Chapter 120
Chapter 120
The Beginning of Salvation - 2
****
Noon the next day.
The sun rose to its zenith, and the shade of the canyon grew.
A quiet canyon, without the usual chirping of birds, the cry of insects, or even the common sound of the wind.
The desolate silence was quite good for concentrating on the final battle, but there was no more time to delay.
We had rested for a day, replenished our calories, and eased our fatigue.
Before departure, Ercia was offering a prayer to someone, and Hye-seo was calmly preparing for the expedition.
‘….’
Renia and Na-yeon had been whispering something to each other since yesterday, and for some reason, I got the feeling that Renia was teaching(?) Na-yeon.
Because whenever Renia said something, Na-yeon would nod her head repeatedly.
I wondered what they were talking about, and when I tried to eavesdrop, the owner of a sharp sense, Park Na-yeon, would clear her throat and wrap up the conversation.
Have they become much closer?
Well, they are the two people in the group who could be called close(?), so maybe their story bag burst ahead of the final battle.
“Hey, Renia?”
First, I called Renia quietly.
Before entering Gaikan, there was something I wanted to ask.
It was a difficult topic to bring up, but there was no more time to delay.
“Yeah?”
Renia answered the call while organizing her luggage.
Renia and I were, after all, in a relationship formed by a contract.
The end of that contract was when the duty placed upon Renia and me was fulfilled, and I now knew what that duty was.
I was dragged into this world with the single boast that I would chew up the protagonist.
And from the circumstances, the conclusion of [Hidden Piece Academy] would be the destruction of Illusion.
I was possessed to achieve the destruction that Choi Do-han had failed to achieve, and that end was approaching.
The moment of parting was right before my eyes, but Renia had been silent about how that moment would begin, and how it would end.
“…There will be time to say goodbye, right?”
So I asked abruptly.
Renia’s hand, which had been organizing her luggage, stopped.
Then, she soon resumed organizing her luggage and answered.
“Of course. Don’t worry.”
For some reason, it was not a refreshing answer, but I didn't ask any further.
Renia was someone who would believe and follow my words no matter what anyone said.
So if Renia told me not to worry, then I just had to not worry.
“Alright. Are you ready?”
Renia glanced at Na-yeon once and then averted her gaze.
“Yeah. I’m all done. You?”
“Me too. Then shall we get going?”
“Yeah.”
We, who had each organized our luggage and gathered at the starting point.
A grim atmosphere hung in the air, and a pressure I had never felt before weighed down on my shoulders.
“Let’s go.”
At my command from the front, everyone began to put on their mana filters.
Similar in appearance to an oxygen mask, the mechanical device covering the nose and mouth would filter out the impure foreign substances and dark mana in the atmosphere.
The dark mana that was thick in Gaikan was no different from poison to us, so we didn't forget to pack a spare.
Hhh, hhh—
The sound of breathing mixed with a mechanical sound echoed in the quiet canyon, signaling that the final battle was approaching.
Step, step—
Soon.
We began to walk towards the end of the canyon.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Han-na! A-are you okay…!”
At the news of his daughter’s arrival in the capital, Han Baek-ho ran out to greet her.
As expected, the capital, Seoul, was not free from the Chimera raid.
On the contrary, it had been subjected to a concentrated attack, and parts of the barrier had collapsed, and the Hunters and Holders were having a busy day, with no time to even breathe, hunting the villains and monsters that had hidden in the residential areas.
In particular, the central communication tower had completely collapsed, and communication was not smooth even within the city.
The paralysis of the communication system was like the core of a winning strategy, so it had been hit first.
Therefore, Han Baek-ho was commanding the monster hunt on the one hand, and on the other, he was burning with anxiety at the lack of news from his daughter.
“Dad-!”
Han-na, upon seeing her father, quickly ran and was embraced in his arms.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. For being so stubborn….”
“It’s okay. You’re safe, that’s all that matters.”
Han Baek-ho hugged his daughter tightly and warmly patted her back.
After the short father-daughter reunion ended, Han-na took out a note from her pocket and handed it to Han Baek-ho.
“What is this?”
It was the note with the coordinates of Gaikan that she had received from Tae-jin.
“Gaikan. It’s where the head of Illusion is.”
“…What?”
“Cadet Han Tae-jin, Hunter Park Na-yeon, Holder Kim Hye-seo, and Cadet Yoo Su-ah are heading there now.”
“What?”
Han Baek-ho’s face was filled with bewilderment.
The fact that his safely returned daughter had brought the location of Gaikan, which even the Monster Management Bureau didn't know, was hard to believe, even if she was his own flesh and blood.
“But Gaikan is a place whose name is even unclear. It’s not a place an individual can know. Who gave you this note?”
“Tae-jin did.”
“What? That guy is just a cadet. That’s absurd.”
Gaikan is a place that even the Monster Management Bureau has been chasing for years without finding a trace.
From Han Baek-ho’s perspective, it was a story that was impossible to believe.
But…
“It’s possible. Because our son is not an ordinary cadet.”
Another existence that had been hidden in a veil.
“Five people have headed to Gaikan to save us, so now it’s our turn to move to save them. Hunter Han Baek-ho.”
The appearance of the [Plum Blossom Archer], which had once dominated the Hunter world, ended all suspicion and disbelief.
“Ah, I should call you Guild Master, not Hunter.”
“Y-you are…?”
“When the final battle begins, countless monsters will appear in Gaikan. We need a subjugation force equivalent to those five people.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Step, step—
As we broke through the thick fog at the end of the canyon, a low tower came into view.
The distance was at least 5km.
It had been about an hour since we started walking towards it, and other than my breathing being a little uncomfortable due to the mana filter, there were no threats or dangers.
Ercia had said so.
That Gaikan before the final battle held an alien peace.
Hye-seo also seemed to have roughly expected the scenery here.
Unlike us, who were constantly puzzled, she was walking with a calm expression as always.
Perhaps it was because Gaikan was a place like a ‘holy land’ or ‘Valhalla’ for the villains.
But thinking that the dark mana, called the mana of death, was spreading in this peace, it was just an eerie place.
“Not a single monster in sight. Is this really Gaikan?”
“Sunbae has never been wrong.”
At Na-yeon’s doubt, Hye-seo answered curtly.
We had Ercia with us anyway.
If this wasn't Gaikan, she would have told us long ago.
It was just that we weren't used to this alien peace and tranquility.
The sight of birds flying and deer frolicking was certainly no different from the world after a happy ending.
A feeling like a paradise for animals that couldn't use mana.
The black tower, soaring in the center of that peace, was creating a bizarre landscape.
Anyway,
“We’re almost there.”
“Do they not know we’re here?”
Renia muttered to herself as she looked at the empty entrance of the tower.
An entrance that seemed to have no common guards or common traps.
The entrance, as if welcoming(?) us, was even a little bewildering.
“We'll know if they don't know, or if they’re preparing a surprise, once we go in.”
Our cool Holder-nim answered as she scanned the area around the entrance.
She maintained her composure in any situation, and the more I saw her, the more I thought she had great courage.
Stride—
To see her trying to put her foot in the entrance without a second thought.
Was it great courage or a reckless spirit of challenge?
I quickly stopped her and blocked her way.
“Nothing good will come from approaching rashly.”
“Nothing good will come from just standing here either. Are you not going?”
…Was she mistaking this for a driver’s license test center?
Or did she have some kind of grudge against God R'hell to the point where her composure, which she had maintained until now, was shaken?
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never had a deep conversation with Kim Hye-seo.’
In fact, all I knew about her was that she was a junior who followed Han Chang-ho devotedly, and that she had a strong sense of professional responsibility as an investigator for the Monster Management Bureau.
Technically, I knew less about her than the cosmic being Ercia.
Well, that didn't mean I thought she would be a hindrance in the slightest.
We had camped together for over a month, trusting each other and falling asleep.
She always took the lead in matters related to villains, and I knew well that she had run around with sweat on her feet to find a cure when Renia was poisoned by Kelkaton’s poison.
Rather than worrying about her messing things up, it would be more beneficial to worry about myself.
However, the trial that was to come required reason over emotion, so I couldn't help but be a little worried.
I had heard a hint from Ercia about the trial this tower would present, but unfortunately, she said that this composition of members in the 53rd round was a first for her, so she couldn't give an answer.
All she could tell me was the reason why this tower was called the ‘Tower of Trials’.
It was that it literally brought out the despair that an individual had, or had hidden deep inside, and sometimes, a despair that was hidden so deep that even the person themselves didn't know about it would come as a trial.
Therefore, even I, who had heard the whole story, didn't know what kind of trial would come.
It was a matter of facing it head-on to know, and it was a self-evident fact that reason was needed more than emotion to overcome it.
“They won’t let us in easily. We might even face a great trial.”
“Life is a series of trials anyway. If I was going to hesitate now, I wouldn't have started in the first place.”
Hmm.
Geez, she only says the right things.
“I’m not saying we should hesitate. I’m just saying we should at least have Roque scout the outside of the tower before we climb.”
“…Well, do as you please.”
Whew.
Fortunately, Hye-seo took a step back and the argument ended, and I threw the black dagger that was on my waist into the sky.
Whoosh! Whoosh!—
Soon, Roque began to scout the area around the tower.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
- Kkii, kkiing!
“He says there’s nothing unusual on the outside. He says there’s nothing at all.”
“It’s strangely quiet.”
“I know. Shouldn't they at least come out to greet us by now?”
As Na-yeon said, it was about time they showed a sign, but the tower was as quiet as a dead mouse.
Could it be that they knew we were coming to Gaikan and had run away?
It was a reasonable assumption, but I chose to dismiss the possibility, hoping it wasn’t true.
And I had never read a novel where the main boss ran away right before the finale.
In the end.
“…They must be wanting us to come up.”
There was no choice but to face it head-on.
“Alright. I’ll follow you anytime.”
“Let’s go.”
“Just what I wanted.”
“Holy Defender. It won’t completely protect your mind, but it will offset the abnormal effects a little.”
Ercia cast a skill like a blessing over our heads.
And we, after reforming our ranks, immediately entered the entrance of the tower.
And then I—
“Heueup-?!”
A ceiling I’d never seen before… no,
I had to sit up like a private who had just been assigned to a new unit, looking at the familiar ceiling.
A ceiling with damp mold in places.
The wallpaper was torn, and the old bookshelf was standing precariously as if it would fall.
“Hah… hah… hah…”
A breath that burst out as if I had sprinted 100M.
I quickly turned my head at the foreign object in my hand.
[Hidden Piece Academy Setting Book]
I saw a book with a familiar title.
<w:pgmar w:bottom="1440" w:top="1440" w:left="1440" w:right="1440" w:header="720" w:footer="720"><w:pgnumtype w:start="1"><w:r w:rsiddel="00000000" w:rsidr="00000000" w:rsidrpr="00000000"><w:rpr><w:sz w:val="28"><w:szcs w:val="28"><w:rtl w:val="0"><w:t xml:space="preserve">It felt like I had woken up from a long dream.