C656
Jin's hand, which was holding the red hair, trembled slightly as he entered the cave.
Outside, Zephyrin was also brusquely organizing things.
First of all, the knights accompanying her did not have the anti-air capability to face a dragon like Zephyrin.
"Hmph, that unfortunate demon dragon is strong, it seems to be almost over. If Hedo does well, will you lose?"
"It's not over yet, Sandra Zipple."
"Really? It looks like things have been settled."
"Reinforcements are on the way."
Sandra tilted her head and looked at Hedo as if asking what he meant.
"What do you mean? Twelfth Flagbearer.""Focus, Tower Guardian. At first, I thought the chaos energy was concentrated only near the cave, but as soon as the battle started, I could feel the faint chaos energy coming from far away."
Hedo, who closed his eyes once and raised his senses, immediately showed an expression of surprise.
He could feel an extremely weak energy, as small as a tiny insect hidden in a field, but he was sure it existed without having to search for it.
It was an energy that could never be detected without concentrating, especially in a snowstorm in the Kaldran snowfield.
"Did you... feel it without even concentrating?"
"I've been able to feel chaos more acutely for some time now. It's not just one place, the energy is coming from all the snowfields. They will probably be here within an hour. And there will likely be more reinforcements behind them."
If he could feel such a weak chaos energy more than an hour away, then the scale of the presence would be huge when they met face to face.
"Tower Guardian, can you inform Zephyrin of the situation?"
At those words, Sandra's eyes lit up like a lantern.
"Go quickly, hurry up! And come back as late as possible."
Her eyes lit up with excitement at the idea of being alone in the cave with Jin as soon as Hedo went to inform Zephyrin.
Besides, Jin was walking very slowly.
Of course, it was because he wanted to explore the cave in detail after Valeria's disappearance.
However, Sandra decided not to think about that and focus on the fact that she was alone with Jin.
"Come to think of it, this is the first time I'm walking alone with Jin. It's so nice..." Sandra said.
But Jin was too focused on observing the interior of the cave to even hear her.
After a while, Sandra grabbed his shoulder and asked, "Is the person we're looking for very important to you?"
"Yes. Why do you ask such an obvious question?"
"It might not be her hair. So don't be too impatient."
"I'm sure it's her hair," Jin replied.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because it's an uncommon color."
Of course, Valeria is not the only redhead in the world.
However, Jin clearly recognized that it was Valeria's hair, and it was something difficult to explain in words.
"Will you come to rescue me too if I get kidnapped somewhere in the future?" Sandra said.
"It depends on the situation," Jin responded.
"That's very cold of you, but I forgive you because it's cool. But I think you'll come to rescue me anyway," Sandra said.
"I don't want to go through something like this again. So always stay with the Tower Guardian."
Sandra got teary-eyed as Jin continued observing the surroundings.
"I still don't see anything unusual, as Ronil said..."
The cave was not very deep, and even after a few minutes, Jin hadn't noticed anything noteworthy.
From that moment on, Sandra stopped complaining and started meticulously searching the cave with Jin.
There was still chaos energy because the knights had been residing there, but since Valeria disappeared, the Garden of Swords hadn't made any additional changes to this place.
Despite being a land where an important figure disappeared, they only dealt with the personnel without making any changes.
The meaning of this fact was clear.
"It seems that Runcandel... no, the Garden of Swords is being very cautious with this place, dear. Although Histor disappeared, they didn't dig up the ground or demolish the walls. Even the icicles remain intact. They must be hundreds, if not tens of years old."
"I thought the same."
"You said the tomb of the first patriarch of Runcandel is a subspace, right? I think they were looking for a way to enter that subspace. If Runcandel knows it's a subspace."
"It's very possible."
Finally, when they reached the end of the cave, Hedo, who had gone to inform Zephyrin, returned.
"Why did you come back so soon? Peace and quiet were starting to come, but you're as unconscious as a musclehead."
"Everything has been settled there, and Zephyrin said she will first explore precisely. She also said that if possible, she would delay or annihilate any reinforcements arriving."
"Alright, Tower Guardian."
If Zephyrin did that, it would add more time for additional troops to arrive, but it was difficult to calculate how much.
At the end of the cave was a chamber filled with a transparent substance similar to ice, without any part broken and reformed.
"Elder Brother Ronil was right, there's only one way out of here, either we go back the way we came or we break through the ice wall... Now I understand why the survivor of the Histors couldn't be located by my clan."
Even after Jin and Sandra continued searching for any trace of mana in the cave, they found nothing special.
The blue window showing the record magic that Ronil had seen was also not there, which was to be expected since the Magician was no longer there.
'Valeria was out of contact for about two months before disappearing from here... and she didn't leave any clues about Temar's tomb.'
Most likely, Valeria was in a desperate situation where she couldn't even contact Tikan during those two months.
And she suddenly disappeared from this very place, with a slightly shaved lock of hair.
'...Sir Ronil didn't get to face my master properly, but it's certain that Rosa's knights fought with Valeria.'
Valeria would have sought this cave after escaping that battle. Ronil would have pursued her, and Luntia too.
Even after combining all of Ronil's information, the incident became increasingly confusing.
More than ten minutes had already passed.
"Twelfth Flagbearer, I think it's a trap. Rosa Runcandel must have expected you to come here."
"Maybe."
"In that case, she should have placed more troops or prepared to ambush us when we entered, or even appeared herself. It feels like Rosa Runcandel is giving you time on purpose."
Jin nodded, as he had been considering this possibility all along.
"As the Tower Guardian said, Temar's tomb is supposed to be here. She must have waited, assuming I have a way to get there."
Suddenly, Padler Runcandel's image crossed Jin's mind.
It's very possible that Sir Padler is the guardian of the fifth tomb.
However, if the Prophet took Sir Padler out of the tomb, she must have entered the fifth tomb at least once.
But why is Rosa giving me time as if she wants me to find this?
'Is it because Valeria is still inside the tomb? Maybe the Prophet who left the tomb for some reason doesn't know how to re-enter.'
The problem is that not even Jin knows how to enter the tomb. It wasn't like the first tomb, where there was a key or a guide.
Time was passing incredibly fast.
"Twelfth Flagbearer."
"Speak, Tower Guardian."
"We won't be able to come back here. If it becomes clear that there's no other way, Rosa will completely block this place. So, how about we try something they haven't done and leave quickly?"
"Are you suggesting we destroy the cave?"
"Yes. It seems there is no other option."
"We won't destroy the cave. Even if we return today without any harvest, we don't want to eliminate any reason to come back later."
"Then, are we going to stay like this? We have to be rational."
For Hedo, it was more important not to put Sandra in danger than to find Histor.
Especially in such a desperate situation as this, it was even more important.
"Hedo! You said it was someone very precious to Jin. Think of something more drastic!"
"I think it would be better to stay here, my lady."
Hedo was right. If they couldn't harvest anything, they should return as soon as possible and reconsider their search.
"I'll try one last thing, and if it doesn't work, we'll leave."
"Good idea. What's the plan?"
"I'll fill the cave with Shadow Energy. If there's no response, we'll retreat without further delay."
Jin sat up straight and released his Shadow Energy.
When he used the key to the first tomb in the past, Murakan also injected a large amount of Shadow Energy this way.
Perhaps Shadow Energy itself is the key to responding to the subspace. Please open... Jin thought, but in reality, if Shadow Energy were necessary, Valeria's entry into the tomb wouldn't have been possible.
Jin was grasping at straws.
The Shadow Energy quickly filled the interior of the cave.
However, even though Jin released a massive amount of Shadow Energy in an instant, there was no response.
Watching from the side, Sandra bit her nails and turned her head towards Hedo.
"Can't you do anything else, Hedo?"
"I don't think I can do anything, milady. I'm not a Shadow Energy user."
"Then pray! Don't just stand there!"
"...Do you mean pray?"
"Yes, sincerely. Ask for help to find Histor, Jin's friend."
Sandra closed her eyes and clasped her hands together.
Seeing her, Hedo let out a deep sigh and adopted the same posture next to her.
He wanted to know what it was about, but he couldn't help it because it was obvious that if he didn't, there would be another commotion.
And then, the commotion came when Jin felt a sudden strike on the back of his neck.
'All of a sudden, the Shadow Energy is being absorbed in one place...!'
It was the first time a change occurred.
Jin immediately directed his gaze towards the place where the Shadow Energy was converging.
It was where Sandra and Hedo were praying side by side.
"Hedo! Your sword! The sword is shining and doing something, the sky has answered our prayers!"
"I see it too, milady. What the hell is this..."
Jin had a strong intuition that Hedo's sword was the key to Temar's Fifth Tomb.
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