Chapter 5. Belief and Reality (7)

“Okay. I understand.”

Ria accepted my words in this situation far too easily.

And with that one word, my mind stopped for a moment.

“Uh, you understand?”

“Yeah. You said we have to go stop it?”

Ria said that and quickly got back on the motorcycle.

“Where there’s magic-“

“I know. Devices can malfunction. It’s okay. At least the outbound trip will be fine. This was made for that purpose in the first place. It’s somewhat protected by magic.”

But we won’t be able to go and come back.

In this situation, the electronic circuits might still hold up, and as Ria said, they might hold up on the way there- but near that place, the circuits will definitely be damaged.

Think of it like pushing electronic devices into a place with intense radiation. Depending on the shielding performance, it varies, but if the radiation is too intense, the electronic circuits will fail and shut down.

“…….”

I stared blankly at Ria for a moment.

Right. I did say it. I said we have to stop it.

Even I, who said it, don’t actually know much.

I still don’t know what kind of being the opponent is, nor how it recognized holy power and came to find the Saint. I’ve only read up to the starting point of that episode.

But even if I knew, would I have been able to tell Ria?

No, more than that, I haven’t said anything about that at all right now.

It’s something that people in this world might question. They might think it’s okay to just block the gate, or they might think it hasn’t reached that point yet.

It’s as if they believe my single word completely.

“What are you doing? Get on. Wasn’t it urgent?”

“It is urgent, but…”

If left alone, there will definitely be a problem. That mass of magic will grow larger over time, and it will become a huge nuisance later.

Ria looked at me and opened her mouth.

“Why, don’t you trust me?”

“No, it’s not that-“

“How much do you trust me?”

“…….”

No immediate answer came.

I… trust that Ria will willingly save my life. In any situation.

However, that’s not because I know Ria that deeply. While I’ve gotten to know her as a good person during our time together, the basis of my judgment isn’t that.

I know the character named ‘Lee Chae-eun’.

Because I’ve read the novel.

Lee Chae-eun, despite pretending otherwise, was ultimately a selfless person. Someone who could risk her life for a friend.

That probably applies to me too.

Ria, who has never seen a novel, seems to trust me completely. The time we’ve spent together is the same as mine, yet Ria understands me so completely.

That fact was a little confusing.

“Just a moment.”

So, instead of answering, I gathered holy power in my hand.

I threw the gathered crystal forcefully onto the ground and shattered it. The shattered crystal was, as it were, a mass of pure holy power. The color of the ground beneath us instantly changed.

“With this, at least your lives won’t be eaten away within this area.”

“Wait a minute.”

Lee Si-yoon stepped forward and said.

“The other hunters, should they stay here?”

“What about that mass of magic? Are there any monsters around?”

“……No. I don’t see anything at all.”

Gloria said, and Han Yu-ri next to her nodded.

“In places with excessive magic, neither monsters nor living beings can survive…”

No, that’s not true.

There are things that only appear when that mass of magic is present.

However, at least for now, it’s okay. Perhaps because it’s still the early part of the story, the mass is just a mass.

I closed my eyes again.

Perhaps because I had already summoned holy power with all my might once, I was able to do it more skillfully this time.

Like dry ice left at room temperature, white energy overflowed around my hands.

I climbed onto the back of the motorcycle Ria was riding.

And I placed my hands on Ria’s back.

“I felt it last time too.”

Ria said, turning slightly towards me.

“Holy power is warm.”

*

Ria understood my words about urgency perfectly.

Even if the motorcycle levitates, it’s not an aircraft. I don’t know exactly how high it can go-

“……!”

I couldn’t even scream.

The motorcycle was flying just above the tall trees. The colors of the branches that flashed by below us at insane speeds turned black the further we went, and eventually, only bare branches remained, and finally, only traces of shattered trees were left.

“Since the circuits will burn anyway! It’s better to go as fast as possible, isn’t it!?”

“Kkyap.”

I tried to say something, but only a scream came out, so I quickly closed my mouth.

Instead, I tightened the hands around my waist and buried my face in her back. Honestly, this was embarrassing too, but safety comes first, doesn’t it?

Besides, Ria is right. Since we can’t go back and forth anyway, it’s better to go fast at least. If we can fly over the trees instead of weaving through them, that would be enough.

However, a slightly hot heat was rising from the motorcycle, and the vibrations were gradually intensifying, but I decided to ignore that for now.

“……I see it!”

At Ria’s words, I finally opened my eyes.

And I poked my head to the side to look ahead.

It was, literally, a ‘giant mass of magic’ itself.

This is an early stage. It can be distinguished by being ‘giant’.

Rather, as time passes, magic condenses into a small form, like a star that has reached the end of its life. And that becomes a ‘core’ and turns into a giant monster.

“Hey, how high can this motorcycle go!?”

I squeezed out my voice and shouted that, but Ria was silent for a moment.

Instead, she was looking up at the sky.

As if she were gauging something.

“Hey, how much do you trust me?”

Ria asked.

She didn’t even shout that loudly. It was just her usual casual tone, as if she were asking me something in passing.

However, strangely, that voice reached my ears clearly.

I don’t know why she’s asking that in this situation-

“……At least, I trust you enough to be my knight who would save my life.”

In the end, I ended up answering that way.

“Really?”

Ria made a sound of a chuckle-

And then she let go of the handlebars.

My jaw dropped.

But I couldn’t say anything like “What are you doing?”

Ria pulled out her sword, which was tucked into the lower part of the vibrating handlebars-

By the time I realized what was happening, we were already flying in the sky.

More precisely, it was closer to Ria jumping off the motorcycle. With my waist in one arm and a sword in the other hand.

I couldn’t even scream properly.

For a moment, the surrounding sounds disappeared. To our ears, having jumped so high, there was only the sound of the wind.

“Don’t worry. I can handle magic to some extent too- well, it’s even easier in places like this.”

Ria said that and jumped higher and higher.

Ah, right.

This is the kind of character Lee Chae-eun was. Well, to fight monsters, you’d have to do something like this.

I gritted my teeth and looked down.

In my hand, there was already a crystal of holy power. A ray of light from the sky shone down on us. Perhaps due to the influence of magic, a single beam of light descended from the dim sky, making the scene somewhat mythical.

And as if that light were guiding us to where we were going.

It was illuminating the mass of magic below.

A giant black sphere floating in the air.

Thick, black magic was flowing down the surface of that sphere.

As the mass of magic spun, it ‘saw’ us.

“Wow.”

Ria said, sounding slightly displeased.

Something like a giant eye floating in the air was looking straight at us.

No, if anything, that mass was just an eye.

“…….”

I raised my hand.

The mass of magic trembled as if I were a dangerous element, and then floated up something that seemed to be a replica of itself.

It’s not that big. Barely visible from here, probably about the size of a human head.

But that’s dangerous. Just as the small crystal of holy power in my hand possesses incomparably greater power than ordinary holy power.

Black vines grew from the magic sphere. Their speed was incomparably faster than real vines growing.

It’s just like the vines in the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk.

“……Hoo.”

That attack method was also exactly the same as in the novel.

In the end, it turns out like this.

I- threw the crystal I was holding with all my might.

Even the sound of the wind brushing past our ears stopped for a moment.

The shining point, which seemed like a single drop of water, split the giant vine that was flying to pierce us.

“Wow.”

I heard Ria’s voice, filled with pure admiration.

But it wasn’t over yet.

I closed my eyes again. And I thought of the being who sent me here. I don’t know what it looks like, or what it does- but, fine.

I don’t want to become the Saint.

I don’t want to believe in God either.

But I can’t give up all of that just because I don’t feel like it.

…….

No, well, I thought it would be okay if I just ran away first, but seeing it act like this, it’s probably not the case.

There must be at least some plausibility for me to be here.

It would have been easier if they had put someone I could trust a little more.

Light shines from the sky. Towards me.

I thought.

Okay, okay.

This staring contest, you win.

……Although, I have no intention of losing next time.

“Ria.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go.”

“Do you need your sword?”

“It would be good to have it. Cut as big as possible.”

I turned my head and looked at Ria.

Did we jump too high? For a moment, it felt like Ria and I were alone in the air.

Hmm.

This is a bit embarrassing-

I thought that belatedly.

Ria looked at me and gave a smile.

“You said you trust me, right?”

A slightly playful smile.

Ah, uh-

Before I could even say “Please come down a little slower,” Ria had already cut off the magic.

This time too- I couldn’t scream.

However.

Beyond the sky, someone far away showed light towards me again.

I see the mass of magic looking up at us. The mass and I made eye contact. No, strictly speaking, the mass was just an eye.

The pupils, torn vertically, reminded me of a villain from a fantasy movie I saw once.

Into those pupils, Ria’s sword embedded itself.

Ria’s sword, having received full holy power and even the light shining towards me, was gleaming.

That light easily split the magic mass.

A scream, un-imitable by human voice, was heard, and the center of the pupils was torn open.

“……Honestly.”

I don’t like it.

I resent the being above me just a little-

And I pushed the crystal of holy power inside.

What appeared next was a bright light.

A bright light that purified everything.

I understood why people called it ‘holy light’.

“……Ah.”

My body lost some strength, and someone behind me easily caught me as I was about to fall backward.

Of course, what I saw was a girl with red bobbed hair.

She gave me a smile that seemed a bit complicated.

……Ah, still.

This posture is a bit embarrassing-

-Well, I didn’t have time to utter those words.