The Fog of the Past
The thick fog that had trapped the entire party in fragments of their pasts was like a Venus flytrap—once you tried to escape, it only pulled you deeper, impossible to break free from. It was so dense, so temptingly sweet, that even my master couldn't pull herself out. Even though everyone knew it wasn't real, that it was all just an illusion. They kept thinking of a past they wished they could return to just once more, and so they wandered endlessly inside the mist, unable to return to reality. In the end, they became ghosts—neither dead nor alive.
Iris had only rescued me and my master before hurrying onward. It seemed she had decided it would be better to destroy this unidentified trap rather than waste time pulling out each person one by one.
“Master.”
At Iris’s voice, I turned my gaze forward. There, another scene from the past was unfolding. The only difference was that this past had changed in many ways. I couldn’t be sure exactly what my master or Iris were seeing. But if I had to guess, they were probably witnessing a version of the past they had wanted to change.
Like how I had accidentally encountered my master while she was bathing, but in this version, I had simply returned to my quarters without incident. Just like the other past unfolding before my eyes right now.
- It’s not bad. But.
- But I know it can’t be changed.
Iris had gained the ability called ‘regression’ because of that setting. But I possessed neither the power nor the fate to go back. So there was no way I could return. In other words, everything spread out before me was nothing but an illusion. Only by moving past it, cutting it down, and walking beyond it would the fog finally lift.
“You picked the wrong target.”
Although I still carried immense weight from what happened that day, it had still been a rather decent past, so it didn’t matter. Shaaaaa…. I walked straight through everything unfolding before me. Then, from within the fog, I and everyone around me reached out, trying to stop me from leaving. Asking where I was going, if I really intended to leave just like that. Telling me to stay a little longer. Saying that rather than stepping into an uncertain future, it would be better to stay here, comfortably reflecting on the past.
No actual sound reached my ears, but it felt like those whispers were brushing against them. But unfortunately, if this was truly a trap from an ancient kingdom, I wanted to tell them they had chosen very, very poorly.
I didn’t want to go back. I didn’t particularly want to change anything either.
- Actually, Master’s figure was incredibly beautiful.
- Of course, that’s a secret from Master.
When I took another step forward, the dense fog began to thin little by little. Then one more step. And another. I continued moving forward like that. The fog kept grabbing at my hands and feet, constantly trying to hinder me. Telling me not to go, to stay here forever, that I could see it anytime I wanted. The more it tried to hold me back, the faster I pushed forward.
Iris followed closely behind me with a hardened expression. I wondered what kind of scene she had seen. What situation had unfolded for her. It must have been something even more painful than mine. And yet, my foolish disciple had somehow shaken off that temptation.
Tap—
Finally, when I reached a certain point, all the sticky things that had been clinging to me vanished completely. When I looked back, the fog that had been so impenetrably thick was gone as if it had never been there. All that remained were my companions, sighing and slowly regaining their senses.
“Iris.”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you really okay?”
“Yes. Of course. This much is nothing.”
I wanted to tell her she didn’t have to force herself to act strong. But since Iris had experienced something I couldn’t even begin to imagine, I chose silence instead of speaking carelessly. All I could do as her master was pat her back and gently tap her shoulder. That was the only thing I could offer her.
“Master. Are you alright?”
After confirming Iris was okay, I went over to my master. I could still see a somewhat dazed look lingering in her eyes. It seemed even the mighty Heavenly Demon had been momentarily caught off guard.
“…It seems I was blinded by something truly wretched.”
“I was the same.”
“Yet you managed to break free on your own. I could not.”
“I just got lucky, that’s all.”
“In any case, I failed to escape it. How utterly pathetic.”
“Not at all, Master. I was only able to overcome it thanks to you.”
Half of that was a lie, and half was sincere. Inside the fog, I had come out with Iris’s help, not my master’s. So saying half was a lie was accurate. But when the question of whether I wanted to cling to the past had come, I had thought of my master’s graceful figure after her bath and decided I was fine as I was. So if you really wanted to split hairs, my master’s influence had helped about half as well. Of course, if I said that honestly, I’d immediately get a chestnut flick from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
“…My pathetic master must be quite pleased that her disciple is working so hard to lift her spirits.”
“No, Master. It’s the truth. When have you ever seen me spout nonsense?”
I had never told a lie with one hundred percent purity. I had always mixed truth and falsehood in appropriate proportions. So it was difficult to say I had been constantly spouting nonsense.
“….”
My master stared at me intently. In her gaze, I felt something slightly different from usual. I couldn’t quite define it, but it made my chest feel strangely uncomfortable. Maybe she thought everything I said was a lie? Just as I was about to open my mouth again, my master smiled.
“You know, Hyeon-ah.”
“Yes, Master.”
“The fact that you are my disciple. That you are my disciple… it truly brings me joy.”
“….”
“I mean it.”
My master almost never joked. It was only after spending time with me that she had regained some of her liveliness. In the beginning, she had been so serious that it was incredibly difficult to adjust. Considering that, those words must have been sincere. It was certain. She wasn’t teasing me or hiding some other meaning. She was simply letting her true feelings flow out without filtering them.
“…Thank you, Master.”
Sometimes I felt a little anxious. There were times when I wondered if this was really okay. It wasn’t as if my goal was to build some harem kingdom. My purpose was simply to survive. To face the end of this world, this game, and plan for what came after. But I knew the process of achieving that goal would be absurdly difficult. I also knew that with my power alone, it would be impossible even if I died and revived hundreds of times. That was why I had to maintain a close relationship not only with my disciples but also with my one and only master—the mighty Heavenly Demon. I had used every available means I could. Yet lately, I had begun to feel that things were gradually heading in a strange direction.
“Master.”
“Gerard. Are you alright?”
“Yes. More importantly, I’m sorry, Master. I never thought I would fall for something so easily….”
“This is the first time I’ve encountered a trap of this kind as well. So don’t worry about it. We just won’t fall for it next time.”
To think there was a trap that showed people their past and held them captive through lingering attachment—or through the temptation of wanting to change that past. I had truly never heard of anything like it. This was my first time seeing a dungeon designed this way. On top of that, there was a very high chance that Iris was wandering around somewhere nearby as well.
We gathered the party and headed deeper inside. I had been worried the trap might appear again, but since Iris didn’t seem particularly concerned, it looked like that was the end of it. A short while later, I heard someone shout loudly from up ahead, “I found them!”
“Hey, snap out of it!”
“Ugh… M-Mother….”
Unlike our side, which had only been swallowed by the fog for a relatively short time, the mercenaries who had been following Iris seemed to have been wandering here for nearly a month. Their condition was terrible. Between body and mind, it was clearly the ‘mind’ that was in worse shape.
“Gerard. Start with that one and make sure everyone is properly taken care of. It looks like they’ve been exposed for a long time.”
“Understood. What about Iris….”
“I’ll find her myself. You go check on the others quickly.”
Gerard bowed his head and stepped back. After walking a little further, people who had collapsed or were sitting down began to appear everywhere. Most of them had unfocused eyes, as if their souls had left their bodies. A few who had barely regained their senses staggered to their feet. Of course, even they were in truly miserable condition.
“…Master. Over there, ahead.”
Iris suddenly pointed forward with her finger. In truth, I had already been sensing a noise coming from that direction for a little while now.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
Something was striking the wall with consistent speed and power. It wasn’t a weapon. The sound was too heavy for that. To make a noise like this, it had to be a ‘fist’ rather than a blade.
It seemed my guess was correct. Thinking that, I slowly walked forward, and the situation became clear at a glance.
Boom—!
“…Master.”
Boom—!
“…Master.”
Boom—!
“…Master!”
…Why is she calling my name while smashing the wall? Anyway, that crazy kid. I told her to control her fighting spirit. It was a scene that made me let out a deep, heavy sigh.
Her long brown hair was tied up tightly and roughly pulled into a high bun. Her face was incredibly pretty, yet her behavior was utterly crude. Bandages wrapped from her wrists to her hands as she threw one powerful punch after another. And the compression bandages around her chest whose purpose I couldn’t even begin to understand. No matter how many times I looked, no matter how I examined her, there was no doubt. It was definitely my fifth disciple.
The Brawler Hero, the Limitless—Airis Freesia.
“Airis!”
The fog had already cleared. Her own subordinates were regaining their senses. Yet this so-called Hero was still acting like this. It was so stupid that I couldn’t help but feel a little angry. So I called out my disciple’s name in a rather stern voice.
“…!”
Whoosh—!
Airis whipped her head around so hard I could hear the motion. Leaving aside whether her neck was okay, her eyes still looked completely dazed.
“…My disciple.”
“Yes, Master.”
“That kid can’t even recognize her master and is charging straight at me.”
Just as she said, the moment Airis saw me, she immediately broke into a sprint. This wasn’t the kind of run Garam or Jenia would do out of joy at seeing me. The way she planted power in her toes and clenched her fists—it was clearly the stance of someone challenging an opponent they absolutely wanted to surpass.
“Hoo…”
I may not have taught my disciples half-heartedly, but I had clearly told them never to show hostility or murderous intent toward their master, their grandmaster, or their fellow disciples. And yet here she was, doing exactly that. No matter how powerful this trap had been, no matter how difficult it was to break free from the past and return to reality, there were still lines that should never be crossed.
Our disciple had grown a lot, but still—
BOOM!!—
Airis, who had been charging toward me, flew far into the distance and slammed into the wall. I lowered my hand and lightly shook out my arm. Still, compared to before, the sensation in my hand had improved quite a bit.
“You’re still far from ready, my disciple.”