Chapter 17 : Chapter 17
Chapter 17. In Search of the Moonlit Grass (2)
***
“Put other things in here besides me. Comrades are fine, people you know are fine too.”
The brown eyes looking at Blanc curved like crescent moons.
“Keep plenty of things to burn in your heart. Before anger makes you yourself void.”
The brown eyes that looked at Blanc.
Those eyes were gone now.
In the empty void darkness where the eyeballs had melted away.
Blanc stabbed her heart.
When the sound of her heartbeat finally stopped, Blanc heard Ulrich’s weeping from behind.
And at the same time, he felt his own heart becoming void.
“……What should I burn now?”
***
The villagers living nearby called that place ‘White Claw’.
About 150 years ago from now, there was an incident where a mage of the Flame School caused a huge explosion while experimenting and destroyed one side of the mountain.
The explosion was so huge that a third of the intact mountain was blown away, and thus a cliff that wasn’t quite a cliff was created by a single human.
“It seems to be that place.”
“Looks like it to me too.”
At the tip of Rakshar’s finger, the cross-section of the mountain reflecting the moonlight whitely could be seen.
“Young Master, it is already evening. Climbing the mountain at this hour is very dangerous.”
“Iselin has no time.”
She was a child who was just annoying.
But when he saw that child’s lips turning blue, Blanc felt anger burning in his heart.
Was there still something left to burn in his heart that had become void? Or had that child newly entered his heart?
Blanc did not know. That was why he came to find the Moonlit Grass.
Rakshar glimpsed unwavering firm will in Blanc’s eyes.
“……Understood. Let’s go.”
“Lead the way. Rakshar.”
Even skilled hunters were reluctant to climb the mountain at night, but it was an unavoidable choice for Blanc.
Because the time left for Iselin was only two days now.
Blanc and Rakshar moved towards the entrance of the darkened forest.
It wasn't a place teeming with monsters or where bandits set up camp.
Since it was a mountain near the capital Baltimere in the first place, it was a place where subjugation squads operated regularly.
Even young children living in nearby villages would come into the entrance of the mountain during the day to pick up firewood or fruits.
However, the problem was that the current time was deep in the night when the moon was up, and nighttime is a time zone where human influence weakens.
Moreover, Blanc and Rakshar were not lingering at the entrance of the mountain but crossing it to climb up to the vicinity of the mountain peak.
“Hup.”
Blanc took a short deep breath and sprang forward simultaneously. At the end of Blanc’s gaze stood a huge blackish wild boar.
As white lightning similar to the currently floating moonlight stayed briefly on Blanc’s sword.
Squeeeaal.
The wild boar screamed its last breath and collapsed on the spot with a thud.
“S, Sorry. Young Master, I took the wrong path.”
“It can’t be helped. I know well enough that it’s impossible to arrive at the destination without any interference.”
Even if Rakshar was an excellent hunter with werewolf blood, it couldn’t be helped.
Because this was not a mountain he knew well.
Still, thanks to his innate senses and experience, they were advancing towards the White Claw without losing their way, but clashes with animals and monsters that had already taken positions and established territories were unavoidable.
“Let’s go quickly.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
It was around early evening when they first arrived at this mountain, but it was deep into the night at dawn when they reached the cliff called White Claw near the mountain peak.
‘I’m really glad Rakshar is here.’
Although it was a mountain he climbed for the first time without any prior knowledge, Rakshar led Blanc to the White Claw finding the path with beast-like senses.
Usually, he was just a half-werewolf who was clumsy and didn't know the ways of the world, but in the mountains, he was a completely different person.
If not for him, they wouldn’t have been able to climb the mountain in the middle of the night, nor reach here.
Even now, Blanc was exhausted and unable to regain his senses, but the faithful hunter was tying a rope long and fixing it firmly to a nearby rock without resting.
Rakshar, looking down the cliff with beast eyes beyond human range to gauge the distance, nodded as if this was enough.
“Y, Young Master, preparations are complete.”
“Good work.”
Although he could have rested for a moment, Blanc took the rope Rakshar handed over and tied it tightly around his waist.
“S, Still, wouldn’t it be better for me to go down?”
“It would be right for the lighter me to go down rather than the heavy you. Your response or judgment regarding unexpected situations would also be better.”
It was a situation where Blanc’s thought was correct in many ways.
If it were the mage Ulrich, he would have been able to enter the cave on the cliff easily using the power of magic, but for Blanc who only had a sturdy body, the only way was to go down the cliff using a rope.
“Y, Young Master, please be careful.”
“Hold onto my lifeline well. Rakshar.”
It was a cliff of dizzying height just by looking down.
Moreover, it was a situation where he had to go down relying on moonlight in the middle of the night, but Blanc did not hesitate.
“Phew.”
Exhaling a big breath once, Blanc grabbed the rope and started descending the cliff without a shred of hesitation.
Seeing Blanc’s bold appearance unbelievable for the age of fourteen, Rakshar smiled.
Because his Young Master, who he thought would always be young, now seemed sufficient to be called a dignified man.
‘This is difficult.’
Even combining the memories of the past life, descending a cliff on a rope in the middle of the night was a first.
Therefore, he missed his footing unable to find a foothold, his fingernails peeled off, and blood flowed from his forehead as he bumped head first, but he did not stop descending.
Rather, Rakshar watching that appearance from above was stomping his feet.
“Haa, haa. Is it here?”
The cave on the cliff he finally reached, drenched in sweat.
Since it was a cave receiving moonlight without filtration due to its location, the internal view could be clearly recognized even though it was a dark night.
Blanc, who was dangling on the rope, stepped into the cave and let out a sigh of relief involuntarily as soon as his two feet settled on the ground.
‘Indeed, worthy of Lord Ulrich selecting it as a laboratory.’
Blanc quickly scanned the cave.
The cave Ulrich said he used as a laboratory looked like an excellent hideout even to Blanc himself.
The cave of appropriate size had flat ground, the walls surrounding the cave were solid, and it was dry enough to store this and that.
‘That is…….’
And in the middle of the cave, there was a single flower emitting silvery moonlight while solely receiving the moonlight.
It was just a single flower, but even Blanc momentarily lost his mind and fell for the figure of the Moonlit Grass due to the atmosphere that seemed almost holy.
Therefore, he did not see.
The ominous thing slowly opening its eyes in the corner of the cave where moonlight did not reach.
He didn’t grasp it by sight.
As a chilling goosebump rose on the nape of his neck, Blanc instinctively took a defensive stance.
Red spots lighting up from the dark space beyond the Moonlit Grass where moonlight did not reach.
‘What is it? That.’
Two red spots containing the color of blood.
‘Is it a bear? No, that can’t be.’
Where would there be a bear living on a shear cliff?
Red spots forming again above the two spots.
A total of 4…… 6…… 8…… 10, and 12.
Below the spots increasing endlessly, there was a giant maw opening like the entrance to hell.
“Damn it!”
HISS, HISSSSSS!
Rakshar was watching the entrance without blinking once even after Blanc entered the cave.
And finally, in his eyes, Blanc rushing out of the cave in a hurry was seen.
“I, I guess he found it…… Uh, uh?”
Blanc, who ran out panting in a flustered appearance to anyone’s eyes, grabbed the rope with one hand and jumped out of the cliff with all his might instead of climbing up the cliff.
“Rakshar, pull!”
Blanc’s voice rang out urgently in the quiet night.
Rakshar was momentarily flustered by Blanc’s sudden action, but.
“Woah! Waaaah!”
Seeing the entity like black muddy water bursting out from behind Blanc, Rakshar pulled the rope connected to Blanc with all his might.
Black muddy water poured out of the cave as if burst from a dam, and when its appearance was finally fully revealed in the moonlight, they could confirm what it was.
“It’s a centipede!”
“It’s a bug!”
It was a giant centipede boasting a length as if several carriages were connected.
HISS, HISSSSSS--!
Perhaps displeased with Blanc disturbing its sleep, the centipede was expressing anger by moving its antennae and countless legs violently.
‘It’s disgusting!’
Past life. Although Blanc had lived roughly, he couldn't help but feel instinctive repulsion towards the giant centipede shaking its numerous legs incessantly.
Thanks to Rakshar pulling from above, Blanc was shooting up just by holding onto the rope, but the centipede, seemingly displeased that the uninvited guest who touched its nerves kept moving, was approaching Blanc quickly with its legs scurrying.
“Ugh!”
Blanc kicked the cliff quickly seeing that appearance and dodged with the recoil.
HISS, HISSSS-!
The giant centipede, spitting out metallic sounds and expressing anger seeing Blanc dodging its attacks here and there and climbing up the cliff gradually.
Soon, what was reflected in the 6 pairs of eyes was the rope connected to Blanc.
Thinking the human in front of its eyes wouldn't be able to climb up without that rope, the centipede changed its attack target.
‘Why is a mere centipede smart!’
Blanc, who had barely dodged the centipede’s attacks hanging in midair, couldn’t help but be shocked seeing the centipede moving above him to cut the rope.
“Damn it!”
It was a rope no different from a toothpick compared to the centipede’s giant jaw. Before the centipede could even close its jaw, the rope was cut off.
Fortunately, Blanc, who predicted the centipede’s action first, quickly found a place to step and stuck his body to it so he didn’t fall down the cliff, but Rakshar, who was pulling the rope up with all his might from above, lost control of his own strength and fell backwards.
HISS, HISS.
The giant centipede making a satisfied sound seeing Blanc unable to move either way having lost the rope.
Looking at that appearance, Blanc felt as if the centipede was mocking him.
“I’m not that easy a prey, you see.”
An ordinary person would have frozen unable to overcome the fear the centipede gave, but rather Blanc was burning with anger seeing the centipede considering him an easy prey.
Fear.
Past life.
One of the essential requirements that people of the Liberation Front fighting against the Void had to possess was not feeling fear.
Because the existence called Void propagated through gaze and was transmitted through the medium called fear.
Therefore, some tried to maintain composure, and some killed their hearts altogether.
To not feel fear in front of the Void.
In Blanc’s case, he erased fear through a different method.
“You dare ignore me, a mere centipede!”
To silence fear, one of the primal emotions of humans, an emotion more intense than that was needed.
The primal emotion Blanc chose instead of fear.
That was anger.
Blanc put the dying young girl in his heart and started burning her.
The giant centipede flinched for a moment at the huge roar sounding like a lion roaring, but soon the black centipede descended towards Blanc like an arrow.
“Haa, haa.”
Blanc, who was catching his breath and watching the centipede approaching, quickly put strength into his thighs and climbed the cliff when the centipede approached close enough for his reflection to be seen in the 6 pairs of eyes.
“Young Master!”
Reflected in the eyes of Rakshar, who was looking down the cliff while hurriedly taking out an arrow, was the figure of Blanc running up the cliff with only his two legs.
Blanc, who ran up the vertical cliff as if running on flat ground with momentum ignoring gravity, passed the giant centipede in an instant and occupied a position higher than it.
The giant centipede, having lost Blanc by a hair’s breadth, was moving its 12 eyes busily looking for the disappeared Blanc.
“I don’t like your eyeballs.”
Blanc, who quickly drew his arming sword, used even the force of gravity this time.
Crackle, craaaackle.
He shot down like an arrow towards the centipede hanging below him.
SCREEEEECH!
The White Thunderbolt of the Assinsao family, no, now the Cadmus family.
A light brighter than moonlight struck down onto the cliff called White Claw as if a meteor shower was falling from the sky.