Chapter 5. Conviction and Reality (7)

"Okay. Got it."

In this kind of situation, Ria accepted what I said far too easily.

And at that one word, my mind stopped for a moment.

"Uh, you got it?"

"Yeah. You said we have to go stop it, right?"

With that, Ria swung herself back onto the motorcycle.

"In a place with that much Mana—"

"I know. The equipment could malfunction. It's fine. At least one way should be okay. This thing was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠built for that purpose in the first place. It's shielded by Mana to some extent."

But coming back would be impossible.

In the current situation, the electronic circuits might still hold out, and as Ria said, they could hold out long enough to get there—but near that thing, the circuits would definitely break down.

Think of it as shoving electronics into a place with intense radiation. It depends on the shielding, but if the radiation is too intense, the electronic circuits won't hold up and will just click off.

"......."

I stared blankly at Ria for a moment.

Right. I did say it. That we had to stop it.

But even though I was the one who said that, I didn't actually know very much.

I still did not know what kind of being that thing was, or how it had detected Holy Power and tracked down a Saintess. I had only read up to the beginning of that episode, after all.

But even if I did know, could I have told Ria?

No, more than that—right now, I hadn't said any of that at all.

It was the kind of thing people in this world might question. They might think it would be fine to just block the Gate, or that it hadn't even reached here yet in the first place.

It was as if she believed every single word I said, completely.

"What are you doing? Get on. Wasn't this urgent?"

"It is urgent, but."

If we just left it alone, it would definitely cause problems. That Mana Mass would keep growing over time, and eventually become a huge headache.

Ria looked at me quietly, then spoke.

"Why, don't you trust me?"

"No, that's not it—"

"How much do you trust me?"

"......."

An answer didn't come right away.

I...... believe that Ria would willingly save my life. In any situation.

But that wasn't because I knew Ria that deeply. Over the time we'd spent together, I had learned that she was a good person, but that wasn't the basis for my judgment.

I know the character 'Lee Chae-eun.'

Because I read the novel.

Lee Chae-eun, despite pretending otherwise, was ultimately a selfless person. Someone who could stake her life for a friend.

That probably ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠applied to me too.

Ria, who had never actually read any novel, seemed to trust me completely. We had spent the same amount of time together, yet Ria understood me that thoroughly.

That fact was a little confusing.

"Hold on."

So instead of answering, I gathered Holy Power into my hand.

I hurled the gathered crystal at the ground with all my strength and shattered it. The broken crystal was literally a pure Mass of Holy Power. The color of the ground beneath us changed in an instant.

"With this, at least your lives won't be eaten away while you're inside this area."

"Wait."

Lee Si-yoon stepped forward and spoke.

"The other Hunters—you're telling them to stay here?"

"What about that Mana Mass? Are there any Magical Creatures or anything else around it?"

"......No. I don't see any at all."

Glaria spoke, and Han Yu-ri beside her nodded.

"In places saturated with Mana, neither Magical Creatures nor ordinary living things can survive......."

No, that wasn't true.

There were things that appeared ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only when a Mana Mass was present.

But, at least, for now it was fine. Maybe because this was still the early part of the story, the mass seemed to be just a mass.

I closed my eyes again.

Maybe because I had already summoned Holy Power with all my strength once, this time I could do it with a little more finesse.

Like dry ice left at room temperature, white vapor overflowed around my hand.

I climbed onto the back of the motorcycle Ria was on.

And then I placed my hand on Ria's back.

"I felt this last time too."

Ria glanced back at me and said,

"Holy Power—it's warm."

*

Ria understood my words about it being urgent very, very well.

No matter how much the motorcycle could hover, it wasn't an aircraft. I wasn't sure exactly how high it could go, but—

"......!"

I couldn't even scream.

The motorcycle skimmed over the tops of fairly tall trees. The branches flashing past below us grew darker the farther we went, until eventually only bare branches remained, and finally nothing was left but crumbling traces of trees.

"If the circuits are going to burn out anyway! Might as well go as fast as possible, right!?"

"Eek."

I opened my mouth to say something, but only a scream came out, so I quickly shut it.

Instead, I tightened my arms around her waist and buried my face against her back. Honestly, this was embarrassing too, but safety comes first, doesn't it?

Besides, Ria was right. If we couldn't make a round trip anyway, at least going fast was better. Rather than weaving back and forth between the trees, if we could just fly over them entirely, that would do it.

Heat was rising from the motorcycle and its vibrations were growing stronger, but I decided to ignore that for now.

"......I see it!"

At Ria's words, I barely managed to open my eyes.

And I stuck my head out to the side and looked ahead.

It was, quite literally, a giant Mana Mass.

That was the early-stage form. It could be classified by the word 'giant.'

As time passed, however, the Mana would condense into something smaller, like a star at the end of its life. It would become a single “core” and turn into a giant Magical Creature.

"Th-this motorcycle, how high can it go!?"

I forced out my voice and shouted, but Ria didn't answer for a moment.

Instead, she lifted her head and looked at the sky.

As if she were gauging something.

"Hey, you. How much do you trust me?"

Ria asked.

She didn't shout it loudly. Just the same casual tone as always, like she was asking me something in passing.

But strangely, that voice reached my ears clearly.

I didn't know why she was asking that in this situation, but—

"......At least enough to keep you as a knight I'd entrust my life to."

In the end, I answered like that.

"Yeah?"

Ria let out a small laugh—

And took her hands off the motorcycle's handlebars.

My mouth fell open.

But I couldn't say anything like "What are you doing?"

Ria drew her sword from where it was wedged beneath the shuddering handlebars—

By the time I realized what had happened, the two of us were already flying through the sky.

To be precise, it was closer to Ria kicking off the motorcycle and leaping upward. With one arm hooked around my waist, and a sword in her other hand.

I couldn't even scream properly.

For a moment, I couldn't hear the sounds around me. In the ears of the two of us who had leaped high, there was only the sound of the wind.

"Don't worry. I can handle Mana to some extent too—well, in a place like this, it's actually easier."

Ria said that as she leaped up, and up.

Ah, right. Of course.

That was the kind of character Lee Chae-eun was. Well, to fight monsters, you would have to be capable of at least this much.

I clenched my teeth and looked down.

Crystallized Holy Power was already in my hand. Light from the sky shone down on us. The sight of a single beam descending from the gloomy sky, perhaps darkened by the influence of Mana, was almost mythic.

And as if that light were guiding where we were going.

It illuminated the Mana Mass below.

A giant black sphere floating in the air.

Thick black Mana dripped down the surface of the sphere.

The Mana Mass spun around and then “looked” at us.

"Whoa."

Ria said, sounding a little creeped out.

Something like a giant eye floating in midair was staring straight at us.

No, probably, at me.

"......."

I raised my hand.

The Mana Mass shuddered once, as though I were some dangerous contaminant, then raised what looked like copies of itself around it.

They were not that large—barely visible from here, probably Mana Masses about the size of a person's head.

But those were dangerous, just as the tiny Holy Power Crystal in my hand held power incomparably greater than ordinary Holy Power.

Black vines grew from that sphere of Mana at a speed no real vine could match.

Exactly like the vine from the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk.

"......Huh."

That attack method was exactly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same as in the novel, too.

So it comes to this, after all.

I—hurled the crystal in my hand with all my strength.

Even the sound of the wind brushing past our ears stopped for a moment.

Like a single tiny droplet falling, that shining point split apart the giant vine that had been flying toward us to pierce through us.

"Wow."

I heard Ria's voice, purely admiring.

But it wasn't over yet.

I closed my eyes once more. And I thought of the being that had sent me here. I didn't know what it looked like, or what kind of bastard it was—but, well, fine.

Becoming a Saintess—I did not want that.

Believing in God—I don't want that either.

But just because I don't want to, I can't give up all of that.

.......

No, well, I thought it would be fine if I just ran away first, but seeing how that bastard is acting, that's probably not the case.

There has to be at least minimal plausibility for me being here.

Honestly, it would have been easier if it had set up someone who could believe in it a little more.

Light shone from the sky, toward me.

I thought.

Fine, I get it.

This round of the power struggle—it's your win.

......But next time, I have no intention of letting you win.

"Ria."

"Yeah."

"Let's go."

"Do you need my sword?"

"It would be good. Please cut as big as you can."

I turned my head and looked at Ria.

Had we jumped too high? For just a moment, it felt like Ria and I were alone together in the sky.

Hm.

This is a little, embarrassing.

I thought that belatedly.

Ria looked at me like that and grinned.

"You said you trust me, right?"

A slightly playful smile.

Ah, uh—

Before I could say something like, “Then please take us down a little more slowly,” Ria had already cut off the Mana.

This time too—I couldn't scream.

Only.

Someone far away beyond the sky once again shone light toward me.

I could see the Mana Mass looking up at us. My eyes met it—or, strictly speaking, the thing was basically nothing but an eye.

The pupil, torn vertically, reminded me of a villain from some fantasy movie I'd seen before.

Into that eye, Ria's sword drove itself.

Ria's sword, filled with Holy Power and even bathed in the light shining toward me, glittered brightly.

That sword of light split the Mana Mass far too easily.

A scream that no human voice could imitate rang out, and the center of the pupil tore straight open.

"......Seriously."

I really don't like this.

I directed just a tiny bit of resentment toward the Being Above—

And pushed the Holy Power Crystal inside.

What I saw next was a bright light.

A bright light that purified everything.

The kind that made me understand why people called it 'holy light' when they saw it.

"......Ah."

The strength drained slightly from my body, and as I started to fall backward, someone behind me caught me lightly.

Of course, what I saw was a girl with short red hair.

Smiling at me with a slightly complicated-looking smile.

......Ah, still.

This position is, a little, embarrassing—

—Well, I didn't have the chance to say that out loud.