217. Reunion
#217
“Elthea.”
Ronan’s mouth opened quietly. Her silver hair and her ruby eyes were features that you could never forget even if you only saw her once. Adeshan asked in confusion.
“…Do you know someone?”
“Maybe.”
“Ro Ronan? “Where are you going?”
Ronan didn’t answer. He walked like a sardine dazzled by the anglerfish’s lantern.
He met. He finally met.
Elthea and Ronan suddenly turned their heads and their eyes met. He stopped in place put his hand over his mouth and shouted.
“Elthea! “I came to see you!”
The voice that hit the cliff echoed and resounded. Elsia raised her eyebrows after hearing her own name. She stopped her hand from stroking her hi-ran.
-Puiyooooo!
Suddenly Hai Lan spread her wings and took flight. The wind was strong enough to push her body away but no one except Adeshan paid any attention. Ronan approached her and he explained to her his purpose in coming all the way to the Sea of Wraiths.
“My name is Ronan. That building in the sky…whatever. I came here after looking at the map in Drimoor. “I don’t know who left behind your father or you…”
A fairly good explanation followed. It was brief and contained only essential information so even Adeshan who was hearing the story for the first time could understand the context. Every time she unintentionally heard the world’s secrets her shoulders tensed and shrank.
“Ha I never thought something like that would happen in the sky….”
However Elsia stood still and showed no reaction other than blinking her eyes. There was even suspicion that she had secretly replaced it with a wax doll.
Even if it was a bit rude she was wondering if she should use her auror to pull him away. Suddenly Elsia turned her back and started walking away. Ronan’s eyes widened.
“Wait a minute!”
Ronan reflexively drew his sword and activated his aura. The sunset-colored rays of light that shot toward the cliff mixed with the polar lights once again creating a surreal landscape.
But Elthea had already disappeared beyond the cliff. Sheathing her sword Ronan placed Aradan’s corpse on the floor. His mana-enhanced thighs swelled as if they were about to explode.
“Damn I can’t miss it like this.”
“Ro Ronan!”
bang! Ronan leapt from her spot leaving a confused Ade Shan behind. She didn’t know why they avoided her after calling her. She had to catch him no matter what this time.
“When the fuck did you get there?”
Ronan who had reached the top of the cliff in just five leaps let out her sighs. Elthea’s back was already so far away that it was difficult to see clearly. Her footprints at regular intervals marked the path she walked.
“I told you to stop!”
I wondered if that speed was possible based on common sense but there was no option other than to pursue it honestly. A chase broke out out of nowhere. bang! bang! Large shards of ice bounced around Ronan as she leapt off the ground.
The strange chase continued for nearly an hour. Strangely the distance with Elthea did not narrow. I thought I had caught up with everything but when I came to my senses I was already far away.
The scenery of the icy sea was quickly passing by on both sides of my vision. Ronan who was about to leap again stopped in place.
“Huh…huh what is it?”
Elthea was nowhere to be seen. The footprints that were supposed to be in her eyes were gone but they were gone. He grabbed his bangs as he caught his breath.
“This can’t be happening….”
He could boast that he never once took his eyes off her. Missing it was impossible. What’s worse is that even intact footprints disappear.
Ronan was in the midst of drooling over the strange phenomenon. A voice that seemed to take my breath away came from behind me.
“Okay gotcha…!”
“Adeshan.”
bang! She finally landed next to Ronan resting on her knees to catch her breath. The pace was slow because she was carrying two backpacks front and back.
“sorry. “It’s so important.”
“Haaa…no. That could be true. Why did you suddenly stop?”
“Elthea disappeared. “This can’t be happening.”
She even waved her sword in the air wondering if it was an illusion spell. But nothing happened except the sound of the blade cutting through the wind. Adeshan who had been fiddling with her frozen hair opened her mouth.
“Hmm I think I tricked it with magic. Would you like to try swinging the sword? Because you can cut mana.”
“I just tried it and nothing happened.”
“okay? It’s strange… I can definitely feel mana surrounding me.”
Adeshan’s tone of voice was full of confidence. Ronan’s face became more serious. If she said something like that there must be a reason.
‘Is this a different type of magic than before?’
Let’s try it one more time. Ronan took a deep breath bringing her to her senses. As my vision gradually widened and became clearer I began to see things that had been invisible until now. Remnants of her mana like those seen in her father’s room were glowing bluish on the ground.
‘This…’
The scattered scars were clustered about three steps away and flickered like a bonfire. If it had been before Haeju the energy was so weak that I couldn’t even sense it.
She seemed to know what to do. Ronan approached her without delay and plunged the tip of his sword into the core of her mana. Sigh! The surrounding scenery began to change along with the sensation of dipping a sword in water.
“under. “It’s real.”
Ronan laughed. The scenery of the ice field changed subtly and Elthea’s broken footprints reappeared. A right-angled triangular structure that looked like the entrance to a facility appeared not far away.
Elthea was standing somewhat in front of him. The only problem was the translucent turtle that appeared last.
The red turtle standing between Elthea and her two people was as large as five ogres pressed together. The shell which protruded like a burial mound glowed like hardening lava.
A head resting on a long wrinkled neck was looking down at the two people. Adeshan who saw this was scared and shouted.
“That one!”
She knew having listened intently to her elemental studies class. The turtle in front of her was the high-ranking fire spirit Bayardo. An incarnation of fire that can burn down villages and mountains with just a yawn.
Although not as great as Hyran most Spiritualists were of such a high rank that they could not even make eye contact. Is that also a spirit controlled by Elthea? Bayardo who was looking down at the two people opened his mouth.
“Hwaaaam….”
“Fuck.”
Ronan cursed. A dark red flame was boiling deep within the huge throat. He shouted blocking Adeshan’s path.
“Damn it bow down!”
“Uh huh!”
Adeshan did just that. At the same time flames poured out of Bayardo’s mouth. Quaaaaa! The liquid-thick fire was composed only of pure mana.
Ronan drew his sword and held it upright. Quaaaaa! The fire split to the left and right and passed by the two people. Ronan and Adeshan were hit with such heat that they couldn’t open their eyes properly.
“Ugh….”
It was difficult to open my eyes properly. At that moment Ronan realized that it was this turtle who burned down Varka’s secret army. Bayardo burned them and Hyran cleaned them up including extinguishing them.
“…What on earth are we going to do now?”
Bayardo seemed to have no intention of stopping spewing fire. Ronan gritted his teeth. I don’t know what his intention was but if he joked like this he went too far.
“Do it in moderation!”
For an instant La Mancha’s sword body turned bright red. Ronan who spurted forward in front of him crossed the swallow straight ahead and swung his sword. Wow! The sword flew through the flames and hit Bayardo directly in the face. A crescent moon splitting his broad face in half emerged from the back of his head.
“Muhuhuh….”
thud! Bayardo’s massive body tilted and fell. Like the flames the body made of pure mana became particles and disappeared. Ronan quickly turned around grabbed Adeshan’s shoulders and asked.
“Adeshan are you okay?!”
“Uh huh. are you okay.”
Fortunately there seemed to be no injuries. Her face blushed as she was suddenly called by her name. As Bayardo disappeared she revealed Elsia behind him.
“What does this bitch want to do with me now…”
Ronan who was clutching the hilt of his sword was about to shout something. Suddenly Elsia lowered her head. A beautiful voice flowed from beneath her pure white hair.
“nice to meet you. Ronan.”
“…Do you know me?”
Ronan’s eyes widened at the unexpected reaction. It was a polite attitude as if you were dealing with a superior. Elsia raised her head and continued her words.
“yes. I’ve known you since you were born. And congratulations on passing the exam with flying colors.”
“test?”
“yes. What you just went through was the process needed to prove your identity. Anyone who inherits his blood will be able to find and cut down mana that others cannot see. “It is my role to guide you who have come this far in search of answers.”
Elsia said she had been waiting for Ronan to come for a very long time. It seemed to be because of this that there was no hesitation or pretense in her words and actions.
She explained that the illusion magic and the fight with Bayard Do were all part of a test. She spoke quietly and without any malice. She said as Ronan let out a faint sigh pointing to Adeshan behind him.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s for that reason. “That person wasn’t hurt either.”
“yes?”
“It’s a good thing. “If things had gone wrong you would have died here.”
The tone was calm but the momentum was not. Elthea twitched her eyebrows. There was so much life oozing from Ronan that it made her fingertips tingle.
After all blood can’t be deceived right? She muttered softly to herself and lowered her head again.
“…Forgive my rudeness. “I was so focused on Ronan’s test that I couldn’t pay attention to my companion.”
“It’s okay now. “Anyway what is this building doing?”
Ronan raised his head and looked at the triangular structure. A metal door of unknown material was hanging on a plane perpendicular to the ground. For some reason it gave off a similar impression to the ruins I saw in Dainhar. Elthea said.
“It’s a warehouse where plant seeds were stored.”
“Seeds?”
“yes. It is one of the ruins built during the world’s most glorious time. It was built to prepare for destruction but in the end it was never used. Now I have remodeled it…”
Suddenly Elsia dragged her horse’s tail. She seemed like someone who had unintentionally talked about her painful past. A dull melancholy was written on her beautiful face. Eventually she stopped speaking and turned her back on me.
“…The introduction was long. Just follow me. “I have someone to meet.”
“Someone you need to meet?”
Instead of answering Elthea operated the mechanism attached to the iron door. On the square metal plate were buttons with numbers from 1 to 9 written on them.
Beep beep beep. When Elthea pressed the buttons in a specific order the entrance opened. A long narrow staircase led down to the ground. There were round lights lined up at regular intervals on the left and right of the stairs and they were much brighter than torches and easier on the eyes. Ronan tilted his head.
“Is that a light made by magic?”
“no. It is a product made by modifying a material called a light emitting diode. “This is also a tried-and-true technique.”
“Luminous…yes?”
I couldn’t understand what the hell was going on. The two men followed El Sia in her footsteps. When Ronan saw the iron gate from the side she exclaimed in astonishment.
“Why is it so thick?”
The door made of an unknown metal seemed sturdy enough not to be dented even if a dragon stepped on it. Adeshan who was originally interested in these types of things was next to me with his eyes sparkling.
“wow….”
Anyway the three continued walking. It took about 20 minutes just to go down the stairs. After passing through three iron doors similar to those at the entrance a large and wide hallway appeared. It was as bright as day and seemed to be using something like the luminescence mentioned earlier.
“Elthea. “I have something to ask…”
“Later. “Meeting him comes first.”
I had a million questions but Elthea didn’t respond to any of them. To all of her questions she only responded coldly saying she would talk about it after she met someone.
She liked that the story was focused on the main point but she also felt that it was too rushed. Greetings as they please testing them as they please and dragging them to the basement as they please.
‘Oh I’ll explain later.’
But since she had no other choice Ronan followed her in silence. She must have walked for another thirty minutes. Elsie stopped in front of a gate and looked back at the two people and said.
“It’s all there now. “You must never make a fuss or touch anything.”
Ronan raised his eyebrows. It was something different from the doors I had seen so far. It was much larger and I had a strong impression that something important was attached to it.
Elthea operated the button on the wall. Push profit… With the sound of the wind falling the thick iron door opened left and right.
A white gas of unknown composition leaked out like fog. Ronan and Adeshan’s eyes widened when they saw the scene inside.
“This is…!”
The spacious room like a square was filled with all kinds of mechanical devices. A variety of lines crawling across the floor like the roots of a bluish giant tree that fills the space. A halo of blue light was leaking from the glass tube in the center of the room.
A man was floating inside a glass tube filled with liquid. I couldn’t see her face because my back was to the door but her back was surprisingly familiar to my eyes.
‘no way.’
I suddenly got goosebumps. Ronan’s heart began to beat rapidly. She closed the door and Elsia opened her mouth.
“Say hello. Our eternal savior and founder of Nebula Clazier. and….”
For a moment she trailed off. It was only a moment but it felt like an eternity. After applying her saliva once to her lips she spoke again.
“Ronan is your father.”
