CH 48

A clear sound echoed everywhere, as if bones were being broken.

It was Dante’s face that seemed to open its eyes wide, yet as soon as I struck it, it quickly collapsed and shimmered again like fog, blurring its shape.

I think I was so happy to see the illusion disappear that I wondered if I should hit it one more time.

However, rather than coming to a conclusion from that brief thought, I first wanted to find something behind Illinan, who had collapsed.

The sound of something breaking and collapsing and also Lily’s voice mixed together.

It looked like a crack in this space.

That remark is too vague, but I couldn’t explain it clearly other than that. There were cracks in the air, through which the scenery of the forest seemed to be glimpsed, and even a certain sound could be heard. The voice, which had been faintly leaking out, became more and more distinct the closer I got.

[Didn’t you hear something just now? Like, crack.]

As soon as I heard Ivan’s voice say that, I reached out my hand toward the crack.

***

The rift really just existed there and didn’t feel anything special. But apart from not being able to feel anything in my hand, it seemed that touching it caused some kind of abnormality.

The crack, which was the size of the palm of my hand, spread like a branch as soon as my hand touched it, then spread out to the whole thing. I stared at it cracking everywhere like a shattered window,

That moment. It shattered completely with a sound like glass breaking.

“Sister Ei!”

It was faster for me to spot the faces on the other side than to figure out what had happened.

Ivan called me with a wide open face, and Lily, who had been looking elsewhere from afar, hurriedly ran over.

“Miss Ei!”

…The relief that only came after each of them called my name in turn was so strong.

It seemed that I smiled while softening my expression unconsciously. Ivan, who saw my face, said he was glad that I was safe and smiled along.

During that brief moment when Lily and Ivan ran in, the two landscapes, which had strangely different colors with a border in between, blended naturally and merged as if they were one space.

In that instant, I instinctively noticed that the hallucinations that had imprisoned me and separated me from my companions had completely disappeared.

Just before the boundary line completely disappeared, the golden glitter I had seen when I first got lost passed before my eyes once more.

But before I even chased the glitter with my eyes.

“Are you okay, Miss Ei?”

“Yes, I’m alright.”

Lily ran up to me and grabbed my hand. Seeing Lily gasping for breath with a frightened face, she seemed to have suffered a lot in the meantime, and I was a little bewildered. I was really not fine, so I even felt relieved. Lily, who had no way to know about such a situation, looked at every corner of my body to see if there were any injuries.

Even though the injured one wasn’t me, it was another person, no, another monster.

I glanced at Illinan, who had just passed by, still lying flat, then looked forward again.

“Are Lily and Ivan all right?”

I looked at their faces for a while, yet unlike me, who seemed to be okay, their faces seemed to have gone through hardships somewhere. Well, I don’t think it would be strange if Ivan, in particular, collapsed right away.

As if responding to my thoughts, Ivan answered with a voice that embraced all the tiredness of the world.

“No… As we walked, we met about ten Illinans. I kept dealing with them, yet when I came to my senses, I was trapped in a strange place before I knew it…”

“Oh…”

I had a hard time dealing with one, but to think that he dealt with ten. I just looked at him with pitiful eyes without answering anything else.

“No, it doesn’t matter if we meet, but I don’t know why they keep attacking me? It’s not such an aggressive monster in the first place. Right, Sister Lily?”

“…It’s just as Ivan said. Originally, Illinan wouldn’t attack first.”

Not only did it become aggressive, but it seemed strangely stronger than before… As Lily muttered, she immediately changed her complexion as if she had remembered something.

“Miss Ei, what about Kade…?”

“Ah.”

That’s right, I forgot for a moment. When I let out an exclamation as if I just remembered now, the faces of the two changed to expressions of uneasiness.

“Actually, I was also trapped in this space, but before that, Sir Kade suddenly disappeared. Maybe we were both hallucinating or I’m missing something…”

“Ugh, where did this Brother go again?”

Ivan frowned, and Lily’s face darkened in bewilderment.

“For some reason, I didn’t receive any communication.”

We came into the forest to find the traces of the Master of the Magic Tower, yet we were completely distracted as the party got torn apart and went missing out of nowhere. It would be fortunate if neither Lily nor Ivan appeared to be injured.

“We thought Brother Kade got rid of the hallucination hanging in the forest. Else, how did we meet?”

When the topic of Kade’s whereabouts came up again, Ivan said with a puzzled look. Hearing that, I stood there for a while, then shrugged my shoulders.

“It broke just when I touched it, though?”

“Pardon? What did you touch?”

“It just seemed like there was a crack somewhere in the air, so… Didn’t you see it? Lily too?”

The two shook their heads in unison with serious faces. Did I do something wrong? The moment when I was secretly feeling anxious.

“First, let’s find Kade and get out of the forest. After that, we’ll think about how the hallucination of the forest came about, how it was broken, and how Illinan changed.”

Lily sorted things out. Well, it’s dangerous to take more time here any longer. As I nodded, Lily looked at me and asked for a hint.

“Since when did you and Kade get separated?”

“I don’t know exactly because I didn’t measure the time properly, but maybe an hour or two ago…”

Having said that, I couldn’t help but pause for a moment. As I suddenly felt a cold rush to my ankles.

When I reflexively lowered my gaze, what I could see wasn’t my legs, but a thick fog. My legs, which should have been visible, were buried in the fog and couldn’t even be distinguished.

“Miss Ei!”

As soon as I realized that, Lily grabbed my arm and pulled me away. Suddenly standing behind Ivan and Lily, I straightened up without even grasping the situation. Soon, when I looked up and checked over their shoulders,

That came into my sight.

An Illinan that was so gigantic and bizarre, taller than the trees around it.

Um, that… Isn’t that the one I hit earlier?

“Where did it appear? No, aside from the way it appeared. Why did it suddenly grow so big?”

“Ivan. Can you deal with it?”

Lily said in a calm tone. Ivan looked at Illinan in bewilderment, then drew out his sword as he let out a big sigh.

“I can deal with it. Ah, we have to go find Brother Kade, though…”

Quickly drawing her magic circle, Lily soon created a bow made of light. Without taking her eyes off the monster, she deftly gripped her bow.

“I will draw its attention. Let’s finish it as soon as possible.”

“Alright.”

At the same time as he answered, Ivan trampled a nearby tree and jumped up there. No, he doesn’t seem like an ordinary person. Otherwise, there was no way he could jump high enough to make eye contact with a monster taller than a tree.

While I was horrified inside, Ivan’s sword cut through Illinan’s head. He wanted to separate the monster’s head from the top and bottom with the sound of cutting through the air.

The monster’s head, which had been dispersing like smoke and losing its shape, immediately returned to its original state.

“Sister! Is it regenerating?”

After shouting, Ivan turned around in the air and landed on the ground. With her gaze fixed on the monster, Lily drew the bowstring away from Ivan.

Illinan, who had been watching Ivan, who had parted its head at first, slowly shifted its gaze towards the arrow that flew beside it.

And then, for a moment, it stared at the arrow shining in light green.

“…!”

Extending what I assumed to be its arm, it broke the tree the arrow had stuck through.

As if to vent its anger, the bark scattered in the air, and then the tree fell backwards with a thud.

If anyone was standing over there…

“…Lily. Didn’t you say that Illinan was weaker than normal people?”

I asked if I had heard it wrong, yet Lily looked as puzzled as I did.

Alright, got it. That monster is weird.

I watched Lily starting to draw a magic circle with more hasty gestures than before as she calmly moved her gaze to the monster.

Earlier, Ivan said that the monster regenerates. Its split head was back to normal.

It probably won’t regenerate endlessly, but attacking until it stops regenerating doesn’t seem like a very good choice.

It would be nice if I could find a weakness somewhere.

If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have stopped kicking him in the shin then, beating it more. If I’m lucky, I might have been able to find out where that monster’s weakness is.

Regardless of the seriousness of the situation, it was fortunate that Ivan seemed excited as he cut through the air to attack Illinan. He looked tired earlier, but it was quite amazing to see his energy come back to life as soon as he gripped his sword.

Illinan slammed the ground with its huge hand, perhaps feeling the heat from Ivan’s movements, which it managed to evade. I felt the ground shaking and looked closely at the monster, yet Lily, who had been drawing her magic circle, opened her mouth with a look of urgency.

“Miss Ei. I’m making a protective magic circle right now. When this is complete, Miss Ei, please wait here for a moment. I will come closer and help Ivan.”

“Yes.”

I hadn’t seen Lily use offensive magic, but was it really okay? I replied that I understood, but in the end I couldn’t hide my concern and added a word.

“Don’t get hurt, Lily.”

At that, Lily smiled faintly. It was a smile full of kindness, as always.

The magic circle carved into the ground glowed, and a transparent, shining curtain rose around where I was standing. Lily, who looked at me once as if she was leaving a request, ran towards the monster holding a bow in one hand, and at the same time, Ivan jumped into the air and cut off the monster’s gigantic leg in an instant.

As if writhing in pain, Illinan turned its head left and right.

I was observing the situation in the protective magic circle when something caught my eye.

It was a small golden jewel skillfully embedded in the monster’s neck.