Chapter 461
Chapter 461
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 461
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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A massive mana surge erupted in the Northern Federation. A spell that reduced the mana reactions of those infected with frost fever to nearly zero.
This could no longer be called magic. In the age of humanity, it was sorcery that should not exist.
“Ugh… Ugh…”
“You’re awake.”
Han So-mi had just realized that she’d passed out from exhaustion the moment she sensed the mana surge emanating from Ur.
Jamad helped her up.
“Can you walk?”
“…Y-yes. I can walk.”
Han So-mi stood and immediately began walking. Her steps were still unsteady.
“Huh? Why does my body feel like this….”
“…Probably from exposure to the excessive mana surge. It’ll likely be like this for a while.”
“…Ah!”
Even after opening the underground passage door and passing through several internal bulkheads, she had felt that mana.
She had lost consciousness from that dizzying power.
“…What about Ur?”
“No idea.”
“You know.”
“No idea. I can only guess.”
Han So-mi pressed him.
“What’s your guess?”
Jamad looked at Han So-mi and said,
“He’s dead. With that amount of mana… it’s only natural.”
“Ugh… Ugh…”
“Don’t cry.”
“Because you don’t want to hear it?”
“There are plenty of other ways to prove you’re a weakling.”
“I’m… not weak!”
Han So-mi glared at Jamad with teary eyes, breathing heavily.
“Good spirit. Yes, stay like that. That’s the you he described.”
“He? What did Ur say about me?”
“That you’re frail and not much help in normal times.”
“…That can’t be all, right? Otherwise, I’ll take back my crying from earlier.”
“That despite appearances, you’re brave and step up when crisis hits.”
“Wah… I should’ve cried more. Of course…”
“And that you can be trusted.”
“Waaah…”
“Strange. He said you wouldn’t cry if I told you this.”
“……”
Han So-mi and Jamad exchanged glances.
“You… you’re fine now.”
“…Yeah.”
She grinned.
“I cried my fill! Crying more now wouldn’t help anyway.”
“Quick recovery.”
“I’ve been through so many shocking things. I’ve even been left alone in a rift in time… Whenever I meet up with Kang Seol oppa, it always ends up like this.”
“Heh heh… That guy doesn’t bring disasters around him? Still, thanks to it, you survive.”
“Yeah, it’s weird… But when does the guide Ur mentioned show up?”
Step…
Step…
A presence emerged from the dark underground passage. It was probably the guide Ur had mentioned.
“…You’re here.”
“Mariju?”
“Yes, it’s me. Everyone’s safe…”
“Thank goodness! Really, thank goodness…”
Paak-!
Han So-mi rushed to Mariju and hugged her. Mariju silently stroked her head.
“…You’ve been through a lot.”
“Outside! Do you know what’s happening outside?”
Mariju gave a bitter smile.
“All news from the Federation has been cut off. Those infected with frost fever… they’ve all been wiped out. Frozen solid.”
“……”
“The outside is a world where hearts have stopped, So-mi.”
Even as she spoke, Mariju’s voice trailed off. She was trying to control her emotions, but sorrow seeped through.
“…You’re the guide Ur mentioned?”
“Yes. Ur said he couldn’t stop today from coming, no matter what. Whether fast or slow, it was inevitable.”
“…Guide to what?”
“You’ll see if you follow me.”
Confirming Jamad’s nod, Han So-mi followed Mariju.
Step…
Step…
Thud…
Thud…
The underground beneath the capitol was sturdy enough not to collapse even from a mana explosion outside.
It was also connected to Servion’s key facilities, allowing exit to anywhere from here.
Thus, neither Jamad nor Han So-mi knew where Mariju was heading.
“If we hadn’t moved right away… we’d have lost even our last hope.”
“Did Ur instruct everything?”
“Yes, all of it…”
What was there to say about the first archmage’s meticulousness? When facing the worst, dictating every action was child’s play for him.
He’d never mentioned the underground, yet he’d interrogated about similar facilities and confirmed where they all led.
Step…
Step…
After walking for hours, Han So-mi grew a bit tired.
“Sh-should we rest? I’m getting dizzy…”
“We’re almost there. You can rest soon.”
“Oh, then it’s fine.”
“Here we are.”
Rumble…
Groooan…
The door opened.
Creeeeak…
“This is…”
“A station.”
“No way?”
There was no reason for the group to head to a station. If it had to be, then their target should naturally be here too.
“We’ll travel by Kastleng.”
“…Ah!”
A group of people appeared in the distance.
They were easy to identify by their uniforms.
“You’ve arrived, Lady Mariju.”
“Everyone’s safe, I see.”
“Hahaha… We were thoroughly isolated in advance.”
“…Everything went as planned.”
“I was shocked too.”
Han So-mi realized they were Kastleng engineers.
“Fuel and supplies are ready. The tracks have been cleared under the pretext of maintenance.”
“…You’ve done as instructed.”
“If not for you, Lady Mariju, we’d have dismissed it as madness. No… if Lord Para’s family hadn’t covered the projected losses for the week…”
A familiar name.
“Para… what happened to Lord Para?”
“…He didn’t make it to the rendezvous. He must’ve noticed the infection.”
Sadly, Para and the other Silver Lion Society members seemed swept away by the tidal wave.
“Then… let’s depart. We carry out a historic mission. Don’t forget—we must get these two with me to the front lines!”
“Yes! It’s ready. Board Number 1!”
Number 1.
And so many engineers for it.
Did running one train require this many people?
Han So-mi would soon learn why.
“My god…”
Trains lined up in the station.
“Th-this many trains are needed?”
“Ur said so.”
“…Then it must be.”
Toot-!
Kastleng whistled and its wheels began to turn.
Clank…
The group boarded Number 1.
As Kastleng started moving, tension eased slightly.
Crash-!
Kastleng mercilessly crushed the corpses of infected on the tracks and pressed on.
“My role is over now…”
“Huh?”
“Kastleng, the symbol of Northern development… now it’s the only thing here with any warmth.”
“……”
“Everything… everything’s frozen.”
Swipe…
Mariju wiped her eyes and left her seat.
The promising noblewoman recalled her final conversation with Ur.
- Mariju, it’ll be a tough role.
- Why… why burden me with this?
- Your opponent may be those plotting since before the Federation was founded. The Federation’s collapse is inevitable. Survivors will be less than ten percent.
- If the Federation falls… isn’t everything over?
- It may be the end for you all. But not for humanity.
- My friends… my family… my work and people all dying! That… that…
- It’ll be hard to endure. Then, just die.
- What…
- Load the ones I send onto Kastleng. That ends your role. Do as you wish. If that’s truly what you want… if the burden is too heavy.
Now, she understood those words more clearly.
Gazing at the falling snow from the second-floor lounge, Mariju murmured,
“A blizzard’s coming. So beautiful…”
Her grinning face reflected in the window.
A gun barrel pressed to her temple.
“Truly… beautiful.”
Bang-!
Neither Han So-mi nor Jamad, who were sitting, flinched at the gunshot.
No, Jamad was surprised. By Han So-mi’s composure.
“…You knew?”
“Mariju’s eyes were dead. From the moment things turned out like this… she was already dead, right?”
“……”
“The instant we boarded Kastleng, her eyes lost all hope. I just felt her screaming that she’d done it.”
“…Her stop was here.”
“I know. So… where’s our stop?”
Han So-mi grinned.
“She loaded hope onto the train but lost her own at the same time. People are so contradictory.”
“…Aren’t you scared?”
“If you don’t go mad, it’s hard to endure this world.”
Her excessive cheerfulness.
It might stem from a desperate survival instinct.
“Han So-mi’s strong in crises! …Contradictorily.”
Jamad and Han So-mi smiled at each other.
They had to pretend to be hope for one another.
A blizzard raged outside the window.
It began the moment the Federation froze.
The blizzard wouldn’t stop for a single moment until the era changed.
The true end of the four seasons.
* * *
“I hope this isn’t another bust…”
“Is Rajin’s info wrong?”
Kang Seol’s group had just visited one of the locations Rajin had pointed out.
In short, another bust.
“The first place was on the surface, maybe that’s why… the ruin was too damaged.”
Ruin relics holding memories of ages erode if left aboveground.
Eaten by rain and snow, worn by wind.
Looters and ruin hunters wouldn’t pass them by either.
“Sleep here tonight?”
At Tansia’s question, Karen shook her head vigorously.
“A bit further and we hit the ruin. I plan to check with my own eyes if it’s intact today.”
“What if it’s empty like last time?”
“Yeah, what then? Should I show Rajin a bitter taste…”
Rajin and Karen had parted quite cleanly. Rajin had clearly passed on his power, and Karen showed no lingering regrets toward him.
One thing: Rajin had said to call on Keshi if needed. Unlike Rajin, Keshi could step into any matter as free agents.
‘Well, ones who’d die or fight on Rajin’s word…’
That’s faith.
A force that can dictate life’s purpose.
Lost in thought, Kang Seol noticed they’d reached the destination before sunset.
“This place…”
“Nothing visible? More than last time. At least there was a mound before.”
“Found something here.”
Karuna beckoned.
“Hm? Not the ruin entrance?”
What he found wasn’t the entrance.
“Someone got here before us. Not long ago.”
Traces of a fire.
Even spilled food remnants.
Everyone’s eyes sharpened.
This was a ruin tied to the era’s king.
Encounters there usually leaned toward foe.
“This… looks like it?”
Jian spoke, eyeing the odd central altar.
A round orb on the altar.
Kang Seol strode up and infused mana into the orb.
Whoooosh…
The altar glowed.
“Huh?”
No, the entire ruin site.
Rumble rumble rumble…
The ruin site began sinking.
“It’s going down! This thing!”
None had experienced a whole ruin plunging underground.
“Kahaha! Killer!”
“Totally killer!”
Only Karen and Tansia cheered excitedly.
Boom…
As the altar hit bottom, Jian and Sindio tumbled forward.
“Urk… Uwooorgh…”
“Gonna puke…”
“Me first…”
Kang Seol’s group realized, as they descended underground, the high probability this was the ruin Rajin mentioned tied to the new era’s king.
“I’ll take point.”
“Please… feeling dizzy. Otherwise, I would’ve.”
“Don’t lie.”
After Jian and Sindio emptied their stomachs, they followed Kang Seol.
Walls covered in all sorts of drawings.
But many repeated shapes, arranged meaninglessly.
“Hmm…”
“Let’s go deeper.”
As Kang Seol nodded and reached a fork, a presence was felt right beside him.
‘Damn!’
The one already in the ruin surpassed his expectations in skill.
Daring to ambush at the entrance.
Perfect surprise attack.
Paaang-!
Of course, Kang Seol’s hand was that of the peerless swordmaster, Shin Yu.
A snatching hand.
‘…A woman?’
Slim wrist, long hair.
“Huh?”
“Uh…”
“You!”
He had to counter the ambush, but Kang Seol hesitated.
He knew her face.
“Konji?”
“Kang Seol!”
Konji hugged Kang Seol tightly.
Grrroowl…
“I’m starving! Gonna die!”
The first to enter the ruin was Konji, the woman who’d helped the expedition at Sプuno Volcano to defeat Gekko.