Ch.281Chapter 281 – Barriers Are Not Natural Phenomena

From the entrance of the temporary temple, I could see the rugged mountain range surrounding the Kingdom of Oberon in the distance.

It looked exactly like that photo of the Himalayas attached to a humor post I once saw online titled “Just your average neighborhood mountain.jpg.”

The mountains appeared incredibly tall, with clouds floating high in the sky almost touching their peaks.

‘If those mountains are at least 8,000 meters high… how was a kingdom even established there?’

Building a nation in terrain surrounded by what’s essentially Himalayan-class mountains.

If I were a citizen of that kingdom, I wonder if I would have fled, saying I couldn’t live there.

That’s how impossibly tall those mountains looked.

Perhaps that’s why?

When I entered the temporary temple, people leading forces dispatched from each religious order were engaged in a serious discussion.

“Oh, Marquis Severio. Welcome. We were just about to send someone to escort you.”

The elderly priest from the Solar Order greeted me warmly. I returned his greeting and took what appeared to be my seat, with Eterna sitting beside me.

“Then I’m fortunate. It means I arrived just in time.”

“Haha, indeed. Now that Marquis Severio has joined us, let’s proceed with the main discussion.”

Fortunately, it seemed the meeting hadn’t officially begun yet.

As I took my seat, the elderly priest of the Solar Order cleared his throat a couple of times before opening his firmly closed mouth.

“As those present are aware, an unexplained barrier has appeared at Windgrass Gorge, the only passage into the Kingdom of Oberon, blocking all entry and exit.”

“My goodness…”

“What in the world is happening…”

Since I wasn’t familiar with the geography of this region, I didn’t understand why the priests were reacting this way.

However, I did gather from the elderly priest that “Windgrass Gorge” was the only route to the Kingdom of Oberon.

‘Perhaps the mountain terrain is so treacherous that Windgrass Gorge is the only place where people can travel through.’

From my limited knowledge, I guessed that the terrain surrounding the Kingdom of Oberon was so steep and dangerous that crossing it wasn’t even considered an option by any reasonable standard.

In other words, the only way to quickly enter the Kingdom of Oberon was through Windgrass Gorge.

‘Hmm, so that means there’s no way to get in.’

The thought of having to lead many people across those treacherous mountains was truly headache-inducing.

Even General Hannibal, who attacked Rome by crossing the Alps in the dead of winter with numerous soldiers, was eventually forced to retreat due to extended supply lines and resistance from occupied territories.

No matter how devout these people might be, anyone with a bit of sense would face reality.

“Not only that, but reports indicate this barrier follows the mountain range connected to the gorge, completely encircling the Kingdom of Oberon.”

“Wait. Are you saying there’s essentially no way to enter the Kingdom of Oberon?”

“That’s correct. Neither people nor objects can pass through.”

“My goodness…”

People sighed at the news that the barrier blocked not just people but objects as well.

“Is there no other solution besides breaking the barrier?”

At that moment, someone spoke up, suggesting a solution.

Breaking the barrier.

It was a solution everyone must have been thinking about, but no one had dared to voice.

Because…

“Breaking a barrier is no simple task. Moreover, this barrier covering the Kingdom of Oberon can be considered demonic in origin. How could we possibly break such a thing?”

“Hmm…”

Even the person who suggested breaking the barrier couldn’t respond to the elderly priest’s rebuttal.

This was because the priest’s point was entirely valid.

If the barrier was created by a demon, how could they possibly break it?

Even a saint giving her all against a single demon would suffer critical injuries.

The implication seemed to be: if we could really break it, why would we be sitting here doing nothing?

In any case…

Everyone gathered here surely knew one thing.

Without breaking the barrier, entering the Kingdom of Oberon was impossible.

There were two options.

Strengthen the blockade around the Kingdom of Oberon and let everyone inside wither and die.

Or, break the barrier by any means necessary and advance into the Kingdom of Oberon.

The one fortunate thing was that, barrier aside, there was nothing else blocking the path to the Kingdom of Oberon.

This was because Windgrass Gorge, being the only entrance to the Kingdom of Oberon, needed to be free of obstacles for the swift movement of people and supplies.

Additionally, Windgrass Gorge was directly aligned with Oberonia, the capital of the Kingdom of Oberon.

“It seems we must decide on breaking the barrier. We don’t have much time.”

After a long silence, the conclusion was reached to break the barrier and enter the Kingdom of Oberon.

“Hmm…”

“Indeed… time is not on our side.”

“Other countries are supporting us now, but we shouldn’t expect them to continue their support indefinitely if we remain idle without results.”

Everyone gathered here was sustained by support from other countries.

We drive out the Demon Cult to restore peace and order to the world, and other countries provide supplies to help us sweep away the Demon Cult.

However, if we fail to produce results, other countries will lose their justification for supporting us.

Without that justification, we would lose our driving force against the Demon Cult.

“Does anyone know how we should break the barrier?”

The topic of the meeting had now shifted to how to break the barrier.

But despite the change in topic, everyone remained silent.

At that moment, I had a question.

“May I ask something that’s been puzzling me?”

“What would you like to know?”

“Is a barrier a form of sorcery, or is it a type of magic?”

I wanted to know whether the barrier was created through magic or through some unique method like sorcery.

“Barriers can be created through magic, but they’re generally considered sorcery. This is because barriers completely separate the outside from the inside.”

“Isn’t that consistent with barrier magic then?”

“It’s slightly different. A barrier spell purely aims for ‘protection,’ but a barrier field can, depending on the caster’s will, simply isolate or even construct its own world within.”

So it seems a barrier spell is a lesser version of a barrier field.

But I still had one more question.

“Then, a barrier field doesn’t occur naturally but is artificially created by someone?”

“That’s correct. A barrier field is never natural. It’s closer to artificially creating disharmony.”

I nodded at the priest’s statement that it wasn’t natural. This resolved the curiosity I had about barrier fields.

A thought occurred to me.

If a barrier field isn’t natural but closer to artificially creating disharmony…

‘Perhaps, as Eterna thought, I could remove the barrier with my ability?’

The secondary effect of my ability is to make unnatural things ‘natural.’

Hair loss is absolutely not natural. It’s when the body’s immune response attacks hair follicles, preventing hair growth.

Think about it—hair follicles are part of your body, yet your immune system attacks them? That’s definitely not natural.

My ability fixed even immune response-induced hair loss.

In other words, it made something ‘unnatural’ into something ‘natural.’

Following this logic, the conclusion is that I could dispel the barrier with my ability.

I whispered to Eterna.

‘Did you know I could remove the barrier with my ability?’

‘Of course. I believe in you, Pathos.’

Uh, well. I thought there would be some logical reason, but she just believed in me because it’s me?

At this point, my mind goes a bit blank.

But I regained my composure and stood up.

“There is a way to remove the barrier.”

“Oh?”

“Marquis Severio, do you have a method?”

“Yes.”

I looked around at everyone before speaking.

“With my ability, I can remove that barrier.”

There’s no turning back now.

“Therefore, we must mobilize all forces to advance into the Kingdom of Oberon as soon as the barrier is removed. From now on, it’s a race against time.”

But I’m not afraid.

I’m confident that with my ability, I can remove the barrier around the Kingdom of Oberon.