271 – Bimoa
A long plain. Bitter air. The quiet North Pole.
We went across a long, snowy field. Ajahadaka no longer spared any magical energy and advanced at top speed.
It was not the suffocating pain and bone-cutting pain that whipped us and urged us on. What made us urgent was not any external factor, but an inner whisper.
Everyone was just sympathizing. We have already entered the final step, and there is no point in thinking about what comes next.
It is one last gamble, risking everything. Success or failure. There is nothing in between. There was no way to just hit it with all its might and preserve a reasonable amount of strength.
Everyone was so nervous that they didn’t say anything, but they were just nervous.
“It feels like flipping a coin and waiting to see whether it comes up heads or tails.”
-And if it comes up tails, we can all hold hands and go to the nether together.
Grimudo has already left the North Pole Fortress. Now that he was gone, it didn’t seem like any difficult task would be waiting for us there.
Our job is to dig into the basement of the fortress that has become Muju Communist Mountain, find the core of the ancient body, and drive in thorns. And that’s exactly where we can use our hands.
If you drive this thorn into the vital spot of the ancient body, will you be able to kill it?
In fact, there is no way to know until you try it. Half of the odds are up to us, and the other half are up to heaven.
That is why, no matter how well it is presented, it is ultimately a gamble, but if you do not gamble like this, you have no chance of winning. Shouldn’t we at least try everything we can and leave the results to fate?
Originally, we would not have even been given the opportunity to gamble. If you have the opportunity to try your hand at something, you have no choice but to do your best.
If we are pushed out, everyone falls, and if we are pushed out, all opportunities are lost. The fate of not just a country, but an era and the world rests on our shoulders and on these thorns.
Even if you are truly unlucky and fail due to lack of thorn power, in fact, it cannot be said that the people here have truly suffered a major blow.
-The faith toward me is decreasing even at this moment. My believers are either dying or giving up their faith. Probably both. I can’t help it. Because it is true that I failed to fulfill my duty as a god. What shame would a God have for faith when he cannot even save believers from danger?
There is only one evil spirit, Oberta, who lives based on faith and feeds on faith. If this task is not successful, he will also disappear. However, the situation is different for the dragon Ajahadaka, so if things don’t work out for him, he can just run away. If she tried hard and it didn’t work out, she is not morally responsible.
Roca and Yanid have no obligation to perish along with the world, so even if this project fails, they will not experience any kind of life-threatening crisis. Ironically, the Arctic, which is ancient in itself, was also the safest place from circulation.
Because we haven’t seen a single thing that Grimudo called harvesters. Actually, if you think about it, it was natural. If those giant lumps of flesh were to come across this wide snow field to eat us, just to devour three people and a dragon, it would never be profitable.
The whole world is full of creatures to catch and eat, so there would be no reason to come all the way to the North Pole. Even if the entire world is completely wiped out, the story is different in the North Pole.
But if we feel at ease just because we are safe, of course we are not. Since our lives were not at stake in this gamble, my heart felt even more heavy.
“Don’t worry too much. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, right? “If that really happens, we have no choice but to dig a tunnel somewhere and hide.”
Roca whispered as she held my shoulder and massaged it, but her expression was gloomy as well. She tried to speak brightly, but her voice was weak.
If Roca had just met me, he might not have been impressed at all even if the world were to end. Perhaps, he might have welcomed it with fondness.
For someone who has nothing precious left, destruction will not be a blow of any kind. Roca at that time clearly did not even value himself.
However, Roca helped me on my journey and made many connections here and there as I reached this point. Kisea and the beastmen are representative examples, but even without them, there were good relationships in the Islands and Citadel. I have also become acquainted with the people of the Aldehir Church.
Although our relationship was short-lived, we cannot say that our relationship is deep yet. However, even if they are not family and friends, they can definitely be considered acquaintances. It is a terrible thing to even think about them all dying and disappearing and being the only one left alive.
So all we can do is pray that something like that doesn’t happen.
“Look, I can see the North Pole Citadel!”
[There won’t be that guy, right?]
-I can’t believe I stopped by there three times. My luck was also very twisted.
A castle of ice that was once godly and beautiful slowly reveals its outline in the distance.
It had melted and split due to the previous skirmish, but the collapsed part was still standing tall and waiting for us. The wind wheezing against it made a loud sound.
Like Oberta, this is my third time visiting this fortress.
The grandeur that I felt when I first witnessed it has already been diluted to a great extent. In the past, I felt majesty and wonder when I saw this building, but now I don’t have time to look at it.
-What are you doing? Don’t go in quickly.
[Wait a moment. Let’s take a look first. If that guy is still in there, if I attack him with all my might, I’ll be dead. Let’s go safely, be safe.]
From Noble mtl dot com
So we thought we would go in there right away, but the dragon had different ideas than us. I circled above the North Pole Citadel and looked closely at its interior. Having survived a battle that took place not too long ago, it was understandable that he was so cautious.
It seemed like the crushing defeat in a one-on-one battle with the Demon King left a big scar. After carefully scanning the air, the dragon quietly landed on the top of the North Star. Even though it was the top, the original top had long ago broken down and fallen to the ground, and was only the highest part of the remaining parts of the fortress.
Wheeing!
At that time, the wind direction suddenly changed and a strong gust blew. Even the huge dragon stumbled, and we who were on top of it almost fell. Suddenly, heat invaded from the floor, and when it met the arctic cold, steam spewed out. The dragon quickly spread its wings and stepped back.
[What does this suddenly mean? This is definitely not magic…]
The ice on the ground melted instantly and turned into water. As if that wasn’t enough, it started to boil and turned into a thick fog that obscured my vision. When even the fog froze and disappeared, a strong beam of light passed before my eyes. It was only for a moment, but my vision became brighter.
“The snow…! Nu, I can’t see!”
“Only a white afterimage continues to remain…”
I heard Roka and Yanid yelling in horror. Just by seeing a passing beam of light, two of the continent’s leading powerhouses lost their eyesight at the same time.
If my pupil had not been broken and my eyes had not changed into those of the apostle, I would have lost my sight, even if only for a moment. It wasn’t that there was any supernatural power, it was just that the light beam itself was so strong. It wasn’t even a hit, it was so bad that my eyes couldn’t stand just looking at it!
However, the light itself cannot be said to be that scary. Roka and Yanid were also caught off guard by the surprise flash of light, otherwise they would have had their own countermeasures.
What is truly scary is not the light, but the heat it contains. When I looked closely at the place where the light beam came from, I saw that the entire ice in that area had melted and turned into a large lake.
Ripples rose from one part of the bubbling lake, and wide eyes looked at us. Yes, eyeballs. That was the only way I could explain it.
What a disaster…!
The cold in the Arctic was so fierce that the melted ice froze again and quickly recovered to its original state. But even for a moment. Light leaked through the ice on the ground, which had become transparent as it melted and then frozen again, and in an instant, the melted ice boiled more violently than before.
A curtain of light stretched out as if blocking our path. Even though the calories would have been greatly reduced by melting the entire ice, the power was not discouraged at all. Just being exposed to light made me feel hot and stuffy. I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“Monster… That’s a monster, right?”
-I think so… No, but what is that? This is my first time seeing something like that. It’s a monster that has never been known before.
[Are you saying he was just using something like that like a guard dog?]
-Maybe so. If such a unique-looking monster was doing something, there’s no way it wouldn’t be known. There must have been rumors, but I’ve never heard of such rumors.
This time, the eyeballs were clearly visible even though the ice had frozen again. No emotion could be read from those huge eyes. But one thing is certain, it is getting closer and closer to us.
This North Pole is a landform created by the formation of glaciers on top of creatures called primordial bodies floating on the sea. Unlike the continent, the ground is made of snow and ice, not dirt and stones.
It seemed that its method of movement was to move around underground, in other words, between glaciers, melting them with rays of light. Even now, they are trying to apply that method to rise above the earth.
[Not good. Since we are in the ice now, even if we aim accurately and shoot a beam of light, it will be refracted or scattered and fly to the wrong place, but if it comes out into the air…]
“Then we have no choice but to defeat it. Anyway, they’re blocking our way! “Is there a way other than hitting me?”
[I’m saying this because I don’t think it’s as easy as it sounds.]
My third strike. When the third beam of light was aimed at us, it broke through the glacier, twisted around, scattered in the vapor, and missed us. Just as Ajahadaka said, this attack wasn’t that threatening. It just might have surprised people a bit.
[That… It would be best not to take it lightly.]
But now, that unrealistic giant eyeball has come up to the ground. After hearing the sound of the melted ground refreezing, my eyeball emerged. He turned his eyes and glared directly at us.
Now we can no longer expect a fluke like before.