Chapter 300
Chapter 300
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 300
Chapter Title: Sky Mountain Range (6)
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“Fire.”
A flame like a firefly formed at the tip of the cigarette.
She flicked the cigarette held between her middle fingers, sending it flying forward.
“Burn.”
*Fwoooosh!*
The flame spread out like a fan, becoming a raging storm that swept through the area.
Horrific screams echoed from all directions.
The acrid smoke from burning flesh mixed with the hazy fog.
“Kiiieeeek!”
A spider monster burst through the flames and charged toward Ha-eun.
Oh-jin and Riak, who were waiting by her side, blocked the swarming spider monsters.
A spear and claws, both wreathed in blue lightning, tore the spider monsters apart.
“Both of you, please step back for a moment.”
Isabella, who had been moving around and scattering her blood, said to Riak and Oh-jin.
Oh-jin and Riak, who had been at the forefront wiping out the spider monsters, nodded and retreated.
“Bloom.”
From the drops of blood on the ground, red flowers blossomed.
The petals of the blooming blood flowers scattered wide, like cherry blossoms in the wind.
“Kiiik! Kieeeek!”
The bodies of the spider monsters that touched the petals withered like mummies and crumbled to dust.
A quiet stillness descended upon the area the blood flowers had swept through.
“Is that all of them?”
Ha-eun, about to take out a cigarette, looked around.
Just then.
From among the withered corpses of the spider monsters, a single survivor leaped toward her.
“Grrrrr!”
Poppy jumped and swatted the spider monster down with its front paw, as if squashing a cockroach.
*Splat.*
An unpleasant green fluid burst from the spider monster’s body.
Oh-jin patted Poppy’s back and glared at Ha-eun.
“The last one only showed up because you said that, sis.”
“Hey, how is that my fault?”
“It is your fault.”
She had practically chanted a resurrection spell.
“More importantly, this is the worst.”
Ha-eun looked down at the corpses of the spider monsters covering the area and put a cigarette in her mouth.
They were numerous, but not particularly difficult to deal with.
The problem was that this was only the entrance to the Sky Mountain Range.
“Shouldn't we really turn back?”
If this was happening at the very entrance, just imagining how many monsters they would be pestered by deeper inside made her head spin.
“I’d like to, but it would take too much time.”
They had already wasted several days just getting to the Sky Mountain Range.
To go back the way they came and detour around the mountains would take an unknown amount of time, even with Poppy.
“Come to think of it, Mr. Oh-jin, don’t you have a skill that lets you fly?”
Was she talking about Lightning Step?
“It’s a bit different from flying. But even if I used it, crossing the mountain range would be difficult.”
In the first place, Lightning Step was a skill best used for securing a free position in combat or making movements that defied the laws of physics, not as a means of transportation.
After using Lightning Step a few times, like skipping a stone on water, he would just plummet.
It would be even more difficult to use for travel if he had to carry Ha-eun and Isabella.
[I would not recommend using Lightning Step either.]
Vega frowned, looking at the dense fog that surrounded them.
[This fog was not formed naturally.]
True.
It wouldn’t make sense for a fog that dulls the senses to be a natural phenomenon.
“Then?”
[There may be a power hidden here, strong enough to distort natural phenomena like a Dragon Vein.]
A Dragon Vein.
[The important thing is that if you try to fly over the mountains, you risk getting caught up in that power.]
“So, our only options are to either go all the way back or push through on foot.”
The choice was already made.
“Let’s go.”
“Ugh… these damn spiders are so gross.”
Ha-eun grumbled with a frown but followed close behind Oh-jin.
“Grrr!”
Poppy lowered its body as if telling them to climb on its back.
Oh-jin stroked Poppy’s head and shook his.
“We’ll walk from here.”
“Gr-grrr?”
Did it think he was telling it to stay behind?
Poppy’s round eyes welled up with tears.
Oh-jin chuckled and tickled Poppy under the chin.
“You can follow carefully from behind, right?”
“Grrr! Grrrr!”
Poppy’s eyes sparkled as it backed away.
“I shall take the lead.”
Riak stepped forward.
Even if the dense fog dulled their senses, having Riak—with his excellent basic senses and swift movements—take the lead was the most efficient.
“Oh, right. Everyone, gather around for a second before we leave.”
Oh-jin pulled a long wire from the wire shooter on his forearm.
“Let’s connect ourselves with this.”
“Ah, it’s a method often used by mountaineers.”
“Yeah. This way, we should be fine even if we get separated by some distance.”
“Hmm. But I’d rather stick close to you, Mr. Oh-jin.”
Isabella wrapped the wire around both her and Oh-jin’s bodies with a playful smile.
“Isabella.”
“Hehe. Just kidding.”
Isabella stuck her tongue out cutely and properly reconnected the wire.
Thus, tied together with the wire, Oh-jin’s party ventured into the Sky Mountain Range.
“……”
“……”
They all moved forward cautiously, their faces tense with anxiety.
The deeper they went into the Sky Mountain Range, the thicker the surrounding fog became.
“I’m going crazy not being able to see anything.”
Just as Ha-eun said, the lack of visibility created an immense pressure and tension.
After walking like that for several hours.
“Shall we take a short break?”
With their stamina, Oh-jin’s party didn’t necessarily need a break after just a few hours of walking.
But the constant state of tension due to the fog was quickly draining their energy.
“Yeah. Let’s eat something while we rest.”
Oh-jin took out ingredients from his backpack.
“I’ll do the cooking.”
“Then I’ll set up some alarms around us.”
The alarms were simple devices—just wires strung between trees with bells attached—but they were much better than nothing.
After setting up the alarms, Oh-jin ate the food prepared by Ha-eun and Isabella.
“Haaah~! I feel so much better with something in my stomach!”
Ha-eun stretched her legs out and yawned.
“Oh-jiiin~”
Her tension seemed to ease once her stomach was full, and she sidled up to Oh-jin.
Before he could stop her, Ha-eun laid her head on his thigh and curled up like a cat.
“Your sis is tired, so I’m gonna take a nap. Wake me up in twenty minutes.”
“…You can sleep in a situation like this?”
“A person’s gotta sleep to live, man.”
In a way, he was envious of her carefree personality.
He sighed and stroked the head of Ha-eun, who was rubbing her cheek against him like an affectionate cat.
Speaking of cats.
“Isabella, do you know anything about the Cat Constellation?”
“The Cat Constellation?”
“Yeah. You said before that you knew its Executor.”
“Ah, yes. I did.”
Isabella nodded and continued.
“I don’t know much about the Black Star Constellations either. Unlike the other Constellations, you can’t meet them in the Sanctuary.”
“That’s true.”
Even if it were possible, very few Awakeners would go to the Sanctuary to meet an actual Constellation.
It wasn't like Constellations were friends you could meet casually.
“Oh, but I have heard that they are very jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“Yes. Most of the Cat Constellation’s Awakeners tend to be very jealous, and they say it’s because of the Constellation’s influence.”
It was quite common for Awakeners to be influenced by the personality or certain traits of the Constellation that granted them their Stigma.
Isabella’s struggle with her vampiric urges was also due to the influence of her Stigma.
“Strongly jealous, huh.”
After a moment of thought, Oh-jin turned his head toward Vega.
“Vega, have you ever met the Cat Constellation?”
[I have not. I have spent most of my time in my temple.]
Right.
Even among the individualistic Constellations, Vega was a loner.
There was no way she would be acquainted with the Cat Constellation, who was banished from the Sanctuary in the distant past and demoted to a ‘Satellite.’
“Come to think of it, why were the Constellations once called Satellites banished from the Sanctuary?”
[There were various reasons. Their personalities were too savage, they caused major conflicts with other Constellations, or their Stigmas themselves had significant problems, like vampiric urges.]
He had a good idea who the Constellation banished for vampiric urges was.
[I only know what I have been told, so I do not know the details, but those were the reasons.]
“…You really weren’t close with the other Constellations, were you?”
Sometimes when they talked, he doubted if Vega was even a Constellation, given how little she knew.
[I-I do have a Constellation I can call a friend!]
“Oh, I know about Spica… who else is there?”
[Th-that is…!]
Vega’s shoulders slumped as she hung her head.
It seemed he’d asked too harsh a question for a loner.
“Mr. Oh-jin. You shouldn’t say things like that.”
“Sorry, Vega. I really didn’t know you didn’t have any friends besides Spica.”
[B-be quiet!]
When he offered his sincere consolation, Vega’s face turned red as she shouted.
[I was merely doing my best to fulfill my responsibilities and duties as a Constellation!]
Of course, of course.
Our goddess could make friends whenever she wanted if she just put her mind to it.
It wasn't that she couldn't make them, she just chose not to.
[Do not look at me with those eyes!]
*Smack!*
Vega’s palm struck Oh-jin’s forehead.
Oh-jin burst out laughing and nodded.
“Alright, shall we get going again….”
*Tinkle.*
A faint bell sound reached his ears.
Oh-jin drew Dantalian from his waist and quickly got to his feet.
“Aack!”
Ha-eun, who had been lying on his thigh, screamed as she tumbled to the ground.
“It’s that way.”
“Yes.”
Oh-jin and Isabella turned in the direction the sound came from.
To hear the bell through the sense-dulling fog meant that whatever it was, it was close.
As he circulated mana throughout his body and prepared for an attack.
“Meow.”
From beyond the fog, a black cat strolled out gracefully.
“A cat?”
The cat that emerged from the fog licked its fur with its tongue and swayed its tail.
For a moment, its movements were so cute that his guard almost dropped.
“…Kid.”
“I know.”
There was no way a cat would be in the Sky Mountain Range, a place known as a ‘Forbidden’ zone even within the demon realms.
*Crackle!*
As he wreathed the tip of his spear in lightning, the cat, which had been licking its fur, turned its gaze to Oh-jin.
“Who are mew?”
“…Huh?”
Fluent words flowed from the cat’s mouth.