Sleeping Flame (1)
The illusion covering the barrier melted away with a soft shhhrrrk, revealing an entrance.
“Aha♡! I knew it, Senior’s the best!”
“Heh, fuck. This much is a piece of cake.”
I hid my stinging fist and acted tough. I could’ve just used my spear, but I deliberately punched it. My fist could crack a little; Dana would fix it later. But if the spear broke again, that would be a real pain.
Franc naturally noticed the hand I was hiding and reached out to touch it. God, how embarrassing. After confirming her husband’s hand was fine, she turned to Veronica.
“What kind of barrier is it?”
“Sad news for our pained master, but it’s a multi-layered barrier. There’s another one inside besides the illusion barrier. Even the illusion one was only partially destroyed.”
“Partial is fine. We’ve got an entrance now. What kind is it?”
“Let me take a look.”
Veronica, having roughly analyzed it, reached toward the entrance. Her hand passed through as if the barrier didn’t exist. But unlike the illusion barrier, this one had no concealment effect. We could clearly feel the mana reacting to her movement.
Veronica licked her finger.
“It’s a barrier with entry conditions set. Only those who qualify may pass.”
“Ah, that again. I’ve seen it a few times.”
“It’s basic barrier magic. The heavier the restrictions on entry, the stronger the barrier becomes.”
Maybe it was like a common build for barrier specialists. More than that, I was curious what exactly this “qualification” meant.
“There aren’t any monsters, so splitting the party shouldn’t be too dangerous.”
I said that while pressing a hand to my own neck. The rest of the party agreed. If it was just the heat, Veronica could infuse the orichalcum pillar with water mana before leaving, or we could set up an ice pillar nearby. Problem solved.
“Let’s check one by one. I’ll go first.”
I reached out to the barrier. My hand passed through as if nothing was there, but the others couldn’t move forward at all. It was like they were blocked by a solid wall.
“Ughhhhhh.”
Larilura pushed against the empty air like a master of pantomime, but it didn’t budge. Dana knocked on the barrier and clicked her tongue.
“This is annoying. Since our idiot husband can’t touch it, there’s no way to break it.”
“Veronica. What about your magic?”
“It would take too long. A waste of mana. Plus, it has an automatic restoration function every twenty-four hours.”
Franc thought for a moment, then looked at me as if asking for my opinion. I pointed to the largest tree near the cliff. Its leafy shade looked quite wide.
“You all rest over there. Veronica, you have a plan for the heat, right?”
“We need the orichalcum pillar for exploration. I’ll set up several ice pillars and leave them.”
With those words, Veronica cast her spell at the spot I indicated.
Crack!Clang!
The ice pillars created with an application of the Hagalaz rune were majestic. It took some time to make them, but after Dana went inside, she whistled.
“With this, we won’t die from the heat. Still, husband, come back before all this melts, okay?”
“Any words of comfort for your husband who’s heading to an even hotter place?”
“……If you come back, I’ll give you an ice kiss?”
“That works for me.”
I grinned. The sunlight was brutal, so continuing the conversation was getting difficult. I strapped on my spear, organized the luggage with Veronica, and we stepped through the barrier.
Fwoosh.
It was so hot it felt like you could actually hear that sound. If I couldn’t use cold magic, I might have died of dehydration. It reminded me of a steam room or a summer military march. PTSD ON.
“Fuck, was the ‘dormant volcano’ thing for real? Isn’t this just an active volcano with an illusion cast on it?”
“No. If it were an active volcano, the mana repulsion wave wouldn’t only stretch southward.”
Whoosh.
The orichalcum pillar began to float above Veronica’s hand. She must have cast some spell.
“It seems Burning Branches are growing beneath the ground. Shall we look for a path downward?”
“No choice. Let’s do it.”
After moving for a few minutes, the cave entrance disappeared from view. I recalled the barrier blocking the entrance and drank some water.
“The condition for the entrance barrier… it’s probably the mana of the old gods, right?”
“Most likely. Among our common traits, that’s the only thing the barrier would select for.”
“Yeah. You should drink some water too. Finish the whole thing. I’ll refill it with magic.”
“Thank you.”
Watching Veronica drink, I continued thinking. A space that only those with the old gods’ barrier could enter… this was probably the intention of the prophet who designed this Garden Island. They wanted to carefully select who could take the materials?
I heard even leaving this island requires the Bicorn clan’s permission.
Thinking about the triple-layered defenses, it felt like there might be something worthwhile to gain. That premonition became reality the moment we stepped into an open area.
“Oh?”
The heat vanished like it had been washed away the instant we arrived at an incredibly vast cavern. Veronica and I met eyes and exchanged smiles, sensing we were on the right path.
There were only two entrances in the cavern. The one we came through, and another on my left. Veronica, wanting to cool down more, leaned against the orichalcum pillar and spoke.
“This seems to be a dead end as well… but perhaps it’s another barrier?”
“……Dead end? There’s an entrance right there.”
“……What?”
Veronica looked where I pointed and her eyes widened. Oh, sky god have mercy. Don’t tell me…
“……I can’t see it.”
“Fuck. For real?”
This time, it seemed Veronica didn’t meet the conditions. Exploring alone was still too risky.
“……Let’s rest for a bit and think. I’m dying from all this sweat.”
“Let’s do that. I’m quite exhausted too.”
Veronica once again slipped a handkerchief into her cleavage to wipe away sweat. I gratefully cooled myself with frozen hands in the cool space, then approached the area visible only to my eyes.
“Whoa, fuck.”
I was startled because there was a rock formation that looked like a crouched human statue. It was too crude to call a statue. Maybe it was just a natural rock that resembled a person.
Veronica, who had been sitting and resting, spoke up.
“It’s either an oddly shaped rock or the remains of a statue someone made long ago. I don’t sense any mana.”
“Just in case.”
I poked it with my spear and tried sensing mana, but it really was just an ordinary rock. When I scraped it with the spear, the broken fragments were so soft I could crush them with my fingers.
“Nothing special.”
I casually tossed the stone fragments aside. The problem was this barrier. There didn’t seem to be any dangerous creatures inside, but I needed to be able to identify whether there were Burning Branches or whatever if I went in alone.
After thinking for a moment, I pretended to kick the empty space with my toes.
Thump. Thump.
There was a solid texture against my toes. My eyes sparkled.
“Whoa? Huh? Hey, Veronica! This one can be touched!”
“Hoh. So it was an illusion barrier? That’s fortunate.”
“Hehe. You can say that again.”
I got scared for nothing. I held my spear shaft like a baseball bat and applied full buffs. One hit and this thing should shatter. Dana wasn’t here, so my wrist might sting, but I’d just swing with the shaft. Thinking that, I struck the barrier while hoping the spear would stay intact.
CRASH!!!!
“Gyyyyaaaaaack……”
The sensation was like slamming a steel hammer into concrete! My palm went numb from the unexpectedly strong barrier.
“It seems quite sturdy.”
“Fuck, no. I can do this.”
If I didn’t save face here, the name of the ultimate macho man would cry. I adjusted my stance more carefully and got serious.
I was about to unleash the strongest physical attack I could manage in full buff state.
“Cloudy cloudy── Three Sword Strike!!!”
It was the rapid-fire version of the cloudy technique that became possible after learning the silent-cast Summon Cloud.
A rocket-like thrust from the fully empowered Gebo technique punched a hole through the barrier.
“──Roundhouse Kick.”
I followed up with a spinning kick to widen the hole.
Craaaash!!
The transparent barrier shattered like sugar glass! To Veronica, it must have looked like a thick rock wall breaking with the sound of glass.
I released my buffs and let out a sigh.
“Whew, damn. Just because there are no monsters doesn’t mean it’s easy.”
“You worked hard.”
“Yeah. Want to rest a little more?”
“I don’t mind. I’ve wiped all my sweat.”
“Then let’s finish this quickly.”
Once we were done, I’d go swimming in the sea again before leaving the island. I caught my breath and drank a mana potion. Veronica even carried my luggage and entered the passage first.
That was when it happened.
Chills!!
A spine-tingling premonition. The eerie sensation, like electricity running from my waist up my spine, made me move before I could think.
“──Hyaat?!”
I threw the half-drunk potion bottle and shoved Veronica as she headed into the passage, nearly knocking her over.
Thud!Crash!
As we tumbled into the passage, the potion bottle hit the floor and shattered. Veronica, pinned beneath me, panicked.
“W-wait?! Master── Ah, no, you! I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought this might happen, but at least let me wipe my sweat first──”
“──Shh.”
I covered Veronica’s mouth. Feeling fresh cold sweat run down my neck, which had just been dried, I looked back at the cavern we had been in. Veronica’s face hardened as she realized my sudden action had meaning. I silently stood up with her and watched the cavern warily.
There was── no change.
“……Whew.”
After several minutes with nothing happening, I lowered the tip of my spear. Was it just my imagination?
“Ahem. What was the problem? You startled me.”
Veronica also withdrew the mana she had raised. Her face was a little red. I scratched my neck awkwardly.
“Well… I might have seen it wrong……”
“But there was something?”
When I tried to gloss over it, Veronica pressed me. I wondered if I really had to say it, but decided it didn’t matter and opened my mouth.
“That thing… the statue’s eyes moved.”
“……Its eyes?”
“Yeah. I only caught it out of the corner of my eye, but it looked like the statue rolled its eyes and stared at your back. It gave me a bad feeling, so I jumped in. Sorry.”
It really felt like a chill down to my bones, so I moved without thinking. Fuck, I just feel bad about the broken mana potion. Maybe my skin got extra sensitive after going from a hot place to a cool one.
Tap. Tap.
I touched the orichalcum pillar.
“It must have been my imagination. If there was a monster or a golem, this thing would have reacted, right?”
“There’s a slight misunderstanding. Right now this pillar only detects water and fire mana. It could identify creatures with those attributes, but anything else would be difficult.”
“……Uh, what happens if it does detect something?”
“It either resonates or repels the attribute. As you saw yesterday, the mana wave emitted from the pillar becomes distorted.”
“………………Like this?”
I pointed at the pillar. Veronica turned her head too. The pillar’s mana wave was distorted to an abnormal degree.
“……You. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“……Too bad. I was hoping it was just me.”
We stared at the space we had just been in, side by side.
Thud.
A three-fingered hand gripped the cavern wall as a giant peered in.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
Stalactites fell from its skin like decades of accumulated filth. The moment we saw the revealed face, our hands and feet stiffened with terror and our breath caught. My mind went completely blank for the first time in my life, unable to form a single thought in front of an enemy.
It was a culture shock I hadn’t felt even when I was on the verge of getting absolutely destroyed by Yerna.
“GGggqeee───!!!”
The bizarrely shaped giant, easily five meters tall, let out a monstrous roar and charged into the passage where we were.
I gasped and leaped backward.
“Fuuuuuuuck!! It’s a face-disaster giant!!!”
“The expression is the worst, but the description is accurate!!!!”
Veronica and I ran without looking back. Fight it? Yeah, sure. Fighting’s good. I don’t know how strong it is, but I was ready to just beat it to death and be done.
But fuuuuuuck!! It’s too goddamn ugly!!!!!
I couldn’t possibly face it head-on! The giant’s face, revealed after its rocky acne fell off, was that hideous! A horrifying appearance as if a human face had been violently reassembled! Just looking at it felt more physiologically repulsive than staring at the cross-section of a dismembered cockroach!!
Veronica screamed with a tearful face.
“When ugliness reaches its extreme, it becomes a kind of charisma!! Master!! I don’t think I’ll be able to eat meat for a while!! This is the first time flesh has ever looked this repulsive!!!”
“GNnnnnnnnnnxcs!! Guiiiiiiqqqk!!!”
“Who cares about a while, just run for your life!!! That bastard’s pissed off!!!!!”
CRAAAAAASH!!!!
You said there were no monsters!! You said there were no animals!! For the first time, I felt like I could get angry at Franc. Goddamn it, how long has it been since I last screamed and ran like this?
“Master!! I have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news!!”
At that moment, Veronica, who was running ahead of me, shouted. I was about to tell her not to waste stamina on chatter when my face brightened.
“Good news first!!”
“I can see the exit!!!”
“Bad news!!”
“It’s a dead end!!!”
“Fuck!!! I knew it!!!”
The moment I burst out of the passage, I slammed on the brakes. The giant chasing us from only two or three meters away didn’t slow down at all and attempted a body slam.
I know. Being ugly isn’t a crime.
“But damn it, there’s a limit to that too!!!”
Its vertically split face made it seem less like a giant and more like a colossal alien creature. Holy shit! The strongest beauty in the universe! Wait, is it male? It’s got a dick, so yeah, it’s male!!
Shwaaaaaah─!!
I shook off the physiological fear and disgust and activated full buff. The giant maintained its charge and threw a front kick.
──Can I block it?
“──I just have to!!”
I dodged the kick and poured all my strength into my spear, unleashing a technique. The giant’s kick and my thrust collided.
The two forces met in a violent clash.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
Both I and the giant were sent flying in the direction of the impact, like bowling pins that had collided.