Sunrise
“Today is a special day.”
The final day of the practical training. Allen gazed up at the crimson sky of the Demon Realm from the wooden cabin. “It’s the day of the sunrise, which appears only about six times a year.”
In the Demon Realm, the countless powers of the demons obscured the sky, dyeing the blue heavens red and preventing the sun from showing its face. But on the day of the sunrise, the sun could be seen even here.
‘A perfect day for something to happen.’
A special day. A day when something was likely to erupt. The uneasy feeling I had yesterday hadn’t been for nothing.
“On this day, the demons’ powers are weakened, veiled by the sun. That means you’re capable of navigating the Demon Realm on your own.”
Cain’s absurd statement yesterday had a reason behind it.
“We’ll remain here. Come find us if anything truly dangerous occurs.”
With that, he sat down at the desk where Allen had been. “Haaah.” Vincent approached with a resigned sigh. “Here, take this.” He handed me a small orb. “What is it?” “Break it if you’re in danger. We’ll come right away.”
It seemed to be a device that would send a signal when broken. ‘I hope I never have to use it.’ Using it would mean an enemy too powerful for the three of us to handle had appeared. Since we were only in the outer edges, it probably wouldn’t happen—but the world rarely went as one wished.
Vincent scratched his head in annoyance. “Just do what you’ve been doing these past days and kill demons. Or don’t. The point is that you made it through the Demon Realm on your own.”
“Wasn’t the Demon Realm training without instructors supposed to start next time?” Christina asked.
“You’re right. But Allen and I figured you’d be fine without us. Demons at the outer edges aren’t much of a threat to your level anyway.”
“Understood.” Christina nodded at Vincent’s words. He walked over to the desk where Allen sat. “I’ll leave the decisions to you. Give it your all.”
“Wishing you luck.” As Vincent finished, Allen spoke while sipping his tea.
Click. We glanced at the two of them for a moment before opening the door. A blizzard raged outside.
“Something feels off.” After Adel’s group had left, Vincent, who had been lying on the desk where Allen was drinking tea, muttered.
“What does?” Allen, who had been about to ignore Vincent’s usual nonsense, closed his book and responded.
“I just feel uneasy.” Vincent stood up and looked out the window. “For some reason, I just do.” His gaze was fixed on the path Adel’s group had taken.
“Uneasy, huh.” Allen mulled over Vincent’s words. The reason he was listening instead of dismissing him was because Vincent’s intuition was far more accurate than it seemed. Feeling uneasy in a situation like this meant something was about to happen.
Vincent withdrew his gaze from the window. “What do you think will happen to Adel and the others?”
Though he couldn’t be sure, Vincent trusted his intuition. That meant whatever he was sensing now had a high chance of becoming reality.
“If that’s the case, then they’ve reached that point.”
“······.” At Allen’s cold, almost ruthless words, Vincent asked, “What if they die? It would be our fault. We didn’t have to······”
“They won’t die.” Allen cut off Vincent’s excessive worry with a firm shake of his head. “I’ve already taken measures.”
Allen had apparently placed something like a mana mark on them even before handing out the orbs. ‘As expected.’ Allen was a thorough man. If he made a plan, there wouldn’t be a single loophole. Being that kind of man, there was no need to worry.
“······.” Even so, Vincent couldn’t shake off his concern and silently stared at the small orb in his hand.
The first thing we did upon arriving in the Demon Realm was to raise our auras. Normally, Allen and Vincent would have done it, but without them, we had to do it ourselves. When the three of us raised our auras, the demons grew frightened and didn’t approach. The purpose of an aura was to keep lesser demons at bay.
‘In two months, I’ll be able to walk around the outer edges alone.’ Since we could already walk around as a group of three, consistent training for two months should make it possible.
“The sun really did rise.” I muttered as I looked up at the sky. The crimson sky we had seen until now was gone, replaced by a blue sky and a shining sun. ‘So it’ll disappear again tomorrow.’ Someday, I hoped the sun would rise here every single day.
“Where should we go?” As the de facto leader of our group, I asked.
“······Over there.” Siris pointed with her pale, slender finger toward a dense forest. “You mean that forest?” “······Yeah.” She nodded, lowering her hand. ‘I’ve never been there before.’ We had explored every direction from the cabin at least once, but Allen and Vincent had never entered that forest. ‘Since they didn’t warn us, it should be fine.’ If it were dangerous, they would have told us not to go. Judging by Siris’s expression, she seemed curious about entering it.
“What do you think, Tina?” Since we couldn’t just barge in, I asked Christina for her opinion.
“It should be fine, right? They didn’t warn us.” She seemed to share my thoughts.
“Then let’s go.” We headed toward the forest.
After walking a bit into the forest, I understood why they had never entered. ‘······It’s a maze.’ More precisely, it was a single massive forest that felt like a maze. It reminded me of the Helen family mansion.
“Adel?” Christina’s voice came from a little distance away. Having nearly gotten lost again, I followed the sound and rejoined the group.
“This won’t work.” Christina looked at me for a moment after I reappeared and nodded with determination. “Adel.” She approached, holding out her hand. “Hold my hand.” “······Why?” “You have no sense of direction.” “······I don’t have no sense of direction.” “You do.”
Grab. She took my right hand. “Siris, hold his left hand.” “······.” Without a word, Siris nodded and took my left hand. Now, unless I used mana, I couldn’t escape from the two of them. But I couldn’t accept it. “Why would I have no sense of direction?” I had never heard anyone call me directionally challenged before. I had never gotten lost, either. So why was I being called that now?
“······Adel, you disappeared eight times in thirty minutes.” At my question, the usually quiet Siris answered with difficulty. “······.” Hearing it put that way, I had nothing to say. ‘······I’m not directionally challenged.’ It was truly unfair. Someday, I would prove that I wasn’t.
“Now it’s fine. Hehe.” Seeing me fall silent, Christina smiled happily. “Shall we go?” At her brightened expression, I nodded wordlessly. I wasn’t sulking at all. ‘It’s quieter than I thought.’ The forest was so quiet it felt as if no demons existed within it, and not a single presence could be felt. Thanks to that, we walked while chatting peacefully.
“Adel, why do you keep your hair long?” Christina, who had linked arms with my right hand, asked. This restraint seemed like it would continue until a battle broke out. ‘······It doesn’t matter anyway.’ Accepting the situation, I answered. “I’m used to it being long, and I don’t have time to cut it.” My days consisted of training, eating, and sleeping, so I lacked the spare time to do anything else. Even important meals were often skipped. Though she didn’t say anything, something must have shown on my face, because Christina spoke. “Adel, rest is important too.” “Huh?” “Even if you live while suppressing yourself, you still need moments of rest.” “······You’re right.” “······.” Hearing even Siris chime in, I thought, ‘Am I living too hard?’ I wasn’t sure. I didn’t feel that burdened yet. My body and mind weren’t exhausted. “Yeah.” Still, since I knew that rest was important, I answered positively.
It seemed we had reached the end of the forest, as a large clearing appeared. Halt. While walking and chatting, Siris suddenly stopped. Turning my head in confusion, I saw her expressionless face had turned pale. “What’s wrong?” “······.” Without a word, Siris raised her finger. Christina and I, who had stopped, followed the direction of her hand. “······!” “······!” Unlike before, when we hadn’t felt anything, a distinctly powerful aura could now be sensed. There shouldn’t have been any demons that could approach while we were emitting our auras, yet a demon was visible. A slightly damp, sinister black energy. Demonic energy was slowly seeping out from between the trees.
Step, step. Through the gap in the demonic energy, a jet-black man approached. The moment I met his eyes—black pupils that seemed to absorb light and emanated no presence at all—my breath caught in my throat. “······.” He was merely meeting my gaze, yet it felt as if my very existence was being threatened. The growing pressure of his demonic energy crushed down on my entire body. Step. He paid no attention to my reaction and simply walked, as if he had a purpose. “······.” The continuous shock made me feel like I might lose consciousness. Whoosh. To resist somehow, I raised my flames. “Oho······.” Upon seeing my flames, interest sparked in the man’s previously empty black eyes. “I see. So that’s it.” He muttered something incomprehensible. “You’re the one who possesses the flames of Ifrit.”