ground, back first.
From the start, there was no way she couldn’t perfectly control her power. Even if he realized that fact belatedly, the situation was already mostly resolved.
“You shouldn’t get up.”
Despite Clara’s warning, Ryoo trembled and tried to get up with a distorted expression, but at that moment, Clara’s fist struck him directly in the face.
With a crack, Ryoo’s head slammed into the ground, and he completely stopped moving.
His motionless appearance made Charlotte worry if he was dead, and she looked at the two with anxious eyes.
“Let’s take him.”
Clara nonchalantly picked up Ryoo, carried him on her back, and headed towards the mansion.
Even while descending the mountain, the two had no idea what had happened.
With a heavy heart, they opened the door to the mansion, and Acer rushed out of the living room to greet them.
She had been briefly sulking about being left behind for training, but she noticed Charlotte’s unusual expression and asked with a changed look.
“What happened?”
“Ryoo’s condition is a bit strange.”
Clara and Charlotte first laid Ryoo on the bed to rest comfortably, then told Acer everything that had happened on the mountain, without leaving anything out.
Acer’s expression also hardened as she listened to the story.
There were some demons whose personalities suddenly changed, but at least as far as Acer knew, there were no cases where their power grew so rapidly.
Acer carefully stroked Ryoo’s hair and said with a worried tone.
“H-He couldn’t have caught some kind of disease, could he?”
“He was fine yesterday and even this morning before we left, so I don’t think it’s a disease….”
“We can’t go back in this state. Let’s have him rest for a while?”
Acer and Charlotte thought it was fortunate that Clara was here. She would be better than the two of them at safely subduing Ryoo if he lost his mind again like before.
Looking at Ryoo lying on the bed, Charlotte said.
“If everyone’s okay with it, let’s take turns watching over him tonight. We need someone to stop him if something like that happens again.”
Everyone in the room nodded and agreed with Charlotte’s words.
Acer hoped that whatever had happened to Ryoo wouldn’t be a big deal and stayed by his side all night.
●
His whole body felt painfully crushed, as if pressed down by something.
It felt like being submerged in highly viscous water.
There was no experience as frightening and unpleasant as not being able to move one’s body as one wished.
Above all, the malicious gazes watching him from all directions were driving him crazy.
“Huff!”
Ryoo woke up from his sleep, drenched in cold sweat, with a short scream, abruptly raising his body.
It was a familiar ceiling.
Surely his last memory was of the mountain where he was training with Clara. Did he faint again and come here? As he wondered, a rather hoarse voice echoed softly.
“You’re awake?”
The first thing he saw was Charlotte sitting in front of the window, looking at him with a faint smile. Charlotte stared at Ryoo’s face and said.
“Judging by your eyes, you seem to be in your right mind this time?”
“Charlotte? What are you….”
She flicked Ryoo’s forehead. With a ‘thwack!’ sound, Ryoo rubbed his red and swollen forehead, tilting his head as if he didn’t understand.
“What happened?”
“Do you know how worried we were?”
Could it be because he fainted and didn’t wake up? He had nothing to say about that. But Ryoo read Charlotte’s eyes.
This wasn’t that kind of thing.
Only then did Ryoo look around.
Clara was curled up and sleeping on the floor, and Acer was sleeping at his feet, her head resting there.
It was hard to believe that everyone had gathered just because he had collapsed during training.
“You really don’t remember?”
Ryoo was lost in thought for a moment.
A faint memory of what happened before he lost consciousness.
“I think something strange happened.”
He told Charlotte about his last memory.
An unpleasant voice, eyes watching him, and at the same time, a malice that seemed to burn deep within his heart.
Charlotte’s expression gradually darkened as she listened to the story.
Charlotte, who had a considerable amount of knowledge about demons with such problems, had never heard of it.
Could it be a special problem with Ryoo’s race… that is, the dragon? If so, there was no way she could solve it. Charlotte was also the first to encounter the dragon race directly with Ryoo.
While she was lost in thought, Acer seemed to sense Ryoo’s presence and opened her eyes, getting up groggily.
“Ryoo?”
Soon, she was relieved that the Ryoo in front of her wasn’t a dream and hugged him.
“I was so worried!”
“S-Sorry.”
He didn’t remember what had happened, but he felt sorry for making the three women worry, and the words of apology came out without him realizing it.
“Uh-uh, it’s okay. Are you alright now?”
He couldn’t give a definite answer to whether he was okay.
Acer’s eyes were filled with worry as she saw Ryoo hesitating. Acer first laid Ryoo back down slowly.
“You must be tired, rest more. Should I get you some water?”
His throat was dry anyway, and for some reason, he tasted a metallic taste of blood. Come to think of it, the bruises all over his body were bigger and more numerous than yesterday.
“Then, please.”
After finishing his words, Ryoo covered himself with the blanket up to his neck and couldn’t resist the fatigue that was washing over him, falling asleep again. This time, Charlotte seemed relieved by his more comfortable expression and quietly stroked his horns.
Acer, who quickly brought water, saw Ryoo sleeping again and drank the water herself.
Charlotte cautiously spoke to Acer.
“Your Majesty, it seems like we have to go to District 2 after this vacation is over.”
“Why? To be honest, it’s awkward being with Rowl….”
“It’s related to Ryoo’s safety. We can’t solve Ryoo’s problem with our power right now. On the other hand, Rowl has lived in the Demon Realm the longest, so he might have the answer to this.”
“I guess there’s no choice.”
For Ryoo’s safety, meeting someone a little uncomfortable was nothing.
“Ah, but Your Majesty has to stay.”
“What?”
“You’re not planning to leave the district empty forever, are you? There’s a limit to how much you can delegate.”
“It’s too dangerous alone.”
“Dangerous? From the moment we go to District 2, that place is the safest place for Ryoo. Maybe even more than here. Besides, we can go there in an instant using this necklace, right? Well… it would be nice to have a guard, though.”
