CH 120

Not knowing what would happen when the powers of the two spirits collided, Evan decided to step back and watch from a distance.

Having confirmed that Evan had moved far away, Riett stood facing Perante. The two spirits positioned themselves behind their respective owners, guarding them.

Riett turned her head slightly and quietly asked Mishan. 

“So… you mean I have to imagine all the energy inside me being released and draw out my power?”

“Yes, you can do it.”

Riett felt empowered by Mishan’s encouraging voice. Both Evan and Mishan were the same in that aspect. They all believed in her.

‘I have to live up to their expectations.’

She calmly closed her eyes and imagined the energy flowing out of her body, gathering and forming a massive core. She could feel the energy flowing out of her body; it felt like her insides were bubbling. 

Riett bit her lip. Her whole body felt hot.

‘Is this right?’

She felt a momentary fear at the strange sensation she was experiencing for the first time.

At that moment, she heard Mishan’s excited voice from behind.

“You’re doing great, Master. Just a little more to go.”

Doing great…? Riett opened her eyes slightly, and an astonishing sight unfolded before her.

“…!”

A gathering of bright blue light formed a large sphere that reminded her of Mishan. Despite its unfamiliar shape, the sphere emitted a familiar aura of energy.

‘Wow… I can’t believe I can produce such immense energy.’

Amazed, Riett’s gaze turned toward Perante. He, too, was creating a large sphere. The yellow energy it emitted somehow resembled Avlam.

‘This is not the time for this.’

Riett cleared her mind and refocused. She continued to gather energy for a long time.

After accumulating energy for what felt like an eternity, just as her strength was about to be completely drained, Mishan shouted.

“It’s done!”

When she opened her eyes, she saw that the sphere had grown much larger compared to when she checked it in the middle.

“Wow…”

Did she create this?

As Riett marveled at the sight, she noticed Perante’s figure. He seemed prepared as well.

Perante was absentmindedly gazing into the air.

Why? Riett wondered. Then she realized that Perante’s gaze was fixed on the sphere she had created.

But soon, Perante regained his composure and shouted, 

“Now, let’s begin. I’ll count.”

Riett nodded, signaling her understanding.

When these massive spheres collided, the energy released upon impact would create a tremendous shockwave that would spread across the entire snowy plain.

“One.”

Riett swallowed her dry saliva and looked at the concentrated energy.

“Two.”

Thump-thump. The heartbeat resounded loudly in her ears.

“Three.”

Kwoong!

The blue and yellow lights collided in the air.

Like waves crashing against rocks, the condensed energy shot up into the sky upon impact.

The light meandered through the sky like millions of butterflies, swiftly spreading across the entire snowy plain.

The scattered light seeped into the ground like shooting stars. The white snowy field flickered in various places.

Lost in the beauty of the scene for a moment, Riett snapped out of it when she heard a thumping sound, causing the ground to tremble.

“What is that sound?”

Mishan and Perante, too, looked around in confusion.

Mishan pointed beyond them as if he had found something.

“Master, look over there!”

Riett’s eyes darted downward.

Without warning, a screeching sound came from nearby. It was instantaneous.

The snow where Riett was looking was extinguishing itself, sinking.

Without a moment to react, a loud cracking sound came from a nearby place.

It happened in an instant.

The floor cracked and the ground gave way. Riett couldn’t even let out a short scream before she fell.

Thump!

And not long after, she crash-landed somewhere.

“Ouch…”

Riett winced in pain as she rubbed her sore buttocks and surveyed her surroundings.

The sinkhole-like space was pitch black.

“Mishan?”

Riett cautiously called out to Mishan. Fortunately, she heard a voice nearby.

“Master, I’m here.”

In the darkness, a faint silhouette came into view.

Mishan approached first and extended his hand. Riett grabbed his hand and stood up.

“Where did Perante and Avlam go?”

“I’m not sure… strangely, I can’t feel Avlam’s presence.”

Mishan massaged his chin before speaking.

“Perhaps this place is a maze created by the Spirit Stone.”

“A maze…?”

“This might be the starting point.”

Of course, it’s just his speculation. Mishan added with a puzzled expression.

“It seems like the Spirit Stone responded to the power of you and Perante, but it didn’t dramatically lift us into the air or anything like that.”

In truth, Riett had expected such a spectacle.

The sight of a massive gemstone rising from the middle of the snowy field with a “zing” sound.

However, someone seemed to mock that thought, and they fell into this strange place, making it harder to find out more.

First, Riett planned to explore this dark space.

There was no immediate solution for now.

Hm… Riett looked around, contemplating which way to go.

But no matter where she looked, the path was only darkness.

If she could use Spirit Magic, she would have created a flame, but she was completely exhausted from using her powers earlier.

‘Ugh, I don’t know.’

Unable to find an answer, Riett decided to follow her instincts and took a step forward.

But at that moment, she felt a heavy sensation in her pocket, accompanied by a rustling sound.

Riett’s eyes snapped open.

‘That’s right!’

She had something with her. A compass that indicated the location of the Spirit Stone.

Normally, it didn’t move, but now might be different since she forcefully made the Spirit Stone react.

Riett quickly took out the Spirit Stone compass from her pocket.

Unlike before, the needle of the compass was pointing in a specific direction.

‘It’s working…!’

As Riett focused on the compass, Mishan approached and asked, 

“What’s that?”

“It’s a compass that shows the location of the Spirit Stone.”

Mishan was surprised, asking if such a thing existed, but there was no time for a long explanation.

Riett briefly explained, saying that humans created such amazing objects, and then followed the direction pointed by the compass needle.

The underground space was indeed like a maze, just as Mishan described.

Riett walked through winding paths endlessly, but the Spirit Stone did not reveal itself easily.

‘Where on earth is it?’

The slight swaying of the needle indicated that it was getting closer.

Thump-thump.

A strange sound came from the side of the wall, resembling the sound of something shattering.

Riett became tense once again. It was because she was worried that the ceiling might collapse once more.

But the thumping sound was coming from the side, not from above.

She pressed her ear against the wall and felt a faint vibration.

‘What…?’

Just as she wondered, with a “bang!” sound, the wall right beside her collapsed.

Dust flew through the air, making it acrid. Riett waved her hand, coughing, waiting for the dust to settle.

Once the dust settled, she saw Perante amidst the hazy light.

Riett widened her eyes.

Not only was she surprised that someone as slender as Perante was breaking through walls, but she also found it hard to believe that he had recovered enough strength to use his abilities despite having exerted so much earlier.

‘This is not the time to be amazed.’

Riett quickly put the compass she was holding back into her pocket.

There was no point in showing it to Perante.

“Duchess Marren, you’re here.”

Perante approached with a sinister smile. Avlam stood next to him with a dark expression.

“You were trying to find the Spirit Stone, but what were you thinking, breaking through walls? What if the ceiling collapsed on you?”

Riett retorted in frustration, and Perante smiled.

“I wasn’t searching for the Spirit Stone.”

Riett noticed a chilling presence seeping into Perante’s blue eyes.

“I was searching for you.”

Riett’s spine stiffened.

No way, even if they were done working together, he hadn’t even seen the spirit stone yet. She didn’t expect him to already attempt to eliminate her.

Riett bit her lip, feeling a sense of defeat. Perante approached closer and closer.

“Since I’ve found everything, it would be better to eliminate the competitor in advance.”

Perante swung his hand mercilessly.

Whack!

The floor beneath Riett’s feet sharply rose like thorns.

“Master!”

With Mishan’s urgent shout, Riett quickly moved her body.

She barely managed to regain her balance and looked at the sharp spikes that had risen from the ground. If she hadn’t avoided them in time, she didn’t know what would have happened.

But there was no time for relief.

Every time Perante swung his hand, the walls and floor attacked Riett like booby traps from all directions.

As Riett continued to dodge, Perante raised one corner of his mouth and smirked.

“I saw you gather energy earlier and thought you had accumulated quite a bit of power in a short time… but I guess that’s your limit after all.”

Listening to Perante’s words, Riett quickly glanced around, searching for an escape route.

‘To escape, I need to create an opening… but…’

If she gathered her strength, she might be able to create enough obstacles to hinder Perante, although she couldn’t match him in confrontation.

As Riett surveyed her surroundings, she spotted a narrow passageway.

It was too dark to see earlier, but thanks to Perante illuminating the area with Spirit Magic, she could discover it.

Riett took a deep breath.

And just as Perante was about to swing his hand,

‘Now!’

She used Spirit Magic to create a massive wall.

As the wall blocked Perante, Riett quickly sprinted along the path, breathing rapidly.

Seeing that Perante wasn’t immediately following her, it seemed that it would take him some time to break through the wall she created.

When Riett felt that she couldn’t run any longer, she stopped and caught her breath.

“Haah, haah.”

Suddenly, Mishan’s voice, which had been hidden until now, reached her ears.

〈Are you okay, Master?〉

“Yeah, for now.”

Riett straightened her hunched back. After taking a moment to catch her breath, Riett regained some of her strength and used Spirit Magic to illuminate the area.

The surroundings became brighter, but there was nothing visible except for the narrow path resembling a swamp.

‘Hmm…’

Riett took out the compass she had put in her pocket.

“…!”

Her eyes widened.

As if responding to a tremendous force, the needle of the compass was shaking vigorously.