Chapter 119
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Eda thought that Joo Yi-Gyeol was lunging toward the fallen guard at her feet, and she reached out to stop him. In response, Sethian also drew his sword, ready to charge at Eda.
The moment he stepped further into the chamber, a perilous sensation engulfed his entire body, as if he had triggered a trap.
The walls of the chamber were instantly covered in intricate blue patterns. At the same time, Sethian's knees buckled.
“Your Majesty!”
Sethian plunged his drawn sword into the ground, using it as a staff to support himself, his brow furrowing at the intense, mind-numbing sensation pounding in his head. It felt as if his consciousness was being forcibly seized. Worse yet, every cell composing his body seemed to groan and twist painfully.
From Sethian's body, a golden mist-like substance seeped out, swirling upward toward the ceiling, forming a spherical shape. Seeing this, Roa gasped and shouted,
“This is…! We need to get His Majesty out of here at once!”
The first to react to Roa’s words was none other than Eda.
With one hand still reaching toward Joo Yi-Gyeol’s soul, her other hand moved toward the chamber door. A blue glow wrapped around her fingertips, and with a heavy thud, the door slammed shut, locking in place. The knights had yet to enter, leaving only Sethian, Roa, and Renoc inside.
Seeing this, Roa urgently reached out toward the door, his hand enveloped in mana.
“Stop, Master.”
At Eda's amused remark, Roa turned his head to see her smirking. The mana encircling Eda's outstretched fingers was still connected like a thread, firmly binding Joo Yi-Gyeol’s soul. With a sharp tug, Eda pulled Joo Yi-Gyeol’s soul closer and clenched it tightly in her grasp.
“If you use magic, this soul won’t survive.”
She jerked her chin toward the captive Joo Yi-Gyeol in warning, causing Roa to hesitate. Even if she didn’t kill the soul, there were many ways to inflict pain. Judging from Eda's previous actions, she wouldn’t care if Joo Yi-Gyeol’s soul screamed in agony.
Roa had no choice but to lower his hands, his expression tense as he whispered to Sethian and Renoc.
“This magic forcibly extracts the vitality of a magic stone holder within a confined space. Given the wide-scale inscription to enable indirect extraction, it was likely designed to drain His Majesty’s vitality through Lord Joo Yi-Gyeol.”
Roa’s complexion was grim as he continued.
“Extracting vitality through a soul takes considerable time. But if His Majesty remains within this magical field, all his vitality will be drained within minutes.”
Determined to prevent this at all costs, Roa gathered mana in both hands. Right now, protecting Sethian took precedence over Joo Yi-Gyeol.
To counteract the magic, they needed to damage the circular core among the wall’s inscriptions. Unfortunately, it was too far, and forcibly destroying the patterns could collapse the chamber. The best option was to attack the spellcaster and disrupt the mana flow naturally. They had no choice but to confront Eda directly.
Just as Roa prepared to strike Eda with his mana-infused hands—
“Ugh!”
A pained groan made Sethian's eyes snap open. He reached out and gripped Roa’s wrist with a crushing force, stopping him.
“Stop.”
His strength was fading, yet his grip remained fearsome.
“Your Majesty, stopping the extraction takes priority!”
“No.”
Even as his vitality drained away, Sethian kept his gaze fixed on Joo Yi-Gyeol, refusing to look away.
He couldn’t understand why Yi-Gyeol had lunged at Eda instead of calling his name upon seeing him. Why wouldn’t he acknowledge him?
“Joo Yi-Gyeol…!”
Though the strange magic in the chamber made it difficult to move, Sethian focused all his attention on Joo Yi-Gyeol.
He wanted nothing more than to rush to him. It was agonizing to be unable to grasp him despite being so close.
He could feel Joo Yi-Gyeol's gaze on him.
Yet he couldn’t tell what expression he wore, what emotions lay behind those eyes. That made it all the more frustrating.
You’re looking at me. Why won’t you say anything?
Why?
An inexplicable dread twisted his already aching body further.
Eda, watching the golden mist gather in the air, slowly stepped back, using Yi-Gyeo as a shield. Behind her, a crimson magic circle glowed brightly.
Roa, seeing Eda's hand near the magic circle, shook his head and shouted,
“Stop! Why do you think the First Tower Lord never tried to cross dimensions again after that day?! That’s a realm no human should dare to trespass!”
“That’s just your opinion, Master.”
Eda smirked and traced a glowing blue line over the blood-red inscriptions. It spread across them in an instant, and soon the long vertical line was filled with light as well. Countless Idelo’s Flowers began pouring enormous amounts of mana into the circle, causing the central light to widen, spreading apart like a door opening.
Normally, she would have ensured all the vitality was extracted before activating the portal, but with the chamber sealed, she couldn’t predict how long the door would hold against Sethian’s knights and the famously strong Kirsty outside. They might break in soon.
‘Even if I can’t take all the vitality, this much is enough to transport me alone.’
She had planned to bring subordinates and a few spirits, but in this situation, she couldn’t afford to.
“Ugh…”
A groan rang out. Among the fallen figures, the male mage shook his head and struggled to rise. Seeing the intruders, he gasped in alarm.
Eda, keeping an eye on Sethian’s group, called out sharply,
“If you’re awake, get up! Once the portal is fully open, connect the Emperor’s vitality to the magic circle at once!”
“Y-yes!”
The mage quickly responded and got to his feet. Roa, seeing that, stepped forward with a stricken look, but Eda once again held out the hand gripping Joo Yi-Gyeol. Beside him, Sethian was still gripping Roa’s wrist tightly, simply staring at it.
Meanwhile, the blue door behind Eda had already opened halfway across the magic circle.
“Once I step through this door, you’ll have to hold the wish to send me to another world. Once Emperor Sethian’s vitality is connected, I’ll be able to draw all of it up even after crossing dimensions, so don’t forget that I can kill him remotely.”
-…Okay.
At Joo Yi-Gyeol’s quiet acceptance, Eda let out a short laugh and mocked him.
“I thought he’d used you and thrown you away as nothing more than a nighttime attendant, but you’re more special to him than I expected. Then why wasn’t he giving you vitality?”
Joo Yi-Gyeol had indeed not been receiving vitality, and it was also true that his body’s connection had weakened because of it.
-I refused it on purpose.
Joo Yi-Gyeol, who had barely spoken since Sethian entered the chamber, answered in a calm voice.
“What?”
Her full attention fixed on the magic circle, Sethian’s group, and Joo Yi-Gyeol’s voice, Eda suddenly noticed that the male mage had picked up a sword from the floor and was walking toward one side of the wall. To connect the vitality to the magic circle, he should have been coming this way to use the mana of the Idelo’s Flowers, so what he was doing made no sense at all.
“What are you doing? I said connect the vitality!”
But the male mage only stopped in front of the wall where the patterns formed a circle and glanced back. At a glance, it looked like he was looking at Eda, but in fact he was looking at Joo Yi-Gyeol in her grasp.
That was when Eda realized something was wrong.
-Do it!
At Joo Yi-Gyeol’s sudden shout, the mage, as if he had been waiting for it, raised the sword high with both hands. Then he slashed the wall two times as though cutting through the pattern itself. Stone dust scattered, and ugly grooves were carved into the once-unbroken design.
“What the—what are you doing?!”
Whether it was a magic circle or a pattern for activating magic, damage or interference outside the fixed form brought a massive backlash. Especially if the core of a magic-covered area was forcibly destroyed, not only would the magic stop, but its effects would also rewind as if time itself had reversed. As if to prove it, the light began vanishing not from the cut part of the pattern, but from the most recently filled section, receding as though time were turning back.
Watching the light die out as quickly as it had spread, Eda was horrified when she suddenly felt an unknown chill start at her fingertips and spread through her entire body. Startled, she looked down at the hand where the chill had begun.
Joo Yi-Gyeol, who should have been caught there, was gone.
No—it only looked that way.
“Anything that threatens Seth, I’ll eliminate. Even myself.”
-Anything that threatens Seth, I’ll eliminate. Even myself.
Because of the possession, two voices echoed through her mouth and inside her head at once.
Caught off guard, Eda felt as though something heavy had struck the back of her head.
How, when he hadn’t even taken a possession drug?
Her gaze fell on the empty teacup on the table. Only then did she realize that the young boy’s spirit now possessing the male mage had originally entered this chamber in the body of the man who had prepared the tea for her.
Eda thought that Joo Yi-Gyeol was lunging toward the fallen guard at her feet, and she reached out to stop him. In response, Sethian also drew his sword, ready to charge at Eda.
The moment he stepped further into the chamber, a perilous sensation engulfed his entire body, as if he had triggered a trap.
The walls of the chamber were instantly covered in intricate blue patterns. At the same time, Sethian's knees buckled.
“Your Majesty!”
Sethian plunged his drawn sword into the ground, using it as a staff to support himself, his brow furrowing at the intense, mind-numbing sensation pounding in his head. It felt as if his consciousness was being forcibly seized. Worse yet, every cell composing his body seemed to groan and twist painfully.
From Sethian's body, a golden mist-like substance seeped out, swirling upward toward the ceiling, forming a spherical shape. Seeing this, Roa gasped and shouted,
“This is…! We need to get His Majesty out of here at once!”
The first to react to Roa’s words was none other than Eda.
With one hand still reaching toward Joo Yi-Gyeol’s soul, her other hand moved toward the chamber door. A blue glow wrapped around her fingertips, and with a heavy thud, the door slammed shut, locking in place. The knights had yet to enter, leaving only Sethian, Roa, and Renoc inside.
Seeing this, Roa urgently reached out toward the door, his hand enveloped in mana.
“Stop, Master.”
At Eda's amused remark, Roa turned his head to see her smirking. The mana encircling Eda's outstretched fingers was still connected like a thread, firmly binding Joo Yi-Gyeol’s soul. With a sharp tug, Eda pulled Joo Yi-Gyeol’s soul closer and clenched it tightly in her grasp.
“If you use magic, this soul won’t survive.”
She jerked her chin toward the captive Joo Yi-Gyeol in warning, causing Roa to hesitate. Even if she didn’t kill the soul, there were many ways to inflict pain. Judging from Eda's previous actions, she wouldn’t care if Joo Yi-Gyeol’s soul screamed in agony.
Roa had no choice but to lower his hands, his expression tense as he whispered to Sethian and Renoc.
“This magic forcibly extracts the vitality of a magic stone holder within a confined space. Given the wide-scale inscription to enable indirect extraction, it was likely designed to drain His Majesty’s vitality through Lord Joo Yi-Gyeol.”
Roa’s complexion was grim as he continued.
“Extracting vitality through a soul takes considerable time. But if His Majesty remains within this magical field, all his vitality will be drained within minutes.”
Determined to prevent this at all costs, Roa gathered mana in both hands. Right now, protecting Sethian took precedence over Joo Yi-Gyeol.
To counteract the magic, they needed to damage the circular core among the wall’s inscriptions. Unfortunately, it was too far, and forcibly destroying the patterns could collapse the chamber. The best option was to attack the spellcaster and disrupt the mana flow naturally. They had no choice but to confront Eda directly.
Just as Roa prepared to strike Eda with his mana-infused hands—
“Ugh!”
A pained groan made Sethian's eyes snap open. He reached out and gripped Roa’s wrist with a crushing force, stopping him.
“Stop.”
His strength was fading, yet his grip remained fearsome.
“Your Majesty, stopping the extraction takes priority!”
“No.”
Even as his vitality drained away, Sethian kept his gaze fixed on Joo Yi-Gyeol, refusing to look away.
He couldn’t understand why Yi-Gyeol had lunged at Eda instead of calling his name upon seeing him. Why wouldn’t he acknowledge him?
“Joo Yi-Gyeol…!”
Though the strange magic in the chamber made it difficult to move, Sethian focused all his attention on Joo Yi-Gyeol.
He wanted nothing more than to rush to him. It was agonizing to be unable to grasp him despite being so close.
He could feel Joo Yi-Gyeol's gaze on him.
Yet he couldn’t tell what expression he wore, what emotions lay behind those eyes. That made it all the more frustrating.
You’re looking at me. Why won’t you say anything?
Why?
An inexplicable dread twisted his already aching body further.
Eda, watching the golden mist gather in the air, slowly stepped back, using Yi-Gyeo as a shield. Behind her, a crimson magic circle glowed brightly.
Roa, seeing Eda's hand near the magic circle, shook his head and shouted,
“Stop! Why do you think the First Tower Lord never tried to cross dimensions again after that day?! That’s a realm no human should dare to trespass!”
“That’s just your opinion, Master.”
Eda smirked and traced a glowing blue line over the blood-red inscriptions. It spread across them in an instant, and soon the long vertical line was filled with light as well. Countless Idelo’s Flowers began pouring enormous amounts of mana into the circle, causing the central light to widen, spreading apart like a door opening.
Normally, she would have ensured all the vitality was extracted before activating the portal, but with the chamber sealed, she couldn’t predict how long the door would hold against Sethian’s knights and the famously strong Kirsty outside. They might break in soon.
‘Even if I can’t take all the vitality, this much is enough to transport me alone.’
She had planned to bring subordinates and a few spirits, but in this situation, she couldn’t afford to.
“Ugh…”
A groan rang out. Among the fallen figures, the male mage shook his head and struggled to rise. Seeing the intruders, he gasped in alarm.
Eda, keeping an eye on Sethian’s group, called out sharply,
“If you’re awake, get up! Once the portal is fully open, connect the Emperor’s vitality to the magic circle at once!”
“Y-yes!”
The mage quickly responded and got to his feet. Roa, seeing that, stepped forward with a stricken look, but Eda once again held out the hand gripping Joo Yi-Gyeol. Beside him, Sethian was still gripping Roa’s wrist tightly, simply staring at it.
Meanwhile, the blue door behind Eda had already opened halfway across the magic circle.
“Once I step through this door, you’ll have to hold the wish to send me to another world. Once Emperor Sethian’s vitality is connected, I’ll be able to draw all of it up even after crossing dimensions, so don’t forget that I can kill him remotely.”
-…Okay.
At Joo Yi-Gyeol’s quiet acceptance, Eda let out a short laugh and mocked him.
“I thought he’d used you and thrown you away as nothing more than a nighttime attendant, but you’re more special to him than I expected. Then why wasn’t he giving you vitality?”
Joo Yi-Gyeol had indeed not been receiving vitality, and it was also true that his body’s connection had weakened because of it.
-I refused it on purpose.
Joo Yi-Gyeol, who had barely spoken since Sethian entered the chamber, answered in a calm voice.
“What?”
Her full attention fixed on the magic circle, Sethian’s group, and Joo Yi-Gyeol’s voice, Eda suddenly noticed that the male mage had picked up a sword from the floor and was walking toward one side of the wall. To connect the vitality to the magic circle, he should have been coming this way to use the mana of the Idelo’s Flowers, so what he was doing made no sense at all.
“What are you doing? I said connect the vitality!”
But the male mage only stopped in front of the wall where the patterns formed a circle and glanced back. At a glance, it looked like he was looking at Eda, but in fact he was looking at Joo Yi-Gyeol in her grasp.
That was when Eda realized something was wrong.
-Do it!
At Joo Yi-Gyeol’s sudden shout, the mage, as if he had been waiting for it, raised the sword high with both hands. Then he slashed the wall two times as though cutting through the pattern itself. Stone dust scattered, and ugly grooves were carved into the once-unbroken design.
“What the—what are you doing?!”
Whether it was a magic circle or a pattern for activating magic, damage or interference outside the fixed form brought a massive backlash. Especially if the core of a magic-covered area was forcibly destroyed, not only would the magic stop, but its effects would also rewind as if time itself had reversed. As if to prove it, the light began vanishing not from the cut part of the pattern, but from the most recently filled section, receding as though time were turning back.
Watching the light die out as quickly as it had spread, Eda was horrified when she suddenly felt an unknown chill start at her fingertips and spread through her entire body. Startled, she looked down at the hand where the chill had begun.
Joo Yi-Gyeol, who should have been caught there, was gone.
No—it only looked that way.
“Anything that threatens Seth, I’ll eliminate. Even myself.”
-Anything that threatens Seth, I’ll eliminate. Even myself.
Because of the possession, two voices echoed through her mouth and inside her head at once.
Caught off guard, Eda felt as though something heavy had struck the back of her head.
How, when he hadn’t even taken a possession drug?
Her gaze fell on the empty teacup on the table. Only then did she realize that the young boy’s spirit now possessing the male mage had originally entered this chamber in the body of the man who had prepared the tea for her.
Comments
Post a Comment