Chapter 236
Chapter 236
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 236
Chapter Title: Deep Valley's Abyss, Erebos
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Elfride watched from a distance, her expression sour, as I massaged Antiope's and Hippolyte's hands.
Her mind and body must have been exhausted too. A hand massage should help perk her up a bit.
After all, she was the type who loved massages so much she'd mercilessly order me to knead her back and waist all day long.
Maybe she couldn't stand being left out during an opportunity like this.
Even so, I pretended not to notice and asked anyway.
"Why, you need one too?"
"...No."
Just as I'd expected, she responded coldly. Her pride probably wouldn't let her ask for one, even if it killed her.
I considered ignoring her, but then I realized that in order to escape this situation, the firepower from Elfride—a fire mage—was crucial.
If the torches went out, we'd have no choice but to rely on her flames.
So it would be best to keep her condition as high and stable as possible.
It didn't exactly thrill me, but I figured I should set aside personal feelings for the greater good.
"Hey, give me your hand."
"..."
Elfride just glared at me silently.
Spoiled brat.
If she wasn't going to cooperate even after I'd swallowed my pride and extended an olive branch, there was nothing more I could do.
Just as I thought, *Some things about Elfride never change*, and started to pull my hand back—
Swish.
Right when my patience was at its limit, Elfride finally extended her hand to me.
It caught me so off guard that my eyebrows shot up, and at the same time, I felt like smacking the gloved palm she offered.
"You need to take the glove off for a massage."
"Then you take it off for me."
"Fine, whatever."
As if I'd back down from that. I'm not the same guy I was back then—I've got more experience now.
Swish.
I grabbed the tip of the middle finger on her glove and tugged firmly.
Just like pulling a blanket off, Elfride's pale white hand emerged into my palm.
In this darkness, her hand seemed to emit a faint glow it was so white. Her nails were neatly trimmed, her skin soft without a single callus.
But for a fire mage, it was unbelievably cool and cold to the touch.
Her hands and feet were always like ice blocks—poor circulation, apparently—and that hadn't changed.
Familiar palm lines.
Familiar chill.
As I rubbed them, memories from long ago surfaced unbidden.
Like the first time I'd massaged her hand, or the time I'd pressed too hard cluelessly and gotten a flick on the forehead.
It had been my first time touching a woman's hand—not a sister or mother's. I'd been pretty nervous and shaky.
Even now, a woman's hand felt awkward and tense-inducing, but to me, Elfride's hand wasn't a woman's hand anymore. It was just... Elfride's hand.
I'd touched it so many times it was familiar.
I could do it blindfolded, knowing exactly where and how to massage to make her like it.
"What're you doing, just sitting there?"
"Quiet."
I slid my thumbs up the inner palm of her hand.
From what I remembered, Elfride preferred this stroking motion over hard presses—gently pushing the skin to stimulate blood flow and energy beneath.
It would warm up her icy hands and feet a little.
Sloooowly—
"..."
Sloooowly.
"..."
Sloooowly—
"...Ngh."
Unable to hold back amid the ongoing stimulation, a faint moan slipped from Elfride's tightly pressed lips.
I kept stroking her palm and rubbed her wrist with my thumbs for good measure.
Sliiiide, sliiiide—wherever my thumbs touched, the pale skin flushed red and began emitting a subtle warmth. It was fascinating.
So I went all in, rubbing between her fingers, the back of her hand, every nook and cranny without missing a spot.
It felt more like licking with my fingers than rubbing, honestly.
But as I worked up the heat, Elfride suddenly slipped her hand from mine.
According to my memory, she'd let a massage go on for at least an hour without batting an eye. Not even five minutes in, and she was tapping out? Mid-massage?
"...That's enough."
"Alright then."
"Um—"
Elfride's lips parted as if to say something to me—
"No, never mind."
Then she clamped them shut again.
After that, neither of us spoke for a while.
No need to.
*
*
*
Whether it was the effect of my massage or because Hippolyte and Antiope decided they couldn't afford to dawdle any longer, our pace was unobstructed.
Gehak—!
The stray monsters that appeared were all pulverized to dust by Hippolyte's and Antiope's sword auras and spear tips.
"Keep your eyes on the ground. We can't miss even the smallest clue. That's how we'll escape the abyss."
"Look over there, sis—something's there?"
As we pressed on, we spotted something enormous on the floor.
"What is this? Samarian, what do you think it looks like?"
I couldn't help furrowing my brow at Hippolyte's question. What did it look like?
"Looks like a feather. A fucking huge one."
"A feather, huh."
Fearless as ever, Hippolyte reached out to touch the several-foot-long feather on the ground.
"A feather this size... I wonder how big the bird must be. Could it be the thing summoned from that magic circle earlier—a giant bird?"
Imagining a massive bird shedding feathers this big at Hippolyte's speculation sent chills down my spine. Fucking terrifying.
But as we ventured further into the darkness, I had to admit my imagination was off.
The first thing we saw was a massive wall-like structure.
A barrier appearing out of nowhere in this empty void of darkness.
We couldn't help but be stunned by its sudden emergence.
"Hey, you—mage. Shine some light up top. There might be a way to climb over."
Whoosh—
At Antiope's suggestion, Elfride formed a fireball at the tip of her wand.
"Feast of Flames—"
I'd seen this before.
It was like a flare Elfride used to light up dark areas—a spell that shot high, exploded, and illuminated the surroundings for a dozen seconds or so.
Fweeeeeen.
Finally, a flare launched from Elfride's wand tip rocketed up toward the cliff's heights.
Bang—!
When it burst with a loud crack, bathing everything in bright light, we all froze, speechless.
What we'd mistaken for a cliff was a gigantic chair.
One at least thirty meters tall.
And seated on it, bound in chains, was something unimaginably enormous.
Humanoid in form. But its skin was flayed, exposing horrific red muscle, crudely covered in sheets of iron armor.
Behind its massive body loomed equally massive wings, sparse and ragged with missing feathers, looking utterly menacing.
A colossal angel.
That was my first impression.
"What... is this? A Titan sealed in Erebos...?"
"Sis, doesn't look like it. Titans are locked in Tartarus, not Erebos."
Antiope and Hippolyte seemed clueless about the thing's identity too.
One thing was certain, though: whatever it was, getting tangled with it spelled trouble.
Good thing it was asleep. If it woke and rampaged, it'd be apocalyptic.
Fucking unreal sense of scale.
This was crossing a line.
As I scanned the colossal form with fear-filled eyes, I noticed something odd. Between its legs, at the base of the chair—something was there.
Rustle—
But just as I tried to get a closer look, Elfride's flare faded out. No choice but to check it out up close.
"Where do you think you're going, Samarian?"
"Over there—something's there. Between its legs, it sparkled."
"Hold on."
As I moved toward it, Hippolyte stopped me. Doubting my rambling explanation, she pressed her palm to my forehead.
Then she even shone the torch into my eyes, checking back and forth.
"Your mind seems fine. But you're talking weird."
Damn, I'd never been great with words, but to get misunderstood like this?
"Anyway, something weird was there. I'm sure I saw it."
Whether my persuasion worked or not, we headed toward the monster's leg area.
Arriving at the center of the massive chair, where its legs were bound like pillars, we discovered letters glimmering with an eerie light.
Glowing letters.
No—up close, they were glowbugs-like insects. Bugs with spotted patterns emitting light, clustered at precise intervals to form letters.
Dimensional Gate
Dimensional Gate?
What the hell?
Right then, Elfride's face lit up.
"This—this is Edwin's mark. Dimensional Gate. Edwin must've opened one somewhere on this wall."
"Dimensional Gate?"
Antiope reacted to the term.
"The ritual that twists between magic circles to open a door? Your party member could use that? Even the knight order only has one guy who can."
"Edwin was a court scholar. Anyway, there must be a ritual circle around here. They definitely went through it to somewhere else."
Hippolyte chimed in too.
"Alright, let's search the area. What does a Dimensional Gate circle look like?"
"It'll glow if you touch it with your palm."
"Guess we'll invest some time. Still, big find."
Having discovered a lead in this darkness, the party's moods brightened. See? My eyes didn't lie.
As I scanned the chair's wall in that triumphant mood, I noticed letters engraved into the surface with an eerie feel.
This the Dimensional Gate?
But it didn't look like a magic circle or ritual trace—just plain letters.
Guardian of Karma, Gnosis Augeias—and 3 others. Here sealed the otherworldly monster Nephilim. Third failure. Abyss record expunged—
The rest was illegible, the letters too smudged.
"Antiope, see anything?"
"Nope."
"This is taking time. Mage, can you use that lighting spell again to brighten things up?"
"No problem."
Whoosh, whoooosh—
The flames reignited and shot upward before bursting with a pop.
But as I watched, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Flash.
The behemoth on the chair's eyes gleamed red. Hadn't they been closed before?
Shit, we're screwed.
Rumble, clank—
The chains and armor binding it screeched deafeningly.
I realized it was awakening from sleep or its seal to attack us.
Grooooarrr...!!
It parted its jaws like a crab's, revealing layers of razor-sharp teeth in a double maw.
Utterly grotesque.
Clang, clank—
It even wrenched free the chains wrapped around its body.
Raaaaagh—!!
A giant at least fifty meters tall looming over us, screaming.
So loud it made the previous silence feel nostalgic.
"Hey, mage! You woke it up! Apologize to the poor thing quick! Why wake a sleeping giant!"
"You wanna argue now? Are you nuts? Run or take it down!"
Fwoooosh—!
Then it unfurled its back wings wide.
Already huge, with wings spread, it felt like a massive apartment building glaring down, sending chills up my spine.
"No choice—gotta take it down!"
"Sis, I'll handle the right! Mage, prep a big one!"
"You think I need telling?"
But Hippolyte, Antiope, and Elfride seemed ready to fight it. Could humans even battle an apartment?
Part of me admired where that confidence came from.
RAAAAAARGH—!!!
The mystery colossal beast bellowed ear-shatteringly, then slammed its wings down and leaped skyward.
Fwoooooosh—
In one flap.
The resulting gale was typhoon-force, like being an ant in a storm.
I braced my legs and clenched my teeth to avoid getting swept, but the terrifying wind was undeniable.
"...Gone? Did it leave? Flew up."
Hippolyte steadied herself and looked skyward.
Antiope grumbled like she'd been wronged.
"Argh, shoulda tied a rope to its leg. We could've climbed up with it!"
What? Damn, I got scared for nothing.
Is it over?
But that hopeful thought was dashed as my nape prickled.
"...I-It's coming...!"
"Coming? Samarian, what's coming?"
"Shit, it's coming back from above! Coming again!"
"What are you—"
"It's coming back, fuck!"
"Believe Hassan right now! The guy's got good instincts!"
Elfride, trusting me, shed her regained composure, lowered her stance, and readied for action.
Her attitude reignited their vigilance—Hippolyte and Antiope gripped their weapons.
As we tensed—
BOOM—!
Something hurtled toward us like a shot. More like a missile.
The impact of its massive bulk slamming the ground unleashed a shockwave and wind blast beyond the previous flap.
"Grraaah—!!"
A storm that tore screams from us involuntarily.
As it cleared and my dark-adapted eyes focused, I saw the monster holding a gigantic streetlamp-like thing.
Streetlamp.
Even described, it was bizarre.
A staff-like object in its grip flickered with eerie blue light—nothing else fit "streetlamp."
Its length matched the beast's size, making it all the more hideous.
"It wasn't fleeing—it went to grab its weapon! Sis, we have to fight!"
[Author's Note] Two more parts coming...