episode_0101

“Oppa?”

“Tch!”

There was no time for lengthy explanations. I shoved all the remaining Inquisitors—including Chris—who were just passing through the portal, pushing them in all at once.

“Eric? What’s going on—”

“Block it!”

There was no time for long speeches.

Rumble— Ruuuumble—

The moment Chris’s hand was sucked into the portal and disappeared to the other side, a massive boulder dropped right where she had been standing. Had I been even a second slower—or had I tried to cross myself—one of us would’ve been flattened into a pulp.

“Oppa? Oppa! Answer me! What happened?!”

Even though the boulder had crushed the spot, Chris’s voice still echoed faintly from below, as if her magic hadn’t completely dissipated.

“I’m fine. We’re both unharmed. What about your side?”

For a few minutes, only unpleasant static crackled through, as if she were counting the Inquisitors. Then, after a brief pause, Chris’s voice returned, distorted by interference.

“Confirmed—all safe. Some are still feeling minor aftereffects of the magic, but nothing serious. What about you and unnie? The moment I passed through, the gate—”

“It collapsed before we could enter. It probably won’t hold much longer, so I’ll make this quick.”

Even if the magic was barely sustaining it, the spellwork was already shattered under the weight of the boulder. Chris’s voice, still asking about our well-being, grew increasingly distorted.

“First… don’t… try to… make… another… portal. Magic… unstable… dangerous…”

I couldn’t catch everything, but I understood the gist. Trying to cast new magic in a place where the mana was already in chaos would be too risky.

Even Chris, the most skilled among us, had barely managed it. Imagining anyone else pulling it off under worse conditions was impossible.

“…Be… careful… wait…”

“Got it. I won’t do anything reckless, so don’t worry. The collapse is getting worse here, so hurry and explain the situation to Ellia. Request a rescue.”

I glanced at Cecilia. She was already staring at the ceiling, preparing to deploy a barrier with divine energy. Watching her, I added to Chris:

“We probably won’t last much longer.”

“Make sure—”

Just like when the connection first started, Chris’s voice cut off abruptly.

“…It’s gone.”

“It’s gone.”

Hanging onto a severed connection was pointless. Instead, I decided to lend Cecilia my support.

“How’s it looking?”

“Not good. The collapse just now seems to have completely destabilized this space. The entire church might’ve crumbled—we just can’t see it from here.”

“Doesn’t seem like it, given how intact our surroundings are.”

“That’s because I wrapped this area in divine energy. Chris also warned against reckless magic use, so doing anything more here—like requesting communication or material conversion—would be difficult. The essentials for survival.”

“What about air?”

“That’s one of the few things we don’t have to worry about. Even though the rocks are piled up, they’re not sealed completely. It might be a little hard to breathe, but at least we won’t suffocate to death right now.”

“Whew.”

Having confirmed the most critical issue, I relaxed—only to immediately slump to the ground.

“I’m more worried about the damage outside. If a building this size suddenly collapsed, the people living nearby—”

A church collapsing sounds simple, but the aftermath would be catastrophic.

Even if it was a building that should have fallen eventually, explaining that to ordinary people wouldn’t be easy. At least the church was isolated under the pretense of keeping its distance from the public—a small mercy.

If this had happened in the middle of the city, it wouldn’t have been something to laugh off.

Cecilia gave me a look, as if I were being ridiculous.

“Hey, Eric. Do you really think now’s the time to worry about strangers we’ve never even met? We should be our first concern.”

“Is it that dangerous?”

“Do you think I’d say it was dangerous for no reason? I don’t know how you see me in your head, but maintaining this space alone is already pushing my limits.”

Cecilia plopped down beside me with a sigh.

“Since you don’t seem to get it, let me explain our situation simply. Right now, we’re trapped underground in a collapsing church.”

“Yeah, I know that. That’s why we’re in this mess.”

“Being trapped isn’t just about not being able to move.”

She gestured to the small space around us.

“This is all we have. See the faint outline of divine energy? One step outside, and—splat!”

Her accompanying hand gesture was oddly cute, but the implication was anything but.

“Because the mana’s tangled?”

“Exactly. No water, no food—just barely enough air. At best, we’ll be cold corpses in three weeks. You’ll die even sooner.”

“Thanks for the brutal comparison.”

Unlike Cecilia, who could forcibly sustain her metabolism with divine energy, I had neither the mana nor the divine power to do the same. Given my already weak constitution, I might not even last that long.

“But someone’s looking for us, right? They’ll find us soon.”

It was Christine and Ellia, of all people. When it came to magic and mana, no one was more knowledgeable than them. Sure, they bickered constantly, but together, they were unstoppable. Digging us out of this rubble would be child’s play for them.

“Maybe.”

Cecilia, already somewhat resigned, calmly tended to her wounds as she spoke. Her voice held little hope.

“If it were just a normal building collapse, sure. But rubble with no trace of people? Underground structures? Mana tangled with barriers? That’d be nothing to them. But this is the First Church—whether I like it or not, it’s saturated with stronger divine energy than anywhere else. Even ignoring all the magic and barriers, we’re buried alongside countless holy relics.”

“Ah.”

“If even one of them is disturbed and goes berserk or vanishes, the damage to this continent would be unimaginable. Maybe worse than Fairchild.”

“……”

“Sigh, don’t look at me like that. I know I messed up too… but I had to say it. When everything was in order, this place was the most harmonious and balanced. But now, with all that power jumbled together, it’s just a massive junkyard.”

“So our mana will be hard to detect? And even if they do, they’d have to painstakingly check to make sure it doesn’t go berserk?”

“Glad you catch on fast.”

“……”

“………”

After that, neither Cecilia nor I spoke, sitting quietly instead. I don’t know about her, but I was busy organizing my thoughts.

The future. What I needed to say. The worst-case scenario. How much I could trust Cecilia. And what I should do if I really died.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Cecilia finally spoke up.

“Eric, aren’t you getting tired?”

“Huh? Oh.”

Now that she mentioned it, who knew how many hours we’d been trapped here? Or was it longer? With nothing to mark time in this place, it was hard to tell. Still, I’d stayed up late listening to Chris and Cecilia before heading straight into the Fairchild battle, so I definitely hadn’t slept when I should have.

“Staying awake like this won’t help either of us. Why don’t you rest? Even in a place like this, sleep is essential. Wasting energy pointlessly is worse than just sleeping.”

Fair point. Even if the lack of sunlight underground would wreck our sleep cycles, conserving energy by sleeping was better than staying awake. In a few days, exhaustion would make proper sleep impossible anyway.

“I appreciate it, but what about you? Maintaining the barrier must be exhausting.”

“If it gets too much, I’ll wake you. Besides, the barrier’s already cast—it won’t break just because I nap for a bit.”

“Then thanks.”

I wasn’t one to refuse kindness. And given the situation, me sleeping was the better choice for both our survival.

As I began to drift off, I heard Cecilia scoot closer beside me. And just like that, our uncomfortable coexistence—no, calling it “coexistence” was too generous—our isolated life in the ruins began.