#56 Frost Valley
#56 Frost Valley
"......!"
The world Fairy Dragon led them into was saturated with mana so dense it nearly stole their breath. Oppressive at first, yes — but for mages, mana-rich air was the ideal environment. Hong Yuri adjusted in moments, the corner of her mouth lifting.
"...So this is..."
This had to be the Illusion Realm. Just as she was tasting the heavy mana on her tongue, a tug at her awareness pulled her eyes open.
"What..."
She followed the pull with her gaze, and what gleamed in her crimson eyes was a view she wouldn't forget in a lifetime. The blue-tinged mana that was visible to the naked eye. The emerald sea floating in place of a sky. The countless phantom beasts embroidered beneath it all. Even Hong Yuri, who prided herself on being unshaken by most things, could only stare, dazed by the sheer beauty of it.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Baek So-yul was beaming, full of pride, looking less like her usual composed self and more like the girl her age she actually was. Hong Yuri let out a dry laugh.
"Why are you showing it off?"
"Well..."
She couldn't exactly say she'd seen it in a dream, so Baek So-yul only smiled and fudged it. Beyond them, in that impossible dreamscape, fairies came darting nearer, voices chattering.
"Te eka moti pari chhe?"
"Nā! Ā mānav chhe!"
"Vāh~! Tame mānav chho?!"
The words meant nothing to them, but the cadence held just enough pattern to recognize it as a language. It was what followed that tore a gasp from Hong Yuri.
"This is..."
Fairy Dragons — creatures you could go a lifetime without seeing a single one of — and they were flocking here by the dozen, by the hundreds. The two of them found themselves surrounded in an instant, dragons and fairies, flustered and turning in every direction. Then Perry rose skyward, and a wave of dragons rose behind her, and they could only watch, mesmerized.
"—This is the Illusion Realm."
Wolf spoke the words as if to confirm it. Hong Yuri swallowed. The cityscape looked as though one from the real world had been lifted here wholesale. No wonder Alpha had called it a mirror world.
"There's a dungeon here? Really? In a place like this?"
"Yes. That is why Baek So-yul was needed."
"......Will I really be able to help?"
At the uncertain voice, Wolf nodded.
"You will. As I said, the mana inside the dungeon is far denser than even this. First, adapt to the mana of the Illusion Realm. I will tell you the rest as we walk."
"Denser than here?"
At her incredulous tone, a wry memory surfaced — of his own first time entering a dungeon in the Illusion Realm. He'd nearly been crushed flat by the pressure. Not that he expected Hong Yuri or Baek So-yul to go through the same.
"Yes. Much denser."
Perry, who had already finished her flight and returned, nodded as if to confirm. And then, as though sensing his presence, the sound of hooves echoed from a distance. The two humans, who had imagined there was nothing left that could surprise them, let out an involuntary exclamation at the sight of the great White Deer approaching.
The White Deer came to a stop and seemed to cast a glance around before speaking in a voice full of dignity.
"Shu tame je lāvyā chhe te chhe?"
"Barobar."
—They couldn't follow a word. That was only natural. Yet Wolf was carrying on the conversation with perfect calm.
"Ma'am... what is that?"
"No idea. Seems like they're communicating, though."
A rare spectacle: a Black Wolf and a White Deer in conversation. When the White Deer turned its head and leveled its gaze at them, Hong Yuri's brow furrowed. The deer's eyes skimmed over them, sharpened with a curious glint, and it murmured softly.
"Vijārd... mane lāge chhe ke te tenā karatā vadhāre prāṇī jevuṁ chhe."
It was obviously about them. Doing her best not to look at Wolf, Hong Yuri spoke.
"I have no idea what you're saying right now — can you make it so I understand? What is that language, anyway?"
"...Fairy Language. They were speaking about you two."
"About us?"
Wolf nodded and explained the White Deer. Those who lived in the Illusion Realm were called spiritual creatures or phantom beasts, he said, and this White Deer, named Baekrok, was an especially intelligent and distinguished one among them. Hong Yuri's head bobbed faintly. If it could speak, it had that much sapience. More than that, the mana she could feel radiating from it was enough to make most monsters think twice — maybe even grazing the bottom of A-Class.
"So what you're saying is it has reason? Like you?"
"More than me."
The words came without the slightest hesitation, and Hong Yuri frowned. That Baekrok possessed superior intelligence was clear enough. If she could, she would've liked to exchange even a few words — but there was no way. Not impossible, of course, if she asked Alpha to relay them...
"Ma'am... are you feeling alright?"
Setting the questions aside, her physical condition was excellent. The Illusion Realm brimmed with mana of intense concentration, and to a mage, that was like a drug. A faint euphoria washed through her. Hong Yuri clenched a fist.
"Not bad. You?"
She was already fighting the urge to use magic. When Hong Yuri asked, Baek So-yul smiled.
"Me too."
It wasn't only the mana. The dragons and fairies were showing her an unusual amount of curiosity. Smiling with real pleasure, Baek So-yul quickened her steps to catch up with Wolf.
Hong Yuri watched the girl's back and exhaled. In the end, as long as they had no way back, they had no choice but to move with Alpha. She had to overcome the fear — just as the Clan Leader had told her.
'How long are you planning to keep flinching?'
She set her jaw and followed at a fast stride. She'd made up her mind: here in the Illusion Realm, she would conquer that phobia for good.
***
'Strange, is it...?'
That had been Baekrok's appraisal of Baek So-yul: that the way she took in mana was nearer to a phantom beast than a human. The thought had kept rattling around in his head on the way to the dungeon.
"In any case, I've never seen that form of yours."
"......."
"Mm. The whelp shape isn't so bad, either."
This was the first time he'd shown Baekrok his puppy-sized form. For better or worse, Hong Yuri was here, so he'd been suppressing his true appearance as much as possible. It'd be unavoidable when they fought the Volcanic Horned Dragon, which meant he'd need to cure Hong Yuri's phobia as quickly as he could before then.
"Did that one just laugh?"
That one — the title made him laugh inwardly as he nodded. His exchange with Baekrok was purely in Fairy Language; it was natural they couldn't understand. Playing interpreter in the middle had been a bit of a chore.
'It'd be simpler to take them to the Queen...'
He shook his head at the nonsense of it. That would be mistaking someone else's goodwill for a right.
'...Is it impossible to teach them Fairy Language?'
He hadn't learned it himself; he'd acquired it as a skill. So it probably wasn't something he could pass on. When he reached the dungeon's entrance, he looked back and let out a humorless laugh. The dragons and Fairy Dragons were still trailing along behind them — to be precise, trotting after Baek So-yul. Surely they wouldn't follow all the way inside the dungeon. Still, wasn't this connected to the way Perry had clung to Baek So-yul, so regretful, the first time she saw her?
"......I'll say this once more. The mana inside this dungeon will be far denser than you imagine. Be cautious. If either of you finds it too much, we will withdraw immediately."
Even Hong Yuri, who looked displeased, nodded. Baekrok was the first to step inside the dungeon. They followed across the boundary, and the world changed.
The bleak city vanished. What emerged was a snowfield under a biting cold, where white breath hung on the air. He cast out his senses and swept the space: it wasn't a particularly threatening dungeon. Comparable to the Dragon's Wasteland, maybe even a shade weaker. A cautious foot emerged at the dungeon's threshold, and then Baek So-yul appeared.
"......!"
He could feel the cold — so how must it be for her? Her jaw was trembling. Back in the Reality Realm it was winter too, so she'd worn thick clothes, but nothing close to enough against this kind of cold. When he summoned Ghost Flame (C), Baek So-yul stretched her hands toward it as if warming herself at a stove, steam escaping in white puffs.
"C-cold."
"Is the mana bearable?"
"Yes... that part's fine."
She truly seemed unaffected. He nodded. More than that, she was absorbing mana like cotton drinking water. Baekrok's earlier remark — that Baek So-yul was nearer to a phantom beast — surfaced again. Just then, another foot planted itself firmly inside the dungeon. Hong Yuri had entered. Her expression crumpled.
"The fuck...?"
The curse flying out of nowhere was entirely in character. Whether it was from the mana density or the cold, he couldn't tell. She gave a full-body shudder, and he checked.
"You alright?"
"——Leave me alone."
It took her a while to get that out. Was the trembling from strain, or just the cold? Watching her for a moment, he saw her body slowly begin to take in and channel the surrounding mana, and he let out a low breath of admiration. The cold, then.
"But this place..."
A snowfield with no end in sight. Perry, rattled by the cold, had wrapped herself around Baekrok like a scarf, since he couldn't reveal his true form.
"Kyuuu~"
The two of them looked better than he'd expected. He was about to move when he noticed, in that brief pause, that Baek So-yul's mana had increased. He clicked his tongue softly.
'As I thought...'
Bringing her to the Illusion Realm had been the right call. If this was how it was going to go, he started to wonder if he should have brought Lee Eun-ha along as well. She had talent too, and she would've benefited from absorbing mana here...
Rubbing her chilled hands together, Baek So-yul came over, opened both arms, and wrapped them around him.
"...I think I'm alright now."
He didn't mind being held. But Baekrok's half-lidded eyes were, for some reason, deeply unnerving.
"Ha. Having a good time, aren't we."
Sneering as though the sight offended her, Hong Yuri strode out in front.
"So what you're saying is we just finish this fast, handle this Volcanic Horned Dragon or whatever, and we're done."
Bold, forceful steps —
"Then this damn dungeon is...!"
—straight into the deep snow. She sank in an instant, collapsing as though the ground had dissolved beneath her, and a moment later a cascade of snow broke loose. When it cleared, a vast valley lay ahead.
"Frost Valley. It wasn't like this before. The snow must have piled up."
"...A little warning next time."
"My apologies. I'd forgotten."
By the time his tentacles snatched Hong Yuri from her fall and pulled her up, she was already limp. ...Contact was still too much for her, then. Exhaling, he looked down at the dungeon they had to clear — the sheer, deep Frost Valley below.