I'm Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 201

***

Ruzef breathed in hard. His breath sounded unusually loud in his ears.

-huh. panting.

He panted and wiped the sweat that trickled down his temples and beaded on the tip of his chin. Unlike the blood-covered Ruzef, the Marquis of Rohade and Rinnehaon looked relatively unharmed.

Ruzef adjusted the spear he was holding. He swung it nimbly to parry a pillar of fire thrown by Marquis Rohade, then spun around to block Rinnehaon’s spear.

-chang.

Rinnehaon frowned in annoyance as he locked spears with Ruzef.

“Why don’t you just surrender? I’ll be merciful and kill you in peace.”

Ruzef swung his spear around once, then crouched down into a stance, and replied gruffly, “That’s for me to say.”

Rinnehaon was outwardly unharmed, but his exhaustion was palpable.

The healing powers of the priests cannot be used for their own benefit. They are even more restricted when they use their god-given healing powers to attack and kill.

Marquis Rohade cast a circle of magic, and chains shot out from under Ruzef’s feet, binding his feet. At the same time, Rinnehaon charged at him, spear in hand.

“Ugh.”

“Archbishop!”

Vanessa’s shrieking cry rang out, and Ruzef, deeply cut in the side by the spear, groaned and fell back.

Rinnehaon, not missing the opportunity, swung the spear again at his back.

-wham!

A sharpened longsword protruded from nowhere, blocking Rinnehaon’s spear.

“What the hell?”

Rinnehaon spun around with a harsh breath and saw a knight with dark chestnut hair. His cloak bore the seal of the Imperial Army of Langridge. The shape of his armor also indicated that he belonged to the Imperial Guard.

“Archbishop, are you all right? Why on earth are you here alone?!”

Diego checked Ruzef’s condition, and then threw Rinnehaon’s spear away. Marcel rushed forward and stood in Ruzef’s way, blocking Marquis Rohade’s attack.

Marcel and Diego covered his left and right, respectively, while the Imperial troops commanded by the brothers surrounded Rinnehaon and Marquis Rohade.

Ruzef pointed to Vanessa, who was covered in blood but otherwise unharmed, cowering behind him.

“She is the maid of Lady Floné. Protect her.”

Then he ran back toward Rinnehaon, swinging the spear in his hand.

Rinnehaon blocked Ruzef’s attack with his own manifested spear, but he was outmatched in strength.

Marquis Rohade, who had been watching the situation, clicked his tongue and created a magic circle under his feet.

As he seemed to be making a portal, Diego and Marcel lunged at him, but he had already activated it. The Marquis of Rohade soon disappeared from view in a bright flash of light.

Rinnehaon, who had been locking spears with Ruzef, looked back to where Marquis Rohade had fled in surprise.

“Ugh!”

He was pierced in the abdomen by Ruzef’s spear and spilled blood.

Ruzef twisted the spear in his abdomen a bit more, then looked at Rinnehaon’s face in front of him and said, “Nothing in this world comes without effort, Rinnehaon.”

How many times had he suffered and endured so that he would not become useless?

Rinnehaon’s face contorted, his mouth twitching. He tried to say something, but it was impossible to get the words out of his mouth with the constant flow of blood.

In the end, he closed his eyes just like that, unable to say a last word to Ruzef.

Ruzef deactivated the spear in his hand. The spear disappeared in a flash of white light, and Rinnehaon’s body fell limply to the ground.

Marcel immediately helped Vanessa to her feet. Diego helped Ruzef to his feet and asked, “What in the world happened?”

Ruzef stumbled over to the fallen Rinnehaon.

After groping in Rinnehaon’s arms for a moment, Ruzef frowned, unable to find what he was looking for.

“Rinnehaon ran all the way here with the remaining magic stones, but since he doesn’t have any, Marquis Rohade must have taken them all.”

“Magic stones? I heard about them from His Highness through the video sphere. How many magic stones are left?”

“Marquis Rohade seems to have taken seven magic stones,” Ruzef replied, rummaging through his pockets and pulling out something, opening his palm, where a single, ugly, uneven stone lay.

“I took one of these.”

Magic stones should be destroyed as soon as they are acquired, Margaret had said once. It’s dangerous to keep them.

‘Margaret’s pet snake gains power from destroying these magic stones…….’

“I’ll have to give this to Lady Floné as soon as possible.”

Ruzef put the magic stone in his pocket.

***

The southern waters of Langridge, five hours before meeting Margaret at the dock.

Jenas stood on the cliff above the crashing waves and watched the sea.

He couldn’t see Alea Island from here. It wasn’t within sight, so he would have to travel a little further by ship.

Jenas had left a message for Margaret at the Floné Castle, telling her to find him on Alea Island, and then go to the southern coast of Langridge through the portal. He stood here for a while, waiting for the sun to rise.

He pulled a pocket watch from his robe pocket and checked the time.

“It’s almost time for Marquis Rohade to come.”

Kayden didn’t respond to his quietly muttered words, so Jenas asked him directly.

[What’s the matter, my descendant? Are you sure you want to die like this? I mean, I’m all for it, but I’m kind of uncomfortable.]

‘I’m thinking about it.’

Contrary to his expectation that he wouldn’t answer, Kayden responded. Apparently, he hadn’t gone into full hibernation. Or perhaps he was preparing to hibernate.

Jenas couldn’t understand that. To hibernate means death. If Jenas took over his body, even if he awoke from hibernation, he would not be able to return.

He could still remember the fierce look in Kayden’s eyes as he burned with vengeance against House Rohade. How could such a fierce soul be crushed so quickly?

Well, his mental breakdown has brought him this far. Good thing for Jenas. It made things easier for him.

[My descendant, is this about Margaret?]

This time there was no answer.

His call came from the other direction.

“Lord Jenas.”

Jenas turned around, Marquis Rohade’s blood-stained face in his field of vision.

And the moment he saw him, there was a reaction from Kayden.

It was a rather violent one. Something close to anger toward Marquis Rohade.

Jenas narrowed his eyes. If he was to regain full control of his body, he had to hurry and retrieve the magic stone to restore at least some of his mana.

“The magic stones.”

In response to Jenas’s words, Marquis Rohade pulled a heavy, worn pouch from the pocket of his wizard robe.

Marquis Rohade’s eyes clouded over as he held it in his hand.

When you hold a magic stone in your hand, your mind is controlled by your own inner desires. And if one is exposed to such a state for a long period of time, such as a month or more, it becomes difficult to escape the brainwashing. Unless the magic stone is completely removed from this world.

Taking the pouch from Marquis Rohade, Jenas counted the magic stones. Seven in total.

‘I heard the snake ate about five of them.’

Did Margaret get three at the party? If not, one is lost?

“Is this all? Seven?”

Marquis Rohade looked puzzled at Jenas’s question, for he hadn’t realized how many magic stones he had taken from Rinnehaon.

“Uh, yes. Perhaps the rest were lost in the Floné Castle.”

Jenas looked down at the magic stones with a frown.

After all, he was the only one who had the magic stones and could use them fully. Besides, Margaret had said that her pet snake had destroyed it by eating it all.

……But what if the snake didn’t destroy it, but absorbed it like he did?

‘If that’s the case, I’ll have to kill that snake first.’

Stroking his chin, Jenas pondered for a long moment, then absorbed the magic stone in his hand.

The faint blue light that flowed from his hands gradually enveloped his entire body and glowed. Within Kayden’s body, Jenas’s souls, scattered like grains of sand, began to coalesce into one.

Haa-

Jenas opened his arms and breathed in the air.

This is what it feels like.

This is what it feels like to have a proper body.

His powers were not fully restored, but he could use Kayden’s body as he wished.

Jenas turned to Marquis Rohade, kneeling on one knee in front of him with a refreshed face.

“By the way, where is Archbishop Rinnehaon? Didn’t you say he was coming?”

After taking over Kayden’s body, Jenas immediately contacted Marquis Rohade. And it was then that he told him.

If the worst came to the worst, come to the southern waters of Langridge with all of the magic stones of the Archbishop of Rinnehaon.

“He is dead.”

“Dead?”

“One of the survivors caught up with him. Archbishop Ruzef, I mean. In the process of dealing with him…….”

“And that Archbishop Ruzef is dead?”

“……He had reinforcements. They appeared to be the Imperial Guards.”

“Ha. Whatever.”

Jenas waved a hand in disappointment, cutting him off, and Marquis Rohade bowed his head in dismay. Jenas stared at Marquis Rohade’s head for a moment, then spoke in a fierce voice, as if he’d had an idea.

“There is something I need you to do for me.”

“Give the order.”

“When I give the signal, you will enter Alea Island.”

“All I have to do is enter? Stand by for the wizards…….”

“No, never mind that. Just enter.”

Marquis Rohade tilted his head in confusion at Jenas’s crisp command.

When Anata had designed the experimental island, she had made provision for a backup plan in case the experiment failed. In addition to the time-space-distortion system, she had installed an automatic explosive device. The island was designed to explode if found by outsiders to destroy evidence.

Jenas will retrieve the remaining mana on the island. Then, he planned to lure the survivors of the experimental island to enter the island and kill them all at once. Except for Margaret, of course.

“I’ll enter the island and retrieve the mana we’ve been collecting, and you stay here and wait for the signal.”

He’d told Margaret that there might be more magic stones on Alea Island, but that was just a lie to lure her to the island.

He needed her soul as much as he needed all the mana he’d collected over the millennia.

“Are you going in by ship, so I can get one for you…….”

“Ha……. Let’s do something called thinking. How could test subjects from outside have been transported to the island for a thousand years?”

Jenas sighed, and Marquis Rohade looked at him curiously.

“There is a ‘door’ on the island. I’m the only one who knows its coordinates.”

At Jenas’s explanation, Marquis Rohade suddenly understood.

“You can leave.”

Marquis Rohade nodded and scurried away. As Jenas had ordered, he was to prepare a ship to enter Alea Island.

Jenas looked up at the sky, measuring the time. Margaret would follow him as soon as she’d gotten things in order at Castle Floné.

Now it’s about time.

It’s almost time to go get her.

A soul from another dimension. She is his last key. If I can keep her by my side, the broken dimension will never be repaired.

Jenas recalled Margaret’s face as she glared at him with hatred and said she wanted to kill him.

The thought of her face stained with tears and begging him to spare her life thrilled him. He couldn’t help but hum.

***

The southern coast of Langridge.

Jenas stood on the dock, looking at us with such benevolence, as if a god were looking down on mortals.

I don’t know where or how he appeared. It can’t be without magic.

‘Then what if……, he’s already obtained the magic stones?’

I thought back to the lost magic stone with Rinnehaon. If that was true, it would mean that Jenas had regained some of his power.

Then what about Kayden?

My mind went white, and then I heard Jenas’s voice in my ear again.

“Let me take Margaret. I’ll let you all live,” Jenas said, sounding benevolent.

Is he trying to take me hostage again?

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Enoch replied sharply. Without a hint of hesitation.

Jenas raised an eyebrow and glared at Enoch.

I pointed the flare gun at him and asked, “What do you want from me?”

Jenas looked back at me.

“I’ll protect you.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m telling the truth. I need you.”

“Where are we going?”

“To Alea Island.”

“Why are you going there? What’s your purpose?”

“Enough questions.”

Again. More questions, and then shutting out all the important ones.

I pondered for a moment what he’d said earlier.

We’re going to Alea Island…….

Even with an automatic explosive device, if Jenas was on the island, he wouldn’t try to blow it up. Someone would have to be there to stop him. Besides, he has Kayden inside of him.

I hesitated, then looked back at Enoch.

“No.”

Enoch gave me a look of disapproval as soon as I looked at him. And that’s when Yuanna, who had been watching the whole thing quietly, spoke up.

“I agree with His Highness. No.”

At her firm words, Arthdal chimed in, agreeing.

“Needless to say, you can’t. Don’t you know what the situation is?”

Then Jenas sighed tiredly. He stomped his foot.

“Yeah, whatever. I was going to turn the island into everyone’s grave anyway, if that’s what you want.”

A pure white glow spread from his feet and soon covered the entire dockside floor. I could see the knights and mages who had been scouting in the distance running toward us.

Some of the nearby knights joined us and moved into range of Jenas’s magic circle.

The massive circle drawn at his feet soon began to glow. It was similar in formula to that of a portal gate, but this one was much larger.

Jenas grinned at us. He snapped his fingers.

“Let’s go back together. To our island.”

Okay, that’s better. Let’s go back to that damn island. That will be your grave.

I glared at Jenas and closed my eyes against the flashes of white.