Chapter 578
578fury
70. This side(11)
‘The black disk that rose up from the 'dimensional seal' swallowed us up as we stood in the grocery warehouse and spit us out in a place reminiscent of outer space. This is the unknown space that Ellen guessed to be the border of a dimension or a huge sub-space..
Of course, just like last time, it took less than 10 seconds for me to feel the strange sense of floating and eerie silence..
Wow!
Somewhere in the distance, a dark gray flash exploded like an explosion. Just as I was about to raise my hand to cover my eyes from the rather intense light, my vision changed dramatically..
“-Wow!!”
With Steedman's loud screams, armed men rushed into the gray, noisy basement..
Unlike Cole, who landed stably after landing, and Tiloria, who fell leisurely using the magic tool of flight, 'Coffin of Wings', Mittelman and Cal Ain got tangled up with Steedman and ended up rolling on the floor..
“Ugh, damn it-”
“……Get out of the way.”
Ellen caught a glimpse of them and clicked her tongue with a relaxed look on her face..
“It's pathetic.”
Since he was clinging to me from the beginning, he was able to land on the floor very gracefully..
“This is the other side of the world…….”
Iopiya, who hit her knee violently, seemed to have forgotten the pain for a moment as she saw the scene unfolding before her eyes. The guy stood up shakily, supported by a bundle, and looked around repeatedly..
This time too, the place we fell into was a place that closely resembled reality. In other words, it looks like the food warehouse that was standing there just now has been distorted in a grotesque way.?
Most of the interior structure and miscellaneous items scattered around were the same, but everything was black or white, as if the color had been lost. In the midst of the darkness, there was a gloomy light with an unknown source, and it was filled with stuffy air that was difficult to breathe..
“……Athar marta. It's definitely not Middle Earth, but it doesn't feel like we've crossed into another dimension at all..”
“I told you, it's a weird quasi-dimensional thing. how is it? The pressure isn't bothersome?”
In response to Ellen’s question, the guy shook his head blankly..
“This is not an intrusive level of pressure. There are only a few spells you can use.……”
“okay? Well, I guess it's a pressure that's difficult for an ordinary magic user to handle..”
“Ellen, are you okay??”
“what. Although the pressure is quite strong, it's not so much that you can't use spells. It's annoying because it's an environment where it's difficult to resupply mana, but.”
“okay. Indeed, High Master…….”
Ellen quietly folded her arms in response to Iopiya's admiration. Seeing that sight, the bundle muttered with a grumpy expression..
“Pretending to be proud again.”
“……What did you just say??”
I stopped the guys who were trying to bicker again and then turned to my subordinates..
“Everyone, come to your senses and prepare to move. I'll move right away-”
Before speaking, I narrowed my eyebrows. There were clearly seven men who came down to the food warehouse, but only five were in front of me right now..
“……Where are the other two? Gidon and Shea?”
“I don't think it came.”
The person who answered was Cal Ain, a magic soldier with a blue flame tattoo around his eyes. He spoke calmly while holding a round shield with steel edges and a javelin of ambiguous length..
“When the black figure leapt from my lord's wrist, I was the last one caught in it. I checked the surroundings right after, but there was no one behind me..”
“Well, I think I know.”
Tilloria also shrugged his shoulders and added:.
“It looks like Gidon and Shea were too far away to reach the disc..”
“How far is it? In that palm-sized warehouse.”
“Anyway, those two were standing at the very back. I think only the people closest to Nari crossed over..”
“Hmm, I see..”
As I was scratching my chin in this awkward situation, Ellen turned around reflexively at the sound of Tilloria's voice and blurted out:.
“Maybe it's natural.”
“What is natural??”
“I mean personnel. Even though this is a quasi-dimension, it means escaping from Middle-Earth for a while. It would be natural to need a huge amount of resources of any kind in order to carry out a feat of 'dimensional travel'. You can't move an infinite number of people..”
That's a plausible opinion..
But since we didn't know much about this quasi-dimension or dimensional travel, there wasn't much we could be sure about..
Anyway, I couldn't keep debating here, so I decided to move for now..
Since the unknown means danger, it was natural to mobilize as much effort as possible to explore the unknown quasi-dimension..
So at first, I thought, why not select about 50 of my subordinates near the royal capital and bring them there?.
Of course, it was burdensome to move that many troops at once while disguised, and it was also difficult to provide space to gather them all together. But considering how little I knew about the underworld, it seemed worth the slight risk and inconvenience..
Well, now it was all meaningless worries. In the end, there were only nine people in the search team that crossed over to the other side of the world..
“Still, magic is prohibited.”
“It'll be okay?”
“Let's do that for now. Don't use magic unless someone's life is in danger..”
Ellen nodded silently at my firm attitude..
It's difficult to handle magical power due to the unique pressure of the underworld. Besides, I'm reluctant to use magic because of the recent sacrifice of an innocent boy..
Because the circumstances were a bit vague, it was not clear exactly why such a tragedy occurred..
Ellen's 'flame wave' may have burned the boy, or it may have been a side effect of defying the pressure of the underworld, or it could have been the problem of entering the underworld in the first place. Since nothing is exact, the only way was to be as careful as possible..
Ellen wasn't the only one who received attention. Iopiya and Cal Ain were also asked to refrain from using magic as much as possible..
If Ellen or Iopiya cannot use magical power, they become non-combatants, but this was not the case for Cal Ain..
He was a soldier who was building a fairly successful career before he was reduced to slavery by Altenburg's witchcraft. Thanks to this, his martial arts skills were quite excellent, and even though he couldn't use spells, he was a useful combatant..
I went down the rabbit hole with my group..
A back alley filled with low, shabby two-story buildings greeted us with a bizarre twist. The musty, yet somehow fishy-smelling air was a bonus..
Instinctively, I looked up and looked for the moon and stars, but all I could see was darkness. It seemed as if the only light in the world was a gloomy light flowing down the wall..
“……Well, it’s a really strange place..”
It was Steedman's nervous muttering..
Even as Steedman, who has experienced the 'gap dimension' of Akanku Karamek, a spirit shaman who went crazy, this side world seems completely unfamiliar..
“hmm. As for the Dream Territory... … It seems similar, but completely different..”
Kol, who had experienced the 'Dream Territory' in Modos in addition to Karamek's gap dimension, also felt unfamiliar. When asked about his detailed impressions, he answered calmly, adjusting his grip on the bowstring with the heavy arrow..
“I got goosebumps there because of the silence and otherworldly scenes that I had never experienced before. However, I didn't feel any malice in the space itself. But here, it feels like the wind is carrying life.…….”
Maybe he felt that the conversation was going on too long, but Cole finished his sentence by saying, 'That's just my opinion' and began to be wary of his son-in-law..
The formation was simply divided into two depending on the mission. The four of us, including myself, walked forward about ten paces, facing the direction of movement, while the rest took about ten steps back for safety..
Leading the way with me was Steedman, armed with Dormena armored plate armor, an elongated federal flag, and the 'sword of destruction'. Right behind her was Tiloria, wearing light scale armor and holding her family's treasure, the 'Cutting Blade', and Kol, whose eyes were as bright as mine..
Mittelman, Cal Ain, and Mungchi followed behind. It was to protect Ellen, who had suddenly had her magic sealed, and Iopiya, who was no better than a non-combatant..
Of course, being a non-combatant did not mean that Iopiya had no role to play..
“It's IOP. This is really right?”
In response to the question asked while looking back, Iopiya, who was walking while covering her eyes with one hand and holding the bundle's hand tightly with the other, quickly nodded..
“Yes, yes, that's right..”
“……If we continue like this, I think we'll end up outside the outer walls.?”
“Uh, but I'm sure this is where I can feel the soul.…….”
It seems that my insistence on wanting to see the world behind the scenes was not for nothing. As soon as he stepped onto the street, he said he felt a strong presence of a spirit and started leading us somewhere to the southwest..
Unlike the last time, where I ran into the evil spirits after recklessly following a sign I felt by chance, this time Iopiya was acting as a compass in its own way..
However, as time passed, I couldn't help but feel a little more doubtful..
Last time, I stayed in the hidden world I entered through the carriage mechanic's son for less than five minutes at most. But this time, I think I walked for over 15 minutes and nothing happened..
And how much longer did I walk??
When it became difficult to manage our facial expressions due to the rising doubts and anxiety, we finally faced an unexpected situation..
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