Chapter 32
[Is Yuriene doing this too? Ah, no. He participated in this Monster subjugation even before the regression, so he knows exactly what happened at this time! Then you can just rest, right? He'll save you, that big guy.]
The Demon Sword grumbled. Eki didn't answer. She wasn't in the mood to think much right now. Fortunately, there was something to focus on.
At some point, an anomaly was detected. Eki didn't even make a sound like an animal, only turned her head and stared in that direction. Everyone except the guards were holed up in the barracks due to the pouring rain, but a presence was felt coming out of the barracks.
It wasn't Baraha's side. Yuriene had left the barracks.
Since Eki was right next to his barracks, she could see him through the slightly open gap in the entrance. He didn't use an umbrella, only wore a hooded cloak, and walked out into the rain, staring intently at the direction where Baraha and the vice-commander's barracks were. Then he turned and headed elsewhere.
[What, where is he going?]
"I told you not to call Yuriene carelessly."
[Hey, is that important? Anyway, he's going somewhere strange now! What are you going to do?]
Eki pondered fiercely for a brief moment. Should she follow Yuriene, who was going somewhere alone in this rain without telling anyone? Or should she keep watching to see if Baraha was in danger?
Since time was short, the deliberation didn't last long. She got up, grabbed her sword, took out a cloak made of smooth material as a substitute for a raincoat, put it on, and picked up a dark purple umbrella.
[Are you going to follow him?]
"Yuriene definitely knows something. The fact that he's leaving the barracks now means he's doing it knowing something."
[What if something happens to the camp while you're away?]
"I'm not planning to follow him too far. ...Somehow, I don't think he'll go far either."
Mana swirled throughout her body from the Mana Core. Eki erased her presence. Even if she couldn't compare to professional hunters or assassins, reaching the pinnacle in one field meant that other related fields would also reach a certain level. At least she was confident she wouldn't be detected by Yuriene.
'Good thing I wore dark colors.'
Hiding in the rain, she quietly followed Yuriene.
The dark blue cloak, which concealed his silver hair and white uniform, was soaked with rain.
He avoided the Associate Knights guarding the camp and left. Yuriene moved without hesitation, as if he knew his destination for sure.
The entrance to White Raven Gorge was within sight of the camp if the weather was clear. He headed straight for the gorge. As he approached, the ominous fog thickened. Yuriene disappeared into the fog.
Eki hesitated for a moment and checked the camp again. The camp in the heavy rain was quiet. Eventually, she too stepped into the fog.
Yuriene didn't go deep inside the gorge. He approached the right curved wall near the entrance and scanned between the wet rocks and soil. He lowered his right hand. A white Holy Sword flowed out from his palm and was grasped in his hand. In the darkness, the Holy Sword emitted a faint light.
[Hey, it looks like he's looking for something?]
The Demon Sword muttered, puzzled. Eki had the same question.
'He seems to be using Mana... What is he looking for?'
She hid behind a protruding tree and quietly watched him over her umbrella. His profile was illuminated by the faint light emanating from the Holy Sword. A perfectly drawn line. His lowered eyebrows cast a shadow on his blue eyes.
He reached out and touched the wall, slowly feeling his way along. His hand became a mess with wet soil, but he didn't care.
Then his hand stopped at one spot. He paused for a moment, touching the spot with his fingertips, then took his hand away. He immediately raised the Holy Sword and thrust it into that spot. The white sword pierced the mud wall as smoothly as cutting tofu. At that moment.
"Kkyaaaaaaaa!"
A chilling scream cut through the rain. Fortunately, thunder rumbled, half-burying the sharp sound. At the same time as the scream, the wall where the Holy Sword was embedded cracked, and a pile of rotten corpses fell out.
And over those corpses, formless, pale smoke-like things soared. At the location where eyes would be, there were beads of bright red light embedded. Those things, without mouths, screamed and poured out as if setting fire to a rat's nest.
'Specters!'
Eki knew their identity as soon as she saw them. Typical ghost-type Monsters. Since they have no substance and flicker like smoke, they can't do anything physically. Nevertheless, they were among the most dangerous Monsters.
Specters cling to humans. Humans possessed by Specters attack their surroundings like Monsters. Master-level knights could resist, but those who couldn't use Mana were helpless.
'I can guess how Senior Baraha died in an accident.'
If Specters had rushed into the camp unprepared, many of the Associate Knights or cadets, excluding the knights, would have been possessed by Specters and rampaged. Many sacrifices would have occurred in the process of suppressing them.
Comrades rampaging while possessed by ghosts on a night with thunder and lightning was nothing short of a nightmare. Even a strong group like the Azure Knights would have suffered massive damage.
And now she knew why Yuriene had come here alone. Someone who couldn't resist Specters would be a burden rather than a help. And it would be difficult to answer if asked how he knew the Specters were nearby in advance.
'Yuriene is the only Giosa Owner with memories.'
That realization suddenly came to her. If there was another Giosa Owner with memories, that person would have come to deal with the Specters in advance too. The fact that only Yuriene was here meant that he was the only Giosa Owner with memories.
While inwardly relieved, she felt a resentment that couldn't find a target, wondering why Yuriene of all people had memories. Feeling her heart collapse, Eki bit her lower lip.
[Wow, there are disgustingly many of them.]
The Demon Sword muttered, sounding disgusted. Even she, who had no intention of revealing herself, briefly considered whether she should help, as the number of Specters pouring out was considerable.
Specters poured into the fog. They made chilling sounds and hovered near Yuriene, the closest human. Eerie red eyes floated in the fog. A tentative hovering continued.
Yuriene stood still, holding the Holy Sword he had stuck in the wall. Water dripped from his silver hair, which appeared gray from being soaked in the rain. The raindrops that had gathered on his chin swelled and then fell down.
At the same moment that the water droplet touched the puddle of rainwater, the Specters suddenly rushed at Yuriene. His entire body was instantly swallowed into the hazy shadows. Even though they were translucent, the hundreds of them overlapped and clung together, almost obscuring Yuriene's figure.
[Hey... isn't that dangerous?]
"...No, it's okay."
Eki whispered in reply and shook her head slightly. She released the strength from her hand that had unknowingly gripped her sword the moment the Specters rushed in. There was no need for her to step in.
Yuriene pulled out the Rangiosa he had embedded in the wall.
White Mana flowed along the white sword. Added, added, so much so that even the shape of the sword was obscured by Mana. Then, the golden patterns floating around the Holy Sword emitted a dazzling light. Mana expanded explosively. And the sword moved.
"Kkyaaaaaaaa!"
A sharper scream than before tore through the air. The pain of annihilation was felt. White Mana slashed around like the moon. The Specters were annihilated without a trace as they were touched. The fog was swept away like a wave by the force.
Eki leaned back against the tree, relieved.
"Because it's the strongest when dealing with evil."
[Rangiosa's ability is that, after all.]
"Rangiosa too, and him too."
She smiled faintly. Surrounded by white Mana and the golden light of the Holy Sword, he looked noble. Unlike the black stain clinging to her palm.
It wouldn't take long for all the Specters to be annihilated. Eki didn't watch until the end and left. She slowly returned to the camp.
As the tension eased, she felt fatigue. Now she could rest without worry. Baraha, and no one else, would die.
Thinking that, she emerged from the fog. And the moment the camp came into view, she felt the hairs on her body stand on end.
Space was distorting. Like refracting glass, or spreading water.
The small distortion that had formed was gradually growing. It was being created in the air above the camp and extending downwards. The camp, submerged in rain and darkness, belatedly noticed it and frantically rang the emergency bell.
Eki ran as soon as she saw it. Being sucked into that would be the end. Even a Giosa Owner couldn't easily guarantee a safe return.
Before the regression, Ekinesia had entered that with her own feet to obtain a Giosa, but she had almost died trying to survive there.
'Why is a Node being created here of all places!'
Node. A joint created by cutting out space. A space separated from the existing world. The trace of the Space Divine Sword, Rakiagiosa, cutting through space.
Unlike the Time Divine Sword, Kairosgiosa, which observes time from a fixed position, the Divine Sword Rakiagiosa, which the god created using space as a material, drifts through space according to its nature.
Even the shape of that sword was not properly known. It had never revealed its appearance in records. The existence of Rakiagiosa, which no one had ever seen, was proven by the 'Node'.
Rakiagiosa travels, cutting through space. And that split space becomes a Node.
No one can be sure what kind of space the inside of a Node will be, or what will be inside it, until they go inside.
However, there was a way to guess to some extent. Since Rakiagiosa does not create space but cuts out and separates existing space, the environment in which the Node was created affected the Node.
For example, there are cases where a Node is created near children playing in a peaceful village. The inside of such a Node is a fairy-tale world full of fairies that children might dream of. The children who are sucked in are missing for a while, but no one is hurt and they return. And they chatter about seeing fairies.
But such a lucky environment was rare. The world was much drier and stickier than fairy tales. Most Nodes were bizarre and dangerous.
In this case, since it was a Node created near a Monster den like White Raven Gorge, the inside was likely to be hell.
'If Yuriene had known, he wouldn't have set up camp here. This Node is something that didn't happen before. Damn it, why...!'
Eki gritted her teeth and ran. The speed at which the Node swelled was not constant. Right now, it was only about the speed of a person walking, but it might suddenly expand as if it were exploding.
Then it would swallow everything within range and separate. No one knows when it will return to normal, or whether those swallowed inside can survive until the Node disappears.
Under the distorting space, the members of the Azure Knights were hastily packing their belongings and running away. She quickly took in the fleeing people.
