Book 5 Chapter 18
Episode 120
‘Quickly.’
My lungs were on the verge of bursting, but I couldn't stop. Both mentally and forcefully by the power of the incantation.
‘Before anything happens to Alakis, please, quickly.’
Holding Casena in both arms, I used telekinesis to pull the reins of the pony ridden by the unconscious white wolf, continuously heading south.
Only if I bring Casena and this wolf to the Wall will this curse of the incantation be lifted…
The Wall, shining purple in the dawn light, seemed within reach, yet the distance hardly narrowed.
‘If I hadn't intensely trained my physical strength with Logan, I would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago, wouldn't I?’
As soon as I had that thought, the day I noisily chatted and practiced magic volleyball with my 1388th cohort mates suddenly flashed before my eyes.
‘Wybert and Logan bickering, Caden who would write abbreviations in his notebook to say what he wanted…’
I also thought of Lillian and Nora, the mischievous Gertrude Fenton, Krista Warden who loved clay, and Aunt Ellyn and Professor Owen.
‘I liked them, and the daily life I shared with them, more than I thought…’
In this urgent situation, why am I having such thoughts?
This was no time for sentimentality. This was no time to shed tears of longing. Now was the time to think and act.
Therefore, I called Pipi, who had been circling above, scanning the surroundings for some time.
“Pipi!”
“Pipi, Pipi, Pipi.”
“Go to Baljen right now. Tell him that a monstrous creature, a power capable of controlling ancient beings, has truly appeared.”
What needs to be surmised is the transcendent being's purpose.
Why did it attack the white wolves?
From what I read in a book long ago, the beings of the abyss turn the living into the undead to create an army of darkness.
- I heard the wolf leader had set out on a large-scale expedition.
What if it attacked them not because they were white wolves, but simply because it was targeting the side with more numbers? What if Alakis can't defeat him?
The fine hairs on both my arms stood up chillingly. Then Ravenfel would become nothing short of a slaughterhouse…
Something, there must be a way. I have to find a way. And then, the next moment, the words came out of my mouth on their own.
“……Yes, it's the Battleship Base.”
“Battleship, battleship, battleship?”
“It's the Battleship Base, Pipi! Tell him to move to the Battleship Base! And that I'll open the Wall gate near there.”
It was by no means a haphazard decision shouted out in a panic.
The Battleship Base was located across Silverhorn Bay, defensively in the southwest of Harvadonia. Roughly, it could be considered half a day's journey from Ravenfel, with Silverhorn Bay in between.
First, there was the fact that it was much closer to the Wall than Ravenfel, but the biggest reason was Frisbee, the number one Platinum adventurer located there.
- You can't reconcile those two, never.
He was a cunning fellow whose true intentions were hard to grasp, but compared to what I had just encountered, he was nothing, wasn't he? Now, I was in a situation where even one more bit of help was needed.
“Lynn said, go to the Battleship Base. Pipi, convey Lynn's words to Baljen.”
“If you say Lynn, he won't understand, so say Rain.”
“Rain said, go to the Battleship Base. Pipi, convey Rain's words to Baljen.”
Pipi repeated my words back to me, and once confirmed there was no issue, it immediately flapped its wings and flew off towards the northwest.
Was it loneliness, but as even Pipi left, my whole body felt even colder…
No, it wasn't. This cold, clawing through my arctic lynx fur coat and all over my body, was not an illusion born from a sudden sense of emptiness, but a real pain.
‘Surely not…’
One step, two steps… My steps, which seemed to be gradually slowing, suddenly stopped on their own the next moment.
‘It's gone, Alakis's power.’
The power of the incantation that forced my body's actions, and the warmth that always kept me warm, suddenly vanished.
All of it, as if it had been a short dream, simply fleeting and empty, without any warning.
Ominous cold sweat erupted, and with my heart pounding painfully, I spun around as if recoiling. The world was simply silent.
‘No, no. Alakis couldn't have lost.’
He's the Red True Dragon, said to possess the power of a demigod, so there must have been a reason to sever the connection of power. Perhaps he had to exert his full strength or something…
‘Yes, he couldn't have lost.’
I had to move instead of thinking.
I shouldn't let the time Alakis had bought for me go to waste.
Gasping for breath that felt like it would snap, I started to step towards the Wall again, this time under my own power.
‘He couldn't have lost, couldn't have…’
I persuaded myself, my steps heavy as lead and reluctant to fall, and myself, telling me to turn north right now.
I persuaded and persuaded and persuaded again.
In the arctic dawn, signaling the start of a new day, I drew closer and closer to the <Snow Spirit Fortress>, burning pink.
……Boooooooom……
Leaving the pine forest, after walking for a long time across the wide plain bathed in morning sunlight, a low, deep horn sound was heard from somewhere above the Wall.
Immediately after, the Clear Waterfall Gate (淸瀑水門) — a miraculous gate where sacred water poured down as a waterfall to seal the abyss's entrance — retracted its waterfall, and a long tunnel path leading to the civilized world beyond the Wall opened.
It was the moment the main gate of the <Snow Spirit Fortress> opened, but I had no time for admiration.
“Come, this way!”
The Wall's passage was brightly lit by a magical device whose operating principle was unknown, and three white wolves rushed out to the doorway as if providing cover.
One wolf took the reins, checked the condition of the wolf who had collapsed on the saddle, and let out a stifled groan.
“Ah, Lenny, what happened….”
In the meantime, with another *swoosh*, the water rushed down so steeply it deafened the ears, sealing the entrance.
“Thank you for bringing Lenny back safely, but who exactly are you…?”
As the wolves looked at Rain and Casena with a mix of curiosity and suspicion, I immediately gestured with my chin towards Casena's hair color, who was in my arms.
“I am Rain Ludwig, heir to the Ludwig family, and this is Lady Casena Page of the Page family.”
Had the renown of the Page family and rumors of her unique hair color spread all the way to this northernmost tip?
“Page…?”
“Did you say Page…?”
“Page, you say….”
As if that alone was enough for identification, the wolves swallowed dryly and exchanged glances. Though I had no time to wait for such gestures.
“I'm sorry, but there's no time to talk like this. Please guide me to speak with your officers, quickly!”
* * *
As I crossed the long passage of the Wall, WhiteCenter (白本), famously known as the headquarters of the white wolves, unfolded in pure white.
WhiteCenter, which had served as the control center for the <Snow Spirit Fortress> for 1400 years, was a beautiful and massive fortress, though not as grand as the Wall itself.
“Ha….”
Feeling as if I had come to a completely different world, the tension that had built up over several months melted away, and my legs gave out.
This was the North, a cold land.
It was certainly a cold land, but… compared to north of the Wall, it was truly a heavenly paradise and a land where civilization flowed.
The sunlight shone several times warmer, and instead of the abyssal fog that had choked the breath out of me, clean, fresh air filled my lungs.
‘But…’
Despite such a large and magnificent building, the number of members was surprisingly small, to the point of disbelief.
The White Wolves were an elite unit that boasted many members, from as few as three thousand to as many as seven thousand throughout history, and Northerners considered serving here a point of pride.
Did a large-scale expedition truly fail, and did so many numbers really dwindle to this?
“Members are not only stationed here.”
Perhaps he glimpsed such worry in my eyes, the wolf escorting me spoke. After hearing my identity, he began to use honorifics.
“The <Snow Spirit Fortress> has five fortresses positioned around WhiteCenter. Well, even so, it's true that the situation is desperate.”
“I heard the expedition failed… Exactly how many members were lost?”
“Five thousand wolves went out, but fewer than four hundred returned alive. I was still young and my combat skills were too humble to go along, but….”
I regretted it then, but now I see it seems to have been a blessing from the gods, he added, trailing off at the end of his sentence.
While having such a conversation, I was guided to the command and control room located on the top floor of WhiteCenter.
“The officers wish to meet Young Master. I'll leave you here then.”
It was a spacious room with a long, roughly crafted table made of pure white spirit wood, stretching out.
On that table, a dozen windows were formed, which were advanced clairvoyance, allowing observation of the situation above and below the Wall.
And on both sides of that table, ten wolves sat facing each other, staring directly at me. Eight of them had bandages on their limbs or faces, perhaps injured during the expedition.
“You said you had something urgent to tell us?”
The old wolf sitting on the left glanced at my appearance from head to toe, then frowned.
“But are you really Rain Ludwig? There's no shortage of rascals impersonating nobles in such remote areas.”
“That's right.”
The one who answered that was not me, but the young wolf sitting opposite him.
He was a young man with dark crimson hair who retained the noble demeanor of an aristocrat even in this northern polar region, and he looked at Casena, whom I held in my arms, as if in disbelief.
He was strangely familiar. Where had I seen this person before?
“I'm not entirely sure about Ludwig, but Casena is definitely her. The image I saw at the Householder's Council is strongly etched in my memory.”
The Householder's Council, you say…
Then could it be the Vlad Count's family?
At that, a sturdy middle-aged woman with long hair that had begun to gray, raised an eyebrow.
“Casena Page, the girl who was reported missing during the Black Spot Incident? Then does that mean the other one is Rain Ludwig, who was said to be dead?”
I'm dead?
It was strange. Casena was missing, but why was I dead?
“Yes, we'll have to hear later how you came from beyond the Wall, but… So what's the matter? You have something urgent to tell us?”
Since I had no time to calmly and thoroughly explain the situation, I quickly recounted what had happened during this journey.
Even in this situation, Alakis must be fighting that monster… I had to resolve the problem quickly and return.
Impatience was distorting my composure and degrading my keen judgment.
“So the beast-kin were indeed gathering in Ravenfel. I couldn't see them even when going deep inside, but the darkest place is under the candlestick….”
“I'm sorry to say this, but.”
As the officers whispered, the old scholar of WhiteCenter stroked his white beard and looked at me.
“It's simply unbelievable. That the beast-kin took such care of you. And it makes no sense that two people missing from Blade Peninsula suddenly appeared above the Wall.”
“Believe it or not, it's the truth. And that a being of the abyss has awakened. If things continue like this, all the beast-kin above the Wall will die and become undead.”
“…”
“Don't all of you know better than anyone that the abyss devours the living to swell its army?”
No one answered.
Perhaps they already knew the answer, but their pride wouldn't allow them to act according to that answer, judging by their expressions.
“We must open the Wall gate and save the beast-kin.”
“That's not such a simple matter. Most importantly, it seems you've been fooled by living with the beast-kin—”
“—I wasn't fooled. Everything stemmed from a misunderstanding… Shár'kas. Alakis clearly said his name was Shár'kas.”
“What?”
“The name of the monster that annihilated the white wolves!”
The moment I conveyed those words that came to my mind without context, the inside of the command and control room froze coldly. The scholar's complexion had become utterly pale.
“Shár'kas, you say? No, that can't be….”
“You know who it is, don't you? Alakis is fighting that monster alone right now. We must go help him quickly!”
If I could just persuade them a little more here… How should I put it?
Be careful.
This could be said to be the turning point of the struggle.
“I thought it was rather suspicious, but it turns out this is a spy sent by the beasts.”
Just then, the white-haired veteran sitting at the head of the table, across from me, suddenly tapped the table with his fingers.
“Rain Ludwig, you fake—did you think I'd fall for your blabbering?”
“Excuse me?”
“We know that a being of the abyss has awakened. Because we lost all our main forces! We were just in the middle of drafting a letter to His Imperial Majesty and His Holiness the Pope.”
“Knowing that, why aren't you opening the gates?”
“Why should we open the gates to the beast-kin? They are all minions of the abyss, aren't they?”
“What are you talking about? The beast-kin are not minions of the abyss, but humans like us—”
“—Silence! How dare a mere beast open its mouth? Search his body; he must be hiding some mark of a beast somewhere.”
As the wolves standing on both sides of the door hesitated, perhaps due to issues of status, the white-haired Commander-in-Chief let out a furious roar.
At that moment, what flashed through my mind was not a feeling of despair like 'it's all over…', but extreme wariness.
Perhaps thanks to Bell Quires' "Eye Opening" ability, a flickering current of magical power, almost tangible, was forming a strange shadow behind the Commander-in-Chief.
“You, who are you?”
The mysteriously blooming flower, scattering silvery-white light from the boy's two eyes, was the blade of wisdom that interpreted all the world's supernatural abilities through mathematics.
Bell Quires.
0100101010010101010… At the strange sight of what appeared to be a cross-section carved in blood-red by that blade, I gasped momentarily.
‘A possession spirit…?’
How best to describe that form created by countless numbers swirling and gathering like a tempest?
Something with dozens of horribly wriggling tentacles, having inserted tentacles made of numbers into the Commander-in-Chief's eyes, mouth, and nose, was cackling.
As expected, something was there… Unpleasant cold sweat beaded on my forehead.
“You, what did you just say?”
There was a hidden force behind the conflict between the beast-kin and the wolves. And most likely, this thing possessing the Commander-in-Chief was the mastermind.
“No matter if you're the Count's son, what kind of language is that towards the Commander-in-Chief of the Wall?”
And it was no ordinary feat. The dark magic used to create this possession spirit was a formidable 5-star. It was only natural that the other wolves didn't notice this.
‘But I heard the Archmage position is currently vacant… Who on earth cast this magic?’
The moment I thought that, the mollusk-like possession spirit suddenly opened its eyes wide and pinpointed me.
That was the starting point of the battle.
The moment it pulled all the tentacles that had been encroaching on the Commander-in-Chief's intellect and hurled them at me, at that very moment, an officer tried to roughly grab my shoulder.
“Sorry, but you picked the wrong opponent to mess with.”
Blood-light (血光), a dazzling light erupted around me, and swirled into a furious storm of magic, pushing the officer who had grabbed my shoulder back against the wall.
“Wh-what incredibly strong magic is this…?!”
“You scoundrel, what are you trying to do…!”
“Commander-in-Chief…!”
Even the sitting officers had to cling tightly to the table to avoid being swept away by the storm, but in a world they could not see, an even fiercer battle was unfolding.
‘Interpretation complete, inverse calculation correction.’
The runes used in all the magic circles interpreted during the fleeting 1.8 seconds were primarily mathematical-type Luticians, though some forbidden-type Orbios were mixed in.
Possession magic was known as traditional black magic, but this focused more on the strengths of Lutician, in simple terms, it was black magic realized through magic.
In short, it was my area of expertise… Easily twisting mathematical equations, changing real roots to imaginary roots, I forcibly created flaws in the magic circle.
[…?]
The tentacles that had rushed towards my eyes, as if to stab them, began to be sucked into a vortex that reverted all supernatural abilities to nothingness, and then vanish.
One by one, then another… And when the very last one remained, I reached out and grabbed the main body that was being sucked into the vortex.
I won't just destroy the possession spirit and be done with it. I'll figure out who you are and where you are right now. If I don't, I won't be satisfied.
‘The casting coordinates of the magic… So where are the caster's coordinates right now?’
Just before I could interpret the central circle of the magic square, its core structure, the possession spirit's mouth split into a grin.
[Oh, for a little runt, it's surprising you have those eyes! But this senior here didn't forget to take out insurance, you know.]
At that moment, as the possession spirit spewed black numbers filling my vision from its maw… a dizzying vertigo pierced my mind before I even had a chance to interpret it.
And as soon as my highly amplified concentration was disrupted, the main body of the possession spirit held in my hand exploded.
A magic explosion at close range.
Just as I felt a dull sense of weightlessness envelop all my senses, I found my body lying on the cold floor beside Casena.
‘What…?’
It tried to devour my body, in that short moment of explosion… Such advanced possession magic is possible, I've never heard of such power.
‘I barely managed to erase it with Bell Quires just before being devoured, but….’
There were two problems. First, the aftermath of the explosion rendered my body unable to move.
And second, as the shadow that had been encroaching on his soul disappeared, the Commander-in-Chief was also pushed back by the magic wave, hitting his head against the wall and collapsing.
This very series of events made them mistakenly believe I had attacked the Commander-in-Chief.
“……Co-Commander-in-Chief……!”
“……That scoundrel attacked the Commander-in-Chief……!”
“……Seize him, he's an assassin……!”
The frantic shouts of the startled officers rang deafeningly in my ears, and as the pain of my arms being twisted behind my back and tied with ropes spread into my bones, Alakis's face came to mind.
‘Alakis….’
Alakis's face, looking at me at the last moment, asking for something with a sorrowful smile…
What should I do? I think I've failed…
With that last thought, my consciousness faded.