The snow collapsed in front of the mountain.
A massive hole undulated in green.
“It’s a gap in space.”
Asilia quietly opened her mouth.
“It seems similar to what we saw when we were absorbed.”
The rest except for Yerina was bewildered by Asilia’s words.
“I lost my mind, nyah.”
“Me too… Did you see it, Ian?”
“Don’t forget we’re just students.”
Whether they saw it or not, they could make judgments.
They might be able to return to their original world through that gap.
When everyone reached that thought, they glanced at Asilia and Ian.
Clearly, the two who seemed intimate here.
One of them seemed unable to leave.
Asilia spoke.
“Ah, it feels refreshing. I wanted to see this sight so much. Thank you all for your hard work. And I’m really grateful.”
Her smile seemed incredibly happy.
“Thank you for enduring hardships under such a mediocre master.”
Sigh-.
As if commemorating the last moment, Asilia embraced Ian.
But Ian pushed his master away.
“Disciple. Yeah, you don’t like the embrace of an old lady like this?”
Ignoring Asilia pretending to be teary-eyed, Ian turned to Danya.
“I’ll be back.”
Danya nodded.
This time, he asked Yerina.
“The gap will close soon, right?”
“It should be about an hour.”
“Yes.”
Ian turned away immediately.
And knelt in front of the bewildered Asilia and showed his back.
“Master, please get on.”
“Um, it seems my disciple misunderstood, I can’t pass there, right? There’s not much time left…”
Ian straightened his head immediately.
“We’re not going together. I’ve prepared a place for Master to stay for a while.”
“A place to stay for a while? I was going to see off my disciple going, but where are you planning to leave me…”
“Just kidding. I’m serious, Master. Please get on. We don’t have time.”
“Disciple, instead of unnecessary troubles, let’s go back quickly. I really don’t have any hope, any way left.”
Ian firmly replied to Asilia, who awkwardly smiled.
“I won’t go either. I’ll live here with my master. Please ride for now.”
“…Really.”
Reluctantly, Asilia rode on Ian’s back.
“Where are we going?”
“Where Master will close her eyes for a moment.”
As they rode back the way they came, Ian spoke.
“No matter how skilled Richard is, he can’t create a world like this on his own.”
“…”
“If we speculate on his style, he’ll probably use all sorts of magic, like boundaries, to link his prison to some real space in the north.”
“That’s…”
“In other words, if Richard dies or he undoes the strange magic he’s done, this space will reveal itself again in the real world.”
A shiver ran down the master’s spine.
It was impossible not to notice that slight change.
“Master, you knew about it too.”
“It’s spatial distortion magic.”
“You were trying to hide it.”
“That’s… just in case…”
Ian spoke instead of Asilia, who was blurring her words.
“In case I had to figure out a way to save you.”
Silence descended.
Ian ran without saying a word.
That’s how they returned to the cave where Ian first met his master. The other side had collapsed, but the cave remained.
— Trot, trot.
The place where they first rested. The place where they met his master. Passing by the place where there was a hot spring she introduced, Ian stepped into a small, sturdy space.
Asilia, who had been silently watching only her disciple’s back, twitched her nose.
A strong scent of flowers filled the air.
“T-this is…”
Beyond Ian’s shoulder, Asilia blinked blankly.
The cave was filled with white flowers.
A bedspread spread among hundreds of flowers.
There, Ian carefully laid down his master.
“I-Is this… could it be, Snowflake Flowers?”
“Danya made it happen.”
“Why would she go to such lengths…”
Because one alone couldn’t replenish his master’s mana.
— Then, even if it’s just a few, as long as it can sustain her mana even a little!
So, Danya made it happen.
‘Why would she do this for me?’
Ian asked.
— W-Well? Just because? I felt a bit lacking in my abilities, so I made it!
Though Danya replied like that, Ian seemed to understand her true intentions.
One day, he would have to thank Danya separately.
But for now, his master came first.
“When you see those masters, there are always people like them. Now that I’ve reached the pinnacle, there’s no one in the world who can rival me! Since I’ve become invincible, I’ll just go into hibernation until the next master appears! People like that.”
“The Master doesn’t understand what the disciple is talking about.”
Ian grinned at the master, who seemed bewildered.
“Master, please stay here.”
“What?”
“Please go into hibernation.”
In fact, Asilia understood what her disciple meant.
If she hibernated here, it meant that someday her disciple would come to save her.
But it shouldn’t be like that.
If she carried the burden in her heart, she couldn’t focus on the fight.
Above all, she didn’t want to see her disciple wandering around trying to find this place.
“… But.”
“If you can’t fall asleep within thirty minutes, I’ll just live here with you, Master.”
“… What did you say?”
“It seems like Master wants to live together with the disciple. Because Master is a bit absent-minded, the disciple will have a bit of a hard time, but it can’t be helped. Isn’t that what a master-disciple relationship is like? Later, when Master gets old, the disciple will take care of her, right? Anyway, I’ll set up my sleeping place first. Since we’re living together, should I lay it next to Master?”
Hesitantly.
As Ian began to lay out his bedding, Asilia grabbed his sleeve.
“Really… how did I end up with such a disciple?”
Ian quietly accepted the weak gesture of Asilia’s hand, which was almost fading away with her waning vitality.
Asilia’s smile faltered.
“A disciple who doesn’t listen to the master’s words, with such stubbornness…”
Ian quietly met her eyes, filled with sadness.
“A master who takes advantage of the fact that she can’t beat her disciple.”
Tap, tap.
As if she wanted to hit him if she could, Asilia’s hand rose to Ian’s chest.
Ian gently held her hand, hoping to warm her icy hands a bit.
Asilia’s lips opened with infinite sadness.
“The most precious disciple in the world, why did you come now?”
Cough. Asilia, who coughed dryly, spoke with difficulty.
“… While being here, surely you closed off all your emotions. You’re hoping, aren’t you?”
Tears formed in Asilia’s eyes and trickled down her cheeks.
Ian carefully wiped away his master’s tears.
“You have to hope, master. Who am I to you?”
“… Who are you?”
“The disciple of Sasha Asilia, the Snowflake Swordmaster.”
“Really…”
Smoothly.
Asilia’s lips rose heavily.
“This would only become a burden in such a situation. I’m a master… just taking up space without any usefulness.”
“It’s not a burden, it’s a treasure. Something you can’t throw away no matter how heavy it is. Of course, right now, you’re too light. Later, we’ll have to fatten you up a bit to make you more valuable.”
Smoothly.
Asilia’s lips twitched upward with great effort.
Even her breathing seemed faint and indistinct.
“… Even in this situation, jokes…”
“It was sincere, but thank you for smiling.”
“… Thank you.”
As if she wanted to firmly store it in her memory, Asilia’s gaze scrutinized every corner of Ian’s face.
“My disciple.”
Smoothly.
Asilia’s eyes closed.
Her upper body fell and leaned against Ian.
“…”
Asilia’s breathing in Ian’s ear was calm.
Carefully, Ian laid his master down among the flowers blooming profusely.
“Well then, good night. Master.”
◆
“Did everything finish well?”
Ian returned to the gap in space.
Yerina asked him.
“The real ending will be when we see the end of Richard.”
“Those are the right words.”
Yerina was worried about Ian’s mental state.
He and Asilia had a short but deep master-disciple relationship.
But Ian’s face was calm, and even his determination was felt.
Facing the imminent battle with Richard.
Ian seemed to have no shortage of determination.
Yerina nodded satisfactorily.
“If we pass through this gap, there’s a very high chance we’ll come face to face with Richard. No. We’ll definitely do. There’s a high chance he’ll try to fight us straight away.”
“The location and external circumstances are significant variables. However, there’s a possibility that Richard might be fighting someone else. If the assumption that the eyes here are Richard’s mana is correct.”
Watching the increasingly fierce snowstorm, Ian spoke.
“The problem is how severe Richard’s injuries will be.”
This place is Richard’s prison.
Using the mark left by Asilia, Ian destroyed more than half of the snowfield.
In other words, it was no different from destroying the prison from the inside.
However, since this form of prison was not ordinary, it was difficult to gauge Richard’s condition.
“The virtual prison has been shattered. It’s not just ordinary injuries. It’s safe to assume that about 90% of it has been destroyed.”
“In that case…”
“Yeah, the current Richard won’t even be able to wield a fraction of his power. Of course, his power at its fraction is probably stronger than mine.”
Richard Pierce, the Grand Duke of the North, and the final boss of Act 2.
And one of the high-ranking members of the Bloodstone Cult.
Originally, this scenario was supposed to be about him gathering evidence of being part of the Bloodstone Cult, but…
“It’s an opportunity. We can capture him.”
This time, a situation had arisen where they could outright hunt him down.
Yerina spoke with a voice full of determination.
“Everyone, stay alert. I’ll take the vanguard.”
Yerina stepped into the gap in space and disappeared.
Ian followed her lead and threw himself into it.
In an instant, the scenery changed completely.
