EWH Chapter 118

‘I got scratched by tree branches when we fell from the sky.’

Who did he expect to believe such an obvious lie? How could a scratch from tree branches bleed so much?

After emerging from the forest, Nathan was momentarily flustered by his own dullness in not noticing sooner. Recalling how Azar had been worried about Nathan’s body first without saying a word about his own injury all this time, he felt angry but also just sorry.

But that was that, and this was this.

“Nathan, I’ll go ahead and check what’s up front, so follow slowly!”

As Azar ran off saying this, Nathan felt a throbbing in the back of his head. He hurriedly shouted “Hey…!” at Azar’s back, but only a weak voice came out of his already hoarse throat.

With his stamina nearly depleted and legs feeling as heavy as if stones were tied to them, it was arduous to keep up with Azar even though he wasn’t running that fast. Despite wandering the forest for so long, that guy’s stamina didn’t seem to have diminished at all. Nathan followed hurriedly, panting, afraid of losing sight of Azar. Even so, his steps were unbearably slow.

After a short distance, Nathan stopped, almost leaning on his wand, and breathed heavily.

‘What luxury am I seeking to enjoy…’

The groundless confidence that had welled up in the fog had long since disappeared somewhere. After seeing Azar’s back disappear behind a building, he could only sigh.

In his own way, he probably thought he was acting out of consideration, but just staying by Nathan’s side would have been more helpful. No, knowing him, he might just be acting like this, saying he wanted to find something interesting first. Brushing back the hair that had fallen to the side behind his ear, Nathan took in the scene spread out before him with a tired face.

The giant city was as quiet as a mouse, as if there wasn’t a single living thing here.

Thud! Trudge, trudge─. Thud─!

Thanks to this, footsteps echoed clearly if one walked without paying attention.

“Haa, I’m dying… My eyes are spinning…”

The fog that had been hindering them no longer troubled them from the moment they left the forest. As if a line had been drawn, it couldn’t cross the boundary of the forest. Thanks to this, the two were able to enter the city easily without any particular problems.

The city, which had looked endlessly majestic from afar, felt different up close. The sense of intimidation that hit the skin was no joke. How big and elegant it was. They had said it was coral-colored, but now he saw it was just white buildings reflecting light that made them appear so.

Plants growing wildly here and there added color to this place, but seeing how it absorbed the twilight as it was, it seemed the space was inherently lacking in color. The appearance of the buildings was uniformly antique, and some even looked like ancient ruins. Moreover, even the ground was neatly covered with white stones.

At a glance, the buildings themselves seemed sufficient for people to live in, but their size was not ordinary. The arched entrances between buildings were also incredibly huge. They were about the height of four or five large cargo wagons stacked on top of each other. The width on both sides was also considerable.

“…Even a dragon could pass through with room to spare.”

Nathan muttered unconsciously. Although he had only seen Calypse’s form as an actual dragon, its size would be comparable to the real thing. Roughly estimating by eye, the width of the streets, the arched entrances, and the size of the buildings were all abnormal.

And that wasn’t all. There was a reason he had called this place enormous. The buildings in this city were stacked in layers. If where they were now was considered the first floor, there were more layers and buildings above it. It looked like a top turned upside down. With such structures rising high into the sky, it appeared even more massive.

And to exit this dungeon, they had to climb up there.

‘Finding a way up from here is also a problem. The compass hasn’t moved at all since earlier… In the end, do we have to find our way on our own from now on?’

As if its job was done, the compass had remained pointing in one direction since they left the forest. Amusingly, the direction it pointed was the sky.

“There should be stairs going up somewhere…”

It seemed difficult to find them right away. Moreover, night would fall soon. The nights here were more dangerous than the daytime. This was because monsters moved more actively at night. But with empty houses all around, they could find a suitable place to spend the night and move again after sunrise.

‘Besides, if I cast a spell, Azar can rest too. How many pieces of jerky were left?’

All they had on hand now were water and the chunk of jerky Azar had brought. The bread Nathan had brought was already eaten before coming here.

‘We need to find food separately… Should I think about this after finding a place to rest?’

Thinking this, Nathan followed where Azar had disappeared and entered an alley.

“Azar?”

But there was no answer. Judging by the footsteps, it seemed to be this way…

“…Where on earth did he go?”

Feeling uneasy about the empty street, Nathan grumbled irritably.

Trudge, trudge.

His momentarily halted steps moved again, following the distant footsteps. Just in case, Nathan left marks that only he could recognize on the path he had come, as he moved. He was reminded again that this place was a maze.

Trudge, trudge.

The footsteps seemed to be getting closer, but then suddenly faded. It was just as he entered the third intersection that he noticed the long stretched shadow. When he spotted the tail end of the flickering shadow, Nathan approached quickly towards where the shadow was stretched, feeling inexplicably relieved.

“You’ve gone too far for just checking ahead. Aza…”

As he turned the corner of the building, calling out to him, Nathan trailed off. Azar wasn’t there either. Instead, what greeted Nathan was a figure wrapped in a black robe.

“…!”

“…”

The shadow stretched long from the feet of the person backlit by the fiery sunset, touching Nathan’s feet. At this, Nathan unknowingly took a step back.

‘Who is it?!’

Honestly, Nathan was inwardly terrified. He hadn’t thought there would be anyone else here besides them.

But thinking about it, it wasn’t entirely strange for someone else to be here. They had found numerous traces of black magic in the Forest of Trials, and at the end of it was a massive magic circle. Moreover, that magic circle showed signs of having been activated. Thanks to that, hadn’t they arrived on this floating island? He had momentarily forgotten about it, subconsciously prioritizing the events from the original story.

So it was a simple deduction. Perhaps the corpses sprawled on the magic circle and this stranger before him were connected? But he couldn’t sense the characteristic energy of black magic from him. Just…

‘Somehow, it feels unpleasant.’

At that moment, the stranger tilted his head as if puzzled.

“Who are you?”

That was what Nathan wanted to ask. With the robe pulled down deep, only the stranger’s mouth was barely visible, and he asked, “Are you a student from Aurora?” Of course, Nathan didn’t answer. Instead, he gripped his wand more tightly, ready to use magic if necessary. An ominous feeling crept up from his feet.

“…Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

But it seemed he didn’t particularly want an answer, as the stranger drew his own conclusion.

Swish─!

A flash of white light grazed past him, as if taunting. His dull red hair, tied up high, fluttered.

Bang!

A single loud noise, and the sound of something crumbling behind him. A rolling stone hit his heel.

Belatedly, his neck burned. It seemed to be shallowly cut, as blood trickled down along a thin red line. Nathan clutched his neck with his palm, feeling like his heart might burst at any moment. He hadn’t even blinked, yet he hadn’t seen the opponent draw his sword, let alone swing it.

“Tsk. My senses aren’t responding at all.”

The stranger clicked his tongue briefly and readjusted his grip on the sword that had been drawn at some unknown moment.

[It’s from the left!]

The next moment, before the thought could even process, his hand moved first.

Clang!

“…Ugh!”

The moment he deflected the light flying from the left with his wand, Nathan realized it was a sword aura used by knights. It was a strong visible sword strike created by surrounding the sword with magical power. Naturally, it wasn’t an attack he could easily block. Moreover, his body wasn’t in good condition now. The wand he had been gripping like a lifeline flew off. Unable to withstand the oncoming shock, Nathan rolled on the ground.

“I guess a prestigious school is prestigious after all?”

Was it admiration or sarcasm?

“Ack!”

Along with dry heaving, blood spilled from his mouth. An unbearable force had turned his insides into chaos. Moreover, what was this unpleasant energy? While blocking the sword aura had contributed to turning his insides upside down, this energy was more to blame.

As he tried to prop himself up with trembling hands, his vision swayed dizzily from the recent impact.