Chapter 124
The ceiling was gone, as if an explosion had happened before we arrived, but in Gabbie’s eyes and mine, the thick mass of power gathered around us looked like a fog covering the top.
“That must be the center.”
But unlike me, Gabbie seemed to see another strand of power.
– Yeah. Something seems to be mixed with magic, though.
“Magic?”
– These guys weren’t using any magic at all… Anyway, stop playing and let’s go there.
“Okay. We’ll find out when we get there.”
Esadien, who had been listening to our conversation, quickly whistled a signal to the knights.
“Whew!”
As if an unstated agreement had been made, the party, who had been lingering in one spot, began to move in perfect unison, like a single, unified ball.
The Warriors of Fire, realizing where we were headed, threw themselves at us, attacking even more fiercely, but the gap in power between them and us was too great from the start.
“It seems those people can’t draw upon this power?”
– That’s right, because they’re not fit to be elementalists, and it was forcibly injected. Those kinds of people usually return to being ordinary humans once the initial power they received runs out.
I frowned, imagining the extent of their despair.
If they couldn’t overcome it, they would eventually keep pouring in Yoshicho powder until they became something neither human nor plant.
“Minuelle, the knights and I will block their entry from the outside.”
Esadien quietly offered his opinion, but Gabbie immediately objected.
– No, come in together. If they attack with elemental power, you’ll have no means to protect yourselves.
“But what if we are breached…?”
– It’s fine. When I’m this full of power, I can borrow a little bit of other elemental spirits’ power too.
I was curious about what he meant, but for now, I broadly spread a pillar of fire to push back the frantically charging enemies.
Of course, there were some fanatics who were truly insane and rushed forward regardless of whether their bodies burned, but they quickly lost their lives to Esadien’s sword, who stayed by my side until the end.
After Esadien and I finally entered, Gabbie stomped on the ground forcefully.
– Hup!
With a short burst of energy, the surrounding aura swirled around Gabbie and then, at some point, seeped into the ground.
And the very next moment, the ground trembled as if in an earthquake, and then abruptly rose up, covering the entrance we had just come through.
“Wow…”
I admired it for a moment, then asked Gabbie.
“Then how do we get out later?”
– …
This guy, he didn’t think about the next step.
– N-no, I didn’t! It’s all going to collapse anyway once this is over!
He snapped, sulking, and fluttered down the stairs leading to the basement without a word of warning.
“He’s truly just a kid.”
As I muttered, following him, I heard a shout.
– I heard that… Ack!
It cut off in the middle, though.
“What, what’s wrong?”
Startled, I quickly moved my feet, jumping down the stairs three or four steps at a time. Even amidst that, Esadien stayed close beside me, holding my hand so I wouldn’t fall.
He, who had been focusing all his attention on me, then spotted the person standing before the altar with Gabbie in one hand, and all his tenderness vanished, replaced by a fierce aura.
“Austin!”
Honestly, I thought Esadien was amazing.
‘He’s not even surprised by that.’
Austin’s appearance was not normal.
The golden hair typical of the Roquate imperial family had already lost its luster, and one of his eyes was completely gone.
Most horrifying of all was that his form would faintly disappear and then become distinct again, as if an invisible force was forcibly holding together sand that was about to scatter.
Even in that bizarre state, Austin casually spoke, as if offering a greeting.
“We meet again. A persistent fate.”
How could that guy touch Gabbie?
I tried to be as calm as possible, sneering to hide my unease.
“Fate, my foot. It’s a disgusting bad omen.”
“Still sharp-tongued.”
“What’s a traitor doing here? Did you get baptized by the Sand God somewhere along the way?”
“Ha, baptism.”
It was a sigh laced with an inexplicable bitterness, but I didn’t bother to ask. Esadien, shielding me, commanded.
“Release the spirit, Austin.”
“I don’t want to.”
Austin tapped the stone altar with his other hand.
“I will offer the spirit to this altar and gain even greater power.”
That’s quite an ambitious plan, but.
For Gabbie, my carrying his house around like a snail was a flaw.
I whispered to Esadien, barely moving my lips, so only he could hear.
“Just get Gabbie away from him for a moment.”
Then Gabbie would be able to enter the Spirit Stone immediately.
“Are you going to the lower floor?”
At Esadien’s question, I briefly gauged the position of the power and nodded.
“Yes.”
“While you are gone, I will finally deal with Austin this time.”
To have to leave Austin, who seemed almost beyond human, to an already injured Esadien.
Worry surged, and I squeezed one of his fingers tightly.
“Don’t worry about me. The knights will support me, and Priest Ramande is here too.”
If worry could stop just by being told not to, would it even be worry?
To my still gloomy expression, Esadien offered a familiar phrase.
“Hurry up and finish it. And don’t get hurt.”
I couldn’t help but smile and released his hand.
“Okay. I love you.”
Esadien also smiled briefly, but the moment he turned, his face grew coldly resolute.
As he charged at Austin, the knights followed at a perfect timing, as if they had been waiting.
Their movements, rotating like cogs and successively attacking Austin, seemed like people who had practiced countless times.
‘He said he wanted to wield the sword of Karnian…’
I wondered if my mother or sister would approve of this, and felt both hope and anxiety at the same time.
Then, at some point, three swords simultaneously pierced Austin, and finally, Gabbie fell from his hand.
Feeling Gabbie enter the Spirit Stone, I ran towards the stairs leading to the lower floor, met Ramande’s eyes, and nodded.
‘I’m counting on you.’
‘Have a safe trip.’
Even without words, we both knew what we meant.
Austin, having lost Gabbie, gnashed his teeth in fury.
“So, it’s a challenge, is it?”
With an ominous mumble, a whirlwind erupted behind him.
‘Shouldn’t I help a little?’
I hesitated, stopping, but Gabbie spoke firmly.
– Snap out of it. Our part is downstairs.
“…”
I gritted my teeth and started moving again. I had to trust the people I left behind.
* * *
Unlike the floor Austin was on, the second basement floor was intensely dark.
Moreover, the air felt colder and colder the further down we went.
It was strange, even for a basement, to be so chilly. It was almost like winter in the north.
Whoosh!
Due to the deep darkness, even when I lit a fire, the light only reached just beneath my feet.
‘What is all this? It’s strange no matter how I look at it.’
That was the moment I stepped onto the last stair. Suddenly, the surroundings brightened, as if spitting out the light it had swallowed until now.
“…?”
I reflexively lowered my arm and saw that the surroundings were a snow country.
“No. Wait a minute? I came down to the basement?”
I hadn’t exited a long tunnel at the border; I had just walked down the stairs.
Moreover, just a moment ago, I was in Chitrum, a hot desert country.
Confused, I looked around wildly, and finally, the blurred boundary between the pale ground and sky became clear, and the land, which I had thought was a flat snowy plain, now had varying elevations.
And there, a cabin stood alone in the distance.
“Suddenly, a cabin? There’s nothing else around?”
Muttering to myself, I approached the cabin as if mesmerized.
Inside the window, young people were laughing and talking cheerfully.
‘That brand!’
North Face. National Geographic. Black Yak*…
[T/N: Korean outdoor clothing brand]
Seeing their appearance and the familiar brands, I sighed and rubbed my stiff eyes.
Whoever was showing this to me, the sight of these people was not reality.
“Haa.”
With a sigh, I stepped back a little from the cabin and saw a massive pile of snow pouring down from far away. It was a giant avalanche, like an entire mountain rolling down.
The ground was already shaking slightly, but the people inside the cabin seemed too busy enjoying themselves to notice.
Though it wasn’t reality, I was about to cover my mouth at the pitiful scene that was about to unfold.
“No! Run away! Please come out!”
“Lapheche?”
Why are you here, too?
But she screamed as if spitting blood, clinging to the window as if she couldn’t see me.
“Run away! Run away! You’ll die if you stay there!”
As soon as she finished speaking, as if on cue, the snow engulfed the cabin.
“Ugh.”
At the horrible sight, I instinctively covered my face with my arm again.
However, a few seconds passed, and there was still no sensation, and when I lowered my arm, the cabin was gone without a trace.
Lapheche was huddled and trembling on the snowfield where the cabin might have been buried below.
– This child also seems to be from another world.
I nodded at Gabbie’s words, who had materialized beside me again.
“It seems so.”
And from the same world as me.
Just as I had been afraid of fire due to my last memory, Lapheche disliked cold weather because she had died in an avalanche.
I had even sneered at her for wearing a thick coat indoors, not knowing this.
She was a transmigator trying to get close to me, but I had blindly avoided her, unaware.
I slowly approached Lapheche. Standing beside her, I finally heard her muttering.
“Cold, cold…”
Her appearance was so pitiful that I gently touched her emaciated shoulder and let warmth flow into her. Only then did Lapheche notice my presence and look up.
“Don’t stay here, let’s go somewhere warm.”
“Warm… place?”
“Yes. Just follow that light.”
I spoke softly, pointing to Gabbie, who had now transformed into a floating torch in mid-air.
Following my gaze, Lapheche also spotted him, and her face brightened instantly.
Her lips, still lacking color, curved into a gentle smile, and she slowly began to walk.