Chapter 44……………………………………
Shane, who had been inching backward under the pressure of Schwartz’s special ability, shouted loudly as if refusing to back down.
“Schwartz! Didn’t you hear me? Go back!”
Schwartz, who had been staring intently into the hole, finally turned to look at Shane as if he had only just noticed him.
“You’re noisy.”
“You’re the one not listening, so of course I have to yell!”
Schwartz released his alpha pheromones.
He had realized it when he was defeated by Cassius.
Alpha pheromones weren’t meant to be spewed out recklessly.
Since kneeling at the ball, Schwartz had trained his pheromones in his own way. Unlike before, he now chose a single target and released pheromones packed with a clear warning.
He had only opened them a tiny bit, but Shane flinched and ground his teeth.
“You! Put these pheromones away right now!”
If he stayed exposed to Schwartz’s pheromones like this, he felt like he’d end up trembling disgracefully all by himself. Schwartz spoke indifferently to Shane, who was trying hard to act calm.
“Aren’t you an alpha too? Try releasing your own pheromones to block mine.”
“You… you bastard son of a—!”
Shane bit down on his lip so hard it looked like his skin might split.
Whether he did or not, Schwartz—shrouded in flickering darkness—leapt into the pit without hesitation.
The hole was far deeper and darker than it looked.
Schwartz’s mind was filled with nothing but Sonia.
She had always been timid.
In front of him, she constantly watched his mood and trembled slightly.
Thinking that someone like her had fallen into a hole of unknown depth and origin made him too worried to stay still.
Schwartz smiled as he thought of Sonia’s smile.
I’ll help you.
So that you won’t tremble in fear over something as trivial as this darkness.
With Schwartz’s appearance, Shane’s surveillance loosened.
The wind priest, who had been obediently following behind Shane, seized the opportunity and sent a wind messenger to Cassius.
[Your Holiness, urgent news. Priestess Sonia has fallen into a deep hole beneath the collapsed sanctuary.]
Sending a long message was exhausting.
After taking a short breath, he was about to add, “Fortunately, Sir Jürgen followed immediately, and neither of them is injured. After that, Shane and Schwartz appeared and argued over who would rescue Sonia,”—
—but Shane, already furious because of Schwartz, shouted.
“You there! What are you doing?”
The wind priest shook his head.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“What do you mean nothing? I just saw a green mass of light fly off! Who did you send a messenger to?!”
He hadn’t managed to send everything, and Shane had caught him red-handed.
All he could do now was pray that the rushed message had been delivered.
Avoiding the giant spiders and heading toward the star marked on the blueprint, Jürgen and I walked for quite a long time.
Underground was dark and damp.
Walking through a maze far taller than I was, I felt my sense of time slipping away.
Jürgen, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped. It was a dead end.
“Is this really the right path?”
“Yes, the map says to keep going straight.”
“As you can see, Priestess Sonia, it’s a dead end.”
“That’s strange. This should be right.”
I hadn’t misread the blueprint.
As if to double-check, he came over and examined it with me. Then he placed a hand on the wall and clenched his other hand into a fist.
Wait—what is he about to do?
“Sir Jürgen!”
“Yes?”
“Are you… planning to break the wall with your bare hands?”
“Yes. If there’s no path, we’ll have to make one.”
He wasn’t wrong, but still—it was a wall. I’d tapped it earlier, and it was solid!
“I can’t use healing powers. Even if you’re injured, I won’t be able to treat you!”
“It’s fine. I’m quite sturdy. Do you have anything else to say?”
“N-no, not really…”
After hesitating for a moment, he threw his punch without hesitation. With a loud bang, the wall crumbled apart.
He destroyed the solid wall as easily as tearing through thin paper.
“Ah, it hurts more than I expected.”
After lightly shaking his hand a few times, he stepped right into the collapsed opening.
My gaze was fixed on the fallen debris.
Judging by its size, it had been a very thick wall. My own hand hurt just looking at it.
“A path has opened. Let’s go.”
Overwhelmed by the sight of him smashing a wall barehanded, I nodded and followed him inside.
—…!
—Impure… above…
The moment we crossed the collapsed wall, I felt something strange and heard a voice.
“Sir Jürgen, didn’t you hear something just now?”
It sounded like multiple voices.
“No? I only heard the wall collapsing. Which way should we go?”
Was I mistaken? I’d felt something odd too. Shaking my head to dispel the strange feeling, I carefully checked the position of the broken wall.
After getting my bearings, I pointed ahead.
“This way.”
Holding the torch, Jürgen strode forward confidently.
We walked for a long time. No—wandered would be more accurate.
After walking in silence for quite a while, Jürgen called out to me.
“Priestess Sonia.”
“Yes?”
“Doesn’t it feel like we’re going around in circles?”
“I was thinking the same.”
“May I take a look at the blueprint?”
I hadn’t read it wrong.
But if he wanted to double-check—
“Here.”
I handed it to him.
After rotating the blueprint in several directions, he continued walking straight ahead, just as before. The map itself wasn’t the problem.
We gradually fell silent.
We were both exhausted.
The quietly leading Jürgen suddenly stopped.
When I finally looked ahead, I covered my gaping mouth with my hand at the unbelievable sight.
“This place… we were here earlier—”
“Yes. It’s the wall I broke.”
We really had been going in circles!
“It seems the blueprint is useless.”
“Then could the star marked here be fake too?”
Jürgen closed his eyes.
He murmured a prayer in a low voice, then opened his eyes, which shone brightly.
“Priestess Sonia, you should try using your divine power as well.”
I immediately closed my eyes and tried to use my divine power.
Or rather, I tried to.
I focused, wanting to use healing power, but only a tiny amount of divine energy flowed—just enough for a faint warmth to gather at my fingertips.
With this, I wouldn’t be able to relieve fatigue, let alone heal even a scratch.
Jürgen, who had been observing me, spoke.
“Don’t you think that if we reach the center, you’ll be able to use your divine power fully?”
Well, considering I’d started to sense divine power as we got a little closer to the star, the star marked on the blueprint did seem to be a true Morning Star.
If we got closer, I might be able to use my power.
“I think so too. Let’s head toward the star.”
The problem was—where exactly was that?
I knew one way to escape a maze. I placed my hand on the wall.
“I’ve heard that if you keep your hand on the wall and walk, you can get out of a maze.”
“Not a bad idea, but I’d like to suggest another method. For now, take the blueprint back.”
He handed the blueprint to me.
“What kind of—”
I already knew.
Because he threw a punch without warning.
Bang! Rumble! With a loud crash, the wall collapsed.
“Ha! I should’ve done this from the start.”
He exhaled deeply, as if relieved, and casually brushed his hands off before continuing to smash the walls.
Thud! Bang! Crash!
As the walls crumbled, clouds of pale dust billowed up. Breathing it in made my vision blur and my head spin.
It seemed to be powder from stone that had been left underground for a long time.
“Cough, cough!”
I started coughing.
I covered my nose and mouth with my sleeve. My eyes stung so badly they were about to water.
What is this smoke?
From the moment I inhaled the bitter-smelling dust—like burning medicinal herbs—I started to feel dizzy.
“There’s too much dust. And the smell is strange.”
“It’s probably because it’s an old building. Please endure it a little longer.”
There wasn’t much we could do.
Bang!
The sound of walls breaking echoed loudly.
Maybe because we were underground, the noise felt even louder.
I looked up at the ceiling nervously.
“Won’t it collapse?”
“Don’t worry. Judging by how the walls aren’t shaking, the framework seems sturdy.”
Jürgen said, tapping the wall.
“To be honest, I’ve wanted to do this for a while. I held back because I was worried it might collapse from a strong impact, but it’s sturdier than I thought.”
I didn’t feel reassured at all.
Wasn’t this a very old structure?
After all, we’d fallen here because the floor above had suddenly collapsed.
I instinctively kept looking upward, afraid the ceiling might fall on me.
Contrary to my fears, only small stone fragments fell. At least for now, it wasn’t collapsing.
No—maybe even if it did collapse, it’d be fine.
Seeing him pulverize thick walls like tofu, he’d probably be able to shatter falling rocks too.
I should stay close to him.
Just in case.
After smashing walls for quite some time, Jürgen stopped.
Before him stood a massive door.
I checked the blueprint.
The paths had gotten strange midway, but according to the marked location, the star should be beyond this door.
“I think the star is behind here.”
Jürgen placed a hand on the door and closed his eyes.
It seemed he was using divine power.
I followed his lead and tried to use mine as well.
The divine power I could draw out was still small.
But I could feel a tremendous force beyond the door.
“Yes, I can feel divine power. I’ll open the door. Please step back.”
According to the blueprint, what lay beyond the door was the Morning Star.
Not only might it trigger final awakening—
—we might finally be able to escape this cursed maze.
