Chapter 127
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Chapter 127
As I turned to leave, I felt a hand tugging at my robe. Margaret, who had collapsed on the magic circle, was pulling at my robe with all the strength she could muster.
Jenath stopped in his tracks and furrowed his brow.
Turning to look at Margaret, who clung to me so pitifully, I exhaled a troubled sigh.
"I told you not to do this."
"Wait...!"
Her consciousness seemed to be gradually returning.
Jenath watched as the pillar of fire blocking Kaiden and Enoch's path began to fade, then turned back to Margaret.
He then freed his robe from her grasp and whispered near her ear.
"I'll wait. At the Cabin."
In this boy's form, there were many limitations to conversation.
Jenath thought that when he took on an adult's appearance, he wanted to have a proper conversation with her.
Though he knew it was best to keep such thoughts to himself.
Jenath grasped one of the Tentationem flowers covering the wall. The wall rotated halfway, and a space opened behind it—a secret passage through the Bunker.
"Damn it, wait!"
Leaving Kaiden's desperate cry behind, Jenath vanished abruptly into the Bunker's secret passage beyond the wall.
"Damn it! Margaret!"
Enoch caught Margaret as she collapsed.
Gasp!
She, who had been gasping for breath, suddenly exhaled sharply as her body temperature aligned with Enoch's.
"Damn Jenath..."
She muttered curses while wrapping her arms around Enoch's neck. Then she buried her face in his shoulder and burst into tears.
Kaiden, who had approached the wall where Jenath disappeared, belatedly discovered the Tentationem flower and hastily covered his nose.
"Damn it. Your Highness. Your Highness! There's poison here...! We must ascend!"
But by then, Enoch, Kaiden, and Margaret had all already been intoxicated by the Tentationem flower.
* * *
Asdal stood before the vast Swamp with a weary expression.
Even under the blazing midday sun, it exuded a desolate and eerie atmosphere.
Trees jutting up from the water's surface in places were grotesquely bent, and their drooping leaves added to the ominous mood.
Mist hung thick over the water even at noon, and the surface, caked with algae, resembled less a River than a Tomb nearly buried in mud.
Step once into it, and you would never escape—you would simply vanish into the mud. Perhaps it truly was a Tomb.
The problem was that Asdal and Yuanna had no choice but to cross this place to reach the North Island.
After nearly dying on their first attempt, they had tried various methods—placing Trees across the water's surface to cross—but failed each time.
In truth, he was deeply skeptical about crossing the Swamp. He had already resigned himself to the possibility of dying isolated on the South Island.
'Of all people, I'm isolated not with Diego, but with the Crown Prince. The world is truly indifferent, even the gods.'
'I too am deeply regretful that I'm isolated with the Holy Maiden, but I won't voice it. That would be discourteous.'
'My, if Your Highness is displeased, please don't bother with courtesy. I'm accustomed to being cursed at, so it's fine.'
At Yuanna's response, Asdal had to swallow his frustration once more. Conversing with a Rock would hardly be more exasperating.
But all of this was something he had to endure without exception.
When he first opened his eyes on this Island and was attacked by Monsters, he had thought he lacked the capacity to look after Yuanna as well.
I had been going mad on the Island for days without food, and now death itself was closing in. I didn't want to die saving Yuanna, someone I barely knew.
So I had allowed her death to happen, consoling myself cowardly that it couldn't be helped.
Diego seemed to feel guilt over allowing Yuanna's death, but Asdal's debt to Yuanna lay elsewhere.
She was the one who had saved him when he was nearly consumed entirely by the Tarantula Monster.
She had covered herself in the Tarantula Monster's blood and then lured the other monsters toward her.
At the time, having barely survived, rational thought was impossible. So I had believed it was merely coincidence.
But when Enoch went berserk and eliminated the Tarantula Monsters, didn't I learn that monsters gather when they smell their companion's blood?
Yuanna must have known this fact all along.
Asdal had continuously harbored suspicions about her suspicious behavior, but owing a life debt, I remained silent until definitive proof emerged. Yet in the end, I never managed to obtain anything that could be called proof.
Perhaps it would be better if I took responsibility and watched over her from beside her, stopping her if the situation called for it. I should bear at least this much responsibility. If I'm to be called a man.
Yuanna, who had dragged him to the edge of the Swamp, seemed like a completely different person. Even her eyes were different.
Where once she had been lifeless and powerless, now she overflowed with vitality and confidence.
"The Holy Maiden said she wouldn't agree to being the bait. I'll do it instead."
Despite his objection, Yuanna smiled leisurely.
"I said I'd do the luring myself—I never said I'd be the bait alone, did I?"
Not understanding her meaning, Asdal furrowed his brow. Did she mean he should be the bait?
"It would be better if you acted together with me. We'll lure the monsters and push them into the Swamp. Then we'll walk across the monsters that have fallen in."
"That's insane."
"Yes. It's a mad method. One misstep and we could die."
Yuanna laughed and readily admitted it.
"But do you have another way?"
At her question, Asdal couldn't answer. For days now, I had been unable to do anything before this Swamp.
"The distance to where the Swamp ends will be considerable. I'm not even sure if there's any possibility of success."
Asdal swept his hair back with a skeptical expression. Either way, death seemed the same, but this might turn out to be suicide.
"This is both the best way to screw over that damned brat and the only way we can survive...."
"That damned brat? Who's that?"
As Asdal continued to question her in confusion, Yuanna smiled prettily with her eyes.
"I'll explain later."
Then she retrieved the wolf corpse he had killed with an arrow the previous night and dismembered it with a sharp stone blade. Afterward, she smeared the black blood all over her body.
Watching this, Asdal felt a somewhat eerie sensation.
"This is too dangerous. We could both end up dead."
"That's why I'll make sure we succeed. You know I'm fast on my feet, right? I'm not as survival-oriented as Margaret, but I'm confident in my technique."
Her words were true. In agility and quick reflexes, she surpassed him.
'Still, it's definitely insane.'
While thinking such thoughts, Asdal felt the ground trembling faintly. It seemed the monsters were gathering right on schedule.
"I'll lure the monsters, so please cover me with those arrows."
It wasn't a plan he liked. Asdal furrowed his brow and stared at her intently, but there was no time to hesitate. The monsters were gathering rapidly.
Asdal had no choice but to quickly survey the nearby terrain. Then he concealed himself among the Thicket and drew his bowstring, assuming a ready position.
It wasn't just wolf-type monsters that appeared—Tarantula Monsters, mole-type monsters, and various other kinds emerged. The distinction between habitats seemed to have become completely meaningless.
Moreover, the sheer number of monsters rushing forward like a wave was staggering. It seemed possible that if all of them were pushed into the Swamp, they could fill it completely.
Yuanna stood exactly where she was supposed to—right at the edge of the Swamp. She remained motionless as the monsters drew near, and the moment their jaws gaped wide to devour me, she deftly crouched and slipped past them. Her reflexes were extraordinary.
As planned, a couple of wolf-type monsters tumbled into the Swamp.
The Orangutan Monsters, sluggish in their movements and massive in frame, made perfect stepping stones across the Swamp.
Asdal methodically shot down the monsters that ventured too close to her with his arrows. In the midst of this, Yuanna strode toward him and seized his collar.
"What—what is it?"
He cried out in bewilderment, but Yuanna offered no answer, simply dragging him forward as she ran.
"No time to explain—run!"
With his collar still gripped, Asdal sprinted across the bodies of monsters sinking into the Swamp.
Behind them, half the pursuing monsters trampled across the submerged creatures while the other half flailed helplessly in the mire, and fresh monsters continued to pour down from above.
"Damn it!"
It was an utterly absurd plan, yet somehow it was working—almost miraculously so.
Even as Yuanna dragged him along, Asdal nocked an arrow, drew his bowstring, and shot down the approaching monsters.
When they could advance no further and became trapped, Yuanna yanked his collar harder and shouted with fierce determination.
"Can you follow what I'm doing?!"
"What?"
"Just copy me!"
She watched a wolf-type monster charging toward me, crouched low, kicked its belly with her foot, and then stepped across its body as it fell into the Swamp.
She dodged another monster leaping at her from a distance by letting it fall into the Swamp, then used its body as a stepping stone to traverse the mire.
"Damn it, how am I supposed to—!"
But Asdal never finished. An Orangutan Monster came charging straight at him.
To survive, I had to do it!
He crouched with nimble grace. As the creature's massive body tilted toward the Swamp, he pushed it with his foot and leaped across.
After repeating this several times, Asdal clutched his head in frustration. It seemed he'd covered roughly two-thirds of the distance, yet a third still remained.
The monsters had begun to hesitate, no longer charging recklessly. Unlike Yuanna, he bore no monster blood upon him, so they didn't lose their reason and attack mindlessly.
Asdal found himself isolated in the Swamp.
The monster beneath his feet was already more than half-submerged, and it seemed only moments before it would sink completely into the mire.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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