Talent Awakening! Every Legendary Summon Grants Me Assassin Attributes-Chapter 57: Not so welcoming I guess.

Eva took her time wiping the blood off Oliver’s face before finally beginning the healing process of his entire being.

It was slow and didn’t seem to do much since Oliver was in a terrible state. But to him, who was in a great amount of pain, it felt quite... satisfying to be relieved of even a fraction of the agony he was going through.

Eva pulled her warm hands away from Oliver’s chest, the green rays of energy that exuded from her palms slowly dying out as she sat down beside him and groaned. "Ahhh, I am almost out of mana."

Oliver nodded. "Thank you," he said, unable to sit upright, and certainly in no condition to stand. But aside from those two movements, Oliver was not sure he could perform any further actions without collapsing.

"I told you, you would get yourself killed," Sasha mentioned rudely. "It might be surprising how you took down all three knights by yourself, but the entire castle is filled with monsters. With your physical body, what do you think yourself to be?"

Oliver kept silent, watching as Sasha did her best to scold him. But all her words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, Isolde shrugged, her fingers intertwining with one another as she spoke softly. "I’m glad we were able to come when we did to save you." She began shyly, her voice almost wavering. "It’s amazing how you won against three Giant Knights. I’m sure each one of them was at least S-rank. And you were able to handle them without dying."

Oliver growled faintly, rubbing his face as questions began to form in his mind. How had they known he was in trouble? The way they described it, it was almost too perfect as though they had been following him... or perhaps, this was all thanks to the enigmatic Magician.

He lingered for a moment before finally speaking out of curiosity.

"How did you know I was in danger?"

At his question, the two girls only smiled before turning to Eva, whose cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

She quickly raised both hands to her face, trying to hide from their gazes.

"Come on, Eva, talk to him. Stop being a chicken."

"Hahahahah!"

"Stop it, you two. You’re making me feel awkward."

’Oh, so that’s what happened,’ Oliver thought, understanding the situation. Out of concern, Eva had convinced the other two to follow behind him, and that was how they ended up in the castle to save him in the end.

Possibly because she didn’t want someone else to lose their physical body to the game just as she did and suffer what she had gone through. Oliver doubted it was anything more than that.

Still, Oliver wondered if the Admin had any influence over this.

Could he really control human emotions, not just the game?

Oliver pondered, knowing this was a question only admins could answer.

Then he sighed, rubbing his temples as his mind became plagued with questions. About the game, and most importantly, the admins.

He tilted his neck slightly and reclined his back against the wall behind him, closing his eyes. As he did, he could hear the girls talking. Teasing, laughing, discussing the Dark Castle, his feats, and sometimes drifting into unrelated topics.

They were all so casual.

It reminded Oliver of his time in his first life. When he sat by a bonfire with his team of fellow Players. They would chant, sing, and tell made-up stories as though they were truly a family.

Well... that was after he had obtained the scale and begun to rise to power. The time before the catastrophe that changed the game forever.

Just recalling this, Oliver calculated the timing of that catastrophe once again. ’If I remember properly... just about two or three years from now. That is, if my influence does not alter the current timeline.’

Oliver sat there, reminiscing about both his past life and his current one for so long that he didn’t realize the voices of the girls had gradually faded into silence.

He opened his eyes out of curiosity, only to see the small bonfire on its last legs, its flame flickering weakly against the suffocating darkness.

The two beast-women lay on their sides, asleep.

While Eva Montclair sat at the far end of the group, her back facing Oliver and the others as she kept watch.

"You are awake," she said, noticing without even turning around.

Oliver stayed silent for a moment before nodding. "I am."

She smiled faintly at his words and tilted her head slightly back. "Don’t get it confused. I came here... despite it all, I came here to save you from destroying your physical body and becoming a hollow."

Silence followed.

And soon, she spoke again.

"The life of a hollow is painful. It’s like being trapped in the game... being trapped in hell forever. I can’t even go back to Earth and enjoy even the smallest wonders of life. Ice cream, pizza, movies, sex... everything feels like a distant dream to me."

She stretched her hand into the air as though trying to grasp something that was no longer within reach.

"All I have known is war, battles, monsters... and all I care about is my family. These two girls... they are all I have left."

Oliver nodded slowly. Eva was the daughter of a powerful sect leader, yet she hated her family. She hated the sect too. While not entirely similar to Hera Silver back on Earth, both of them desperately searched for freedom—from everything.

And Eva’s freedom... was in those two girls.

A fragile freedom that, if taken from her, would certainly send her down the same path... to become the woman Oliver had once loved.

"Tempting," he whispered to himself, his eyes scanning the faces of the two sleeping girls.

Eva lingered for a moment, opening her mouth as if to speak, yet no words came out.

Instead, Oliver spoke.

"You risked your family coming here to help me... putting those you want to protect in danger..." Oliver paused, watching her head slowly nod from behind. "Quite admirable."

With that, Oliver began to rise from his position, groaning as pain surged through his battered body.

At this, Eva turned around quickly, worry flashing across her face as she watched him struggle to stand, his body trembling as though it might collapse at any second.

Yet Oliver persevered, walking slowly toward her.

"It’s commonly misunderstood... the nature of women to men," Oliver said as he limped closer. "As men, we can’t fully understand the behavior, the thoughts, the visions of a woman. Which, in itself, is quite admirable."

Eva furrowed her brows, confusion evident. "Why do you say that? I don’t understand what you mean."

Oliver let out a low chuckle as he finally stood beside the seated woman before slowly lowering himself to sit next to her.

"I find women like you, the hardest to read... however, when it comes to your intentions and actions, those, I can read."

Then he turned, locking eyes with her.

"Now tell me, Eva Montclair... why do you refuse to heal me fully?"

That question shattered her composure instantly.

Her eyes widened, her soft expression breaking apart as shock twisted across her face as she whispered. "How did you know?"

Oliver was right.

But the way she reacted next stunned even him.

In a sudden, violent motion, his world flipped.

His back slammed against the ground, the air forced out of his lungs as Eva lunged at him. Before he could react, her hands were already around his neck, fingers tightening with terrifying force.

Her face hovered inches above his. No longer soft, no longer kind, but twisted into a cold, murderous glare.

Her grip tightened.

Cutting off his air.

’Is she trying to silence me... Shit!’

Oliver’s eyes widened slightly as he stared into her feral gaze, his body tense despite its injuries.

And he couldn’t help but wondered.

Just what the hell is going on here!