108
108―Still Blue As Ever
Kalesian, who had risen from the dust pit, shook his head. He couldn't collect his thoughts, but it wasn't because of pain or suffering.
The fact that he had been struck by the security magic he had installed in his own home was too shocking.
"Kalesian?"
"Ah, aah, wait a moment. There seems to have been a slight malfunction."
Feeling embarrassed under Jin-woo's gaze, Kalesian cleared his throat with a hmm hmm. Then he leisurely walked back toward the entrance.
Paak—!
"Kak!"
The magic activated again and struck down Kalesian. Having been knocked back similarly to before, this time Kalesian couldn't get up and just sat there in a daze.
"What's going on?"
"Hahaha, as expected of my magic. I sealed it tightly so that even an S-rank Hunter couldn't break in."
"So you can't get in either?"
"...Yes."
Jin-woo looked at Kalesian, who was scratching his head, with an incredulous expression.
***
"Wasn't there quite a big incident during Ireland? Since I thought I'd be away from home for a long time, I put special effort into blocking the entrance."
"Yes."
"And do you remember when I suggested we go raid the divine artifacts back then? After the Ireland matter was resolved, I was planning to make an offer to a Hunter I had my eye on and depart for the 3rd floor. It was certain I'd be away from home for a long time."
"Yes, I see."
"So... No, are you even listening?"
Of course, he was listening well. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in the story, but this situation was just too absurd.
"I understand the reason this happened well enough. So how do we get in?"
"Are you really listening properly? The point is that this excellent magic is ultimately my magic, and even if I was knocked flying by it, my greatness doesn't fade..."
Kalesian's words had been focused on making excuses for himself from the start. While his embarrassment was understandable, no matter what he said, it wouldn't improve the current situation.
Rather than that, discussing solutions would be more constructive.
"Is there no way to disable it from outside?"
"No. I blocked it in case a thief skilled in magic might break in."
"What about a secret path to sneak in?"
"That doesn't exist either. Who would lock the main gate and leave the back door open?"
Then there was only one method.
"We can just break it then. No matter how solid the defensive magic is, it won't be at the level of Red Cliff, so let's coolly fire off a breath attack."
"Foolish talk! Who would fire a breath at my house! All the treasures inside would be ruined!"
When Jin-woo looked at him with an expression asking what else they could do, Kalesian averted his gaze and cleared his throat with another hmm hmm.
"Still, I agree with the idea of breaking it. We just need to break through the magic laid at the entrance."
"So if we just break the door, the furniture inside won't get destroyed."
"Something like that."
In the end, it meant they had to break through stitch by stitch.
Though it looked troublesome, that seemed like the most reasonable plan, so Jin-woo also drew his sword.
The Nebula Sword stored in the God of Sky's scabbard.
As he had said earlier, no matter how solid the defensive magic was, it wouldn't be at the level of Red Cliff. With this sword, he could easily cut through and enter.
"Let's go."
"Right."
Kalesian flapped his wings and rose to about the height of Jin-woo's head. One person and one dragon cautiously headed toward the lair's entrance.
Kururung!
As they approached, with a sound similar to thunder, the crystal arms from before emerged. Then they rushed forward rapidly to strike down Jin-woo and Kalesian.
Enduring the pressure that approached with crushing force, Jin-woo swung his sword.
Seogek.
The severed crystal scattered into the sky. Due to the momentum of its rapid approach, the fragments exploded outward like a grenade, but a transparent barrier that appeared in front of Jin-woo blocked them. It was defensive magic deployed by Kalesian.
"It's not over yet, so be careful!"
Needless to say, Jin-woo hadn't let his guard down yet either.
The crystal fragments that had scattered throughout the cave absorbed mana and grew again. Like trees branching out, the rapidly spreading crystal covered the defensive magic protecting Jin-woo.
Pajik, pajijik.
Cracks instantly appeared in the defensive magic, and it shattered. For a dragon's magic to break so simply? But since these crystals were also magic installed by that same dragon, it was natural.
"Jin-woo!"
"I'm watching."
As the barrier broke, that pressure instantly poured down on Jin-woo. However, the flow of pressure wasn't precise, so there were plenty of spaces to dodge.
Following that flow and moving his body out of the way, Jin-woo continued swinging his sword several times. From the crystal branches nearby to those far away.
After cutting this much, the crystal could no longer exert its power. What appeared instead was a ceiling of flames covering the sky and an icy ground that grabbed at his feet.
"There's more!?"
"Of course. Do you think I'd end the protection of my lair with just that level of magic?"
He wanted to punch Kalesian, who was puffing out his chest with pride. Who was causing all this trouble!
"Keut."
The ice beneath his feet could be cut away. But the fire in the sky couldn't be cut with a sword. At most, he could scatter it.
While his footing was unstable, he had to endlessly dodge the rain of fire falling from the sky, so it really looked difficult for even an ordinary S-rank Hunter to pass through.
Still, with Kalesian blocking some of it, he managed to push inward. The problem was that no matter how far they went, there was no end in sight.
"Just how far do we have to go in?"
"I also cast spatial expansion... At this rate, we'll need to go in for about half a day more."
"Crazy."
Unable to hold back, a curse slipped out. It wasn't directed at Kalesian but uttered at this situation.
After barely escaping the icy ground, what appeared was a forest of golems. Artificial life forms created by magic. Each was a rock giant with a build larger than an ogre, throwing rocks at Jin-woo and charging at him in complete chaos.
'Half a day like this...'
While cutting down golems, Jin-woo thought. He had to break through dozens, perhaps over a hundred, trap-filled paths for half a day.
It wouldn't be impossible, but it was dangerous and troublesome. Moreover, there weren't really any resting sections in between. From the cave's perspective, they were illegal intruders, so why would it give them time to rest?
'If I think of it as warming up before going to the Spirit Realm, it might be okay.'
Thinking positively, it could be good preparation. Though it was quite dangerous to call it simple preparation...
'Hm?'
Then he felt something wriggling. He thought it might be Kalesian's wing flapping, but Kalesian was flying above Jin-woo's right side.
Meanwhile, the wriggling something was at Jin-woo's left waist.
'The sheath...'
The Sky God's Sheath was there. The erosive energy emanating from that sheath had risen on its own and was enveloping Jin-woo.
It wasn't just the sheath. As if drawn to it, erosion also flowed down from the Nebula Sword and dripped onto the ground.
What had initially been just a faint movement spread in the blink of an eye, surrounding Jin-woo, covering the floor, and completely covering the walls and ceiling.
"My friend, that's..."
Kalesian looked on with surprised eyes. Jin-woo felt similarly. For the power of erosion to suddenly move on its own.
The erosive energy that had completely covered the surroundings with Jin-woo at the center seeped into the magic installed at the cave entrance.
The hundreds and thousands of magic circles that Kalesian had carefully hidden so that intruders couldn't find and remove them.
Erosion didn't seek them out. It simply burrowed into that entire space.
The magic circles, instantly contaminated, lost their function. The power of erosion fixes things in place, causing them to lose their original function. Magic circles were no different.
No, rather, since magic circles required delicacy, just a slight seepage of erosion caused their functions to become distorted and stop in an instant.
The golems lost their light and crumbled. With the mana supplied from the magic circles gone, they were nothing more than chunks of rock.
The icy ground and ceiling of flames, the living crystal walls that Jin-woo had passed through all stopped and flowed down. The traps ahead that Jin-woo hadn't yet reached were the same.
What remained was only a desolate passage covered in erosion.
It looked exactly like... the erosive barrier that had devastated Earth and other worlds.
'This erosion, did I...?'
He had tried things like infusing erosive energy into sword energy and launching it. But this kind of act, like spreading a barrier, was a first.
A strand of energy rose from the ground like a snake. Then it wrapped around Jin-woo's hand and rubbed against the back of his hand.
"Are you alright?"
"Ah yes. I'm fine."
Jin-woo answered, taking his eyes off his hand.
"Is this the power of a Divine Artifact?"
"Probably."
No. While it was true that the source of power came from the Divine Artifact, the barrier's deployment had nothing to do with the Divine Artifact's function.
For now...
"Shall we go in?"
"Yes, let's do that."
Kalesian's lukewarm voice represented Jin-woo's feelings as well.
Jin-woo walked through the completely cleared path ahead. Each time he walked, the erosion expanded as well, destroying the remaining intact traps one by one.
The Sky God had used this power to erode Earth. For decades, even before Jin-woo was born. Because of that, the current Earth had lost all the blue glory it once had and had become a dying planet.
That power was now spreading with Jin-woo at the center.
Was this okay? Such thoughts occurred to him. This ability is exactly the same as the Monarch's power.
But it would also be strange to forcibly not use existing power.
If there were side effects, it would be different, but his body, mind, and soul were all fine.
'Thinking positively, it's like gaining a decent weapon before entering the Spirit Realm.'
Excluding the unpleasant feeling, there was nothing bad about it. The Spirit Realm was a dangerous place. A place where goblin shamans encountered on the road could cross dimensions and bring down lightning.
Going to such a place, having this kind of power, would be extremely useful. Wouldn't his chances of survival at least double?
It was just that this power closely resembled the power he had been opposing all this time that bothered him.
"Wait! You can stop this, right? You're not expanding it too much so it touches the treasures inside, right?"
If touched by erosion, any item would be ruined. Moreover, even simple artworks without mana would change color and become distorted in shape, so they could no longer have their original value.
"It should be fine."
Jin-woo answered, telling him not to worry. This erosion was spreading with Jin-woo as the focal point. In other words, Jin-woo was the core of the barrier.
All information within the erosion was coming to Jin-woo, who was at the center, in real time. What traps existed, and how they were being destroyed.
If he released the barrier at the point where the traps ended, it would be clean. He could destroy only the entrance traps and keep the interior intact.
"Then that's fortunate. Let's go in."
Jin-woo slowly followed behind Kalesian, who was leading the way with relief. On the way, he lowered his head to look toward his own chest.
He wondered if black flames might have formed in him, who was the core of this Erosion, but that wasn't the case. His flames were still blue as ever.