Escape (1)
Escape (1)
—K-WHOOOM!
A stalactite collapsed with a deafening crash.
"...Ian. I never imagined you despised me this much."
Yergina stared in disbelief.
She had provoked him, certainly—but for Ian to launch a killing blow that savage?
"No, that's not—"
Ian was equally bewildered.
All he had done was swing his sword the way his instincts told him to. That monstrous attack had simply exploded out on its own.
'This is a problem.'
If Yergina hadn't dodged, the result would have been gruesome.
But he couldn't afford to panic. Stay calm. He'd never meant to harm Yergina in the first place. He just needed to smooth this over—talk her up a little.
"I believed in you, Lady Yergina."
"...Seriously?"
Her eyes narrowed. Ian nodded quickly.
At this point, bluffing was all he had.
"I was certain someone of your caliber would deflect an attack like that with ease."
"That devastating strike... and you call it 'an attack like that'?"
"For you, Lady Yergina—I assumed it would be nothing."
"Your humility borders on excessive. Still, I can't say I mind being held in such high regard."
Shhk.
Yergina slid her weapon back into the leather strap against her thigh. The corner of her mouth had lifted, just a touch.
'I'm alive.'
Ian let out a quiet sigh of relief.
That aside.
What in the world had just erupted from the tip of his sword?
'...That was sword aura, wasn't it.'
Ian gazed down at his own hand, transfixed.
He had manifested sword aura. His swordsmanship was nowhere near profoundly refined, but this was undeniably a significant achievement.
Among swordsmen, simply being able to produce sword aura was enough to be recognized as a master. At the academy, only knights of the highest "Aether" class were capable of it.
Sharon Pierce was an exception—a being who wielded her blade like magic, beyond all standard measures.
"I never imagined I would succeed on the first attempt," Ian said.
To Asilia, his accomplishment was nothing short of astonishing.
A boy who had barely ever held a proper sword had suddenly manifested sword aura. True, someone already adept at manipulating mana to a certain degree ought to be able to draw out sword aura more readily than an ordinary person.
But not at this speed.
"It seems I've taken on a far more remarkable disciple than I anticipated."
Asilia's voice brimmed with both surprise and pride.
"That only speaks to the excellence of your instruction, Master."
"Ian."
"Yes?"
"You are my chosen disciple, but I must say—having one so well-spoken is genuinely delightful."
"The honor is entirely mine."
"......"
Yergina watched this exchange between master and disciple with a vaguely dumbfounded expression. Did they have no shame, endlessly flattering each other like that?
'Ah. Right.'
That wasn't why she had come. She had sought them out because there was something she needed to discuss. The sparring match just now—she had only stepped in because Ian had seemed on the verge of some revelation.
"Ahem."
Yergina cleared her throat. Once she had both their attention, she spoke.
"At any rate. I came here because I have a proposal to make."
"A proposal?"
"Recently, the life force being drained from my body has increased noticeably. You must have felt it as well, Ian—even if only slightly."
Ian nodded in silence.
He had sensed it. The rate at which Richard's curse siphoned away life force and ability scores had accelerated.
If this place was a space materialized within Richard's dantian, then either something had happened to the host—or he was plotting something.
In that light, Yergina's next words made perfect sense.
"I wanted to suggest we carry out the escape plan as quickly as possible."
The crux of the escape, for all practical purposes, rested in Ian's hands.
Could he activate the things his master had created?
'I assumed it would take more time.'
That was what Yergina had thought.
But the sword aura Ian had just unleashed meant his talent had clearly crossed a certain threshold.
Ultimately, the decisive factor was Asilia's judgment. Had Ian, in her estimation, reached a sufficient level?
Both Ian and Yergina turned their eyes toward Asilia.
"......"
Asilia kept her mouth shut for a moment.
To be honest, she wanted to say her disciple was not yet ready.
And that was the truth.
He had only just opened his eyes to the sword. He was still at the stage where he ought to be doing nothing but repeating the most fundamental training drills.
There was no way he was prepared.
But this child's talent had leapfrogged over every one of those obstacles. His temperament and manner of speech carried a seasoned composure, and his situational judgment was remarkably sharp.
'Which is exactly why I'm so uneasy...'
She wanted to teach him more thoroughly—even just a little more. She wanted to pass down everything she possessed.
'It's nothing but my own selfishness, isn't it.'
Asilia exhaled softly and reproached herself.
"As things stand, I would estimate the plan's chance of success at roughly fifty percent. Beyond that, it falls into the realm of luck and environmental factors."
Her answer was frank.
Yergina nodded.
Fifty percent was enough. Before she had been thrown into this world without warning, she had already set certain things in motion.
"I, too, have prepared a few countermeasures for confronting Richard."
"Countermeasures?"
"If this place is indeed inside his dantian, the likelihood of him going berserk is considerable."
Yergina had been formulating a strategy against Richard ever since she had caught wind of the truth about him from Ian.
"In the outside world, assassins are most likely actively harrying the Northern Archduke as we speak. Richard's neurosis will be flaring up—maintaining a stable psychological state will be difficult for him."
...She had gone so far as to personally hire assassins.
Ian found Yergina just a little more terrifying than before.
In any case, all eyes turned once again to Asilia for her answer.
After a brief silence, she nodded.
"That improves matters considerably. It will be easier to slip out safely."
"But won't this place be left in complete ruin once we're gone?"
Ian asked his master, a note of concern in his voice.
"If I can properly raise my disciple and send him back to where he belongs—there is no greater achievement a master could hope for."
So saying, Asilia gave a small, gentle smile.
◆
The party packed their belongings without delay.
Once the decision to execute the plan was made, there was no time to waste. Every hour spent here, the curse steadily siphoned away the life force of the living.
Everyone filed out of the cave at once. Outside, it was unnervingly bright—the ground littered with countless eyes as far as they could see.
"This way."
Asilia took the lead, followed closely by Yergina and Ian. Rina walked in the middle, with Danya guarding the rear.
Now that the surroundings were so bright, the cave's position was finally clear. It sat beneath an immense mountain—or more precisely, the cave was carved into the base of one.
"Whoa. I didn't notice when we first got here, but this place is huge. Why couldn't we see it before?"
Rina asked. Asilia answered.
"The structural arrangement is designed to confound visual perception. No magic, no sorcery—the configuration of the terrain itself produces this effect. Unless you stand here in person, you cannot see it."
That might explain the eerie, disquieting energy that hung in the air.
Their destination was the summit of this mountain—whose height they could not even gauge.
The slope grew steeper. Blackened ancient trees and the snow piled atop them repeated endlessly.
It would have been easy to lose all sense of direction, but Asilia's stride held no hesitation.
"Hold on!"
Suddenly, Danya brought the group to a halt.
—Grrrrrurk!
A grotesque cry rang out.
"Over there! Rina!"
"Got it!"
Danya's plant-attribute arrow shot toward a spot behind one of the trees. Rina's flame magic followed right behind it.
A corpse reacted, bursting out from behind the trunk.
At that moment—
Fwip-fwip-fwip!
Danya's arrow split apart mid-flight, carving a net of green traces across the corpse's body.
Fwoosh!
Rina's magic struck true, engulfing the corpse in flames. An elemental reaction—flame over plant burned twice as fiercely.
"Oh."
A murmur of admiration slipped from Ian's lips at the impressive display of teamwork. Rina and Danya planted their hands on their hips, brimming with pride.
"While you were getting sword lessons, Ian—we trained hard too, meow!"
They pressed onward for some time, dealing with the occasional corpse that appeared.
"Beyond that boulder is the summit."
Asilia pointed toward an enormous rock formation. Beyond it, the dense expanse of blackened forest gave way to open sky.
The destination was now right before them.
"...Strange."
"There's something weird nearby, meow."
Yergina and Danya murmured at almost the same time.
"I have never felt an aura like this before."
Asilia's expression was not reassuring either.
And then—
Something rose from the shadows. Its form was unspeakably grotesque.
—GROOOOOH!
A mass of corpses, clustered and congealed into an enormous sphere—was there a better way to describe it? Shattered, half-melted features packed densely together, tumbling forward like a colossal, rolling ball.
Rina and Danya offered their concise reactions.
"Ughh..."
"What is that."
Unlike the two girls, Ian found himself thinking the grotesque heap of corpses looked oddly familiar.
'...What the hell is it?'
Ah. The eyeball-plus-corpse-pile he had toyed with a while back.
The moment that thought crossed his mind—
—Zzzt.
Hundreds of eyes locked onto him at once. In terms of sheer grotesquerie, the sight was the absolute worst of the worst, surpassing any living creature.
—GRAAAHH!
—GURGHK!
—Grrrddddddt!
Its hundreds of mouths yawned open, each moving independently. A bone-chilling cacophony erupted from them all.