Flight (1)
Flight (1)
"Junior, are you seriously insane?"
- Urk...
Seo-yul found out about my consciousness going AWOL.
The enraged Seo-yul tattled on my escape to Lee Ji-yeon, and now a furious Lee Ji-yeon had my cheeks in her grip.
"So you went off and got chummy with that insane Tower Master? Alone? By yourself? Really?"
- No... it wasn't my body, just my spirit that went for a bit... there was nothing dangerous about it...
"Don't talk nonsense. Do you think that's an excuse?"
When I didn't resist and just made a pitiful face, Lee Ji-yeon let out a heavy sigh and gently rubbed my cheeks.
"Stop doing reckless things. When the people around you see it... it really... it really... makes my heart shatter into pieces over and over."
- I'm so sorry...
"If you know that, then you should fix it, but..."
Having said that much, Lee Ji-yeon glanced forward.
Booms and roars reverberated through the air.
Undead clashed against other undead, and I could see swaths of undead being pulverized by the spirits' attacks.
"...Though telling you to be careful on a battlefield like this is a bit ridiculous."
After that spat with the Tower Master of the Dead that soured both our moods, it didn't take long for the full force to assemble.
The Pure Life Unit and the Dark Evil Unit. The Pure Life Pillar and the Dark Evil Commander who lead them. And the acting family head, Lee Ji-yeon.
Most of the Taesan elite that could be scraped together at a moment's notice were here.
The rear had been left to Taesan's troops. With no reason to delay any longer, we formed up and immediately began our advance south.
The further south we went, the more desiccated the land became.
Grass that had withered sickly drooped limp, and once-lush mountains were hollowed out with only gnarled, dried-up trees left standing.
A scene that was hard to reconcile with the Taesan territory, said to be overflowing with vitality.
'It's not advantageous to let that bastard churn out undead at his leisure.'
The Tower Master might be burdened by constraints and suppression right now, but the Authority of the Dead cannot be ignored.
The right move is to give him no time in this world to muster and organize his army, and to strike the Tower Master of the Dead directly.
A feat that would have been difficult originally.
Dealing with the army and the Tower Master simultaneously to finish him off would have been too much for us.
But the situation changed with the spirits' mass ascension.
We are not a force that will be pushed back in an army clash.
If it's a half-baked army, we can overwhelm them instead.
In other words, I can focus entirely on the Tower Master of the Dead.
I break through the army and kill the Tower Master of the Dead.
"...Hoo."
Lee Ji-yeon, who had been stroking my cheek, swallowed a sigh.
Her complexion was a swirl of complexity and tension, a cold sweat beading on it.
- Lee Ji-yeon.
"I'm a bit nervous. I guess I scolded you a little harshly because of that... yeah."
She shrugged with a quiet laugh. But the hand clenching into a fist trembled faintly.
Since it's a battlefield, tension is natural.
But I could tell the anxiety Lee Ji-yeon felt was rooted in a different place.
The current head of the Taesan family, Lee Ji-ah.
As of the last report, she was staying at the Death Vein, the point where this crisis is believed to have started.
'The Tower of the Dead is probably there too.'
From the perspective of her child, she must be worried about whether Lee Ji-ah got caught up in this mess.
Or perhaps she's thinking of the anxiety in an entirely different direction.
I can't completely read Lee Ji-yeon's heart.
But I could see that behind her facade of nonchalance, she was hiding a mountain of unease and worry.
- Lee Ji-yeon.
"Yes, Junior."
- Don't worry.
"Huh?"
Lee Ji-yeon blinked. I puffed out my chest, put on my most obnoxiously confident expression, and thumped my chest.
- You know my abilities. Now, there are more things I can do than things I can't. So you can rest assured.
Her light-green eyes blinked dazedly. Then the corners of Lee Ji-yeon's mouth twitched before slowly curling upwards.
"...Pfft, are you trying to comfort me?"
- I'm not comforting you, I'm telling you to trust me...
"That's basically the same thing."
Letting out a laugh, Lee Ji-yeon looked at me like I was something cute.
It felt like a rather condescending gaze.
Still, since Lee Ji-yeon's expression seemed significantly brighter, I decided to be satisfied and let it go.
"Dad."
- Yeah.
A voice came from beside me. A sulky gaze, just like mine, peered out through the eye slits of her helmet, but she soon continued with a serious expression.
"We're about to arrive at the objective."
- Yeah, I checked.
I nodded and checked Seo-yul's condition one last time.
I'd already confirmed her physical state. And the armor she wore over it, the weapons she held. The state of the magic layered on her.
Everything's fine. Even a direct hit from a 3rd-Rank monster's attack could be guaranteed safe.
'And on top of that, Terramor and Aerus are here too.'
Terramor had grown even stronger after receiving my blessing. Along with Aerus, whom Terramor brought, and my special undead, as long as they remained by her side, they should be able to protect Seo-yul with ease against anything short of the Tower Master of the Dead.
'Then, what matters now is finishing off the Tower Master of the Dead.'
Right now, I'm not in perfect condition, to put it nicely.
My spirit body hasn't been stabilized, and my physical body is detached. It's hard to use All-Rounder, the innate talent of my physical species.
'I can do it.'
Defeat isn't in the equation.
What matters is how I win. Reducing losses in the process of victory, and how much I can protect—that's what's important.
'I'll get it done.'
In that process, I'll inevitably have to shed things belonging to me.
To protect others, I have no choice but to offer myself up first.
...As Lee Ji-yeon said, it might utterly shatter the hearts of those around me, but this was one thing I didn't want to compromise on.
Fortifying my resolve and preparations, I calmly advanced the frontline.
- ...Kuuuung!
It was at that moment.
The detection ability mimicking Observation picked up a harbinger.
The perceived vantage point shifted.
A place still some distance away. The southernmost tip of the Taesan territory. An island slightly separated from the mainland.
I don't know what it looked like in the past, but now, a black tower had erupted, its base scraping the entire dead island.
A snake coiled around that tower spread its wings wide and reared its head.
Its head was aimed this way. Although the distance was considerable, I realized it was aiming precisely at me.
- Kwarururu...!
A vast amount of mana condensed within the maw of the Tower Master of the Dead.
It was to the point that even those with dull Qi Sense at this distance would reflexively freeze up.
Soon, hundreds of ghastly tongues vibrated.
『Burst open』
A single strand of tongue manifested a Word Command. Other tongues simultaneously released their own Word Commands.
『Shatter』 『Explode』 『Tear apart』 『Pulverize』 『Crush down』 『Suppress』 『Mash to pieces』...
Hundreds of Word Commands were poured over the mana brimming within its maw, manifesting a phenomenon.
The snake stretched its mouth wide, as if to tear it. The flickering phenomenon inside flared.
- ───!!!
A formless wave swept across the sky and poured down.
* * *
Within the slightly stuttering hologram.
A young Lee Ha-yul sniffled, a single tear hanging from the corner of his eye.
- Alright...? See, I'm perfectly fine... so I'll come back now─
- Szzkt
There had been no prior sign.
The ongoing transmission suddenly cut off.
The voice and sniffling that had been continuing from beyond the footage ceased, and so did the sound of his breathing.
"......"
In the midst of the cold silence that settled, stiff text appeared starkly in the spot where Lee Ha-yul had been shown.
[Connection Terminated]
Meaning the other party had entered a place unable to connect to the Tower of Harmonization. A space isolated for some other reason.
It's not a strange occurrence.
The problem was that a call that had been perfectly fine until just ten seconds ago had abruptly cut off...
"...No..."
Atra's eyes trembled violently.
The situation felt somewhat familiar. It was something that should not be familiar, yet it was very much like a past experience she'd had.
That can't be.
The signal will be restored soon.
Shaking her head to dispel the anxiety, Atra widened her wavering eyes.
Then, at the bottom of the hologram, a string of red holographic text surfaced.
[(Urgent) The Observation Tower states: Large-scale spatial isolation confirmed in the Taesan territory. Cause unknown─]
"Ah."
Someone let out a low, soft exclamation.
Baek A-rin, who had been holding her breath and tearing at the blanket, fainted. The reason of Atra and the others snapped like a cut string.
.
.
.
A superhuman who loses their reason is like a lit bomb.
Cases in which high-level superhumans have flipped their eyes and gone on a rampage are commonly found in history books.
"Shit, when does this thing open."
Fortunately, Hong Yeon-hwa did not flip her eyes and rampage.
Considering that she is a Calamity Flame Manifestor, it was close to a miracle.
But the lit fuse on the bomb had not gone out.
Hwareureuk! A viscous Calamity Flame flickered over her shoulder. With her eyes bloodshot, Hong Yeon-hwa reached out her hand.
Between the massive roots of the Fairy Tree, her hand was blocked, unable to cross the blue vortex.
It was clearly shaped like a Gate. Yet she couldn't cross it.
Flames sparked within Hong Yeon-hwa's mana gleam.
"This fuckin..."
"The spatial isolation seems to be quite powerful. Probably because it was opened with the Fairy Tree as a medium, it looks like only the related fairies and spirits can leap through."
Liana spoke in a tone feigning composure.
Clenching her teeth, Hong Yeon-hwa looked around.
Atra, appealing to her trauma and on the verge of losing her eyes to rage.
Daera, calming Atra down while herself unable to control the Heavenly Thunder leaking out uncontrollably.
Liana, who was inspecting the Fairy Tree with a remarkably calm demeanor, but whose contracted spirits were crumpled up and watching her every move.
Lee Ha-sol, clutching Lee Ha-yul's... body to her chest and chewing her lips ragged.
Ellia, whose complexion had started to improve before blanching white once more.
These were the people who, on their way to the Taesan territory, had instead gathered around the Gate that erupted from the Fairy Tree.
The problem was that most of them couldn't cross the Gate.
At most, only the spirits contracted with Lee Ha-yul—and Lee Seo-yul, who appeared like a ghost and leaped right through the Gate—could cross.
'I should have stopped Seo-yul...'
It was too sudden, so I couldn't stop her in time.
Who would have thought a kid who had definitely fallen asleep as if unconscious would approach with such a faint presence, then dart into the vortex like lightning...
"...At this rate, I think we'll just have to sprint there directly."
They had waited, hoping the Gate's condition might improve, but saw no sign of progress.
It was a short time to expect any real improvement, but Hong Yeon-hwa could not be expected to muster that much patience right now.
"Let's go right now. We jump through a Seoul gate and run straight there; it'll be quick."
"Arriving at the guest reception point of the Taesan territory would be quick, but the problem is the forced entry."
"We break it."
Hong Yeon-hwa replied shortly to Liana's words.
A spatial isolation that wrapped around most of the Taesan territory. A barrier of that scale would be unimaginably robust—probably impossible to break through conventional means.
The question 'Then how?' naturally rose, but nobody here asked it.
"Let's go."
Atra clenched her trembling fist.
The golden Winged Garment wrapped around her hand like a bandage, and the White Night leaking from between her fingers scattered into the void.
"Then what about Ha-yul?"
"...For now, I think someone needs to stay behind and guard him..."
It might be Siyoram, but we couldn't just leave him alone.
As they each hurriedly gathered their armaments and supplies, they were exchanging glances about who would guard Lee Ha-yul.
- Scree...
Everyone's gazes turned simultaneously in one direction.
The direction of the mansion's main gate. The mansion stood between them and it, and there was some distance, but no one missed the sound of the gate opening.
- Thud... Thud... Thud...
Mechanically heavy footsteps approached. It wasn't human. Wariness settled in their eyes.
Soon, footsteps that had rounded the mansion drew near.
Daera, who had been about to hurl the Heavenly Thunder gathered in her hand, tilted her head.
"Golem?"
A golem with a gray texture. Its stature was roughly similar to a human's.
It was somehow familiar. Daera soon realized the source of the familiarity.
A golem that Lee Ha-yul deployed and used.
The size was completely different from the house-sized golem, but the fundamental pattern was similar.
The golem stopped a short distance from them and then bowed its head in greeting.
[Reconnaissance Golem under the command of the Floating Island. Abigail offers her greetings.]
"Floating Island?"
Ellia, who had fallen back with Liana to gather mana, blinked her eyes.
"If it's the Floating Island... that's where Ha-yul went to learn magic last time..."
"The place where the Tower of Knowledge is said to be."
[That is correct.]
"So, what business do you have here?"
Given the urgency of the situation, she cut straight to the point.
At Atra's words, the golem straightened its back and nodded.
[Currently, the Floating Island is preparing for departure and an assault. If you are so inclined, we have come to offer our assistance.]