Chapter 834 - An Elf's Specialty is Distortion (1)
Enkrid held Shinar under his left arm and gripped the back of the Dragonkin's neck with his right hand.
To an uninformed person, it would look as if he were about to snap his neck bone.
Should it be said that it looked all the more plausible given that he actually possessed that much strength?
"If you're going to kill him, let's get it over with," Rem tossed out a joke, seeing this.
"Thankfully, the other things seem to have stopped," Audin said, striding over.
As he said, the rain of fire was thinning and stopping, and no more fire-forms were appearing.
No, the ones that had appeared were crumbling and collapsing.
Other than that, the fire-wrought spears, sticks, and nets had also stopped.
Instead, all that could be seen was a single mass of fire extending from the fire cloud to the ground like a long glass bottle.
"If we cut it now?" Ragna asked abruptly.
Seeing his hand on the hilt of Sunrise, he seemed full of the will to cut first and ask questions later, if only permission were given.
Cut what?
Naturally, he meant to cut that long stream of fire, or whatever it was.
Can you cut fire?
A question like that seemed unnecessary for Ragna.
If he were told to do it, he looked like he would cut it somehow.
He was like a living sword.
That was the impression Enkrid got.
"That one will die," Esther said.
Ragna didn't ask who.
The Salamander or the fainted, limp-limbed Dragonkin would not have been on his mind.
Esther also knew that and had spoken in a condensed form.
The one who would die was the elf.
[TL here, TLDR koreans don't have she/he pronouns.Esther said they will die, refering to Shinar, but since it's a korean novel, the characters could not have known if she was refering at Shinar as a she or the other dudes]
Enkrid watched the changes in the distant stream of fire.
Would it be a trick of the eye if he said he could see a grass-green color, like freshly grown turf, within that stream of fire?
"What's the response?"
Enkrid did not know the world of spells and could not grasp Shinar's condition.
It was a situation beyond his common sense.
So he asked.
It was something he had learned and realized a long time ago.
When was it again?
It had been snowing heavily, and he had been on his way to knock on the Gilpin Guild's door.
"If the commander can't do it, he can just give an order."
It was what Ragna, the genius swordsman who sometimes pierces the core of the matter, had said.
Jaxen had led him on, but the final words were his.
If you can't do it yourself, have someone else do it.
And so Enkrid did.
Esther answered his question.
"If things go south, I can approach with my mental body, but for now…"
"For now?"
"We have to wait."
Esther was wise.
She judged that Shinar would not have acted without a thought.
'Was the Dragonkin's intervention a variable?'
One cannot inflict physical harm on an opponent with only a mental body.
And Shinar's mind would not be easily shaken.
She knew well because they had spent time together.
Shinar's mind was upright and firm.
That elf's mental world was special, as much as a magician who possessed a world of spells.
It was partly because she was an elf, and also a characteristic that the individual named Shinar possessed.
Therefore, she also knew well what had to be done now.
Sometimes, you just have to know how to wait.
Enkrid also nodded.
The blazing flames heated the air, and the earth sizzled. In front of them, something like a stream of lava had formed.
He could also see melted and clumped stones.
It was hardly an environment for leisurely sightseeing. Well, it wasn't a situation where they could just stand by and watch either.
A mass that had broken off from the fire cloud rolled on the ground and took shape.
It was a fireball mixed with black soot.
And it was a creature on a different level from the fire-forms that had appeared until now.
'Killing intent and malice.'
Enkrid read the emotions felt from the fire-form with his senses.
It seemed to be clad in all sorts of negative emotions like a weapon.
Six legs, two tails, and its head was a distorted flame itself, so it had no eyes, nose, or mouth.
'Its presence.'
It was fiercer than any monster that would call itself a colony leader.
It would not be an exaggeration to say it was a monster that had popped out of the demon realm.
KWANG!
As it kicked the ground, the earth was gouged, and soil and flames shot up like a fountain in a duet.
"Mine!"
Rem hastily rushed forward.
He brandished the axe he had taken out at some point above his head.
"Let's go, fire-puppy!"
There was no hesitation in his steps as he shouted and advanced.
A fireball mixed with negative emotions, should he call it?
And it wasn't the end.
From the stream of fire that connected like a molten glass bottle behind it, more fireballs broke off, and a few more fire-forms were born.
There was another difference from before.
They were all things that rose with a clear form.
They held malice, and their form was sharper.
The next form was a person.
It had two arms and legs, and a long sword like a pole.
The sword, though made of fire, bent pliantly.
It was a scene that could not possibly be established without the power of a spell.
"I'll take that one."
Ragna stepped forward towards that one.
And they took turns stepping forward towards the ones that appeared behind it.
"Just watch for a bit."
And Enkrid also stepped forward.
He left the elf and the Dragonkin on the ground and rushed out.
The blue light of Dawnforged met its opponent and freely revealed its sharpness.
Jaxen stood blankly between the two unconscious figures.
***
Shinar felt her spirit being uplifted for a moment.
Her mind soared high into the sky.
At some point, the fire cloud was so close it seemed she could touch it, and the ground was far away.
The part of her spirit that had soared up touched something and reacted.
From that something, all sorts of emotions and wills erupted, tangled and mixed.
If you sat in a narrow place where more than ten people were screaming, would you be able to understand the meaning?
It was a cry not so different from that.
Shinar calmly distinguished each and every cry, listening and grasping the meaning.
—Hate.
She snatched a fragment of the felt emotion and understood it.
—I hate it.
What?
—This place.
And?
—Everything I have done here.
They were things entangled in a single will of hatred.
Shinar's spirit soared even higher.
The moment she suddenly felt her body float, she saw her own body.
Then her spirit flew across time and space.
To be precise, the elf's keen senses had begun to glimpse the memories that the Salamander had permitted.
Shinar gathered her mind.
Whose memory is this?
It is a memory possessed by the phantom beast.
She couldn't see the surrounding environment.
All that was perceived by her senses was heated black sand.
As she was rolling in that sand, a large hole formed, and a voice came out from it.
"This way."
The Salamander, feeling curious, was drawn by the call.
The will contained in the hand and voice that called to it was supremely benevolent.
The phantom beast did not know deception.
As it approached the hole, a black hand came out from within and grabbed its foreleg.
"Got you."
The opponent grabbed a part of it and pulled.
It resisted by breathing flames, but it was once again tricked by several deceptions.
A subjugation due to a false contract.
Shinar could see the process by which the phantom beast had been dragged here.
To summon it, they burn everything.
Animals, people, they burn them all without distinction.
They were sacrifices.
The Demon Realm Holy Land Cult had heard an oracle from the god they believed in and had moved.
Those whose profession was spells became the bridge.
'By deceiving everything.'
Who was the main culprit?
Shinar's senses saw something like a black shadow.
A being who wore clothes made of a black veil, layered so that the inside could not be seen.
'A demon.'
A being living in the demon realm had put a false contract on an otherworldly phantom beast and had summoned it to this land.
The Demon Realm Holy Land Cult that was caught in between had only served as a sacrifice.
—I hate it.
The Salamander's will awakens her mind.
And its pain also seeped into her heart.
The air here is agonizing.
For it, it was like rolling in a place full of poison.
That is why it was difficult to gather its mind and it was being controlled by the demon of the demon realm, and it had no choice but to entrust its ego to the magician who had built the bridge.
It was something that would not have happened if it had not been dragged here, if it had been in its own peaceful world.
The phantom beast was a prisoner who had been dragged from its world and was trapped here.
To it, this place was a space more agonizing than a prison that confines humans.
Shinar looked further into the phantom beast's emotions and felt them.
'Is it a coincidence?'
Or is it fate?
Shinar judged that the number of beings who could converse with the phantom beast to this extent was limited.
'And one of them is me.'
An elf who represents the elven city of Kiraheis, whose talent for handling vigor is the most outstanding among her race, and an elf who has had a close relationship with a demon.
Who else could there be besides herself?
And if it weren't for her, who here now could remain as a part of the Salamander through 'synchronization' and look inside it?
Then what was the reason for making such an impulsive choice?
The Salamander could have been subdued and put to sleep.
But now, she had risked danger and read the Salamander's memories through synchronization, and had accepted its emotions.
The reason…
'I don't know.'
It might be similar to the heart of Enkrid, who always shouted that he would protect what was behind him, or it might be that she was reminded of herself, who had once been tormented by a demon.
Whatever the reason, the existence of a phantom beast was not unfamiliar to an elf.
The Wood Guards are like that, and the Winged Faeries and Dryads are the same.
Dryads drink only dew, and Wood Guards live by absorbing nutrients from the ground.
Their bodies are formed from vigor itself.
That is proof that an otherworldly being had intervened in the elven race.
The fact that the source of this fireball looked similar could not be for any other reason.
It was just that the source was fire, not trees and grass.
Just as Enkrid feels pity for a child, Shinar felt the same.
Memories and emotions mixed and rushed in at once.
Shinar gathered herself and opened her mouth.
"Begone, you wicked and ugly thing."
The conversation here was based on will, so she extended that will towards her opponent.
Naturally, the parasite ignored her.
It ignored her and raised the corners of its mouth in a smile, approaching the Salamander.
Then, it whispered in its ear, urging it on.
To scatter its hatred to its heart's content, to pour out what it possessed.
"So it's you."
Another will intervened between them.
A mass that scattered a faint golden light rose and transformed into a blond young man.
It was the Dragonkin Themares.
"The one who interfered with my duty."
The Dragonkin said, as if reciting.
What is duty to a Dragonkin?
It is the reason that forms their life.
Therefore, it is something sacred and must be protected.
He had come here now because he had felt the existence that had interfered with such a duty.
A Dragonkin is always filled with ennui and does not easily feel emotions.
Therefore, there was no instance of him getting angry because someone had interfered with him.
However, because they are filled with ennui, they react to everything that happens when they are carrying out their duty.
To put it very simply, a Dragonkin is a time-rich person who possesses a vast wealth of time.
So that they do not let go of life in their ennui, they react sensitively to things related to their duty.
Therefore, interfering with what a Dragonkin does was a very wrong thing to do.
However, the parasite of heat had little experience dealing with Dragonkin, so it did not know that.
Moreover, his origin was not even the demon realm in the first place.
He had recognized the existence of a Dragonkin, but he had not paid it much mind.
Themares observed his opponent with an impassive expression.
A Dragonkin has no emotional fluctuations, so they just set a precise directive and act according to that directive.
"I will give you a chance to explain a valid reason. Speak."
A Dragonkin as a mental body has no special skills.
He could only ask.
The parasite, receiving the will of its main body, asked back.
What can a Dragonkin do on its own?
What he was doing was just ridiculous.
"What?"
"The reason."
"Would you understand if I explained?"
The demon, in turn, reacted like a demon.
Instead of getting excited, he showed arrogance.
"You will all burn to death here. That is all."
Here, the Dragonkin re-recognized his opponent.
'Interferer of duty.'
A Dragonkin's ennui is like a vast, directionless wealth.
He decided to pour out that wealth and use it.
If an interferer of duty appears, he would kill them even if the world were to be destroyed in the process.
He would do so without regard for means or methods.
It was as the Dragonkin made up his mind.
The parasite continuously raised the corners of its mouth and whispered in the Salamander's ear.
It was as if it were asking back, what can you guys possibly do?
He stood to the left of the Salamander's mental body, which was lying flat on the ground.
The parasite's body mimicked that of its host.
It was the same as that of the warrior with the greatsword.
Thanks to that, it looked like a large man whispering something in the ear of a cowering puppy.
Shinar did not know how to fight as a mental body.
So she judged that she could not stop what the thought-form was doing now.
Instead, she could at least deliver a whisper.
She whispered from the opposite side of the Salamander.
"You can stop. That thing can no longer affect you."
"What meaning is there to your existence if you break the contract? Hate. Erupt. There is no need to hold back."
Different words are heard from both sides.
The Salamander, which had manifested itself in the form of a fire lizard, vomited fire onto the ground.
It looked as if it were vomiting blood.
'At this rate, the Salamander's mind will break.'
Shinar, even as a mental body, had outstanding senses.
She instinctively grasped the problem.
The Dragonkin did not step in separately.
Instead, he just observed the one who had interfered with his duty.
He was just now setting a goal based on a new duty within himself.
Of course, no one could know this.
Even as a Dragonkin, there was nothing he could do here.
In reality, the parasite of heat, while it could threaten, had no skill to physically restrain the two.
Instead, it just tormented the Salamander.
In the end, it would be a success if this fire phantom showed madness.
Shinar sensed the parasite's intention.
'What would you do? Enki?'
Shinar asked her fiancé in her heart and heard an answer.
'Wouldn't he smack it on the head and tell it to get a grip?'
***
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