Chapter 252
A woman was wandering through unexplored thickets.
A beautiful path where bright sunlight created light green leaves that harmonized with the deep forest greenery.
But the woman was looking around as if this fantastic scenery didn't register in her eyes.
Each time she did so, her black hair flowed down in front of her shoulders.
Her face had matured and become calm, with the impression of her paternal ancestors faintly showing through.
However, her still white and round face, and steel-blue eyes as hard as steel, were no different from before.
Through lips that had turned rosy from the elevated body temperature from wandering around for so long came a lark-like voice.
"No, where on earth did he go? Yesung, can you hear me? This time it won't end with just grabbing your ankle and dragging you!"
Despite the pretty voice, fierce words came out.
She, who was looking for the person she called 'Yesung,' widened her eyes and looked around earnestly. After doing this for a while, the woman suddenly stopped and slowly raised her head.
The thick branches of a massive tree, so large it was impossible to guess when it had grown, were draped overhead.
A glimpse of red could be seen through the lush foliage.
The woman stood askew, crossed her arms by herself, and glared at that spot before asking.
"Was there another mage among us besides me who could use concealment magic?"
Anyone watching would have thought she was talking to herself in the air,
But she was speaking as if it were completely natural.
A brief silence flowed. Then suddenly, a small giggling sound was heard from above.
"You know I can't use magic."
"Yes, yes, I know well. I also know well why the Lord of the Extreme Realm didn't teach Yesung magic. Won't you come down now?"
"It took me a long time to climb up here. I was just about to sit and rest."
"Did you climb up by yourself? How did you do it? Sitting there makes you as hard to see as concealment magic."
Rustling sounds came, then thin branches were pushed aside.
Finally, red hair appeared beyond the pale yellow and light green new buds.
A young man could be seen sitting barefoot on a high branch, his long hair reaching to his waist left as it was without seeming to bother him.
A person with very soft and kind brown eyes that appeared cold due to his expressionless face.
He had been traveling with the woman for 150 years.
The woman still couldn't understand why he neither grew nor aged.
However, one thing was certain.
He was as precious to the woman as the 'Lord of the Extreme Realm' himself.
The woman stretched out both hands.
"Come down."
"From here, now? You want me to jump down?"
"That's the fastest way, Yesung."
"It seems like you might get hurt. Wait just 10 minutes. I think I can climb back down the tree."
"Oh come on. Don't do that. You know what magic I recently learned from the Lord, don't you? 'Winter Wind.' I can handle Yesung's weight."
At the woman's urging, the young man bit his bloodless lips and sighed.
"Just avoid it if it seems like you'll get hurt. I'll be fine."
"Would I do that?"
At the woman's bold declaration, the man looked anxious, then slightly frowned and threw himself down.
At the same time, the woman shouted something.
The man couldn't hear exactly what it was due to the wind brushing past his ears in that brief moment,
But he could clearly see the scene of the woman's black hair beginning to puff up as if something was surging from below.
Cold wind touched his bare feet.
With a feeling of goosebumps, the young man landed safely in the woman's arms.
The woman looked up at the man with a proud expression, as if looking at an animal that had walked into her embrace.
"Oh my, now I think I understand hunters' psychology a little. Can I call you a pretty red fawn?"
"No one would praise you for catching such a scrawny deer. There's nothing to eat."
"What are you saying? Just skinning it would make winter warmer."
"...Th-that's not serious, is it?"
The woman moved with a bright smile.
The young man pushed away the small branches brushing his head while being carried with an awkward expression.
It was truly a warm and peaceful ordinary spring day.
*
Quite a long time had passed since meeting the first naturally occurring humans and the Theem'drans.
In that time, Eibon had become an adult, and simultaneously her talents began to bloom.
Having received teachings from Aphoom-Zhah, including spells found in the ruins of Yoth, she grasped the essence of magic,
And was devoted to research in developing magic herself.
Although he had listened to Aphoom-Zhah's special lectures from the side, he couldn't become a mage due to lacking background knowledge about magic.
At most, he could be said to vaguely understand the differences between the snake-people's magic and the magic Aphoom-Zhah taught.
If he were to explain it in his own way,
The snake-people's magic was mostly 'ritual-type magic' that used one's own magical power while performing specific ceremonies,
While Aphoom-Zhah's magic was 'incantation-type magic' that borrowed Aphoom-Zhah's power through language.
Ritual-type magic had the caster's own magical power as the main component, so the effects varied greatly depending on the number of casters or the magical power they possessed.
But incantation-type magic drew upon existing power.
Therefore, as long as one had a certain amount of magical power to cast spells, one could use magic indefinitely,
But conversely, if magical power was even slightly insufficient, one couldn't even attempt it.
This reminded him of the Arahans of Shambhala.
The Arahans had learned the snake-people's spells, but no matter how he looked at it, that wasn't ritual-type magic.
When he asked Aphoom-Zhah about this, Aphoom-Zhah spoke as if it were obvious.
-[If the Serpent King had remained awake, they too would have used magic by reciting incantations. But in the end, didn't Ig fall asleep? Magic is also a changing domain.]
In short, because Ig had neglected the snake-people,
The snake-people's magic had changed to ritual-type magic centered on the caster's magical power.
He wondered if this was also one of the reasons magic would become rare in the future.
Anyway, since Eibon had Aphoom-Zhah, she seemed to focus more on incantation-type magic than ritual-type magic.
She had said the magic she was researching was also of that type.
Thanks to this, they had to travel around the world constantly.
This was to collect other cases besides Aphoom-Zhah's incantation-type magic for reference in spell development.
Thanks to this, they had spent quite a long time in the city the Mi-Go race had left, exploring alien civilization,
And had also exchanged with later snake-people living as believers of Tsathoggua.
Ah, he thought he should seal Tsathoggua someday too. That would have to be done after Eibon's research was finished.
"So have you decided where to go this time?"
"No. I originally wanted to go meet the Elder Things you told me about before, but the Lord absolutely refused to go underwater. I haven't developed magic for breathing underwater either."
"Then it would certainly be difficult."
"Right? So I'm planning to stay around here for a while and catch my breath. If I change my mood for a bit, good ideas might come to mind."
"That's... good. What about Aphoom-Zhah?"
"The Lord said he'd rest for a while since it's been a long time since he came to a warm place. He says it feels like his body is melting."
"In a few days this place will get cold again anyway. Then he'll feel somewhat alive."
Just over a hundred years had passed,
But the planet had already returned the familiar seasons to him.
Mild and warm spring, hotter summer but cool in the shade, autumn with fresh and clear winds, and cold winter.
Well, even so, the temperature differences between seasons weren't that great.
Still, seeing that the seasons had gradually begun to settle from about 40 years ago, it seemed this planet they lived on had also entered another period of stability.
Eibon set him down on a rock warmed by the spring sun.
His bottom felt warm, naturally improving his mood.
She took out dried fruit from the luggage on her back, then looked at his feet and sighed.
"You won't wear shoes even if I tell you to, will you?"
"It's spring. How good it feels to step on soft soil. I'm going to enjoy it until Aphoom-Zhah makes this place cold again."
"Yes, yes. Do as you please. The Lord said there should be other human tribes nearby. We need to get some drinking water and exchange food if there's anything to barter."
"Is it already time for that?"
"I eat more often than Yesung. Anyway, I'm going now... will you come with me?"
"I was waiting for you to say that."
He loved watching humans.
He nodded and came back down from the rock.
The warm rock was nice, but watching humans wasn't something that could be done anytime.
It was still an era when the concept of diplomacy was weak.
Except for the Theem'drans who had branched out from the Shambhalans, who were artificial creations, people couldn't communicate with each other.
Therefore, outsiders naturally received extreme wariness.
Not only that.
Even within the same tribe, communication often didn't work well, leading to constant fighting.
For him, who wanted to avoid getting involved in unnecessary conflicts as much as possible, he had few opportunities to encounter humans for this reason.
The only time he could see humans for extended periods was when Eibon went to barter like this.
Since it wasn't an everyday opportunity, he excitedly followed Eibon.
Had they walked for about thirty minutes while making small talk?
"We're almost there. Just a little more-"
In the middle of her speaking, screams echoed from far away.
It wasn't from one person. It sounded like quite many people were screaming.
Eibon and he turned pale and looked at each other, then ran straight ahead.
When the screams and clamor became gradually clearer,
Suddenly the path they were walking seemed strange, so when he looked down, he could see small grains of sand rolling around.
Before he could guess where the sand came from, Eibon shouted.
"Yesung! Over there!"
The moment he raised his head, he was stunned by the sight.
A giant wave of sand was swallowing people.
He couldn't understand how such a thing was possible. However, the sand was spinning around in a certain range as if trapped in one place, pushing the screaming people inside.
Sand that occasionally surged and poured down pressed down on people who resisted by waving their hands,
And sand soaked brown with blood merged with other sand.
Each time the sand wave surged up, it seemed like hollow eyes and mouth could be glimpsed.
Was that a person? Or another child of Yog-Sothla?
While his judgment was delayed due to confusion,
His eyes found someone else besides the sand wave and the people being crushed miserably.
He was sitting on the edge of the wave,
And only where he sat was strangely calm and settled.
With one leg on top of the sand and the other in the sand sea, slowly swaying, he looked exactly like someone playing in water at a pond.
A person terribly bored, not fitting with the surroundings.
He watched the people suffocating in the sand ripples with emotionless eyes, then stood up.
A low voice sounded as loud as thunder.
"Submit. There is nothing but death besides that."
Eibon's eyes widened.
At this point in time, the people who could converse in this 'language' were limited.
Him, Tika and Shan, their children the Theem'drans, the Shambhalans of the desert, and the human who founded Shambhala and first learned to speak from him.
He unconsciously took a step back.
At that moment, at perfect timing, that person looked this way.
Ice-cold red eyes met his.
He blurted out without going through his brain.
"Run."
"Yesung?"
Eibon looked back in confusion.
But just from looking, he could already tell.
"Run, Eibon. Right now!"
The fact that Yurik was still absolutely furious.