novelraw Chapter 184
Chapter 184
Chapter 184
Whoosh…
My vision shifted.
The first thing I saw was Sobius.
He looked endlessly worried as he spoke to me.
“Mother. Are you all right? You don’t look well.”
I have never had a son. And I’m certainly not your mother.
Just then, I heard Adwin’s voice.
[I have lightly linked my soul and yours to Idria’s world.]
[…You really can do anything, huh.]
[Thanks to that, we can now borrow Idria’s senses. That way, we can directly observe the special room with our own eyes.]
He was right.
I tried to look around, but it was impossible.
All Adwin had done was borrow Idria’s senses, not take over her body.
Then…
[What kind of trick is this? Mide Mohan.]
It seemed Idria had noticed our presence.
Through her eyes, I observed the special room. It was an strange place.
The sky turned red, then blue every few seconds.
The ground alternated between desert and swamp.
A breeze like spring would blow, then turn into a biting winter wind moments later.
But none of that mattered to me.
I hadn’t expected the special room to resemble the normal world anyway.
What caught my attention was Idria and her followers.
Pirensha asked cautiously,
“Mother, what’s wrong?”
“Shh.”
“Ah, yes.”
Idria silenced her underlings and spoke to me.
[How are you talking to me? Even for a hero, this is a bit much.]
[You don’t need to know how. And don’t bother complimenting me. This connection only allows secret conversation, I can’t affect the special room physically.]
[I wasn’t complimenting you.]
[Then how did you end up like that?]
I wasn’t mocking her.
Because Idria and her followers really did look that bad.
On either side of Idria were Sobius, Pirensha, and Sabach, bound.
Their entire bodies were wrapped in translucent chains, which were fused to the bare wall.
Like flies caught in a spider’s web.
Then Adwin touched other spirit-bubbles nearby.
[I have linked to Sobius, Pirensha, and Sabach’s souls as well. I left out Batore.]
[Of course you did. Good call.]
Apparently our conversation was audible to the others too.
Their eyes widened in shock, though they wisely stayed silent.
Pirensha’s sharp voice came first.
[Mide! Where are you right now?]
[I’m not inside the special room. And that’s my question to you.]
[What?]
[Where exactly are you in the special room? I know you’re inside it, but specifically, where?]
At that, Sabach seemed to realize something and asked carefully,
[Why do you ask? Are you planning to rescue us?]
[Regrettably, yes. You and Idria have work to do for me.]
[You mean that matter…?]
[You sound displeased. Do you not want to?]
Sabach stayed silent.
Sobius spoke in his place.
[It’s not about wanting or not. If Mother has decided, we follow.]
[Good. Glad you understand your situation.]
[…]
[Then answer my question. Where exactly are you inside the room?]
Then Idria spoke.
[I don’t know.]
[How could you not know?]
[The special room isn’t just a simple room. There’s another world beyond that door.]
Even through the soul-link, I could almost hear her sigh.
[This place is a world of its own.]
[You mean it’s so vast you can’t tell where you are? That’s a weak excuse.]
[When Batore threw me inside, I thought I hit the floor. But it wasn’t the floor, it was the wall.]
[What’s that supposed to mean?]
[I’m simply describing what I experienced. The floor turned into the wall in an instant. That’s how twisted this world is.]
She chuckled softly.
[When I came to my senses, I was stuck to these translucent chains, alongside the others.]
[…]
[The door we entered through is gone too. I can’t tell if the distance stretched or if space itself shifted. Either way, this world is full of phenomena beyond comprehension.]
[And Batore?]
[He disappeared.]
At that, Pirensha ground her teeth.
[That traitor…]
[Pirensha. As I said, Batore didn’t betray us. He just ate something rotten long ago.]
Rotten food, huh.
An interesting metaphor.
Even so, judging by the faces of Pirensha and the others, they weren’t convinced.
Sobius spoke up.
[Even when you first took Batore in, Mother, I had a bad feeling about him.]
[Enough.]
[The rest of us were accepted for a reason, but Batore was just a sudden decision, wasn’t he? I ask now, why did you choose him?]
I recalled, through the Eye of Omniscience, the scene of Idria taking Batore in.
A starving, deranged youth beaten to death, taken and turned into one of her fingers.
Compared to the others, it really had been an impulsive choice.
Idria said,
[Because he reminded me of Idria.]
Silence fell.
In that moment, Adwin, I, and the Fingers of Lies must have all shared the same thought.
[What the hell does that even mean?]
[I understand your deep wisdom, Mother.]
No. Guess we didn’t share the same thought after all.
Pirensha snapped at me.
[Watch your mouth. That wasn’t nonsense.]
[Then how else do you interpret that? She just referred to herself in a third person.]
[I don’t know either, but she must have had a reason.]
[There’s no reasoning with you people. Fine, Idria, explain yourself.]
Idria spoke calmly, as if it were nothing special.
[When the energy of “negativity” humans create reaches its peak, a Demon King is born.]
[Right.]
[But that negative energy alone doesn’t just create a Demon King. There must be a medium.]
[A medium… like the Demon King’s core?]
The core of Demon King of Destruction was Mountain Baharma.
The Demon King of Greed had been a liquid.
The Demon King of Corruption had constantly changed form, but there had always been some sort of central point that could be called its core.
[For reference, the precise core of the Demon King of Corruption was the basic elements themselves. Elements can combine and transform into anything, that’s their nature.]
[That’s not what I asked.]
[And my core is a heart.]
I knew that.
Before the regression, Kaeld had once managed to seize Idria’s heart in his grasp, even if only briefly.
At that time, Idria had used that very heart as a medium to swallow Kaeld whole.
[The heart that became my core… its owner’s name was Idria.]
[……!]
[Well, she was devoured by me right after my birth, but still. After I took over the body, the memories of the original owner slowly began to surface.]
She suddenly stopped talking there.
Something told me Idria wasn’t going to open her mouth again anytime soon.
Not that there was any reason to press further.
But there was one thing I did want to say.
[The same thing you did to that heart’s original owner… your so-called child, Batore, is now going through it himself.]
[You really have a talent for mockery.]
[The one who has taken over Batore’s body right now is a man named Aktion. Aktion Oscar.]
[……Who is that?]
[Find out for yourself. For now, try turning your head a bit.]
Following my words, Idria strained her neck to move.
It wasn’t easy, her entire body was bound tight in those translucent chains, but with a creak and effort, she managed to shift her view a little.
But even then, there were no clues to pinpoint their location. The terrain and climate kept changing every passing second.
‘Well, at least Aktion isn’t there. That’s something.’
Maybe he thought no one would dare come to the special room. Or maybe he believed that even if we did, we would never find Idria.
Either way, that was the one piece of good news in this mess.
‘Velosian is asleep, and Aktion is absent.’
It might seem complicated, but the conclusion was simple: All we had to do was sneak in quietly and get them out.
Now we just needed to figure out where “there” was.
There had to be some good way to do it…
‘….’
Ah!
I quickly spoke up.
[Pirensha. Bite your tongue.]
[Wow. That’s about the last thing I expected you to say.]
[Not right now. Wait for my signal.]
[Sobius, do you understand what he means?]
Just then, my view dimmed slightly.
Idria had closed her eyes.
A moment later, she seemed to realize something.
[Do as he says.]
[Mother?]
[Mide isn’t telling you to kill yourself. He probably needs your blood.]
Oh.
I grinned.
[So you figured it out. Then I don’t need to explain further.]
[Right.]
[One more thing. Those translucent chains, can you break them on your own?]
Idria twisted her body a little.
Then, with a sigh, she answered.
[Unlikely. It’s not just the strength required, our powers aren’t manifesting at all.]
[Because of the chains? They must be Aktion’s work. Is he really that strong?]
[I don’t know for sure. But when he stepped into the special room with me… he had become something else. His appearance hadn’t changed, but the aura he gave off had.]
[……Got it. I will keep that in mind.]
I was about to tell Adwin we should head back, when Idria suddenly spoke in haste.
[Batore is one of your rescue targets too, isn’t he?]
[Not at all.]
[Mide.]
[Luckily, Batore has always been the least active of your followers. Even without him, your side won’t lose much in battle.]
[Think again.]
[Sorry, but it’s not even worth considering. Even if Batore wanted to come with us, you would have to stop him, wouldn’t you? He is Aktion now.]
I couldn’t see her expression through her own eyes, but I was sure her face had hardened.
[Still…]
[More importantly, he is your child, isn’t he? Then you should be the one to take care of him.]
[……Fine.]
[Good. Then get ready. React to my signal immediately.]
Whoosh.
With that, my vision changed.
Adwin had severed the link between our souls and the bubble world.
He immediately fired off questions like a machine gun.
“Hyung, what are you planning to do? Why did you tell her to bite her tongue? What do you need the blood for?”
“Hmm, well…”
Clink. Clink.
Just then, the bell rang again.
Keeping that same rhythm for so long took more effort than it looked.
“Let’s go back first. Neril’s arm must be sore.”
“Ahaha, you’re so considerate.”
“And you have gotten cheekier.”
“Anyway, let’s return. Everyone needs to hear this.”
Whoosh.
Adwin’s arm shone brightly.
I closed my eyes lightly.
When I opened them again, the others were in front of me.
Neril was about to ring the bell once more but instead flung it backward.
Adwin panicked.
“My bell!”
“Oh, sorry. Reflex.”
She gave a completely insincere apology and grabbed my face.
“You were dead for so long. You okay?”
“That’s a strange way to put it. Anyway, I’m fine. Your arm must be sore.”
“That’s not why I asked. I was worried.”
“Adwin was with me. What’s there to worry about?”
Adwin, now blowing on the bell Xenia handed back to him, chimed in.
“Exactly. And hyung has gone there twice now. Shouldn’t you be worrying about me, the newbie?”
“Ah, right. Sorry. You okay?”
Again, Neril gave a 1% sincere apology, then scanned me up and down.
“If you ask, at least wait for the answer…”
“Give it up. Those two being mushy isn’t new.”
“Serein, that sounded kinda emotional.”
“No, it didn’t.”
“Anyway, I will report.”
Adwin then laid out everything that had happened during our trip to the underworld.
At first, everyone listened with interest, but by the end, they were all wearing question marks.
Lisel turned to me.
“You told Pirensha to kill herself?”
“I said it’s not that. And a person doesn’t die just from biting their tongue.”
“She is not a person.”
“Then even less reason to worry. What I need is her blood. Since they are all bound, there’s no other way to draw it out.”
Shhh.
Neril, apparently satisfied that I was fine, stepped back and asked,
“Why do you need the blood?”
“The inside of the special room is vast like another world. The terrain and climate keep shifting, so we can’t guess their location.”
“Yeah, I got that part.”
“So I’m going to use the wide range search magic circle.”
At that, Offense reacted instantly, just as he always did whenever this topic came up.
After all, that was the very magic he had once asked me to use to find his parents.
“The wide range search magic circle… the one Beyond created?”
TL: Hey everyone, I haven’t been very active lately, but I will try to upload more chapters from now on. And if you want to read the complete novel, you can do so on our Patreon.”
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