Chapter 214
I watched over the gap tinged with green light.
It was a rift, as though space itself had torn open.
Inside, a war was raging.
Only the timeframe was different.
The battlefield and this plain were the same place.
Behind the gap, it was just a plain.
"I can see the stronghold through the gap."
Everyone looked at its current position.
Where the hill and the stronghold should have been, there was nothing. Not even a trace of where the stronghold once stood.
"It looks like the entire area has disappeared."
"Even up to that hill?"
"Yeah. Everything, land included."
The plain was a little lower than the surrounding area. In the distance, there were some rocky areas and hills, but this plain was completely flat. Only weeds grew— there weren't even large rocks.
"Touch the stone of the gods."
I touched the stone of the gods first, and the others also placed their hands on it, one after another. Our whole bodies were tinted green. I didn't know how long this light would last.
"Everyone, don't go far."
"Understood."
I squeezed through the gap first.
I let out a gasp as soon as I entered.
The battlefield was even larger than it appeared from the outside.
Countless devils were surging in from the east. Gadisil knights charged at the devils, while mages in the rear fired fireballs.
There were countless explosions, large and small, and at the stronghold's gate, a massive explosion had just occurred. Everything around it was erupting and blowing away.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
The momentum of the explosion hadn't reached where we were yet. Nearby, though, dirt mounds had been blasted so high they were like geysers.
I touched the clothes of a Gadisil mage. I could actually feel it. It wasn't some kind of illusion— the fluttering robes felt very stiff. Maybe because time was flowing so slowly.
I walked toward the stronghold.
At the explosion site, I saw what had happened. White objects were erupting in a chain reaction.
"It looks like when the devil sorcerers were casting a joint spell, the magic shells all detonated at once."
I touched the white powder on the ground. Rubbing it between my fingers, the magic amplification was tremendous. To compare, it was like touching gunpowder so potent it would ignite just from friction.
Whoever did it, a massive pile of Isron had exploded. Judging by the number of wagons flying through the air, it must have blown up while they were moving it into the stronghold.
That explosion greatly amplified the devils' sorcery, erasing everything in the area. Both sides ended up trapped in the rift in space-time.
Despite all the Gadisil and devil soldiers, none of them perceived us. To us, they moved extremely slowly, but to them, we must have been moving at the speed of light.
I reached the explosion's epicenter.
The shockwave was forceful and heavy as it swept out. Touching it, I found the resistance immense.
"Anyone feel themselves slowing down?"
"Not yet, I'm okay."
Not knowing when the green light tinting us would fade, I held onto the stone of the gods. If anyone in the party got stuck, I'd have to free them.
The resistance within the explosion's energy was too great to enter directly, so I looped around and entered through the stronghold gate. The gate was halfway up and stuck in that position.
I slipped inside.
Many Gadisil soldiers were poised to charge. Behind them were rows of siege weapons.
Inside toward the inner court, there were piles of white, square objects stacked high. They were magic shells for the siege weapons. No need to mine Isron anymore— we could just take them.
Everyone headed to where the magic shells were stacked.
Unless struck with a shock hard enough to move them by wagon, the outer shell was cushioned so they wouldn't explode.
I tried to open the door of the magic vault right away. But, perhaps because we were in another plane, the door of light wouldn't open. Even the magic bag wouldn't take anything in.
"We'll have to move the magic shells ourselves."
"Can someone get a wagon!"
"Yes!"
Two members tried to pull a wagon absent-mindedly— but it was even heavier than expected. Even the siege-class magic shells, which were the size of apple crates, required two people to lift.
Funny enough, once we picked one up and let go, it floated in midair. It would slowly descend, but so slowly, it was practically frozen in place.
"It's easier to just push it like this."
"Yeah, floating the whole wagon and pushing seems easier too."
It took less effort to float the wagon and push it than drag it on wheels. There was no rolling resistance.
Alongside Eilin and Yuri, I moved further inside the stronghold.
Gadisil royalty were arming themselves in full suits of armor, preparing for battle. The devils must have staged a surprise attack.
As we explored the stronghold, I checked on the members in between tasks. Contrary to expectations, once the stone of the gods activated its authority, so long as nothing abnormal happened, its effect seemed to persist.
When we reached the stronghold's basement, I discovered the Gadisil kingdom's weapon storeroom. People had stopped in the middle of moving weapons, so we could walk right in.
There were truly bizarre weapons everywhere.
There were countless identical magic staves on racks, and piles of leather gloves studded with black gems.
I'd seen mages firing beams from their hands earlier— apparently, these gloves bestowed that ability. By concentrating magic with Isron and other magic stones, they could shoot beams.
"Eilin, Yuri, help carry the weapons."
"Got it."
I went down to the third basement floor alone.
There, I found a magic array, and beyond it was a thick iron door guarded by the vault keeper.
I used the vault keeper's key to open the heavy iron door. The sight inside almost made me laugh out loud.
A vast pile of treasure filled the room.
Bars of gold, heaps of jewels, and all sorts of magic stones filled the spacious vault. There were also many weapons and accessories whose purpose I couldn't even guess.
There were endless magic stones for flame, frost, and lightning, along with highly concentrated black quartz. There were also many Isron-encrusted gems, and more than 200 spirit stones.
For now, I took only as much as I could carry in the basket and headed out of the palace. Then I made straight for the rift in space-time. It would take real work to move it all.
/ / /
Everyone rested outside the rift.
After three hours of moving cargo, we were taking a brief break. Even pushing the floating items around was exhausting.
"Aren't dark knights allowed?"
"I tried, but neither bronze knights nor dark knights can use the stone of the gods. As soon as they go in, they freeze in place."
"No rush, let's take it slow."
"Yeah, let's."
As the sun set, we built a campfire and started preparing to camp. The wind was blowing strong and the temperature was low, but with Yuri radiating warmth, no one felt cold.
We ate grilled meat, drank coffee, and then headed back in. There were still plenty of tempting items left in the rift. I intended to take everything useful.
The others went to fetch more loot, while I headed for the devil army's camp. To my surprise, I found the devil legion commander stationed in the rear, surrounded by devil generals.
He was a devil with a bright red face.
Yellow eyes and massive horns.
A dark, swirling aura of power.
I stood before the legion commander.
He was over three meters tall, decked out in necklaces, rings, and more. There was a huge sword beside him too.
I drew the holy sword slung across my back.
Then, without warning, I struck at the commander's neck.
Thunk—
The sword embedded about halfway through with a single blow. In this space, all objects grew heavier, so that was actually less than it would have been otherwise.
He didn't even feel pain— he just kept staring at the stronghold. He might perceive something flickering quickly across his vision, but his body's reaction would come much later.
I drew my sword and struck again.
Thunk.
The legion commander's head was severed, but it didn't fall. I tapped it with my hand, and even his head floated in the air. Droplets of blood also hung, suspended.
Then I grabbed the commander's collar and started dragging him away. He was heavy enough already, and dragging him was no small task.
I dragged him out of the rift. Only then did blood begin to gush from his neck and the devil essence started forming rapidly.
I quickly split open the body, extracted the essence, wrapped it so it wouldn't explode like before, and put it in the magic bag. I also took the necklace and rings the commander wore.
/ / /
Two days had passed.
The magic vault was now stuffed with the loot we'd moved. We had cleared out both Gadisil's and the devils' weapons.
I'd also brought a lot of Gadisil books, since Rungha, the mage at the new territory, could decipher them. Most were about magic arrays and magic itself.
"Did you count the magic shells?"
"Yes. About 100 large, 300 medium, and 2,000 small shells. As for throwing shells, we brought them by the crate—I haven't counted, but it's over 30,000."
"Good work, everyone."
This was the largest haul of treasure I'd ever collected. Thanks to it, founding a country would be much easier. Even if I sold only the gold from this batch, it would be enough and then some.
Except for Yuri and me, everyone wrapped themselves in the Mantle of Flame. With Yuri appropriately radiating warmth, even if we entered the land of frost, it would be bearable.
"Yuri, let's go!"
"Yeah!"
As Yuri transformed into the Red Dragon, I climbed aboard immediately. We soared into the sky and headed straight east, toward where the massive ice wall was visible.
It wasn't far, so we arrived in less than an hour. From above, the ice wall encircled the island continent. The entire continent seemed locked in ice.
In the center lay a towering ice mountain and, surrounding it, what looked like the ruins of Gadisil cities. All were frozen solid and white.
Yuri crossed the ice wall.
A wave of bone-chilling cold surged up. It felt like at least minus 40 degrees Celsius. The ground below must have been even colder.
If the grand duke came this way, he would have entered through the continent's east, so that's where I decided to check first. There could be a collapsed ice wall or perhaps a magic array.
We flew for another hour.
Just as I anticipated, there was a hole in the ice wall over the sea. A ship was wrecked inside the hole, radiating intense heat.
"The ship is covered with a flame magic array!"
The grand duke had gone in and out through that opening. If we destroyed that magic array, the passage would be blocked. At that size, the array would be hard to repair due to lack of materials.
"Yuri! Take us under the ice wall there!"
"Okay!"
Yuri turned and headed for the opening in the ice wall. Waves of heat and cold blasted toward us at once. On the deck, a glowing red magic array was inscribed.
The sea by the wall was frozen, so Yuri landed right next to the hole. We jumped off at once, and Yuri returned to her girl form.
The ship was deep inside the thick ice wall, but only the area around the ship was melted. The heat pouring from the ship made it hard to even approach.
It wasn't a wooden ship.
It was made of engineered lightweight stone, processed and bonded together—a material only found in southern Beltern. The deck was the same.
Yuri and I boarded the ship.
The magic array was crafted with raw flame stones.
"Everyone, get inside the ice wall!"
"Yes!"
The others entered the ice wall, crossing the frozen section between the ship and the hole. I took out a hammer.
"Yuri, you pick up these red stones."
"Alright."
Crash—
As I smashed the deck, the heat abruptly vanished! Chunks of raw flame stones tumbled out. Yuri picked up the stones with her bare hands.
The heat still lingered, but the magic array was destroyed. Once we gathered all the raw stones, the hole would soon freeze shut as well.
Gathering all the flame stones, Yuri and I entered the ice wall. The freezing began instantly. This was no natural phenomenon— it was a frost barrier.
Crackle—
Moisture condensed and cold swept in so fast the gap sealed shut behind us. The ship was imprisoned in the ice wall.
We joined the others.
They were staring out at a city frozen in ice.
It was a port of Gadisil.
Numerous ships, half submerged, were locked in ice. Beyond them, buildings encrusted with frost continued all the way to the stronghold. The cityscape was very different from human cities.
My feet stuck to the ground, and the air was cold enough to sting my face. There was no sign of life anywhere. A gloomy, haunting atmosphere pervaded the place.
"Darkness energy is strong here."
"The snow mountain, right?"
"Yes. There's some kind of darkness here too."
We entered the city together.
Gadisil folk who supposedly turned into ice monsters must have been tainted by darkness. Was there also a devil's door here?
We walked a long way, reaching the center of the city.
I'd intended to go straight to the snowy mountain, but something drew me to check out the city.
Thud— Thump-thump—
Just as expected. All over the city, white giants were beginning to appear. Each was about three meters tall.
They were ice Gadisil. What's more—
One Gadisil came walking from a distance.
White hair. Bright blue eyes.
Amazingly, that one had wings of holy power.
I was wondering what that meant when—
He vanished, then reappeared right in front of us.
Teleportation?
"You've come here to die, haven't you?"
No one said a word.
I instantly realized he was an Apostle of Gadisil.
One said to be one of the seven gods.
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