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Chapter 48: In the Red Mountain Range (12)

As Arzen awoke from what felt like a pleasant nap, drifting through the mist, a sudden, thunderous voice shattered the tranquility.

“The exit is blocked?”

In response to Arzen’s question, Svena let out a sigh so heavy it seemed the earth might cave in under her. It was as if she truly wished for it to happen.

“Yes, it was when Ronnie and I were investigating the cavern together. Those damn kobolds suddenly appeared, blocked the exit, and vanished.”

“!”

“Ronnie says it’s not just here—there are tremors everywhere. The whole place is likely blocked.”

Ronnie was meticulously pulling out rocks, one by one, from the pile that sealed the exit. Her hands were covered in blood.

No matter how many stones she dug out, new ones rolled down from somewhere, filling the gap she had just made.

‘Even if I use Barolus or Evakta, if this keeps happening, I’ll eventually collapse from exhaustion...!’

Physical stamina was crucial, but with no food, even recovering magical power would be slow.

‘It took us six days just to get here!’

Naturally, they only had enough food for eight days.

Even if they rationed to the extreme, they’d barely last ten days.

“Damn it... I just started making a name for myself as a witch, and now I’m going to die, buried alive like this?”

Svena, clutching her head after throwing off her pointed hat, sounded as though she had already given up on life. She was the complete opposite of Ronnie, who was desperately digging out as many stones as she could to survive.

For a moment, Arzen felt a wave of resentment.

Rodenkal had sent him here, only for him to meet such an end?

‘No, that can’t be...’

He quickly dismissed the thought, believing there was no way it would happen.

It wasn’t so much a certainty as it was hope, but still.

‘Lord Rodenkal has helped me since the defeat of the Hydra. There’s no way he would let me die here, buried alive like this.’

Cooling his head, Arzen summoned the Void Bee.

The Void Bee had once conveyed Rodenkal’s will.

‘This time too...!’

As soon as Arzen opened the scripture, it began turning its pages on its own, as if it had been waiting for him.

‘Just as I thought...!’

At a certain point, the pages stopped, and the Void Bee settled on one of them, transforming into a key.

It was an intermediate form between a Void creature and a demon.

With no hesitation, Arzen grabbed the master key and inserted it into the lock.

‘I’m sure of it. Just like in the Flowing Desert, Lord Rodenkal, who saved me then, won’t leave me to die here either!’

A dark green radiance swirled around the Void scripture, concentrating into a single beam of light that shot up before striking Arzen’s chest, engraving itself onto his soul.

A new power, bestowed by the Master of the Void, now resided within his apostle.

‘The Veil of Ignorance is lifting!’

The once-hidden text, obscured by the chains and lock, began to appear clearly before his eyes.

To fill a new wineskin with wine, one must first discard the rotten water within the old skin.

Thus, the Void is the first step towards enlightenment.

Only those whose old vessels were empty can reach the truth through true enlightenment.

Re Taripo.

Through this new step forward, gaze anew into the Void and grasp the fragments of truth.

Arzen sprang to his feet.

"Ronnie, move aside!"

"?"

"Quickly!"

With the scripture in his left hand, Arzen thrust his right hand forward with force. This action would be seen as utterly inappropriate for a priest who served the light with reverence.

But an apostle—an apostle had to act this way.

An apostle must always possess such authority and command their subordinates with absolute might.

“Re Taripo!”

Buzzzzz...!

Ten Void creatures gathered around the apostle, suddenly swirling together and beginning to fuse.

\'A fusion of ten creatures?\'

It wasn’t so much that the Void creatures themselves were merging, but rather that the Void essence that made up each creature was blending into one.

"!"

And what appeared… what was it exactly?

Would it be right to call it a small demon?

Its size was about as large as Arzen’s face, but its head alone was as big as its entire body combined.

‘In other words, it’s a two-headed figure!’

Its face lacked any features except for the eyes. Like the Void creatures, it had no pupils, only glowing, hollow eye sockets. And in the center of its forehead, a third vertical eye was engraved, making three in total.

\'Even its wings aren’t insect-like.\'

The small creature hovered effortlessly in the air with just a few leisurely flaps of what were clearly demon wings, not insect wings.

The small demon cradled a large orb in its hands as if it were something precious. Then, it flew toward the pile of rocks blocking the exit.

‘Its flying speed is slow!’

Its flight was bizarre and far from fast or threatening.

\'However...!\'

The strength of this Re Taripo made up for every one of its weaknesses. No—this creature turned every disadvantage of the Void creatures into a strength.

\'This thing is a bomb! A Void bomb!\'

The moment the small demon touched the pile of rocks, starting from the orb in its hands, its entire form transformed into a rift in space itself.

There was no sound, no visible form, but it unmistakably devoured everything in its vicinity, pulling it into some other place beyond.

‘Right now, I can control up to 80 Void creatures...!’

After using all 80, Arzen could summon about 30 more.

‘If I convert them all, I could use 11 bombs in total!’

A hole the size of the small demon appeared at the very top of the pile of rocks.

“Over there! Keep blasting through that spot!”

Two Void bombs ignited on either side of the hole, expanding the passage significantly. Since the top was breached instead of the bottom, there was no risk of stones rolling down to block the newly opened path.

Crossing through the passage would be easy, even for someone unskilled in physical movement, as long as there was something to step on.

Ronnie, in shock, was so overwhelmed she had to cover her mouth with both hands.

“My goodness, how is this possible...!”

Arzen turned his body around. There was something he had to take care of first.

"Barolus!"

The demon\'s grasp seized the massive spike embedded deep within the earth\'s crust.

After about two seconds of a fierce struggle, it wrenched the spike free.

Rumble…!

Cracks spread across the ground, and the mountains quaked. Below the fissures, the fiery glow of molten flames surged.

It seemed they had come close to the heart of the mountain\'s seal.

‘No way!’

Arzen worried that the pile of rocks might collapse under the weight of more falling stones. However, instead of being buried, the vibrations widened the existing hole.

Thunk, thunk, thunk...!

As the Night Face\'s hand withdrew, the massive spike tumbled heavily to the ground. It was far larger than the spikes the kobolds had been using up until now.

Ronnie had to cradle it with both hands just to hold it.

"Svena! Get up! Arzen opened the way!"

"How did he… open the way? What on earth happened?"

"We can get out! Before the kobolds can do anything else, let\'s hurry and escape!"

There was no need for further discussion. The three quickly clambered over the pile of rocks.

Just as Svena had feared, the kobolds hadn’t blocked just one tunnel. Whether they were trying to trap them inside or prevent someone from coming in, more piles of rocks kept appearing to block their path forward.

"Re Taripo!"

But the fusion of ten Void creatures created explosions that obliterated those piles of rocks with ease.

‘Since all three of us are small, three bombs will be enough to clear a path!’

It was impossible to destroy the entire pile of rocks in one go. They had to carefully target the upper sections to create controlled explosions, but as long as they could escape, that was all that mattered.

For now, that would suffice.

"Up ahead! It\'s the wounded we left behind!"

With a simple telekinetic spell, Svena lifted the injured person into the air.

Three Void creatures, which had been left behind to guard, rejoined the worker bee formation.

Arzen ran ahead, using Re Taripo to blow open more paths.

Every tunnel exit and entrance was blocked by debris.

‘The mountains are shaking—staying here won’t do us any good.’

If they lingered any longer, the glowing stones they\'d placed to mark the way out would undoubtedly be lost in the chaos.

They had to run until they reached the limit of their endurance.

"There’s more kobolds ahead! Those bastards are trying to block our path again!"

"I won’t let them!"

Bang, bang, bang!

The thunderous shots of the armor-piercing rounds tore through the air.

The bullets turned the kobolds into hideously mutilated corpses, their heads blown apart by the force of the blast.

The expedition team trampled over the bodies as they pushed forward.

“Kaz Tu Arcturus!”

Having exhausted all 80 Void creatures, Arzen summoned additional ones. A wave of nausea hit him, and dizziness overtook him, but he managed to call forth the maximum 30 creatures.

As soon as the 30 Void creatures arrived from beyond the dimension, they immediately fused into three combined entities.

“Re Taripo!”

* * *

They had descended deep from the start, so it was no surprise that even after running like mad, no light was yet visible.

The group stopped multiple times to catch their breath, eventually collapsing from exhaustion. Svena pulled a water bottle and jerky from her bag, distributing it to everyone, though Arzen received the largest portion.

Arzen was the most crucial member of their team.

The injured person’s body burned with a fever. It was fortunate they were unconscious, as it meant one less mouth to feed.

“We need to rest for a bit to regain our strength. Wake me in two hours,”

“Alright, it\'s 12:15 a.m. now, so I\'ll wake you around 3 a.m. Get some rest, Ronnie and I will stand guard,”

“Don’t worry! You need your strength if we’re going to make it out!” Ronnie added.

Arzen leaned against the cave wall and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

His spiritual energy was tied closely to his stamina. When one was depleted, the other would soon follow. Both were exhausted now, and he drifted off the moment he closed his eyes.

It felt like he had only just fallen asleep when Svena shook him awake. Irritated, he wondered if they were in such a rush that she had woken him early.

However, Svena\'s clock showed that not just two but three hours had passed.

“It’s 4 a.m.”

Out of consideration for Arzen, they had let him sleep an extra hour.

Despite the short rest, it was remarkably effective. With a single shout, Arzen summoned 60 Void creatures in an instant.

“Alright, let’s go!”

They quickly ascended toward the surface, but without rest, even the others were becoming fatigued.

Svena was the first to reach her limit. Her magical energy was completely drained, making her telekinetic abilities unusable, and the injured person she had been levitating fell to the ground.

“Ronnie, carry the injured person!” Arzen shouted.

“Me? But I’m carrying the spike!” she protested.

“Forget the spike! What’s more important than a human life? We can just explain what we saw ourselves!”

Though Ronnie had appeared obsessed with success and recognition, she still had the heart of a witch. Her decision to prioritize life was deeply impressive.

Ronnie discarded the spike and lifted the injured person.

Arzen continued to use his Void creatures to blast open the path ahead, and they pressed on.

One day, two days… They would run to the point of collapse, take brief rests, and then push forward again, nearing the brink of exhaustion with each step.

“Re Taripo!”

With the last of his spiritual power, Arzen commanded his Void creature to charge into the pile of rubble. The moment it hit, light flooded in—blinding, but not from the sun.

It was the warm glow of a spell that illuminated the darkness.

“...The top of the rock pile just blew away!”

“...What? Is it a monster? No, it’s a person! There are people here!”

“Svena! Svena!”

Though they hadn’t reached the surface yet, the witches had sent a rescue team down, worried by their delay.

Svena stumbled into the arms of her mentor, Beth.

“Oh, Master…”

Arzen and Ronnie, breathing heavily, nearly collapsed from the relief that washed over them. Soldiers rushed forward, offering their shoulders to support them.

As Arzen was half-carried up toward the surface, he glanced at the sacred scripture chained to his waist.

‘Thank you, Lord Rodenkal...’