Chapter 718: Alps (3)
A grey warrior chosen by the holy sword…
‘Raphael.’
It was a familiar name.
Didn’t he also compete hard to be chosen by the holy sword? I’d never talked much about him, but it was a name that made me feel jealous.
There was no other reason. It was because I still couldn’t forget the sensation when I first grabbed the sword.
Back then, I couldn’t tell the difference between the enormous malice that penetrated my head, the darkness that covered my heart, and the sense of maggots penetrating my skin and digging through my guts…
‘I don’t want to feel that again.’
How could I not be interested in a warrior who endured hardships that I couldn’t endure?
Only then could I understand the window that opened just before entering the room, which I had a.s.sumed where the first guest came from.
I didn’t ask old-fashioned questions, but perhaps he went into the office first. I thought there had to be a grey warrior on the way. The road wasn’t properly visible because of the fog, but the faces of the party members who seemed very nervous stood out.
I was also nervous, but it was because I was well aware that it was a dangerous area.
It was a completely ruined and heavily polluted place.
The deeper I entered the depraved land that hadn’t been purified, the more I frowned because of the stench. It was a sensation similar to the one I felt when I was subjected to the test of the holy sword.
Darkness stained with anger and regret, despair and fear, all kinds of negative emotions. I didn’t know if it’s an appropriate expression, but the feeling of where I was at that moment was like that.
I knew I had to be as silent as possible, but I had no choice but to speak up.
“The Guild Master, is he really alive?”
“Actually…”
“Yes?”
“It’s fair to say that the function of his body has completely shut down. He can’t breathe, and his heart has completely stopped… Medically, he’s completely dead.”
“Then…”
“But there’s still magic in his body. As you know, in the body of a dead man…”
“Oh, magic can’t flow.”
“When we first discovered the Guild Master, he didn’t have a handful of magic left, but in about three hours… The magic began to flow again. He wasn’t breathing, though. The contamination of this land now is…”
“It’s because of the magic in the Guild Master.”
“…”
She didn’t answer, but I saw her nodding. It occurred to me that she probably couldn’t judge the current situation accurately either.
Although it had been said that magic was flowing in him, we had no choice but to question what the nature of the power was. We didn’t know exactly how big it was, but the range almost covered a city and was decaying it.
The environment had changed. How could I explain such a phenomenon…?
I knew the Guild Master had died of evil, but…
“Are you sure he’s alive?”
Even if we could save him, would he still be his previous self? Maybe he had already become a completely different being.
No, was it really beneficial to reach out even if there is a way for him to be saved?
I thought I could see why that was happening secretively. If Benignore and other denominations learned about it, they wouldn’t remain silent. Maybe…
‘Maybe she’s trying to revive the devil.’
Of course, such a concern might just be nonsensical. However, as soon as I captured the image of a beast in my eyes, I instinctively reflected on what I had thought before.
He already had a form that couldn’t be called human. It was no different from the appearance of the devil that I had encountered as a child.
The huge horns were hideous and ominous, and the wings on his back were twisted in a strange direction. I couldn’t find the Guild Master I’d seen before even if I washed my eyes and looked for him.
However, more noticeable than its appearance were the cuts on his body.
The stench was so bad that I had to hold my breath because he was already rotting.
It was visible. He looked so tattered that I doubted he could even move.
His body was covered in black marks, and the strangely twisted figure seemed to tell how painful his death was.
‘Can he really… survive?’
The surroundings were filled with hardened blood.
I could tell without touching it. It was already completely stiff. Perhaps because I witnessed a tragedy that I couldn’t explain with words, I couldn’t speak properly.
Why…
I felt like I knew why Cho Hyejin asked me to go with her.
‘How am I…’
How was I supposed to see that?
How could we face such a tragedy? How could I face that figure with my eyes open?
When I turned my head slightly and looked up, I saw Cho Hyejin, who had an expression that was hard to describe.
I felt like I was shaking. However, after holding hands a little bit, I calmed down a little bit.
“It was more serious when I first saw him. At least now…”
“Yes. He looks much better.”
When I turned to the voice that came from somewhere near, I saw someone I hadn’t seen in a very long time. The first thing that caught my eye was the Holy Sword, which was established as a symbol of the warrior, and the blonde hair. The gray warrior chosen by Benignore.
It was Raphael.
“I heard that you weren’t coming…”
“I changed my mind.”
“Well thought out, Cho Hyejin. Oh, this is… I know you. You’re Alps, right? Long time no see.”
“Yes, long time no see. Raphael, if I had known you were awake, I would have gone to say h.e.l.lo…”
“No, I’m fine. As soon as I woke up, I headed here right away… I heard Hyung’s voice looking for me.”
“Hyung?”
“Yes, the Blue Vice Guild Master…”
“Oh.”
“I got a message out of the blue. It’s a message that said, ‘Save this man. I know you can save him.’
“It’s…”
“What do you say, Raphael? After that…”
“I haven’t received any other messages since. It was only once right after I woke up. I didn’t get any other answers about how to move or what to do, but I think I have to do this. Of course, I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing now, but… This is the only duty I’ve got right now.”
“The Guild Master’s condition is…”
“It’s exactly as you see. The gray sacred power is filling the scar. I’m glad it didn’t cause a rejection like normal sacred power, but…”
“I’m glad that works.”
“Yes, I’m glad…”
In addition to the gray warrior, others stood out.
I couldn’t remember them well, but that person who was wary of the surroundings was probably… Lee Juhyuk, the hound. The one who built the safety zone around him with his divine power…
‘The Miracle Priest Marien.’
There were a few other familiar faces. They were the members of what was called the Holy Sword Party. Not everyone seemed to be present, but they were certainly the ones which often showed up in the guild. They weren’t the only ones present. Choi Young-ki of the Red Mercenary, and…
‘Master of the Black Swan Guild?’
She was currently talking to Cho Hyejin.
I thought it would be good to say h.e.l.lo, but it didn’t seem like the right timing. Everyone looked extremely nervous, after all.
Park Yeon-joo, the Holy Sword Party, Choi Young-ki of the Red Mercenary, and other powerful people all had similar facial expressions.
It wasn’t because of the Guild Master in front of them. It was because the enemy could come in at any time.
‘How long did we walk?’
Where exactly were we?
The fog covered us, but there was no wall around us. Made of magic and divine power, the Safety Zone wouldn’t be strong enough to deter enemy attacks.
If the demons in angel masks could reach us…
‘It could be dangerous.’
Perhaps it was because of the tension I had never felt before, but my palms began to sweat. The fog made me feel ominous since I couldn’t even see an inch ahead of me.
“Eeeiiik.”
Whitey whimpered and fixed their eyes in the distance, and I followed his gaze without even realizing it.
“Uh…”
I could see a masked man looking our way.
“Huh?”
It was such a remote place. I didn’t even know if what I’d seen was a human figure.
Perhaps I had gotten it wrong. I rubbed my eyes for a moment and looked at it again, but all I could see was fog.
‘Was I hallucinating?’
However, wouldn’t it be better to do some research?
A man wearing a white mask? Why was he staring our way?
“Eiiik…”
I was about to talk to an adventurer nearby.
“Prepare for combat!”
“…”
“All units ready for battle!”
“Waaang! Waaang!”
“Whitey!”
I heard the sound of an explosion from somewhere.
“Wizards, release the magic you’ve prepared!”
“Our location has been discovered. Requesting a.s.sistance! Enemy numbers can’t properly be verified.”
“Move according to the manual.”
The air changed instantaneously. I could hear wizards chanting spells all over the place. The surroundings themselves felt like they were getting heavier.
I urgently pulled out the sword on my waist as I saw a demon in the image of an angel stretching his spear through the mist.
‘I can avoid it.’
I was slightly stiff with tension, but it was an attack that could be avoided good enough.
“Waaang!”
When I heard that sound, I felt my body gaining vitality. My movement got faster, and my force got stronger. I thrust my sword out to the enemy’s heart exactly, but it was caught with the sound of a ‘chin.’
“Ah!”
I felt fl.u.s.tered for a second when someone saved me. A spear came through the mist, its tip penetrating the angel’s neck.
“Go to a safe place.”
“Oh… no. I can fight.”
“…”
“I can fight.”
“…”
“Then join the unit immediately.”
“Roger that.”
I watched Cho Hyejin throw herself into the fog.
It wasn’t known where she was exactly headed, but albeit a bit blurry, I saw her stretching out her spear against the angel with long brown hair.
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!
“Let’s go Whitey!”
“Waang!”
I knew how to fight. I had gone through a lot of training.
The manual was also in my head. It was important to ensure that beneficial effects on party members weren’t lost.
In order to use the buffs given by Whitey, I had to move as much as possible.
‘The fog is blocking the view.’
It was difficult to distinguish the land and find exact locations. The same went for our troops and for our enemy.
‘Whitey can tell the difference.’
He should able to tell by the smell. It wouldn’t work in large-scale battles, but in small and medium scales, one’s ability would be of great help in guerrilla combat.
I followed Whitey, who was quickly leading the steps.
I had to keep remembering the surrounding terrain amid a hectic run. Any information could help later. That was when Whitey, who was running without hesitation, stopped moving.
“w.a.n.g!”
“Where are we? Are… Are you here?”
“Waang! w.a.n.g!”
What I saw in front of me was a man wearing a mask.