Chapter 125
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: Hunt (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Ash, fall back!"
The Silver Guard Knight shouted as he swung his sword.
Ash, who had tangled with a Shaika and inflicted wounds all over its neck and legs, swiftly dodged away.
A blue sword beam shot out from the Silver Guard Knight's blade, flying straight toward the Shaika.
The Shaika twisted its body with terrifying reflexes but still got grazed on the leg.
Dropping one or two drops of black blood onto the white snow, the Shaika vanished once more.
"Don't scatter!"
Under the Silver Guard Knight's command, Shuren, Ilenia, and Wedin drew their swords and gathered together.
Everyone was visibly flustered by the sudden change in their surroundings.
Even as they watched their white breath fog up with every exhale, they could hardly believe it.
"Liberic, can you dispel the illusion again?"
I groaned as I rose to my feet.
The backlash from the defensive spell being forcibly broken hit me belatedly.
A slight headache would recover with time, but the shock of the Shaika smashing into my barrier and shattering it lingered.
"I'll try."
I endured the throbbing pain in my head and began gathering my focus once more.
In the meantime, the Silver Guard Knight scanned the surroundings warily while confirming that everyone was seeing the same illusion.
Shuren, Ilenia, and Wedin all clearly answered that they were standing in a snow-covered forest.
At least that was some relief.
As I gathered mana, I bit my lip and opened my eyes.
A nauseating sensation washed over me, like swallowing raw blood.
The mana here was thick and heavy, unpleasant, and refused to bend to my will.
I used my staff to draw a small circle in the snow, then pulled a fresh Echronium from my pouch and tossed it in.
My plan was to create a barrier centered on the pure Echronium.
As I drew out the Echronium's mana to form the barrier, a small semicircle appeared in the center.
Inside it, not snow, but the cave floor was revealed.
Good, it's working...
Shaaa!
A chill rushed at my back.
I whipped around to see a Shaika charging straight at me.
Clang!
The Silver Guard Knight thrust out his sword in an instant, blocking the Shaika.
The failed attacker retreated and vanished again.
That Shaika had no crystal embedded in its head.
"Liberic, keep going. Everyone, cover him."
The Silver Guard Knight shoved Wedin to my side and took position in front of him.
The Shaikas were reacting to me casting magic and lunging accordingly.
I nodded and refocused my mana on the Echronium, expanding the barrier again.
It started barely covering our feet, then reached our knees.
"Ilenia, watch for anything flying in!"
"Yes!"
The moment Ilenia replied energetically, blue ice chunks began flying from between the trees.
Ilenia extended her hand toward them.
"Tureha, melt them!"
I didn't need to watch Tureha's work; the rush of hot air from beside me told the story.
Red flames erupted, melting not just the ice chunks but the frigid air around them.
However, the ice chunks coming from the opposite side had to be smashed one by one by the Silver Guard Knight swinging his sword.
"Ilenia, over here!"
Shuren couldn't handle it as well. He called out to Ilenia and yanked her arm, pulling her aside.
"Haat!"
Ilenia switched places with Shuren and summoned Tureha again.
Shuren, who had quickly moved to her spot, dealt with a Shaika thrashing wildly with flames clinging to its body.
By the time Ash helped the Silver Guard Knight take down another Shaika, I had expanded the defensive barrier enough to encompass everyone.
I took a deep breath, and the scent of damp moss hit me.
We were back inside the cave.
The freezing snow flurries gradually faded, and the chilling air against our skin eased bit by bit.
"Are we back?"
Ilenia pulled back her flames and looked around.
Her flames were wild, quickly heating the surrounding air.
"Strictly speaking, it's the same place as before... Liberic."
The Silver Guard Knight called my name and grabbed my arm.
I had the blue-glowing Echronium floating in the air to maintain the barrier.
Black mana was slowly seeping into the stone.
The raw, bloody taste filled my mouth, and my legs felt locked in place, like they were submerged in a swamp.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from the Echronium as it turned black...
"Lib!"
Lightning-like pain flashed across both cheeks.
I snapped my eyes wide at the dizzying agony, and Wedin's panicked face was right in front of mine.
"We-Wedin?"
"Thank goodness, you're back?"
Wedin gripped my face with both hands, staring straight at me before letting out a huge sigh.
White breath trailed long from that sigh.
"What are you talking about...?"
What was he suddenly going on about?
While I stood there baffled, unable to comprehend, a blue body and long tail flashed past behind Wedin.
Shaika!
I gasped and grabbed Wedin's shoulders, yanking him toward me.
Fierce red flames chased after the Shaika. The burning creature rolled in the snow, writhing in agony.
"Shuren!"
"On it!"
As Ilenia pulled back her flames and shouted, Shuren dashed forward and ended the suffering Shaika's life.
Beside it lay another Shaika corpse dispatched the same way.
And that wasn't all.
I gaped at the scene around us.
We were back in the snowy wasteland.
Shaika corpses littered the area everywhere, with the Silver Guard Knight and Ash adding one more to the pile.
Ilenia's flames burned here and there, and black blood was splattered about.
Traces of an intense battle I hadn't seen before scarred the snowfield in every direction.
What the hell? What happened?
"Lib."
Shuren whipped his head toward me and rushed over in one stride.
"You're back."
Shuren sighed in relief as he pulled me into a tight hug.
His body was covered in large and small wounds. They definitely hadn't been there before.
'Liberic, can't you hear my voice?'
"Ash..."
I stroked Ash's head as it approached closely.
"I... I don't know. What happened?"
"The blue Echronium turned black, and the barrier vanished in an instant."
The Silver Guard Knight approached with a calm voice and explained. He looked deeply relieved as he gazed at me.
"Your eyes suddenly turned red, and the surroundings shifted to the snowfield. Shaikas swarmed out of nowhere."
Ilenia limped over as she spoke.
She too had minor wounds all over her body, and fresh blood was seeping from her ankle again.
"Your wound's reopened."
Wedin knelt to examine Ilenia's ankle. She scratched her head awkwardly.
"Guess I twisted it earlier. Sorry, could you check it one more time?"
"Sit still properly."
While Wedin inspected Ilenia's ankle, I spotted the Echronium on the ground. It was split in half with a dagger embedded in it.
As I reached for the dagger's hilt to pull it out, the Silver Guard Knight knelt in front of me. His expression was filled with worry.
"Only after smashing it with this dagger did the Shaikas start thinning out. We called and shook you countless times, but you wouldn't snap out of it until Wedin somehow woke you."
"My holy magic must've been a bit too stimulating."
Wedin spoke without turning around as he infused holy power into Ilenia's ankle. No wonder my cheeks still stung.
"Do you know what happened?"
I sighed and finally wrenched the dagger free from the Echronium.
The remaining black mana inside dispersed into the air.
"Magic fundamentally draws in surrounding mana using the caster's own mana. That's the basis of all spells. But the mana here has..."
"'Contamination' mixed in?"
The Silver Guard Knight supplied the correct answer.
I nodded and handed the dagger back to him. My hand trembled slightly as I did.
"This is a first for me."
I clasped my hands together.
It wasn't just the chill creeping through my body. The thought of losing my mind mid-spell sent shivers down my spine.
"Even contamination that mutates plants and animals into magical beasts doesn't affect us because we wield stronger mana. We overlay our mana to purify it instead."
"So this place's contamination is potent enough to influence even you."
I sighed and covered my face. The Silver Guard Knight placed a hand on my shoulder, saying he understood.
"You're back now, Liberic. It's too risky to force-dispel the illusion again, so let's push forward like this. No more Shaikas are showing up anyway."
That was the best course.
Maintaining a defensive barrier here that constantly gathered and held mana was dangerous.
I'd become the core spreading the illusion and drawing in Shaikas with the contaminated mana.
"Then something similar probably happened to Pren, too."
We began forging ahead through the snow-blanketed path. The Silver Guard Knight and Ash took point.
The identical scenery everywhere made it hard to get your bearings, but trusting there was only one path, we decided to head wherever it led.
"Sir Gordon said Pren's eyes turned red."
"Yes. It might've been a hallucination, but if Pren tried using a defensive spell, the same thing likely happened."
So what came after that?
In my case, the Echronium broke and Wedin woke me, but Pren... was said to have jumped downward.
'We have to go down.'
"We have to go down."
As I said that, I glanced down at Ash for a moment. Ash, who had been ahead a bit, turned back with a puzzled look.
That voice I just heard... wasn't Ash?
No, it wasn't.
I clutched my forehead as a headache throbbed.
My condition was poor after what happened. My stomach churned, and the metallic blood taste in my mouth wouldn't fade.
My state worsened with every step forward, but I couldn't stop or turn back.
I had to go down.
"This place is seriously weird. All just an illusion? I can clearly see that tree way over there."
Ilenia, following behind, hugged her arms and shivered as she spoke.
Wedin looked at her with a hint of pity.
"A fire elemental kin shivering from the cold?"
"We're weak to it, okay."
"Why not call Tureha?"
At Shuren's remark, Ilenia agreed and summoned a small fireball onto her shoulder.
The flame named Tureha flickered precariously in the cold snow.
"Oh, I just got a great idea. A way to see what's ahead."
With that, Ilenia formed a sphere of flame in her hand.
It hissed and smoked as it touched the frigid air.
"What're you doing?"
The moment Shuren asked, Ilenia hurled the fireball deep into the forest.
The fireball shot straight through the trees... and vanished.
Shuren, Wedin, and I all stared wide-eyed.
"What, did it hit an invisible wall or something?"
As Ilenia said that casually, the blazing fireball came flying straight toward the Silver Guard Knight and Ash.
Just before it reached them, the Silver Guard Knight drew his sword with astonishing reflexes and slashed.
Whoosh!
The sphere split in half and dissolved into smoke.
"Ilenia."
The Silver Guard Knight smoothly sheathed his sword and spoke in a terrifyingly low voice.
Ilenia let out a choked yelp.
"S-Sorry! I didn't think it'd come back that way!"
"Hurling something dangerous into unknown territory isn't a good idea."
"Ugh, yes, sir..."
Ilenia hung her head dejectedly, and the Tureha beside her shrank smaller too.
"Still, it was a worthwhile try."
I spoke with a slight smile.
It had been risky, but enough to prove the hypothesis I'd had.
I raised my staff and gave it a light shake. A thin membrane of mana, like a soap bubble, spread outward.
The membrane expanded across the snowfield before fading, then quickly returned.
The bubble enveloped my staff and dissipated.
"Just as I thought."
Hm. I nodded and lowered my staff.