By Zephyria According to him, the Black Mountain was sometimes generous and sometimes violent, sometimes sending monsters and other times swallowing them into itself without sending them out. Yohan earnestly hoped it would be the former this time. Now that the Flood’s pursuit had also stopped, they moved with quick steps instead of running, so as not to provoke the Black Mountain.
“…It always feels unpleasant here.”
Joo Ho-young, who could traverse the Black Mountain freely at any time due to his unparalleled speed, muttered. Yoon Seung-ryong didn’t look particularly comfortable either, but his condition hadn’t worsened as it had when the Flood attacked earlier. Yohan looked back at him and asked,
“Is Lee Hyun-muk alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. So for now, let’s try to look ahead and walk.”
Lee Hyun-muk said, his hand resting on Yohan’s shoulder since they entered the Black Mountain, never letting go.
“Ah, yes, yes.”
“It’s okay to talk, though.”
At that, some of the tension left Yohan’s shoulders as he gripped his weapon tightly. He tried to ignore the Black Mountain’s gaze, which felt like it was staring at him persistently, and asked,
“After we cross the Black Mountain, what kind of place is the next area?”
“It’s the Reed Sea area.”
“Reed… Sea?”
Yohan tilted his head. He couldn’t easily imagine what the Reed Sea was like. Lee Hyun-muk continued from behind Yohan,
“Well. You’ll only know what the Reed Sea is like when you see it with your own eyes. It’s also quite a beautiful sight, rare for this place.”
“Wow… I’m really looking forward to it if Lee Hyun-muk says so.”
Yohan said in a voice trying to sound cheerful, desperately shaking off his fear and tension. The end of his words still trembled. To help Yohan, Lee Hyun-muk dropped a shocking piece of information.
“Yakrin will probably be there.”
Yohan’s eyes widened. Seo Yakrin! He felt a surge of excitement at the name of another teammate. His gaze flickered to the obsidian spear he was holding. Above all, Seo Yakrin could reforge Eternal Stones into Adamantine Steel, so he was looking forward to it. It was then that Yoon Seung-ryong, having heard Lee Hyun-muk’s words, let out a wail.
“No! Let’s go somewhere else! I’m against that old geezer coming back!”
“We have to make a weapon for Yohan. We can’t have him carrying around something like this rock forever.”
Lee Hyun-muk stated flatly, causing Yoon Seung-ryong to groan and run his hands through his hair in distress. Yohan quietly asked Joo Ho-young, who was now walking beside him, bathing in light.
“Do Seo Yakrin-ssi and Seung-ryong Hyung not get along?”
“Yeah, a bit… They don’t really have compatible personalities. But, well, I need to fix my bow too.”
Joo Ho-young said, stroking the bow in his hand. Although Yohan had performed purification once, he couldn’t fix the warped part of the bowstring, which wasn’t made of Adamantine Steel. It was amazing how it hit its mark with every shot despite its twisted shape.
How long had they walked like this? As they moved, chatting about this and that, they were already nearing the end of the Black Mountain. Yohan wiped his sweat-drenched palms on his clothes. Fortunately, it seemed the Black Mountain would let them pass without incident today.
“I’ll go ahead and scout. There might be a Flood here too.”
Joo Ho-young quickly darted ahead. In an instant, his figure receded as he went beyond the Black Mountain range and surveyed the surroundings. Meanwhile, Yoon Seung-ryong exited the Black Mountain first. Yohan stuck close behind him, his back alert. Finally, Lee Hyun-muk emerged, holding his long spear at an angle. A sigh of relief escaped him.
It’s a good thing nothing happened, he thought, barely suppressing the words from escaping his lips. Usually, in movies, such a statement was no different from a death flag. But then.
KAAAK! A chilling monstrous roar echoed. I only said it in my head! Yohan let out a silent scream and frantically looked around, then followed Yoon Seung-ryong and Lee Hyun-mook’s gazes upwards. Beneath the dark storm clouds, a colossal Monstrous Bird was flapping its wings as it flew. Even from this distance, its size was overwhelming. Joo Ho-young, who had returned to the group, aimed his bow towards the sky and asked,
“First strike?”
“No, wait.”
Lee Hyun-muk shot a sharp gaze towards the sky and clicked his tongue briefly. Yohan’s eyes widened. What he had thought were dark storm clouds were actually flocks of birds. As the Monstrous Bird cried out again, the black, wriggling flock of birds plummeted in unison.
“Ugh!”
This time, Yohan couldn’t help but scream. Putting aside their skeletal, corpse-like appearance, their beaks and talons were incredibly sharp as they headed towards them. Corpse Birds, hungry for flesh and blood, rained down. To prevent friendly fire, Lee Hyun-muk created distance, while Yoon Seung-ryong stood close to Yohan for protection.
Fzzt! A dark flash flickered, and a bolt of lightning split the air. The sharp, elongated beaks acted as perfect lightning rods. The creatures caught in the web of lightning bolts turned black and fell powerlessly. Towards the birds that managed to slip through, Joo Ho-young unleashed dozens of ice arrows.
A dozen or so birds, miraculously dodging even that, plunged their beaks into the ground. The birds that rose, flapping their wings, stared blankly around with milky-white eyes. Though not as large as the colossal Monstrous Bird circling overhead, these birds were also significantly larger than humans. Yoon Seung-ryong shouted,
“They’re using poison!”
“Yes! I’ll purify!”
Seeing the endless swarm of black birds, Yohan, though terrified, tried to stay calm and scattered purification. The potent toxic miasma emanating from Yoon Seung-ryong couldn’t even approach Yohan, let alone affect him. Meanwhile, the enemies approaching them collapsed and died.
The flock of birds came endlessly. Even though Lee Hyun-muk dealt with a significant number and Joo Ho-young handled another large portion, they continuously covered the sky in black, flapping their wings. The corpses of dead monsters began to form hills all around. Despite this, the three of them dealt with the birds with practiced ease. Yoon Seung-ryong kicked away a bird dissolving in poison and even cracked a joke,
“Should we have chicken for dinner tonight?”
Yohan, who had been extremely tense, finally managed a smile. Just as he was about to reply, “Chicken sounds great,” a black wall suddenly shot up between Yoon Seung-ryong and Yohan. Before he could even properly register what it was, the ground beneath his feet gave way.
“Yohan!”
With a desperate cry, Yoon Seung-ryong’s arm shot out through the wall. It was an attempt to grab Yohan. However, it only grazed his clothes, failing to catch him, and Yohan plunged downwards. As he fell into the dizzying abyss, the Black Mountain poured down like a tidal wave above him, covering the sky.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Yohan barely regained consciousness with a throbbing pain. Then, recalling the moments before he lost consciousness, he snapped his eyes open. Yet, everything around him was pitch black.
“What, what is this?”
As he tried to sit up abruptly, he hit his head hard on something and lay back down. Groaning, he clutched his forehead and then realized something was wrong. He fumbled around in the darkness with his hands. The space around him was incredibly narrow. It was so cramped he couldn’t even stretch his arms out properly, as if he were in a coffin. Yohan, falling into a panic, began to breathe heavily.
Am I buried inside the Black Mountain? Was I buried alive?
“Lee, Lee Hyun-muk-ssi! Seung-ryong Hyung! Ho-young!”
He shouted from the confined space, struggling, but no answer came back. A rumbling, rumbling… unknown noise echoed from around him, accompanied by tremors, and the sound of stone dust falling.
“No, no, no…”
Terrified, Yohan burst into tears. The situation, being separated from the three of them and buried alive alone, was terrifyingly dreadful, making him feel like he would die. He wished it were a nightmare.
After crying in a state of panic for a while, Yohan finally regained his composure. He felt a strange vibration in his hand. It was then he realized he was still clutching his weapon tightly even in his unconscious state.
“Hic, hic…”
Gasping for breath, Yohan channeled his power into the weapon. Then, the Eternal Stone attached to the tip of the weapon emitted a bright light. Just having light made him feel a little bit alive. His rapid breathing also slightly subsided.
Trembling with fear, he relied on the light to desperately scan his surroundings. It was a cramped space, blocked on all sides, just enough for him to lie down. Confirming he was in an even smaller space than he had estimated, his breathing became rapid again.
“At times like this, hic, I have to be calm…”
But even telling himself to be calm was useless, and tears streamed down Yohan’s face. He felt suffocated, breathless, and like he was going to die. It was a space that could create claustrophobia even if you didn’t have it. Compared to when he was being chased by the Flood, his current situation was terrifying and bleak beyond comparison.
Right, I’m a High-level Awakener. Maybe I can dig my way out of this. Yohan, regaining his senses, raised his hand and began to dig at the ceiling. To his surprise, the texture his fingertips touched was not soil but rock. As he dug with more force, pebbles rolled down. Yohan doubted his own eyes. The spot he had managed to dig was slowly filling back in. The fallen pebbles remained, so the space Yohan occupied had actually become smaller.
“Heeuugh, I want to get out…”
Unable to dig any further and despairing, he sobbed, clutching his weapon tightly to his chest. With that action, the tip of the glowing Eternal Stone touched a spot on the narrow space. Then, a faint ripple of light spread across the black pebble wall, like dropping a stone into water. Sobbing, Yohan felt something strange and looked up.
“What was that…?”
He squeezed his eyes shut to clear his vision, wiping away tears, and cautiously poked the tip of his weapon into the wall. Again, the same ripple spread silently. Could it be…? Yohan concentrated his purification power into his hand. Touching the wall with his fingertips, which shimmered with a bright light, he received a truly astonishing reaction.