That's Why I Said Thank You
"That's why I said thank you. To a mage, it's an incredibly precious asset. This isn't ordinary knowledge. A magic system is something you couldn't trade for any treasure in the world."
"……I suppose that's true."
He had hesitated a little. In the end, though, he was going to tell her anyway, and that was why he had handed the magic system over now.
"Learn it properly. You'll be more than twice as strong as you are."
That, too, was an understatement. If Yenil truly mastered the magic he had just taught her, she could become a power no one would dare approach. She was already strong enough, but even her Ancient Magic had not yet climbed into the realm of the truly absurd, and she was clearly due for a new stimulus. No—stimulus wasn't quite right. A catalyst for growth fit better.
Things being what they were, he had to make Yenil a companion one way or another, even if he had to force it. The soul contract bound her for now, but that would not last forever.
Well… judging by how grateful she is, she'll probably stay.
There was nothing more hollow than raising someone into a powerhouse only to watch them walk off. All that work, and the dog gets the porridge.
"I will master it as quickly as I can, and strive to be of help to you in the near future."
"Take your time. I told you before, didn't I? Rush it and you'll choke."
"Understood. I shall take it slowly."
She listened well enough.
"Everyone rest a bit. Then we'll head to where Asilien is."
At Yujun's words, Paranet's head snapped up.
"Understood!"
"You wanted to go that badly?"
"……Y-yes. I did."
Paranet did seem more honest than before. Everyone already knew, so pretending otherwise would only have been stranger. Asilien's mansion wasn't far. He couldn't be sure she was still there, but given how badly she had wanted to see Paranet, the odds were high.
"Donghyeon. It's been a while."
"It hasn't even been a day. What brings you here?"
Ju Donghyeon's stiff manner of speaking was unchanged, and his face was still like a robot's. A pity, really. Still, Asilien had dragged him back from the brink of death, so perhaps it counted as a blessing amid the misfortune.
"Where did Asilien go?"
"She stepped out briefly on an errand. Once she learns you've come, she will return shortly. Would you wait a little?"
"I'll wait."
Five hours passed that way. Ju Donghyeon's face didn't so much as twitch.
"Dead?"
"I am alive."
"No. Not you, Donghyeon. Asilien."
"Please wait just a little longer."
"Fine."
Another two hours crawled by.
"This time she's actually dead, right?"
"No. She will be here soon."
"No. You."
"I am alive."
"When is Asilien coming? You can't give me an exact time?"
At that, Ju Donghyeon hesitated. He clearly had something to say and was weighing whether to say it.
"What is it? Speak."
"In truth, I did not intend to tell you this, but Lady Asilien went to meet the Demon God Worshippers."
"……And why are you telling me now?"
Yujun's face hardened.
"I thought nothing would come of it, but I have changed my mind. She said she would return, and there has been no word. Not now."
"……You should have said so from the start."
"I am sorry. Please help us."
"Even if you ask me to help……"
That was when it happened. An undead burst through the door.
"Shin Yujun! I need help!"
The manner of speech alone was enough. It wasn't Paranet.
"Who are you?"
"I am Lady Asilien's summon."
"……Oh. An undead summon?"
He had heard from the other Great Merchants that Asilien traveled with an undead. So this was the one. Set beside Paranet, its build was considerably slight—no, small enough that the comparison felt unfair.
"You said you needed help."
"Yes. My master is in danger."
"I had a feeling…… What's the situation, exactly?"
"She was taken. They said she betrayed the Cult."
"……Who ratted her out?"
"I do not know. The higher-ups acted as if they had known all along and seized my master. I came to request aid at her bidding."
"A message? She never sent me one."
"My master cannot use her hands at present. She is bound. I am receiving the situation through mental communion. It is not critically urgent yet, but disaster may strike before long."
"Where is Asilien now?"
"I will guide you."
"All right."
Even if Asilien had never known Paranet, Yujun would still have gone to save her. She was the foremost Great Merchant of the Heaven Market, and the matter was tied to the Demon God Worshippers. The enemy of his enemy was his ally—which meant an enemy of the Demon God Worshippers was no different from one of his own. There was a fair amount of time before the banquet at Sky Castle. No, a great deal of time. The timing could not have been better.
"Let's go. Now."
"Yes."
The undead was so frantic it shot off like a streak of light. Not so fast that he would lose it, though. Yujun caught up at once, and Yenil, Manuela, and Paranet followed on his heels. The two mages and the Death Knight, with his overwhelming physique, kept pace without falling behind.
"Which way? Is there a branch?"
"Not a branch. More of a secret rendezvous point."
"A secret rendezvous? What are they meeting for?"
"It is obvious. Joining hands with the head of some vast organization, or buying people off with money. Sly work, but usually on a considerable scale."
"So they do every dirty job there is."
"Yes. I am told they use the rendezvous point when bringing in slaves as well."
"Slaves? What do they want those for?"
"To use as test subjects, most likely."
"Figures. They're the sort who traffic people without a second thought……"
The Demon God Worshippers' atrocities were surely far worse than anything Yujun knew. He had only ever seen them die, so he had almost never laid eyes on the victims they left behind. Their infamy had grown a great deal in public, but what players actually knew of the Demon God Worshipper Cult was barely a drop in the bucket.
Even if I can't stop the Demon God's descent itself, I have to wipe out the Demon God Worshippers as thoroughly as I can.
They committed inhuman acts, and it was obvious they would interfere with everything he did. Negotiating with them was out of the question.
Losing Asilien to the Demon God Worshippers would be far too great a loss.
Her power of resurrection could become a tremendous asset at any time. Through Paranet, he was certain he could secure her help.
"Is it far?"
"We will have to go a ways."
"How long at this speed?"
"About two and a half hours……"
"That's too long. This won't do. Paranet."
"Yes."
"Spatial teleport. I'm counting on you."
"The coordinates?"
"It's east, and they said two and a half hours at this speed…… I'll call out coordinates for a suitable spot."
The range of Yujun's senses defied imagination. He could roughly gauge the place Asilien's summon had described, and so he gave Paranet coordinates that would not be dangerous even if they warped there.
"Departing!"
Paranet's eyes were resolute. He had reason to be. His old lover was in the hands of vicious brutes, and if anyone here was filled with the will to kill the Demon God Worshippers, it was Paranet more than Yujun. Had Yujun refused to go after Asilien, the blow to him would have been severe.
I can't stand to watch him sink into gloom. I have to save her.
The moment Paranet heard the coordinates, he cast his spatial teleportation. They arrived safely where Yujun had intended, and Yujun spoke.
"I know it's urgent, but we can't afford mistakes. Spatial teleportation is a fine ability, but the risk if it fails is enormous."
"Yes. Of course."
He had never seen it himself, but there were cases of a botched teleport warping someone straight through a sharp structure, the body pierced clean through. There was no catastrophe quite like that one.
"Over there?"
"Pardon? Master. All I see is an empty plain."
"There's a staircase underneath, leading underground."
"I do not see that either."
"You can't see it because you're only trying to look with your eyes. Oh—wait. What do you even see with? You don't have eyeballs."
"Heh heh. We undead draw upon the power of black magic, do we not? By that reasoning, are you not aware that an undead's very existence fails to hold?"
"Fair. Magic itself was already nonsense by my common sense."
"We have no time for this. Let us go and rescue her at once."
Paranet said as much. Yujun understood exactly how he felt, so he nodded and kicked off the ground. He, too, was growing impatient. Paranet's emotions were pouring into him with fierce intensity. On the surface the Death Knight pretended he was unshaken, but deep in his chest a vortex of feeling was raging. For that fool's sake alone, Yujun moved as fast as he could.
He found the rusted stairs, then spread his mana through the interior and searched. In an instant the mana swept the whole of it and sent the information straight to his brain.
Is Asilien in there too? I can't sense her.
Searching with mana did not mean he could know with complete certainty. A faint trace of Asilien's presence lingered, but that was all. She did not seem to be inside.
Still, if I want a trail, I'll have to go in.
Yujun set his foot on the stairs without hesitation.
"I'll go in first. Just in case, follow four paces behind."
"Yes."
"Got it."
He descended into a space dark as pitch that greeted the party, but to Yujun—more than superhuman—darkness was no obstacle.
"Wait. Everyone, out!"
Yujun spun and shouted, unlike himself. Seeing the urgency on his face, Paranet reacted fastest of all, seized Manuela and Yenil, and cast spatial teleportation.
Vmmm—. Vwoooom!
Asilien's summon and Yujun alone warped somewhere else.
Paranet did well.
Yujun felt a measure of relief. There had been no time for Paranet to take him as well, and above all, he had judged that he himself would survive no matter what happened. The problem was that he had no idea where this was. One thing, however, was certain. The place was dangerous enough to fill him with tremendous unease.
Yujun looked around. Asilien's summon stood there looking dazed, and sheer cliffs rose with no end in sight. It was not quite a gorge of breathtaking scenery. It simply felt like a place walled in by cliffs.
Where in the world is this?
Had a place like this existed in Heaven?
When you end up somewhere like this, the first thing to find is a way out.
Out of habit, Yujun looked for the seam first. It was the ability that served him best at times like these.