Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: I Will Definitely Return
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I will definitely return. No matter what.
Every time I swung the greatsword, tentacles were lopped off with heavy thuds.
There was no satisfaction in the cuts. They had form but no substance—like illusions. It felt like slicing through living shadows.
The scattered smoke boldly regrouped, sprouting fresh tentacles in an instant.
Enemies surged forward like waves. Even as I cleaved and pressed on, it felt like I was running in place.
"No matter how far we go, there's no end."
Even as we fought ceaselessly while on the move, there was no sign of an exit—not even a shift in the terrain.
I glanced back at the Commander.
"Still no idea where we are? Your squad hasn't picked up on anything?"
"They're still searching. We don't even know what this place is..."
Anxiety laced the Commander's voice.
Yeah, in this vast underground world, caves weren't exactly rare.
"It feels like we've been transported somewhere far from Kitesh altogether."
Marigold voiced yet another grim possibility.
"Or maybe a place that doesn't exist on any map."
An artificial space? Few had the power to pull that off.
"Whew... this is no joke."
She wiped the sweat beading on her forehead with the back of her hand.
Golden threads flickered endlessly from her fingertips, but the heavy mana drain was hardening her expression.
"Ugh..."
Esira was in worse shape. Her face had gone deathly pale, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. She seemed to have already hit her limit in this endless war of attrition.
Since arriving in this world, today was the most I'd regretted it all.
I shouldn't have brought Esira this far.
What a failure as a mother.
Damn it.
'This won't do.'
My stamina could hold out a bit longer, but not Esira's. We weren't tireless machines built for eternal battle.
This crisis, the Abyss, the reason we'd ended up here—what connected it all?
The Abyss bypassed Marigold, lunging for the Commander.
Marigold's defense held, but she couldn't stop the ground from crumbling. The earth gave way beneath the Commander's feet in a hollow collapse.
"...!"
I rushed to the cliff's edge. No bottom in sight. Was it too deep, or was the darkness hiding it?
'Better be the latter.'
If a valuable pawn like him died pointlessly here, the cleanup would be a headache.
"Think the Commander's done for?"
"Who knows. But he's got answers about you, sis. I'd rather he stick around."
What a chillingly detached response.
She was at that sensitive age—how could she be so unfazed?
It was enough to throw even me off.
'Well, he's the protagonist. He'll pull through somehow.'
The clogged Abyss parted smoothly to either side, like the miracle of Moses.
A man stepped out slowly.
"I've been waiting a long time."
Marigold's eyes widened at the familiar voice.
"...No way. Sage?"
Exim #5, Sage.
His attire was impeccably neat as always, but an alien, chilling aura emanated from him.
He'd always been an inscrutable madman, but now he exuded a visceral revulsion that turned the stomach.
Sage bowed with refined courtesy, like a butler greeting honored guests.
"You've been keeping close company with the one I've awaited so long. I had no choice but to invite you all here."
The one he'd awaited? Who was that supposed to be?
"Sage oppa..."
Marigold called out in disbelief, but Sage's gaze was icily cold.
Betrayal twisted her lips as she bit down hard.
"Ha. Never thought you'd join hands with Abyss filth."
Sage neither confirmed nor denied it. He simply wore a faint, ambiguous smile.
Esira couldn't stomach the brazenness and shouted.
"What's your goal? Why trap us here?!"
Marigold muttered in equal incredulity.
"Large-scale spatial transfer with your powers? Even you couldn't manage that alone. What the hell did you do?"
Questions piled up. How Sage had allied with the Abyss was secondary—their very behavior was off.
'Black Purple said the Abyss had no intelligence.'
Instinct-driven beasts—that was their essence.
But the Abyss before us now?
It stood in perfect formation behind Sage, like soldiers awaiting orders.
The Abyss, acting like an army?
I leveled the tip of my greatsword at Sage's throat.
"What's the scheme behind all this?"
Sage met my eyes. His inscrutable gaze gleamed unnaturally.
"I've come to retrieve what was lost."
"Lost something? Hit up lost and found instead of taking it out on us."
"..."
"What, head go soft while we were apart? Got dementia or something?"
"Heh, well... the lost item is right in front of me."
He stared straight at me, sending chills down my spine.
"Can't go along with that."
No point listening further.
I charged.
Shutting that mouth took priority.
The Abyss rushed like a tidal wave, but it couldn't halt me. A single wave of sword pressure laid waste to everything ahead.
Break through before it regenerated.
The greatsword pierced clean through Sage's body and buried deep into the rock wall behind.
"Gah...!"
Sage spewed blood, pinned to the wall. Subdued. Heart destroyed—over.
That's what I thought.
It was beyond expectations. He gazed down at the blade in his chest with curious fascination.
"Experiencing it firsthand... quite novel."
"...What?"
"It hurts like hell... but an intriguing sensation."
Was he even human? Talking casually with a hole through his heart.
'Why isn't he dead?'
Wasn't the heart his weakness? Or had he transcended humanity altogether?
No time to question it—the Abyss I'd scattered reformed behind me, lunging again.
"Tch."
I yanked the sword free and fell back.
Liquid fountained from the gaping wound.
Not blood.
Sticky, pitch-black sludge like asphalt.
"Urgh... ugh..."
Sage clutched his pierced chest and staggered. Black smoke leaked from his mouth instead of blood.
Marigold cried out in horror.
"Y-You... are you really Sage? What's with the black blood?!"
Sage coughed and raised his head. Black tendrils swirled in the air from his wound.
"Not my heart—allow me to correct that."
He wiped away the black ooze and grinned.
"Sage's heart is hidden in the deepest part of this cave."
"...What?"
"Regrettably, if it bursts, this cave collapses too. Meaning we'd all be buried alive together."
I frowned in sheer absurdity.
"You pulled your heart out and stashed it separately? Cut the bullshit."
This wasn't some tortoise-and-hare fable.
"This cave is a colossal construct forged by Sage's abilities."
Sage spread his arms wide theatrically.
"It wasn't a cave to begin with. These are the ruins of the city, Kitesh."
"What does that mean? This is the city?"
"A city is just a collection of buildings, isn't it? This place is merely a massive construct I've twisted space to form and reassemble."
Marigold shouted in disbelief.
"Impossible! No architect ability could maintain a space this vast alone!"
Her trembling hand gestured at our surroundings.
"Even if you could create it, the mana drain would've killed you ages ago!"
Sage cocked his head oddly.
"Do I still look human to you?"
"...What?"
Gurgle. Hack.
Sage suddenly retched violently.
His jaw unhinged grotesquely, mouth gaping wide as writhing shadows poured from his throat.
'What the hell is that?'
It was like a living shadow beast spilling from his esophagus.
A monster wearing human skin.
"Urk... what is this thing..."
Esira couldn't hold back her disgust and dry-heaved.
Sage—or rather, it—wiped its mouth and spoke flatly.
"No need for surprise. The human Sage died a year ago."
"Died...? A year ago?"
Marigold echoed blankly.
"Impossible. I can still sense Sage's mana."
"Ah, this is Sage's real body."
What did that mean? The body was genuine?
Did that mean the Abyss had parasitized the corpse and was puppeteering it?
Had Sage's ego been devoured, leaving only an empty shell?
"Do you remember? A year ago, at the cult gathering when we met."
"..."
I did.
He'd been more polite than usual, almost too composed—giving me an unsettling vibe.
"Already infested by then."
"Correct."
Esira's face drained to sheet-white.
"The Abyss mimicking a human? I thought those tentacles had zero intelligence!?"
Marigold broke into cold sweat and staggered back.
Shadows erupted from Sage's feet, swallowing the walls and ceiling in an instant.
They morphed into razor-sharp blades, hundreds of them trained on us.
'This is bad.'
The worst wildcard.
Why was the Abyss targeting us so obsessively? Even the goal was murky.
And if this place was a construct bolstered by Sage's powers and the Abyss...
Did an escape even exist?
Not that we could just punch through the walls.
'The space collapses when the heart bursts.'
When I'd stabbed Sage's chest moments ago, the cave hadn't budged. Killing this body wouldn't unlock the prison.
"Marigold."
"Y-Yeah? Sis?"
"You said you sense Sage's mana here, right?"
"Y-Yeah, but..."
"Then the real core—the true heart—is hidden somewhere in this place."
Marigold's eyes widened.
"Can you find it?"
"W-Wait a sec..."
She squeezed her eyes shut and spread her hands.
Dozens of golden threads unfurled like neural networks, probing the darkness.
Moments later, her eyes flew open.
"Found it! Deeper inside—the deepest point. There's an insane mana signature!"
"...Good. That's all I need."
I tightened my grip on the greatsword. I trusted my strength. Nothing could stand in my way.
"Marigold, hold off the Abyss closing in. Take care of Esira."
"...What about you, sis?"
"I'm heading inside. Gonna smash that goddamn heart to pieces."
The moment I kicked off the ground—
"Me too!"
Esira grabbed my arm in desperation. Her eyes trembled with earnest plea.
"I'll go with you, Mom! It's dangerous alone! I can help—"
"No."
One regret was enough. Bringing her here. I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
"But...!"
"I said no!"
I roughly shook off her hand.
"...!"
She flinched and froze at my sharp yell—the first of its kind she'd ever heard from me.
Her abandoned hand quivered in the air.
"Sorry. But not this time. I can't budge."
"Mom..."
"I'm scared you'll get hurt. It'd make me a coward."
I'm not abandoning you.
Just let Mom charge ahead without looking back.
I clasped her trembling hand tight and said,
"So please, stay safe. That's how I can trust you and fight."
Esira's eyes quaked like an earthquake. Hurt plain on her face. My heart ached fiercely, but there was no time to comfort her.
This was dangerous. Too dangerous. An unforeseen variable beyond the original story. Dragging Esira into the unknown was suicide.
"I'll finish quick and come back. You trust Mom, right? Wait right here."
......Please.
The final please stayed bitten between my lips, unspoken.
"I'll be back soon."
"Mom! Mom!"
Esira's wails echoed behind me, but I plunged into the darkness without turning back.
'Yeah, I'm a terrible mother.'
I shouldn't have let things come to this.
Maybe I'd already racked up regrets several times over.
This wasn't the time for emotions. A weak heart dulls the blade.
'We've got time.'
Plenty of time ahead together. I'd go back and apologize to her.
After surviving and returning—it wouldn't be too late.
I will definitely return. No matter what.