“Don’t die, Rai…”
After sending Rai off, Kassel ran through the forest. The dragon’s roar could no longer be heard.
Rai was fighting. He was fighting against a dragon that no human except a sorcerer could touch, facing a dragon revered as a god by all Lemifs, with just a single sword. Even knowing it was a losing battle, Rai was fighting.
“Fight, Rai. I will fight too. You must survive, Rai. Because I will survive too.”
Kassel ran. His lips were tightly closed and he held back his tears.
‘I cried too much. I only showed those around me a grieving appearance. So no more.’
“Komu…”
Kassel stopped. Someone was calling in the Lemif language. He followed the voice almost unconsciously.
The calling sound had been slowly, steadily, and regularly repeating for quite a long time.
“Komu du mu…”
He didn’t know the specific location, only the direction. It was fortunate that he could at least get a sense of direction thanks to Nadiuren’s token.
Ztokh Worg.
Aranthia’s sacred sword, made by the blacksmith Lergo by combining the metal brought by the sage of Lutia and the dragon’s jewel gifted from Carnelock. Directly translated into human language, its name meant “Wolf’s Sword”, a sword that only shone when wielded by a great hero, and could cut all the dead. But none of that mattered to Kassel now. He only hoped it would guide his way as Nadiuren’s token. No greater miracle was needed.
‘The miracle will be brought by Aranthia’s reinforcements. My job is to bring them to Carnelock.’
Kassel briefly stopped and looked up at the sky. Indeed, the direction he had been running based on the initial position of the sun hadn’t changed. Considering that Rai couldn’t fly straight to the clearly visible Arok’s Tower, it was natural for a human to get lost in the Sky Mountains forest. If just holding the sword could prevent that, it was a sufficiently great magic for Kassel.
One more thing. The Sky Mountains shortened distances. It was possible to travel in half a day a distance that would take three or four days on the continent.
Kassel later learned that the distance from Larden to Harfu was almost a ten-day journey in Acrand. The concepts of space and time on the continent seemed to apply completely differently in the Sky Mountains. Irine also brought Dunmel and Loyal from Lutia to Rock in an extremely short time. If that applied this time as well, he might be able to save two days.
‘Is it a dangerous gamble?’
Kassel briefly set aside his worries and ran. He engraved just one thing in his mind.
‘Run without stopping. As long as these two legs don’t break, keep running.’
The dense trees became more and more numerous. Kassel kept going towards the voice calling him, then stopped.
‘Could it be a trap?’
The Lord of the Undying clearly couldn’t cross the wall of the Sky Mountains. But his subordinates were freely crossing back and forth. Numerous Mozes had come down to Acrand, but they probably hadn’t emptied the Sky Mountains completely. Lofin had said that the battle between Lemifs in Fvoe wasn’t completely over. He also remembered hearing that Kaguas remained.
‘If Rai were here…’
If Rai had kept carrying Kassel and flying, they could have crossed the Sky Mountains faster. The enemy would know that too, so perhaps the enemy had come not to kill Kassel but to stop Rai.
‘Then Rai didn’t sacrifice himself for me, but according to the enemy’s intentions…’
Kassel started moving again.
If he slowed his pace even for a moment, other thoughts came. Only by running until his lungs felt like they would burst could he finally discard such pessimistic thoughts. So Kassel just kept running.
‘I’m late.’
Trees with many branches hit his shoulders countless times. Kassel slipped on slopes and rolled on the ground, or got buried in thickly piled fallen leaves. Although he ran with all his might, it felt like he hadn’t moved much from where he started.
‘I was confident in running. No one in the village could run faster than me. Even if I was weak and didn’t know how to use a sword, no one could catch up to me.’
But he was slow.
He wasn’t wishing for Jaymer’s legs that could outrun horses on rough terrain. Nor was he longing for Lofin’s legs that strode far ahead, making it breathtaking to chase after. He certainly wasn’t wishing for Tanya’s magic that could transform into a wolf.
He just wished he could run faster than now, less tired than now.
‘No matter how hard you struggle every year, one storm can ruin a year’s harvest. No matter how much effort you put in, if the sky doesn’t give rain, what more can human power do? Should we give up farming because of that? No. At times like that, you just need to say this to the sky.’
Kassel shouted to the sky the magic spell his father had taught him for this very moment.
“You think I’ll give up because of that!”
Kassel ran again.
Thanks to Ztokh Worg, he didn’t lose direction. But it didn’t prevent him from losing sense of distance. That wasn’t due to the influence of the Sky Mountains. From the start, Kassel wasn’t used to running in forests. Also, he didn’t have the leisure to slow down while calculating how far he had come.
After running for about an hour, his legs were already not responding well. His mind was still sprinting at full speed, but now it was hard to run more than walk. Kassel leaned against a tree for a moment to catch his breath.
‘If I can’t run, let’s walk for now. Just don’t stop.’
Kassel walked. When he stopped, bad thoughts came. The situation in Rock and the upcoming war, the size of the enemy forces, Rai, Tanya, Jaymer, Loyal, Azwin, Dunmel, Irine, Meylumil, Lofin…, and Gerald.
Unless it was intentionally placed to block Kassel’s path, there were so many trees growing that it seemed impossible for it to be this dense. Rai had told him to run along mountain paths, but he couldn’t find any paths to the mountains in the first place. Nadiuren’s token only prevented him from losing his sense of direction, it didn’t find paths for him.
It had also gotten much darker around him.
‘I’m hungry. Thirsty.’
As he looked around wondering if he could find something to eat, Kassel discovered several torches nearby. Quite a number of them.
‘Fvoe Lemifs!’
Kassel backed away and then ran. The torches chased after him. He ran with his last remaining strength, but couldn’t shake off the Lemifs’ steps in the forest. They quickly closed in around Kassel and revealed themselves. Kassel put his hand on the sword at his waist.
‘What was “stand back” in Lemif language again?’
He couldn’t remember. But even if he said such words to unfriendly Lemifs, they probably wouldn’t back off. He couldn’t threaten them with his sword either. So Kassel just stood still without doing anything.
‘I can only hope they’re not enemies.’
The dark-faced Lemifs were armed with spears and bows. But they didn’t point them at Kassel. They just stopped five or six steps away from Kassel and suddenly bowed their heads in greeting. When one bowed, the other Lemif soldiers all bowed together.
The Lemif who bowed first signaled with his hand to follow. It wasn’t a particularly familiar face, but at least if they were Futnai Lemifs in a hostile relationship, they wouldn’t act like this.
Somewhat reassured, he followed where they were guiding him, and finally a familiar face appeared.
The Lemif woman standing modestly next to the sturdy men smiled slightly when she saw Kassel. It was Princess Sermei of Larunton.
She had arrived at Knadil’s cave a day earlier than Kassel. Seeing her brought back nightmares of Tachisel before feelings of joy.
“Pit du merd du yoe aifiaf.”
Sermei bowed her head and greeted in Lemif language, and Kassel also slightly bowed his head. The Fvoe Lemif general next to her spoke in awkward human language.
“Our Bafukuz Sermei says she is glad to meet you again. My name is Rontlos. We received a revelation yesterday that you would pass through here. We waited at this spot. Waited here.”
“Revelation?”
“The word revelation is wrong. Not revelation, feeling would be better. We left Futnai early in the morning and settled here. There are still remnants of Futnai Lemifs guarding nearby. It wouldn’t have been strange at all if you had met them instead of us. Very dangerous. Moreover, Kaguas are roaming around nearby.”
Kassel groaned softly.
“Kaguas? Those monsters are still…?”
It had been a constant question. Why didn’t the enemy commander take the Kaguas with him? Kassel clearly didn’t see any Kaguas among the army of Mozes. At first, he thought it was to use them at a crucial moment. But if they were still in the Sky Mountains, it was too late to join the war in Rock.
“Recently we searched the area looking for Futnai’s resistance forces. We found traces of three, maybe four Kaguas. They didn’t go north. They were going west.”
Kassel swallowed dryly.
‘West?’
If it was to join later, they should have headed east or north even now. Each Kagua was a monster surpassing Carnelock’s guardian dragons, and it was clear they would be a great threat to Rock.
‘But why west?’
Now, regardless of where they were going, their movement itself seemed like a deception.
“Anyway, thank you for letting me know. I’m also heading west now.”
“To bring reinforcements?”
Rontlos asked as if he already knew.
“That’s right.”
“I thought so. Actually, we wanted to go help you in the human country too, but…”
“I know. You can’t use your powers outside the forest, on flat land.”
“The Ugehs helped us but we can’t help the Ugehs! We were feeling sorry about that when fortunately a way to help came up.”
He brought over a white-furred animal that had been waiting behind. Though the color was different, it was the beast that Excelon knights rode after dyeing its fur black.
“This one lets anyone ride on its back. It’s Venon who likes carrying riders. Also, being from the ‘high mountains’, it’s very strong against cold.”
Rontlos presented the bridled Venon to Kassel. Venon, who looked closer to a wolf than a horse, immediately licked Kassel’s face vigorously upon seeing him. Kassel barely calmed Venon down by grabbing the reins and asked:
“I heard this animal dislikes humans, or rather Ugehs?”
“Usually they do dislike them. Unlike the Zvi Lemifs, we don’t tame Venons. But this one is a bit special. When we tried putting a saddle on it for you, it disliked it at first but quickly got used to it.”
Venon held out the reins and said:
“Try riding it.”
It wasn’t a particularly endearing appearance. If he had strength left to walk, he would have wanted to refuse. But he wasn’t in a position to be picky. Kassel carefully mounted it. Surprisingly, the Venon slightly lowered its posture to make it easier for Kassel to mount. And it closed its mouth that had been busy panting, ready to run at any moment.
“It’s so unexpected I don’t know what to say… Thank you.”
Kassel said.
Rontlos smiled bitterly.
“It’s regrettable we can’t help more than this. We have a few riders among us who can ride Venons, and two of them will guide you to the fastest path west. Follow them at first. After that, you should be able to go alone. You must go alone. Leave the rest to that Venon. It knows the way.”
Sermei approached beside the Venon and gave something to Kassel. Wrapped in leaves were food that looked like white rice cakes and a leather water pouch. And she handed over a thick set of clothes she had received from Rontlos.
“It will get cold.”
She said in Lemif language, and for a moment Kassel could understand Sermei’s words.
“This is not a gift for you. It’s my apology and expression of gratitude to Azwin and Gerald. When you meet Azwin, please tell her to visit Larunton in good health.”
Kassel replied before Rontlos could interpret those words.
“Yes.”
Rontlos was surprised, but Sermei just smiled. More than all these many gifts, her smile gave Kassel strength at this moment.
Venon panted, urging to run soon. Kassel loosened the reins of this impatient beast. Venon took a few steps as if testing ‘Can I really run?’ The two Lemifs waiting on Venons behind Rontlos also followed Kassel.
Kassel waved to Sermei and Rontlos.
After Kassel left, Sermei said in a small voice:
“Farewell, sorcerer from the Sky Mountains…”
The Venon that Rontlos provided was really fast. Sitting upright in the saddle, it was impossible to handle the sprinting speed, so Kassel had to lie flat. In terms of simple speed comparison, Tanya transformed into a wolf might have been faster, but riding Venon flowing dynamically through narrow tree gaps felt much faster. Moreover, running through the night forest made his eyes spin.
Kassel had to pull on the reins to slow down instead. Venon sniffed discontentedly and slowed down, but would run tremendously again if the reins were loosened even slightly. Looking back, the other following Lemifs also looked quite tired.
‘This speed should be enough.’
By the time he got used to being on Venon, they had almost left the forest. Outside, it had become morning. And the very rocky mountain Rai had mentioned appeared.
‘Don’t trust your sense of direction, trust your senses. Don’t go into the forest, find the rocky mountain. Walk on the snowy path, cross three mountains, and it’s Harfu.’
Kassel recalled Rai’s words just before parting. Rai, who had always flown around here, would know the nearby geography better than anyone.
‘Nuraifdum of the snowy mountains is the ghost of the Sky Mountains. Remember Nurai you saw in Nontil’s cave. And be careful.’
Nuraifdum.
Kassel still remembered Sinabia’s fear-soaked explanation.
‘A monster that massacred Lemifs and ate anything alive indiscriminately. A demon that even ate dragons. Even Sacradil couldn’t touch it… No one knows how it disappeared at some point, but if it had continued to live, it would have turned the Sky Mountains into a corner of hell.’
If that was the legend known to the Zvi Lemifs, how was it known to Sermei, a Fvoe Lemif? He wanted to ask but it was too late to go back and ask. Even if the Lemif soldiers following right behind knew, it was useless since communication wasn’t possible.
Rai wouldn’t have mentioned a monster from legend for no reason. He referred to Nurai as a ‘ghost’.
‘How am I supposed to be careful against a ghost, Rai?’
Not being with Rai made him even more scared.
‘It’s okay. This is no time to be afraid of non-existent ghosts. There’s a real demon in Rock and everyone is fighting it!’
Kassel decided to think only of hope.
‘At this speed, crossing the three mountains Rai mentioned shouldn’t take too long. Once past Harfu, reaching where the Wolf Knights are stationed might not be too late.’
But bringing the knights back through the Sky Mountains was a separate issue. Ordinary horses couldn’t run like Venons, and as Irine said, guiding nearly fifty people through the Sky Mountains was also a big problem.
“Huh?”
Kassel hurriedly pulled the reins to stop Venon. Venon’s blunt claws slid on the rocky ground before fixing in place. At that moment, a huge monster’s mouth suddenly popped out from the bushes right in front. If they had kept running without stopping, they would undoubtedly have been sucked into that mouth.
It was a Kagua, a wingless black dragon. Looking back, two Kaguas were already each putting a Lemif and a Venon in their mouths. The screams of the Lemif and Venon stopped. Only the sound of bones breaking leaked from the Kaguas’ mouths.
Another Kagua jumped out and stood far ahead on the path. Two behind, two in front. It was truly a trap like pack-hunting carnivores.
The excited Venon shook its body and stepped back. Could even Knadil defeat four Kaguas at once? Kassel anxiously pulled the reins not knowing what to do, but soon relaxed his grip.
‘You must be more scared than me.’
Kassel slowly stroked Venon’s head. And he hugged its neck instead of the reins. To avoid choking and interfering, he pressed his body as close as possible to Venon’s back.
‘My life depends on you anyway. Run as you please.’
This impatient Venon seemed to have decided to get angry, having already grown tired of fearing the Kaguas. Venon growled and then aggressively charged at the two in front. Venon gradually widened its stride and then jumped high at the last moment.
The Kaguas lowered their mouths almost to the ground as they approached, but raised their faces when Venon jumped. However, they couldn’t keep up with Venon’s nimble movements. Venon stepped on one Kagua’s head, then its back, and charged at the second Kagua. And maintaining speed, it passed between the legs of the Kagua standing only on its hind legs. The Kagua’s tail barely brushed over Kassel’s head. When hitting the ground, he almost lost his grip on the neck for a moment but barely held on.
Four Kaguas chased after Venon, but dragons that couldn’t fly couldn’t keep up with this fastest animal in the Sky Mountains. When he finally managed to sit up and look back, the Kaguas were already far behind and barely visible. Venon ran at a slightly slower pace.
While Kassel was relieved to have barely survived, he was also worried.
‘What is the enemy aiming for by leaving those four Kaguas in the Sky Mountains? Does Lofin know?’
Kassel bowed his head towards the back.
“I’m sorry.”
Kassel apologized to the two Lemifs who died by Kaguas while trying to guide him, and then focused only on the front as he ran. There was no room to look back now.
It got cold. The sky gradually darkened and now even the sun was hardly visible, hidden by clouds. Even wearing the clothes Sermei had prepared, the cold didn’t easily subside. Later, the temperature dropped so much that his breath was visible as white mist.
‘How far have we come?’
He couldn’t even tell if they had passed the three mountains Rai mentioned or if this was the second mountain. Looking back, visibility was blocked by vapor that could have been fog or clouds.
Venon ran well, but the speed decreased a lot while climbing the rocky mountain’s upslope. It felt like they had come very far, but considering the vastness of the Sky Mountains, it also didn’t seem like they had come that far.
‘I hope we’ve come at least halfway. Didn’t Rai say it was a day’s journey flying? Will we be able to reach Aranthia by tomorrow evening?’
He couldn’t tell.
Even when moving urgently pressed for time, Lofin always knew exactly how far they had traveled. Tanya also knew roughly where her position was without much thought. Jaymer roamed around Aranthia, which he said he was visiting for the first time, as if it were his home village. Without them, Kassel couldn’t do anything.
‘What on earth made me think I could climb the Sky Mountains alone? I should have just stayed in Rock.’
Belated regret washed over him.
‘Was it the enemy’s strategy from the beginning? Maybe they showed me a distorted future, foreseeing important things I would do in Rock, to drive me to a place like this. Then I’ve completely fallen into the enemy’s trap.’
Kassel looked out at the barren rocky mountain Venon was walking up. From somewhere, something like coarse dust carried by the wind flew in front of his eyes. Looking up at the sky, it was snowing.
“This is a place where seasons don’t apply.”
From afar, snow-covered high mountains were a beautiful sight. But actually being on it and seeing these small snowflakes, worry took precedence. Probably higher up, there would be a lot of snow accumulated and the wind would be even stronger.
“Am I going the way Rai said? Do you know where you’re going? Is this the shortest route?”
Kassel asked. Venon just moved its four legs vigorously. Sometimes it seemed to be walking downhill, but soon headed in an upward direction again. It was still running lightly, but not as fast as at first when the surroundings were barely visible.
“I know it’s hard, but please try a little harder. Maybe the fate of tens of thousands of people depends on your feet right now.”
‘Maybe even the entire human race.’
That was encouragement to himself, consolation, and also a question.
‘Is this really a path that will greatly help Rock’s war?’
Darkness gnawed at hope and cold shrank confidence. Now the snow was quite rough, and Venon was walking on snow-covered ground.
The enemy would probably attack Rock’s towers tonight. Both the enemy and allies knew this. Everyone knew what Kassel knew. That’s why it was scary. A capable enemy commander would certainly aim for more than that. Kassel could only hope that Lofin was looking further ahead than the enemy commander Victor.
‘No, even if he looks ahead, what can he do with such a big difference in forces?’
Kassel thought that far and then hurriedly shook his head.
‘Let’s not think about anything. And it would be good to eat some bread before it gets colder. If I get hungry, I’ll only think more pessimistically.’
Kassel briefly dismounted Venon and ate bread and drank water. Perhaps because it was Lemif food, when he tried feeding Venon too, it ate well. Although his body was shivering and his mouth was dry, it tasted good. He briefly had the well-fed thought that it would have been nice to eat this in front of a fireplace with good alcohol.
It got colder being separated from Venon. Kassel mounted Venon’s back again if only because of the cold, and Venon walked well on its own without being told to. It was still uphill, and the snowfall became fiercer as they climbed.
‘How high is this mountain anyway? And how much worse will the blizzard get?’
Somehow it felt like the darkness was deepening as they climbed. Now light had completely disappeared and Kassel couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t even see right in front of his nose. Even the jewel attached to the sacred sword handle that usually glowed at night was of no help in this blizzard.
He could only feel where Venon’s back was by groping with his hands, not visually confirming it. He couldn’t see where Venon’s back was or where his own hands were. If he fell once from being pushed by the wind or losing balance, he wouldn’t be able to climb back onto Venon’s back.
Kassel gripped the reins tighter out of anxiety.
As if someone was hindering them from going forward, the snowfall blowing from the front grew even stronger. The wind was so strong that Venon couldn’t move forward and stepped backwards. Even after waiting for a while, Venon stayed in the same place.
Kassel painfully dismounted from Venon’s back. Afraid of losing grip on the reins or losing Venon’s position, he groped around like a blind person and moved to Venon’s front.
He tightly gripped Venon’s reins and painfully moved forward. Venon seemed to follow a few steps then, but soon refused to go forward. Although the wind was strong, it wasn’t so bad that they couldn’t walk with their heads lowered, so Kassel pulled the reins harder.
“We have to go. It’s more dangerous if we stop in a place like this.”
Kassel raised his voice louder. But Venon didn’t move.
“What’s wrong?”
Kassel brought the dimly glowing sacred sword next to Venon’s face. It wasn’t looking at the sword or Kassel, but glaring at something behind him.
Venon’s long breaths continued. Kassel narrowed his eyes and stared into the darkness covered by snow on his face. But in the darkness where even Venon’s face right beside him was barely visible, there was no way he could see anything.
“Is someone there?”
Kassel’s voice was washed away by the humming wind. He took a few steps forward, holding Venon’s reins like a lifeline. Still, nothing was visible.
“Is anyone there?”
After waiting for a response for a while, he pulled Venon again.
“There’s nothing here! It’s okay.”
But Venon didn’t move.
“There’s not… nothing after all.”
It was right. There was something.
“Dru riai… az zred.”
A deep voice that shook the ground reached Kassel through the wind of the mountain higher than clouds. He stepped back in surprise next to Venon.
He could understand Sermei’s voice, but he couldn’t understand that voice mixed with the blizzard. It was similar but clearly a different language. But Kassel could roughly guess what those words meant.
‘We can’t stay like this. But what should I say and how to a being whose identity I don’t even know? No, will we even be able to communicate?’
Kassel just waited, and Venon neither retreated nor advanced. It felt like the blizzard was getting stronger just in this area. The wind seeping through the gaps in his clothes was terribly cold.
The being in the darkness spoke to Kassel once more.
“Dru raai az zred.”
He still couldn’t understand.
The snow stuck to Kassel’s face started to freeze, and the snow piled on his head and shoulders didn’t fall off even when he moved his body.
Venon shook its body once. The hand holding the reins felt no sensation, frozen stiff even though he was wearing gloves. At first the snowflakes hitting his face hurt, but now he couldn’t even feel that.
Strangely, he felt sleepy.
“Nuraifdum…”
It was the being that was in the hallucination shown by the Lord of the Undying. It was the ghost Rai had warned about. Kassel spoke through his barely opening mouth.
“Stand back.”
Kassel held out the sacred sword. He didn’t have the strength to grip it, but fortunately it didn’t fall as if stuck to his palm.
“I have the right to pass this mountain. I am the successor of High Lord Sanadiel, and the inheritor of Ztokh Worg.”
Kassel’s arm trembled, unable to bear the weight of the not-so-long sword. The tip of the sword was consumed by darkness as if a feather touching ink was absorbing black ink.
Kassel continued speaking with half-closed eyes. He wasn’t scared. But he stammered as words didn’t come out well.
“O-open the way. I don’t care… who you are. Even if you’re the master of this mountain, if you’re under Nadiuren’s name, you have a duty to follow my words. I have no intention of defiling this mountain. So… o-open the way.”
No thoughts came to mind.
‘If that’s Nurai, it can’t be a being under Nadiuren’s name. So it probably won’t open the way either.’
He waited for a while, but no response came. Fortunately, the snowfall gradually became finer.
‘Is it gone?’
Kassel slowly returned the sword to its scabbard. But because he couldn’t feel the sensation in his frozen hand, he failed several times before finally finding the scabbard’s entrance and inserting it.
Miraculously, the blizzard almost stopped, and the clouds in the sky cleared away. Stars and the moon were visible through the faintly thinning clouds. The surroundings were slightly illuminated by the faint moonlight. There was no one in front. There were no traces of anyone walking in the snow either.
‘So it was a ghost after all. I just need to not be scared.’
Kassel pushed aside the layers of questions piling up. He stroked Venon’s head as if to say “good job”.
“Let’s keep going. Seeing the moon, it seems the night has just begun. I won’t rush you. If we’re late even though you’ve gone as far as you can, then that must be our giders. But if a similar being blocks us when we go to the next mountain, will I be able to speak like I just did again?”
Kassel slowly walked through the knee-deep snow. In snow like this, he couldn’t ride Venon so he just held the reins and moved forward.
“Huh?”
The ground beneath his feet felt empty. At the same time, the snow on the ground sank deeply and Venon and Kassel fell down together. Venon desperately struggled to climb up the sinking snow, but couldn’t maintain balance as its body went down.
Kassel was also startled and let go of the reins, grabbing at anything with both hands. But as the snowfield all around collapsed simultaneously, there was nothing to grab or hold onto. As piles of snow crashed down on Kassel’s body, something caught in his hand. Venon fell down, buried in the pouring snow.
Kassel was grasping a protruding cliff. Looking down, an almost vertical steep slope continued endlessly downward. Through that gap, Venon struggled not to slide down, trying to climb up, but eventually disappeared beyond Kassel’s view along with other collapsing snow piles.
Kassel was hanging at the edge of an ice crevice about three steps wide. It was a natural trap that had been hidden by accumulated snow.
Kassel desperately tried to climb up, but his frozen hands wouldn’t obey. His legs also had no strength after being on Venon’s back all day, moving vigorously.
He looked down the cliff again. It wasn’t a vertically cut precipice, but light didn’t reach the bottom, making it hard to even gauge how far down he’d have to slide before reaching the ground. Even if the bottom was close and he could fall without injury…, even if he survived, it would be meaningless for Kassel.
‘I can’t waste time in a place like this.’
Kassel used all his strength to step on the wall and stretch his hand upward. But without any part to grab and fix his body, he kept sliding. All he could grab was snow that crumbled into powder. Kassel drew the sacred sword from his waist, gripped it upside down, and struck the wall. Luckily, the sacred sword got stuck in an ice crevice and fixed in place. But he didn’t have the strength to hold on for long.
Thinking it was his last ounce of strength, Kassel put force into the hand holding the sword and tried to climb up. At that moment, something like a translucent branch approached the blade stuck in the ice.
“?”
Kassel opened his eyes wide. It wasn’t an illusion. It wasn’t a branch either. It was some beast’s foot. It could have been a hand. It only looked like a branch because it was so long and thin.
“What…?”
Kassel cried out in a single syllable but couldn’t finish. That beast’s foot grasped the sword stuck in the ice and pulled it out.
As the sacred sword slipped from his hand, Kassel slid down and rolled down the ice wall. The cliff wasn’t as deep as he thought. Instead, there was darkness worse than during the blizzard.
Kassel was conscious until the moment his feet touched flat ground after sliding down the wall. Where he rolled and fell, snow that had poured down from above was piled up thickly, and Kassel’s body sank deep into it.
The soft snow buried his face. It should have been deathly cold, but somehow it felt like entering a warm room and burying his face in a blanket. Drowsiness washed over him.
‘Let’s rest for a moment. If I rest for just 10 seconds, I can recover my body. I shouldn’t force myself to get up. After falling from such a high place, it could be dangerous if I’m not careful. 10 seconds is enough. Then I’ll get up.’
Kassel closed his eyes. And fell asleep just like that.
–TL Notes–
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