Chapter 347:
A giant ice cave.
In the beautiful light, like a crystal of five colors, Adela rather felt fear.
“The place that was a forest not too long ago…”
Shin Yoo-seong and Adela had been to Ruin Castle to hatch the velvet, which was an egg. The forest around Ruin Castle was cooler than the season, probably due to the sealing stone, but it was full of animals and trees.
But what is this landscape that we see now?
Lewis’s ice cave was like a maze prepared for invaders trying to break into his castle.
“This cave. It’s beautiful on the outside, but it’s only made of ice and crystal… perfect for disorienting. Besides, clairvoyance doesn’t work because of the barrier.”
In addition, Lewis’ barrier has evolved so much that even Shoichi, who has a deep eye, cannot recognize the structure.
“This is a disadvantageous strategy from the start. Lewis has a perfect castle… We have to go through a labyrinth without knowing what traps there may be.”
As Eliza said, going through this ice cave only flowed as Louis intended. As we headed towards the center of the ice cave, the light diminished and the space grew larger.
But that wasn’t the end.
The road to the ice cave continued. If you count the time you walked, you should have reached Ruin Castle already, but the cave was endless like an unknown subspace.
30 minutes.
1 hours.
The time when I was advancing endlessly through the cave.
“…Is this a fork in the road?”
Eliza, who was leading the way, stopped.
What was placed in front of her was a huge temple-like space and three entrances with three scaffolding. Angela, who was watching the scene from the side, caught her eye on the unusual letters engraved on the ice above the scaffold.
“There are enigmatic letters carved into the ice.”
As Angela stared intently at the ice, Lorelai strode over the letters and began to explain.
“…The letters carved into the ice are ancient words. If you set the recognition range to the dimension Louis came from and activate the pocket, it will be possible to interpret it.”
Having said this, Lorelai had absorbed most of the knowledge in Clock Tower Academy’s library, so Pocket’s translation function was not needed.
“Of course, these short sentences can be read without translation.”
Lorelai raised her index finger and blew mana into it. When he put his index finger on the wall, the hot mana melted the ice and carved the letters.
[The most brilliant.]
[Walk the path of the moon.]
[The wisest.]
[The path of the sun.]
[The bravest.]
[The path of the stars.]
Read Lorelai’s translation. Only then did Eliza see the footstool in front of the entrance. At the entrance, the moon in order like an enigmatic sentence. sun. star. Three patterns were drawn.
“This is… Shoichi. Can’t your mind’s eye read what’s on the other side?”
“If you use the ability, you can’t see anything because of the barrier’s mana. It feels like I was forced to paint over it.”
Shoichi had just used his mind’s eye. However, all he could see was a hazy mist, and Lewis’s mana, which filled the ice cave, interfered with Shoichi’s vision. Maybe it wasn’t just Shoichi. Lewis’ barrier is like a natural enemy for hunters who can handle mana.
However, it did not work for Shin Yoo-seong, who felt the flow of mana.
“It’s a simpler formula than I thought.”
Shoichi was taken aback by Shin Yoo-seong’s assertion full of confidence, and everyone’s eyes gathered together.
“Simple? Do you really want to say that you have grasped this barrier?”
Shoichi felt embarrassed by Shin Yoo-seong’s claim. Lewis’ barrier didn’t work even with the mind’s eye, which is one of the few S-class among search-type traits. I couldn’t help but think that it was a bluff that a single student had grasped such a barrier.
“I didn’t have a search-type skill, so I couldn’t physically figure out the structure of the cave… but I’ve finished figuring out how Lewis’ spell works. The ice cave is more like space-shifting magic than a barrier.”
Most hunters would have thought that the road leading to Ruin Castle had changed while looking at this ice cave, but Shin Yoo-seong saw through the fact that Lewis’s ice cave was a subspace from the beginning.
‘That’s probably why I couldn’t see the road with my mind’s eye. I can’t grasp the true nature of this ice cave from the outside.’
Saaa –
Shin Yooseong closed his eyes.
Then, he slowly poured mana into his hands. It would have been a very short moment to demonstrate clairvoyance because there was no search-type skill, but just one second was enough.
Awesome!
Shin Yoo-seong opened his eyes and cut the flow of mana with his blade. One of the lines that made up the spell was cut off.
“This is Mana Resonance…”
Shoichi sighed at the sight of the beautiful ice cave and the black sub-space surrounding it.
However, it was only for a moment that the surroundings changed. As the ice cave returned to its original form, Yooseong Shin began to explain.
“At this rate, no matter how much you wander around the cave, you will not be able to reach Ruin Castle. It’s a huge barrier… but it won’t be released no matter how long you wait.”
Shoichi listened to Shin Yuseong’s words. Because Shin Yoo-seong knew what he had seen through his actions, he had no choice but to admit it.
“Why? No matter how much Lewis was, he couldn’t maintain such a gigantic space-shift barrier for long. If that’s the case, Mana…”
Shoichi asked in a serious tone, as if acknowledging Shin Yoo-seong. It seemed as if he was reconciling opinions with an outstanding veteran, not just a student.
And that judgment was right.
What melted into Shin Yoo-seong’s body was the knowledge and experience of Kwon Wang Yu Won-hak, who saw the truth of the tower.
“First of all, this barrier is not using Lewis’s mana. The design may have cost mana, but the reflector continues to recycle power.”
Shin Yoo-seong saw three mana moving like a wave inside the barrier. Like a mirror reflecting light, the mana that reached the end was moved back to the center and used as fuel for the barrier.
“There must be an artifact-like device inside the barrier to utilize mana. Destroying just one of the three will stop their movement.”
After hearing Shin Yoo-seong’s explanation, Eliza put on an expression of disbelief. How did he grasp the flow of mana without even having a skill in the inside of the barrier that he could not even comprehend with his mind’s eye?
It was beyond human, but Shoichi already trusted Shin Yuseong.
“You are sure that there are 3… So you can see the movement of mana in that flow?”
Just as humans cannot detect minute currents like a current sensor, no hunter can grasp the flow of mana that activates a spell with the naked eye.
If it is possible to know the composition of atoms in the air, it is no longer the domain of humans.
However, the impossible was possible for Shin Yoo-seong.
“I see. Clearly that too.”
It was hard to believe, but the mana resonance he had just briefly generated was proof of that.
“So, the place where this entrance leads…”
Eliza looked at the entrance again.
There were 3 entrances and 3 scaffoldings placed in this space, and 3 devices formed the barrier.
What more explanation do you need?
“Someone has to reach the end of the entrance to destroy the barrier and reach Ruin Castle.”
Shin Yuseong’s answer was so simple that Adela stood on the scaffolding at the central entrance.
Slowly- As
Adela stepped on the scaffold, the sun pattern engraved on the entrance rotated half a turn.
“Half a turn. It seems that there are 2 people to enter the entrance. Then… I’m here!”
Angela immediately stepped onto Adela’s platform. Out of a total of 6 raiding parties, 3 entrances were divided by 2 people, and the number of people was just right.
“Then, we have to pair up two people, so the veteran and the students are one…”
Eliza, a 6th-level hunter, tried to pair up with the students one by one, but Lorelei seemed to have a slightly different opinion.
“I think… it would be good to pair up like this.”
Lorelei, who blushed, strongly hoped to step on the footstool with Shin Yoo-seong when she moved.
“What do you understand? It’s a dungeon where the mind’s eye doesn’t work properly, so it must be that they’re more trustworthy than me.”
Shoichi misunderstood Lorelai’s intentions, but Eliza was being persuaded.
“…I don’t know if they’ll be all right. In a way, their experience is better than ours.”
As Shoichi and Eliza stepped onto the platform, the moon pattern rotated. The flow of mana gradually changes as the spell works. Lorelai cautiously approached Shin Yoo-seong.
She always tried to keep a cool mind when attacking, but Lorelai’s heart beat faster just by approaching Shin Yoo-seong.
It was very strange.
Even though Shin Yuseong had only met a few times, Lorelai felt familiar.
In the book, Shin Yoo-seong’s face overlapped with the handsome male protagonist, and Shin Yoo-seong always appeared whenever Lorelai dreamed.
Although the role and appearance are different, the fact that that person is Shin Yoo-seong has not changed.
Perhaps because of that, Lorelai’s heart trembled. It was the first time in my life that I was so nervous.
Yooseong Shin watched Lorelai from the side and put a hand on her shoulder and said,
“…Don’t be afraid.”
Shin Yoo-sung’s voice and tone so soft were so similar to those in her imagination that Lorelai couldn’t help but hold her breath.
“I will protect you.”
Thousands of thousands of imaginations that Lorelai had had failed to overcome a single reality. Lorelai now had no dreams or wishes.
“Yes, eh…”
Lorelai merely nodded vigorously, becoming a girl with blushing cheeks, not an oracle from a lofty clock tower.
