Chapter 71
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Chapter 20. You Are Indeed a Prophet
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(1)
1.
It had been exactly one day since they entered the forest.
The torrential downpour had finally ceased.
However, perhaps because the rain had only just stopped, the sky was still blanketed in thick storm clouds. Maybe that was why the forest felt oppressively dark now that night had fallen.
But there was an exception.
Paaah!
A light that instantly banished the darkness.
It was the starlight conjured by Dilia. Though soft in its glow, it was more than sufficient. On their way back to base.
"......"
Dilia's face was tense.
It was only natural. The night of the second day of the exam, as Noa had prophesied, was nearly upon them.
The Abyss Worshippers might appear at any moment.
With that thought, the anxiety she had thought long gone began to creep back in.
Then, at that moment.
"It's fine. No need to be tense."
A massive hand patted her shoulder.
It was Ullan's touch. He spoke in a calm tone.
"I've been scanning the surroundings constantly since earlier, but I haven't spotted anything suspicious."
From the moment night fell until now.
Ullan had not let his guard down for a second.
Yet he hadn't detected even a single presence that could be an Abyss Worshipper.
Meanwhile, the instant his response ended.
Dilia suddenly halted in place. Turning to face him, she stared straight at Ullan.
An utterly expressionless face.
Her expression was so dry it was hard to read her inner thoughts, but Ullan instantly grasped what she wanted to say.
"Something you want to ask me?"
"Yeah, there is."
Dilia nodded.
As if confirming it was correct. Moments later, she asked back with a face full of bewilderment.
"How do you, read my, expressions, so well?"
She had been curious about it from the start.
Even back during the entrance exam when they were grouped together, Ullan had perfectly read her intentions and emotions just from her face.
As she awaited his answer.
Ullan's reply soon came.
"I just say what I see."
"My, expressions, are visible?"
"Very clearly."
Ullan nodded.
Of course, it hadn't always been that way.
It was only because he had spent years traveling with Dilia in his previous life that he had grown accustomed to it.
On the other hand, unaware of this, Dilia turned her head slightly and murmured softly.
"......Ullan is, a mysterious, person."
"Am I?"
"Yeah, incredibly so."
The more she learned, the more mysterious he seemed.
But there was one difference from before.
At first, it was just a sense of wonder, but now it came with curiosity. Curiosity about Ullan himself.
'I want to know more.'
Not just his past, but everything—what he liked and disliked, his favorite foods, hobbies, specialties, all of it.
And to truly know someone, spending a long time together was best.
Having thought that far.
Dilia's tightly closed lips twitched.
"Hey, Ullan!"
A slightly louder voice than usual.
With an expression of resolve, she hesitated before continuing.
"After, midterms, end, want to, go out, with me......"
She planned to say, Want to go out somewhere?
Of course, it wasn't something to say in this situation, but she wanted a definite answer beforehand. Unfortunately, she couldn't finish.
Thud!
A short, sharp impact struck her shoulder.
Ullan had suddenly shoved her. An unexpected action. Pushed by his strong force, Dilia's body tumbled backward.
"......!"
In the midst of her shock at the sudden move.
Something abruptly caught her eye.
'Space......!'
The sight of the air warping.
A phenomenon that occurred when space twisted.
With that as her last sight, Dilia fully toppled backward, rolling across the ground.
And in that instant.
Whoooosh!
A thick vine whipped through the air.
Right where Dilia had been moments ago.
Had Ullan not pushed her down, the vine would have snatched her away in the blink of an eye.
"What was that? Until just now, there was definitely......"
No presence at all.
Not even a monster's aura, let alone an Abyss Worshipper.
Yet he had sensed the vine flying in and hurriedly shoved Dilia aside.
Meanwhile, perhaps frustrated at failing to grab her.
Even more vines than before targeted Ullan.
But that was its mistake.
Slash! Crunch!
The vines tore apart.
In that moment, Ullan kicked off the ground like a beast.
Reaching the underbrush in an instant, he soon came face-to-face with the owner of the vines.
"That thing......"
It was a flower as massive as a building.
At its top bloomed enormous petals, and from the stamens protruded numerous tube-like organs.
Its trunk crawled with dozens—no, hundreds—of the vines that had just attacked Ullan.
A gigantic monster flower.
The moment he took in its appearance.
Ullan furrowed his brow sharply.
"Why is a Candira here......"
The monster flower's name was Candira.
A bloodsucking plant classified as a monster.
It snatches prey with its vines, then drains their blood and fluids through the tubes on its stamens.
Among monsters, it was equivalent to 5-star rank.
A creature that shouldn't be here. But that wasn't why Ullan frowned.
"......An Abyss monster!"
Ullan growled lowly. As he said, the Candira was a monster from the Abyss.
Of course, it was among the weakest of Abyss monsters, but still too much for students or even special task force agents to handle easily.
"The Abyss Worshippers' doing?"
A reasonable guess.
Those bastards tamed Abyss monsters, after all.
But there was a question.
"The Gate won't open for another twenty years or so—how did they summon an Abyss monster here?"
Based on memories from his past life.
The Abyss Gate was still two decades away. So how could a monster parasitic to the Abyss be roaming here?
As that doubt surged.
Suddenly, the Candira began to mutate.
Crack! Creak!
Its body twisted, spewing countless vines from within.
Over a hundred at a glance.
And now they bristled with sharp thorns.
Getting entangled in those would mean excruciating agony as it dragged you away. Shaking off the vines, the Candira immediately launched its assault.
Boom! Crash! Bang!
A barrage of vines pounding the ground.
It planned to shred its target first, then feast slowly. But no feedback of impact.
What? Did it dodge?
As the Candira's tiny brain pondered that, it belatedly sensed Ullan's presence.
Right in front of it.
"I don't know the details, but......"
Ullan had never let a single Abyss crawler live. And he had no intention of making an exception now.
Meanwhile, in that instant.
Sensing danger, the Candira unleashed every attack at its disposal on Ullan.
And soon, the result appeared.
Crunch! Boom!
With the sound of something exploding.
Its trunk burst open. Not just the trunk—the flower and vines shredded apart.
The price of being caught in a master's domain.
Rumblle!
The remaining trunk collapsed to the ground.
Moments later, the trunk and fragments withered, turning to ashen smoke and vanishing.
A common trait of Abyss monsters.
They left no corpses, dissolving into smoke as if returning to the Abyss.
After ending the one-sided hunt.
Ullan used Search again. This time, the result differed from before.
"Three more."
All Candiras. Not far from here.
His eyes flashed as he turned back toward their original spot. He called out to Dilia, who should have fallen into the underbrush.
"It's safe now. You can come out."
No reply.
Feeling puzzled, Ullan stepped forward.
Arriving at the spot, he called her name again.
"Dilia?"
Still no answer.
Moments later, Ullan realized.
Dilia, who had definitely been there moments ago, was nowhere to be seen.
2.
Meanwhile, around that time.
Dilia, shoved by Ullan and sent tumbling, soon smacked her head against a tree.
"Ow."
Tears welled from the stinging pain.
But only for a moment.
She quickly gathered her wits.
To recall once more the spatial warp she had glimpsed just before falling.
Soon, the magic's nature became clear.
'A type of space-expansion spell.'
Exactly as it sounded—a spell that intervened in a specific space, contracting or expanding its intervals.
A magic she had only read about in books.
'Because this spell is......'
Forbidden.
Using it warped space, destabilizing mana flow.
This increased the risk of mana disasters in the area, leading to more frequent magic beast appearances.
'And one more thing.'
The catalyst required was a human brain.
Specifically, from a freshly killed human. For these reasons, it was called forbidden magic.
Recalling this.
Dilia's face hardened.
The use of forbidden magic meant Abyss Worshippers had appeared.
And to make matters worse, Ullan wasn't with her now. Judging by the spatial warp at the moment he shoved her, the space had expanded then, separating them.
"This is, a problem."
No joke—she was truly in trouble.
The thought of being isolated in the forest without Ullan sent chills down her spine unbidden.
But she couldn't stay like this.
'First, reunite with Ullan.'
Having set her top priority.
As she pondered how to find him.
"Oh, right."
Something occurred to her.
The talisman from Noa.
She recalled it could reveal the bearer's direction even from afar.
Clutching that slim hope, she pulled out the talisman—but oddly, nothing happened.
'What's wrong?'
Dilia stared at it intently.
To examine the incantation and rune array engraved within. Soon, she fully grasped its function.
'Detection range is about 3km.'
Beyond that, no detection.
Realizing its limit, Dilia frowned. Useless in her current situation.
'If only the clouds weren't there......'
She could use the 4-star constellation spell, Star Map, to find Ullan's direction.
But it required drawing mana from the stars in the sky. Impossible with clouds blocking them.
As frustration led to a sigh.
Rustle!
Suddenly, the underbrush shook. Startled, she instantly completed her spell formula.
2-star constellation magic: Star Thunder.
A spell that condensed stellar mana into a lightning-fast, powerful strike. Tension on her face, she swallowed hard.
Something burst from the underbrush.
"Phew! A, a person?"
A boy with wide eyes.
About Dilia's age. More students tumbled out after him.
"Damn, you scared me."
"I thought it was a monster."
"Oh, another student."
Three boys and girls with youthful faces.
Dilia tilted her head.
"You guys......?"
"Ah, I'm Jane."
"Luke here. This is Amira."
"We're in the same class. Don't you remember?"
She didn't.
She had no interest in students besides Ullan. Nodding silently, they spoke up again.
"More importantly, did you feel it too?"
"Feel what?"
"The forest has been weird lately."
"Unfamiliar monsters wandering around."
She agreed the forest was off.
Abyss Worshippers had appeared, using space expansion magic—things had to change.
"So, uh, mind if we stick together? It's scary just us."
"Yeah, more people is better, right?"
"Come on, please."
The three pleaded desperately.
She could guess why. They wanted protection from the powerful mage, Dilia.
Dilia nodded.
Truth be told, she felt uneasy alone too. But then.
Rustle!
The underbrush shook again.
"Wh-what?!"
"Something else coming......"
The students looked anxious.
Moments later, a familiar figure emerged from the shaking brush.
A woman with short green hair.
Dilia's eyes widened.
"......Professor, Stella?"
Stella, the proctor for the hunting exam.
But her reaction was odd. Instead of greeting the students warmly, she eyed them warily with a stiff face.
Then the three students approached her.
"Gasp! P-professor, you're hurt?"
"Wait a sec. We'll......"
"Don't come closer!"
But in that instant.
A sharp shout rang out like a warning.
Not just that. Stella aimed a loaded crossbow at the students.
"P-professor? Why......?"
Confused by the sudden hostility?
The students cowered, watching her expression. Then she spoke.
"I've met five students so far. And without exception, I was attacked by all of them. Or rather, by monsters disguised as students."
"......!"
Dilia and the students' eyes widened.
The students protested their innocence.
"B-but we really are......!"
"Then prove it."
"Prove, it?"
"Simple. Cut yourself and show blood. Monsters give off black smoke. For reference."
Stella slashed her arm with a dagger.
Blood flowed from the wound. Prove humanity by bleeding, in other words.
"Hurry! Or I'll treat you as monsters!"
Stella barked.
Sighing, Dilia drew her utility knife and pricked her fingertip.
Drip! Drop!
Bright red blood trickled down the blade.
"......This enough?"
"Good. Dilia, come here."
With Stella's permission.
She moved immediately. But then, intense killing intent from behind.
"......!"
The students' forms distorted grotesquely.
Sharp claws lunged at Dilia. Too late for magic. As she squeezed her eyes shut.
Thwack! Thud! Thump!
Crisp impacts, arrows embedding in the attackers' bodies. Or rather, whatever wore their skins.
「Kee hee hee! Kahaha ha ha!」
The pierced ones let out eerie laughs as they turned to smoke and vanished.
"You okay? Hurt anywhere?"
"......Yeah, I'm fine."
Dilia nodded, regaining her composure.
Stella asked again.
"Where's Ullan? Why are you alone?"
"Ah, well......"
Letting out a heavy sigh.
Dilia explained everything. How she got separated from Ullan, and that Abyss Worshippers were behind the forest's state.
Once the tale ended.
Stella looked troubled.
"Ugh, Abyss Worshippers. Didn't see that coming."
"......What now?"
"Let's get out of the forest first."
She decided firmly.
"This is beyond what we can handle alone. Better to report to the academy ASAP and request backup."
"But Ullan......"
"He'll be fine."
Stella replied with conviction.
Ullan had reached the master's realm. Plus, he had defeated two of the empire's sword saints.
No matter how infamous the Abyss Worshippers, they couldn't match a master.
"So let's do what we can."
Return to the academy and call for reinforcements.
After some thought, Dilia nodded.
Soon, they set off.
To escape the forest. But there was something they hadn't noticed.
Slither...
A presence lurking in the forest shadows.
An ashen shadow that had been watching them all along. Nor did they realize it was tailing them to the end.
3.
Thud! Crunch!
With the sound of vines ripping.
The bloodsucking plant, Candira, collapsed like a felled tree.
The last one. Watching it turn to ashen smoke and vanish, Ullan sheathed his axe and turned.
"All monsters returned to the Abyss......"
Now to find Dilia again.
But actually searching felt daunting.
He had been using Search steadily since earlier, yet found no trace or presence of her.
What to do.
As he pondered.
"Ullan."
Suddenly, a familiar voice called.
A dry, calm tone.
Dilia's voice.
"Ullan. I'm, here."
Even her distinctive, halting speech.
Ullan whipped around instantly.
Sure enough, beyond the underbrush in the distance, Dilia approached.
But there was a problem.
"Ullan. What are, these guys?"
"Don't fall for it. Can't, let yourself."
"I'm, the real one. Ullan."
"Believe, me."
There wasn't just one.
Six Dilias stood before him.
An utterly bizarre scene. Ullan clicked his tongue, brow furrowed.
"Tch, illusions mixed in."
That was his whole reaction.
He had encountered this several times in his past life. No panic.
He even remembered ways to resolve it.
'Three ways to distinguish.'
First: Use Dilia's magic.
She had spells that differentiated illusions from reality.
But unusable now. Illusions of Dilia herself swarmed.
'Second method.'
Use a saintess's holy incantation.
Illusions were born of foul energy and mana, vanishing under purification.
But impossible now.
No saintess here.
'Then......'
Third method.
Ullan's way.
The barbarian distinction his comrades always dreaded.
"Ullan, Ullan."
"Look at, me properly."
The Dilias drew near.
Ullan fixed on the lead one. She smiled faintly, extending her arm.
"I'm, the real, Dilia......"
Ullan extended his arm too.
His fist, precisely.
Thwack!
Straight to the gut.
A balloon-popping noise erupted as her body lifted into the air. Then it dissolved into ashen smoke.
Ullan murmured lowly.
"Fake."
That was the third method.
Deliver a non-lethal blow.
The real one would clutch her stomach, vomit, or writhe in pain. Fakes would scatter like this.
No illusion had ever withstood his punch.
"Five left."
"......"
In that moment.
The five Dilias froze.
Glancing at each other, they began backing away stealthily.
"It's fine. Don't worry."
Ullan advanced steadily.
Fist clenched tight.
"This time, I'll go easy."
His eyes gleamed fiercely.
Thwack! Boom!
The racket shook the forest.
Soon after, all five dissolved into smoke. Ullan remarked, surprised.
"Didn't expect all fakes."
He thought the third was real.
Judging by appearances was dangerous.
So Ullan resolved.
To use this method on the next Dilia he met too.
"Back to square one."
What now.
Ullan pondered. Charge ahead blindly? As he nearly decided, a memory flashed.
Noa's advice.
"And this is for you, Ullan. If you're in a bind, open it. The answer's inside."
Handing him a pouch.
Recalling that.
Ullan rummaged his pockets. Soon finding it, he opened the pouch.
Pulled out its contents.
"A letter?"
Unfolding revealed lengthy text.
Needing resolve to read.
"Hoo."
Ullan took a deep breath, steeling himself.
Calm settling in.
Regaining cool composure, he eyed the letter with focused gaze. And began reading slowly.