193. Where the sky becomes thin (4)
#193
“What the fuck…!”
Ronan gritted his teeth. A scream escaped through clenched teeth. Even in front of the Mother of Fire the pain was so intense that I could not bear to swear.
“You have to endure.”
Navardose said calmly. Ronan clenched his fists instead of answering. She couldn’t get up anyway because she was pressing down on her chest with all her strength. Her blood flowed from where her fingernails had dug in.
Ronan looked around her breathing heavily. A mana convection phenomenon so powerful that the entire room seemed distorted was occurring around him. Navarre who had been staring at Ronan’s heart the whole time frowned at him.
“This curse is much more powerful than I thought. “Your father is the one who thought of implanting something like this in his child’s body but you who have endured all this time are no easy feat either.”
“This…what exactly does this curse do?”
“What are you hearing me saying? “The pain must be extreme.”
“In hindsight I think it was worth holding on.”
Ronan said in a hoarse voice. Navardose’s eyebrows twitched. As the creator of fire magic she knew how much pain Haeju was causing Ronan now.
It must have felt like all the blood in her body had turned into lava but rather than fainting she asked to talk. She giggled and stroked his head with her other hand.
“You’re a proud kid.”
“Hehehe… it feels different… than when I received it from my sister…”
Ronan let out a weak laugh. Somehow the pain seemed to have lessened a little. I wonder if my mother who passed away early felt this way when she stroked my sister and I’s heads.
‘I can’t think about anything because it fucking hurts.’
Ronan bit his lower lip. Even though it got better it still hurt badly. Navardose’s voice was heard in the vision that was repeatedly blurring and becoming clearer.
“The curse I am currently dealing with is a fire magic that has now lost its name. The purpose is to plant a spark in the target’s heart and burn it out from the inside out. It was originally a curse used for the purpose of killing…”
“killing…? “Holy shit…was it that terrible?”
“okay. The fire that burns up all internal strength and energy eventually devours the body. But…”
Navarre also dragged her by the tail. Her face couldn’t be seen because of her flame pocket but her tone of voice had become somewhat serious. For an instant the heat burning my heart subsided.
“…There is too much to burn. But that’s not the problem. ■■. “Did they block Hae Joo like this?”
“Whoa you’re stopping Hae-joo?”
“That is literally true. If you get rid of this right now your body won’t be able to handle it. “The curses originating from wind and water keep each other in check so when one disappears the remaining curses are designed to become explosively stronger.”
Ronan frowned. Even in her dazed state she could vaguely sense that she had been fucked. She did what she said.
“If the fire goes out there will be flooding and a tsunami. Conversely if the water dries up the fire will spread uncontrollably with the wind. “Until it completely burns your body like the original curse.”
“Then…what should I do…?”
“We must try to remove the curse while maintaining the heat of the fire. “It’s become a hassle.”
“Is that…is possible?”
Ronan asked. It took quite a while for the answer to come back. After finishing his worries Navarro patted his chest.
“then. Trust me kid. “I just need to use a little effort so let’s refrain from talking.”
“yes?”
Navardose whispered a few words that sounded like incantations. Suddenly my eyelids began to feel heavy. A voice as soft as a baby’s skin lingered in my ears.
“Shh…let’s fall asleep.”
The palm pressing his chest was getting hot again. Ronan couldn’t stand it anymore and screamed at me asking what he was doing to my body but it had already happened in a dream.
****
“Uuuuuu…fuck….”
Ronan opened his eyes. His eyes were as refreshing as the morning after getting better from a fever. My whole body was damp probably because I had sweated a lot. While catching his breath he slowly raised his upper body.
“…What happened?”
I had no idea how much time had passed. The place was still his father’s room. A strange red light was shining above his head.
I didn’t feel any significant physical changes. However as the sweat cooled off he felt cold but his body felt warm as if he was wearing a coat. At that time a soft voice came from behind.
“Are you awake child?”
“Oh I was there…”
It was Navardose’s voice. Ronan turned his head without thinking and then froze. The unfinished ending flowed out like residue.
“…yo. this?”
“It’s amazing that you came to your senses so quickly. Hehe…I need to get some rest.”
Navardose was sitting on the bed next to him looking at Ronan. A tired but satisfied smile appeared on his red face. Ronan swallowed thickly.
‘no way.’
Once I paid attention I also noticed the overall disheveled outfit. The stiff dress had many wrinkles. Her sweat-soaked hair was slightly wet and matted.
Ronan took a deep breath clearing away the impure thoughts lingering in his head. He regained at least some courage and opened his mouth.
“What…happened?”
“I had a bit of trouble changing my plans. “It was a success in the end.”
“That means my curse is….”
“okay. It’s not perfect but it’s a successful replacement. “Right now the curse and my embers are burning together in your heart.”
Navardose said in a weak voice. Ronan’s eyes widened. All his foolish illusions were blown away in an instant.
“What do you mean by embers?”
“That is literally true. I took a little bit of the fire that formed the basis of my strength and planted it in your heart. Replacing it all at once could be difficult so only a very small amount was put in. Still I never imagined that humans could handle this power…”
Her eyes were sparkling with pure admiration as she looked at Ronan. Ronan walked her way and she sat dumbfounded as if a flower pot had hit her on the head.
‘What the fuck did you put in it?’
It was an explanation that did not feel realistic. Of course Navardose had no reason to lie so it was probably the truth. Ronan opened her mouth.
“Why so much….”
“I just kept my promise. “Didn’t she say she would repay me for saving Ir?”
It was a clear reason. Now I immediately understand that she is tired. Stripping away the foundation of her power meant that she ultimately gave away her own life force. Navardose stretched himself up.
“You may not feel much of a difference right now. At best it might be more refreshing than usual. But as time goes by you will feel a clear difference. Because it is a different force from the curse that is meant to harm and oppress you. “As you become stronger my spark will grow bigger and eventually completely incinerate the curse.”
To put it simply it was a case of inserting fake parts that were better than the original. The flaw was that it was overly powerful but it was better than a curse anyway. Ronan who was placing his hand on her left breast lowered her head.
“thank you. “Navardose.”
“Lift your head up child. I really want to thank you. In fact I saw him save my daughter.”
“Oh did you see that?”
“okay. “She was a very proud child so she deliberately didn’t bring it up in front of me…”
Only then did Ronan put on his top. He felt fortunate that his body temperature did not rise to the point where he could not wear clothes. Ronan cursed under his breath.
‘Fuck. I feel like my body is becoming increasingly strange.’
It was a different story from the curse being lifted. A stone ghost that looks like Seniel or something. Vajra’s core wasn’t enough so this time it was the spark of the beginning. Since Vajra had brought about such a dramatic change I was afraid of what the hell would happen this time. Well doesn’t it have to be as shocking as sparkling mana coming out?
“How long has it been?”
“About six hours. “It’s amazing resilience.”
“It certainly hasn’t been that long. But it really looks like there’s nothing here. What are you doing here…um?”
Ronan’s eyes narrowed as he looked around for a moment. A blue energy that was clearly invisible when she first came in was flowing from under her study desk. As she was seen blinking minutely it contained sparkling mana the symbol of Nebula Clage. Navarro tilted his head.
“Why are you doing that?”
“No…wait a minute. “What is that?”
Ronan slowly approached Mana. She guessed from Navarre’s reaction that he seemed invisible to her. As I bent down to get under her desk her energy became even more intense. Ronan who was looking around her closely soon saw a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of the desk.
‘What is this again?’
At first glance it was ordinary parchment. Unidentified mana was oozing out from there and it looked like it was just roughly glued together without any special magical measures. Ronan squirmed out from under the desk his parchment in his mouth. Navardose shrugged his eyebrows.
“that?”
“I don’t know either. “I’m going to check it now.”
Ronan spoke with slurred pronunciation. I just hoped it wasn’t a blank page. She unfolded the twice-folded parchment and a picture appeared. Ronan took a deep breath.
“This is…!”
Although it was crude it was recognizable. It was definitely a map. Navardozer who was watching next to her muttered with her eyes wide open.
“I can’t believe you left something like this behind. “I didn’t notice it at all.”
She didn’t really seem to notice. Judging from the fact that she couldn’t find Ronan in the beginning it seemed like her senses became more sensitive as the story progressed. Still he didn’t expect to see results so quickly. Ronan who was examining the map shrugged his eyebrows.
‘This coastline… looks somewhat familiar.’
The picture drawn with ordinary ink indicated the vicinity of a certain beach. To the north the ocean was depicted as a wide blank space. It was clearly a form I had seen somewhere recently. Ronan who was quickly rummaging through his mind quickly came up with a result.
“ah.”
The unidentified map showed almost the same location as the map of the blacksmith shop that Alogin had sent. Heyran. At the northern tip of the continent there is a blacksmith shop to forge the holy sword.
‘I heard you went to the north. ‘Has it gone this far?’
I felt my heart beating fast. Given the circumstances it seemed clear that one of the two had painted it. It was a moment when I unconsciously gained strength in the hand holding the map. As the parchment crumpled slightly changes began to occur on the map.
“What is this again?”
A stain was forming in the wide blank space depicting the North Sea. Ronan put his face close to me. What was strangely pulsating was that the material was different from the ink used to draw existing maps.
The blob wriggled and expanded as if it were alive. Navardose was also standing close next to Ronan watching the interesting scene. Soon when the movement on the map stopped Ronan realized that it was in the shape of an island.
“…This is why the margins were widened. Did Elthea leave it behind?”
“I don’t know. “Seeing as the map changed in response to your mana we cannot ignore the possibility that ■■ left it himself.”
“Maybe so. But isn’t it a bit strange? “There’s no way there’s an island here.”
“hmm? “What do you mean?”
“It’s a sea of ghosts. here.”
Ronan said in a doubtful tone. Navardose who realized this fact too late let out a small sigh. The place where the island was drawn was an area called the Sea of Ghosts.
‘What on earth is here?’
An extreme remote area where even the sea water is frozen and chunks of ice larger than mountains roam around like buoys. It was one of the most famous horse racers on this planet and sailors were reluctant to even call its name.
“It’s definitely suspicious. “It is a place where only cold and death exist.”
“Right.”
“Apart from that I feel a little bad. “The situation that is happening right now is so contrived.”
Navardose narrowed his brows. Ronan also nodded in agreement. She opened her mouth her eyes fixed on her map.
“Don’t you think I left it there knowing you would find it?”
