NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42: Something She Never Knew
The monster's corpse hadn't stopped steaming.
Its void-corrupted blood oozed across the cracked marble, hissing against the stone with every drop. The battle was over, but the tension lingered in the charged silence.
Sylvie stood apart from them—dagger lowered, but not sheathed. Her silver hair hung loose and tangled, streaked with grime and blood. Her golden eyes were fixed ahead, but not on the creature.
On Reynar and Liora.
They weren't retreating. They weren't questioning her presence. They weren't even asking for payment.
They had just helped her.
Why?
She didn't understand.
And that made her more unsettled than any dungeon boss.
"You alright?" Reynar asked, approaching slowly.
She stiffened, body tensing out of reflex.
"I don't need your pity."
"I didn't offer it."
That made her look at him—really look. He wasn't smug or superior. He wasn't sizing her up or treating her like a threat.
He just… cared.
Liora stood back, arms crossed, watching Sylvie closely. Cautious, but not hostile. Her knives weren't in her hands anymore.
Sylvie didn't know how to respond. Her entire life had taught her that no one did anything without a reason. Everything was a deal. A threat. A transaction.
Reynar crouched to check the monster's remains, pulling out a dark crystal core that still pulsed faintly with void essence.
"That thing would've killed you," he said without looking at her. "You fought well, but it was too much alone."
"I've handled worse."
"Maybe," Liora said, walking past her. "But barely."
Sylvie's jaw clenched, but there was no venom in Liora's words. Just… acknowledgment. Like she'd seen it before. Like she knew what it meant to fight alone.
Why are they like this?
"Why did you help me?" she asked again, more quietly this time. "What do you want from me?"
Reynar finally turned. "Nothing."
That answer shouldn't have made her chest tighten.
"You risked the sanctum," she pressed. "You interfered in my mission."
"You were about to die," Liora said bluntly. "What part of that is hard to understand?"
Sylvie looked away. "My master—"
She stopped herself. The words stuck in her throat. She hated that she'd almost said it.
Liora's eyes narrowed slightly. Reynar frowned. "You're working for someone?"
"I don't take orders," Sylvie snapped. "Not really."
But the lie tasted bitter.
She turned her back to them, breathing uneven.
[System Notification]Affinity with Sylvie has increased to 12%.
Liora approached carefully.
"I don't know who you are," she said. "Or what you're running from. But I know that look."
Sylvie said nothing.
"I had it too," Liora continued. "When I lost everything. When all I had left was the voice that told me to survive—no matter what."
Sylvie clenched her fists.
"You think freedom means doing everything alone," Liora said. "It doesn't."
The silence stretched between them like a taut string. And then…
"I don't have time for this," Sylvie muttered, stepping toward the exit chamber. "I need the relic."
"Then we'll help," Reynar said.
Sylvie whirled around. "No. Stay out of my way."
"We're already in this dungeon," Liora replied. "You want to waste time fighting us, or actually make it out alive?"
She didn't answer.
But she didn't object when they started walking beside her either.
For the first time, she didn't feel like prey or a tool.
And that terrified her more than the monsters.