Ch.180Rapidly Changing Situation

# 180. Rapidly Changing Situation

I now know exactly what this is.

It’s noisy.

I don’t know how much time has passed.

…Passed?

What?

Time?

Ah, yes. Time.

I somehow just realized that I’ve been in this state for a long time.

And I feel it.

This is what it means to hear sounds.

This is what it means to walk.

This is what it means to see.

This is what it means to feel touch.

This is what it means to breathe.

And this is.

No, “I” am.

I reached out toward something surrounding me.

Something that seemed powerful yet somehow unstable, solid yet somehow worn.

Ah.

Is this what they call pain?

Immediately after the pain came a feeling of frustration.

Frustration?

What should I do when I feel this way? No, what did I use to do?

So I reached out my arm once more.

Pain again.

This time what I felt was anger.

Why must I feel this pain?

Why, how did I end up like this in the first place?

I want to know.

I will know.

So somehow, I must first escape from here.

When I extended my fist for the third time, greater pain came.

But the something surrounding me shook more violently than before.

Possibility.

I saw the possibility that I could break through and escape.

So I continued to extend my fist.

The more I heard something shaking and breaking, the more pain I felt.

But each time, the frustration and anger inside me mixed with the pain to create another emotion, which became the strength to extend my fist once more.

I don’t know how many times I need to extend my fist.

But it doesn’t matter how many times it takes.

I’ve decided to get out of here, so I’ll keep reaching out until I succeed.

**

“Brother, when did you say your homecoming day would be?”

“About two months from now. Why do you ask?”

“To be honest, I’m envious.”

“Haha… It’s been days sustained by faith. I understand.”

“I’ve agonized quite a bit about whether it’s right to complain when I’m in a position to believe in and follow God, but I suppose I’m not pure enough. I can tell by how I keep alternating between thinking I came to this fortress for nothing and wanting to return to the homeland as soon as possible.”

Two priests were chatting while inspecting the holy barrier protecting the exterior of Fort Faelm. There had been a major incident recently that left the fortress atmosphere unsettled, but the task of inspecting the holy barrier was extremely tedious even for priests known for their patience.

Chatting while not neglecting their duties could hardly be considered a deviation.

“Brother, how did you manage to endure it?”

“Well… thinking about it, rather than doing something special to endure, I’d say time just flew by while I lived without much thought.”

“Hmm.”

“When you repeatedly witness close acquaintances passing away or approaching that state, your emotions fluctuate, and each time you try to find stability by praying to the Goddess, but… when you barely have time for that and just repeat the same routine, before you know it, years have passed.”

The priest approaching middle age looked at the troubled young priest with a gentle smile.

“Don’t blame yourself like that. If I had come here at your age, wouldn’t I have experienced similar anguish? That’s the kind of place Fort Faelm is.”

“Hearing your words gives me comfort…”

“Oh my, the Goddess might get a little jealous?”

“T-the Goddess wouldn’t feel something like jealousy!”

“Hehehe.”

The two priests gauged the remaining time in the pleasant atmosphere. They would be relieved by the next shift in about 30 minutes.

“Brother, what’s the first thing you want to do when you return home?”

“I haven’t thought about it specifically… but yes. First, I’ll probably offer a prayer of gratitude to the Goddess.”

“Haha, that’s just like you, Brother. I should pray more too—”

“Brother, wait.”

The middle-aged priest interrupted the young priest. Though the young priest hadn’t been at the fortress long, he was perceptive. Rather than asking why the sudden interruption, he looked in the same direction as the middle-aged priest. And without asking, he understood the answer.

A few seconds later, their eyes met. And they both stood up simultaneously.

“Brother. Run to the High Priest right now. Northwest direction, Level 1.”

“Ah, uh.”

“Northwest direction, Level 1!”

“Northwest direction, Level 1!”

“That’s right. Full speed!”

“Y-yes!”

The young priest grabbed his necklace and rushed down the stairs. The middle-aged priest, watching him leave, turned back toward the barrier and furrowed his brow.

“I pray this is just a mistake…”

**

“You can put me down now…”

“I’m still fine.”

“I just think that would be faster.”

We had somehow managed to escape the sealed area, looking even more wretched than refugees. Nothing unusual had happened except for the place itself being quite bizarre, so I wondered if I had been needlessly scared, but Danya, who had gotten off my shoulder during our escape, said that wasn’t the case.

“We got out well. In such an unpleasantly strange place, it wouldn’t be surprising if something bad happened. Especially things we wouldn’t know how to deal with.”

“Danya’s right. Besides, everyone can feel it, right? The unusual vibrations.”

Whether it was because we exited through a different way than we entered, or because of the vibrations we felt during our escape, we were fortunate not to be greeted by hordes of monsters.

Wake the demon in the sealed area quickly to aim for an incomplete seal release.

We all thought we had achieved this goal.

However, there was one major premise to that goal.

That was to “prepare.”

We needed to report to the Vice Commander and other leaders, and secure preparation time to bring the fortress’s combat readiness to its peak before facing the demon.

“But at this rate.”

“Even if it wakes up quickly, a demon is still a demon. Fighting without preparation is not good. Very not good.”

“Then we need to return to the fortress as quickly as possible.”

“Right. We need to report properly and also create the situation we want.”

Our gazes turned to two people.

To Arang, who was the fastest, and Yuri, who had the best physical abilities.

“I don’t mind going back quickly, but reporting to that Vice Commander is a bit… Isn’t this an extremely important part?”

“I’m not particularly good at speaking either…”

I immediately looked at Subin. She was leaning against a tree in an exhausted state, and as soon as our eyes met, she let out a deep sigh. Then she quietly approached Yuri. Our intentions aligned just through eye contact again.

“Yuri. You’ll need to make one more effort.”

“Huh?”

“You carry Subin and run. Subin will do the reporting. And Arang, you run ahead and guide Yuri.”

“Ah. That method. Sis, get on.”

“Wait. I’ll give you a blessing first.”

The three of them, blessed by Sister Soyu, quickly disappeared into the distance. I was worried, but I believed those three, especially with Subin among them, would somehow manage well.

“Sunghyun, I hope we didn’t just poke the whiskers of a sleeping lion for nothing?”

“Looking at the situation, that seems to be the case, Danya.”

“It’s concerning, but your judgment has rarely been wrong so far.”

“…Let’s get moving too. We don’t have time to rest.”

*Rumble*

As if urging us to move quickly, we followed behind the advance team with groans at the vibration.

**

*BANG!*

“Didn’t you say there were absolutely no abnormalities? And that was just an hour ago.”

“That’s right, there were no abnormalities!”

“Can you swear to that on your magic?”

“Vice Commander!”

“Please, everyone calm down.”

About 20 minutes after a priest’s urgent report reached the High Priest’s ears.

A tense atmosphere filled the Vice Commander’s quarters. The Vice Commander and the fortress leadership took a moment to catch their breath.

“Shouldn’t establishing countermeasures be our top priority?”

“That’s obvious, but I can’t help but point out some questions first. They may not be the best in the world, but they’re among the best in the country. How could both of them miss it? Does that make any sense?”

The Vice Commander’s sharp gaze swept around the room.

“It’s not just questioning; I truly can’t believe it. Just an hour. One hour. Is such a change possible in just one hour?”

“…”

“Honor, politics, self-interest—put all that aside. I need your view as the fortress’s top magician and researcher.”

The leader of the magicians stationed at the fortress closed his eyes and stroked his beard. While many of the Vice Commander’s words irked him, he also recognized the gravity of the situation.

‘Based on the scout team’s report and my own inspection yesterday, there were no abnormalities. The previous incident was concluded to be a monster overflow phenomenon that occurs occasionally. But for the barrier to break down like this…’

“High Priest. How long can the holy barrier hold if left as is?”

“At this rate, two days at most, but it’s likely to accelerate.”

The Magician Leader opened his eyes and spoke.

“I will go outside the fortress to examine it myself.”

The Vice Commander nodded.