Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Village
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Inside the fog, there really was nothing.
It felt like being trapped in an endlessly empty space. With visibility blocked by the fog, there was nothing to see properly—it was suffocating.
So much so that one might even think they could end up trapped here and die.
Of course, that thought only lasted a moment.
If worse came to worst, he could just tear through it with brute force.
"Lucia, Irene. Can you make sense of it?"
"...No. I can't make sense of it, Yujin."
Irene shook her head.
"I can't make sense of it either, my lord."
"Hmm... Even you two, 7th Circle mages, can't make sense of it..."
That meant the fog had been created by an Archmage or something equivalent. Perhaps a Grand Sorcerer?
Or maybe even one of those legendary magic progenitors, the dragons.
...
Was that going too far?
"No, you might actually be right, Yujin. Even if this fog was made with sorcery, sorcery and magic are just a hair's breadth apart. From a dragon's perspective, sorcery or magic—it's all the same."
"Irene is correct. Besides, no matter how I think about it, the being who would create fog like this deep in the Eternal Desert can't be ordinary. It really might be a dragon. Regardless of whatever intent lay behind creating such a vast Fog Forest."
"Hmm..."
A dragon.
If one truly existed, he'd like to see it at least once.
A race active only in the ancient mythic era, vanishing after the Sun Goddess Sola pacified the earth.
Yet every few hundred years, evidence of dragons surfaced, leaving them as a kind of phantom species in people's imaginations.
At that moment, Lua's eyes gleamed.
"Champion."
"Hm?"
"This fog has an incredibly simple structure."
"Simple?"
"Yes."
Still holding hands, she surveyed the fog where nothing was visible.
"We've felt like we've entered a maze since earlier. More precisely, like we're trapped in a continuously repeating space."
"Right."
"That's exactly what it is—space truly repeating."
"...?"
Lucia and Irene looked at Lua.
"The space... is repeating?"
"What do you mean, Lua?"
Lua's gray eyes shone transparently. Just like when she'd peered into Yujin at their first meeting.
It was an Authority.
Proof of the Sun Goddess's favor granted to successive saints.
"My 'eyes' can see the essence of all things. Human souls, animals, monsters—even insects or inanimate objects. I can pierce through them all."
"...Really?"
"Yes."
"Those are impressive eyes..."
Only then did they seem to recall that Lua had been the Pope, looking at her with renewed wonder.
Of course, Lucas—who knew none of this—simply stood there awkwardly, listening in silence.
He felt a bit left out and embarrassed.
Lua cleared her throat once under their admiring gazes and continued her explanation.
"Ahem. Anyway, from what I've seen with my eyes, this fog truly consists of the same space repeating."
To explain simply:
Imagine a space A filled with fog. The moment a living being steps into space A and moves forward, space A begins to copy itself.
Whether heading east or north, the copied spaces keep connecting continuously.
"...Sounds like a hamster wheel."
"No, Yujin. It's a bit different from a hamster wheel. The space keeps copying, but strictly speaking, we're continually entering new spaces. So even if we're looping through the same place, it's not truly the same place."
"...Hmm."
Wait a second.
If that's the case...
"Lua. Can you see how the space copies while we move?"
"Yes."
At her answer, Yujin began leading them forward.
.
.
.
.
.
After walking for a while, Yujin came to a stop.
"How does it work, Lua?"
Lua pondered for a moment before speaking calmly.
"As we advance, only portions of the space copy."
...Hmm.
Not the entire space copying and attaching ahead, but only parts...
The fog's creator must have prioritized efficiency. Making it copy exactly one step's worth per step taken.
If even one step forward copied and attached the entire space, it would have been utterly impossible.
Yujin chuckled and said,
"So that means if we move faster than the space-copying speed, we might break out of this fog?"
"...!!"
"That makes sense, Champion."
"Seems my lord is right."
They exchanged glances and nodded simultaneously.
"Then from now on, we let go of hands and sprint full speed in the same direction."
"Wait, Yujin. Since we're running anyway, how about sprinting in different directions?"
"Different directions?"
"Yes. It might raise our chances of escaping safely."
"Hmm..."
True, but...
"Rejected. We don't know if escaping the fog might drop us into separate spaces."
"You're right."
"Any objections?"
"None."
"No. Let's all just run in one direction."
Nod.
Right after, without anyone taking the lead, they shot forward at tremendous speed.
At first, there was no change whatsoever. But as they pushed harder, reactions began to appear bit by bit.
"Everyone, pick up the pace!"
Mana surged wildly, and gaps appeared in the fog like noise interference.
ZZZzt—
Crack—
As they accelerated further, the fog with its gaps fully scattered. Meaning the fog was thinning out.
'Hoo...!'
At some point, the world began to refract. As if the natural order itself was warping.
The world distorted this way and that, gaps appearing.
And—
Shatter!!!
With the sound of glass breaking, the fog cleared.
"Phew... We made it out."
Lucas clutched his chest and let out a sigh of relief. His relief was palpable.
"Phew..."
"Yujin. Look over there. There's an oasis."
"Oasis?"
Looking where Irene pointed, there truly was an oasis.
And beyond it, even a small village.
"A village in a place like this?"
"Lucas. Heard anything about it?"
"N-No. I never even heard there was fog here to begin with, let alone an oasis and village beyond it..."
"I see."
For now, it seemed like a genuine human village.
His senses picked up human presences. Roughly around a hundred.
'...Incredible.'
To think a village existed deep in the Eternal Desert, teeming with infernal flames and monsters stronger than average...
Not an abandoned ruin, but a real village where humans lived.
"Shall we check out the village?"
"It'd be best to take a look, Champion. Why a village exists in this desert, what that surrounding fog was... The threat to Kara Kingdom might even be connected to this village."
"Then let's go."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Truthfully, there were no other options.
At worst, pointless slaughter and moving on—but there was no reason for that.
As they neared the village, murmurs rose from within.
Soon, an old man dressed similarly to those in Kara Kingdom approached, waving back wary villagers.
"Welcome, travelers."
"...Travelers? What does that mean?"
"It merely refers to those who visit our village."
"So others have come to this village too?"
"That's correct."
The old man chuckled nonchalantly and nodded as if it were nothing.
The more he spoke, the greater the doubts grew.
People had come to this unknown place besides them?
'...It's possible.'
It was possible. After all, they had come.
'But he's acting like it's commonplace that bothers me.'
The old man's reaction suggested visitors had passed through recently.
"Rather than standing there, why not come into our village and rest?"
"......"
"It's merely a small gesture of hospitality toward travelers—no need to be so guarded."
...Even so, caution was inevitable.
Unnaturally friendly. No.
His calm reaction grated on the nerves.
"...Shall we go in for now, my lord?"
"...I think entering is the way to go. At least they're not hostile, so we can talk."
Nod—
"We'll accept the invitation."
"Hoho. Then follow this old man."
The old man shuffled slowly into the village.
The villagers watching them parted ways, as if inviting them in.
Yujin's group exchanged glances before entering the village.