Gathering Wives with a System

Chapter 639: Butterfly Of Thousand Dreams

By the end of the battle, there was no one left standing. Celia exhausted every last ounce of strength she possessed before the Crimson Sky Wyrm casually ended her life as well.

Humanity had been completely wiped out, leaving behind only a ruined city and countless corpses.

Yet the next day, Celia opened her eyes again, and she found herself breathing.

Every part of her body ached, and the memories of the battle remained painfully vivid, but she was undeniably alive.

She slowly raised her trembling hands, staring at them as though they belonged to someone else.

"W-What...?"

Her voice barely escaped her lips. The city around her hadn’t changed in the slightest, and the corpses still covered the streets exactly as she remembered them.

Nothing suggested time had been reversed, which meant only one possibility remained.

"Was it... because of my bloodline? If that’s true... then maybe Brother is still alive too," she whispered to herself.

Hope returned to her heart, fragile but impossible to ignore. She immediately began searching through the ruined city for anyone else

When she found nothing, she rushed toward the portal, the only one that still functioned after the battle, and used it to return to Fortified City 50.

She searched that city just as desperately, calling Vale’s name over and over again while checking every place she could think of.

Hours passed before she finally accepted the truth that no one answered her calls because there was nobody left to answer them. Every street was silent, and every building had become nothing more than another grave.

The realization shattered the hope she had been clinging to. Celia collapsed onto the ground, crying so hard that she could barely breathe.

She had survived once again while everyone she loved had disappeared, leaving her alone just as she had been during her childhood.

She wanted to die.

Some people would have devoted their lives to seeking revenge after suffering such a tragedy, but Celia couldn’t even imagine walking that path. She had watched Vale die. She had watched Isaac die.

After losing the two people she loved most, she no longer had the strength to keep moving forward.

Just as despair completely consumed her, a faint coughing sound reached her ears. It was so quiet that she almost thought she had imagined it, but the second cough confirmed it was real.

Celia immediately raised her head and looked toward the source of the sound.

"Cough... Cough..."

Without thinking, she threw herself into the air. Her damaged wings trembled violently, forcing her to struggle just to remain airborne, but she ignored the pain and flew as quickly as she could.

Hope and fear mixed together inside her heart as she desperately prayed that someone had survived.

When she finally reached the source of the sound, she froze in disbelief. The coughing hadn’t come from a survivor wandering through the ruins. It had come from Isaac’s corpse.

She remembered everything clearly. His heart had been pierced by the collapsed rubble, and the curse covering his body had left no possibility of survival.

She had personally confirmed that he was dead before the battle ended.

Yet Isaac was breathing.

His chest slowly rose and fell as though life itself had returned to him. The wounds covering his body gradually closed before her eyes, healing at a pace that no ordinary regeneration could possibly achieve.

Only the places that had been touched directly by the Red Rain remained unchanged, covered by crimson cracks that refused to disappear.

Normally, those corrupted wounds would have terrified anyone.

Anything touched by the Red Rain eventually transformed into a monster, and no known treatment could stop that process.

At that moment, however, Celia didn’t care about any of it.

She rushed to his side and gently supported him as he struggled to open his eyes. Isaac blinked several times, his unfocused gaze wandering aimlessly before finally settling in her direction.

Even then, it seemed as though he could barely see her.

"C... Celia?" he asked weakly before coughing again. "Thank God... you’re okay."

"Yes, I’m okay. And you’re okay too. Thank you... thank you for being alive," Celia replied, tears already streaming down her face.

She wrapped her arms tightly around him without the slightest hesitation. The corrupted portions of his body stained her clothes, but she paid them no attention.

She simply held him as tightly as she could, crying into his shoulder until exhaustion eventually claimed her.

When Celia woke up again, she found herself inside a quiet cave. Clothes had been folded beneath her to make a bed, while several more had been draped over her like blankets to keep her warm.

She was still trying to understand where she was when she heard footsteps approaching from outside.

"Oh, you’re awake."

Isaac entered the cave carrying a wooden cup that released a faint herbal scent. The moment Celia saw him clearly, her heart tightened.

His face had become unnaturally pale, crimson cracks peeked out from beneath his sleeves, and every breath seemed to require visible effort.

"Isaac!"

She immediately tried to sit up, but a sharp pain spread throughout her body before she could get very far.

Isaac quickly crossed the distance between them, gently helping her lie back down before placing the cup into her hands.

"Take it easy. You had a really high fever after breathing mana poisoned by Red Rain while searching for survivors. Drink this first. It should help a little," he said.

Celia nodded absentmindedly before looking around the cave. "Where are we?"

"We’re deep inside the wilderness. I found this cave months ago when I was wandering outside the city trying to awaken. It was one of the places I used to hide whenever monsters got too close," Isaac answered.

She lowered her eyes to the cup resting in her hands. "Why... did we leave the city?"

Isaac remained silent. His answered everything.

Once the city’s barriers had fallen, everyone touched by the Red Rain would eventually rise again as monsters, making the ruins far more dangerous than the wilderness itself.

Celia felt tears threatening to return, but she swallowed them back before taking a sip of the herbal drink, trying to distract herself from the horrible reality.

The moment the liquid reached her tongue, her entire body stiffened.

"It can’t be that bad," Isaac complained.

Celia smiled involuntarily, hearing the familiar banter they always used to have, and at the same time, tears slipped from her eyes, realizing that everything had changed.

"It is that bad. I’ve told you so many times not to cook or make medicine," Celia said, wrinkling her nose.

"Then give it back," Isaac said,

"In your dreams!" she stuck out her tongue.

She hugged the cup protectively before drinking the rest quickly.

The taste was just as terrible as anything he cooked, yet at the moment, it was the best drink she tasted in her life.

The following days passed quietly inside the cave. Isaac gathered herbs and hunted whenever his condition allowed him to leave, while Celia slowly recovered from her injuries.

Both of them tried to act as though everything was normal, but neither could ignore the changes happening before their eyes.

Isaac’s condition worsened with each passing day.

The crimson cracks spread farther across his body, his breathing became heavier, and moments of weakness grew more frequent.

Neither of them wanted to bring up the subject, but they both understood exactly what was happening.

The Red Rain was slowly corrupting him.

Celia didn’t understand how Isaac had come back to life, nor could she explain how he had resisted the corruption for so long after coming into direct contact with the Red Rain.

Those mysteries frightened her, but they also gave her something she desperately needed.

Hope.

As long as Isaac was still alive and fighting the corruption, she refused to give up hope that somehow, against all odds, he would survive.

But soon, Isaac became bedridden.

He could no longer walk, and even staying awake for more than a few minutes sent waves of agony through his body.

Every breath grew heavier than the last, yet he still tried to smile whenever Celia looked at him.

"C-Celia," he called softly.

Celia was already sitting beside him, gently holding his hand between both of hers.

She looked at him with reddened eyes, trying to force back the tears that threatened to fall. No matter how many times she told herself to stay strong, seeing him like this broke her heart.

"Celia," Isaac called again, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"No," she replied immediately, shaking her head before he could even continue. Tears rolled down her cheeks despite her efforts to stop them. She already knew what he wanted to say.

He looked at her quietly before gathering enough strength to speak once more.

"Celia."

"No! I’m not leaving you!" she answered more firmly this time.

Isaac let out a slow, painful breath before continuing. "You need to leave, Celia. I don’t know how much longer I can hold back this corruption. If you stay here until I lose control, it’ll be too late."

She shook her head so hard that her soft pink hair scattered across her shoulders.

Leaving him behind had never been an option in her mind. Even if she had to watch over him until the very end, even if she would be killed by him when he became a monster, she intended to stay by his side.

A faint smile appeared on Isaac’s face. He had already expected that answer. That’s why, he spoke,

"You know, I heard about something while I was living in the wilderness."

Celia slowly raised her head and looked at him. She didn’t interrupt, afraid that speaking would make him waste more strength than necessary.

Instead, she quietly waited for him to continue.

"Far to the north... there’s a hidden dungeon." Isaac paused to suppress another coughing fit before continuing. "The reward is supposed to be a potion that can suppress corruption."

Celia’s eyes widened.

"Really?" she asked, hope immediately returning to her voice.

Isaac nodded weakly.

"I couldn’t challenge it because I wasn’t an awakener. The person who cleared it years ago was the one who spread the rumor. I never confirmed it myself, but... if it’s true..." His voice gradually weakened before trailing off.

Celia lowered her head and bit her lip.

Her mind told her Isaac was lying. It felt too convenient, as though he had simply invented an excuse to make her leave the cave before his condition became any worse. Yet her heart refused to reject the possibility.

If there was even the smallest chance the dungeon existed, she couldn’t ignore it.

She asked Isaac everything he remembered about its location. Between pauses to catch his breath, he carefully described the route through the northern wilderness and the landmarks surrounding the hidden entrance.

Although his memories weren’t perfect, they were detailed enough for someone like Celia to follow.

Once she understood where the dungeon was, another problem immediately appeared.

She couldn’t leave Isaac alone.

His condition had worsened so much that even helping himself drink water had become difficult. If she stayed away for several days, there was a real possibility that she would return too late.

Bringing him along wasn’t an option either because the journey through the wilderness would almost certainly kill him first. Over the months, Celia had hunted monsters in the wilderness and became strong, but Isaac was still a human.

Isaac quietly watched the conflict written across her face before reaching out with trembling fingers.

"Hey."

His weak flick against her forehead barely had any strength behind it, yet it still caught her attention.

"Just go. I’ve survived worse than this before. Haven’t I told you about the months I spent wandering through the wilderness by myself?" he said with a smile.

Celia’s heart trembled.

She knew those stories better than anyone. She also knew the man before her wasn’t the same Isaac who had once endured those hardships. Even so, she couldn’t find any other choice.

That night, she held him tightly as they slept.

The following morning, she left.

She didn’t waste time wondering whether there might have been another solution. Every moment she hesitated was another moment the corruption continued spreading through Isaac’s body.

If she wanted to save him, she had to act decisively.