CHAPTER 193. But… What Could That Be?
At the spirit’s single line, the group’s gazes focused on Aster.
“Secret? Friend, you have a secret?”
“Demian, everyone has secrets. Someone like Aster has even more.”
“Hmm, a secret….”
Demian’s eyes gleamed with interest. Chenbi brushed it off like it was nothing. And even Mycelln—
As those different gazes swept over Aster, an awkward silence settled over the room.
‘A cursed magic book?’
If, given the circumstances, he assumed it was Yeokcheon (逆天), would that be too much of a leap?
Just as Aster reached that thought—
“Ahem, ahem. That aside, spirit friend. I suppose it’s about time we talked. What is it you want to ask?”
Having noticed something unusual in Aster’s expression, Mycelln naturally changed the subject.
And so began the conversation between Mycelln and the spirit.
Aster listened with sunken eyes, and in doing so, he realized a few things.
First.
[As- ask? Want ask?]
“Right. Didn’t you say you would ask the questions?”
[Di- did I? Don’t remember.]
This spirit is stupid.
Clearly, that “Question, I first” had only been to seize the initiative.
But even so, being unable to pull off even a simple bit of improvisation meant it was either pure… or stupid.
And Aster was certain it was the latter.
Second.
Mycelln was harsher than expected.
“Then, may this one ask the questions?”
[As- ask.]
“First, I will ask. You are the ones who invited us—so why did you treat us as enemies? Twisting the paths aside, what about Infernal? I want you to speak clearly on that matter.”
[…….]
Honestly, even for Aster, this was unexpected.
They still didn’t know whether the spirit was friendly or not.
This was the kind of question you softened with words, tested the waters, and then threw out—yet he was driving it in this directly?
And that wasn’t all.
Once Mycelln got going, he was almost cold.
“No answer? Then we have no choice but to think you do not need our help. Is that acceptable?”
[…….]
“Hm, you have no intention of talking? Fine. Then we will leave these ruins by this route.”
Of course, it was bluster.
Mycelln didn’t actually know how to leave the ruins yet.
But the spirit didn’t know that, and all it did was tremble—its light quivering—until it was pitiable to watch.
The instant he saw it, Mycelln grasped this spirit’s nature.
‘A mean-spirited spirit.’
Of course, it wasn’t solely to scold it.
Rather… yes. He didn’t know what intention this spirit had come with, but if he left it alone, it would get thoroughly taken advantage of.
…By whom, everyone could guess without it being said.
So stepping into the conversation first was meant to crush the mean-spirited spirit’s arrogance, while also preventing a second incident—an intent to smooth the way for an orderly discussion.
And as the spirit, thoroughly cowed, made its flame twitch and twitch—
That was when Aster stepped in.
“Why is there no answer? We ended up in such a—”
“Sunbae.”
“…Huh?”
Mycelln turned at Aster’s sudden call—and when their eyes met, he flinched without meaning to.
‘What kind of look is that….’
How could it be this gentle?
While Mycelln couldn’t hide his surprise, Aster slowly shook his head side to side as he looked at him.
“If you stop now, I think the spirit has understood.”
“…What?”
“You’re being too harsh. Of course, we were startled and went through a lot, but didn’t the spirit have circumstances it couldn’t help? Didn’t you?”
[Th- that’s right. Making you lose your way, sorry. But, Infernal not us. We also scared of Infernal.]
“You heard it, didn’t you? It says it wasn’t them.”
“No, what—.”
Mycelln blinked, looking dumbfounded at Aster’s incomprehensible attitude.
And it made sense.
It was a scene too unbelievable to accept, even seeing it.
Like watching a crocodile with a lamb’s eyes. No—maybe a hyena with a rabbit’s eyes was more accurate.
But regardless, Aster walked up to the startled spirit and smiled gently.
“You must’ve been really scared. Right?”
[Th- that’s right. Old human, scary.]
“Now, don’t worry. And don’t cry. Calm down, and say what you want to say clearly, one word at a time. You can do that, right?”
[I- I can. Me, smart.]
The spirit perked up at the encouragement.
[Savior, kind.]
“Right? If you sign a contract, you’re even kinder.”
[…Contract?]
“Ah, but that’s not what matters right now. So shouldn’t we clear up whatever misunderstanding there was? Want to tell us, calmly and slowly?”
[Right! Misunderstanding! Must clear up!]
As Mycelln stared at the scene, having entirely lost language, it was around then that the corner of Aster’s mouth curled upward.
“Now, you wouldn’t tell me you’re—”
“Shh. The spirit is about to talk. Let’s listen carefully.”
Aster smiled with the bait already dangling. Now, it was the spirit’s job to bite.
Anyway, the spirit—full of injustice—borrowed strength from Aster’s encouragement and explained their situation.
In other words, yes, they were the ones who made them lose their way, but they were not the ones who moved Infernal.
They, too, were afraid of Infernal.
It also answered Aster’s questions about this and that with sincerity, and when all of it was finished, the group put their heads together and went into a discussion.
First, the most important point was this.
“So the spirits weren’t actually trying to be hostile toward us.”
Of course, there had been moments of hostility. But the three aside from Aster decided to treat that as something already in the past.
If they had been the ones who moved Infernal, they wouldn’t have been able to confess so cleanly—but the only thing the spirits had done was twist the paths.
Then, next.
“Then the question is how we can save the spirits….”
After receiving the spirits’ Mental Image through Fury, Mycelln transferred that image onto parchment and drew it.
If he’d had a contracted spirit, he might have been able to receive the Mental Image directly, but he didn’t, so he used Fury.
Anyway, the current structure of the ruins was drawn on the parchment: a large circular space in the center, with various rooms tangled around it.
“First, this circular space is where the spirits are. Is that right?”
[…….]
“Is it right?”
[Right, Savior.]
Mycelln glanced at the spirit as if he found it ridiculous, then drew X marks over several rooms on the parchment.
There were four X marks in total.
“To break the barrier imprisoning the spirits, we must destroy the four barrier stones in these locations. Is that correct? Aster, you ask instead.”
“Is it right?”
[Right, Savior.]
At the spirit’s answer, Mycelln nodded.
“Breaking the barrier stones shouldn’t be difficult… so there’s a problem?”
“There’s a problem?”
[Right, Savior.]
The spirit—glittering as it circled around Aster—suddenly drooped, then settled down atop one of the X marks.
Its voice followed a moment later.
[Barrier stones, we can’t break. And scary golem guards.]
“Could it be that golem is….”
[Right, Infernal.]
Yes. That was the problem.
Infernal.
According to the spirit, the Infernal guarding these ancient ruins was not, in fact, a “spirit,” but a “spirit golem.”
An anti-spirit weapon created in an age overflowing with spirit mages, made to fight spirit mages.
‘Then… was the word Infernal, passed down into the modern age, originally referring to this spirit golem?’
He couldn’t know that much, but—
Anyway, according to the spirit, these ancient ruins were guarded by five Infernal units in total.
One of them—
‘The one we fought.’
It was the main Infernal: the one that awakened first to repel intruders when they arrived.
And the other four Infernal units each slept in the rooms containing the barrier stones, guarding only the barrier stones.
Meaning, the principle of解除 the barrier was simple, but the “process” would not be smooth.
“Hmm… this won’t be easy.”
[…!]
At Aster’s offhand remark, the spirit flinched and brightened its light.
[B- but, ones guarding barrier, not very strong! Right now not strong!]
That was true.
The fairy’s war dance… of course, the spirit didn’t know the phrase “fairy’s war dance,” but anyway.
The reason the spirits could create a fairy’s war dance was because it was possible during the period when the barrier weakened—and during that period, the Infernal guards’ power weakened as well.
Apparently, it was to sustain the barrier.
“Tsk, still, it won’t be easy.”
[…!]
Leaving behind the spirit that kept flinching, Aster scratched his head.
Because whether they were strong or weak, it still meant they had to deal with four Infernal units to break the barrier.
No—was it only four?
‘One of them can move freely, too. That’s a problem.’
If they messed up, they might have to face two Infernal units at once.
Of course, destroying the barrier stones themselves wasn’t difficult.
No matter how strong Infernal was, it wasn’t faster than Aster.
Winning a fight was impossible because of its regeneration, but smashing the barrier stones alone was doable.
But the problem was…
‘…….’
Aster’s eyes landed on Chenbi.
Yes. Chenbi weighed on him.
Sunbae Mycelln and Demian might be able to dodge somehow, but Chenbi wasn’t like that.
‘…No, honestly, I’m worried about all three.’
Sunbae Mycelln probably thought he was hiding it, but his momentum was nowhere near whole. The same was true for Demian.
As Aster’s thoughts stretched on, the spirit raised its voice as if pleading.
[S- Savior, please!]
At that voice, Aster gathered his wandering thoughts for a moment.
Then he looked at the spirit’s unsteadily wavering light.
To be honest… yes. Mycelln, Demian, and Chenbi weren’t the biggest issue.
‘…I can just pull the three of them back toward the outer edge of the ruins.’
Of course, now that Infernal was awake, the outer edge wasn’t safe either. But since Aster himself would be in the central area, Infernal would likely aim for him rather than the three outside.
So stepping in wasn’t that hard…
Still, after hearing the spirit’s story, something kept catching at him.
“Hey, friend.”
[Fr- friend? Me Savior friend?]
The spirit was oddly moved.
But setting that aside, Aster finally voiced the question he’d been carrying through the entire conversation.
No one else was curious, but from start to finish, this was the only thing on Aster’s mind.
“Stepping in isn’t hard, but you need to answer this.”
[Speak! Me, friend!]
The spirit sounded excited for some reason. But that momentum didn’t last long.
“What is this place? Thinking about it, I don’t think I ever heard that.”
[…!]
During the conversation, Aster had felt a strange nuance again and again.
- We saw. Savior, one. But, three more came. Different from what saw. So thought risk factor.
At first, he’d interpreted it as, “We expected only Aster to come, but three more came, so we were surprised.”
And the word “risk factor”… sure, they’d been trapped because of humans, so maybe they were exclusionary.
But the more he thought about it, the stranger it felt.
“The way you called me ‘Savior’ so confidently… and the way you keep saying ‘saw.’ No matter how I look at it, it’s weird.”
And hadn’t the spirit mentioned it earlier, too?
“A cursed magic book.”
Thinking that far, Aster looked at the spirit with a grin spinning on his face.
Maybe it was that look. A thin silence settled over the room, and the spirit trembled as it met his eyes.
“There’s… something here. Right?”
But… what could that be?
