Chapter 455. Overwhelming
There was no need for them to drag things on for too long. As soon as they finished their preparations, Seven Stars departed from Shalyh. Their purpose was to rescue their target if she was alive and defeat Balim while they were at it. Perhaps some would think their main and side goal had been flipped, but Chi-Woo was confident in his decision. After all, this goal concerned an individual who Perfect Yoo-Joo declared as one of the most important driving forces that allowed her to achieve success. Of course, it wasn’t guaranteed that he would benefit the same way as Perfect Yoo-Joo had since they were from different worldlines, but he wanted to confirm the truth at least once.
“Hahaha. I’m not sure if it’s all right for me to be part of this expedition,” Umaru said. He was riding in the same carriage as Chi-Woo and kept grinning like he was happy about something. Chi-Woo looked at Umaru for an explanation, and Umaru smiled mischievously and glanced sideways. Was he talking about their team members? Chi-Woo tilted his head.
There were Evelyn, Eshnunna, Hawa, Apoline, Shersha, Astarte, Purupuru, Teresa, Eun-Hyang, Asha, and Wallie. Chi-Woo went over the list and soon realized why Umaru looked so pervy. Unlike what his rough appearance suggested, it seemed that the man’s head was full of far-fetched dreams and imaginations. Chi-Woo snorted wryly.
***
Though they hadn’t arrived at their destination yet, the expedition members had to get out of their carriage. It had been long since they pa.s.sed the border, and not knowing what dangers awaited them if they ventured further, their driver was hesitant to continue. Though this area had become unclaimed land with the fall of the Demon Empire, there was still no safe place for them on Liber except for the Ca.s.siubia League’s mountain range and Shalyh. Since they had already discussed this matter before starting on this journey, Chi-Woo and the others calmly got off their vehicle and began their march.
Perhaps it was because this land was where the Demon Empire once enjoyed its glory, Shersha’s face fell a bit. Astarte also kept her mouth sealed, while Purupuru became noticeably down.
In an attempt to brighten the dreary mood, Evelyn said, “The Abyss is also a place where communities live in the end.”
It seemed that Teresa wanted to break the stifle silence too and immediately responded. “Huh? Humans live in Abyss? No way.”
“Not humans, but communities. It"s your prejudice that you immediately think of humans. I think anyone who can use language, tools, and make up a society can be called a community.”
“Aha, in that sense. The Abyss is also a place where communities live.”
“See? And places where communities live are all similar. There are the rulers and those who are ruled by them—just like the food chain.” In a pyramid of strengths, the Abyss King stood at the very top, and then came the Seven Chasms who carried out his will. Hearing this explanation, Teresa tilted her head confusedly once more.
“Huh? Chasms? As in fissures on the ground?”
“Yes.”
“Like deep holes below?”
“That’s the dictionary definition of their t.i.tles, but you can think of it in a metaphorical sense. They are all existences almost impossible to escape from once you fall for their traps.”
Teresa still looked confused, and Evelyn poked her cheek with her index finger and said, “For example, there are countless people around me who can’t free themselves. They fall for my beauty and charm, right? That’s what it means.” Evelyn wasn’t speaking in a joking tone. She looked serious like she was telling the truth as it was, and surprisingly, no one laughed or took her words as jest. It was because it was the truth. Teresa even clung closer to Evelyn saying, “That’s true! You are so pretty, unnie!”
“I see. Then how should we understand this enemy named Balim?” Eun-Hyang asked from behind.
“She’s the Chasm of Despair.” While patting Teresa’s head, Evelyn said that it was a good question. “Those who fall under her control drop into a chasm of despair whether they like it or not. Her victims struggle against her powers and in the end, give up and lose all hope.”
“How interesting,” Eun-Hyang said, sounding slightly intrigued. She was excited that she was finally facing a proper enemy after coming to Liber. Not long afterward, they had to stop their march. Hawa spotted a suspicious trace.
***
Based on a faint trace from a couple of months ago, Hawa was able to deduce dozens of pieces of information as if the incident had happened only yesterday. Thus, they were able to correct their course, and the Seven Stars members made camp very late in the night. Since they were in enemy territory, and night duty was of utmost necessity, they got in pairs of two and vigilantly kept watch. Fortunately, nothing happened that night.
But at the break of dawn, Shersha’s eyes suddenly burst open. Then she hastily sat up and crawled out of her tent as fast as she could. It looked as if she was running away in panic.
“…Hm?” Eun-Hyang, who was sensitive to changes in her surroundings, opened her eyes. She saw Shersha quickly crawl across the ground like a dog and looked curiously. She wasn’t the only one who noticed Shersha’s strange action.
“Purupuru! Get up! Purupuru!”
“Ung….”
“Shersha just went outside!”
“…Huh?”
“Quickly!”
Eun-Hyang blinked hard seeing Astarte and Purupuru rush out of the tent to follow Shersha. Evelyn, Hawa, and Eshnunna had all been on night duty together since they were the last s.h.i.+ft, and they were stunned to see the three great demons run out of their tents with messy hair flying behind them.
“What is it? What happened? Did you all have a nightmare or something?” Evelyn tried to calm them down with a soothing voice.
“No, that’s not it—” Astarte was about to say something when suddenly, an explosion rang from inside the tent. Boom!
It sounded as if a rock had struck someone’s head strongly. Surprised, Hawa hurriedly pushed away the curtain and looked inside the tent the noise was coming from.
“….?” They definitely just heard the noise, but it was completely peaceful inside….except for the air. Hawa saw everyone’s faces darken, and her expression also turned sour. A very pungent smell a.s.saulted their senses. Teresa, who had been sleeping peacefully, began to s.h.i.+ft, and her eyes began to slowly twitch.
“Ah…s.h.i.+t….” She opened her eyes, unable to hold back from cursing.
“Why are you cursing?” Eun-Hyang, who was half-awake already, asked.
“Ah, it’s because I smell something nasty while I’m trying to sleep!”
“It’s the same for me,” Eun-Hyang instantly replied. Soon, the two heaving ladies looked toward Umaru, who was sleeping with his back turned. They looked intently at him before Teresa kicked Umaru’s b.u.t.t hard while cursing, “Ah, d.a.m.n it!”
Umaru didn’t even budge.
“Why don’t you hit him harder? Much harder,” Eun-Hyang suggested, and Teresa, who was already angry, put more strength to her legs. But as soon as she kicked him again, Umaru aggressively farted repeatedly, blarp, blarp, blarp, like his b.u.t.t had a mind of its own and was getting angry.
“What—!”
“This crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d?!” Soon, Eun-Hyang also joined Teresa in the act, and Umaru’s air pollution stopped only after a thorough beating. Because they had beaten him with great anger and stirred up quite a commotion, everyone woke up earlier than scheduled.
“Blergh—” While Hawa puked from an upset stomach, Apoline yelled at the three great demons outside.
“How could you three escape by yourselves! Aren’t I on the same team as you?”
“I’m sorry. I have no excuses to make.”
“I’m the team leader! If you guys act like this in a time of crisis, how can I believe you next time?”
“Our actions were more habitual than intentional, honed from repeated experiences and spending a long time with Shersha. We knew Shersha must have a reason for suddenly fleeing. Anyways, we will be more careful next time.”
Meanwhile, Umaru pleaded for his life while kneeling on the ground with Eun-Hyang’s sharp blue sword at his throat.
“Hey, hear me out. There’s a reason I farted.”
“Do you really need a reason, sir? There’s no need to explain yourself. It’s a natural physiological phenomenon for a living person,” Eun-Hyang replied.
“Then what’s with the sword?”
“But there’s a limit to everything.”
“…”
Thus, Umaru explained how he had a terrible nightmare while he was sleeping. “It was so, so scary. So scary that I even peed or p.o.o.ped without meaning to.”
“What kind of nonsense… Ah, wait. Did you perhaps…” Teresa glared at Umaru irritably when a change of expression came over her face. Umaru smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.
“Even I can’t help but feel uncomfortable. Can I go take care of myself a bit?”
Eun-Hyang and Teresa stepped backward in great panic. Following them from behind, Eshnunna also looked like she was experiencing great culture shock. “That is a…hero…?” The nightmare of the fifth recruits came to her mind again, and she blankly murmured.
After the situation settled somewhat, Evelyn said, “It must be the same for Umaru.”
“What do you mean?” Teresa asked with teary eyes, having also puked beside Hawa.
“Majority of us had nightmares tonight.”
“Really? I slept very well though,” Teresa said, but that wasn’t the case for Eun-Hyang.
“I see. It’s true I also had a nightmare. When I heard what Umaru said, I thought it was a mere coincidence…”
“Is there anyone else who had nightmares? If there are, can you raise your hands?” The majority of the fourteen people raised their hands. The ones who didn’t raise their hands were Chi-Woo, Teresa, Evelyn, Asha, and Wallie. Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
‘Anyone who possesses holy energy in whatever forms didn’t have nightmares.’ The implications were clear.
Evelyn sighed and said, “It seems Balim has found out about us.” With this, their plan to ambush Balim was over. Perhaps they should’ve expected it when they were trespa.s.sing into her territory.
“What does this mean? Why would she make us have nightmares…”
“Isn’t it to gradually drag us into despair? Perhaps she is trying to exhaust our minds and bodies by continuously giving us nightmares,” Eun-Hyang shared her theory. But Evelyn didn’t look convinced.
“Who knows? I’m not too sure. Perhaps it’s a warning…”
It was then Shersha finally spoke. “Too hasty. It will be all right. For us to continue going this way.”
Everyone turned towards her. Of course, no one really understood what Shersha meant. It was the same for Chi-Woo, but he didn’t try to dive into it. It was because the moment Shersha tried to exactly explain what she meant, heavenly punishment would fall on her. Thus, he said, “Anyways, we’ll only know once we get there. Let’s pack up and go.”
***
They recommenced their march at noon. On their way, they could clearly feel that they were gradually getting close to the center of Balim’s territory. Though the sky was clear, their surroundings were dark. Gloomy air whirled around everywhere, and a mysterious, unpleasant, and sticky feeling seemed to cling to their entire body and weigh them down.
Exactly two days after they sensed the changes, the expedition team identified what they presumed to be their destination. It was a facility built around a huge pit that they couldn’t see the end of; it looked like a secret base of sorts. What was more surprising was the materials used to construct the base—not bricks or limestones, but humans. The humans weren’t even dead, and the arms and legs that peeked out from places wiggled. It looked like a twisted exhibition of tangled living humans. All the heroes were furious at the sight.
“I can now understand why Balim is called the Chasm of Despair,” Eun-Hyang murmured calmy after looking quite stunned. “It’s a place where a sound mind can’t help but despair.”
Teresa seemed to have a weak stomach as she vomited again. But it was understandable because there was an indescribable metallic and putrid stench all around them.
‘It’s strange,’ Chi-Woo thought while staring at the grotesque sight before him. This place was a secret dungeon that his other self from another world had told him about. That Chi-Woo had said that the dungeon was difficult to conquer, but not for someone like him. However, he didn’t hear that there would be structures made out of humans near the chasm. Of course, changes like this could be well accounted for since they lived in different worldlines, and even their timelines were different. Nevertheless, Chi-Woo was hesitant to simply venture in. It was because the person he was looking for happened to be in a location that matched his other self’s description. Was this all a mere coincidence?
‘Let me think,’ Chi-Woo mused. The Chi-Woo who had told him about this dungeon didn’t even mention Balim. He just said it was a dungeon. Yet Evelyn said that Balim had established this place as her resting place long ago, and that there was a high possibility she was conducting secret experiments here. More questions popped into his mind until Chi-Woo came to a conclusion.
‘Maybe that Chi-Woo came here in his world when Balim had already finished her business and left.’ Then, it would make sense that Chi-Woo would’ve mistaken this place as an ordinary dungeon. Yet that wasn’t the case for this world. Balim hadn’t finished her experiment and was still here. Chi-Woo didn’t know the exact reason, but there was a high chance that his actions might have influenced Balim’s behavior. Or there could be another circ.u.mstance that he didn’t know yet.
Above all, if this speculation was true, it was unfortunate for the Chi-Woo who had told him about this dungeon, but fortunate for him and his world. Because it meant that he still had the chance to stop this ongoing experiment, and they would have another reason to destroy this place instead of just finding someone.