Chapter 141
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Chapter 141
"You're going to contain them inside your body? That's dangerous!"
"I can manage. If I cannot bear this much, I am unfit to be an Archbishop. Once we escape the Island, I can extract the vengeful spirits separately and seal them away."
It seemed similar to the method of appeasing the souls of ghosts and resolving their grudges.
"How exactly would you do that? Isn't it dangerous? You can't even use divine power. And you know that isn't just an ordinary vengeful spirit, right? It's a progenitor powerful enough to trigger a Monster's evolution."
"All I need is a Sealing Stone. A Sealing Stone is inherently imbued with sacred power, so no divine energy is required separately."
A Sealing Stone?
"You have one right now?"
At my question, Rujeep nodded and pulled out a necklace he had tucked beneath his priestly robes.
The pendant was circular and ornate like the sun, its end fashioned into the shape of a key.
"An Archbishop always carries one on their person."
I furrowed my brow, listening to his words, then shook my head again.
"But if you contain that Monster's progenitor in your body, you won't know what happens afterward either."
"There are precedents, though rare. I studied the theory during my seminary days."
"You know theory and practice are different, don't you?"
"Of course. Ah, should I lose consciousness, would you relay a message to Rodban for me?"
"What message?"
At my question, Rujeep hesitated for a moment. Soon, with an embarrassed expression, he scratched his cheek and spoke.
"That I'm useful too."
I found myself at a loss for words, meeting Rujeep's gaze.
I had never thought Rujeep was useless—Enoch and Kaiden possessed otherworldly abilities, but that didn't diminish his worth. He was trying in his own way, after all.
Yet he had been carrying this concern all this time. Why hadn't I thought to encourage him, to show I cared?
Was there truly no way for me to help Rujeep in this situation?
"Don't make that face. It's not like I'm dying."
Interpreting my expression somehow, Rujeep spoke with a smile.
He unfastened the necklace around his neck and used the sharp point of the key to draw a circle on his palm, creating a wound.
[No, this won't do! This won't do!]
As if the Tree had foreseen its own ill fate, it turned its direction toward us.
The roar the Tree unleashed was so violent that the entire Cave trembled. My eardrums felt like they might tear from the pain, and I hastily covered my ears in panic.
Silver Earthworm breathed fire at the Tree from a distance, but the Tree emitted a brilliant white light and absorbed all of it.
Damn it—was Rujeep truly the only vessel left?
The wooden tendril extending toward us at tremendous speed attacked not Rujeep, but me. The branch, sharpened like an awl, approached aggressively as if to pierce me through.
[Magic power! Now! Give it!]
"Margaret!"
"Young Lady!"
Three men's panicked cries reached my ears. I calmly withdrew a flare from my crossbody bag, loaded it, and quickly rolled across the ground.
I saw the wooden tendril embed itself deeply into the earth where I had been standing moments before.
I seized the opening and leaped upward, climbing the wooden tendril toward the Tree's main body. Faces clustered densely across the Tree's surface turned rapidly toward me. Their eyes, gleaming with an eerie light, sent shivers down my spine.
The wooden tendril lodged in the ground came rushing back swiftly to attack me. I pulled the hammer of the flare, aimed at the Tree's main body, and squeezed the trigger.
Bang! Boom!
When I absorbed the Silver Earthworm's flames, I'd anticipated as much, but it devoured the flare's light entirely as well.
Damn it, I need to think. I can do this.
From atop the Tree Branch's main body, standing four meters high, I racked my brain for the best way to fall without killing myself.
I'd settle for just fractures.
Having resolved myself, I was about to leap downward when—
[Screeeech!]
Suddenly, an agonized shriek from the vengeful Tree pierced the air. The wooden tendril that had been closing in on me recoiled, thrashing wildly.
I turned to see Rujeep, his key-shaped pendant glowing as he brought his hand down, smiling serenely.
[Almost finished!]
The Tree's mournful voice tore through the Cave, echoing off every wall.
At that moment, Enoch and Kaiden came rushing down the wooden trunk. Enoch immediately scooped me into his arms, and both men moved swiftly, descending the Tree while keeping watch on their surroundings.
Once I reached the ground, I thanked Kaiden and Enoch before turning my gaze toward Rujeep. He spoke to the Tree.
"I will ease your suffering. You won't be alone. I am here with you."
From Rujeep, speaking with such calm and tender composure, emanated a truly sacred aura.
And he wasn't even channeling divine power.
[No! I don't want this! It's unfair!]
The wooden tendrils lashed out aggressively toward Rujeep. In shock, I reached out to him, but the tendrils moved far faster than I could react.
A thick wooden tendril wrapped around Rujeep's waist and hoisted him high into the air.
"Bishop!"
Despite my panicked cry, Rujeep showed no disturbance. Unlike the perpetually frightened man I knew, he remained perfectly composed even as the Monster's main body dragged him away.
The Tree's trunk—its main body—split open into two halves as it lifted him higher. It resembled a beast's gaping maw.
And then it swallowed him.
Swallowed him...?
Wait.
My mind went blank. I couldn't think at all.
"Bishop!"
I tried to rush toward the Monster's main body, but Enoch and Kaiden grabbed me from both sides, holding me back.
The shock of it all left me unable to process anything. That fearful man's image—choosing courage, choosing to sacrifice himself—burned itself into my vision and wouldn't fade.
'No. What am I saying right now?'
This isn't sacrifice. Rujeep will be fine. Neither Diego nor Rujeep are people who would disappear so pathetically.
Could this be part of Rujeep's plan all along? Recalling his composure, it seemed possible.
'Please let it be so. You have to be alive.'
As I stood there, despair and fragile hope warring within me, staring at the Monster's main body—
Rumble—BOOM!
A heavy detonation echoed from outside the Cave, and the ground trembled.
Patter, pitter-patter.
Small stones crumbled down from above, mixed with dust. It looked as though the Cave was collapsing.
Hell, I'd deliberately avoided using flares, and now it seemed we'd be buried alive in here.
"This is dangerous. We need to climb out quickly."
At Kaiden's murmur, I turned to look at the now-docile Monster's main body.
"We can't just leave the Bishop and Diego behind. How did we even get this far? You want us to turn back now? That's impossible!"
"But we can't die here either."
That was true, but I shook my head vigorously. I couldn't abandon Rujeep and Diego. I trust Rujeep.
Kaiden was still trying to persuade me when Enoch grabbed both our shoulders.
"Wait."
He scanned the surroundings as if sensing some other movement.
The writhing, luminescent form of the Monster's core stopped moving. Why suddenly? Was it Rujeep's doing?
Then came the sound of the cave wall crumbling, accompanied by something like thunder. And then—
Flash—!
Lightning descended from the ceiling, striking the Monster's core—the pure white Tree Branch.
Flash—! Flash—!
The lightning didn't stop at one strike; it came down repeatedly in various patterns.
The sight was strangely beautiful, almost sacred.
'With a powerful life force, a vessel bearing holy power, and stormy weather like today, we can appease and contain that mass of vengeful spirits.'
So that's what Rujeep meant earlier.
[No—! I don't want to—!]
The Tree thrashed in agony. A deafening roar filled the cave, and I watched as it began to collapse.
Flash!
As lightning struck once more, the Monster's core, which had been glowing pure white, shattered like broken glass.
[Aaaaaaaah—!]
With one final, frenzied roar, the light vanished without a trace, and Diego and Rujeep appeared in its place, collapsing to the ground.
"Diego!"
"Rujeep!"
Enoch and Kaiden rushed to gather the two of them. I felt some relief wash over me as I picked up the fallen backpack and shouldered it, staring at the crumbling ceiling.
As Kaiden said, we had to get out of here quickly. Any further delay and we'd be buried alive in this collapsing cave.
* * *
Asdal lowered the bowstring he'd been holding taut and exhaled heavily. The pain in his abdomen was unbearable.
Yuanna, who sat beside him on a tall Tree Branch, also sighed.
Beneath their feet, Monsters with indistinguishable forms gaped their mouths, waiting for them to fall.
"I wish I could use divine power."
They had encountered strangely evolved Monsters the moment they arrived on the North Island.
Not only that, but faced with such overwhelming numbers, they eventually gave up fighting and resorted to fleeing.
"Ugh."
Asdal stifled a groan at the pain in his waist and leaned his back against the Tree trunk. Yuanna, unusually for her, looked at him with deep concern.
"Are you alright?"
He managed a nod in response.
As time passed, his condition was gradually improving, but experiencing such pain for the first time was deeply troubling.
How could he, once called the golden key that held the Hestia Kingdom in his grasp, ever suffer like this?
He recalled hearing that Margaret had painkillers in her medical kit. When he met Margaret, since she possessed magical power, Kaiden's magic could likely heal him as well.
While lost in such thoughts, dark clouds rolled in rapidly, obscuring the midday sun, and a terrifyingly heavy downpour began to fall.
Asdal watched the Monsters lingering near the Tree despite the rain, then turned to Yuanna with a question.
"Isn't it true that Monster blood ignites easily when mixed with water?"
"I know what you're thinking, but for that to work, we'd need to make those Monsters bleed first. Is that even possible given our current situation?"
At Yuanna's skeptical response, Asdal exhaled heavily. It was impossible now—they had barely managed to hide from the rain and the Monsters.
Flash!
"Oh, that startled me!"
As I conversed with her, a savage bolt of lightning tore across the sky with a brilliant shimmer.
Flash! Flash, flash, flash!
I watched in awe as ferocious lightning struck repeatedly at the same location in succession.
Rumble! Boom! Boom! Crash!
The thunder that followed was equally majestic, overwhelming enough to silence any voice in an instant.
"What is that? I've never seen anything like it."
Yuanna gazed beyond the low Mountain with a look of dread. The lightning continued to strike the same spot relentlessly.
It was an eerie and unnatural phenomenon.
"There must be something over there."
At Asdal's murmur, Yuanna turned to him with a meaningful expression.
"We should investigate."
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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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