Chapter 129
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Hunt (7)
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The Silver Guard Knight hoisted Fren onto his back.
Wedin gathered Fren's staff and bag, sticking close by his side, while I took the lead with Ash.
Shuren and Ilenia kept watch around us for any surprises as they followed behind me.
"Ah!"
Ilenia's shout brought everyone to a halt. We hadn't even entered the newly formed cave yet.
Shuren, who was right beside her, seemed even more startled as he clutched his chest.
"You scared me. What's up?"
"Something moved inside."
The cave mouth was filled with pitch-black darkness.
Unlike other parts of the ruins where faint green glowing runes occasionally appeared, there were almost none inside this cave.
Maybe because it was newly made.
I gripped the staff I'd gotten back from Wedin, gathered a bit of mana, and created a ball of light at the tip.
Shining the light inside revealed a wide, circular space.
The walls and floor looked ragged, as if they'd been torn away, and wood dust from the vanished trees still lingered in the air.
And from the ceiling, several pairs of red eyes glared down at us.
"Karaks!"
With a sharp shing, Shuren swiftly drew his sword. At the same moment, I raised my left hand and conjured dozens of crystalline needles.
The finely honed needles shot straight up to the ceiling the instant they formed.
The dozen or so Karaks that had been about to plunge down on us were skewered and pinned to the ceiling in a flash.
Thud thud thud—the sound of needles embedding into the rock, followed by the Karaks' short shrieks, echoed one after another.
Dragon's lair is still a dragon's lair, after all. The mana response is incredibly fast. Composing and casting spells feels different from usual—much quicker.
The ceiling shook, dislodging a few rock fragments that tumbled down, but then silence returned.
"...Seems like that's all of them."
I said that and started walking ahead again.
"Haaah."
Shuren let out a deep sigh before sheathing his sword. His gaze toward me held a hint of resentment—or maybe that was just my imagination.
I took it as thanks and smiled a little.
"These Karaks must live deeper in the ruins, huh."
"Ugh, their looks are just creepy."
Ilenia caught up and poked at a Karak corpse on the ground. When its wings suddenly flared open, she flinched and jumped back.
"Reminds me of that cave we passed before reaching the lodge. Lib, you think there's a connection?"
The Silver Guard Knight asked as he slowly followed, carrying Fren on his back.
"Yeah. Not the Echronium mine, but similar mana effects were at play. The trees must've caused it."
I intensified the light and pressed deeper into the cave. The further we went, the more Karak corpses littered the floor.
Ilenia and Wedin flinched each time they spotted one, but thankfully, none were alive.
"...Here."
I stopped in front of a narrowed section of the cave wall.
I placed my hand against the precariously cracked wall. This had to be the spot.
"Ash?"
'Mm.'
Ash sniffed around the cracked wall a few times, then puffed up his body and backed away.
Seeing that, everyone else halted and gave it space.
Before I could even signal, Ash slammed into the cracked wall with all his might.
Bam!
The wall and ceiling shook violently as Ash's body broke through to the other side.
A hole just big enough for Ash had opened up.
Ash shook off the dust on the far side.
"Watch your head."
I cleared the half-collapsed section and widened the hole a bit, then we crossed through one by one.
I was the first through. I brushed the dust off Ash's body. He shrank back to his smaller size.
"Whoa, this place..."
Shuren, next through, froze in surprise the moment his foot hit the ground. The Silver Guard Knight and Wedin, following him, wore similar expressions.
"It's that cave."
The one we'd passed before reaching the lodge.
The place where my crystal magic had devoured the Karaks and completely blocked the path.
We'd returned to the wide space where we'd first encountered the Karaks.
Following the mana trail had been the right call.
"What happened here?"
Ilenia frowned at the piled Karak corpses and the savage blue crystals jutting from the cave walls and floor.
"Nothing fun."
I let out a small sigh.
The path we'd fled through to escape the Karaks was, as expected, completely sealed by the blue crystals.
My razor-sharp crystal magic remained intact as well.
I'd left it in place worrying the cave might collapse, and fortunately—or unfortunately—the overflowing mana in the ruins had kept the spell sustained.
"Ugh..."
A groan came from Fren, still on the Silver Guard Knight's back.
The knight startled and gently set him down.
"Fren."
Fren barely lifted his head.
His complexion was still poor, but his breathing had improved vastly from when we'd first found him.
"Wedin, Fren."
Wedin immediately knelt in front of Fren. He reached out a hand, then hesitated.
Remembering he couldn't use holy magic inside the ruins, he stared down at his own hands for a moment.
"Wedin?"
The Silver Guard Knight called puzzledly, and Wedin replied with a stiff "Yes," extending his hand toward Fren.
It's okay, Wedin.
I was certain he'd regained his holy power.
The mana in the ruins was so potent it had affected holy power too, a branch of mana.
That's why Wedin had temporarily lost access to holy magic.
A warm glow emanated from Wedin's hand. He flinched in brief surprise, then confidently began channeling the holy magic.
Color gradually returned to Fren's face, and his breathing steadied.
"...Ugh, Silver Guard Knight?"
"Fren. Are you with us?"
Fren struggled to open his eyes and look up at the Silver Guard Knight. Moving more seemed beyond him still.
"I... where..."
"We escaped the ruins. We're heading to safety. Focus on recovering—no need to worry."
"Thank you..."
As Wedin placed a warm hand on the nape of his neck, Fren tilted his head into it like he was falling asleep and closed his eyes.
"Is he alright?"
Wedin exhaled raggedly and withdrew his hand from Fren.
The gloves of the Blue Spring he always wore emitted a faint blue glow.
"No external injuries, luckily, but his body's very weakened. He'll need rest for a while."
"As long as his life's not in danger, that's enough."
The Silver Guard Knight sighed in relief and hoisted Fren back up, with Wedin's help.
"Lib, to head back to the lodge, we'll need to dispel those crystals. Can you do it?"
"I can, but..."
I eyed the blue crystals completely sealing the cave.
"It might cause a collapse."
The Silver Guard Knight finished my thought effortlessly.
I sighed softly and looked around at the Silver Guard Knight, Shuren, Ilenia, Wedin, and even Ash.
"Alright, everyone. Ready to run?"
Wedin's face twisted in horror at "again?"
"Uwaaaah!"
"What is this? What?!"
Wedin screamed as he bolted forward, Ilenia chasing after him in panic.
I didn't even have the breath to speak.
Rumble rumble groan...
The ground and ceiling shook fiercely, collapsing.
The moment the blue crystals vanished, the walls and ceiling cracked with sharp creaks, crumbling instantly from the impact of our footsteps.
If Shuren hadn't shoved me from behind at the rear, I'd have been buried in the chain-collapsing cave.
The silver lining: the crystals were dissipating sequentially.
We sprinted after the vanishing crystals, barely dodging the falling debris as we raced outward.
The Silver Guard Knight, with Fren on his back, and Ash reached the cave mouth—bathed in sunlight—first.
Next came Wedin, screaming at the top of his lungs, and Ilenia.
Then Shuren shoved me out with all his strength.
Crash crash craaash...
"Brother!"
Tumbling into the sunlight from the rough push, I turned back.
Rocks poured down over Shuren's head.
In that razor-edge moment, Ash—flashing silver—leapt behind Shuren and rammed into him.
"Hngh!"
Shuren lost balance and sprawled gracelessly beside me, his black hair and clothes caked in dirt and gravel.
Ash, having saved Shuren, nimbly evaded the torrent of debris and landed gracefully before us.
A truly elegant and steady landing.
"Ugh, that Ash guy..."
Shuren, who'd rolled hard, curled up with a groan.
'Be grateful I helped.'
Ash shook himself lightly. Relief bubbled into laughter.
"Thanks, Ash."
I thanked him on Shuren's behalf.
Exhausted from our life-or-death sprint, we caught our breath under the welcome sunlight.
A yellow flagpole stood nearby, and the Silver Guard Knight distributed the emergency rations and water from inside it.
Wedin bustled around, checking if anyone was hurt.
I leaned against a rock and stared at what had once been the cave.
In the end, we completely wrecked one cave.
At least the nearby terrain was solid rock, and the cave roof wasn't high, so no landslide seemed likely.
I really hoped nothing like that happened...
"Lib."
After healing Shuren's scrapes and bruises, Wedin approached me.
I shook my head.
"I'm fine..."
"Your arm."
For a second I blanked, then remembered my left arm injured by the Shaika inside the ruins.
Wedin had done emergency bandaging back then when he couldn't use holy magic temporarily, but now the bandages were soaked red.
Wedin sat beside me and unwound the bandages. The bloodied cloth fell to the ground in clumps.
"Looks like the bleeding didn't stop properly."
His movements halted there. With an incredulous expression, he gripped my wound tightly.
"What the... The wound... it's gone?"
The deep gash torn by the Shaika's tusk had vanished.
Only faint traces remained on my skin. The dried blood, torn clothes, and robe were intact, but the wound itself was gone.
I inhaled sharply and pulled my arm from his view.
"Told you I'm fine."
I forced a smile, but Wedin stared at me with a terrifying mix of shock and confusion.
Was he piecing together how this happened? Searching his knowledge for any precedent?
If so, then I...
I racked my brain desperately for an excuse.
Truth was, I'd half-expected this.
Even at twelve, demon blood had healed me when I was dying from aftereffects.
That vile power—which killed most and turned some into demons—had rapidly regenerated my wound.
How to explain that to Wedin?
"There you guys are!"
A cheerful voice rang from the forest. It was Makina.
"Makina, how..."
Makina rushed up in an instant and hugged the Silver Guard Knight tightly. Exhausted as he was, he unusually allowed the embrace.
"Max came back to the lodge. Said a sudden earthquake made the ruins' entrance collapse. Then he gave me this, and it started glowing."
Makina pulled an Echronium from her pocket.
It shimmered with a brilliant blue light, reacting to my mana.
Guided by Makina, we headed to the lodge.
Compared to the horrors at the mountain's base, the forest remained peaceful, warm sunlight sparkling down.
Hard to believe only half a day had passed since leaving the lodge that morning.
We'd been through caves, snow-swept plains, a moonlit night of howling...
But upon arriving, the beast corpses piled everywhere showed the lodge had endured hardships too.
"What happened?"
"Magical beasts, what else."
Makina waved dismissively at the Silver Guard Knight's grave question.