36
036 ― Erosion Itself
Mari's secret hideout wasn't that big.
It was a tent-like place built using tree branches and large leaves, only about the size of a small tent at most.
It was cozy for a young child like Mari to squirm around and play, but a bit cramped for Jin-woo to be there.
Jin-woo had no complaints since he only needed to avoid the night dew, but the problem arose when Mari came to play.
"Jin-woo! Let's go to Great Eagle Rock today!"
"Where's that?"
"It's a place with a big rock that looks like an eagle, and there's a really pretty flower field! I'll show you!"
Mari was a child so overflowing with energy that she was practically boiling, so she couldn't stand just playing house in this small tent.
She came to play every single day and dragged Jin-woo around to roam all over the mountain, with an incredible range of activities.
'The entire mountain is basically her playground level.'
She would jump into waterfalls with the same feeling that ordinary Earth children would ride slides, and climb real jungle trees with the same feeling they would climb jungle gyms.
Not content with just this entire mountain, sometimes she would drag Jin-woo to the neighboring mountain to show him around.
Jin-woo didn't refuse either, for one reason being that the scenery and landscapes Mari showed him were very healing, and the other reason was.
'As expected, Elves have extraordinary footsteps.'
He was observing the Elves' footsteps through Mari's movements.
"Jin-woo is amazing. They said humans could never follow us in the mountains."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Mom said if I ever get chased by bad humans, I should definitely go into the mountains or forests. Then I can escape. But Jin-woo follows me well even in the mountains."
"Still, I'm an adult and I've trained."
"Hmm, Mom said even adult humans could never follow..."
Mari found it fascinating while also liking that Jin-woo could follow her, because it meant they could go farther and to more places.
Meanwhile, Jin-woo could follow Mari thanks to his trained body.
There was the speed-enhancing ability he had first awakened, and the gait he had somewhat learned while exploring the Primeval Forest. The power of Magi absorbed through the Dragon Sword was also tremendously helpful, and also.
'Wind, please help.'
'Kying.'
It was also because he was being supported by the lower spirit's wind that Ego Sword was deployed.
Though the lower spirit's wind didn't have a great effect, even the slight support made a remarkable difference in stamina consumption.
All these factors combined allowed Jin-woo to follow that young Elf.
'When I was being chased by the Dark Elf, if I hadn't made all that commotion setting fires and falling off cliffs, I would have definitely been caught.'
Looking back now, he realized that those extreme choices at that time had been correct.
Not only that, he had done quite a bit of exploration with Rona back then, and he now knew how slowly Rona had walked to match his pace.
'I thought even that exploration speed was incredibly fast... We found 5 Blue Portals in such a short time.'
But from Rona's perspective, even that had been tremendously slow. Right now, Mari, who was just a child, was much faster than his past self, and Rona, who was an adult with even a knight's title, couldn't possibly be slower than that.
That's why Jin-woo was observing Mari as she bounced around and learning the Elves' gait.
'I have various things too. With my own steps, I can keep up with Mari to a similar degree.'
He had abilities, Magi, and wind spirits. With just these, he was similar to Mari, so if he learned the Elves' gait, he could become much faster than this.
'In gate exploration, mobility is indeed the most important thing.'
What he had realized through several explorations was that nothing was as important as mobility.
If you're fast, your basic exploration speed increases, and even when encountering enemies, you can secure an advantageous position first. If it's an enemy you can't handle, you can also escape.
'Even when I first awakened the speed-enhancing ability, I thought mobility was the best, just like now.'
It was newly fascinating that his thinking hadn't changed at all from back then. Rather, having experienced all kinds of dangers, he realized the importance of mobility even more.
Mari's footsteps weren't particularly trained, but they instinctively blended into the mountain.
In contrast, his own steps moved as if trampling the mountain. Unnecessary force was applied, walking as if crushing the mountain underfoot.
Mari's footsteps gave no such feeling at all. Mechanically speaking, you could say the direction of force was perfect, making efficiency extremely good.
But rather than such expressions, other impressions came to mind first. Like walking alongside the mountain as a friend rather than walking with the mountain beneath her feet. It was a gait that conveyed respect for the mountain and nature.
'Can I do it?'
Mari was just walking and running without any particular thought, but to Jin-woo watching from the side, it seemed like an infinitely difficult task.
Originally, just walking is something even a child can do, but if you're asked to analyze that gait mechanically, you need an expert.
Still, if he could imitate even half, no, even a third of it, that would be success. With that mindset, Jin-woo decided to train.
"Here it is! How is it? Nice scenery, right?"
"That's Great Eagle Rock?"
"Yeah!"
Where Mari was pointing, there was a large rock. A really stupid-looking rock that didn't particularly look like an eagle.
Still, if you insisted it was an eagle, it could sort of look like one - just about that level.
Below the rock, a wide flower field spread out in a donut shape, with colorful flowers blooming profusely.
"Good, shall we eat some snacks here before we go?"
"I'm not hungry, but I like snacks!"
Jin-woo and Mari took a brief rest under a tree with a good view of the flower field and ate snacks.
Jin-woo himself took out a sandwich and ate it, while he gave Mari chocolate and candy that he had packed to replenish sugar and calories.
"Choco!"
As soon as Mari saw the chocolate wrapper, her eyes lit up and she started drooling. Ever since Jin-woo had given her some to try once, she would go crazy at the mention of chocolate.
'Sweet foods here are mostly just fruits.'
Of course, fruits could be incredibly sweet too, but the sweetness that chocolate provided had a different feeling.
That sweetness that stuck thickly to the tongue and roof of the mouth had a destructive power that seemed to strike the inside of the mouth.
There was no way a young child could withstand that destructive power.
"Munch munch... Where should we go next? There's Wedge Cliff, shall we go see that?"
"Just hearing the name sounds like it'll be intense work..."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Nothing, sounds good. Let's go when we finish eating this."
Mari seemed to be absorbed in showing Jin-woo her own secret places throughout the mountain.
She seemed to like that Jin-woo didn't refuse and didn't fall behind, but followed along.
'It's good for me too.'
There was absolutely no reason to refuse.
On the way, he learned the Elves' gait while watching Mari's movements, and when they arrived, he enjoyed excellent scenery as entertainment while drinking delicious snacks and cool beverages.
Where else could you find such an excellent curriculum?
Eventually, Great Eagle Rock, Wedge Cliff, and various other places. Just today, they had toured five scenic spots. It felt like they had hit all four directions of the mountain - north, south, east, and west.
"Ahh~ I'm tired. Jin-woo, carry me on your back."
"What do you mean you're tired after coming all this way?"
"But I am tired. Carry me, carry me."
"Sigh, alright, alright."
No matter how much of an Elf child she was, Mari found this level of forced march tiring and pestered him to carry her.
Jin-woo smiled wryly and gave Mari a piggyback ride. From her tendency to act spoiled naturally and know how to be affectionate, he could feel that she had grown up receiving lots of love. She must have grown up in a happy family.
Even if his speed climbing mountains was slower, Jin-woo had much more stamina, so he had strength left to carry Mari.
That's how he brought Mari near the village.
"Alright, this far. You can go alone from here, right?"
"Yeah. Today was fun too."
Since they were near the village, Mari also whispered in a very small voice. She seemed to understand well that she shouldn't be caught by the village Elves.
"Go and listen to your mom well, brush your teeth properly, and sleep, okay?"
"Yeah."
Mari, who nodded her head, headed home with slightly drowsy eyes. She seemed completely drained of energy and sleepy.
'I wonder if she can get there safely...'
Her stumbling footsteps looked quite precarious. In the end, Jin-woo took out his telescope and only left after watching Mari enter her house.
Jin-woo's footsteps returning to Mari's secret hideout, his temporary dwelling, had become more skillful than before.
No, rather than saying skillful, it would be more accurate to say he had become a bit more friendly with the mountain.
***
Lately, Mari had been coming home extremely exhausted every single day.
Proportionally, her clothes had become incredibly dirty, so Mari's mother had to do laundry every day.
Still, she didn't scold Mari, but rather was pleased that her daughter was running around healthily.
"Mari? You have to finish your soup before sleeping."
"Mmm..."
"Oh my, you're spilling it all. Come here."
Even while eating soup, she was nodding off sleepily, so soup kept falling on her clothes. Mari's mother took out a handkerchief and wiped up the spilled soup.
Only after such care could Mari finally finish a whole bowl of soup.
"Mmm... I have to brush my teeth and sleep..."
"Oh my, what's gotten into you? You usually don't brush and just sleep even when I tell you to."
"Jin-woo said I must brush them."
"Is that so? The animal you picked up this time must be a good one."
Not thinking much of the unfamiliar name, Mari's mother helped Mari brush her teeth completely, changed her into pajamas, and laid her down on the bed.
Mari fell asleep as soon as she lay on the fluffy bed, and her mother smiled at her daughter and covered her with a blanket.
'She seems to be playing especially happily lately.'
Mari, being overflowing with energy, was always the case, but lately she seemed particularly active.
Seeing her collapse like this almost every day, you could tell she was really running around the mountain. Her clothes also came back covered in dirt and flower pollen every day.
"Then... Let me just light a small fire."
After putting the child to bed, the mother came out to the living room and lit the lamp. A red light formed at her fingertips, then fire gently lit on the lamp's wick.
With just that one small light lit, the mother began sewing.
Peaceful and leisurely days.
An Elf's lifespan is 10 times that of humans, and they don't need to eat that much either. Because they naturally replenish energy from atmospheric Magi, sunlight, or places like grasslands, eating about one meal a day was sufficient. At most, about two meals.
That's why their lives were relaxed and abundant. This village was no different, remaining quiet and peaceful without any changes.
It had been that way for 300 years already, and the next 300 years would be no problem either.
That's what she thought.
Until two weeks later, before the village was covered by black Erosion.
***
Seoul and New York had become hostile enough that it wouldn't be strange if war broke out immediately.
Of course, war wasn't something that happened that easily, but it meant the atmosphere was that bad.
Ma Du-sik, who had heard the story directly from Cheon Ju-hyeok, coolly guided international public opinion, while Shartia was extremely angry and held Johan and the New York Management Bureau thoroughly responsible.
―The reason Johan is S-rank is that he received S-rank from the New York Management Bureau. Therefore, the New York Management Bureau cannot escape responsibility either.
That was the content of Shartia's argument and the international public opinion that Ma Du-sik was pushing.
Ma Du-sik's support of Shartia's opinion was very wise, because there were fewer cities on this Earth that had not received Shartia's help.
Almost all cities had received Shartia's blessing at least once, so they found it morally difficult to oppose Shartia's opinion.
David also knew the situation well.
Public opinion aside, for whatever reason, when a person kills another person, it's murder.
Although hunters fighting and dying against each other in gates was commonplace, vaguely glossing over it without exact circumstances was completely different from being accused like this in broad daylight.
―That claim is solely Cheon Ju-hyeok's alone. Is there really evidence that Johan attacked him and killed Kang Jin-woo?
David, knowing this well, consistently claimed ignorance.
If he acknowledged it, he would have to apologize and compensate, so not acknowledging it was the best choice he could make.
Though that was also a claim that could receive much support, New York's public opinion was unexpectedly split in half. This was because the accused was Johan, a black magician.
└ Sorry, but I think Johan really is the culprit. Honestly, it was a situation where he could have been accused anytime.
└ The fact that Johan enjoys evil research and hobbies is something any Hunter in New York knows. But it's all been crushed by power and authority.
└ The Management Bureau is never clean either. I can't even imagine how much they've covered for Johan until now.
New York's public opinion was both cynical and had many active disputes.
└ Hey! The Management Bureau's not being clean is unavoidable! In the end, to keep S-ranks, we have no choice but to overlook minor charges!
└ There's also something called plea bargaining. How much benefit does an S-rank hunter bring to the nation? Can't we cover up one small mistake instead of driving them away?
└ Right. It's not corruption but an unavoidable reality.
└ Hey, if you were the victim, could you make the same argument?
└ It being an unavoidable reality is correct. But I thought David was a righteous man who wouldn't yield to unavoidable circumstances. But I guess not. He was also one of those 'unavoidable reality' people.
└ Shut up! Your logic is too extreme. Who benefits from putting David down like that? Don't you have any patriotism?
Fierce arguments. Conflicting debates.
David remained silent, claiming ignorance to the end, and Seoul's public opinion fiercely criticized.
All of that mixed together was the hot furnace that was New York now.
And then, David received one more troublesome piece of news.
"Director! Erosion has occurred!"
"What? At this time?"
A report that Erosion had occurred. If reports were coming in to this extent, it meant it was sufficiently close to the city.
David, already having a headache because of Johan's situation, felt like his head would split in two.
But his subordinate's report wasn't finished.
"B-but it's a form we've never observed before."
"What? What do you mean by a form never observed before?"
"Please look at this."
The subordinate showed him footage with hands trembling from urgency. It was the Erosion's development process captured by satellite.
The Erosion in the footage was ordinary at first. Appearing at some point and gradually spreading to swallow the surroundings.
Just as David was putting a question mark on his face, wondering if it was just ordinary Erosion like usual, a major change occurred in the footage.
The boundary of the Erosion that had clearly been spreading in a spherical form suddenly shrank and concentrated in one place. And in that location, there was a monster.
A turtle of enormous size that wouldn't be strange to call an island.
The massive body, where all the Erosion's energy had condensed slowly, slowly approached New York.
Along the path where it walked, the earth was being dyed black and turning into dead land.
***
When the Erosion spread from the village, Jin-woo noticed it faster than anyone else. He probably sensed it faster than even the residents in the village.
'Black flames!'
Black flames fierce enough to be clearly felt even from this distance were burning intensely.
The location was the village entrance. Looking at the size of the flames and how they were burning, it was clear that Erosion would cover the entire village.
'Mari!'
Jin-woo immediately rushed out of the secret hideout toward the village.
The footsteps he had learned by watching Mari were sufficiently helpful, and his figure shot forward swiftly. Having reached the front of the village in an instant like that, he witnessed it.
The village was covered by Erosion. It was definitely covered, but at some point it rapidly shrank and concentrated into one point.
At that point stood a single knight wrapped entirely in black armor, with Erosion energy rippling between the gaps in the armor.
'The flames...'
The black flames that had been rising from inside the knight's body became smaller. Despite absorbing all the Erosion energy, they burned smaller and smaller instead.
Even though they were so small, they were more ominous than any other flames. In some sense, they were even more ominous than the dragon's soul. Though the total amount of power was much smaller.
An existence that had gathered and condensed all the energy of Erosion. It was no longer something like the core of Erosion, but an existence that was Erosion itself.