Chapter 216
Chapter 216
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: Traces Left by the Disaster (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Raniel had a few specialties.
Among them was one that suited a mage about as well as a fish on dry land—a crude skill she'd picked up on the battlefield.
Clank!
Handling chains summoned by incantation.
Chain.
The basic spell Chain simply conjured a short-lived chain. Naturally, it came with no special features to speak of.
Clink!
A spell as simple as they come.
Yet the moment it fell into Raniel's hands... the chain transformed into an all-purpose tool. Raniel recalled her memories of wielding chains on the battlefield.
Binding a whining Sara and hurling her at Kyle.
Catching Kyle mid-leap.
Creating footholds for Kyle's jumps.
'Used it a ton.'
She'd wielded it so often that it now felt like an extension of her own limbs. Is this what swordsmen call unity of man and blade? With that silly thought, Raniel swung her arm.
Clank!
The slack chain snapped taut again.
The chain extending behind Raniel arced high into the air.
Whoosh!
Watching the chain weave deftly through the floating rubble almost made it look like some circus act. It was the kind of sight that drew gasps of admiration... but.
"...".
For the person dangling at its end, it was just nausea-inducing.
'Really churning.'
The elf at the chain's end, Cardi.
He grimaced, fighting a wave of intense queasiness.
"Want a piggyback, or ride in the chain?"
A short while ago, that's what Raniel had asked. Cardi had chosen the latter. It had been ages since he'd stepped down from his titles, but getting carried on the back of some distant junior still felt undignified...
'Plus, I've known her since she was a kid...'
So he'd opted for the chain ride.
And now, Cardi deeply regretted that choice.
Hurl!
The chain bucked wildly, whipping Cardi's head back. His vision spun. He barely managed to look down. There was Raniel, leaping repeatedly while swinging the chain.
Thud.
She kicked off the ground and swung the chain.
Collision with floating debris imminent, Cardi's body yanked sharply left. They barely dodged, but there was more than one obstacle.
Debris still far from cleared.
Raniel kicked off fragments to leap higher, pulling and swinging the chain in endless repetition.
Clink, clank!
The chain undulated in waves.
Cardi's head lolled from up to down, right to left, before snapping back. Is this what a fish on a hook feels like? His stomach roiled.
No awareness this was a person she was hauling around.
Treated like cargo to transport.
Feeling a profoundly awkward mix of emotions, Cardi closed his eyes. The wind whistling past his ears was no joke.
'Speed's not dropping at all...'
Even amid the chaos, should he praise the unflagging speed? As Cardi wrestled with his odd impressions, Raniel spoke up.
"Hey, Cardi."
Boom! Lightning crashed in succession.
Cardi opened his eyes at the voice cutting through the thunder.
"What."
"We're almost there, but looks like a barrier's up around the palace? How do we handle it?"
Cardi craned his neck with effort.
There it was—the barrier encircling the palace. The one he'd set himself on the day he forged his star pact.
"One of mine."
"How to dispel it? Doesn't seem like the smash-and-bash type."
"...Does your head only have 'destroy' as an option?"
"It's the simplest."
Is she really a mage?
Maybe closer to a warrior than anyone.
With those thoughts, Cardi spoke.
"No need. Once I touch the barrier, it'll dispel. So ahead..."
Put me down and I'll handle it.
That's what Cardi meant to say, but he never finished. Raniel had heard up to "touch the barrier to dispel" and swung the chain with all her might.
Hurl!
Like a baited fish leaping from the water, or a cannonball arcing through the sky... Cardi's body soared.
Clank.
The chain unwound from around him. For a moment, Cardi felt an unexpected liberation and floatiness as he stared ahead.
The palace's main gate rushing closer.
Speed unrelenting.
Reduced to a living battering ram for barrier-breaking, Cardi muttered in lament.
"...This is insane."
Boom!
The barrier shattered, but he kept flying, smashing into the palace gate. The ancient elf projectile struck, and the gates creaked open with a groan.
Clatter.
Amid falling rubble, Cardi rose. Astonishingly painless despite being the shot. Why?
Hum.
A bluish protective barrier cloaking his body.
Likely a shield spell Raniel cast just before impact. Should he be grateful for the junior's concern for her senior?
Thud.
Raniel landed gracefully beside him moments later. Dusting her wrists, she looked at him.
"Lightning everywhere. Didn't wanna get zapped. Felt like one more would do it."
"...Right."
"Yeah. Calculating lightning strikes with all that fog below hurt my head. Thicker near the palace too..."
In short, she had her reasons.
Cardi let out a long sigh.
"Fine, let's go in..."
What more could baggage expect?
2.
The ancient kingdom, Arcadia.
Walking the palace at its heart, Raniel scanned her surroundings. The palace lay shrouded in darkness, writhing with an ominous aura.
"...This isn't the Demon King's castle, is it?"
Old fairy tales often featured heroes storming the Demon King's fortress. But as far as Raniel knew, the current Demon King had no such castle.
'Atmosphere screams it, though.'
Hearing her mutter, Cardi gave a wry smile.
"Not wrong. In a way, it is the Demon King's castle."
Still spouting cryptic words, Cardi pressed on. Raniel followed silently. The palace was vast, with branching paths appearing endlessly.
"This way."
And each time.
"This one. Stand back. I'll dispel the barrier."
Cardi led, dispelling barriers. Overkill number of them, and the structure was a labyrinth.
'Like it's hiding something.'
Creeeak.
Another door groaned open.
Beyond lay a corridor with a different vibe. Stepping in, Raniel felt the air grow heavier.
And a twinge of wrongness.
'...Feels familiar.'
Raniel sensed familiarity in the corridor's scenery. First time here, yet deja vu prickled.
She pinpointed it before a certain door.
"Ah."
A sealed door emanated dread. Air heavier still, Raniel narrowed her eyes.
'This...'
She'd seen this design before.
Recently, even.
"Crimson Palace."
First Prince Isaac's residence.
The exact same door she'd seen there. As Raniel murmured, Cardi frowned and turned.
"...How do you know this palace's name?"
"Crimson Palace, right?"
"Yes. A gift from the king to the prince interested in demonology. So how do you know?"
"Well..."
Raniel gave a brief explanation.
About the ancient kingdom entity encountered in the palace, the body-swapping unknown horror.
"...No way."
Cardi frowned at the tale.
"He should be dead. Soul utterly severed by Ganikalt's holy sword..."
Trailing off, Cardi eyed the gate, fiddling with it before speaking.
"For now, let's keep going."
Grind.
Something twisted, and the gate opened.
Wind blew in, carrying rot and blood.
Raniel grimaced.
'What is this.'
Air thick and cloying.
Breaths stretched sticky.
"Raniel, I told you once."
Cardi spoke as he walked.
"Everything has balance. Life to death, beginning to end—all paired opposites. But not the stars."
A tale she'd heard before.
"Stars had no balancing force. Unless someone observed it. Pulled it into concept."
Something born that shouldn't have been.
"A concept that never should have existed."
Something that shouldn't exist.
"The perfect star of providence's antithesis. Symbol of imbalance and irregularity."
Cardi halted in the corridor.
"The Shadow."
Gray barriers glowed in the dark.
Not one or two—hundreds, thousands of opaque barriers gripped the entire space.
"That concept was born from one madman's hands. He believed imbalance lay within humans, so he alchemized them as ingredients."
Gray barriers.
Cardi touched one; it slowly cleared. The opaque veil lifted, revealing the interior.
Raniel gulped.
Her pupils quivered sharply.
'What is this.'
Beyond the barrier: hell itself.
"There, the Shadow was born."
Battlefields galore, horrors aplenty for Raniel—yet even she couldn't stare straight into it.
Mangled, formless masses.
Shattered human corpses.
Corpses reaching out. Clawing the floor. Endless chain of raked, ravaged bodies. A path forged from flesh.
Hands.
Hands dragging, clawing at something.
In Raniel's mind: the Demon King's sludge birthing countless black hands. The same sight before her.
Breath caught.
Magic thrummed.
Centuries later, lingering resentment intact. Raniel turned, eyes narrowed. There stood Cardi, expression unchanging.
"This."
Raniel's voice trembled.
"Why the hell is this in the palace?"
"I told you, Raniel."
Cardi said calmly.
"Arcadia is entangled with the Demon King to its deepest core."
3.
"What do you mean by that."
The gray mage Raniel.
Her eyes bulged, glaring at Cardi. Grabbing his collar, she demanded again in a shaking voice.
"Explain, Cardi. What is all this? Why in your kingdom, and that madman..."
"I've told you everything I can."
He couldn't answer that.
"All clues are here. From the moment we arrived, there's nothing more I can say."
So.
"Look, understand, uncover."
That's the only way.
"That's how you reach the second pact."
The true path to truth.
Author's Note The ancient elf cannonball was incredible!