Ch. 176

The sound of the whistle was so small that it couldn't be heard by human ears. I looked around wondering if I had really blown the whistle. And since I wasn't certain, I blew it several more times.

'Well, Terdius said he infused his power into this, so somehow the signal should go through.'

Thinking beyond that was too much. I was very tired right now. So I immediately put the whistle back in my inventory and closed my eyes.

'It'll work out somehow.'

Though I hadn't met Terdius for half a year.

'......I hope nothing happened to Ivan in that short time.'

Hoping such a thing hadn't happened, I fell asleep.

***

I woke up not long after. Precisely, it was after about five hours had passed.

'......It's only 3 AM still.'

Considering the fatigue remaining in my body, I should sleep more. But my eyes snapped open. Because I felt the Evil God's energy, specifically Terdius's energy, nearby.

'I must have grown quite a bit.'

Thanks to the number of believers increasing and the holy power Kyros transferred to me greatly increasing, my sense for energy seemed to have developed even while sleeping. I could notice the moment Terdius set foot in Holden Territory.

'First......I'd better go directly.'

I struggled to get up, suppressing the desire to stay in bed. After hurriedly putting on my glasses and robe that I had taken off, I jumped out the Church Leader's office window.

Since the Diego energy was felt so intensely, I could tell where Terdius was without even searching. I headed toward where Terdius was, feeling the hot yet cool night air of midsummer.

'As expected, he was here.'

And the place where I found him was one of Rovel's alleys where I had met Terdius before. Terdius was inside.

"Long time no see. Have you been well?"

I greeted him and headed into the alley. Only then did Terdius's face, which hadn't been visible in the darkness, become visible. Terdius's face bathed in moonlight was still beautiful.

'But......something's different.'

He looked considerably worse than half a year ago. Dark shadows had fallen under his eyes, and somehow I should say he looked a bit haggard. Moreover, Terdius's expression was much worse than before.

'What on earth happened in half a year for his expression to be worse than when I first met him?'

Due to Terdius just staring at me without any answer, I had an ominous premonition.

'Don't tell me......'

I had thought it was only half a year. But had I been too late? So did something already happen to Ivan?

'Even though the situation has changed a lot from the original......already?'

What on earth happened to Terdius? Just thinking about the tragedy that might have befallen him made me feel uncomfortable.

Around that time, Terdius's mouth slowly opened.

"Long time no see."

His low voice was heard. His voice was slightly cracked. As expected, something had happened.

"You seem to have gotten quite a bit stronger during that time. I can feel your energy is much stronger than before."

Terdius told me. That wasn't important right now.

"Um, so......did something happen?"

I carefully asked Terdius. Only then did he seem to realize why I was acting this way, as he struggled to raise the corners of his mouth.

"......Don't worry. My younger brother is still alive. So don't make that expression."

At Terdius's words, I inwardly sighed with relief. It was fortunate that Ivan was still alive. So I hadn't been too late. But I felt a strange anxiety about him adding 'still.'

'Don't tell me Ivan's condition has gotten much worse?'

But I couldn't just ask outright. While I was pondering what to say, Terdius asked with serious eyes.

"My brother's condition has worsened a bit during that time. So, did you have any harvest?"

At Terdius's words, I slowly nodded. Then I spoke with serious eyes.

"There was some harvest. But that doesn't mean it's perfect."

First, I took out three glass bottles from my pocket. Inside the bottles, the transparent-colored potion I had carefully made sloshed. And I handed them to Terdius.

"This is......"

Terdius looked at me with slightly widened eyes. He seemed quite surprised, but I couldn't tell him the efficacy of this medicine with certainty.

"First, I made it as a cure for Seluron disease, but it's not perfect. For any disease's cure to be used for actual dosing, appropriate clinical trials must be conducted, but that medicine hasn't been verified yet."

I told Terdius about the medicine's risks. The cure for Seluron disease was quite different from the healing medicines I had made until now.

'Other diseases, I knew about from the original, and I also knew their cures from the original.'

But Seluron disease was different. I learned about this disease after coming to this world, and there was almost no information about the cure either.

'I managed to make it somehow by collecting information I learned during the six-month journey.'

It's a medicine whose effects haven't been verified. Meaning I don't know what side effects might exist, or if the medicine will even work at all.

"It might actually harm your brother due to my medicine. So it must be used carefully."

"......I understand what you mean. It can't be helped since it's a rare disease anyway."

Terdius decided to accept it humbly and slowly nodded. I sighed lightly and added.

"First, the medicine should be taken one sip per day for one month. And if any side effect symptoms appear, bring him to me immediately."

I spoke with serious eyes. If not others, I wanted to definitely protect at least Terdius's younger brother.

Then for a moment, I saw Terdius's eyes shake greatly. He stared at me and spoke in a barely audible voice.

"......Thank you."

Then he quickly disappeared from my sight. In an instant Terdius vanished, and I was left alone in the alley.

'I hope nothing goes wrong.'

Though it was medicine made to minimize side effects, I couldn't help but worry needlessly.

***

Having received the Seluron disease cure from Leviathan, Terdius moved quickly. And the place he was heading wasn't the Diego Church headquarters.

Terdius's steps led to Negen. The very house that Leviathan had once visited long ago.

Flash-!

Upon arriving at the house, Terdius immediately released his energy. Then the power that had been protecting the entire house recognized its master and moved aside on its own.

Creak-

As Terdius opened the door and went inside, his energy that had briefly dispersed soon began enveloping the entire house again.

Terdius quickly entered the house. He climbed the stairs and entered the innermost room.

In the room he entered, a young boy lay as if dead. A face with no color at all as if his breath would stop at any moment, and slow breathing. Terdius bit his lip at his younger brother's pitiful appearance.

Originally, Ivan had been staying at the Diego Church headquarters. There, he had been maintaining his life inside a device created by the Sixth Apostle.

However, Ivan's condition only worsened as time went on. The words from the Sixth Apostle were to prepare his heart and that there was nothing more he could do.

Moreover, the problem wasn't just that.

'Though they held Ivan hostage to keep me bound.'

Despite his desperate prayers, that great Diego didn't respond to him. Terdius felt deep despair, but each time he clung to the last hope that Leviathan would bring.

And not wanting Ivan's remaining life to be spent trapped at the Diego Church headquarters, he had brought him home.

Though it was still uncertain whether Ivan could open his eyes, at least it would be better for him to depart in a comfortable space.

'However......'

In Terdius's hand was the cure that Leviathan had made for him. There was still hope.

Terdius approached Ivan lying as if dead. And he quickly opened the medicine bottle Leviathan had given him. Then Terdius slightly lifted his younger brother's neck so Ivan could ingest the medicine.

And he gave Ivan one sip of the medicine Revelof had given him.

'Please......'

Then Terdius suddenly realized. That he trusted Leviathan to an absurd degree.

Clearly, the two had first met as enemies. No, even now they were essentially enemies. But Terdius couldn't harm him, and rather only helped Leviathan.

And it was the same for Leviathan. In this critical crisis, when he was about to lose Ivan. He was showing the last remaining single hope.

"Ivan......"

Terdius anxiously examined his younger brother. After taking the medicine, Ivan didn't seem to have changed much. But at that moment.

"......!"

Color slowly began returning to Ivan's pale complexion. Terdius's eyes widened greatly. Terdius immediately grasped Ivan's hand.

"Ivan!"

The next moment, Ivan's eyelids trembled. Soon Ivan's eyelids lifted, revealing the boy's eyes for the first time in several years.

Though he couldn't yet focus easily, he was still looking at Terdius in front of him.

"Brother......?"

Eventually, Ivan's hoarse voice was heard. This too was Ivan's voice he was hearing for the first time in several years.

"A-ah, Ivan."

Terdius called his younger brother with a trembling voice he struggled to steady. Then Ivan's focus aligned and he looked at his brother.

"Brother......"

"I'm so relieved, truly relieved."

Terdius grasped Ivan's hand with both hands. Ivan stared up at him, then struggled to raise his other hand that had no strength.

And wiped his brother's damp cheek.

"Brother, why are you crying?"

Only then did Terdius realize. About the tears endlessly flowing from his eyes.

"It's because I'm happy."

Terdius smiled while shedding tears. And he didn't know.

That the tangled thread-like thing somewhere in his mind had disappeared.

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