episode_0040
by fnovelpia*****
It didn’t take long to reach the end of the ruins.
There was an altar beneath a huge wall, and something round was floating above it. That is the ‘key’ that is the reward for clearing this ruin.
“Are you taking that?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, we were able to complete our mission.”
Dalgak. The snake woman picked up the sphere and put it in her arms. Since it’s a snake, I thought it might keep it inside its body, but I was a bit disappointed that it didn’t.
“… Can I ask you one thing?”
“What?”
“You guys were persecuted for being Lee Hyeong-gye. Is this really a lie?”
“… … .”
The snake woman was looking at Surtur with eyes that said, “There are people like this.”
Language is a way to say many things outside of language. Facial expression, attitude, tone of voice. Surt’s sincerity revealed there was ‘worry.’ It was clear that he was more worried about whether someone had actually experienced misfortune than about the fact that he had been deceived.
Of course, that would have been visible to the snake woman as well.
“Well, what would you do if I told you there was one?”
Did he think it was hypocrisy? The snake woman’s expression frowned slightly. But Surtur just looked embarrassed.
In the end, the snake girl also sighed and relaxed her expression. Should I say that it is true that you cannot spit on a smiling face?
“Yes. Well, there have to be people like that somewhere in this world. But not us.”
“… okay. I’m glad that’s the case.”
“Ha, I guess so. Now you can interfere with our work without hesitation.”
The snake woman’s gaze, which flicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, had a color of criticism mixed in it. They lied first, so why are they making such a mistake?
“No. Don’t disturb me. You guys can just take it and go back.”
But I was also surprised by Surt’s next words. No, not only me but everyone in this place except Surtur was surprised. What on earth is he talking about? Oh, maybe that’s why?
While I was vaguely guessing Surtur’s actions, the snake woman and Surtur were continuing their conversation.
“What are you thinking?”
“What are you thinking? You just keep the promise you made in the beginning, right?”
“Who do you think is a fool? Who knows that I called for support here?”
“That wasn’t in the promise, right? So when you go back outside, be careful not to meet other heroes.”
The snake woman’s eyes narrowed. Surtur pretended to have a truce and called for support, but it wasn’t because he was being cruel. Rather, it would be the opposite.
As a snake woman, she probably thought that Surtur would ignore the truce and engage with them, delaying the arrival of reinforcements. Otherwise, isn’t there any point in coming here with them in the first place? They even removed a huge obstacle in front of them.
Just by looking at it, I could see various thoughts rolling around in my head, but I probably wouldn’t come up with a correct answer. The only people who can come to the conclusion of letting them go are me, who knows the setting of this ruin from reading the original work, and Surt, who is hearing facts about this ruin in real time from the spirit Sara.
“… What is your name?”
“You always call me something about fireworks, but you actually don’t know my name? My hero name is Surt.”
“Surt, is it Surt? By the way, I should also call myself by my own name, but I only have my real name. Until I see you next time, shall we at least come up with a decent villain name?”
Surtur smiled bitterly at those words, which indirectly hinted at a reunion. Surtur said that he didn’t want to be seen as a villain if possible, but instead of responding to him, the snake woman continued to say something else.
“I won’t say thank you.”
Contrary to what she said, the snake woman bowed to us. She was probably still thinking about this and that, but at least she maintained her composure on the outside and turned around to exit through the door we had entered through.
No, I was trying to get out.
Kwachang!
The black shadow and the black magic circle were clashing violently, emitting magic light. Surtur opened his mouth in surprise at that sight.
“Jabberwalk!?”
“No, it’s the opposite.”
From the outside, it looks like a Jabberwock has attacked a large man. However, the larger man was much faster in actually raising his magic power. The Jabberwock was nothing more than stopping a large man who was trying to do something.
“This guy has been glaring at you so hard since a while ago. You stayed quiet when dealing with the statue, but now you’re showing your true colors?”
“Because that annoying little guy keeps being annoying.”
indeed. The big man was constantly looking for the right moment to strike, but it seemed like Jabberwock was keeping him in check. That’s why we had a snowball fight earlier.
“What are you doing, hell!”
“Sister. Why on earth do you want to just step down?”
“The mission is over. There’s no need to fight anymore, right?”
“Why is there no need to fight? Have you forgotten the instructions given to all of Genesis?”
“That’s… , it’s literally just a guideline.”
“These are the instructions from the leader, sister.”
A sigh escaped from beneath the large man’s face covered by the hood. I thought there wasn’t a word to say until now, but suddenly all I saw was the Cheongsan River.
“If you don’t feel like it, stay back. Fenrir, will you do it?”
“Of course! Hey, Bisil, you have to use fireworks this time?”
Black magic crackled and formed in both hands of the large man, and the wolf girl’s hands turned into those of a giant wolf. With the momentum that seemed to rush in at any moment, our side also naturally raised our magic power to respond.
This is the moment when a fight will begin as soon as anyone moves. The first attack that came was not from the front.
Sigh.
“Pfft!?”
“Raon! Wind magic!”
“Okay, okay!”
A dark, poisonous sword passed between Genesis and us. The poisonous sword that melted and split even the bottom of the ruins was powerful enough to make us at both ends step back.
And at the starting point of the sword technique, the snake woman was holding out her sword while sticking out her tongue.
“Hel. Fenrir. I told him to stop.”
“… Well, still, sister──”
“Talking back is not allowed. If you waste time on them like this, the hero’s additional support will come and stop you. Then there is a chance that the mission will fail. Get out of here right now.”
“… Okay.”
The big man and the wolf woman walked towards the snake woman, both limp. The flat, downy tail and ears of the wolf girl were impressive.
“I’m sorry, I kept the agreement for a long time, but I broke it. It’s hardly an apology, but I’ll tell you my name.”
“Yes, yes?”
“My name is Sahee Chae. Well, see you next time, Surt.”
In the meantime, the snake woman–Chae Sa-hee disappeared outside of the ruins, taking the other two with her. What were we doing? I was so scared that I didn’t even think about chasing after him and just stayed quiet.
“What is this… .”
Raon’s faint voice represented the feelings of all of us. There was a straight scar engraved on the ground and on the wall of the ruins, much larger than the statue I had just faced. The edges of the scar were still bubbling with mysterious bubbles, gradually expanding the size of the scar.
Is this something like that? A foolish thought like that came into my head.
“Ah, anyway, I’m glad. Because no one got hurt.”
While everyone was frozen, Surtur managed to open his mouth. I really strongly agree with that statement.
What would it have been like if that slash had been aimed at me? If it’s a simple sword strike, it’s acceptable, but it’s not enough to threaten me. But what if that poison that melts even the stone floor is mixed in?
All I could say was that I didn’t know. My body-strengthening potential had some edge over those types of poisons. But I’m not sure if my body is strong enough to withstand that poison.
And now I am not alone. You have colleagues to protect behind you. Even if I can endure it, it’s meaningless if I can’t protect my kids.
In that sense, I can’t say I was complacent this time… . No, but considering the level of Genesis villains assigned to this mission based on knowledge of the original work, and even when I saw it with my own eyes and judged it, the snake woman’s strength was not this much? Did I measure my opponent’s level incorrectly?
… I’d like to say no, but a precedent has just been set, so there’s nothing I can say.
“Uh, what should I do? Isn’t it so important that it’s in a ruin like this? Should I go after him now?”
“That’s impossible. It’s hard for us to deal with them alone.”
“Still, I can’t just watch it like this… .”
While I was confused by my own judgment, Raon and Jabberwock were confused in the other direction. Maybe it’s because Genesis has achieved its goal cleanly and returned. But even if you try to interrupt again now, you probably think you don’t have enough power.
“It’s okay that way, so please follow me.”
But Surt calmly led the kids to the other side. Both Raon and Jabberwock looked confused, but they calmly followed Surtur, perhaps remembering that Sara was inside Surtur.
“What those people took was the key.”
“Key?”
“You can think of it as a pass.”
Whether it is a key or a pass, it is important that it is an item that allows entry to somewhere.
Conversely, if the entry point disappears, the key has no meaning.
“Is it around here?”
Surtur arrived at a corner of the large wall behind the altar. A part of the wall without any decorations or markings. Surtur put his sword there.
Perhaps to minimize the strain on the body, the flame on the sword was very faint. But even that faint flame was effective enough.
“Oh!”
“It seems like a secret passage.”
What appeared before my eyes was a passage like a secret passage. No, it’s not the same thing, it’s probably a secret passage. To use an analogy, this is like a backdoor to a program.
“According to Sarah, there must have been backdoors like this throughout these ruins.”
Even though Genesis was occupying the ruins, that was the reason why Sara, whose strength had weakened due to becoming a physical body, was able to escape. Of course, to get to the deepest part of these ruins, you need to enter this passageway guarded by a stone statue and a protective gate.
And our destination is also that ‘deepest place’.
“It looks like a computer server room.”
It was Jabberwock’s brief impression of the deepest part of the ruins. Compared to the upper part, where there was nothing except an altar and a key, this place had magic circuits connected to various parts of the ruins, as complex as an octopus.
And there was a sphere of light floating in the center of the octopus foot circuit.
“Ah! Could it be that the magic power that restored the statue also came from here?”
“This sphere itself is not an energy source. However, it seems that this sphere did the work of gathering the magic power around the ruins and concentrating it on the statue.”
Surt, or more accurately Sarah inside Surt, answered Raon’s question. The crystal of the system that manages the ruins was the sphere of light before my eyes.
It was also Sarah’s real home.
“… huh. That’s it.”
When Surtur placed his hand on the sphere of light in front of him, runes meaning fire appeared on the back of Surtur’s hand. Of course, I can’t read the runes, it’s just original knowledge.
“Huh? What, is this the end? I just put my hand on it?”
“Yes. If we’re being honest, this sphere itself is Sarah’s house. The house just returned to the owner.”
And it is also a move that completely blocks Genesis’s aim.
Originally, this ruin was a place where those who signed a contract with Sarah through formal procedures took on trials to gain stronger power. To be more precise, even arriving at the original ruins was an ordeal.
The challenger who reaches this temple with difficulty overcomes the final ordeal of being a stone statue and obtains the ‘key’ at the end of this ruin – an artifact that allows access to Sarah’s residence. Originally, Sarah would have been confined to her own residence, so that key would have been an artifact that could more directly extract Sarah’s power.
However, due to the distortion of the dimension during the Great Chaos, only the ruins were left in their original location. Genesis discovered it and tried to take Sarah herself into their own hands. Fortunately, as the ruins escaped, the seal imprisoning Sarah was also released, so Sarah herself was able to escape before Genesis’ grasp reached her residence.
The artifact used to extract Sarah’s power from her residence is the ‘key’ just taken from Genesis. However, Sarah has already left her residence and is staying in Surt’s soul.
“Then what happens to the key?”
“Actually, I don’t think it means much.”
Raon and Jabberwock made shocked faces at those words, and Surtur slightly averted his gaze. Neither of them would say it out loud, ‘So what we did just now was all hard work?’ He was speaking eloquently with all his might.
“So what we did just now was hard work?”
Of course, there are people like me who don’t read the mood.
“Sorry! But I only heard about it from Sarah on the way here! And Sarah also said that they had to check to see if they were just after the key or something else… .”
Sarah probably never thought she would ever come here again. Surtur bowed his head again and again in front of the three people who were staring at him intently. Of course, I am acting.
Anyway, Surtur succeeded in obtaining Sarah’s residence, which was the main purpose of my coming here.
If I were to exaggerate a bit, I could say that I had obtained ‘Muspelheim’.
Sarah probably wanted to make sure that Genesis only took the meaningless keys and then throw her away to retrieve her residence. However, Muspelheim is a great help in strengthening Surtur.
“From next time, please tell me about this in advance, even if you find out about it late. I was really surprised because I thought Genesis had taken something dangerous.”
“Don’t blame me too much, Raon. Maybe they were worried that those guys would hear about this and ruin Sarah’s place. Of course, until I heard the story, I was really worried about whether I should chase after him through the shadows on my own.”
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry… .”
“It would be better for both of you to stop craving it now. The support team will be arriving soon, so I need to get my mouth together in advance.”
Still, the two seemed to be completely upset, and from then on, Jabberwock and Raon continued to beat each other until the support team arrived.
… I must never let it be known that I knew from the beginning. huh.
***
A woman was walking down a dark hallway. A loose-fitting outfit, a sword at his waist, green hair pulled back into one piece, and the most distinctive feature: a long, thin tongue. Just a few hours ago, it was Chae Sa-hee who was passing through the ruins with the Surturs.
Beyond the doorless, windowless hallway, a bright beam of light was shining. It was also the place where Chae Sa-hee walked. If you just pass through that place, you will reach your destination in no time.
However, Chae Sa-hee, who was walking, soon stopped and narrowed her eyes. This is because I saw a silhouette blocking the light beyond the hallway. Chae Sa-hee, who was reflexively trying to gauge the shape of the silhouette, soon gave up the attempt. There is only one person who can come here anyway.
“Wow—! Have you been there?”
A pure white girl who made even the dark hallway shine brightly jumped into Chae Sa-hee’s arms. However, Chae Sa-hee’s expression as she accepted the girl became dark, as if something black had been painted over.
“… Meet the leader.”
“Yordo indeed! I said I can call you sister?”
A pure white girl smiling brightly with her eyes closed──Ymir stretched out his hand and stroked Chae Sa-hee’s head. Either way, Chae Sa-hee just continued what she was saying.
“Fenrir and Hel still have work to do in Korea, so I was the only one to return to Bifrost first. I will give you a detailed report over there, so please do not stay here and return to the headquarters.”
“It’s definitely a bit desolate here.”
Ymir looked around. Bifrost, Genesis’ proprietary space magic. The moving process varied greatly depending on the imagination of the person moving.
However, most people chose the method of transportation that was convenient for them. Whether riding in a car or lying on the back of a flying duck. There was no one other than Chae Sa-hee who would choose to simply walk down such a long, dark hallway.
“Yor, do you know that this is really meaningless? It’s a second life that you’ve achieved after a long time, so wouldn’t it be better to enjoy it? Why are you living so hard?”
“… It’s not hard.”
“Lie. You want to quit Genesis right now, right?”
“… … That’s not true.”
Chae Sa-hee also closed her eyes in front of Ymir, who closed her eyes and smiled. There was a deep feeling of resignation.
“It’s sad that I can’t believe you this much. I told you, right? Whether Yor lives as Genesis or not, I will take good care of Yor’s brothers and sisters. There’s nothing to worry about, right? Oh, is it because you’ve already been branded as Genesis? Is it because you’re worried that Yor and his siblings won’t be able to live well in the normal world?”
“… They and I are not related by blood at all.”
“That’s right. But you are a comrade who endured the same hell, right?”
Chae Sa-hee did not open her mouth to this question.
Ymir’s eyebrows tilted sadly.
“Do you know what makes me so sad when I do this job? People didn’t believe me. Can’t the leader of an evil organization do good deeds? Of course, I don’t always do this. But Yor is a child I like, so I can tolerate that kind of situation. It’s true.”
Language is a way to say many things outside of language. Facial expression, attitude, tone of voice. What is Ymir’s sincerity revealed there?
It was only at times like this that Chae Sa-hee cursed her super senses. My five senses, sharpened after becoming my current body, conveyed Ymir’s every move even with my eyes closed.
There was only simple ‘mockery’ there.
“… My name is Sahee Chae. Rather, Bifrost’s duration will end soon, so why not move quickly.”
“Isn’t Yor’s much cuter? I don’t really like Korean names. Fenrir and Hel were very happy when I gave them names. If only Yor hates it so much, maybe I will ‘hate’ it too?”
I flinch. Chae Sa-hee’s body trembled. Ymir, who was closely stroking her head, could clearly feel that Chae Sa-hee’s body was stiffening with tension and fear.
“Ah~, why are you so surprised? Just kidding, kidding. There’s no way I could hate our Yor, right? Now, let’s go quickly. I prepared something delicious at the main altar.”
“… Yes.”
Following Ymir, who smiled in satisfaction, Sahee Chae continued to walk through the dark hallway that seemed to go on forever.
*****
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