Chapter 119
“Huff! Huff!”
The six humans, excluding Seong-Hwi, sprinted as they panted heavily.
“Have we lost them?” Enrique wondered.
“Of course not. Seong-Hwi is keeping them busy,” Frank responded.
Yuri asked, “Shouldn’t we go help him?”
Yuki shook her head and answered, “No, focus on getting as far away as possible. None of us is as mobile as the wing. He can catch up to us in no time.”
The others did not respond but agreed. They had entrusted their backs to one another for a month in an S-rank dungeon; more than enough time to develop trust in each other’s abilities.
Seong-Hwi can do it.
I can’t imagine him dying.
I’m sure he’ll figure something out.
Seong-Hwi always overcame whatever danger was thrown at him with his versatile skill arsenal. It would have been a different story for the other teammates, but none of them expected Seong-Hwi to fail at anything.
Just then, Enrique, taking point, suddenly stopped.
“Enrique! Why did you stop?! Keep running!”
“I... can’t,” Enrique remarked.
“What?”
The others also stopped beside Enrique.
“Crap!”
“A cliff?”
They were met with a narrow canyon, and could see a giant vertical cliff blocking their way at the end.
“What do we do, Commander?!”
“We have to go around—No! The pursuers will catch up to us. We have to take the shortest route to Glasgow. Time isn’t on our side!”
“In that case, we have no choice but to climb over that cliff.”
“That’d be faster than going around. Alright, speed up!” Yuki ordered.
The team raced along the narrow canyon and immediately reached the cliff.
“It’s even taller up close.”
“Does anyone have rock climbing experience?”
“Use my mannequins as footholds. They’re not living mannequins, but they can still be used this way,” Yuki remarked as she summoned her D Weapon, Mannequin Army.
Her living mannequins were all destroyed in the dungeon, so she conjured regular mannequins using her mana.
I can replenish my mannequins in Glasgow! she shouted inwardly.
Yuki had workshops throughout the Mirror World where she could replenish her living mannequin supply, and one of them was in Glasgow.
“Alright, start climbing—”
Someone suddenly shouted from behind them, “GET OUT OF THERE, ALL OF YOU! IT’S A TRAP!”
The echoing voice belonged to Seong-Hwi.
“What?”
“A trap?”
As Seong-Hwi’s teammates were left confused, the four birdfolk hiding behind a boulder—Paurix, Chaurix, Taurix, and Kaurix—flew upward as they spread their wings.
“Hoot! We missed one.”
“Hoot! It doesn’t matter. The black sack is here.”
“Hoot! Let’s begin.”
“Hoot! This will be your grave, damn rats!”
The four brothers spread their wings as far as possible in midair as if covering all sides. Their wings resonated with one another, and their mana intermixed with Kinetic Force, their secondary force. Kinetic Force boosted kinetic energy, allowing birdfolk to move at extraordinary speeds, amplify their mana, and strengthen their skills.
The four brothers were born in the same nest. Hence, they were used to resonating their mana pattern, allowing them to create a unique skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Cage of the Rixes.]
The mana flowing from the brothers’ wings combined to create a powerful barrier skill—a blue bird cage—that enveloped everything in front of the cliff, trapping every human except for Seong-Hwi.
***
“Grrr! Haaah!” Yuri screamed as he summoned the Black Dog of Grievance to undergo Mythical Beastification and activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Unleashing Grievance.]
It was a burst skill that simultaneously unleashed every grieving spirit he devoured with the skill, Grieving Spirit Binge. Black smoke gathered around Yuri’s fists, momentarily surpassing the mana of an A-rank Magic stat.
“Graaah! I’m a crack attacker!”
He punched with all his might as his body gradually shrank, and returned to his original malnourished dog appearance. However, it was enough to crack the Cage of the Rixes.
“Haaap!”
He drew out more mana, but the four Rix brothers did not stand idly by.
“Hoot! It’s useless.”
“Hoot! A pointless struggle!”
They focused more mana on the Cage of the Rixes, immediately closing the crack. Yuri, having used all of his strength, collapsed lifelessly. The others were no different.
“Huff! Huff! It’s so damn hard!”
“If only I still had more living mannequins!”
“It’s... impossible.”
The Cage of the Rixes, created by the resonance of four Rankers, was unbreakable. It might have been different if Yuki could exert her full power, but she couldn’t even use half of her strength in her current state.
“Huff! Huff! Seong-Hwi! Just get out of here!” Leo shouted at Seong-Hwi, who was slamming the cage from outside.
Seong-Hwi, the only person not imprisoned in the cage, snorted and answered, “What point is there in running away when the items are in there? I refuse to leave empty-handed.”
“You crazy bastard! They’re waiting for something! I don’t know what, but we’re all dead once it’s here!”
“Dammit! Leo is right. Huff! Run away, Seong-Hwi! Make sure to avenge us!” Frank agreed.
However, Seong-Hwi did not even entertain their thoughts.
What should I do? I need at least S-rank Magic to break this barrier, he thought.
He was sure that all four birdfolk were Rankers. He did not know how, but their combined powers created a barrier that could hold even a High Ranker.
It’d be pointless even if I amplify my skills with the Wings of Evolution. The cage is too hard... I won’t be able to break it with any of my skills!
Through logical judgment, Seong-Hwi determined the cage could only be broken using a single powerful burst skill. However, he wasn’t certain if he could break the cage even with his most powerful burst skill and all his doping skills activated. He would only become prey with all his power depleted if he failed.
There’s... one way.
As Seong-Hwi’s eyes flashed, lightning crashed from the entrance to the canyon.
The four brothers shouted excitedly.
“Hoot! He’s here!”
“Hoot! Sir Remus!”
“Hoot! The Lightning Wings!”
“Hoot! O Almighty wings!”
Seong-Hwi’s eyes widened as he thought, Lightning Wings Remus? The birdfolk World Ranker!
“Urgh! Friend Seong-Hwi! We have to run away! There’s an insanely strong guy coming this way!” Thumper shouted as his ears perked up and his soft fur stood up as if he were electrocuted.
“I... can’t,” Seong-Hwi replied.
“What do you mean, you can’t?! We have to! Else, we’ll all die!”
Seong-Hwi did not budge, simply staring at his comrades inside the barrier. They could also feel that an individual of much higher caliber was approaching, and their expressions were filled with despair, resignation, and regret. They were certain of their demise, and no matter how long they waited, help wouldn’t come.
Their expressions resembled Seong-Hwi’s when he had given up on waiting for his mother in the children’s home.
“I... won’t abandon them,” Seong-Hwi mumbled.
“What?”
“If I were going to abandon them, I never would have taken them in.”
He pulled out a capsule mixed with pink and white from his pocket, put it in his mouth without hesitation, and bit it. The capsule broke, and the liquid inside went down his throat.
[Ingesting Ayahuasca (B).]
[Absorbing DMT (Dimethyltryptamine).]
[Applying Debuff: Time Prison.]
[Time ratio 1:100,000]
Seong-Hwi’s vision was distorted, and he saw hallucinations of wavy tree branches and an iridescent boa constrictor.
He mumbled, “I will take everything I’ve grasped with me.”
Three seconds would decide whether he was simply being idealistic.
***
Seong-Hwi was hit by fluttering snowflakes as he stood before the door of the Calasanz Home for Children, his memory palace. In here, time was dictated by his psyche, not the outside world.
The time ratio is one to a hundred thousand. I have three days, eleven hours, and twenty minutes. I have to borrow a destiny that can break the barrier by then.
He had already thought of which destiny to borrow. The Tarot Deck of Destiny was shuffled, and five cards flew out. They were No.0 The Fool, No.7 The Chariot, Three of Wands, Knight of Wands, and Knight of Swords.
[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]
[Five-card Destiny.]
[Spread cards: No.0 The Fool, No.7 The Chariot, Three of Wands, Knight of Wands, Knight of Swords.]
[Destiny reading: A passionate and adventurous fool who haphazardly charges like a chariot.]
The five cards slowly smeared into the door of the children’s home.
Seong-Hwi stared at the cards and thought, This destiny is the ideal of those who wish to overcome any difficulty.
Life was so creative that it endlessly barraged one with hurdles, all different from one another. One could easily jump over regular hurdles, but they usually either dodged or compromised when faced with hurdles impossible to overcome. However, this destiny was the archetype of an idealist who never evaded any hurdles life threw at him, always charging head-on.
A golden light flashed as the door of the children’s home swung open.
[Knight-errant of La Mancha]
***
A scrawny old man wrote using ink and an owl feather. The candlelight swayed due to the wind, making the face of the stubborn-looking old man look different at each moment.
“I can’t believe the world has become so corrupt,” the old man mumbled sorrowfully.
Chivalry had vanished from this world, replaced by injustice. Goodwill had become a pathetic echo left unrewarded, and gentlemen had become naive laughingstocks. The rich firmly believed their wealth had come from their hard work, and the poor blamed their ancestors for their poverty. The strong stole from the weak instead of protecting them. The beautiful believed their worth stemmed from the ugly.
Something was wrong with the world.
“I’m embarrassed by my indolence,” the old man mumbled.
His name was Alonso Quijano, a hidalgo living a relatively comfortable life. If he continued down this ordinary life guaranteed with safety, he would die with no one to remember him.
Alonso’s hobby was reading chivalric romances. The knights-errant in the novels practiced chivalry and set out on adventures to punish injustice. He was obsessed with their courage and exciting adventures that broke down his boring reality.
He stood up from his chair, his eyes shining as if he had come to a resolution.
“Yeah! I’ll become a knight! I will travel the lands as a knight-errant who goes on romantic adventures!”
He donned his great-great-grandfather’s armor and helmet in the living room for decorative purposes, grabbed a lance he found in the shed, and tamed an old workhorse in the stables to ride. He could feel the beginning of a great adventure. His heart pounded, feeling like the entire world was on his side.
“I will exact justice on this corrupt world, overthrow injustice, and help the weak!” Alonso declared.
His horse bobbed its head as if it couldn’t care less, and trotted along the country roads. The candle in the old man’s room continued to burn as if it were the man’s unyielding determination.
The candle, which was almost fully melted, illuminated the words the old man wrote. He had written the name he vowed to be known as once he decided to become a knight. The name would forever be remembered as the greatest knight-errant of Spain.
Don Quixote de La Mancha.