129 – War in the Dream
I followed her to her house.
After handing over the tea that was blooming on the table, Lena sat cross-legged on the cushion and looked at Si-woon.
“I know that Hunter is a strong person.”
After her words, her expression was uneasy. I know you’re strong, but it’s a nuance that you’re not good enough.
“I want to know about that mage.”
“… As far as I know, I will tell you everything.”
She took a sip of her tea, took a deep breath, and went on.
“He is known to have the ability to create dreams through sorcery.”
She said this.
Then she continued her explanation in a trembling voice.
Summarizing all the information I’ve heard, it’s like this.
That black magician,
He launders his identity as a believer and lives in the Temple of Raphael.
It is said that no one knows what he looks like.
Forbidden magic is used to instill dreams in people.
A human who is forever bound in a dream uses him as a slave for the rest of his life or consumes him as a living test of magic.
While listening, there was something I did not understand.
You asked.
“… Then, why not just destroy the temple of Raphael?”
Lena shook her blonde hair.
“I can’t do that. That temple is designated as a national treasure of the Balkas Kingdom.”
“People are dying because of Hannom who lives in that temple, so why is the state silent?”
Sorrow filled Lena’s pupils at Siwoon’s question.
“…… Our village is a village that has been abandoned by the country.”
She dropped her head helplessly and bit her lip.
Even as her shoulders trembled, she seemed to hold back her tears.
It’s such an embarrassing and unfair situation.
What the hell is the king of this country doing?
I feel like I’m about to burst into tears.
“How many people have been hurt by him so far?”
“I can’t even count.”
Lena spoke weakly, and she added what had happened.
A mid-level mercenary group sent to the temple was found as a pile of corpses,
I could hear such ominous things as the hunters who turned to the reward and entered the temple after receiving the request were also found with their eyes, arms, and several parts of the body damaged.
‘It won’t be easy… ….’
She thought there was difficulty.
After listening to it, I thought that this is not usually dangerous.
‘However, as much as you are prepared to lose everything, the reward follows in proportion. Except gambling….’
At that time. Lena put her hands on top of Siwoon’s hands and said with her earnest eyes.
“I can convince Dad. I hope the Hunters will solve the problem. At this rate, our village…… “
She wept bitterly as she held the back of Siwoon’s hand even more tightly.
The way she cried was so beautiful that it blinded her eyes.
She was like a mysterious beauty that was famous in the village of Miwol.
“Chief, I believe that Lena will convince you.”
“… If that’s the case, don’t worry.”
“But. It is dangerous enough to risk your life, so if you promise a solid reward, I will move.”
“A sure reward?”
The end of her words rose subtly.
It was reckless to ask for only experience points for this kind of work.
Unless a solid reward was at stake, there was no reason to give it a try.
“What reward do you want?”
“The annex we are staying in and the experience points. It just takes two.”
“Ah….”
Lena fell asleep and seemed to be lost in her thoughts for a while.
“If that is the reward for bringing peace to the village of Miwol, the village chief will not suffer any loss.”
I added it forcefully.
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After a while.
Lena’s lips opened as her eyes sparkled as if she had lost her contemplation.
“… All right. I will definitely try to convince her dad.”
* * *
Six days passed.
-I will try to trust you guys. Please… I will pray to God that you return safely.
Da Ion said so and gave him a bottle of his blood.
It was the blood of a deer.
It was because of the custom that the general public could enter the Raphael Temple only when the blood of a deer was offered as an offering.
“I am quite reluctant to go in.”
Hye-ryeong muttered as she looked in front of her.
With their eyesight, they saw a very large rectangular temple.
The temple is covered with white pillars, and the pillars are studded with stone statues of angels and demons biting each other.
At the entrance was a stone tablet with an ancient language written on it.
“… It is a brilliant place that worships God Raphael, and I will give the world of dreams to strangers who are hit by reality.”
Yeonhee poked her head towards the stone tablet and read the language.
“Do you know how to read the ancient language of the other world?”
“I am very interested in history.”
“Really? But is your tone a bit stiff? Are you feeling a little down today?”
“No.”
After Yeon-hee responded coldly to Hye-ryeong, she let out a sigh.
“Whew- I actually read about this temple in a book. There are rumors that a black mage named Christian is hiding here wearing the mask of a believer.”
Yeonhee raised her pupils upwards and continued talking while groping for memories of the book she had read.
“It was written in the book that the dark mage, Christian, blocks the aura of others’ energy, preventing them from using their mana, and sealing their souls in dreams.”
“… You mean you can’t use magic power? If that’s the case, won’t our skills also fail?”
Hye-ryeong frowned.
Yeon-hee didn’t pay attention to Hye-ryeong, but fixed her gaze on her Si-woon.
“Are you sure you want to go into that temple?”
“Are you scared?”
“……….”
Siwoon said while looking at Yooseok and Heeryeong Yeonhee.
“Those who are afraid can get out of it. Whoever is missing, tell me now.”
“You came all the way here?”
“I… ….”
“Somehow, I feel a lot ominous.”
Siwoon said forcefully.
“People who are going to fall out now. Instead, you know that the reward belongs only to the person who entered, right?”
“Of course not! You’re not a coward, are you going to come all the way here and get rid of me?”
Hye-ryeong pulled out the bow from her back and showed her strength.
“I’m going too.”
Yoo Seok also nodded her head.
But only Yeon-hee seemed uneasy.
Siwoon said to Yeonhee.
“Don’t be afraid. I will protect you. Let’s go.”
“Yes…. Okay.”
His low words shook Yeon-hee’s heart.
Pot!
The summoned Ilmiho raised his head to Siwoon.
“What? Kang!”
“Can you see the temple over there? Tell me how you feel.”
Ilmi-ho trudged toward the temple and stopped.
“…… Ominous I can’t go in here.”
Il Miho, who had always been strong, quietly stepped back from him with a frightened expression on his face.
“You have to accompany me. Only then can we find the person we are looking for.”
“No! I can’t go in!”
Whoosh!
Ilmiho disappeared on its own accord.
This was the first time it had disappeared like this without ending its duration.
“Damn it. It must be more difficult than I thought.”
Siwoon cast Blind Sense.
Then he walked to the entrance of the temple.
‘I hear whispering.’
A very small whisper through the entrance.
And I felt the fishy smell I hadn’t smelled before.
At that time.
Someone approached from behind.
“Are you a stranger?”
It was an old woman wearing a white priestly robe and covering her face with a hood.
The old woman’s one eye, which only had white eyes, was terrifying.
Shiwoon took out a bottle of her deer’s blood.
“The offering has been brought. I am going to pray to God and go.”
“… Well, I can’t stop you from bringing an offering. It’s up to you to enter, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
The old woman left those words behind.
* * *
“Did you cut it?”
A woman crushed by her scars asked the believer.
“I followed the orders.”
The believer answered in an emotionless voice and held out a gourd.
The woman who received it opened her eyes to the inside of the vial.
Inside it were the extracted eyeballs floating in the water.
The woman twists the corners of her mouth and puts her foot forward, and believers spread around to make her way.
A walking woman stops and opens her iron door, revealing a space the size of a room.
“…… Come on, save me! Ghosts follow me…….”
A man sitting in an iron chair with his whole body chained was strangled.
Blood flowed between his closed eyelids.
The woman looks at him happily.
“Was the only thing you feared most about ghosts?”
When she asked her man, her man nodded her head and yelled at her to please take him out of her dream.
“Looks like a stranger has entered the temple.”
A believer approached and spoke in a steady tone. Like a robot without a soul.
“That’s great. How many heads?”
“It counts as four.”
“I had a lot to test, and it worked great.”
The woman seemed to smile with her four hundred eyes wide open.
The believer who just reported it thought with an expressionless face.
‘…… You can’t set foot here!’
* * *
The inside of the temple was gloomy.
To the extent that ghosts or ghosts suddenly pop out.
The rusty light fixtures hanging here and there emit a faint light.
I stopped in front of a stone statue in the shape of an ancient monster.
I looked down.
A checkered floor spreads around the feet.
“I don’t see a single believer?”
Hyeryeong looked around.
The inside of the temple was very large.
In addition, it was strange that there were no believers in sight compared to the endless corridors and numerous rooms.
“The skill is not being used. I think we should be careful.”
Yoo-seok said.
“… What?”
“Really?”
At his words, each skill was activated.
[Cannot be activated by divine power.]
All I could hear was this damn alarm.
“Ha! I can’t use real skills.”
Yeonhee’s face darkened as she moved her lips.
“… Christian said that he forbade people from magical powers. It’s just like what you see in the book.”
Chang!
Shiwoon immediately drew his sword from the scabbard.
‘If you can’t use the skill… ‘
The conclusion is drawn that we must deal with him with force.
With Siwoon’s sharp eyes, traces of footprints on the floor come in.
“Found footprints.”
“… Footprint? Where?”
At Siwoon’s words, everyone looked around at the floor but tilted their heads as if they couldn’t find it. In the eyes of the general public, it was.
“I see it in my eyes. Follow me. I figured out the route.”
“Are you sure?”
Siwoon nodded his head and walked forward. The party, each armed with a weapon, followed him, vigilant in all directions.
After passing through the long aisle, I saw a red carpet on the floor.
Took. The luck stopped.
“Are you here?”
After asking Hye-ryeong, put her index finger on her lips and close her mouth.
Siwoon examined the floor closely.
‘There are believers here.’
Go away! The sound of a bowstring being drawn was heard. Hye-ryeong aimed her bow at the approaching believer.
“What are you doing!”
A believer in a white priestly robe walked angrily.
“… Chet. You should know who is who.”
Hye-ryeong recognized her as a believer and lowered her bow.
“What are you doing here?”
Siwoon’s eyes widened as he watched the believer gradually narrowing the distance!
‘… Bloodstain?’
A light stain of blood was seen on the believer’s palm.
“Stop there!”
Siwoon pointed the blade forward and shouted, and the believer stopped.
“Look at these! Why do you keep pointing weapons at people?”
“What is the blood on your right hand?”
“What are you talking about?”
At Siwoon’s question, the believer shrugged his shoulders and was puzzled.
Shiwoon jumped out with strength in his lower body right away and was ready to cut his throat.
“I asked what blood is… “
“Oops.”
“Ugh….”
I couldn’t speak.
Not only Siwoon, but everyone lay down on the floor with their weapons dropped.
“Ji-jei…… Ral.”
“Ah….”
“Ugh.”
I had no strength in my whole body, and I couldn’t even speak. My vision blurred with a feeling of haze.
The believer’s face looking down at them was blurred.
* * *
Jumping! Rattle!
“…… !”
Siwoon hurriedly opened his eyes.
What is it? The rattling sound was, to my surprise, the subway.
“How did…… ?”
People looked at Siwoon muttering to himself strangely.
This is the scenery inside the subway.
Siwoon held out his hands and inspected the clothes he was wearing.
‘A suit?’
The clothes he was wearing were those of an office worker.
No way? Is this a dream?
“You decided to go out with Hyeon-seok yesterday, right? Ha ha! Did you push and push like that and finally get it?”
It is the voice of a woman talking on the phone next to her while holding her cellphone to her ear.
It seems like a dream. Then?
Tok tok. He patted her cheek with the palm of her hand.
I can vividly feel the sensation of my cheek being beaten.
‘Did you mean you were beaten by that black mage?’
I’ve heard that he instills dreams in people and manipulates them.
But. I never thought I would fall into a dream after never using my strength like this.
‘The sense of the blind.’
I put a starter word inside, but it doesn’t seem to activate the skill either.
‘I have to find a way out.’
I looked everywhere.
A office worker wearing a tie goes to work. Students in school uniforms.
Only people can be seen.
Dirty! I heard a familiar voice along with the sound of the door opening next to the subway.
“Siwoon!”
It was Jeong Yeon-hee.
I was surprised and stood up from the spot.
“Yeonhee. Were you in the next room too?”
“Yes. It’s like we’re all in a connected dream.”
Yeonhee also seems to be aware of the situation.
-This station is Kyodae Station. It is a shift station.
I had to find a way while ignoring the subway guide’s voice.
If you do something wrong, you will be trapped in this dream forever. Are Yoo-seok and Hye-ryeong also in this subway?
“Oh! For a moment!”
Yeonhee, who was sitting in the seat next to Siwoon, raised her head.
“Did you find a way?”
“I remembered a passage I saw in a book. But that’s what….”
Yeonhee’s words trembled ominously. Perhaps this must be a dream realized by that wizard.
Yeonhee’s words shook Siwoon’s mind.
“… One of the passages I saw in the book said this. Mage Christian said that he is attracted to strong people. And he says he puts what scares him the most into his dreams….”
“… What?”
If you’re attracted to a strong person, it’s definitely me out of the four.
Besides putting what he fears most into his dreams?
“Mr. Sipal.”
Nausea came out of Siwoon’s mouth. It had to be.
“Why is that?”
“Zombies.”
“What?”
Yeon-hee looked at Si-woon’s tired face and asked.
“… It’s a zombie It’s what I value the most.”
“What? No way….”
Quang!
“Hmm?”
“Why did the subway suddenly stop?”
“Isn’t it an accident?”
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Deafening sound.
The subway suddenly stopped.
People in the subway were whispering.
It was then.
-… A word of guidance. Train service is temporarily suspended due to sudden circumstances. Thank you for your understanding on this point.
The trembling voice of the subway driver came through the internal speaker.