Chapter 77 – Rest (6)

“Come in.”

The door creaked open, and Hephaestus, bundled in snow-covered furs, entered.

“Huff… Is Noah still…?”

“Ah, Hephaestus. Yes… she’s still asleep.”

A week had passed since the equipment was completed.

Noah remained asleep.

“There’s no problem, right?”

“No. Nothing’s wrong. Which makes it even stranger.”

For nearly a month, Noah hadn’t awakened, yet her condition was perfectly normal.

Her breathing was steady, her complexion unchanged.

She hadn’t lost weight, and there were no visible signs of the elixir’s side effects that Yuria had mentioned.

The only change…

Noah’s body had started generating mana.

Originally, Noah’s body had no trace of mana at all.

But about a week after she fell asleep, faint traces of mana began swirling around her. Now it exceeded that of a typical wielder.

We assumed Noah’s body was adapting to this new mana, explaining her deep slumber…

But we weren’t sure.

Neither I, Yuria, Charlotte, nor Rebuge could find anything in books or consultations to explain this situation.

“Have you eaten?”

“Actually, I brought something for us to eat together. You haven’t eaten since yesterday, have you?”

“I don’t know… I just haven’t had much appetite.”

“But you have to eat! If you keep this up, you’ll collapse too, Rubia.”

Hephaestus shook snow from her coat and set down the basket with a wry smile.

“I brought some jelly, just in case, but I guess I’ll take it back again…”

“Haha… No need. Look—there’s already a mountain of it here.”

“Wow… Is that all jelly?”

“Yeah, quite a lot, right?”

Charlotte and Yuria brought jelly every time they checked on Noah, and now there was enough to cover half the window.

Half of that was from me, though…

“It’s gotten so cold outside. The snow just keeps coming.”

“Ugh, right? Aren’t you cold? I feel like it’s freezing in here.”

“Haha… Here, give me your hand.”

“Huh?”

Hephaestus hesitated before reaching out. I sent a little divine power through her hand to warm her up.

“Oh, wow! It’s so warm!”

“Right? It should last about a day. You can take off your coat and relax.”

“Okay!”

Hephaestus cheerfully shed her coat and opened the basket with a smile.

“Tada! Master’s special sandwiches!”

“Wow… they look delicious.”

“Yeah, there are lots of greens, but they’re good for you. Master said to make sure you eat them all!”

“Haha… well, I guess I’ll have to eat then.”

Despite my lack of appetite… since Hephaestus had made the effort, I picked the thinnest sandwich from the dozen or so in the basket.

Hephaestus didn’t seem fully satisfied, watching me closely.

I bit into the sandwich under her watchful eye, feeling like a child trying to please their sibling.

“But Ursphere must be struggling, huh?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, people like you, Master, and the princess can cover yourselves in mana, so it’s not a problem. But for people like me who can’t handle mana well… with all this snow, it’s hard to even walk. It’s slippery… What’s the point of having divine protection if you can’t use mana properly?”

Hephaestus pouted, slapping her hands in frustration before turning to look out the window.

“Haha… I guess that would be frustrating.”

I nodded, taking another bite of my sandwich.

This time, it had a delicious nutty cream filling.

After washing it down with coffee, I spoke again.

“Still, we have to understand… This snowstorm is due to the aftermath of Tylant’s seal.”

“Yeah. Even sealed, it’s causing this much trouble… If it were released… ugh, I don’t even want to imagine!”

Hephaestus shivered, likely recalling the nightmare of Carpeng, and curled up.

I patted her shoulder and reached for another sandwich.

After a few more bites, the food was gone.

“Thanks for the meal, Hephaestus. Make sure to tell Yuria I enjoyed it.”

“I will!”

I finished it all.

I hadn’t eaten for a while and thought I wouldn’t finish, but I ate every last bite.

“Well, I should go now. Make sure you rest too, Rubia! You haven’t been sleeping, have you? Your dark circles are huge—you know that?”

“Really…?”

I couldn’t feel them, but I instinctively touched under my eyes.

“Just kidding. I was bluffing. But seriously, you haven’t been sleeping, have you?”

Seeing Hephaestus grinning at her playful lie, I couldn’t help but smile back.

At first, I could tell she was uncomfortable calling me ‘sister,’ but now there was no hesitation. It felt nice.

“You little…”

“Anyway, I should go. You stay with Noah.”

Hephaestus bundled herself back up, smiling as she opened the door.

Clang—clang—

At the same time, the wind began howling louder, rattling the windows.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you back?”

“…No, it’s fine. I’m not a kid, I can get home by myself.”

She gave me a crooked smile and a forced laugh before quickly darting out, her footsteps fading in the storm.

I got up and looked out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of her walking away.

***

Three hours later.

The snowstorm had intensified into a blizzard, tearing through the city.

The snow fell so thickly it turned into a dense fog, veiling the city.

The waves of snow obscured nearby buildings, and the wind was so fierce it pushed against people, making it impossible to walk without mana protection.

Reports of missing people began to surface in the city.

The first victim…

Was Hephaestus.

***

The wind was too strong to keep my eyes open.

I wrapped divine power tightly around me and lifted my head.

“Charlotte!”

It was the third time I’d called her name.

Even after calling out thrice, there was no response. My voice was swallowed by the wind.

With no other choice, I sent a soft burst of divine power toward Charlotte’s back.

Finally, she stopped and turned, and I hurried over to her.

Around her, the snow seemed to part and fall away. She was surrounded by flames, and the blizzard swirled around her, as if fearing her power.

I had also wrapped myself in heated divine power, but it wasn’t as effective as Charlotte’s flames.

“Charlotte! Where’s Yuria?”

“I don’t know! She went out alone to find Hephaestus! She’s crazy!”

Clicking her tongue, Charlotte turned to keep walking, but I grabbed her arm.

“Charlotte! Can’t you shoot flames into the sky? My divine power can’t be seen through this blizzard!”

Charlotte tilted her head for a moment, then realized what I meant. She immediately shot a flare of flames into the sky.

The flames shot high and exploded into a burst of light, defiantly standing out against the storm.

It was a signal for Yuria—telling her we were searching this area so she wouldn’t overlap.

Someone as skilled as Yuria wouldn’t be hindered by this storm, so the signal was to spread out and search more efficiently.

I hoped she understood.

“Good! Charlotte, I’ll search another area now. Keep sending up those flares!”

“Got it! Be careful!”

I flashed a quick smile at Charlotte before turning right, calling Hephaestus’s name as I walked through the snow.

It had been about six hours since we started searching.

There were roughly thirteen hours left before the blizzard would become even more dangerous…

Shaking off those thoughts, I pressed on.

She had to be alive.

I’d wrapped her in my divine power, after all. And she’d managed to avoid Kalt’s shadow remnants before, so she should handle this.

With my divine power gathered tightly around me, I pressed forward.

After half a day of searching, I finally spotted something through the veil of snow.

In the distance, a tree root shot up into the sky with a loud rumble.

At the same time, a burst of flames rose from the same location.

Had they found her?

I changed direction and hurried toward the flames.

It took about twenty minutes before I saw Charlotte’s fire again.

It was right in front of our hideout.

I ran, almost tripping over myself in my haste.

“Charlotte! Did you find Hephaest—”

Yuria was sitting on the ground, clutching a stone in her hand.

Charlotte stood there, her expression blank, holding another stone.

It was the stone Hephaestus had treasured. The one Yuria had given her. The one that was supposed to show whether Hephaestus was alive.

But now, it was in Charlotte’s hand. And Yuria’s.

The stone that should have been with Hephaestus… Was here.

Yuria’s trembling eyes met mine. Charlotte’s lost gaze wandered aimlessly.

What expression did I have? What kind of eyes was I showing them? Was I crying?

I didn’t know.

But I couldn’t fall apart, not now.

Taking a deep breath, I steadied my trembling body and approached the others.

I expanded my divine power as much as I could to block out the blizzard, even if only for a moment.

And then I spoke quietly.

“For now… let’s head back inside. Let’s regroup, then we’ll search again.”

Charlotte looked at me with empty eyes. She shook her head.

Grinding my teeth, I refuted her.

“No. She’s alive. She has to be.”

There was a faint spark of hope in Yuria’s eyes.

“Yuria. Let’s go inside. We’ll warm up, then go back out. We’ll find her this time. She’s probably holed up somewhere. Hephaestus… she’s smart enough to take shelter.”

“…You think so? That idiot… she’s a bit dim, but she’s got good instincts… She’ll be okay, right?”

“Yes. I’m sure of it. Charlotte, you too. Come inside. We’ll plan out a search pattern and go back out.”

I helped Yuria up and grabbed Charlotte’s arm.

We pushed open the door and made our way inside, heading up to the top floor.

After leaving Yuria with Charlotte, I went to check on Noah.

If by some chance…

If she had woken up… we’d be able to find Hephaestus quickly.

Depending on Noah at a time like this made me a bad person, but…

Right now, I’d become the worst person alive if it meant saving Hephaestus.

As I opened the door to my room…

“…Huh?”

The view outside the window caught my attention.

It was clear.

The blizzard that had been raging just moments ago had vanished.

No… it hadn’t vanished.

It was being drawn to one place.

I followed the direction of the wind.

At the peak of Mount Karahan.

A magical circle, as clear as the sky, appeared, and at its center, a small sphere floated.

The entire storm of Ursphere was converging on that sphere.

It was growing.

The sphere swelled in size until it covered the sky.

Then.

The magic circle inverted.

The sky collapsed.

It fell.

It fell, and the avalanche flowed down the mountain.

The shockwave rippled through the mountain range, sending waves crashing.

Those waves turned into a tidal wave.

The tidal wave rose and became an ocean.

And that ocean became a disaster.

It was an avalanche.

Could human language even describe the sheer magnitude of this catastrophe?

A white calamity was rushing toward us.

If it continued like this, Ursphere would be destroyed.

There was no way to avoid it.

Where was Hephaestus?

Could Yuria, Charlotte, and I stop this?

What could we possibly do…?

No.

Move.

Shaking off my fear, I turned away.

And then.

“…Huh?”

Standing there.

“Hello, Rubia.”

Clear, red eyes.

The person I had been waiting for.

“Noah…?”

“Yeah. It’s been a while.”

Noah was looking right at me.

“There’s a lot I want to say, a lot I want to hear… and I’d love to eat some of that jelly you’ve got piled up there.”

Noah stood up.

“But it looks like we don’t have time for that.”

And then.

She walked straight toward the new greatsword Hephaestus had made.

“I don’t know how this is going to go, but… once it’s all over.”

She stood tall.

“Let’s have a chat.”

And walked toward the sword.

“Noah… are you really…?”

“Yeah.”

Noah grasped the greatsword.

“Something feels… off—”

“It’s okay.”

And she smiled.

“Hephaestus is hiding under that blue-roofed building, you see? She’s shaking in there, so go get her, okay?”

It was a strange smile.

“Tell her I said thanks for the sword.”

It was bittersweet.

“I’m really glad that the first person I saw when I woke up was you, Rubia.”

It was a melancholy smile.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

It was a sad smile.

Noah turned her back and left the room.

She walked down the stairs.

Her footsteps grew fainter.

Until I couldn’t hear them anymore.

I turned back to the window.

The sky.

The mountain.

The avalanche that had been about to wipe out Ursphere.

The avalanche.

The death.

The disaster.

Split.

***

That day.

Humanity witnessed.

Not a Challenger who defied the gods.

But the first, and last, “Adversary.”

Who stood against them.

***