episode_0054

Wow. This is really messed up.

In the moment when darkness enveloped everything.

That’s the first impression that crosses my mind.

“Ignition!”

Clang!

As I flick my fingers, a small flame bursts out from the void.

But in the empty space where there’s nothing to catch fire, the flame only flickers for a moment before extinguishing.

“Ignition!”

“······!”

Clang.

Once again, a fleeting light illuminates the surroundings.

Only then does Mia realize my location and rushes towards me.

The light fades again, and her figure disappears.

“Ignition!”

Whoosh!

Another flame bursts out, and this time, the roots behind Mia twist strangely and reach out towards us.

“Get down!”

“Ugh!”

Mia comes towards me and drops to the ground.

She immediately draws her sword with her right hand and continues to ignite fleeting lights with her left hand.

The roots move as if in stop motion each time.

Instead of rushing straight towards us, they bend in front of us, gradually surrounding us.

“Why is the World Tree······.”

“Snap out of it. That’s not the World Tree.”

Clang! Thud! Thud!

The flames keep burning, draining my mana endlessly due to the lack of ambient mana for quick recharge.

Despite the slow mana recharge in this area, I can’t stop this.

Stopping means the light disappears, and if the light is gone, nothing is visible.

It seems like the opponent is just stalling on purpose, not launching any attacks.

“Do you know how to use a light magic spell?”

“No······.”

The situation is dire.

The entrance has collapsed and is blocked.

With no light source, the only way to illuminate is to pour out mana recklessly like this.

“I have to face Kali here?”

In the midst of this, I have to fight against the Four Heavenly Kings, Kali.

While protecting Mia.

I can’t let her, the precious prophet vending machine who will recite my prophecy in the future, die.

Thud thud thud······!

The roots that were circling around us suddenly form a cozy sphere around us.

I don’t know when or where new roots will sprout.

In other words, the moment I waste all my mana and can’t use ignition.

Mia and I will be pierced and killed by the flying roots.

But I can’t move first.

If I leave Mia behind and move, the roots that extend from behind will pierce Mia’s head.

There seems to be no solution in sight.

“How am I supposed to······. Huh?”

Just when I thought I was going to die without being able to move.

A warm sensation from my pocket and a red light spreading in all directions.

The light emanating from my pants.

I pull out the light source from my pocket with a dazed look.

My black mana stone.

The mana stone containing Ifrit was emitting a brilliant light that illuminated the entire area.

“Keep holding onto this.”

“Yes······!”

With the light source, the situation changes.

I hand the mana stone to Mia and adjust my grip on the sword.

At that moment, the roots fly towards us in a straight line.

‘Merida Style Swordsmanship. 3rd Stance.’

A stance designed for multiple opponents.

Rotating the blade like a saw, I intercept all the flying roots.

Not missing the moment when the attack subsides, I launch a counterattack towards the origin of the roots.

Crackling······!

The prison-like wooden roots surrounding us quickly lose their strength and collapse.

I hold the sword in a defensive stance for a while, but nothing happens.

It seems like the attack ends here.

‘Is Kali not coming?’

The roots that covered the walls are nowhere to be seen.

It seems like all the roots in the vicinity were gathered to attack me.

The damp earth on the wall, which seemed to have consumed a lot of moisture during the process, is now cracking as it dries up.

“Phew.”

“Um, excuse me.”

A brief pause as Ando lets out a sigh.

Mia tugs at my sleeve and calls out to me.

Turning my head, I see Mia’s face has turned pale.

“We need to get out quickly!”

Mia urgently shouts.

I quickly understand the reason.

The roots that supported the earth have disappeared.

The earth has dried up and is crumbling, losing its cohesion.

“Oh, darn it.”

This structure is collapsing.

Sure enough, with a rumble and vibration, the earth from the ceiling starts to fall.

“Run!”

“Yes, okay!”

No time to waste.

I grab Mia’s hand and hurry towards the entrance.

The spot where we were just standing is now covered with a huge rock.

“Oh no!”

I try kicking the blocked entrance and digging with my hands.

But the thick wall of earth doesn’t budge.

Meanwhile, the earth keeps falling from above, burying me in an instant.

“Ugh. Come under me. That way, we can create breathing space.”

“What about you?”

“At least one of us has to survive.”

“…”

I was wrong.

I have to cover Mia with my body and endure.

I have to wait until the rescue team arrives.

“Ugh…”

But as the ceiling continues to collapse and the amount of earth piling up on my back increases endlessly, my body signals its limits with a creaking sound.

It’s breaking.

I’m going to die.

I can’t hold on any longer.

“If only I knew how to use magic!”

I reach out my hand and try to recall the image of a strong wind as Alicia taught me.

In my mind, a gust of wind erupts from my palm and blows away the earth wall.

But in reality, nothing happens.

Damn it.

This is too much.

What did I expect?

Who asked me to become a grand sorcerer?

I should at least be able to use basic magic to blow away this earth wall.

As I vent my frustration internally.

“Huh?”

“…”

Something touches my chest.

I look down to see Mia holding a glowing red gem near my heart.

Without a chance to understand her intentions.

A voice echoes in my mind.

|Help me this one time|

Boom!

As if a gust of wind was unleashed.

The earth wall shatters into pieces and is blown away.

And we successfully make our way out of the tunnel.

“Hah. Hah…”

“Huff…”

We collapse, covered in dirt, and gasp for breath, looking at each other.

We’re alive.

For now, we’re engulfed in relief, unable to think of anything else.

“Phew.”

With a final blow, the dead tree in the training ground falls.

I lost count of how many times I struck it.

It’s been half a day since we escaped from under the World Tree.

When I emerged, barely holding onto my broken back, the elves were very welcoming.

I left Mia to explain everything that happened and quickly went to wash up at the dorm.

Then, I spent the whole time punching the training ground until now.

“Yujin.”

“Oh, Alicia.”

“Could you please stop calling me that…”

“What’s wrong?”

Alicia enters the room, looking somewhat serious.

With Mijung by her side, eagerly listening, I prepare to hear the story.

“Through the analysis of the magic residue, it was revealed to be a Flame Magic spell.”

“Flame Magic? You, Ifrit. You can use that kind of magic too?”

Without realizing it, he raised the magic stone that was now completely covered in red.

At the moment the magic was cast, the guy had clearly said.

He would help just once.

Thanks to that, he had risked his life.

So, no matter how many times he expressed his gratitude to the magic stone.

This guy never responded.

It’s so annoying.

“No. The Flame Spirit can only use fire attribute magic. The Flame Magic that doesn’t belong to any attribute cannot be used by spirits.”

“Really? Then was it used by the priestess?”

“Not even that. The magic used at that time was clearly your magic.”

“Then…”

“Yes. You, a 5th rank neutral magic user. You acquired the Flame Magic.”

Alicia’s serious tone indicates that this is no joke.

I was dumbfounded.

I can’t even use 1st rank magic, and suddenly I awaken to 5th rank magic?

“If you knew how to use Flame Magic, why were you hiding it from me?”

“No, I just used it for the first time.”

“Try using it again.”

“I tried, but I can’t do it again.”

“Really?”

Since I came back, I tried everything.

I tried to use that magic one more time.

But no matter how hard I tried, it didn’t work.

So I naturally thought it was Ifrit or Mia’s magic.

But when they said it was my magic, I was just speechless.

‘It seems like Ifrit definitely helped in some way.’

At that moment, I definitely wanted to blow up this earthen wall.

But Mia placed the magic stone on my chest, and the magic was activated.

It seemed like Ifrit was playing some kind of prank on me…

“Hey. Mister. Ifrit. Hey. Grandpa.”

“What are you doing by yourself…?”

“No, he keeps ignoring me.”

No matter what I said to the magic stone, it remained silent.

Since coming out of the cave, it has been ignoring me.

It seems like that one time it helped was really the end.

Annoying brat.

“And… the elders are calling.”

“Is it a request?”

“It seems like it.”

“Get your gear ready. We’re going to accept it and enter the dungeon right away.”

“What? After acquiring Flame Magic, we have to go in. I just broke through to 5th rank magic!”

“You probably just used it by chance. What 5th rank magic? You can’t spend endless time on a magic that may or may not work.”

Trapped in that secret room with Mia, I learned one thing.

Kali has already seized control of the roots of the World Tree.

If she continues to ascend and seizes control of the leaves, it will be too late.

The seeds of the plague will spread throughout the world, causing millions of casualties.

We need to enter the dungeon as soon as possible.

“Mijung. How are you feeling?”

“Ready. Fully prepared.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

“No! Are you going to enter the dungeon with blood dripping from your fists like that?”

“Why? Scared? If you’re scared, you can stop. I’ll just take the rewards for myself and…”

“Who said I’m not going! I’m going! I’m going!”

Even Alicia, who had been hesitating, followed me with determined steps.

It’s not that hard to understand Alicia’s feelings.

She probably wants to enter after perfect preparation.

But if she has learned anything from breaking through hundreds or thousands of dungeons, it’s that there is no such thing as ‘perfection’ in dungeon entry preparation.

In the end, as long as you challenge an unknown dungeon, no matter how well you prepare, there will always be something lacking.

In fact, Kali must be hiding somewhere, feeling embarrassed.

If we hesitate here, it will give him more time to prepare.

It’s best to strike while the element of surprise is still there.

Furthermore, as I think about the promise with the elf boy, the guilt tightens around my throat the longer I delay.

“Cheon Michael Jackson-nim······.”

My legs stiffen as soon as I step out of the training ground.

Before I know it, the elders and Mia have come all the way here and are standing in a line.

Mia’s body is still covered in dirt, as if she hasn’t had a chance to wash up.

“Thank you sincerely for saving the priestess. It is proper to repay a favor with a favor, but······ the situation is urgent, so I must shamelessly ask for another favor. It seems that the World Tree is being manipulated by an unknown enemy. Please, remove the dungeon rooted in the World Tree.”

The elders all kneel down and plead.

So it has come.

Approaching the fidgety Mia, she grabs my hand with a worried expression on her face.

“Come back alive.”

“Is this also a request? It seems like there will be an additional fee for this.”

“Don’t joke around······.”

“Alright. Of course, you have to come back alive. You have to listen to the priestess’s prophecy for the rest of your life. How can you die and waste that?”

“Ugh······!”

I slightly pull my hand away and lean in close to the priestess.

Then, I whisper quietly in her ear.

“Only you know. My real name is Yujin.”

“······!”

I’ve been through so much trouble every time she calls me by my alias.

Feeling relieved, I let go of Mia’s hand and turn around.

Let’s go. To catch the bastard who tried to kill me.