Purgatory (3)

There weren’t many ways to get your bearings here. Either set up markers or remember the path you took. But the markers were destroyed by the Demons, and with the abnormally narrow field of vision, it was hard to even get your bearings, let alone remember anything. It felt like turning on a flashlight with a dying battery. No matter how far you looked, you’d be swallowed by the darkness in no time.

The silence and the narrow field of vision that didn’t even show a horizon turned us into blind men with our eyes open.

But Skadia and Sir Wisseo moved forward as if they were used to it.

They were following the trampled grass. Traces of someone passing by. A signpost left by the advance party. The grass and moss lying in a line were completely crushed, creating a plausible path.

“The path is quite clear. Have you been here often?”

I muttered, and Skadia shook her head in denial.

“No-. The plants here have extremely low regenerative abilities-. Hoo-wook. Once their shape is deformed-. They don’t return until they die.”

“It must be easy to remember the path.”

“Hoo… The Demons often mess it up, so it’s not that easy.”

But even this was being interfered with by the Demons, apparently.

“Hoo-wook-. Well… That’s to be expected. This isn’t a place you can come whenever you want. From here on out, it’s not even the domain of humankind in the first place. It’s a forbidden area-. Hoo. Abandoned by God.”

As she said, there was very little information about Purgatory. Even when I became a noble and had the opportunity to access high-level information, I couldn’t find it. Either that, or there really wasn’t enough information to record.

But it was strange compared to how relatively detailed Pandemonium was recorded.

‘It didn’t seem like they were trying to hide anything.’

Since battles with Demons were usually quick and decisive, they might not have recorded anything in detail except for the path they took. The amount of content in fairy tales and history books is also biased towards battlefields, after all.

In the first place, there’s no reason to look for Purgatory unless you’re heading to Pandemonium. If you have to come here, it’s only when you’re preparing for a battle with Demons. As far as I know, the Empire has never prepared for a full-scale war…

‘This might actually be the first time.’

In fact, they’ve been preparing for war for decades, even centuries. This is just the first time they’ve actually launched an attack. They’re always ready to launch, but they’ve just chosen peace for the time being.

“But I heard that the Schren Gorge has a steady stream of visitors.”

“That place is above the fog, so-. Hoo-wook. You can go by airship. If Pluton hadn’t self-destructed on its own-. Hoo-wook. You guys would have gone there on that airship.”

The only permitted area was the pale blue gorge rising above the fog. That was all the Empire knew about what lay beyond Purgatory.

“I’m sorry, I keep asking you questions. I’m sorry, it must be hard to talk.”

“It’s okay-. Hoo-wook.”

Skadia smiled kindly, which I could feel even through the purifier, and chuckled.

“We’ll be there soon-. Hoo-wook. I can’t stay here long because of my position, so I’ll be going back right away-. Hoo-wook. Is that okay?”

Then, she opened her mouth again. The front was still dark red, but she said that ‘roughly this much’ was the time to arrive. It was hard to gauge, but it wasn’t a very long time.

“Yes. Of course…”

– Jjjjjjjjjj…

“Ah…?”

“What’s wrong? Magician?”

At that moment, I felt like sparks were flying in my head. My mind went blank for a few seconds, and my vision blurred…

…What the fuck.

-Ma-…… Jin……?

-…Gician……?

…Someone was messing around.

* * *

“…Quiet.”

As Yujin stopped with a blank look, Skadia instantly held her breath and focused on the flow of air. A silence that made her heartbeat clearly audible was maintained, and she tried to suppress even that. Her loyal knight, Wisseo, also stopped breathing and began to focus on the surrounding noise.

‘It’s familiar…’

It was familiar. And extremely unsettling. Skadia was sweating and breathing heavily.

It felt like her body was floating.

Then, it collapsed.

It felt like the world was collapsing as if a glass window was breaking. This feeling… She had experienced it before, so she could never forget it.

A dream she had every night like a nightmare. A strange and bizarre dream that was similar to a nightmare, but different in nature, where she was forced to open her eyes, crushed by a huge force that humans could not withstand. It was often described as becoming one with nature, but that dream, which was closer to being eaten up-

‘…Wasn’t pleasant.’

Very.

Unpleasant.

– Sureureung.

Wisseo strengthened the Aura that covered his entire body and drew his sword. He was worried about the magician standing blankly behind him, but there was no other way.

– Kwajik.

Skadia embraced her anxiety and pulled out her legs. There were more legs than when she came down the cliff.

Of course, it was insignificant compared to using the full power of the castle walls, but even this was enough to fight evenly against three skilled Aura Knights. Her metal control ability was beyond the realm of humans. It was disrespectful to Wisseo, but Skadia’s level couldn’t even be compared to Wisseo ‘or anything’.

‘Should I retreat?’

That’s why she was worried.

‘…If it’s dangerous, I’ll protect them.’

There was no option to send them alone. That was a judgment that applied not only to Wisseo but also to the magician Yujin-

“Master. It would be better to retreat with the magician-“

“No.”

-Also, it was a judgment that applied to ‘everyone’.

“The people at the camp are in danger. Wisseo, advance.”

“…As you command.”

When was the last time she trembled so much? The enemy was neither seen nor heard, but the emotion of anxiety relentlessly stabbed her brain and sounded the alarm. Skadia had to make another choice in her mind. Should she ignore the warning? Or should she retreat quietly as Wisseo said and bring reinforcements?

But the people at the camp. She could feel their gazes. She could easily shake off her anxiety, but she couldn’t shake off their gazes. Skadia was the Marchioness, after all. A shepherd who protects the sheep of the North. If she couldn’t protect them, there was no need for her to exist.

It was a mission. The only duty that had been passed down from the previous Marchioness to the present and was finally engraved on her steel heart.

She was obsessive. She was obsessive and desperate. She turned her body into a stone to protect the beautiful dawn she had inherited from her predecessors. Was that the end? She answered no. She paid the price to gain great power, but great power itself came with great responsibility. The price and the responsibility were separate.

‘I will save them.’

That was the answer she found in the endless self-questioning. No, she had to.

Skadia turned her gaze to Wisseo and waved her hand. It was a hand signal.

-Silence.

Wisseo, who understood her hand signal, nodded and carefully moved forward.

“…”

Her vision was getting narrower and narrower. It meant that the air was more toxic than before. Skadia swallowed hard at that fact and slowed down.

This was the entrance. The air should be constant. Nevertheless, the fact that the toxicity of the air was so different meant…

– Teobok, teobok…

She moved forward a little more.

“…!”

Then she found something strange.

‘…Iron powder?’

The first thing she noticed was the iron powder. The powder, which reacted to her power, trembled and was drawn to her hand. But there was powder that remained as it was without being drawn in. The powder that was missing the iron powder was very white and…

‘Very white?’

Skadia had seen this white powder somewhere. No, anyone from the North would have seen it. In the North, where flesh rots quickly, it turns very white after only a few days, and very white…

…

…Only bones.

…Remain.

“…Wisseo.”

Skadia swallowed hard and said.

“Run away.”

Please.

* * *

Someone had invaded my mind.

To touch my mind after I had firmly cast a protective spell upon descending into Purgatory. Putting aside the fact that they were bold, they were quite skilled. There wasn’t ‘a single’ Demon who could use such advanced techniques. That’s because the only one who had completely dominated my mind was the World Tree.

But ‘this guy’ had penetrated my mind, albeit incompletely. Of course, I was still activating the protective spell, so they couldn’t injure my body. It was only strong enough to stop my movements for a few minutes.

But the World Tree… An existence infinitely close to God. Only someone like that could invade my mind. Even that would be difficult if I was fully armed mentally, as I am now.

‘So. Who is it?’

In the dark consciousness, I released my will and warned the fearless guest.

The circuit will be breached soon. It will take a minute. If they don’t show up before then…

‘If you don’t undo it right now, I’ll reverse-track you and blow your head off.’

I’ll blow your head off.

– Pajik.

As I warned them, I felt a tingling sensation in my head. It must have been their answer to my warning. And a few seconds later, the answer began to be heard.

– The Demon King…

It was a chilling voice. No, it couldn’t even be called a voice. We could only communicate with our wills here. The fact that I felt it was chilling meant that this guy was something other than human. Human wills aren’t this chilling.

– The Demon King… Is…

Its will repeated the same words like a broken record. The Demon King. The Demon King is. What the fuck is the Demon King supposed to do? Even when I urged them to answer, the answer was the same.

‘Is that all you have to say before your head explodes?’

Thinking it was a waste of time, I grabbed the Mana I had reverse-tracked with a bored voice. I followed the flow of Mana that was infiltrating this way and struck the main body. Of course, it wouldn’t just end with their head exploding. If that guy was a Demon, they wouldn’t be able to withstand the repulsion and would evaporate. They wouldn’t even leave a trace.

– Ah……

The sound they made changed when I had reverse-tracked about halfway.

– Ah, ah……

…Or so I thought, but it was just a meaningless moan. I just felt bad for no reason, so I immediately cut off the flow-

– It is done….

‘…What?’

I was able to hear the last answer.

But it was too late to ask again. The flow was cut off and consciousness was restored. The time that seemed to have stopped began to flow again, and my vision returned to normal.

“Ah, eu… My head…”

I grabbed my slightly dizzy head, shook it, and looked around.

“Skadia?”

There was no one around. It seemed like they had left me behind, having lost consciousness, and advanced first.

– Hwiing…

Then the wind blew.

‘Wind?’

Wind.

Not from above, but from this way.

A clear wind began to blow.

– Seureureuk…

Carrying black and white powder.