Chapter 153: The Cave of Screams (2)
Chapter 153: The Cave of Screams (2)
“Ugh!”
A white light briefly washed over the clearing. It was like a camera flash going off, blinding me for a moment. Ahn Sol, unable to avoid the aftershock, dropped her staff and pressed both hands to her forehead. Even so, I could see her brow furrow slightly as her eyes darted through the air, and I heard her mutter to herself in a daze.
“L-Luck Correction? A partial defense check? W-What in the world is this….”
Flash! Flash!
Before Ahn Sol’s frown could even fade, the white light flashed across the clearing again. This time, the rest of the party must have been within range, as I could hear them all groaning. Some even collapsed to the ground.
I couldn’t completely avoid the effects either, but I seemed to be holding on somehow, thanks to my own abilities. Forcibly suppressing a wave of dizziness, I activated Third Eye with my own will. Analyzing and dispelling the mental spell targeting us was the top priority.
Unconscious Reveal. This magic is an ancient spell in the form of a magic circle infused with mental attack magic. It is designed to forcibly shift the target’s consciousness into an unconscious state, allowing the emotions slumbering within to rise to the surface. The emergence of these emotions is based on the person’s weakest memories—in other words, their weaknesses—but which emotions will manifest and how they will do so is related to the user’s latent desires, and can thus be considered random. Unconscious Reveal was classified as a top-tier spell even in the age of the ancient Hall Plain, ranking among the most powerful of its kind. The formulas and the amount of magic power required for this spell are so immense that a solo casting is, in reality, absolutely impossible. It requires dozens of high-ranking mages borrowing the power of a magic circle….
High-rank Magic Resistance and a Magic Power stat that has reached its peak. Without at least one of these, a complete defense is nearly impossible. Occasionally, one might receive a partial defense check through extreme luck, but that would only work once or twice at most. Users with strong Mental Immunity could endure a few times, but since the magic circle had a continuous, rapid-fire effect rather than a single-shot one, holding out indefinitely would be difficult.
“What is this….”
The more I read the information from Third Eye, the more absurd it became. I was so dumbfounded by the ridiculous details that my mouth hung open.
Flash! Flash!
The white light pulsed again, and my vision flickered. I felt the dizziness in my head intensify, but I managed to read to the end. When I came to my senses and looked around, every one of my companions had collapsed and was writhing in agony. Only Ko Yeonju remained on her feet, tearing at her hair and biting her lip so hard it bled.
Meaningless time passed, and as it did, the party’s screams began to subside. Finally, their subconscious minds began to be forcibly brought to the surface. The subconscious can be seen as a state in which one is unaware of their own words, actions, or current condition. As such, emotions began to appear one by one on their dazed faces.
The first user to react was Jung Hayeon.
“N-No! Nooooo! Stop it! Aaaaaaah!”
She let out a rough voice, completely unlike her usual self, as she clawed at the ground. Her cry was so desperate that I instinctively took a step back. Seeing me, Jung Hayeon reached out with a pleading expression.
“D-Don’t go. Don’t leave me! Soohyun! Help me, Soohyun! Help me, pleeeease!”
Thump.
“Soohyun! Soohyun! Help me! Don’t go! Y-You said you wouldn’t abandon me!”
Thump. Thump-thump.
The moment I heard her desperate cries, I felt my heart pound in my chest. The Eternal Flame that always lay dormant in my heart stirred on its own, beginning to circulate fiercely through my body. It wasn't like the first time I’d obtained it—not like the process of forcibly opening my body or the heat that felt like my brain was melting. There was no immense pain like back then, but while my entire body felt like it was melting, the sensation that something inside me was about to burst subsided a little.
“Haaah.”
At last, I managed to let out a deep sigh. I calmly composed myself. The light flashed once more and my body staggered, but I quickly regained my balance and assessed the party’s condition. This was no time to stand by and watch. My mind, now governed by Mind’s Eye (Stillness), helped me evaluate the caravan’s state with composure.
“S-Sol. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for leaving you like that. Oppa is sorry. Somehow, I have to save you. I have to save our Sol, no matter what.”
“Oppa, Ahn Hyun, even Kim Hanbyul… they all received something, so why am I the only one like this? I don’t want to be abandoned. Why—why is it only me?! Oppa. Oppa? Don’t leave me… Please…”
“I-I don’t want to die. I-I-I want to live. I-I want to go back alive. Aaaaaaaah!”
Looking at Ahn Hyun, Lee Yoojung, and Shin Sangyong, I bit my lip. The subconscious thoughts they had suppressed deep in their hearts were bursting forth. And then….
“O-Orabeoni.”
At the sound of the call, I turned my head to see Ahn Sol with an expression unlike any I’d seen before. It seemed she had partially resisted at first, but she couldn’t hold out against the continuous spell, and now her eyes looked dazed. With an expression I could never have imagined on her face, Ahn Sol was slinking toward me.
“Ahn Sol.”
“I-I’m sorryyy. S-Sol is a really, reeeally bad girl. Always causing trouble, always being a burden to the unnis and oppas….”
“Sol. That’s not being bad at all. So snap out of it.”
“Reallyyy? No. A nuisance like me, a worthless thing like me… I’m always thinking about Orabeoni at night, about being held by Orabeoni. That’s right. I think about Orabeoni every single night. Hngh, but if Orabeoni found out about this side of me, you’d despise me for sure. So I have to hold it in. But I like Orabeoni so much. I want Orabeoni to keep touching me, and I want to smell you, curl up in your arms, and be spoiled. Because you, Orabeoni, are… Hmph.”
I immediately reached out and covered Ahn Sol’s mouth. But she didn’t look surprised in the slightest. Instead, she stuck out her tongue and began to lick my hand. I quickly pulled my hand away, and she looked at me with the eyes of a wounded puppy, her lips trembling.
Ahn Hyun and Shin Sangyong were in despair, while the female users, except for Ko Yeonju, were slowly approaching me. It meant that, whether I knew it or not, the women of the caravan relied on me, and that reliance was significant. I felt like I’d made a series of mistakes, but I decided to think about it later. Solving the problem at hand was more important than blaming myself for what had already happened.
Besides, I was only holding on thanks to my various abilities, the help of Eternal Flame, and my mental strength. I couldn’t guarantee how much longer I could last. If that was the case, there had to be a center to the magic circle somewhere—a core—and destroying it was the most urgent task. I activated Third Eye again and quickly scanned the entire clearing.
Thankfully, Third Eye performed its function to the fullest. After a swift but thorough analysis of the clearing, I immediately looked up at the ceiling. At that moment, I sensed the flashing light was about to pulse again. Without hesitation, I drew my sword and swung my right arm powerfully upward. I didn’t put any stance or magic into it, but with my Strength stat, I should be able to pierce the ceiling and deal some damage.
The sword flew with force, soaring in a straight line with enough momentum to tear through the air.
Thud! Clang!
“!”
It was just before the sword reached its target. A hazy film materialized just below the ceiling and easily deflected my sword’s thrust. Catching the sword as it fell limply, I let out a quiet curse. What the hell are you doing, Kim Soohyun?
The light flashed again, and I felt the unpleasant things I had suppressed in my mind begin to stir. There was no time to weigh my options. So, I drew upon a great amount of magic power and threw my sword into the air once more. I hadn’t wanted to use it until I met him, but I had no choice.
Fwoosh!
A clear flame wrapped around the airborne sword, which soon began to emit a soft glow. I drew on even more magic power, fueling the burgeoning flames. The fire climbed the blade, forming the shape of a greatsword, and then erupted into a massive, explosive conflagration (炎火). Once I felt it had grown large enough, I launched the sword into the air without delay. I had a bad feeling that if I took just a few more hits from that spell, I’d succumb as well.
Whoosh! Whooosh!
The blazing sword of flame shot upward in a straight line once more, letting out a harsh roar as it tore through the air. In response, the white barrier formed on the ceiling again. The tip of the sword and the white film collided violently, creating a massive boom.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
One side was trying desperately to break through; the other was trying desperately to push back. Watching the two clash without yielding an inch, I clenched my fists.
“Break through, please…!”
Perhaps my desperate prayer was answered. After a long power struggle, the stalemate ended as a large hole was torn through the barrier. The sword, with its remaining momentum, smoothly pierced the ceiling, and I felt a vibration so intense it seemed the entire cave would collapse.
*
Time passed. The cave, which had been shaking as if it would fall apart, gradually settled down, and the noise ceased. I gently raised my hand toward the air. Crumble. A few grains of dirt fell onto my head, and soon I saw the sword pull itself out of the ceiling. After retrieving the sword with Telekinesis, I used Third Eye to confirm the magic circle’s destruction. It seemed that for all its talk of being an ancient, top-tier spell, it was no match for the power of Eternal Flame. I could see that the core had been burned away without a trace.
However, even with the magic circle broken, the party members didn’t return to normal right away. They flinched for a moment, but it seemed it would take a little more time for their consciousness to resurface. Most of them were still in a subconscious state, but I could feel it gradually fading with time, which was a relief.
Jung Hayeon, the first to reveal her subconscious, was lying on the floor, sleeping soundly. I didn’t bother waking her. There was nothing better than sleep for transitioning between the conscious and subconscious mind.
Most of the party members were sleeping as part of their return to consciousness. However, the two users whose subconscious minds were still active were clinging to me relentlessly.
“Why won’t you touch meee? Hurry up and stroke my hair, and touch my cheeks. Or you can touch somewhere else, that’s fine toooo….”
“Hit me. Torment me. I want Kim Soohyun to spank my butt, slap slap. I’m begging you. Huh?”
“…Just go to sleep, please. I’m the one who should be begging. Okay?”
Today was a day of many discoveries and confirmations. I lowered my head with a bitter smile. The two of them were nestled in my arms, whining and fidgeting. Vivian was spouting ridiculous nonsense like, “How could you do this to me? You’re the one who made me this way,” while Ahn Sol’s subconscious was slowly returning to its place as she began nodding off.
It didn’t take long for their subconscious minds to recede. Ahn Sol’s eyelids closed, and her head fell onto my thigh first. Vivian, after chattering away, also leaned her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.
I wanted to sigh in relief, thinking it was over, but the shadow that once again fell over me told me it wasn’t. The shadow nudged the two women lying on me aside and then abruptly collapsed onto me. And only then did I remember the one user I had forgotten about.
The shadow clung to me like a child and spoke in a nasal voice.
“Heeey. Yeonju wants Orabeoni to touch her and spank her bottom, too.”
“……”
“What’s with that look of contempt?”
“……?”
“Tch.”
She made a snorting sound with a disappointed look on her face, then moved to rest her head on my thigh. The shadow was none other than Ko Yeonju. It had been a formidable spell, but perhaps because she was one of the Ten Strongest, she had managed to endure it somehow. Of course, the reddish imprint of her teeth was clearly visible on her lips.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Do I look okay? I couldn’t even move, I was just curled up. The feeling of my head being shaken around was disgusting. My god. I almost lost consciousness five times in the middle of it.”
The moment I spoke, Ko Yeonju began to grumble, pouring out her complaints as if she’d been waiting. Letting her rapid-fire words go in one ear and out the other, I gently raised my hand and covered her eyes. Ko Yeonju’s face was etched with extreme fatigue, and her clothes were soaked with sweat. Her own abilities were one thing, but I wanted to pay my respects to her inner strength; she had resisted the spell with sheer, incredible willpower.
“I’ll stand watch. It would be best for you to get some sleep for now. I’ll give you a detailed explanation after the others wake up.”
“Honestly, I’m more curious about how you were moving around inside that spell and managed to destroy the circle than… Mmph.”
“For now, sleep.”
I covered Ko Yeonju’s chattering lips with my hand and pressed down gently. I could feel her lips moving against my palm, but she soon gave up and calmly closed her eyes. Her relaxed breathing seemed to tickle my palm.
…
…….
……….
“…Urk.”
The moment I confirmed that everyone was asleep, I suddenly felt the urge to retch. The unpleasantness in my heart hadn’t disappeared; in fact, it had grown larger, and a tide of self-loathing washed over me. Was that it? Did I get caught in the end, too?
“What Year 10 User? What User who’s seen the end? Without Third Eye and Eternal Flame, I can’t do a damn thing. You stupid bastard.”
Muttering a self-deprecating monologue, I took out a cigarette to soothe the bitter taste rising in my throat. I wanted to forget this maddening sense of shame, even if just for a moment.
I lit the cigarette and took a drag. For a moment, I wished I could exhale everything churning inside me along with the smoke.