024. The other way

A tidal wave of fire advanced as if to devour everything.

The crystallization of irrationality, overwhelming violence. However, the warriors did not back down. It was because I couldn’t back down, because I had no back.

“Hold on, everyone!”

Derkain wrapped an aura all over his body. The brown scribe created a huge shield. I caught the wave as it was.

Kwak Kwah Kwah-

It was different from the real tsunami. hotter and more destructive. A line of fresh blood flowed from the strong shock along the corner of Derkain’s mouth.

But it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t stand it at all. Because they were warriors even when they rotted.

In front of the rolling waves, Dercain aimed his axe. With a click, the top of the ax handle opened. The weapon, which changed from a hammer to an ax and back to a magic cannon, accepted the owner’s mana and spewed it out.

aaang!

A huge flash of light shone. A line of brown that rips through the waves of fire, the air, and everything.

aaang!

It reached its target and exploded. A huge shockwave swept around.

The waves died down. The warriors barely breathed a sigh.

“I can’t just die like this. Don’t let go.”

“Yes.”

Kang Min-sik used an aura to brush off the residual fire from his body. The damn flame was hot enough to easily pierce the aura somehow.

“Do you have other organs besides poison?”

“fence?”

“None.”

The conversation ended there. Sparks exploded in smoke.

It was a spear of fire that split into hundreds.

“Come behind me!”

As Delcain manipulated the axe, the blade grew larger and took the shape of a shield. He wrapped around his aura and strengthened it and hid himself behind it. The other dwarves did the same.

kwa kwa kwa-

Like rocks swept away by a flood, the Dwarves endured. But that was a trick. The moment the rain of flame spears ended, Kim Woo-jin stood in front of a dwarf before he knew it.

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Jjouong, the size of the aura mixed with the flame exceeded 5m. I took the shield down as it was.

─!

A shockwave spread. Shards of broken aura and sparks bounced in all directions.

Derkain’s magic cannon aimed at Kim Woo-jin’s rear, but the sword attack that fell once again had no effect at all.

──!

“Cheuk…!”

shield is broken The dwarf was thrown out, vomiting blood.

That was the beginning.

Kim Woo-jin did not dare to deal with the warriors all at once. Attracting attention with colorful fireworks, he organized the dwarves one by one.

“this guy!”

Derkain chased after him, shooting magic cannons, but it was slow.

“Shit!”

Kang Min-shik stopped Kim Woo-jin, but his venom could not overcome the flames.

When the five dwarves fell like that.

────!

There was a wave of mana different from the explosion of sparks, where aura collided with another aura.

It was on the side of the dimensional barrier. Gransis was thrown out with a sudden spark.

“Gransis!”

“What, what happened?”

The dwarves who were struggling with Cerberus and the dwarves who were trying to hold on to Kim Woo-jin somehow shouted.

However, Gransis did not answer. With his complexion pale, he rushed into the barrier again.

wait a while

“Damn it.”

I put a curse in my mouth.

“Damn the world tree! Those elves who can’t even chew on them!”

failure.

Anger and screams were declarations that gave everyone despair.

* * *

A dimensional barrier is a kind of fence.

A tall wall built to protect the house of dimension. However, because it is a fence, there is an entrance. just no key.

There are three ways to pass the dimensional barrier.

Enter and exit through the key confidently.

Break down a wall with overwhelming force.

Or, like a thief, open the door and enter.

Of course, it was the third choice, the choice of Gransis Dramak, who had the heavy task of opening the dimensional barrier.

He had neither the key nor the overwhelming power to bring down the wall.

I don’t know if I get help from all the warriors trapped in purgatory, but right now it wasn’t a situation where I could do that.

Gripping support-

I closed my eyes and put my hand on top of the barrier. The counter-resilience that bounced violently gradually faded as the magic circle shone.

from now on

Slowly and carefully, mana flowed. It wasn’t easy to break through the cracks in the solid barrier. It required a huge amount of mana, and made up for the lack of magic circles drawn as by-products of spirit plants and monsters.

“…are you still far away?!”

A scream of pain passed through my ears. I can guess how hard the battle was, but it didn’t go fast just because I hurried it.

All he can do is reduce the variables as much as possible and succeed.

‘found.’

Mana calmly scanned the wall. It wasn’t that easy to find a single narrow door in the wide wall, but it wasn’t impossible at all.

A very small gap between the barriers. It is an ambiguous thing to call a door, but it is the door of the barrier.

There is no key hole. For convenience, it was expressed as a key, but even Gransis did not know its exact form.

However, there is such a thing as flow. A barrier is not simply a hard solid that exists. It is the flow and concentration of mana that flows slowly.

Inside, I found what looked like a lock.

It’s real from now on. Grancis swallowed dry saliva.

You must intervene in the locking device to distort the laws engraved by the dimension and open the door to the barrier.

When the will was released, the magic circle shone even more. Enormous mana began to flow through his body into the dimensional barrier.

Through the fence and through the door. Through the door and into the lock.

The complex twisted laws of the universe were unraveled one by one. You don’t even have to completely unlock it. It just needs to be a small twist enough for a single creature to pass through.

─!

I felt the resistance of the barrier against an approach that was not the normal way. Gransis swallowed a groan at the intense pressure that was incomparable to before.

A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. However, he laughed.

It is becoming. It was hard enough to die, but the research he had been doing for 15 years was not wrong.

you can get out of here

It was the moment I thought so.

────!

His new model bounced off. The shaken mana rod was twisted. Black blood vomited out.

“Grancis!”

“What, what happened?”

The worried cries of fellow warriors passed by my ears, but I couldn’t afford to answer them one by one.

“Where the hell is the other mana…!”

The lock was almost unlocked and the moment I tried to open the door a little, another mana intervened and twisted the barrier.

The door closed again and the anti-resilience pushed him away.

With a tired body, I hurriedly stood in front of the barrier. Using the remaining mana of the magic circle, he entered again.

And I realized

“···Nonsense.”

The flow that constitutes the lock has changed. strengthened more

It was the work of Mana that had corrupted Gransis’ magic.

And from Mana who suddenly intervened.

There was a faint scent of forest.

* * *

– beep?

Left alone, Lily plucked her leaves.

‘Stop biting and eating the leaves.’

‘No, is it similar to humans biting their nails?’

‘Oh, oh, eat a lot. It’s your leaves anyway.’

If it was like usual, there was no nagging today.

– Beep?

Although she was only a few months old, Lily had never been left alone in those months.

Kim Woo-jin always came to visit me, and even if he was away from time to time, it was only for a short time. If Kim Woo-jin wasn’t there, prison guards would come and take care of her.

For the first time, Lily realized that she was bored and empty.

Pluck leaves, eat bugs, take care of forests, spread roots wider and deeper.

‘Eolshigu, did you sew a sandworm with branches?’

‘beep!’

‘Do you want me to stroke your hair? Yes, I’m sorry if I said I couldn’t, so I did well.’

It wasn’t even that much. It wasn’t even hard work. It was something that happened as naturally as breathing.

The absence of Kim Woo-jin, who melted into his naturalness and always stroked his hair next to me and said a word to me, was quite significant.

For some reason, the high elf I was familiar with didn’t come.

I wanted to find Kim Woo-jin, but Lily, still a young World Tree, couldn’t get away from the main body. I don’t know if it grows a little more.

Still, the energy of the high elves was felt inside the building. Just as she was contemplating whether to visit her, something caught on Lily’s senses.

– beep?

It was towards the root, but not in direct contact. To be precise, it is the core of this world where Lily’s roots have dug.

A barrier protecting the dimension. There was an intruder there. Trying to force open the door.

– Beep?

What should I do? It could interfere a little with its roots, but Lily wasn’t the owner of the barrier.

It is never right to interfere recklessly without the owner’s permission. but···

– Beep.

There was a message from the owner.

‘If you think the door will open, close it again. you can do it?’

Lily thought the owner of this place was Kim Woo-jin. His overwhelming presence and source cannot be explained unless he is the master of this world.

While Kim Woo-jin is away for a while, intruders try to force the door open.

Kim Woo-jin’s request must have been with the current situation in mind.

Lily stretched her roots further. The door, which seemed to be half open, was closed again and tightened tighter.

– Beep.

Lily, exhausted in the process, fell helplessly onto a branch. A leaf fell and covered its body.

I let go of my lingering feelings for the high elves and quietly closed my eyes due to the rapidly increasing fatigue.

– beep···.

‘Lily stopped that? good job, so good job! Come on, my baby.’

‘What do you want to eat? Shall I give you an elixir? two roots? Of course not.’

I fell into a happy sweet dream of drinking enough elixirs.

* * *

“…the world tree?”

It was a short shout, but Derkain predicted the causal relationship and outcome.

“Have you failed?”

“sorry. I never thought the World Tree would intervene…”

“hahahaha···.”

Nonsense.

a failure?

Then why do we…!

world tree? Those goddamn dwarves get their hands on them!

The Dwarves who were barely holding on let out a collapsed sigh.

‘Crazy, failure? Intervention of the World Tree?’

Kang Min-sik bit his lip.

It was completely unexpected. Of course, there are always probabilities in everything.

I thought I might fail. However, I thought that if I failed, it would simply be due to lack of ability or lack of preparation.

However, he had never thought of the sudden variable of the world tree.

‘Then what will become of me?’

Will what they gave you work in this situation?

Doubtful. No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem like they had the World Tree in mind either.

The premise itself was shaken.

‘No, let’s not doubt it.’

Kang Min-sik’s gaze quickly scanned the barrier. All you have to do is get close to the barrier. He said that he could put his hand on it and push his body in.

I looked up and took a step towards it.

This was a last resort.

I boarded their plans to go out with more prisoners, but all went awry. so it’s trash

‘If I don’t leave now, I might not have a chance for the rest of my life.’

I immediately abandoned the complacent idea of gaining experience. The warden is a monster. I was lucky enough to come this far due to an unexpected variable called the World Tree, but it won’t happen again.

Because the warden will never do it twice.

So now is the time to get out. If caught, there may be no more hope.

Kwaaang!

Whether Gransis failed or succeeded, the battle continued. Now, when the warden’s attention was focused on the dwarves, was an opportunity.

Kang Min-shik ran towards the barrier. At least, it was the one that was weakened even a little by Gransis’ magic.

“Where.”

It was then that the eerie voice pierced my ears.

I instinctively swung my sword. cut through the air When I turned my gaze to the barrier again, there was an obstacle between the barrier and it, Kim Woo-jin.

“···how?”

He was obviously fighting the dwarves.

“I don’t know why you run to the barrier, but you’re quite reluctant.”

From not being greatly affected by the 2 punishment room, to easily disabling the restraints containing their power.

“I don’t think I can just let you go.”

“No, I just…!”

“Just shut up and lie still.”

The flames covered his mouth.

A huge slash fell vertically.

The miasma that poured out as if desperate was consumed in an instant.

“… fuck.”

Kang Min-sik’s vision darkened.

* * *

“hahahaha···.”

After the failure was known, the warriors lost the will to fight.

If Kim Woo-jin had been vaguely strong, he would have clenched his teeth and rushed at him. Kim Woo-jin would definitely know how to get out.

But Kim Woo-jin was too strong. Even though it was 1 vs 7, all the 7 warriors could do was hold on.

Even with that in mind, when we started destroying them one by one, we were helpless. The moment the fear of not being able to win and the despair of having no hope came over them, the fight was no different from the end.

“Now you are the only one left.”

All warriors have fallen.

The seven dwarves, Kang Min-shik, who lifted all the restraints and brought them to the present situation, and Grancis, who informed them of their defeat by saying that the World Tree intervened just before their will was fulfilled.

Only one, Derkain, stood there with blood all over his body.

“…in the world, why the hell are you doing this?”

“What does it mean?”

“You know why we are imprisoned here! Is it such a problem to try to leave because there is no sin!”

“Is that so unfair?”

“Are you so embarrassed?”

hehehehe, Dercain burst out laughing like a madman. The huge ax shone as it was reflected in the fire light.

“You don’t know. There is no one who became a hero because he wanted to be a hero from the beginning.”

Heroes are just beings with talent. He is very talented and is summoned by the gods.

“It was the day I split the head of the Minotaur with an ax as usual. Suddenly the sky turned black the world turned upside down And when I opened my eyes, there was a completely different world.”

said the god who summoned him.

Since you are so talented, please become a hero and save this world. Otherwise, many people will die and the world will perish.

“That sounds funny. It’s hard to take care of myself, but what do I know about a dimension I don’t even know about!”

But there was no such thing as Derkain’s option.

“It was only a friendly way of speaking, it was coercion and coercion! I fought to live! I risked my life for the unknown world, for the unknown!”

“All warriors are like that.”

“therefore!”

Derkhain’s eyes widened. Anger leaked from his bloodshot eyes.

“Don’t you think that’s wrong? Why do we have to become warriors and fight!”

“There is no solution to that if you ask me.”

“I don’t understand.”

Nevertheless, Dercain continued the story.

“Everything was unfamiliar and unwanted, but there was one comfort. Having a colleague.”

They have been a great comfort and strength throughout the rough journey. Because of them, I was able to live in a different world that was unfamiliar to me.

“···but.”

Derkhain shed tears.

“There is no one left by my side. If you kill the demon king after suffering, what will you do if you save the world? All the people who supported and protected me are dead. I am alone again!”

I felt skeptical. I didn’t want to do anything. So I wanted to go back. To your own world, to where your family is.

begged God You saved the world, so please bring it back.

“Then do you know what it is?”

“I would have told you to give up your power.”

“Right.”

refused. When he refused, he was imprisoned in purgatory.

“They! I was going to take the only thing left of me!”

It wasn’t just power. It was proof that he existed in an unfamiliar dimension. It was a memory I made with my colleagues.

“Tell me!”

he vomited.

“How could that be! What the hell are we!”

He shouted and screamed with bloodshot eyes. The anger built up over the years was like an active volcano.

“I! how! why! You must be locked up!”

“Don’t you know?”

“Khehehe, power, power. His goddamn power.”

Derkhain laughed. It was a madman who almost cried and cried.

“What if the warriors don’t give up their strength, it’s like the trembling things claiming to be gods?”

“The complaints end here. Everyone has their own circumstances.”

There is no one without circumstances. For the prisoners in Purgatory, for the warden, and for ordinary people.

He slowly aimed his sword.

“My situation is not easy enough to take care of all your circumstances. If I let you go, it will be very difficult.”

“Isn’t it already wrong to break out of prison…?”

Derkain smiled dejectedly.

“Are you still unable to let go of your lingering feelings?”

“Who would have known that the world tree would have strengthened the dimensional barrier. Damned dwarfs gave up because of this.”

You can’t call it a betrayal. they did their best Even if he said no because of the world tree, it wasn’t even Derkine that you’d heard about.

“Is that all you want to say?”

“What if I get caught like this?”

“Of course you will be locked up in the 3 punishment room.”

“Right.”

The old dwarf was fed up with the sight of the horrible punishment room he could imagine.

never wanted to go in. I didn’t even have the confidence to endure the horror.

so that.

“Then I will be released.”

“···Yes?”

I chose another path. At least not physically sick or painful.