Wind of the Plague (13)
Only now did the Sirens' warning truly sink in—the beast really was as massive as a rocky mountain.
The creature they had faced earlier had clearly been the previous broodmother, discarded and culled for some unknown reason.
Yet none of that mattered right now.
Stupid... you absolute fool of a woman!
It was a mistake. Her vigilance toward a Named demonic beast, something she would never have normally compromised, had dulled. And this was the humiliating result. She had rushed in claiming she would help, only to end up as a disgusting, pathetic burden dragging him down.
If left alone, he would have handled the situation without issue. Even if he chose not to save anyone, he would have made the absolute best tactical decision. Overlooking that and prioritizing her own selfish, personal emotions had landed her right here—dangling from Junon's wrist, barely clinging to life.
Still, she had one last option left.
"...Let go and run, Junon."
"What?"
"It's my mistake. I'll buy time and deal with that thing somehow. As long as you shatter the formation holding the kids in the cellar with your mana, they can make it out alive."
Yes. Tell him everything. Step by step, crystal clear, so there would be zero confusion.
"The hyplisia stem bracelets are hard to spot, but if you just channel mana into the clasp, they come right off. You'll figure it out easily. You can get everyone out."
Come to think of it, there were the Sirens. They despised humans, so she had to give him directions around them too. Would he try to slip past undetected?
"Ah... you'll need to dodge the Sirens' eyes. Right. The Devourers are swarming the lakeside from the south, so the western side should have thinned out. Head toward the fence line."
What else? Yes. She should tell him to take Cain along as well. And...
...She couldn't even bring herself to say she was sorry.
Her disappearance had been tied to his death in the past timeline... How could a single, shallow apology ever make up for that?
At the bottom of the cavernous pit, Shanberesh waited for its prey to drop. And Senia, singled out as its primary meal, hung suspended from Junon's grip.
In a life-or-death crisis like this, what in the world was she babbling about?
"The hyplisia stem bracelets are hard to spot, but if you just channel mana into the clasp, they come right off. You'll figure it out easily. You can get everyone out."
Pointless chatter. Begging for her life, or screaming at him not to let go—that was how a normal person reacted. Why was she rattling off instructions instead?
"Ah... you'll need to dodge the Sirens' eyes. Right. The Devourers are swarming the lakeside from the south, so the western side should have thinned out. Head toward the fence line."
Then she started detailing how he should take Cain with him. Time was running out, so what was the point of all this? Besides, if he let go of Senia, there was no turning back.
"Shut up with the nonsense! There's no time, so just pull yourself up!"
"..."
Senia's fingers went completely limp around his wrist. There was no way Junon could fail to notice. At this point, all her words and actions clicked together into an unmistakable intention.
"You... don't tell me..."
"Go. If it's you, you can at least get those kids out alive. I may be alone, but I've got enough tricks up my sleeve to buy you time to run. There aren't any Devourers down here anyway, right?"
"Hey, Senia!"
"...This time... I'll..."
Senia muttered something indistinct and raised her scabbard with her free hand. Preparing to strike something was not an action a person hanging by a single arm should be taking. She intended to strike her own arm and force herself to fall.
This absolute idiot...!
It was a one-on-one duel. Even if Devourers didn't swarm her, that monster was still a Named demonic beast. Facing Shanberesh alone was sheer lunacy. Or did she honestly believe that throwing her life away to save everyone else solved everything?
That's complete bullshit! Without you, we can't even hunt that bastard in the first place!
No. Calm down and think. Where had things gone wrong?
To begin with, this behavior was entirely unlike her. Under normal circumstances, she never would have charged recklessly toward Shanberesh; she would have focused on slaughtering the Devourers. Tactically, she would have consulted Cain and prioritized restoring the barrier. The fact that everything had derailed meant Senia wasn't thinking rationally either.
Why was she so stubbornly determined to throw herself into that pit? He didn't know. But more importantly, he had to engineer a solution in this fleeting heartbeat.
Shanberesh waited below. Devourers raided the village behind them. And Senia, dangling from his grip, was about to drop into the beast's lair by her own volition.
At this stage, there was only one move left—a desperate gamble.
"..."
Slip.
He had finally given up. Feeling the tension leave Junon's grip, Senia braced herself as her body plummeted downward. This is enough, she thought, channeling mana into her legs as she skidded down the steep incline to face Shanberesh on her own feet. Landing far below the surface on the churned earth of the pit, she drew her sword.
And yet.
Skrrrrt!
Another sharp friction sound tore through the air right beside her. Hearing the exact same scraping noise echo down the slope a second time could only mean one thing. Junon, whom she assumed had released her and accepted her choice, had dropped down right alongside her.
"Why... why did you come down here...?"
"You don't stand a chance alone."
"Don't look down on me! I may look like this, but I'm still—!"
Senia's retort died in her throat. Without even knowing the true extent of Junon's strength, she had no right to spout empty bravado.
Meanwhile, Junon methodically laid out his reasoning.
"Say you buy time and I escape with just the kids. Can the Sirens make it out on their own?"
"That's my problem to solve! It has nothing to do with you in the first place!"
"It has plenty to do with me. Deeply, in fact."
"Ha! What a load of crap."
A transparent lie. As a Calyx, she knew better than anyone that he had zero ties or obligations to the Sirens. Senia felt as though her chest would burst with frustration, wondering why he had thrown himself into a hopeless pit with virtually no chance of survival. But even in this dire moment, Junon showed no hint of sentimentality, focused entirely on producing results.
"Since you look so displeased, let me make it plain. Without you, we can't kill Shanberesh. Does that make sense to you now?"
The unexpected declaration made Senia's shoulders flinch. Needing her to take down Shanberesh—what did that even mean? He spoke with absolute conviction, as if defeating that colossal horror was genuinely within their grasp.
"Mana Eye. Only that power of yours can pierce Shanberesh's weakness."
"Weak...ness?"
Could such a thing even exist on that massive behemoth? Senia immediately swept her gaze across Shanberesh's towering body, but nothing stood out. The flow of mana, movement vectors, the nexus of energy discharge—in combat, those points should have shone clearly, yet she couldn't detect a single one.
"Hey! No matter how I look, there's nothing like that! It's not too late. If we climb back up right now..."
Once again, Junon cut her off with unwavering certainty.
"The offspring possess nothing but mana circuits and flesh to circulate mana-infused blood. Then what do you think the mother has?"
"That's..."
When asked whether the chicken or the egg came first, most concluded the riddle was flawed. But once a chicken already existed, the egg was undeniably what it produced and nurtured. Exactly that. The broodmother had to possess the biological tissue required to spawn offspring.
"I assume you've caught on. If we sever that, no more Devourers will be born. Since they aren't targeting you anyway, we take the shot."
"...Really?"
"What do you mean, really? We don't have any other choice. I'll handle the taunts and parrying. The reproductive core—the mana circuit—you cut it down yourself."
Senia stepped back a pace, making sure not to hinder Junon as he moved to carve an opening through Shanberesh's onslaught. Junon's voice resonated with cold command. Even trapped in a pit where just the two of them had to confront a Named demonic beast, his expression remained resolute, and his back looked sturdier than ever. It was as if he was telling her that giving up now was entirely premature.
Boom!
"Three paces to the right! The mana surrounding it is multi-layered, so peel it away coat by coat."
He even accounted for the difference in their stride lengths. She had no idea how he could foresee the battlefield so precisely, but if a single sliver of hope existed here, betting it all on Junon felt right. Clenching her blade with renewed grip, she steeled her resolve.
"Prepare to parry! Clash against it with me and deflect it together!"
How much time had passed? In this forest, within the massive crater excavated by Shanberesh, the two had fought with every ounce of their strength, but exhaustion was an inevitability. Ever since Senia had plunged into the depths, the swarms of Devourers above had dwindled drastically.
Cain knew he had to find the two people shouldering this entire catastrophe—Junon and Senia.
"Over here! The crater the beast carved is right here!"
"Damn it, did it start digging all the way from here? Persistent bastard."
Yet, looking down into the fissure, Cain froze.
"What... what is this?"
"What, is this your first time seeing it?"
The Sirens spoke as if this were routine. Some even grumbled in sheer exhaustion, having witnessed it repeatedly. It was an eerie sight—watching them navigate this gigantic, earthen crevasse as if it were ordinary terrain.
"Well, I suppose you wouldn't know. Shanberesh's true nature was never properly disclosed to humans."
Cain heard the name clearly with his own two ears. Shanberesh... Why was that name being spoken here? The beast slain by Team Tembris couldn't possibly be alive in this place.
"A few months ago, the mother underwent Generational Succession. That's why we migrated all the way south from Bebre Lake. That monster was so voracious it tried to devour every single living creature in our territory."
"Generational Succession? What does that mean?"
"Even if Devourers detonate themselves on instinct, they still need a mother to be born. That's why the succession occurs. The mother's power is bestowed upon a single individual, carrying on the generation."
"That can't be..."
If so, was the mastermind behind this earthquake, the terror leading this surprise invasion of Devourers, a newly born Shanberesh?
"We've witnessed the succession ever since we named it Shanberesh and petitioned the Principality for aid, but this one is on an unprecedented scale. It's grown continuously, and by now it's easily the size of an entire rocky mountain."
Factoring in the magnitude of the tremors, its diameter had to easily rival an entire peak. And confronting a mountain-sized Named demonic beast... were just two people?
"Damn it!"
"Hey! You can't just run off alone like that!"
There was no time. No matter how extraordinary Senia's Mana Eye was, or how commanding Junon's true strength proved on a battlefield, it was impossible. Even fighting at their absolute limits, defeat was guaranteed.
Thud! Thud!
It's close...! Almost there!
Piles of dead Devourers and dying husks littered the path. After sprinting through the subterranean gloom for several minutes, Cain broke through the shadows and stepped into the illuminated cavern.
There, he was met with the sight of a man whose dark hair dripped with crimson fluid, streaks of blood streaming down his face.
"...You made it, Cain?"
"Hyung-nim...!"
"Pant, pant..."
Senia was in no better shape. Judging by the slight limp in her left leg, she was barely staying upright. The Sirens would arrive shortly. To buy that crucial time, Cain had to shoulder whatever burden the two had carried so far.
"I'll back you up!"
There was no need for idle words. Right now, the power most suited to stalling for time was Junon's. Following his orders and holding the line his way would be enough. And yet...
"What...? What's going on...?"
His inherent magic failed to manifest.
"...Forget it. You and Senia pull back for a moment."
"Junon...?"
"Hyung-nim?"
Having a third fighter join their struggle should have lightened the load, so ordering them to retreat felt bizarre. But if it was Junon, he had to have a plan. Junon always saw several moves ahead, so following his lead was the right choice. In the meantime, Cain could compose his mana and diagnose why his power had refused to activate.
Just a brief moment. They would step back for only an instant.
However...
CRASH!
"Hy-Hyung-nim!!"
"What...? Ju-Junon... What are you doing?! Stop this right now—!"
There was no time to figure anything out. The space connecting the outer tunnel to the cavern's inner threshold was rapidly closing. The bedrock, destabilized by the Magic Armament erupting from Junon's hands, collapsed in a devastating landslide.
"You're in the way, you brats..."
"You crazy bastard!"
"This isn't right...! You can't do something this insane...!"
"Shut up and get lost! You're only holding me back!!"
It defied reason. Was this his idea of a tactical decision? Collapsing the entrance to seal off his only reliable allies, choosing to face Shanberesh all by himself in the depths of that pit?
Even more desperate than Cain, Senia lunged forward frantically.
"Let go, Cain... Let me go!"
"There's no way we can squeeze through that gap now!"
"That's right, Cain. Take Senia and get all the way out. Did you hear me?"
"No... this is a joke, right? There's... you have a way to escape from there too, don't you...?"
"Hyung-nim!!!"
The moment the wall collapsed, it became painfully obvious that they could no longer fight alongside Junon. In an instant, the two of them had been forcibly saved by him. The entrance was sealed shut, plunging Senia and Cain's vision back into suffocating darkness.
"Damn it... Damn it! It won't budge...!"
"You crazy bastard... If you were alone, you could have abandoned me and survived! Why... why are YOU the one taking that burden upon yourself?!"
She had been completely fooled. Blinded by her own foolishness, she had forgotten that that infuriatingly kind fool's nature had never changed.