Love Letter From The Future
Chapter 425: Proof of Existence (13)

Chapter 425: Proof of Existence (13)

0% In the midst of a full sprint, scenery holds no meaning.

Everything turns into blurry compressed streaks anyway. The only thing that stimulated my senses alongside the roaring wind was the heavy impact of my feet against the ground.

That was how desperately I was running.

There was no time to take in the surrounding scenery. As the distance to my destination shrank, my vision was gradually consumed by clouds of dust.

A faint smell of blood grazed my nostrils. The wind carried distant screams, and the sharp clashing of weapons soon caused the image of someone to fill my mind.

Ria Percus—my younger sister was there.

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Hellholes relentlessly spewed acidic fluid while Holy knights, drenched in that thick green liquid, were letting out screams in agony. The sight of human bodies slowly dissolving was nothing short of horrifying.

I had only been gone for a few hours. Yet in that short time, the entire garrison had turned chaotic.

Panting heavily, I halted right before the battlefield. Only then did the man on my back gently step onto the ground.

It was Sir Reynold.

Mages couldn’t outrun skilled swordsmen. While they could enhance their speed with flight magic, even then, they couldn’t match a swordsman at full tilt. That was why Sir Reynold had willingly endured the humiliation of riding on my back.

After all, in large-scale battles, a competent mage was simply irreplaceable.

Perhaps sensing my impatience, he spoke calmly.

“Hurry up and find my soon-to-be-in-law young lady.”

“But.......”

My heart screamed at me to do just that. Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to say I’d leave.

The battle had already devolved into chaos. Even from here, I could see holy knights retreating with injuries. How could I put my selfishness ahead of those facing imminent death?

Yet Sir Reynold’s face remained utterly unperturbed.

“I’ll take care of things here.”

As I hesitated, Sir Reynold raised his index finger, tracing it through the air. A brilliant streak of blue electricity crackled in its wake.

Then, seconds later.

The air shrieked as bolts of lightning rained down. Thunderous explosions shredded the earth randomly, forcing the Hellholes to twist and wail in agony.

“It’s a mage! A mage has arrived to support us!”

“Count-Counterattack! Protect the wounded!”

He hadn’t even properly recited an incantation. With just a few casual flicks of his fingers, the sheer destruction unleashed by his mere gesture was truly terrifying.

It rivaled Senior Elsie’s ‘Thunderclap’ in sheer destructive power.

Once again, I was reminded of Sir Reynold’s title.

‘Archmage’—his skills were truly in another league. Now I finally understood why Senior Elsie feared him.

He urged me once more.

“Go.”

I nodded silently. After he’d already reassured me with such an overwhelming display, I had no grounds to object.

With a lighter heart, I resumed my sprint.

Just as I’d feared, the chaos of battle had seeped into the camp itself. Priests hurried frantically to tend to the flood of wounded, while merchants and non-combat personnel were scrambling desperately to pack their belongings.

As I took in the scene, a faint groan slipped through my clenched teeth.

The ground was littered with the corpses of Hellholes. It looked like they had burrowed underground to stage a surprise attack. No wonder everyone was in a panic and trying to flee.

My chest burned with anxiety. All I wanted was to find Ria as soon as possible. Yet no matter how hard I searched, she was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, my gaze caught someone else—they were faces that were somewhat familiar in this place.

The two Holy Knights, the ones who’d offered to escort me.

They were fighting valiantly, desperately swallowing their groans of pain. I hesitated for a brief moment before drawing my hatchet.

Blindly chasing Ria’s trail was too reckless. It was smarter to find someone who might know where she had gone.

And those two were my best bet.

They had been ordered to escort Sir Reynold and me. So naturally, they were likely responsible for keeping track of Ria as well, since she was part of our group.

Besides, there was no way I could have left the two of them behind. Especially now, when my instincts were on edge, alerted by tremors coming from underground.

A silver flash shot out from my hand.

“Move!”

There was no time for formalities—my shout was brief, driven by the urgency of the moment.

Though momentarily bewildered, the knights reacted quickly, throwing themselves aside. Right after, my hatchet sliced through the air, cleaving downward with enough force to shatter the ground.

And then, from the ground, erupted a fountain of blood.

KEEEEEAAAAAAAK!

With a hideous screech, a wrinkled cylindrical body shot upward. From its gaping maw, still coated in dirt, blood trickled down in thick rivulets, while dark green acidic venom mixed with the crimson blood as it dripped down.

My hatchet was lodged halfway into the monster’s upper jaw.

I instinctively clicked my tongue in frustration. I had aimed to finish it in one strike, but with it surging up from underground, pinpointing the exact location had been difficult.

Naturally, that was an issue exclusive to me.

The holy knights, who hadn’t even sensed the Hellhole’s presence, were visibly stunned. Their eyes scanned my face in bewilderment, as if they were looking at a complete stranger.

My eyes briefly clouded with confusion before it dawned on me—somewhere in the heat of battle, my hood had been pulled back, leaving my face exposed.

They had no idea who I was. Naturally, they could only stare at me like I was a stranger.

But the hatchet I’d thrown seemed to have made a greater impression than I’d anticipated.

“A-Are you perhaps... Sir Ian?”

The younger of the two knights spoke up, his eyes gleaming with admiration. It was unmistakably the gaze of someone in awe.

And to think that only hours ago, he had looked so resentful.

I could only offer an awkward smile as I gave a small nod.

“Yes, that’s right.”

But the one who reacted even more dramatically was the middle-aged knight.

The man whose arm I had once broken had been wearing a face full of worry. Yet the moment I confirmed my identity, the dark clouds shadowing his face vanished in an instant.

Instead, his expression lit up with pure elation as he shouted,

“Sir Ian Percus is here! He has come to save us!”

His voice, amplified with mana, rang out like thunder.

A stunned silence momentarily enveloped the area. Startled by this sudden proclamation, I was about to quiet him down—

When cheers erupted from every direction.

“The Hero of Humanity is here!”

“No demonic beasts can stand against us now!”

“If you seek glory, raise your swords now!”

In the end, all I could do was let out a hollow chuckle.

No one even cared to verify the truth—whether I was truly Ian Percus, or merely someone pretending to be him. Yet, they cheered fervently anyway.

It must be because they desperately wanted to believe that it was true.

A massive horde of demonic beasts had launched a sudden assault upon them. Objectively, the situation was hopeless, with no clear path to victory. But then, in their moment of despair, I had appeared—an unexpected beacon of hope.

Call it a form of self-delusion if you will.

The only difference was—I now carried the burden of turning that delusion into reality. Catching the returning hatchet swiftly, I cast it aside and plunged my sword firmly into the ground.

Rumble—The earth started quaking beneath our feet.

Following the sound resonating in my ears, I poured every ounce of strength into my grip. As mana coursed through it, the blade trembled violently, letting out a piercing cry. Soon after, a blinding white aura tore through the earth.

Snap, crack. The sound of something rupturing echoed from somewhere.

Whether it was my blood vessel or a tendon, I couldn’t tell.

But I could feel the blood vessels in my eyes bulging as I clenched my jaw. In the end, when every drop of my mana was finally depleted, a strangled groan escaped my throat.

Please, let this end it.

As soon as that desperate wish faded, the world was engulfed in blinding light.

BOOOOM! With a thunderous roar, the ground ruptured. The agonized screams of the Hellholes rang out as dirt and debris rained down. And from where my sword was planted, deep fractures spread across the earth.

Blood gushed out from the web-like cracks.

Twitch, tremble. The battered Hellholes barely managed to poke their heads above ground before collapsing limply. Their bodies, riddled with gashes, bore the gruesome marks of being mercilessly shredded by the aura that had flooded the depths of the ground.

The tremors that I had been sensing underground were now gone. The moment I confirmed this, I hurried toward the middle-aged holy knight.

“Where’s Ria?”

“Y-You really were Sir Ian.......”

The middle-aged knight seemed completely stunned. Seeing the faint disbelief lingering in his eyes, I offered a weary smile.

“Who else would I be? More importantly, my sister—”

“She’s in the tent at the very rear.”

The response came from the younger knight. I turned to him in surprise.

“We evacuated her there as soon as the attack began. She is an esteemed guest after all...”

“Thank you.”

After leaving that brief thanks, I dashed frantically forward. Following the direction the young knight indicated, I soon saw a lavish-looking tent.

That must be it.

Just as relief began to wash over me, a scream rang out from inside the tent.

“H-Help me... Oppa!”

A voice unmistakably belonging to my younger sister.

My mind instantly went blank.

And then, unfamiliar memories began to surface vividly before my eyes.