– Bam!
With a loud noise, the stone pillar collapsed.
“…Ian, I didn’t know you would hate me this much.”
Yerina was astonished.
Even though she had provoked him first, Ian unleashed such a powerful attack!
“No. This is…”
Of course, Ian was also taken aback.
He had just swung his sword following the feeling of darkness, but such a monstrous attack was unleashed.
‘It’s difficult.’
If Yerina hadn’t dodged, the outcome would have been terrible.
But let’s not panic and stay calm. He hadn’t intended to harm Yerina in the first place, so it’s just a matter of lifting her up a bit.
“I believed in you, Lady Yerina.”
“…Really?”
Ian quickly nodded to Yerina, who squinted her eyes.
Since it had come to this, he had no choice but to show some backbone.
“I thought Lady Yerina could easily block such an attack.”
“To think of that monstrous strike as just ‘such an attack’…?”
“I thought Lady Yerina could handle it.”
“You’re too modest. But it doesn’t feel bad that you overestimate me.”
Swoosh.
Yerina put her weapon into the leather belt around her thigh. The corners of her mouth slightly lifted.
‘I survived.’
Ian let out a small sigh of relief.
But that thing that came out from the tip of the sword just now.
‘… Was it Sword Aura?’
Ian glanced at his hand cautiously.
He used Sword Aura. Although he wasn’t particularly skilled in swordsmanship, it was clearly a remarkable achievement.
Among swordsmen, just being able to emit Aura was enough to be recognized as a master. In the academy, only knights of the highest rank, the ‘Aether’ class, could use it.
Of course, Sharon Pierce, who used her sword with magic, was an exception.
“I didn’t expect to succeed from the beginning.”
Certainly, Ian’s performance was remarkable even in Asilia’s eyes.
A child who had never held a proper sword suddenly emitted a sword aura. Of course, once someone became proficient in magic to a certain extent, they could emit a sword aura more skillfully than an ordinary person.
But this speed was not ordinary.
“It seems like I’ve got an excellent disciple.”
Asilia’s voice was filled with surprise and pride.
“It means your teaching is excellent.”
“Ian.”
“Yes.”
“You’re my chosen disciple, but I’m really glad you speak so well.”
“On the contrary, it’s my honor.”
“…”
Yerina watched the conversation between teacher and disciple with a somewhat absent-minded expression. Weren’t they embarrassed to constantly praise each other like that?
‘Oh, right.’
It wasn’t that. There was something she had to tell them, so she came.
The recent duel was just to help Ian gain some insight.
“Ahem.”
Yerina cleared her throat.
Confirming that both of them were paying attention, Yerina spoke.
“By the way. I have something to propose.”
“A proposal?”
“Recently, the vitality draining from our bodies has noticeably increased. Ian, you must have felt it too.”
Ian nodded quietly.
He had felt an increase in the absorption rate of vitality and abilities by Richard.
If this place was a manifestation of his prison, then it meant that Richard, the host, was experiencing something or planning something sinister.
Therefore, Yerina’s subsequent words were quite understandable.
“I wanted to suggest that we execute the escape plan as quickly as possible.”
The core of the escape was essentially in Ian’s hands.
Could the things his master created be activated?
‘I thought I would need more time.’
Yerina thought so.
But the sword aura Ian just emitted clearly indicated that his talent had reached a certain level.
Ultimately, what mattered was Asilia’s judgment.
Did she believe Ian had earned the right qualifications?
Ian and Yerina’s gazes turned to Asilia.
“…”
Asilia remained silent.
To be honest, she wanted to say that her disciple wasn’t ready yet.
And that was the truth.
Now was the time for him to open his eyes to the sword and simply repeat the most basic training methods.
He wasn’t prepared.
But this child’s talent bypassed all those obstacles.
He exuded sophistication in personality and speech, and his judgment was quite quick.
‘So that’s what worries me…’
She wanted to teach him more thoroughly. She wanted to impart everything she had to offer.
‘Perhaps it’s all just my greed.’
Asilia sighed softly, reflecting on herself.
“At this point, the chances of success seem fifty-fifty. It’s a matter of luck and circumstances.”
Asilia’s candid response.
Yerina nodded.
50/50 was sufficient.
Before unexpectedly falling into this world, she had made preparations.
“I, too, have prepared some devices to counter Richard.”
“Devices?”
“If this place is his prison, there’s a considerable chance of it going berserk.”
Yerina had been devising a plan to confront Richard ever since she vaguely heard the truth about him from Ian.
“Outside, there may be assassins targeting the Grand Duke. With Richard’s paranoia escalating, it’ll be difficult to maintain a normal psychological state.”
…To directly hire assassins.
Ian found Yerina even more frightening.
In the end, all eyes converged on Asilia’s response once again.
After a moment of silence, she nodded.
“Then that’s even better. It’ll be easier to escape safely.”
“But won’t this place turn into a mess once everyone leaves?”
Ian asked his master with concern.
“If I can properly train my disciple and send him back to where he originally belonged, there’s no greater accomplishment for a master than that.”
With those words, Asilia smiled softly.
◆
The group immediately gathered their belongings.
Once they decided to proceed with the plan, there was no time to waste. Every hour spent here meant rapidly draining the lives of living beings.
Everyone immediately exited the cave.
Outside, the surroundings were excessively bright with countless snowflakes covering the ground.
“This way.”
Asilia took the lead, followed immediately by Yerina and Ian. Lina was in the middle and Danya was in the rear.
In the bright surroundings, the location of the cave was now clearly visible. It was a large mountain, or more precisely, a cave beneath the mountain.
“Wow, I didn’t see it at first, but it’s really huge here. But why didn’t we see it before?”
Asilia responded to Lina’s question.
“It’s due to a structural arrangement that disrupts vision. It’s not magic or any spell, just the arrangement itself causing this effect. You won’t see it until you come here in person.”
Perhaps because of this, an eerie and gloomy atmosphere was felt.
Their destination was the summit of this towering mountain.
The mountain grew deeper.
Blackened trees and snow piled upon them endlessly.
Although the direction was confusing, Asilia led without hesitation.
“Wait!”
At that moment, Danya halted the group.
― Gurgle!
A strange howl echoed.
“There! Lina!”
“Yeah!”
Danya’s grass-attribute arrow flew behind a tree, followed by Lina’s fire magic.
The corpse behind the tree reacted to it, springing out.
At that moment, Thud!
Danya’s arrow split, leaving a greenish trace on the corpse’s body, like a kind of net.
Sizzle!
Lina’s magic hit the spot, engulfing the corpse in flames. Utilizing the elemental reaction of covering grass attribute with fire attribute makes it burn even better.
“Woah.”
An exclamation escaped Ian’s mouth at the rather impressive combination.
Proudly, Lina and Danya put their hands on their hips.
“Ian, while you were learning swordsmanship, we practiced hard too, nyah!”
They continued to advance, disposing of the sporadically appearing corpses.
“That rock beyond is the summit.”
Asilia pointed at the massive rock.
Indeed, beyond it, the dense black forest of trees was no longer visible.
Their destination was now close at hand.
“… Strange.”
“There’s something strange nearby, nyah.”
Yerina and Danya murmured simultaneously.
“I’ve never felt this kind of energy before.”
Asilia’s expression wasn’t any better.
At that moment.
Something emerged from the shadows.
Its appearance was infinitely grotesque.
― Guoooooh!
Should I describe it as a massive mound formed by corpses gathering and converging?
The dismembered facial features of the corpses were densely packed together, rolling around like a giant ball.
Lina and Danya expressed their brief thoughts.
“Eugh…”
“What’s that?”
Unlike the two girls, Ian thought the grotesque pile of corpses resembled something of unknown origin.
‘…What in the world is that?’
Ah. Just a moment ago, rolling snow + pile of corpses.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind.
– Ting
Hundreds of eyeballs were fixed on them simultaneously.
Their appearance was unequivocally more grotesque than any other creatures.
– Guaaaah!
– Graaaargh!
– Guaaard!
Hundreds of mouths opened simultaneously.
An incredibly chilling cacophony erupted from its mouth.
