FLIA 53

According to him, the Black Mountain was sometimes generous and sometimes violent, it would either send monsters their way or swallow them whole without releasing any. Yohan desperately hoped for the former this time. Now that the Flood’s pursuit had stopped, they moved at a brisk pace rather than running, trying not to provoke the mountain.

“This place always gives me the creeps.”

It was Ju Hoyoung, muttering under his breath. Being the fastest among them, he had the freedom to come and go from the Black Mountain at will. Yoon Seungryong didn’t look too comfortable either, but at least he wasn’t deteriorating like when the Flood had rushed at them earlier. Yohan turned to glance behind and asked,

“Mr. Hyunmook, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. So let’s just keep our eyes forward and keep walking.”

Lee Hyunmook answered, keeping his hand firmly on Yohan’s shoulder ever since they entered the Black Mountain.

“Ah, y-yes.”

“You can still talk, though.”

With those words, a bit of tension left Yohan’s shoulders as he clutched his weapon. Trying to ignore the oppressive gaze of the mountain that felt like it was constantly watching him, he asked,

“What kind of place is the next zone after the Black Mountain?”

“The Reed Sea Zone.”

“Reed… Sea?”

Yohan tilted his head. He had no clue what kind of place that might be. Lee Hyunmook’s voice came from behind him.

“Yeah. It’s a place you have to see for yourself to understand. It’s one of the few spots around here with a pretty nice view.”

“Wow… Hearing you say that, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Yohan said in a forcedly cheerful tone, trying to shake off his fear and tension. But the trembling at the end of his words betrayed him. To help lighten the mood, Lee Hyunmook dropped a bombshell.

“Yakrin will probably be there.”

Yohan’s eyes widened. Seo Yakrin! He got excited at the mention of another teammate. His gaze flicked to the chipped stone spear he was holding. More than anything, the thought of meeting Seo Yakrin, someone who could refine the Eternal Stone into Absolute Steel, was thrilling. Just then, upon hearing Lee Hyunmook’s words, Yoon Seungryong howled.

“No way! Let’s go somewhere else! I refuse to deal with that old fart again!”

“Yakrin needs to make Yohan a proper weapon. We can’t have him lugging around that rock forever.”

Lee Hyunmook said firmly, and Yoon Seungryong groaned, clutching his head in anguish. Yohan leaned toward Ju Hoyoung, who was walking beside him bathed in sunlight, and asked in a small voice,

“Is there bad blood between Ms. Seo Yakrin and Seungryong-hyung?”

“Yeah, kinda… They just don’t get along. But hey, I need my bow fixed too.”

Ju Hoyoung replied, gently touching the bow in his hand. Yohan had performed a purification on it once, but the bow’s non-steel limbs were still warped. The fact that he could still shoot so accurately with it was amazing.

They kept walking and chatting. Before long, they were nearly through the Black Mountain. Yohan wiped his sweaty palm on his clothes. Thankfully, it looked like the mountain would let them pass peacefully today.

“I’ll go on ahead to scout. Just in case there are any floodspawn nearby.”

Ju Hoyoung darted forward in a flash. In the blink of an eye, he was far ahead, scanning the surroundings beyond the mountain ridge. Yoon Seungryong was the first to step out of the mountain, with Yohan sticking close behind, alert. Finally, Lee Hyunmook emerged, holding his spear at a slant. A sigh of relief slipped out.

He barely stopped himself from saying, “Thank goodness nothing happened.”That kind of line was basically a death flag in movies. But then–

Kaaaaaaahk!

A bone-chilling monster shriek pierced the air. I only thought it! Yohan screamed internally and spun around in panic. He followed Yoon Seungryong and Lee Hyunmook’s gaze upward.

A massive bird monster soared under the ominous storm clouds. Even from this distance, its overwhelming size was clear. Ju Hoyoung returned and aimed his bow skyward.

“Do we strike first?”

“No. Wait.”

Lee Hyunmook narrowed his eyes at the sky, then clicked his tongue. Yohan’s eyes went wide. What he had assumed were dark clouds were actually a swarm of birds. When the giant bird monster screeched again, the writhing flock dropped from the sky all at once.

“Waaahhh!”

This time, Yohan really screamed. The skeletal bird corpses weren’t the worst of it, it was their razor-sharp beaks and claws aimed right at them. The carrion birds rained down, hungry for blood and flesh. Lee Hyunmook broke away to avoid friendly fire, and Yoon Seungryong stepped in close to protect Yohan.

BZZZZZ! A flash of lightning split the sky. The birds’ sharp, pointed beaks made perfect lightning rods. Struck by the branching bolts, several were charred black and plummeted. Ju Hoyoung fired dozens of ice arrows at the birds that had slipped through.

A dozen or so birds dodged even that, diving beak-first into the ground. They stood, blinking with cataract-clouded gray eyes. Though not as massive as the one circling in the sky, some were still larger than humans. Yoon Seungryong shouted,

“I’m using poison!”

“Got it! I’ll purify!”

Yohan was terrified by the endless black flock but tried to stay calm and spread purification. The deadly poison emanating from Yoon Seungryong didn’t even come close to Yohan thanks to the purification barrier, while enemies who neared them collapsed instantly.

Still, the birds kept coming. Even with Lee Hyunmook and Ju Hoyoung handling a large number of them, the sky remained shrouded in flapping black wings. Monster corpses began to pile into hills around them. Despite that, the three fought the birds like seasoned veterans. Kicking a bird dissolving in poison aside, Yoon Seungryong even joked,

“How about chicken for dinner?”

Even Yohan, tense as ever, managed a shaky smile. Just as he was about to say Sounds good, something shot up between him and Yoon Seungryong, a black wall.

Before he could grasp what it was, the ground vanished beneath his feet.

“Yohan-ah!”

Yoon Seungryong’s desperate cry rang out as his arm punched through the wall, trying to grab Yohan. But he only brushed his clothes, he couldn’t catch him. Yohan fell straight down.

Above him, the Black Mountain poured like a tsunami, swallowing the sky.

***

“Ugh, ugh…”

Yohan groaned in pain as he slowly came to. The memory of what happened just before he blacked out made his eyes snap open. But all around him was pitch dark.

“What… what is this.”

As he tried to sit up, he slammed his head against something hard and lay back down. Clutching his forehead with a groan, he realized something strange, he began to feel around in the darkness. The space around him was cramped. So tight he couldn’t even stretch his arms. It felt like being trapped inside a coffin. Yohan’s breath turned ragged in panic.

‘Am I buried inside the Black Mountain? Alive?’

“Mr. Hyunmook! Seungryong-hyung! Hoyoung-ah!”

He shouted, thrashing in the tight space, but no response came. All he heard were distant rumblings and tremors, followed by the soft patter of falling dust.

“No, no, no…”

Overwhelmed with fear, Yohan burst into tears. Separated from the others, buried alive, it was horrifying. He felt like he was going to die. He wished it were just a nightmare.

After crying in panic for a while, he finally began to calm down. A faint vibration had reached his hand. That’s when he remembered, he had never let go of his weapon, even while unconscious.

“Hic… huff…”

Gasping through hyperventilation, Yohan poured power into his weapon. The Eternal Stone embedded at the tip began to glow brightly. The mere presence of light made him feel slightly more alive. His frantic breathing slowed just a little.

Terrified, he clung to the light as he desperately examined his surroundings. The space was barely large enough for him to lie down, far smaller than he had guessed. The realization made his breathing spike again.

“Times like this… huff… I have to s-stay calm…”

But repeating it to himself didn’t help. Tears streamed from his eyes. The oppressive space was suffocating, enough to induce claustrophobia where there had been none before. Compared to being chased by the Flood, this felt just as dreadful, if not worse.

‘That’s right. I’m a high-level awakener. I might be able to dig myself out of this.’

Snapping back to his senses, Yohan raised a hand and began digging at the ceiling. But instead of soil, he felt rock. He applied more force, dislodging several pebbles. But then, to his horror, the space he had carved out began to refill, the stones squirming back into place.

The scattered pebbles stayed where they were, but now the space was even smaller.

“Ugh… I want to get out…”

Tears streamed down as he clutched his weapon tight. The tip brushed one of the rocky walls. Suddenly, like ripples on water, a faint light spread across the dark stone surface. Yohan, still sobbing, sensed something and looked up.

“What was that…?”

Wiping away his tears to clear his vision, he cautiously pressed the weapon’s tip against the wall again. The same silent ripple spread outward.

Could it be…? Yohan focused his purification energy into his hand. His fingertips shimmered with bright light as he touched the wall, what he felt in return shocked him.