CH 6

I closed my eyes and felt a drop of water trickle down my cheek, but I ignored it. I imagined a landscape I knew well.

It was probably already obliterated by the explosion, but I could only hope it was still safe. Small buildings with white walls. A cobblestone pathway leading to it.

It was a chapel on the edge of a cliff.

‘We must go there.’

A searing heat rose from beneath my feet and enveloped my entire body. I could feel Mrs. Noah flinch, so I tightened my grip. When the heat reached the top of my head, I smelled a pungent smell assaulting my nostrils and a gust of wind.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the chapel in my imagination.

“Oh God.”

I had unwittingly found my consciousness. I was out of breath and my heart was racing. As expected, traveling with another person was much more exhausting than traveling alone.

Whoo!

The next thing I know, dirt is already flying off the side of the chapel. The sound came only afterward. The ground rumbled as I crouched down, while holding my ears.

“Seth!”

“…Mrs. Noah!”

“Stand up!”

Mrs. Noah was trying to stand on one leg.

“Stay here first. I’ll be back after I take a look.”

“No. Let’s go together.”

The old woman looked worried as she pushed through the pain of her injured leg. It was awkward to see such deep concern in her eyes, so I averted my gaze at first, then slung her arm over my shoulder and helped her to her feet. In my daze, I didn’t feel her weight at all.

“Father!”

As I approached the chapel, I saw the priest lying in the doorway. It broke my heart to see such a scene.

“Wake up, Father!”

Bang! Bang!

“Aaaah!”

The screams and explosions continued. It seemed like it wouldn’t stop until the salt island was completely obliterated. Panicked people ran around, unable to take refuge anywhere. Quite a few even had missing body parts.

“Father, wake up!”

Slap!

Mrs. Noah slapped his cheek to wake him up.

“Seth…?”

His blurred focus returned a little. A thin stream of blood trickled down his forehead. It looked like a shrapnel had torn into his skin.

“Yes. It’s Seth. Are you okay, Father, are you hurt?”

“Ah… Seth… Thank God….”

“Father, you said you trust me, right?”

“No. No. Don’t.”

I grabbed the priest’s thick wrist, but Mrs. Noah stopped me.

“It’s not safe here, we need to go somewhere safe.”

Wham!

Just then, right behind them, the dirt exploded upwards. We had to hold still for a moment, our hearts were almost on our stomachs.

“Cough, cough. You must both keep your eyes closed, no matter what. You must never open your eyes, do you hear me?”

The priest’s focus was again blurred by the successive explosions. Judging by the absence of his habitual utterance of the word ‘God’, he seemed to be losing consciousness again.

“Mrs– Aunt. Please cover the priest’s eyes.”

“Seth. Don’t.”

“I won’t go far, and the priest won’t know anyway.”

“Really, why wouldn’t this stinky brat listen to me!”

Her voice was soft. I slipped my fingers into Mrs. Noah’s hand and took Feren’s with the other, not sure if they were shaking or if I was, but I squeezed harder.

There was only one place I felt safe in all this chaos. I can’t explain it, but I felt like nothing could break it. It was also where I experienced my primal fears, but somehow I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go.

The energy rising from my toes felt slower than usual. I bit my lip until it bled because it was my first time traveling with two people. The explosions and screams faded from my ears.

Sharp pains shot through me with each heartbeat. It was hard to breathe. My whole body felt like someone was trying to twist it apart. The more I tried, the harder my grip on both hands tightened.

I could feel the air change. It felt heavy to even lift my eyelids, and I barely managed to open my eyes. The letters on the wall blurred into my vision. The torch was completely extinguished, but there was light, and it wasn’t dark.

The rock, which was always closed, had opened wide like a door, letting in light from the outside. Thank goodness. I had made it safely.

“Seth!”

I think I heard the sound of the waves, but my consciousness was fading and my vision was blurry.

⚘

Einfork, the frontline of the Sharkani Empire.

It was once a peaceful country town, but now it’s a bloody battlefield. Demons had begun to appear where the dimensional rift had opened.

Fortunately, the rugged rocky mountains flanking the town provided a natural fortification, and the fortifications built over the years between the mountains can be seen from miles away.

Click.

A small gate opened into the fortress. The battle with the demons was over, and the survivors were already returning. A blood-soaked man stepped through the narrow doorway, barely big enough for two men to pass by.

“Your Highness.”

The men near the walls greeted their Master. The demon was grotesque in appearance, but its blood was as red as a human blood. The crown prince appeared, with his entire body covered in that red blood.

Even his unsheathed sword was dripping with blood. His golden eyes glowed even more formidable than usual, and small streaks of blood formed wherever he passed.

“Your Highness.”

Arnic stood waiting, then moved to stand behind him. A chamberlain followed from the other side, carrying a white cloth. The crown prince led the chamberlain and Arnic to the barracks.

The chamberlain removed the crown prince’s chest armor. Even through the armor, hot blood still dripped down to the back of his head.

The crown prince gestured to Arnic while wiping his bloodied hands with a white cloth. It was a gesture for him to speak.

“Your majesty, I have news from the captain.”

“Go ahead.”

The chamberlain looked as if he still had work to do, but the order forced him to step aside. The crown prince wiped the blood from his face with a fresh cloth. Soon the white cloth was stained red.

“They said that the salt island has exploded.”

His movement of wiping the tip of his chin with the cloth stopped abruptly. The air in the barracks instantly sharpened. The crown prince didn’t bat an eyelid, but the aura alone made Arnic feel his body stiffen.

“Go on.”

“We continued to search for the one you spoke of, but they say there are not many survivors.”

At the word survivor, the crown prince closed his eyes for a moment. When he slowly opened them again, his breathing was slightly ragged.

The air in the barracks was just as chaotic as the dragon power pulsating through his veins. Arnic was caught off guard and stumbled back a step, as if he was pushed away by the wind, before regaining his footing and standing upright, a cold sweat trickled down his spine.

This power was most reassuring when it was from an ally, but he feared it could be devastating if it got out of control.

‘Who is it from the salt islands that the crown prince would react this way?’

Arnic wondered, but knew better than to say it out loud.

“I see. Keep me posted.”

This was a message for the captain. Thankfully, there was a chance for him to get out of the room.

“Yes. Your Highness.”

Arnic bowed deeply and left the barracks in an unhurried motion. As soon as he was out of the barracks, he made sure no one came near the crown prince for a while. Everyone was well aware of the crown prince’s power, so when he warned them against it, they stayed away.

‘I had never seen him like that before.’

The expression on his tightly-closed eyes reminded him of a face that might be trying to control its power, but it looked like he was holding something in. He could be mistaken, but the crown prince’s body seemed to be trembling slightly.

“Oh, no.”

He had never seen the crown prince lose his composure before, even in front of a giant demon. Even instinct would have made Arnic shrink back, but the stronger the demon, the more formidable his eyes became.

He hurried away from the barracks, thinking he had been blinded by fear.

⚘

I opened my eyes and saw that there was no canopy bed. She could see a wooden ceiling, at least it wasn’t the cold cave walls.

“Seth! You’re finally awake!”

A large man stomped over to me. It was Feren, the priest. I glanced down and saw that I didn’t appear to be injured. Thank goodness.

“Mrs.. Noah…..”

My voice was scratchy and rough.

“She’s being treated. Luckily, they said her leg will be fine once it heals.”

“Oh… that’s good.”

“What about you, Seth? What’s wrong?”

“My throat, I’m thirsty.”

“Water, I’ll give you some.”

The priest reached for the water beside me and I gulped it down. I tried to lift my upper body, but it was a struggle. Huh? I never knew water could be so sweet.

“Salt… What about the island?”

The priest’s expression darkened immediately. I could see his eyes quickly turn red.

“How that explosion happened… We’re still investigating it. Oh, God.”

I could still remember those hellish screams in my ears, so I quickly changed the subject.

“Where are we, where is this….”

“Ah, this is the Inn at the Port of Pichedore. Thankfully, the nearby fishing boats saw the smoke and came to our aid, and we were rescued from the cave. We were just a short walk out to the sea.”

At the word cave, I swallowed the bitter feeling in my heart.

“Seth. I can’t tell you how worried I was when you didn’t open your eyes for three days. I don’t know what would have happened to you, oh, God.”

“…You said you would come… and pick me up…”

“Huh? What?”

“Oh, nothing…”

“Seth. It’s okay. Don’t cry.”

The realization made my eyes burn. I didn’t know why I was crying, but the tears wouldn’t stop. The escape I had been hoping for had finally happened. Maybe that’s why I was crying, but I didn’t want to escape this way. The screams from the explosions still rang in my ears.

‘I’ll come get you.’

His voice overlapped with the clanking of the chains. He was the only one who believed me when I said that the Island was about to explode. If only I could let him know that I was still alive…

“Seth, do you mind if I give you a hug?”

I didn’t answer, but the priest wrapped his thick arms around me. I sobbed harder as he wrapped me in his warmth.

“I’m sorry, Seth. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I am so sorry.”

“Huhu…hu.”

“You did the best you could. You know all about it, merciful God… Please look over this girl, for the sin is mine. Please.”

I realized that the priest’s voice kept repeating that he was sorry. He must have realized how I’d gotten them to that cave. I raised my arms and slowly stroked the priest’s back. The words that told me I had done my best kept coming back to me.

‘The salt island exploded, just like how it was written in the original Blood-Soaked Moon Novel and I was unable to stop it.’ 

As if laughing at my efforts, the great river of time flowed on unchanged. According to the novel, the original female and male leads will now meet through this event and eventually fall in love. The last thing I need is for their romance to end with a bad ending, or for the empire to be overrun by demons.

But..

How can I prevent that?

If it’s going to be like this, I might as well not know the future.

I ended up sobbing into the priest’s shoulder.