EP.138 The past, the more distant past (1)
“···Climbing the Kurakt Mountains?”
Eryahl blinked. He was embarrassed.
The warriors standing around Eryahl also lost their breath. It was rare for the Archduke to be embarrassed. When something rare happens, there’s always a reason.
“Yes, I plan to go up in three days.”
Eryahl’s eyes turned to the girl in front of him.
The girl’s voice was calm. It’s a voice that seems to say that it will climb the mountain behind the neighborhood. And, the Kurakt Mountains were not comparable to the mountains behind the neighborhood. never.
“Professor, do you know what kind of place Kurakt is?”
“I heard that it is a mountain range of the most rugged mountains in the North.”
“Yes, I think it would be a good idea to add the following sentence: ‘No one has climbed the slope of Kurakt in hundreds of years.’ “Don’t you know what that means?”
Eryahl narrowed his eyes.
“Climbing the Kurakt is suicidal.”
It was a direct statement, but in Eryahl’s opinion, there was no other more appropriate expression.
“Warriors enjoy challenges. Sometimes I am reckless and risk my life to take on challenges. However, climbing the Kurakt cannot be a challenge.”
It is nothing more than a simple act of suicide.
“It is not enough to simply describe the snowstorm that enveloped Kurakt as ‘strong.’ Did you see the blizzard in Sanctuary? Kurakt is worse than that, Professor.”
You go in knowing you are going to die.
That’s what climbing the Kurakt meant.
“It’s reckless. “I have no choice but to stop you.”
“is that so.”
The girl nodded at Erijl’s warning. She heard the warning, but did not seem to accept it.
“…Do you still plan to climb?”
“I have a reason to come up.”
“What is the reason?”
“I think it’s hard to tell.”
The voice is still calm.
Eryahl narrowed his eyes as he listened to the voice flowing smoothly from the girl’s mouth.
Eryahl has seen many humans.
Having seen many people, I could vaguely understand why the girl in front of me had such an attitude.
‘You’ve already made your decision.’
The girl’s blue eyes are heavy.
The voice is calm, but not light. That was the attitude of someone who had already made up his mind.
‘Even if I say anything else… it won’t be of any use.’
If there are people who easily change their decisions, there are certainly people who do not. And the girl in front of me clearly belonged to the latter group.
“···Phew.”
Eryahl sighed.
“No matter what I say, I intend to climb Kurakt.”
“Because I decided.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what’s going to be there, but…”
Eryahl slowly raised his arms.
He stretched out his index finger and pointed at something.
“Keep this one thing in mind, Professor.”
What he was pointing at were Rania’s eyes.
Erijl said, pointing to Rania’s blue eyes.
“No matter what you see, don’t panic. Just accept it. Because Kurakt is that kind of place.”
What does that mean?
Rania didn’t ask that question. She nodded her head slightly and stood up from her seat.
“I will listen carefully.”
2.
When it comes to making decisions, I tend to act fairly quickly. It’s been three days since I decided to climb Kurakt, and I’ve been quite busy these three days.
“That’s all for today.”
For three days I taught Lakh.
We set off just as the sun was rising in the sky, and stayed by Lark’s side until the sun set, helping him train. Lark quickly accepted my teachings.
“Are you doing it like this?”
“okay. First, open your breathing, and then move on to your whole body. Don’t try to do it all at once, just take it step by step.”
Lark received instruction honestly.
Lark was always like that. I don’t know of an easy way. I don’t know any efficient methods. He simply accepted what was taught honestly.
‘In a way, it’s ignorant…’
Lark was a little different.
Lark was quick to accept anything. He never refused something. Therefore, Lark grew at a much faster rate than I expected.
“Let’s come here today. “Are you okay?”
“Well, I think we can go a little further.”
Twenty steps ahead of when I first trained.
Lark lasted about two hours at most in the intensifying snowstorm. He collapsed from exhaustion more often than from fainting. The number of times Lark loses consciousness has decreased to the number on his three fingers.
“good job.”
In three days, Lark achieved sufficient results.
It seemed like he had figured it out, so all that was left was for Lark to do it himself. On the evening of the third day after training with Lark, I quietly warned him.
“Beware of the Sword Demon.”
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“…Are you talking about Lord Draka?”
It was a story about being careful of sword demons.
This was my intuition. It was a guess based solely on intuition without any clear evidence, but my intuition turned out to be pretty good.
“Your eyes are strange.”
“My eyes are strange?”
“Normally, sword demons don’t move around with their eyes open like that. Red bloodshot eyes always chase after apostates. Eyes full of hate. But… the sword spirit I saw in the north was something different.”
Yes, it was a little different.
“These are not the eyes of a madman.”
I warned Lark.
“For some reason, these eyes have a purpose. I don’t know what it is… but at least they won’t use normal means. So, be careful.”
I could solve most of the issues, but I had to leave for the time being. That’s why I left a warning to Lark. Because you never know.
“Uhm… I understand.”
Lark nodded at my words.
He looked like he wasn’t sure yet. Hoping that nothing will happen to change that expression… I returned to the White Night Castle and finished preparing to climb the snowy mountain.
The morning of the day of departure dawned like that.
“Whoa.”
I let out a short breath and raised my head.
When you look up, a snowy mountain so high that you can’t tell its end comes into view. Even that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Only half of it is visible.
The highest peak cannot even be seen because it is wrapped in a blizzard. And, that was my destination. The summit of Kurakt, a place enveloped in a white storm.
‘Because the answer will be there.’
I took a step forward.
3.
Kurakt Mountains.
There are countless rumors about that place.
A ghost appears. A snow storm even distorts the flow of time. A monster lives in a raging storm. There are trials that made even the so-called indomitable warriors of previous generations succumb, etc.
Some of them were just rumors, while others contained some truth. On the other hand, there are also facts that have become rumors.
“Inside Kuract, the flow of time is distorted.”
It was originally a rumor, but it became fact after being pronounced through the mouth of a warrior who had climbed there in the past.
“I spent ten days in Kurakt. However, only two days have passed outside.”
Indomitable said so.
The haggard Indomitable lowered his gaze and muttered.
“It’s a place I never want to climb again.”
“Is there anything I can say that much?”
Recalling that anecdote, Raniel muttered.
She was climbing a mountain through a snow storm. Every time she took a step, sticky blood was imprinted on the snowy mountain.
‘It’s not just a rumor.’
Raniel lightly shook his hands.
Raniel glanced back, tearing off the blood that had frozen onto his gloves.
“hmm.”
Monsters were buried in the snowy mountains on the ground.
Some had their necks pulled out, others had their waists folded in half. It was quite an avant-garde scene.
There was a monster.
It was a unique type of magical beast that could not be seen from the outside, but it was only a single species.
‘What is it compared to the magical beast created by this crazy bitch…’
The demonic beasts that the apostate had stamped out.
From the perspective of Raniel, who had dealt with numerous demon beasts that had combined the strengths of each demon beast… the monsters of the snowy mountain were not that much of a problem.
“It doesn’t seem that cold.”
The blizzard could not pierce the mana surrounding the skin.
No matter how much I thought about it, I still couldn’t find anything that the Indomitable, the warrior of the previous generation, could be afraid of.
‘It might be difficult to find the way.’
A snowstorm obscures vision. Every time I take a step, my feet sink. Since you can’t see clearly in front of you, you have to watch your steps as you walk.
‘I would have had a hard time without this.’
Raniel looked at what was in his hand.
These are the arms of an apostate. Although it was very uncomfortable to hold, the heterogeneous mana flowing from this arm showed the exact direction.
‘As if there was a road made.’
Sigh.
Instead of walking, Raniel snapped his fingers.
The spell that was completed in an instant was cast on the snow field. The floor was revealed only after the fire melted the snow for a while.
“···It’s true.”
The snow has melted and the floor is exposed.
It wasn’t a bare floor. There were small tiles laid out. Raniel raised his head. The connected tiles pointed to a cliff.
Sheer cliffs.
Staring at the cliff, Raniel stretched out his arms. She releases the spell stocked on her forearm. The gray mana was gathered together in the form of a chain.
Chain.
The ejected chain gets stuck in the cliff.
Raniel lightly stamped his foot and leapt, pulling the chain. He leaps once more, stepping on the protruding part of the cliff.
widely!
She slid and landed on the cliff. Snowflakes flew. Her footprints were long on the snow. Raniel, who landed on the cliff, stopped for a moment.
“······.”
She narrowed her eyes.
The flow of mana was reversed. Because Raniel is sensitive to mana, he was able to notice.
‘···mixed.’
Something is stirring up the mana in the air.
Raniel looked up at the sky without thinking. The sun, which had been high in the sky before he crossed the cliff, was already setting behind the mountain. The sunset is setting.
“Inside Kuract, the flow of time is distorted.”
I felt like I had a vague idea of what that sentence meant.
“Whoa.”
This is the moment when Raniel lets out a short breath and starts walking. Raniel’s head turned. There was no sign of popularity, but someone was standing there.
“···Indomitable?”
A warrior called indomitable.
He is a warrior who was active in the generation just before Kyle, and is now a long-dead warrior.
‘Why is that person here?’
I’ve never seen that face.
However, based on numerous records, Raniel recognized him at a glance. He felt like he was seeing a ghost.
“Why are you…”
-Tap, tap.
Raniel tried to speak, but there was no response. Indomitable’s teeth are chattering and his body is shaking. Something was strange. Ran El narrowed his eyes.
-Where on earth are you going?! Prophecy, if you’re going to make that damn prophecy, do it more properly…!
He was standing right next to me, but he seemed not to be paying attention. It looks as if he is talking to himself.
‘Something is strange.’
Raniel stretched out his hand toward Indomitable.
But he wasn’t caught. Raniel’s hand only passed through Indomitable. Only then did Raniel realize.
“···under.”
She let out a laugh.
‘The flow of mana is distorted, time is distorted… and ghosts appear.’
There was truth among the rumors.
The rumor wasn’t just nonsense. Raniel muttered as he looked at the indomitable illusion wandering the snowy mountains.
“···An afterimage remains.”
The reason is unknown.
What is certain is that the mixed mana of the snowy mountain holds the afterimages of those who passed here in the past.
-Huh, huh!
Raniel looked around.
Indomitable was not the only one wandering the snowy mountains. Some were being chased by something, some were walking on snowy mountains covered in blood, and some were swallowed up by a snow storm.
All of that is a thing of the past.
I narrowed my eyes and looked, but I couldn’t read any mana from them. These were things that remained as afterimages.
‘It’s blurry.’
It is a blurry afterimage that is visible even to Raniel, who has high mana sensitivity. It was clear that to most people, it would look like a lump of gathered mana.
‘So it’s a ghost?’
I saw a ghost in the Kurakt Mountains. This was the essence of the rumor.
Raniel closed his eyes. She opened her eyes again, focusing her mana in her pupils. When she opened her eyes again, everything was clear to her.
chin.
take a step
He walked in the direction indicated by the apostate’s arm. The steps became faster little by little. Ran El seemed to know what the ancient elf wanted and why he had sent him here.
widely.
Raniel’s steps stopped.
The blizzard was still raging. However, there was something that could not be hidden even in the driving snowstorm.
“so.”
Raniel shifted his gaze.
To where the apostate’s arm points.
“Did you ask me to come here?”
A road that continues.
A path pointed by strange mana.
There was a man already walking down that road. There was a man there who would have walked this path in the past, even further in the past than now.
“Cardi.”
Cardi.
An ancient elf who introduced himself like that.
-······.
He slowly looked back.
I couldn’t tell if it was a coincidence or if I really heard Raniel’s voice. However, his appearance was a little different from the Cardi that Raniel knew.
It’s not the silver hair you always see.
The hair is closer to gray rather than silver.
-is it.
The color of the hair is different, but the animal’s yellow eyes are the same as ever. He looked at Raniel with piercing eyes.
-Are you following me?
No, more accurately, it wasn’t Raniel.
Raniel looked back.
There was an illusion of someone floating there.
-Skebal.
An entity that Raniel knows well.
An illusion of the ancient lich Skevall hovered there.
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