Episode 379 Disaster (5)
Five days since Aira took over the mana supply for the altar.
There were still three thick lines drawn on the parchment.
In the meantime, Ray and Serien searched for the flow of the altar and traced their memories, trying to write down even the smallest flow of mana perfectly.
As long as they didn’t collide with their bodies, the speed was slow.
It was only relying on memory to grasp the flow, so there was no way it would speed up.
However, the two paid more attention to safety than speed.
I personally witnessed the connection of the dimensional bridge.
I also confirmed the monsters of another dimension with my own two eyes.
I didn’t want to make a mistake again because it was an existence that did not work with mana.
Serien, who was drawing the corner of the parchment, took a deep breath and stretched his back.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
At her words, Ray also stood up from his seat.
My body ached after sitting in a chair all day.
“It’s not easy because it’s a magic tool created by God.”
“Certainly. But just finding out that there are nine branches is great. You can be a little more proud of yourself.”
Serien, who was usually stingy with compliments, praised Ray highly.
Praise always has a corner that makes people weak.
It’s only been half a day since she rolled herself and drew parchment because she had more knowledge, but it’s been a long time since a compliment has already erased the past from her mind.
He looked at the altar.
“How much longer will it take?”
“Ugh. well. It looks like it can’t be fixed until the other high elves come…”
“It’s too slow at this rate. I decided to think about safety, but I think I need to find a slightly different number.”
“Another number?”
Opening her eyes round, she tilted her head.
“Change the mana supplier of the altar. This time I will stand at the altar.”
At his words, Serien stopped eating the fruit and shook his head.
“That’s not allowed. You know, don’t you know what your condition is like? You can’t infuse unstable mana into an altar in an unstable state.”
“If we go on like this, there will be no end to it. And right now, I am the one with the most lack of knowledge about the altar. Even if it’s only for a few hours. I need time to properly feel the magic tool’s mana flow.”
“What are you going to do with just a few hours?”
“Three hours. Just give me three hours. I promise to find another mana line connecting points in it.”
Serien slightly furrowed her forehead at his absurd suggestion.
The nine points where mana gathers and the mana lines connecting them are harder to feel than the small ripples.
The mana line is, so to speak, the heart of the altar.
As such, the mana lines connecting the points are strictly protected and hidden in other mana residues.
It was a task to find a single mana line across hundreds and thousands of mana streams.
It was absurd when he boasted that he would find it in three hours.
“It’s a vain promise.”
“If you think so, you can try using the ‘truth eye’ on me.”
“…If you say that.”
Serien looked at him.
The pattern on her forehead glowed and covered Ray’s body.
Then, mysteriously, the eyes of truth did not respond to him.
There was no lie in the ‘three-hour promise’ he said.
After looking straight into his eyes for a moment, Serien sighed.
“Certainly there is no lie in your words. That doesn’t mean you’re allowed to supply mana. Maybe it’s because you might be firmly thinking that the wrong idea is the truth.”
“Have I ever been seen as a human being with such misguided thoughts?”
Serien kept his mouth shut.
If I had to ask which side the person in front of me was, he was a competent person.
I never asked twice what I said once, and I didn’t have to explain everything one by one because I understood quickly.
His intelligence is worthy of being called the heavenly high-tech skill.
Moreover, in reality, even when he felt the flow of mana with the help of Aira, he revealed the existence of a point and the mana line that they had not yet grasped.
Now, in Serien’s head, ‘maybe…’ began to come to mind.
If it was the person in front of me, I might turn what I really said into reality.
“Three hours. Can you promise me one more time?”
Serien’s words softened a little, and Ray nodded.
“yes. If anything happens, I’ll send a signal right away.”
“Haa… It’s like putting a child on the water’s edge.”
Sighing while holding her forehead, Serien approached Aira.
“Did you hear? It’s a temporary shift.”
“Keep it…”
His complexion looked as if he had something to say.
Ray reached out to the altar.
Even as he got closer, he could feel the torrent of mana.
Did you keep this for 5 days?
Aira felt amazing again.
“I’m only resting for three hours.”
Whispering words in Aira’s ear, Ray pushed her away.
At the same time, he put his hand on the altar and blew mana into it.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
It was as if I could hear the sound of mana being sucked into my ears.
Aira, who was freed by half force from the altar, belatedly shouted.
“It’s too early to do it alone! At least put your dishes back…”
“It’s too late. By now, you must be busy with enduring the mana of the altar.”
“You stubborn!”
Leaving aside Aira’s non-swear words, Ray focused on the mana on the altar.
No, I was trying to focus.
When he made up his mind and injected mana, the resulting repulsive force wrapped around him at once.
It was a huge difference from when he put his hand on Aira’s back and indirectly felt the altar’s mana.
As if his entire body had become an altar, a huge amount of mana flowed between him and the altar.
You have to constantly inject mana into the magic tools while controlling the altar so that the mana does not invade.
Sweat ran down his spine.
The moment you lose your guard even a little, the enormous amount of mana that has no place to go will pour out of the altar.
If that happens, the dimensional bridge will open and there will be chaos outside.
‘First of all, let’s think about maintaining the present.’
Ray let go of his impatience.
It was difficult because of the intense mana, but I tried to figure out the flow in it as much as possible.
His non-human brain shone.
There was no law to miss a small flow, but rather memorized it all.
Thousands of remnants plotted their own paths, shaking his head.
The flow was quite erratic.
Mana, which was heading to the left, suddenly turned and headed to the right, and there was also a flow of mana crossing the current as if it were flowing backwards.
However, it didn’t take long to realize that there were laws of their own.
one hour.
I realized some kind of law in it.
‘This… wasn’t simply a flow of mana colliding with each other. Each point was creating a flow.’
pull and push
Each time the nine points gathered to pull mana, the flow of mana flowing through the altar subtly changed.
Indeed, it could not have been an arrangement created by God and hidden in a mysterious way.
nine points.
They were, so to speak, a support that helped create and operate the flow of the altar, and at the same time, it was like a code that changed every hour.
‘It’s natural that it can’t be fixed if it’s like this.’
Ray was inwardly amazed.
Unless the main god decides to repair it himself, there will be no one who can fix the magical tools that change the flow every moment.
At first, I wondered why they made such a labor-intensive magic tool, but now that I’ve been here, I can understand it at first glance.
The altar was an arrangement made by God.
Arrangements to protect those in the middle world, uphold the dimension, and prevent the altar from being passed over to other beings in the past.
That’s why it was given to the beings of the middle world to protect their territories.
To put it simply, the dragon that would protect Middle-earth became extinct, and God himself gave other races sovereignty.
His thoughts, which regarded God as worse than half a money bug, changed slightly.
Ray traced the flow of mana.
It was easier than I thought to track the mana flowing continuously.
The only problem was that there were thousands of stems.
Climbing up a single stem, if it was only mana derived from somewhere in the end, the pursuit was stopped mercilessly.
What he is looking for is a mana line.
If you find the mana line that is directly connected to the branch, you will eventually be able to know a clear indicator of the branch.
‘It’s not this… it’s not this either.’
Ray’s calculation speed for identifying the flow was superior.
In less than 30 minutes, he identified all of the 200 or so stems, and finally, around 300, he was able to find a single mana line.
The mana line connecting the third and fourth points.
I found the fourth point and found the mana line for it.
It was a feat accomplished in just an hour.
However, his body was slowly deteriorating.
A little bit of blood mixed with the sweat that flowed down Ray’s body.
* * *
Even when she stood at the altar, Aira, who had been consistent with a nonchalant expression, looked at Ray and didn’t know what to do.
“And if something big happens…”
“You’ve become a very loving mother while I haven’t seen Aira. If I had died like that, I wouldn’t have come this far. Let’s keep quiet and watch.”
“Umm…”
The fresh blood leaking out of Ray’s pores gradually thickened.
Every time that happened, Aira’s expression also changed.
“Two hours have passed.”
Serien’s words were the starting point, and black dead blood flowed from his nose.
Although hidden by the robe, her beautiful white hair must have already been dyed bloody.
Now, like Aira, Serien’s expression hardened.
“Mana depletion.”
Since blood began to ooze from the Chilgong, there would not be much time left to endure.
Even so, instead of showing signs of escaping, they braced themselves and focused only on the altar, which made it difficult for the two of them.
“I can’t. I have no choice but to force it out.”
Aira, impatient, stood up from her seat.
at that time.
Just in time, Ray groaned and signaled.
An enormous boulder flowed from Aira’s hand and separated the altar and Ray at once.
After she supplied mana again, Ray fell from the altar and fell to the ground.
“Heo-eok… heo-eok…”
Blood pooled in his mouth, making it difficult to breathe recklessly.
Serien asked as she wiped his blood with her own hands.
“You came out in less than three hours. So, did you have a harvest?”
It’s a tone that doesn’t expect much.
At that, Ray grinned even as blood dripped.
“Heo Eok… The 4th and 5th spots… I found two mana lines…” “
What what? What is that…!”
Surprised, Serien grabbed Ray’s shoulder without realizing it.
“Aaaagh!”
He barely maintained consciousness from the shock and lost consciousness after leaving a scream.
The cause of death was Serien.
