All Chapters of I Returned to Kill Monsters, and Created the Worst One: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Elara VeyneWhen I finally arrived, one of the guards opened the door without argument.The other kept looking at me as though he still intended to figure out how I had tricked him on the first night.I just gave him a slightly awkward smile and went inside.“You’re late.”The voice came before I could locate Kian.I let out a slightly irritated sigh, pushed the cart inside, and closed the door right after.When I turned around, I stopped.Kian was standing in front of a tall mirror near the wall.Not completely upright. One hand was resting on the piece of furniture beneath the mirror, supporting part of his weight, but even so...Standing.The mask was on the table, set aside.And the clothes that normally covered him up to his neck were open at the first few buttons.For a few seconds, I wasn’t quite sure where to look.The reflection showed the face I had begun to restore, now with large areas of clear skin between the few remaining scars.But it also showed more than I was used t

Elara VeyneKian lowered his eyes.He could see it too.The threads emerged from the areas I was healing and advanced over my hand.The Nythrium reacted.A thin layer of light wrapped around my fingers, and the first black filaments burned away before reaching my skin.It worked.For a few seconds.Then more came.They curled around my wrist, climbing up my forearm like living smoke.The golden light began to falter.The first burn stung.Then another.I clenched my teeth.“Ahh... Damn it... There are too many...”I let the words out with a groan of pain.I continued for only a few more seconds.I needed to endure a little longer, to feel where it was coming from.And that was when I noticed something else. Beneath the poison, there was something else.A pulse so deep and hot that it hurt.I frowned, completely confused.It didn’t resemble any flow of mana I had ever touched.It didn’t seem to be hurting Kian either.I looked into his eyes, almost shocked by what I was feeling.Quite

Elara VeyneThe night before, I left Kian’s chambers with the small box of supplies clutched against my chest and far more questions than I intended to share.The dark residue I had removed from his skin was sealed inside a vial beside the instruments used during treatment and the few notes I had managed before my body decided it was done for the day.I wanted to examine it immediately.My body disagreed.After hiding the box at the bottom of my trunk and locking the door, I lay down intending to rest for a few minutes.I woke the next morning.Not particularly surprising.After washing and eating quickly, I pulled the box onto the table. The material had hardened overnight, almost black now, with faint crimson reflections beneath the light. It looked like no ordinary alchemical residue I knew.I had just picked up a thin blade when someone knocked.“One moment.”Vial away. Instruments into the box. Cloth over everything. Lid shut.I had barely shoved it into the trunk before the seco

Elara Veyne“Not exactly.”Kian’s gaze moved from me to the vial.“It seems more like an inhibitor.”“Of what?”I studied the dark threads trembling faintly inside the glass.“That’s the problem. I don’t know yet.”He did not look pleased.“It doesn’t seem to be trying to destroy your mana,” I continued. “It’s blocking something. Restraining it, perhaps preventing some kind of manifestation.”Kian became very still.“This disease may simply be the result of your body spending years trying to function against whatever this substance is suppressing.”Silence.Not ordinary silence.Kian had a particular kind of stillness when something mattered to him. His expression barely changed, but all his attention concentrated in one place.“Do you know what it could be?”“I have a suspicion.”“Which is?”“I’ll tell you when I’m certain.”His eyes narrowed.“Don’t hide things from your doctor”I closed the vial.“I’m not hiding anything. I’m avoiding presenting a hypothesis as fact.”The worst par

Elara Veyne His breathing slowed a little.“Are you asking me to accept this?”“I’m asking you to think before doing something stupid.”“Watch how you address me.”“You pay me to keep you alive. Sometimes that’s going to include stopping idiotic decisions.”His hand closed around my wrist. He didn’t squeeze, only held it firmly.That was when I realized my palm was still against his chest. My face tilted upward so I could look at him.His heart was still beating fast.Maybe anger explained it this time.Kian looked at my hand once more.I slowly pulled it away.Maybe I had gotten too close.In my defense, he looked ready to declare war on his own father.“When?” he asked.“What?”“When do they intend to announce it?”“I told you I don’t know. Probably before the end of the festival.”“Three days.”The way he said it made my stomach tighten.“What? No...”Kian turned his face toward me.“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”“You’re going to ask me to speed up the treatment.”“I