Chapter 153
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Bloodline
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The desert was never ideal terrain for running.
Every step sank into the soft sand, draining more stamina than necessary, and the blazing sun overhead acted like a field effect all its own.
Yet the party's footsteps showed no hesitation.
Part of it was reaching level 5 and gaining better environmental adaptation, but Jun and Eleanor's buffs played a bigger role.
"How far have we put between us and it?"
It had been two days since they started fleeing from the colossus.
Fortunately, they hadn't run into a single monster during that time and had managed to keep moving.
But Aiden's condition was still far from good.
No.
Actually, his complexion had worsened with each passing day. Luckily, it hadn't reached the point of hindering his movement yet.
But the trouble started that very evening.
"Kuh...?!"
"Aiden?!"
Aiden, who had been walking fine just moments ago, suddenly dropped to his knees.
Eleanor rushed over in alarm, and the anomaly was strong enough for even Maya to sense it.
"His soul is shaking!"
"What the hell..."
In the sudden crisis, Jun forced himself to stay calm and scanned their surroundings.
All he could see was the colossus staring at them from the distant darkness.
Then, Jun's brow twitched.
"What the hell is that thing doing?"
A strange mana began emanating from the colossus.
It was a type of mana Jun had never seen before, spreading out around the colossus like ultrasound waves.
'We're not close enough for it to use [Annihilation] yet.'
[Annihilation] was a long-range attack pattern where energy gathered in the gem at its midsection and fired out as a laser.
'Given its nature of gathering and shooting mana, this spreading doesn't seem related.'
Whatever it was, it was clearly affecting Aiden.
'Damn it...'
Biting his lip, Jun waited a few minutes for Eleanor's diagnosis.
"What's the exact situation?"
"Whew... It's not a major problem, thankfully. For some reason, his soul started getting violently shaken a little while ago."
"So it is that thing."
The anomaly had begun after the colossus appeared.
This confirmed the colossus was influencing Aiden somehow.
'Nothing like this in the game.'
Was it a change stemming from himself? Or some story element from his 'Lee Jung-jun' days that he hadn't known about?
'Either way, not helpful right now.'
The surest solution was still to put as much distance as possible between Aiden and the colossus.
They needed to reach the Ancient Tower fast.
But even the heavens weren't so kind.
The desert environment offered no aid to the party.
"Damn. This sandstorm's getting brutal."
"Doesn't look like it'll let up anytime soon?"
Eleanor, her eyes covered by her black blindfold, gazed into the distance and nodded.
"Yeah. And sensing mana flows amid the storm, it doesn't seem natural."
Jun, reading the surrounding mana flows himself, agreed with her assessment.
"Looks like the colossus is involved for sure. Tsk. It can control sandstorms too?"
"The problem is it doesn't seem to be just whipping up a simple sandstorm."
Aiden's state aside, even Eleanor—who had recently started learning magic—could tell the storm felt unnatural.
'Another pattern not in the game.'
Jun spoke up.
"The mana itself is forming a single melody."
"A melody?"
"Yeah. It's a bit metaphorical, but the mana collisions are creating waves that spread far across the desert."
"Now that you mention it, kinda sounds like... Wait. Jun. Who made that damn hunk of junk again?"
Jun answered Eleanor's question immediately.
"Ancient elves."
"And one of the godforsaken monsters you find in this desert is?"
"...Ancient elf wraiths."
"So what do you think that signal from the scrap heap means? I feel like I can guess without translating."
"Something like 'intruders here, come kill them'?"
In the game, when the colossus awakened, one of the few real dangers was the ancient elf wraiths.
But back then, they were more random encounters than something the colossus summoned directly like this.
"Worst-case scenario either way..."
Eleanor muttered from inside the makeshift underground tunnel Jun had hastily created.
And those words soon became reality.
The sandstorm pinning down the party finally dissipated, and early dawn broke.
Emerging from the tunnel onto the surface, the group was met by a night sky filled to the brim with wraiths.
Their numbers were beyond counting.
And the problems didn't end there.
"Huff... huff..."
Aiden's condition was deteriorating further.
In this frustrating situation beyond even Eleanor's holy power, Jun sighed deeply as he stopped Aiden from forcing himself up to draw his sword.
"My luck never lets me take the easy road, does it?"
How had that many wraiths gathered in just one night?
Reminded anew that game knowledge wasn't the be-all-end-all of truth, Jun was about to circulate his circle when...
-Welcome.
One of the wraiths filling the desert impossibly spoke.
Jun's eyes widened.
"What?"
-One of our long-lost bloodkin has come to us.
"What..."
Unlike any wraiths they'd seen before, the one in front of them knelt politely.
Jun and the others were thrown into confusion, frozen in place, when the wraith continued.
-I know this must be confusing. But time is short.
The wraith's gaze turned to Aiden, who still hadn't fully regained his senses.
-Our minds won't hold against this world much longer. Please make haste.
As if inviting them to follow, the massive legion of desert wraiths parted a path.
Truly like escorting a king, their demeanor was profoundly respectful.
'Should we trust them?'
Jun wanted to probe with questions to grasp the situation, but unlike them, his side had no way to communicate intent.
Then...
"Can you guarantee you pose no threat to us?"
Aiden—who still hadn't recovered—asked.
Before Jun could translate, Aiden had understood their words.
Stunned, Jun looked at him.
-If our bloodkin commands us to die here, we shall.
"...That's not necessary. Instead, leave just the minimum to guide us."
-As you command.
With a wave of the wraith's hand, the countless horde behind them scattered like a handful of sand and vanished.
"...Are they all dead?"
-No, bloodkin. They merely returned whence they came. We were all summoned briefly by the guardian god.
Having overheard the exchange, Eleanor cautiously approached Jun.
"What's going on?"
"No idea why, but they're treating Aiden like their king or something."
"...What bullshit is that?"
"It's Blackout."
"..."
She wanted to snap back, but it was too obvious, so Eleanor shut her mouth.
Yes.
This was Blackout.
A land where humans couldn't predict what might happen.
In the end, the party decided to follow the ancient wraiths.
-The phenomenon our bloodkin is experiencing is a soul resonance state.
"Soul resonance?"
Eleanor, listening from the side, finally nodded in understanding.
"That explains why they call him bloodkin. It's happening because their soul waves match."
"What's the exact situation?"
"One of Aiden's ancestors must have ancient elf blood. Never heard of it happening to other royals, so probably from his mother's side."
That was news to Jun.
If such a thing existed, it should've triggered the first time they encountered wraiths in this desert, right?
"Related to that colossus?"
"Probably."
Just a hunch for now, but Jun suspected the bluish orb powering the colossus.
Its activation might have briefly revived the desert elves' minds, allowing them to recognize Aiden.
"I see. But I have no memories of my mother."
"Really?"
"Yes. When I entered the palace, I was told only that His Majesty found me in a basket and brought me along."
In other words, no one in the imperial family except the emperor knew who Aiden's mother was.
'Some hidden secret I didn't know about.'
Anyway.
The direction the wraiths led them was straight toward the colossus.
"Why are you taking us to it?"
When Aiden relayed Jun's question, the wraith answered promptly.
-So our bloodkin may inherit our minds. It resides within the guardian god.
What exactly was 'it' that they were so desperate for?
"Fascinating. Looking now, those guys aren't monsters."
"What do you mean?"
"Hmm. Hard to put into words. First time seeing something like this."
Eleanor, possessor of [Clairvoyance], seemed to sense something others couldn't.
Then Maya spoke up from beside her.
"Threads have formed."
"Threads? Oh, yeah. I see them now. Are those replacing their souls?"
According to Eleanor and Maya, the wraiths were currently connected by invisible threads.
These allowed them to move by their own wills rather than monstrous instincts.
Jun nodded, something nagging at him.
He'd seen something similar in the game's late stages a few times.
'Was that game lore connecting back to this? And linking ancient elves to Aiden, no less.'
Info like this would've been community fodder even outside the game.
Since it wasn't widely known, most players probably never discovered it.
'Come to think of it, Aiden had a strong affinity for wind attributes.'
Without special training, normal people didn't have high affinity for natural elements.
Yet Aiden did for wind... because of ancient elf blood?
By the time the party reached the colossus...
-O guardian god. Noble bloodkin has arrived. Open the way.
Like subjects before a king, the colossus knelt and gently placed its hand before Aiden.
As if to offer a ride up, its massive hand rested on the sand, and a panel in its chest opened, revealing a hidden chamber.
"Is that where I go?"
-Yes, bloodkin.
"What must I do inside?"
-Enter, and 'it' will greet you.
No backing out now after coming this far.
Jun focused his mana on the chamber in the colossus's chest.
"Should be safe to go in, Aiden."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'll escort you."
Supporting Aiden, who hadn't recovered from the soul resonance, Jun climbed up the colossus's hand.