〈 Unknown Threat (4) 〉
Temiran McClair’s blood-red eyes watched the brilliant holy sword aimed at him.
At the same time, his mind was racing to find the best way to overcome the current situation.
‘Well, we’ve bought some time… but what do we do now?’
Heinrich Saint Landgard, the Knight of Light, a saint of the Main Order and champion of the Main Order, suddenly appears.
His existence, breaking into his own hidden world, ‘behind twilight’, was a huge variable.
The mere fact that he appeared here was enough to make it impossible to even guarantee that he would completely escape.
‘It’s annoying. Somehow I felt like things were going well.’
Temiran’s eyes twitched at the sharp anticipation that seemed to pierce him at any moment.
The opponent’s momentum is constantly looking around and trying to find an opening.
He also responded by twisting the flow around him and threatening the girl who had fallen behind him.
Then, the momentum of approaching little by little lost momentum and retreated, but soon it approached again as if waiting for an opportunity and began to slowly circle around.
“Phew—persistent?”
“Tsk, this is what I’m going to say.”
Right now, his opponent was unable to attack him carelessly because of the girl who had fallen behind him, but there was nothing good for him if this standoff continued.
For him, the apostle of God who was exiled to the abyss, this place was like the middle of enemy territory.
‘We managed to restore the world behind the scenes, but… I guess the situation inside was already known to the outside world. There’s no guarantee that if something breaks once, it won’t break a second time.’
If the great shaman old woman had not interfered in the beginning, or at least if the high elf had intervened just a little later, they would have secured their goal without any problems and escaped the scene leisurely.
Several coincidences happened to hold him back, and at one point, the situation took a turn for the worst.
…No, actually, he already knew.
The current situation is not just a coincidence, but a disaster that occurred when his God completely lost the initiative in causality that he had somehow maintained.
‘Everything I try to do has failed, so there’s bound to be a blow.’
From the appearance of the Immortal King to the overflow of madness and the secret actions of revolutionaries, etc.
There was no way that planning such a continent-scale disaster would not have cost anything.
What more can I say about the added burden of having to work while confined in the worst environment of the abyss.
However, most of the aggressive bets made in such situations ended in failure.
I was trying to push the business forward by raising all the money I didn’t have, and ended up blowing it all up.
That was the reason why Temiran, who was not yet fully prepared as an apostle, stepped forward earlier than scheduled.
The plan was to somehow succeed in the remaining arrangements, find a way to turn around, and lay the foundation for a turnaround…
Looking at the current situation, it seems like that too was a mistake.
“…Now that I think about it, you’re pissed off again? In the end, you’re saying that you should take care of others and fix a messed up situation, right? “Why am I going through all this trouble so I can enjoy wealth and fame?”
“You agree with me on that, Tamiran McClair. “Wouldn’t it be better to just surrender at this point so that we don’t get tired?”
“Tsk, I’d like to do that too if I wanted to…”
The boy with a youthful appearance regained his appetite after hearing Heinrich’s words.
But unfortunately, he was not in a position to move as he pleased.
Since he was literally forced into a slave contract, he had no choice but to stay together until the end, even though he knew the ship he was on would sink.
Temiran scratched the back of his head and grumbled.
“What can I do? If I’m going to crack it, I’m going to crack it. Actually, if you think about it, you and I are in a similar situation…”
Then he paused before finishing his sentence.
His eyes turned to his feet.
‘Wait a second, the shadow…?’
It was purely by chance that I noticed that slight discomfort.
At first glance, the angle is so subtly distorted that you don’t notice anything special.
However, he acted immediately according to his intuition.
And right after that.
———!
A bursting sound outside the audible range erupted.
A phenomenon that occurred suddenly without any preparation time, as if the middle process had been cut out.
Kugugoong—!
Then a violent wind blew, accompanied by a sound as if the air was being torn apart.
“…What a shame. “Do you have a good feeling?”
And in the center of the storm.
A chillingly cold voice came out.
Step, step, step—
With the sound of shoes ringing clearly even in the commotion, a man who had no idea how long he had been there walked slowly, the hem of his long coat fluttering.
Contrary to what he said, he was a cold-faced handsome man who rubbed the blood on his fingertips several times with an expression that showed no regrets at all.
His red eyes turned to a corner where dust was rising.
He lightly held the girl who had fainted in his other arm.
“mister-!”
Aaron, who had closed his eyes tightly and hugged his grandmother and Rafi tightly due to the sudden storm, became angry at the sight of him and shouted.
How could I not be happy when the person I had been waiting for so desperately showed up and saved my sister?
Of course, he was grateful to the saint who helped him in a desperate moment, but from the young boy’s perspective, he couldn’t help but be even happier that Heinz, whom he had a personal relationship with, came.
“…What? “When did you come in?”
At that time, a low growl rang out from where Heinz’s gaze was directed.
A small-bodied Temiran appears from among the dust that slowly settles.
Blood dripped from one of his dusty arms.
“We obviously didn’t detect anyone’s intrusion. But how…? And this…”
His eyes turned to the wound on his arm.
It wasn’t a very serious injury, but it was significant that he suffered unilateral damage from an unexpected surprise attack.
Isn’t it even true that for some reason the wound isn’t even regenerating properly?
No, now, instead of recovering, the cells began to die little by little around the hit area, as if a deadly poison had penetrated them.
Wow!
Temiran frowned as he tore the wound with his own hands and incinerated it.
‘…This is not poison. It is a battle for dominance between vampires with different temperaments.’
Blood containing hostile salts that have infiltrated the body like guerrillas.
But even if I understood the situation, I still couldn’t understand it.
The battlefield was his own body, his home ground, and the quality of the defenders was by no means low.
But why can’t you do anything about just a few drops of the other person’s blood that was injected into your body and look like this?
“What on earth have you done!”
He couldn’t tell, but the phenomenon was actually not that strange.
Heinz II’s vampire factor is the ultimate in evolution, having gone through tremendous mutations and raised its efficiency to the limit.
It was natural that it would become a monster that could take a thousand hits against a general immune system that simply depended on the status of the individual.
“well?”
Of course, Heinz II, who had no intention of answering the other person’s question, simply raised the corner of his mouth arrogantly.
Before I knew it, I lifted my clean hand, without a single drop of blood, and lightly stroked my shiny black hair.
“I guess that’s not the important thing right now?”
A word with a hint of ridicule mixed with provocation.
Temiran’s body, who had frowned at that, trembled.
Then he hurriedly stretched out his hand to the side and launched himself again.
Kwaaaaang—!
A ray of dazzling brilliance rapidly increased in strength, and beautiful platinum-colored waves broke out.
Finally, all restrictions disappear and a wave of brilliance devours the space without hesitation like a beast released from its cage.
Temiran, who had barely blocked the attack and had one of his hands burned black, gritted his teeth.
“Tsk! What a surprise attack! A person called a saint is extremely petty…!”
“hmm? This is another surprising reaction. “It’s also an easy thing for a hostage taker to say.”
But Heinrich just chuckled.
We were in the midst of looking for an opportunity to exploit each other. Wouldn’t it be wrong to recklessly sell our minds elsewhere in such a situation?
…Well, I was the one who created that situation in the first place.
“Haven’t we talked a lot more than that, Tamiran McClair? “If you still have anything left to say, I’ll be happy to listen.”
A silver-haired handsome man with wings of light spread out and his entire body covered in a sacred aura had a gentle smile on his face.
“Of course, some procedures will be needed before that. So that we can have conversations more comfortably and safely. “Can you cooperate?”
“…Ha ha ha ha ha. shit.”
The flow has already completely turned.
Temiran rolled his eyes diligently in an attempt to find Sue, but the two people did not show him even the slightest clue.
‘Taking hostages again…’
It is impossible to catch the girl who was the initial target.
Because the ‘Vampire King’ whom she had only heard about was protecting her in person.
I could tell enough from what I saw a moment ago that the rumors about him were not exaggerated.
It is also true that he is the person whose compatibility is closest to the worst.
If Saint Heinrich is his natural enemy as a hunter, Heinz is his natural enemy as a kindred spirit and a top predator.
Because he was rushed into the world without being completed as an apostle, he was unable to completely escape from the framework of his race, and Heinz, who was a new blood and the “squire of all blood,” could not help but be a very difficult opponent.
‘Other humans… they can’t do anything because of that high elf.’
Before she knew it, Lydia had gathered together not only the injured great shaman but also the residents caught up in the incident and had mobilized all of her spirits to form an iron-clad defense.
Rather than joining the saint and fighting the enemy together, he trusted him completely and did his best to reduce civilian casualties so that he could fight with peace of mind.
In this situation, if you rush to the other side and get caught, it will be even more difficult.
‘I can’t help it. There is no hope for this. Even considering the loss, we have no choice but to avoid the place first.’
If I had known this would happen, I would have taken action immediately after the saint appeared!
If I got too greedy, the situation could get worse than it is now, so it was best to move now.
Rumbling—
With his decision, the world behind the twilight shook loudly.
This space is a small world built by embodying some of his thoughts and existence.
Its purpose was not simply to block space.
‘Of course, if you use it disposablely like this, the harm will be greater than the benefit. ‘You can’t argue about something like that when things have turned out like this.’
Quagwagwang! bang!
According to his will, the world began to turn against those inside and work hard to exclude them at all costs.
With a strong earthquake, the ground cracked and lava flowed out.
The air turned into toxic substances, lightning flowed like a waterfall in the atmosphere, and deadly radiation spewed out from the ground.
An extreme environment that an ordinary person could not survive even for a moment.
“What a useless thing!”
Heinrich shouted and his wings spread wide.
The sacred sanctuary quickly spread out in all directions, protecting those inside.
Because the space itself was collapsing and the energy was skyrocketing to no end, it was not possible to cut through it as easily as when I first entered, but I was able to hold on like this for as long as I could.
Of course, that’s exactly what Temiran wanted.
‘The saint’s feet were tied with this. Now all that’s left is…’
I probably won’t be able to hold out for long.
In the end, when all energy is used up, this space burning the final flame will also collapse helplessly.
But right now, he didn’t even have time to feel regretful about that.
“I can hear the rustling of heads all the way from here.”
“Well, that’s all I learned from what I saw above!”
The vampire king Heinz blocked his path.
I could tell with my instincts as a vampire.
The opponent is literally his natural enemy—an opponent he cannot possibly defeat if he fights him head on.
‘But in the current situation where the entire world is going crazy, if you just focus on avoiding fights and getting out of the way…’
That wasn’t an entirely impossible opponent.
Even more so when there is even a lump of luggage hanging on the other person’s arms!
“Goodbye! Let’s never see each other again!”
In the end, he was able to take advantage of the momentary opportunity and escape to the outside world.
They locked the door again right after, so they won’t be able to come out anytime soon.
That moment was enough time for him to escape completely through the crack in the abyss.
‘But it wasn’t just loss. Since they have already observed the child with the fragment, tracking it won’t be as difficult as before. The situation was not good this time, but they can’t keep that child around forever.’
Once you have lifted the veil of cause and effect, you will be able to create as many opportunities in the future.
The moment Temiran, who had worked so hard to rationalize himself, quickly took a step to change his seat.
Goowooung—
His body stopped for a moment due to an unidentified pressure pressing down on his entire body.
“…What is this?”
His eyes naturally turned upward to the sky, following the flow of energy.
And what greeted him there.
It was a huge magic circle that covered the entire sky of Tarak.
“It’s finally come out.”
In the middle of that magic circle—in the sky above Temiran’s head, looking up.
Ise-ah, who had already received the signal and was preparing in advance, looked down and smiled faintly.
A magician is someone who can perform miracles beyond her own abilities if given enough time and materials, but she had a more special ability in that respect.
“How long has it been since I prepared magic so comfortably and leisurely?”
A unique skill called “Infinite Power” that explodes the energy you can handle to near infinity.
However, what is included in that ‘energy’ is not only the magical power that serves as fuel when using magic.
Gugugugung—
an essential resource for constructing a magic trick, but it also includes mental power that cannot be accurately quantified, as well as various brain powers, including thinking and calculating abilities.
As long as she was able to properly realize and recognize them, they were also great ‘energy sources’ that she could utilize to her heart’s content.
‘Well, this is something that I only recently became able to do.’
It is not easy to perceive such an abstract concept in terms of clear numbers.
I guess I grew up thanks to overcoming all kinds of hardships.
It was great news that his power had become even stronger now that his battle with the Immortal King was just around the corner.
Se-Ah Lee looked down with vague eyes.
A being that struggles to somehow move its body and escape from this place despite the prohibition that was carefully built up.
The author must be the ‘unknown threat’ that the saint predicted.
I couldn’t miss such a variable here.
Gugugugugung—
a huge magic circle that had been painstakingly built layer by layer rotated intricately like the springs of a clockwork.
and-.
[“Stop.”]
Time froze at one point on the earth at the words and spirit of the mage who had newly ascended to transcendence.
Although it was only a short moment.
This was enough time for the predator, who hastily escaped from the underworld, to grab the fugitive by the scruff of the neck.