Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Hill Where Ice Flowers Bloom (5)
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By the time they had closed the distance enough to feel Carserion's aura right before their noses.
Yoon Seo-rin, who had been silently following behind, suddenly spoke up in a tone blunter than her usual self.
"...Hyun-sol, you must have had your reasons for it, but."
I didn't slow my pace, merely turning my head slightly.
"Couldn't you have explained it a bit more kindly before leaving? It felt like you were too harsh on Sophia."
"...Yeah, you're right."
Admittedly... I could have explained everything to them.
I understood why Sophia had insisted on following out of worry right up to the end.
I even knew why Amelia had hesitated in that moment.
But the fact that every passing second of this single minute was directly tied to the lives of thirteen friends kept hammering away in my mind.
And now that it was confirmed the Dullahan had revived as well, I was in a state of utter impatience.
Explanations be damned—I was going mad with the urge to confirm it with my own eyes right now.
...Sorry, Sophia.
That's what I wanted to say, but there was no time to speak, no room to hesitate.
Regret welled up to the back of my throat, but I forced it down.
Even regretting it now is a luxury... I'll apologize later, after it's all over.
As I repeated that to myself inwardly, Wol Ha-yeon, who had been running quietly beside me, gave a slight nod and spoke.
"...I understood."
Her voice was as low and firm as ever.
"Even without you explaining the exact reason, I could tell. How badly you wanted to get there fast... I felt it too."
"That's..."
Before I could rebut, she added firmly.
"...If we'd wasted time in that situation, more students would have died. That's why you made that choice."
I drew in a short breath.
"......Thanks for saying that."
Yoon Seo-rin nodded as well.
"I don't think your judgment was wrong either, Hyun-sol... Just."
She paused to choose her words, then whispered briefly.
"Make sure you explain it properly when we get back."
"...Yeah. I will."
It was at that moment.
Kuuuwoooo—
The entire forest began to vibrate and rumble as if a beast were roaring.
At the same time, an alien sound erupted, like a massive heart throbbing deep within the woods.
And beyond the rift at the heart of the darkness at the end of our path, which gaped open like a bottomless pit.
There sat a figure on a tall throne, one horn broken and tilted, draped in a black and blue cloak of deathly energy.
High Lich Carserion overlooked us, who had just arrived, with the thirteen children bound in black chains like slaughtered pigs.
At his feet stood the Dullahan, fully restored, clutching its head wreathed in blue flames in one hand and wielding its signature massive deathly crescent blade in the other.
'Damn it, the freaking Dullahan really popped out.'
「You've come... woman of transcendent might, and...」
Spotting Wol Ha-yeon, Carserion immediately turned his head slightly, fixing his gaze on me as I swallowed dryly beside her, and continued.
「man who bears an inscrutable presence... I am High Lich Carserion, once hailed as the kingdom's greatest sorcerer and most vile necromancer during its golden age.」
"......"
"......"
A presence incomparably more oppressive than the crude lich from the Silent Tomb Dungeon before, a voice that tore at the eardrums just from hearing it.
An overwhelming dread that made me question if this was really the same guy I'd casually taken down countless times through the game screen.
I glanced once each at Wol Ha-yeon, who stared at Carserion and the Dullahan with utter nonchalance, no tension whatsoever, and Yoon Seo-rin, whose face showed no change as she readied for battle.
Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I finally spoke.
"Those humans down there... are they still alive?"
「Those humans? Ah, you mean the children undergoing the process of becoming my faithful undead servants?」
In response to my question, Carserion conjured a thick thread of jet-black mana and lashed it hard at the abdomen of the male student bound at the front—the one who had picked a fight with me before and gotten his wrist sliced off by Wol Ha-yeon, skills and all.
Thwack-!!
"Guhhh!!"
「They still feel pain, so it seems they have a bit of time left before fully embracing death.」
"...I see."
The moment the jet-black mana thread he created vanished, the air around us felt like it was crumbling away like sand.
At the same time, the deathly aura that had already blanketed the dungeon's core grew oppressively thick and viscous, to the point where even breathing felt threatening.
A stench of rot and malice thicker and more repulsive than what I'd sensed at Arkin Low's castle, evoking memories of Arkin Low itself.
I glanced once more at the thirteen bound students, black mana coiled around their bodies like veins.
They're still alive.
It's not too late yet.
But as if reading my mind, Carserion slowly, leisurely swept back his shattered horn.
「Worry not. Their flesh is already transforming into fine vessels. Even as undead... they'll recognize you well enough. Well, probably? Hahaha.」
"......"
His voice ignited a boiling rage that surged to the tip of my throat.
"A rotting mouth cracks good jokes, huh."
Yoon Seo-rin narrowed her eyes and aimed her rifle.
Carserion's gaze shifted from me to her.
「Intriguing... Your mana bullets pose a threat even I must guard against somewhat. That engraved mana shot... far too refined for lowly humans to wield.」
"......"
Yoon Seo-rin showed no change in expression.
She simply aimed silently at Carserion's head, a fresh mana bullet forming at the rifle's muzzle.
Wol Ha-yeon had already drawn both her crescent blades fully, staring straight at the Dullahan.
Her eyes had been dazedly following me just moments ago, but now they were in full combat mode.
No words, no battle cry, but I could feel that unique air she exuded when ready to fight.
And judging by the faintly leaking, uncontrolled killing intent, she was quite pissed about her friends' state, even if she didn't show it.
The Dullahan tugged its mount's reins and advanced one step, blue flames dripping from the blade's edge like living specters writhing.
...No matter how I look at it, this combo is screwed.
I muttered a tiny curse inwardly and spoke to the two.
"Wol Ha-yeon."
She turned her head ever so slightly.
"Pointless to say, but toy with it as much as you can before killing it. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Carserion's mine and Yoon Seo-rin's."
Yoon Seo-rin added curtly.
"I can handle the magic patterns. ...If you're okay with that."
"I'm good. Easier fighting with you anyway."
Carserion slowly rose from his throne.
With that, a death wave erupted on an entirely different level—truly horrific in quality.
Kuooooh—!!
The forest twisted with the sound.
「Amusing. Three humans... challenging the kingdom's finest sorcerer and its strongest swordmaster knight captain... Very well. Your courage merits praise—」
As Carserion lightly raised his hand, the deathly chains around the thirteen students writhed in response.
「—so I'll gift you despair.」
The Dullahan's mount reared up on its hind legs before slamming them down.
Kuaang!!!
The ground cracked open.
Simultaneously, it swung its crescent blade high into the air.
A motion brimming with intent to crush the foe, oppressively forceful.
Toward that strike from the Dullahan, enough to stop one's breath just watching, Wol Ha-yeon charged without a hint of hesitation.
Leaving only an afterimage of moonlight, she moved—and at the same moment, Yoon Seo-rin stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me, forming mana bullets in both hands.
I placed my finger on the trigger and drew a deep breath toward Carserion.
"Alright... let's start."
Carserion's eyes atop the black throne blazed blue.
「Indeed. Dance—humans. A requiem reveals its true melody only when a soul meets death.」
Bang-!
And with Yoon Seo-rin and me firing mana bullets simultaneously, the real battle began.
At that same time, in an underground lab at the academy, where security had been tightened further due to the week's closure.
The only place immune to mana interference, allowing communication with the outside—specifically, the demon realm.
Chae Yeon-hwa was conversing via crystal orb with the apostle she served, one of the few remaining apostles in the demon world.
The Apostle of Lust, Bersein Alma.
"I've heard the news... but is it really true that the Demon King made that decision?"
「It is. My faithful Chae Yeon-hwa... no, Kallinoah. We apostles are well aware it might be a reckless gamble.」
"And yet... the Apostle of Pride insists on descending anyway. There must be good reason."
「Yes. As you know best, Kallinoah, the Apostle of Pride, Teobain, has lived for centuries with unmatched confidence and arrogance.
But after investing so long and even sharing his power to raise Arkin Low, only for him to die, the entire plan unraveled.」
"......"
When she first heard the news, she honestly couldn't believe it.
Kang Hyun-sol. The man she watched and desperately wanted to conquer.
During the closure, he had suddenly gone out and killed Arkin Low—a long-lived demon and cornerstone for the fifth apostle descent after the fourth's failure ten years ago—then returned alive.
She'd gotten an earful of abuse from Apostle Beloa, who remembered Hyun-sol, upon relaying the news.
But that was that—this was this. She couldn't fathom why they would risk the world's penalty and threats to force an apostle descent when the plan had failed from the start.
Chae Yeon-hwa asked very cautiously.
"...I know that much already. But shouldn't the plan be halted right now? Why is the Demon King pushing for the Apostle of Pride's descent?"
「...I don't fully understand either... but it doesn't matter. We just follow the Demon King's orders and prepare for Teobain's descent. And the first step is...」
"Raid the Seolga clan during the academy's summer break, when tensions are loosest overall, and secure the Ice Core of Eternal Frost passed down through generations. Right?"
「Correct. Arkin Low was supposed to infiltrate the human world and gather enough life force and mana for the descent, but that's impossible now. So we have no choice but to gamble, even if it's far riskier.
The Ice Core of Eternal Frost holds energy that can substitute for all that.」
"...Understood. I'll prepare as quickly as possible and contact you again."
Confirming the magic light in the crystal orb had fully faded, Chae Yeon-hwa pocketed it in her subspace pouch and left the basement.
Gazing at the clear sky, she murmured softly.
"Looks like... the moment of choice might come sooner than expected."