272 – Uneasy Alliance
We had to keep moving forward.
It was a path that was paved by everyone even though they made sacrifices.
I will prove that Evan, who believed in my potential, was not wrong in his choice.
The cave was deeper and more complex than I thought. The path that stretched out like a maze in a space filled with darkness made me confused as to where I was standing just a moment ago.
If I didn’t have tracking magic, I would have gotten lost a long time ago.
The more I thought about it, the more surprising it was that I was able to handle the situation perfectly in that critical moment.
‘It’s probably not too late…’
I was worried about Sharon’s condition.
I was very concerned about the word ‘consciousness’ that the masked man mentioned in passing earlier.
Drakan’s target must have been Gina, the dragon-billed beauty.
Juliet, who had business with Sharon, joined Drakan and gave her information, forming a temporary alliance.
In other words, there is no reason for Drakan to be interested in Sharon rather than Gina.
Thoughts like that made me feel at ease, but when I remembered the story just now, I couldn’t even jump to a conclusion.
In the end, no matter what, we have no choice but to go as quickly as possible.
The signal gradually got closer. At the same time, a small cluster of lights began to appear from afar.
“Huh… Huh…”
When I finally stopped walking, exhaling heavily, a cavity so vast that it was hard to believe it was an underground cave spread out in front of me.
And in the middle of it all, three women were gathered in one place.
It was a composition that made it difficult to tell what was being done at first glance from a distance.
On the wall behind them, there was a huge crystal vein of unknown origin, emitting light.
First of all, the most important thing, Sharon, luckily seemed to be safe. Although she was sitting on her knees with her entire body bound, she looked fine on the outside.
Juliet and another woman were standing on either side of her, with Sharon in the middle.
I noticed her purple, voluminous hair, her familiar face, and realized that she was Francesca, a member of Drakan.
Naturally, my vigilance boiled over.
Francesca was a member of the highly secretive Drakan, of whom information was not particularly revealed.
What is certain about her is that she is not inferior to other members, and may even be the most dangerous.
As soon as I walked in on her, she turned her head and looked this way, probably because she sensed that I was interested in her.
“It’s surprising. “I had no idea that someone would break through the defenses and reach this point.”
The other person’s voice echoes like an echo due to the cave environment.
Juliet and Sharon also looked in my direction.
“···You ended up here.”
Juliet muttered in her complex tone and Sharon looked up at me with her wide-open eyes.
I took a deep breath and slowly walked towards them.
“Release Sharon.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s impossible. “He is the key to achieving our destiny.”
With Francesca’s rejection, my prediction became increasingly realistic.
“···Your destiny is to make the dragon return. “How can Sharon help with that goal?”
“Hmm. Is there any reason why I need to explain our plans to you in detail?”
I asked just in case, but as expected, the other person did not readily hand over the information.
I can’t help it. Since they were enemies anyway, I expected that a battle would be inevitable to rescue Sharon.
There is no longer any reason to waste time with useless conversations.
I took out the Joker card without hesitation, intending to put an end to it right away.
Suddenly.
But as soon as I took out the card, something flashed and it was cut in two and fell to the floor.
“Did you think I would just watch? “I already knew about your magic from my colleagues.”
Francesca snapped her fingers and smiled at the corners of her mouth.
Just as she judged me to be dangerous, she was equally wary of me.
More than that, how did they do it?
From such a great distance, you can cut out her card with just a flick of her finger.
I couldn’t even tell what the attack method was or when the magic was activated.
Incredible speed, ridiculous range, and even stealth that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
I knew it was a strong opponent, but I never thought it would be this overwhelming.
“You seem like you have a lot on your mind. “I’ll kill you right now so you don’t have to worry any more.”
The moment I was watching the other person spread his index finger without even knowing how to respond.
“Wait a minute. He must be kept alive.”
Due to Juliet’s sudden restraint, Francesca stopped her movements.
She looked at Juliet with a slight frown, perhaps feeling uncomfortable at the thought of being disturbed.
“You need to keep him alive? “Why?”
“Because it helps with consciousness.”
“I don’t think anything like that has ever been said before.”
“I didn’t know he was here until just now. Of course, there is no problem with the ceremony itself even if it is not present, but it will proceed much more smoothly if it is present.”
Francesca sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
“···It’s not a beautiful trend. It’s very unpleasant. But I’ll let it pass just this once.”
What on earth is going on?
So Juliet said she had to keep me alive and stopped her Drakan?
Why? I can help with the ritual?
What exactly does consciousness mean in the first place?
While she was engulfed in confusion, a strong pressure suddenly struck her.
The pressure was enough to take her breath away, and the sharpness felt as if her neck would break right away if it were tightened just a little more.
“Stay still. “I’m in a pretty bad mood right now.”
Is this also that woman’s magic…!
Amidst all this, there was a glimpse of sparkle. Clearly, that was the identity of this unknown ability.
But even though I noticed it, nothing changed.
If you ignore the tightness of your neck and move hastily, you may actually be torn in two.
She couldn’t do anything about the feeling of her neck being slowly pulled and she fell to her knees as she instructed.
Then Juliet slowly approached me from the other side.
A cold gaze looking down at me with an expressionless face that makes it difficult to tell what he is thinking.
She finally reached right in front of me and immediately whispered quietly into my ear.
“I will create a gap.”
“···What?”
“You only get one chance.”
Now I really don’t know what is what.
However, it was close to impossible to solve the current situation on one’s own.
I have no idea what their intentions were, but right now, the priority was to defeat Francesca to the beat of Juliet.
When I gave her a positive look, Juliet immediately took out her knife from her arms and cut her in half.
Then, the pressure that was strangling her disappeared and she confirmed that the thing that was sparkling in the air was actually a thread, as she had expected.
“What are you doing…!!”
Francesca bit her lip and tried to hastily respond to the sudden betrayal, but I was one step ahead of her, pulling out the Joker card and activating her magic.
The Joker immediately appeared next to me and pulled out a tarot card with a strange smile.
XVI.
A huge tower rose between me and the enemy.
At the top of the stone tower, a huge eye was looking down on everything.
“Just something like this!!”
Francesca let out her cries and stretched out all five of her fingers to manipulate her thread.
She tore the tower to pieces with incredible cutting and destructive power, but the huge tower did not collapse and stood firm.
And the eyes at the top of the tower finally stared straight at the human woman standing on the ground.
Immediately, a ferocious thunderbolt fell from the sky, filling the cave with light.
“aaah!!”
Her flash disappeared, and in the place where her lightning struck, there was a woman staggering precariously, covered in soot.
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Her previously beautiful appearance was gone, her face was full of charcoal black, and her once shiny hair had turned into spiky wisps.
Nevertheless, Francesca did not collapse and glared into her normal eyes.
“On a subject that is not beautiful…”
As if answering those words, her eyes were half-closed and bent.
As if to laugh at her shabby appearance.
“How dare you!!!”
Francesca can’t stand it any longer and rushes in blindly, losing her senses.
As she floated through the air on the threads scattered in her cavity, she came across countless shadows reaching out for her hand inside the window of the tower.
Overwhelmed by the strange sight, the woman forgot her anger and trembled with fear.
“Now, wait a minute…”
But it was too late for her to turn back.
She had already gotten so close that she was unable to shake off the hands of the shadows, and the sight of her being grabbed and slowly dragged away was a moment of pity.
But everything is retribution.
The seemingly powerful tower was actually a neutral entity that would not be hostile unless it attacked first.
Francesca’s arrogant personality, which despises things that are not beautiful and looks down on others, was unable to bear the unpleasant gaze of Francesca’s eyes looking down at her from her rugged stone tower, which led to the disaster.
Her tower, which had swallowed her, slowly dug into the ground and disappeared, as if nothing had happened.
As time passed, nothing remained there except the soot caused by the lightning strike.
“······.”
It is no longer possible.
Now it is impossible to use Joker.
The problem is that it’s not all over yet.
Juliet still had no idea what she was thinking, looking down at me right in front of her.