Chapter 1143: A Slightly Early Timing (1)

‘Our home… is gone.’

Woo Hyo-Yeol’s cozy home. The wild dog was just about to return for the first time in a while, but his home was now in ruins. It was an event that had to happen someday, but I thought the timing was a bit too early.

I was upset because I wondered how things could have been if the incident had happened once he had grown a bit more attached to that place.

I heard him gnashing his teeth, but I wasn’t sure if he was angry because his domain was taken away from him or if it was because he no longer had a home to return to.

‘At least… it’s a good reaction.’

Harizel had always been in a state of disrepair, but our very first home was inside Harizel, so I would say that his reaction to its destruction wasn't that bad. While everyone was still talking about Harizel, he ran away.

“

Haa… haa…

S-Slow down!”

“Mr. Lee Ki-Young?”

“Why is he running like a lunatic?!”

I was kind of surprised as well—no, I was sure everyone in the party was surprised.

We saw from afar that something unusual had happened in Harizel.

Its weak castle walls had collapsed, and we could see smoke in the distance.

Normally, we would avoid entering Harizel and find out more about what had happened because a war could have erupted while we were within the dungeon.

Even without the mainstream event, tensions near the border had already been escalating.

“You shouldn’t just run away by yourself! You don’t know what’s inside!” Lim Chae-Ryeong yelled.

“...”

“I can’t tell what happened… but rather than figuring out what happened… shouldn’t we get out of here first? I-I’m not saying that I’m scared, but something feels off. I don't understand what's going on… how a city can be suddenly in this state… in less than a week. I don’t see anyone either…” Nam Goong-Seon suggested.

‘Yeah, you’re right.’

“Th-There’s no one here, and I think the warp gate has been disconnected. You don’t think a war broke out while we were away, do you? There's no ongoing war, right?” Lim Chae-Ryeong asked.

“How about we look for survivors first? Chae-Ryeong, do you see anyone nearby?” Nam Goong-Seon asked.

‘You think she can see anyone?’

“I don’t see even a single ant… It’s rare for something like this to happen… If a war or monster wave had taken place… we’d at least see corpses of monsters or soldiers. Ki-Young, I want to hear what you think,” Raymond said.

“I don’t know either, Grandpa. Like you said, there aren’t any traces, so I don’t think a monster wave or war had taken place, but I'm bothered by the fact that the city is in ruins.

"It'd be best if we assume that a supernatural event of a magical nature had erupted, leading to an early evacuation,” I answered.

“You mean like a mana storm?

Hm

… it does look like it. It makes sense seeing that the buildings were destroyed haphazardly,” Raymond replied.

I could see traces of the adventurers living in Harizel trying to leave the city.

Anyone could figure that out, even without a ranger.

‘Tracks left by cart wheels and luggages are everywhere.’

What confused me the most was the fact that all traces were abruptly severed. I thought perhaps the Demon King of Sunset had used a demonic trick or something, but the ashen skies were still nowhere near Harizel.

Kim Hyun-Sung had to expand his domain, or it would be impossible for the 21st Legion to invade this place.

‘Not only that, he’s probably busy greeting guests.’

I couldn’t think straight because I had yet to have any coffee today. I wanted to take a short break after the exhausting dungeon raid, but I couldn't even take a break, which made me feel lethargic.

“Mr. Hyo-Yeol, did you leave anything at the inn?” I asked.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“No,” Woo Hyo-Yeol answered.

“Then…”

“...”

He was looking around with no intention of continuing the conversation.

I was sure he was retracting his steps.

“Hey, mage,” Woo Hyo-Yeol called out.

“...”

“Mage,” Woo Hyo-Yeol repeated.

“...”

“Jung Ha-Yan,” Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

“

Huh?

M-Me?” Jung Ha-Yan answered.

“Yeah, you,” Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

I felt like this was the first time Ha-Yan and Woo Hyo-Yeol had talked to each other, but he already knew her name.

“Is this magic?” Woo Hyo-Yeol asked.

“

Ah

… a-are you talking about the items that got burned?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.

“...”

“I-I don’t feel any traces…” Jung Ha-Yan mumbled.

“...”

Jung Ha-Yan wasn't really interested in Harizel's state, but she started looking around upon getting prompted to do so. Her careful steps as she examined the burned traces at the inn made it look like she was playing around, but I could feel Jung Ha-Yan’s mana examining the area.

It was a magic detection spell that engulfed almost the entire city.

“

Ah!

S-Survivor…” Jung Ha-Yan remarked.

She had to have remembered one of the members saying that we needed to find survivors, and it was proven by how she cast a spell while maintaining her detection spell.

Woo Hyo-Yeol seemed kind of surprised, but it had nothing to do with the current situation.

Lim Chae-Ryeong seemed to have calmed down because she was talking nonsense.

“If a mana storm really did take place—Anyway, there were no human casualties, right?

Ugh

… I-I wanted to rest a bit… I really wanted to take a bath.”

‘I agree. There is a cleaning spell, but that’s different from taking a bath.’

“I was thinking about tallying the items we had obtained during the expedition while drinking cold beer. Anyway, if the warp gate isn’t working… what are we going to do? Are we going to sleep in tents again? That feels wrong considering we earned a lot of money,” Lim Chae-Ryeong grumbled.

“Quiet, kid,” Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

“

Ugh…

”

“We still don’t know what happened here, and I don’t feel any mana nearby. If a supernatural event like a mana storm had truly happened here, it would have happened a long time ago.

"In addition, the adventurers would have already returned to Harizel at this point, even if the city is in ruins,” Woo Hyo-Yeol explained.

“

Ah.

”

“We haven’t even confirmed where the refugees are headed. Have we seen people on the way back? What about the camps at the three-way intersection? Were there people there?” Woo Hyo-Yeol asked.

“N-No,” Lim Chae-Ryeong answered.

‘He’s right.’

“Not only that, I can’t even read the traces. Something’s not right. I’ve never heard or seen a situation like this,” Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

Personally, I believed it was most likely something supernatural, something involving mana or a special ability. This could be the handiwork of a spell designed on a national level.

Woo Hyo-Yeol seemed to have reached the same conclusion as me, but mere assumptions were meaningless, as Ha-Yan was going to give us the answer, anyway.

As expected, Ha-Yan remarked, “P-People… There are people.”

“What? W-Where?” Nam Goong-Seon asked.

"U-Under here,” Jung Ha-Yan answered and pointed at the ground.

“What?”

“There are people… under here,” Jung Ha-Yan added.

“What are you talking about? Witc—I mean, Miss Jung Ha-Yan?” Lim Chae-Ryeong asked.

“

Ah

, y-you asked i-if it was magic. W-Well…” Jung Ha-Yan paused.

“...”

“T-To be exact… i-it’s not your everyday magic… b-but if I had to categorize it, I-I don’t know if I'll consider it magic… T-The method seems similar to teleportation magic,” Jung Ha-Yan explained.

“Teleportation magic?” Lim Chae-Ryeong asked.

“Y-Yes… t-they moved the people…” Jung Ha-Yan replied.

“Is it possible to move all the people in the entire city?” Woo Hyo-Yeol asked.

“I-It’s impossible to go far. T-This space was created ahead of time… and placed here. I-I told you! Th-There are people down here…” Jung Ha-Yan repeated.

“What?”

“I-Imagine that there's a wormhole down here… I-It’s like they created a box ahead of time, opened a wormhole, and placed the people inside that box. M-Moving that box to another place is basic teleportation magic… b-but this magic?

"

Ah

, w-what should I call it? P-Power? I-I don’t think a powerful sorcerer can have that kind of power… P-Placing people in that space must’ve been their l-limit.

"I-I think they got help from other p-people… and the method is k-kind of complicated…” Jung Ha-Yan explained.

“...”

“T-The l-levels of the mages here seem low. T-They should’ve been able to resist this… T-They were stupid… idiots…

hehehe

…” Jung Ha-Yan giggled.

‘That’s not funny, Ha-Yan.’

“That’s ridiculous,” Woo Hyo-Yeol said.

“I-It’s not ridiculous. I-It’s true…” Jung Ha-Yan replied.

I activated Mind’s Eye upon hearing Jung Ha-Yan's explanation, and—

‘Shit…’

—I saw people struggling within the dark space beneath us.

‘Eww, it’s giving me goosebumps.’

They were pounding on the black walls in a desperate bid to get to the surface. I felt like I was standing on a frozen lake, and I was staring at them stuck beneath the hard ice. I wasn’t sure if they could see me, but I got the feeling that we were making eye contact.

— Get me out.

‘Don’t move your mouth like that, damn it.’

— Get me out!! Get me out!!!

‘...’

— Get me oooooout!!!

“I-I’ve seen something like this before. I-It wasn’t magic…” Jung Ha-Yan said.

“...”

“I-It was similar… I-I’ve seen it before—

ah!

” Jung Ha-Yan paused. Then, she cautiously muttered, “Domi…”

“The fish[1]?” Lim Chae-Ryeong asked.

“N-No, that’s not… what I meant…” Jung Ha-Yan answered.

I saw white feathers floating within the dark space.

“Run,” I said.

“Did you say something, Mr. Lee Ki-Young?” Nam Goong-Seong asked.

“R-Run!” I roared.

‘Damn it.’

B

oooooooooom!

A boy with silver hair passed by me.

Everything moved slowly as if time itself had slowed down.

The figure that abruptly burst through the walls took out a long sword from the debris he had created and made a beeline for Woo Hyo-Yeol. The silver-haired boy made eye contact with me as he flew past me. Of course, I had to look away from him.

“Hyo-Yeol!” I shouted.

Woo Hyo-Yeol wasn’t an idiot. He reacted instantly to the loud noise and bent backward to dodge the boy’s sword. Then, he kicked the boy’s wrist.

The silver-haired angel allowed the attack to hit him, but he didn’t let go of his sword.

I thought there was going to be another clash, but when the first attack didn’t work, I saw the silver-haired angel creating distance between himself and Woo Hyo-Yeol.

‘They weren’t supposed to meet yet.’

Not yet…

Just then, I heard a voice.

“Domi, I found him,” Thro said.

“...”

“...”

“Yeah, I see him too, Thro,” Domi said.

“...”

“...”

“It’s father.”

“It’s father.”

A blue-haired boy and a brown-haired girl descended from the sky.

1. Veela: Domi(도미)sounds like the "sea bream" fish in Korean ☜