STM 191

Monsters swarming from all directions. A dead end with no escape. The only weapon in his hand was a broken sword.

When I first fought monsters, I sometimes stood in the middle of this hell in my dreams. This nightmare, which I had forgotten as I became accustomed to the war against monsters, had now appeared before my eyes.

The reality faced beyond the portal was exactly like that dream. Monsters surrounded on all sides under a black sky, and blood-curdling cries loud enough to split a skull. They were about to lunge toward a person kneeling in the center.

I had fallen into the middle of hell, yet my vision focused solely on the figure in the center. A man with his head bowed, his entire body drenched in blood. It was Tairok. My body moved on its own accord without giving me the time to think deeply about the situation. 

I ran toward him. He was still kneeling with his head bowed, yet the short distance to him felt incredibly long.

“Tairok!”

I grabbed his arm and called his name, but he still didn’t budge. Haas, who had belatedly followed, also turned pale when he saw Tairok’s condition.

“Yo-Your Grace, what on earth happened….Gran-Grand Duke Montaine…”

In response to Haas’ fearful voice, I turned my head toward where he was looking. A woman standing among the monsters. I glared at her and slammed the Montaine divine beast’s key I was holding into the ground.

You said you could save it? If you said that, you have to take responsibility!!

Although the shout could not escape my lips, I put all my strength into the key as if my voice were radiating through my entire body. Even though I possessed no special power, at this moment I felt as though my strength were being sucked into the key.

And for a fleeting moment, everything seemed to stand still. At the same time, the ground suddenly split open around us like a fence, and a red wall emerged from the ground.

“Lava…”

Following Haas’s astonishment, an emotionless voice rang out. 

“Who are you? How are you using the power of a perished divine beast?”

“Perished? Who are you talking about? The rift to the monsters will close soon with the power of the divine beast. You failed.”

My words were a lie, as the divine beast had been on the verge of extinction and lacked power. 

Honestly, I was grateful that it was exerting this much strength.

However, Grand Duke Montaine didn’t know that. My only goal was to buy a brief moment to escape. But far from being surprised, she wasn’t even wary.

“It doesn’t matter if it closes. I already obtained the power I needed.”

What? Power she needed? I was the one who paused in surprise. At that moment, I heard Haas’s shout.

“Get down!”

Why? I looked up without thinking and gasped. A black ball of magic flew through the lava and toward us. Fuck! Instead of ducking, I wrapped my arms around Tairok. At the same time, a deafening sound rang out.

Boom!!!!

A large amount of water poured down accompanied by winds as strong as a typhoon. It was impossible to move in a situation where I could barely stand upright. Therefore, the sudden appearance of someone’s back in front of me was not because I moved.

I recognized it was Tairok just from his back, but instead of relief, my heart dropped. His forehead, neck, shoulders, and even his back, not a single spot was unharmed; it was drenched in red blood. He had exerted all his strength to block Grand Duke Montaine’s attack in that state.

“A man on the verge of death is struggling to save that one. Is he Salvation?

Grand Duke Montaine raised her hand as she asked indifferently. A black spherical energy instantly swirled from her palm. At the same time, a spear-shaped stream of water formed in Tairok’s hand.

“You don’t need to know.”

Tairok calmly answered to Grand Duke Montaine’s words and tried to attack, but I hurriedly grabbed his arm. The lava wall around us was still rising toward the sky.

However, unlike at the beginning, it was now shaking. Ah, as expected, the power of the divine beast was still insufficient. Then I must not miss this opportunity. I hurriedly called out to someone. A name I have been calling unusually often today.

“Haas!!”

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The one who went from contractor of a divine beast to king of monsters. Grand Duke Montaine’s betrayal sent a great shock through Tubain. The world fell into chaos, which soon turned into despair.

It was because news had spread that Grand Duke Kun, the only hope to stop her, had been seriously injured fighting against her. Now, there was no one left to stand in her way.

“The monsters that emerged from Montaine’s ancient volcano has finally started to move.”

Enya, who was guiding me, briefly explained the situation. She didn’t add any further explanation, but I could understand what she meant. Grand Duke Montaine probably let the monsters go because she didn’t need them. After all, she drew power not only from black magic stones but also from monsters.

“Where is Grand Duke Montaine?”

“She has not revealed herself. Given the immense power she absorbed, I suspect she has entered into training for a while.”

It was at least good news in the worst of situations. However, once that power became fully hers, she would become a terrifying opponent, but for now, we needed time.

“The number of monsters…….”

I was about to ask “Are there many?” But couldn’t bring myself to. Of course there would be many. That was why countless people were currently fighting to stop the monsters. I, too, suppressed the urge to run to where the battle was taking place immediately.

“But since monsters don’t move fast, I think we can block them.”

Not fast? Those things jump around like grasshoppers. Enya shrugged, as if she knew the meaning of my expression.

“Compared to using portals. But monsters can’t pass through portals.”

“Monsters can’t pass through portals?”

“Yes,” she nodded politely.

“The only portals monsters can cross are rifts they use to pass through. That is why sacrificing a divine beast is needed to create an identical rift to eliminate them.”

Right, the Eye of Hell. Suddenly, my goal was plunged upon me like cold water. Was it because I had become too immersed in Tubain? 

My purpose now felt somewhat alien. No, I didn’t have time to wallow in guilt. I needed to finish what was right in front of me first. However, I couldn’t take even a single step before stopping again.

“So I am still perplexed as to why that one monster suddenly disappeared and teleported back then.”

“Didn’t you say they couldn’t pass a portal?”

“Yes, that is why I am still confused. Oh, by the way, Lord Lu, you were there at that time? I mean Ornod.”

It was an unfamiliar place name, but Mo immediately brought it back to my memory.

[The first place we landed in Tubain was Ornod. It is where the resort where Adeye Lu stayed is located.]

Ah, there. The reason the monster appeared back then was because the Spirit of Poison misunderstood my words and brought a real monster. The one who teleported it was that being named Hyuwik or Huiik.

That might be the master of the Forest of the Crimson Tide that Baron Owick mentioned. But that being was supposed to live only in the forest? How did it use its power in Tubain?

It was important to find the answer to this question, but I couldn’t continue thinking. Enya, who was ahead, stopped walking and opened the heavy wooden door.

Inside, many people were bustling about, most of them meticulously inspecting their equipment and supplies in preparation for going out to war. Although this was a spacious hall within Kun Castle, the entire castle had been transformed into a base for those heading out to fight monsters.

So the huge hall where splendid banquets used to be held became a waiting room for soldiers. I had to cross this hall to get to my destination, so I hurried inside, but I could not pass through quickly.

Suddenly, the soldiers cleared my way in an instant and bowed their heads toward me in unison. The respect they showed weighed on my heart, making it difficult to move my feet.

“Lord Lu, this way.”

I barely managed to move at Enya’s words, and soon faced my true objective. It was Tairok, sitting among the people. He was receiving reports on the monster’s situation from several people, but all I could see were the bandages wrapped around his shoulders and arms and the wound left on his forehead.

His side was the most severely injured, so the area down there must be bandaged as well. I stood still for a moment, and just like the soldiers in the hall, those inside bowed their heads and stepped back as soon as they saw me.

I had no choice but to move forward because of the path they had cleared. Tairok smirked as he looked at me. But I immediately picked a fight.

“What are you doing?”

He was clearly someone who had been lying in bed until dawn today, unable to even properly open his eyes. After escaping from Montaine, he fainted and remained unconscious for three days.

I dozed off beside him while checking on his condition, but when I woke up, he was gone. I never imagined that Tairok would be holding a sword to hunt monsters the moment he opened his eyes. He smiled brightly as if it were no big deal.

“Did you miss me already?”

In the midst of all this, I was glad to hear his nonsense, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh. 

He was just trying to gloss over it with words like that. He was trying to go fight monsters and Grand Duke Montaine.

But you can’t. Where do you think you are going in that condition?

I ultimately failed to say those words due to the eyes watching us. Everyone was looking at him and me as if we were their only hope.

The expectations were frightening, but Tairok remained calm as if it were an everyday occurrence. I realized anew the weight of the burden he carried. Therefore, I absolutely could not let him go like this.

“Please postpone the departure for a few days, or even just one day.”

“Why?” I took a deep breath as I looked into his confused eyes. I hadn’t just been playing around during the three days he was unconscious. I really wanted to give him a gift when he woke up.

”I can lift the curse on Kun right now.”