Chapter 119 – 19. Conflict (6)
“Jihoo! You weren’t hurt when I was gone…? Are you okay? Ah, you found Ray…!”
After 5 minutes of holding on to Ray, who was wriggling behind his back, and waiting for him, he saw Juha and Ryushin running in a hurry from the other side of the hallway.
Seeing that neither of them had the slightest sign of battle, it seemed fortunate that they hadn’t collided with Xian or other demons.
“Yeah. It looks like she passed out for a while due to mental shock… But seeing as she moves little by little, there doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. Has everything happened since you guys came?”
“I came hiding in the shadows just enough to not overwhelm the magic power. Well, I only encountered demons once, so I didn’t think it was too dangerous…”
“It’s fortunate. Do you have enough magic power to return?”
“Of course! I’m calculating that much.”
It’s also reliable.
To be honest, it was surprising to me that I had already reached that level even though I was using abilities that were 180 degrees different from the original, which dealt with light.
The expression of Ryu Shin-yi, who came along with her, was still a bit dumbfounded, probably because she hadn’t heard the explanation of the situation properly from Ju-ha, but as expected of the main character, she immediately recognized the situation with her excellent senses.
If the situation in that area was similar to mine, there’s a good chance you’d have noticed how things were going before you came here.
The ominous magical power of the atmosphere, and even the empty facility as if its entire existence had been cut off.
“You’ve already come… You’re one step too late.”
Ryu Xin sighed and touched the scabbard with a weak hand.
Was it to soothe the sword that had lost its target?
Juha seemed to find it awkward even for Juha to see, so Juha clapped his hands to lighten the mood and tried to speak in a bright tone.
“Then, now that we’re all gathered, shall we go back?”
“It can’t be helped. It will be dangerous if we stay longer.”
“Um, yes… No, wait. Not yet.”
Inadvertently, I almost went back to the natural flow.
There is still Elise left, but even if Ryu Xin, who does not know of Elise’s existence, answers casually, Juha would surely know that fact, but seeing him do that…
As she mumbled with her head slightly lowered, as I gently lifted her face, I could finally see what kind of expression she was making.
“…Sorry. I made it difficult for you again.”
“Jihoo, it’s too dangerous. A person named Xi’an is no match for us.”
It was just a few days ago that I promised to make you happy…
No matter how much I tried to comfort myself in the bitterness, my dry mouth made it impossible to part my lips.
Juha’s trembling eyes clung to me as if pleading.
That’s definitely true. If we don’t run away now, we can’t even guarantee the safety of the remaining four people.
But even so, leaving her companion alone and running away … It bothers me.
Alice is also someone she can trust more than anyone else now.
Unbeknownst to me, my heart must have accepted Alice.
I knew all too well that she was selfish, but I had no intention of giving up on her.
“Since the conversation is going to be long, I’ll go scouting around for a while. Jihoo, I don’t know what you’re thinking all of a sudden when everyone is gathered… I want you to keep one thing in mind.”
Ryu Xin’s eyes stared straight at me.
It was a calm lake-like eyes that no longer contain embarrassment or confusion.
“Make sure you have no regrets about the decision you made.”
“…Yes, that’s how it should be.”
Leaving those words behind, Ryu Xinyi headed towards the end of the hallway to reconnoiter.
From now on, I had to leave it to my own judgment.
Should you take a huge risk instead of finding Elise, or should you just run away from the facility and call for backup?
My choice was already decided from the beginning.
Juha may be disappointed in me too, but in the end, he will respect my decision.
As long as he somehow comforts Juha a little and promises to return right away if he falls into a crisis… Maybe it’ll be okay.
Thinking so, the moment I was about to talk to Juha, a memory I had forgotten suddenly flashed through my mind.
Then, what was Pirahyun’s intention… What the hell was it?
Why did you insist on infiltrating the facility with Seo Joo-ha?
‘Pirahyun… What kind of future did you see?’
Let’s think about it. The reason why you need Juha’s shadow…
If Elise is unable to use her abilities.
If, by any chance, she has to come back without finding Elise after all.
All predictions pointed to one future.
It was clear that even if she set out to find Elise, she would eventually return without reaping much, leaving only her scars.
Afraid.
Even though she knew that, the thought that she had to move on still lingered in her head, making her even more afraid.
The act of sticking one’s head into the mouth of an open crocodile, even though it is an act close to suicide, sometimes uncontrollable emotions make the human body move by itself.
“…I’ve decided.”
“I can tell just by looking at your eyes. Okay… Let’s go find it.”
“Sorry. I made you go through bad things every time. I should have thought of you more when I moved, but if I knew this would happen, we would move together…”
“It’s okay. It’s already in the past. Let’s quickly find someone named Xian and get Alice back.”
Sorry.
I’m really sorry.
It was hard to look at the face of Juha, who smiled with sad eyes as if he had resigned himself.
“If it’s dangerous, let’s go back right away, then I won’t be greedy any more. Alice… Of course, the first meeting wasn’t good, but it became a contracted relationship anyway, and I can’t say that I’m not close with empty words. Just this once. … Please understand.”
“Okay, so… I brought you from the reconnaissance…”
“I’ll be back soon.”
Without further ado, she entrusted her Lay to Juha’s watery voice and hurriedly went in search of Ryu Xinyi.
Since she went back to the left corner earlier… She must be wandering around here.
Oh, there it is.
“Ryushin!”
Her familiar face and sword slung around her waist are looming across the hallway.
She must have been concentrating on patrolling. At first, when I called her name, she only slightly looked around and didn’t respond, but when she called out a few more times, she turned around as if she finally noticed that she was being called. Looked at me
“Did the talk go well? What did you decide to do?”
“There’s someone we need to save here, so let’s look for it… Shin-ah Ryu! Behind! Behind!”
“Uh…?”
Kwaaaaang—!
A great shock came over me.
The first thing that caught my eye was a dark green flash.
What follows is a deafening punctuation sound.
Finally, a cloud of dust rises along the entire hallway.
It was an attack.
“Lyushin! Goryushin! Are you okay?”
The shock wave seems to have ruptured the eardrum.
With the tinnitus ringing in his head, he grabbed his head with one hand while groping for one side of the wall with the other hand, and began to advance toward the place where Ryushin had been before.
“Can’t you hear me? Hey, Goryushin!”
It feels like dozens of seconds have passed, but most of the view is blocked by the dust cloud that shows no sign of clearing yet.
It was already too late to return to Juha, and it was thought that it was best to find Liu Xinyi as soon as possible and relieve Xian’s strength moderately.
Even Xi’an would be blind in this dust anyway, so if I approach Liu Xinyi first, since I’m closer, I can gain the upper hand.
But there was no answer.
Could it be that he passed out due to being hit with an authentic attack?
The hand that was groping around in uneasy thoughts involuntarily quickened.
And finally, something was in his grasp.
“Aha… You were there.”
The moment he hurriedly grabbed Ryu Xin by the nape of his clothes, green eyes flashed right in front of him.
Ryushin is… First of all, a state of fainting. The best option is to run away to where Juha is.
Can I really…?
“Where is Ray?”
“I’ll teach you if you promise to return safely.”
In response to my answer, green eyes drew a faint crescent moon.
It was an obvious expression of ridicule.
“Um… I see you didn’t have to ask. Okay, I’ll hold your hand until you tell me.”
The sandstorm slowly clears.
The shock from the moment ago made my ankles tingle just by moving, and there was even a fainting Ryu Xin next to me.
Can I run away…?
I don’t know. Whether it be porridge or rice, you should try it first.
It raises the mana of the body and focuses on the legs as much as possible.
Using the repulsive force created by the wave as the driving force, it leaps like a big jump.
In the original work, Xian’s ability requires a little waiting time to activate, so if you use that gap well, you may not be caught by the edge.
Leaving behind the burning green eyes, I hurried back the way I had come.
As long as you get to the place where Juha is, if Ryu Xin-yi comes to his senses…
There are enough odds.
