Chapter 16. Hellhest

The corrupted World Tree, Yggdrasil, is located in the deepest part of the West Side, specifically in "Westmarch," a place infamous for its bizarre terrain.

Westmarch, once a gathering place for the forgotten Elven race, faded from people's memories when the World Tree became corrupted.

There's only one reason I remember that place.

The protagonist of the original novel stumbled upon Westmarch while searching for opportunities, and there he discovered a giant tree emanating Death Energy.

The name of the giant tree was Yggdrasil.

Nurtured by the blood of elves, it was the tree of the end, called the Corrupted World Tree in the original novel.

The reason I remember Yggdrasil's existence is because it was depicted in the original work as the only way to control Rudine’s Heavenly Star of Slaughter.

From the office located at the entrance of Blackmore to Westmarch.

Naturally, it was an incredibly long distance, and therefore the time required was expected to be substantial.

The terrain wasn't suitable for carriages, so there was no other way but to walk endlessly.

And now.

“Luke.”

“…”

“I think we’ve been here before.”

“…I think so, too.”

Rudine and I were lost.

To be precise, I had no idea where we were.

I muttered, checking the compass pointing west.

“I think the direction is right, but…”

I had roughly anticipated this.

Even though I knew of Westmarch, I wasn’t confident I could find it without getting lost.

It was only natural, as this was the world inside a novel.

There was an unimaginable gap between reading about a place in text and actually going there.

That gap would be even more significant in a region as insanely vast as Blackmore.

Above all, the original story skipped the process of finding the way.

Through the convenient method of switching perspectives.

Since the entire process of finding the way was omitted, it was perhaps natural that we were lost now.

I turned my head and looked around.

‘Lush bushes, fading light, withered black trees, ash-colored soil…’

It matched the descriptions to some extent.

The direction the compass pointed also matched.

But the forest of the Magical Boundary was vast.

Would it be possible to find our way in this vast wilderness, relying on fragmented information?

Of course, I had left markers along the way, so returning wouldn’t be a problem, but honestly, I was a little uneasy.

And then.

Rustle.

Something moved in the bushes.

Growl—!

A Monstrous Beast.

It resembled a bear, but with an excessively large physique and forelegs sharply curved like sickles.

Its eyes, gleaming in the darkness, turned towards us.

Perhaps it was hungry, as black saliva dripped from its fangs, bared between its jaws.

‘…That startled me.’

Ahem!

I turned my head to the side, feigning composure as much as possible.

I saw Rudine, who had already opened her Red Eyes.

“Rudine.”

“Yeah.”

Slash—!

It was over in the blink of an eye.

I had merely called Rudine's name, but her dagger sliced through the air, bisecting the Monstrous Beast's body.

“…Good job.”

The good news was…

At least we didn’t have to worry about Monstrous Beasts along the way.

****

The deeper we went, the more frequently Monstrous Beasts appeared.

As expected of a Magical Boundary, every Monstrous Beast that appeared was at least of the Monster rank or higher.

Demonic Beast Species were classified into five ranks according to their danger level: Fierce, Monster, Demon, Calamity, Extinction.

The setting was that the danger level increased as the rank went up, and from the Monster rank onwards, they could manipulate demonic energy, so their danger level rose exponentially.

‘Monster rank shouldn’t be a problem.’

I nodded, looking at Rudine, who was leading the way.

Although her Heavenly Star of Slaughter hadn't fully bloomed yet, she was a natural-born martial talent.

Enough to kill Monster-level magical beasts without much difficulty.

‘Calamity rank and above would be tough, though.’

Well, it wasn't particularly important.

Calamity-ranked Monstrous Beasts weren't common, and I didn’t remember any information about them appearing on the way to Westmarch.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The Monstrous Beasts that popped out incessantly were slaughtered by Rudine's sword aura.

It was a one-sided massacre.

It was a miracle made possible by the Red Eyes' ability to specialize in contempt for the weak.

“Luke.”

“Yeah?”

“I like this place.”

“…Really?”

She smiled brightly, her face covered in blood.

She liked this place where she could freely slaughter without restraint.

‘…Just like someone with the Heavenly Star of Slaughter.’

Our journey through the mountains was smooth.

We were lost at first, but as we continued on our way, new paths began to appear.

We walked during the day, camped at night, and resumed walking when the sun rose again.

We cut down any Monstrous Beasts that appeared, and when we were hungry, we stopped for a while to satisfy our hunger.

We had enough supplies and weren't in any immediate danger.

It was during this leisurely trek that…

“There’s a cliff ahead.”

Rudine stopped and said so.

As she said, there was a cliff ahead.

“We’re here.”

“Huh? A cliff?”

“That’s right. We’re here.”

Westmarch was just below the sheer cliff in front of us.

We had practically arrived, but the problem was how to descend this cliff.

“It’s really high.”

“I know.”

“There’s nowhere to put our feet.”

“That’s true.”

“…We’ll die if we just fall.”

We would.

If we just fell with our bare bodies.

“Rudine, come here.”

“…Huh?”

“Come here and get on my back.”

“What?”

Rudine's eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

It was as if she was saying, ‘What kind of nonsense is that?’

“Don’t you trust me?”

“….”

“It’s dangerous to fall from this height even with mana protection. So stop being stubborn and get on my back.”

Rudine hesitantly moved her feet.

She seemed to be hesitating in a way that felt strangely cute.

I bent one knee and lowered my posture.

“Hurry up.”

Rudine slowly approached and leaned against my back.

A soft sensation touched my back.

Her hesitant, careful movements as she wrapped her arms around me were like a kitten's.

“…Am I heavy?”

Why was she being so shy, unlike usual?

“No.”

I replied curtly and held her legs.

She was lighter than I expected.

Too light for a murderer born under the Heavenly Star of Slaughter.

And.

“Hold on tight.”

Whoosh!

The fall was instantaneous.

Swooooosh—!

The wind whipped around my entire body as if tearing my ears apart.

As we gained speed, my vision began to blur.

The surface of the cliff flashed by.

The cliff face, a mix of brown and gray, seemed to blur like paint.

“…!”

I felt Rudine's breath.

Although she pretended to be calm, the body leaning against my back was trembling slightly.

I could see the distant ground below.

We were falling at breakneck speed, but it wasn’t a problem.

‘Yet.’

I could see ruins among the withered trees in the distance.

It was Westmarch.

10 meters to the ground.

My heart pounded.

5 meters.

Rudine’s arms tightened around my neck.

3 meters.

“Acceleration.”

The tattoo under my right eye glowed blue.

A shimmering haze emanated from my entire body, enveloping Rudine and me.

The pressure of time crushed everything it touched.

And.

1 meter.

“Reverse.”

At that moment, everything around us stopped.

The air, gravity, time.

And even Rudine and I, who were falling at tremendous speed.

Rumble.

The aftermath of the falling pressure swept the surroundings.

Ash-gray dust scattered and settled everywhere.

‘Oh, my heart.’

…My heart almost jumped out of my chest.

I sighed inwardly and released the ability.

Only after landing softly did Rudine get off my back.

“……”

Rudine stood blankly, staring at something.

I followed her gaze, but I couldn’t see anything unusual.

Then, Rudine quietly opened her mouth.

“…Something’s there.”

Her voice sounded strained.

Then, she suddenly started walking.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

Was she that surprised?

Well, I didn’t think much of it.

We had finally arrived at our long-sought destination.

‘Where is she going?’

I leisurely followed behind Rudine.

here was no way Rudine, with her extremely sharp senses, would react like that for no reason.

Just as I was starting to feel uneasy.

I was struck speechless by the overwhelming sight that unfolded before me.

“…Holy shit.”

It was a horse.

Its bony body was barely covered in skin, and even that skin showed clear signs of decay.

I remembered it.

A nightmare crawling out from the underworld, a curse dragging along extinguished lives.

The Disease Horse, the Hellhest.

It was a Calamity-ranked Monstrous Beast.

****

‘What is that?’

Rudine’s hardened eyes wavered.

Her Red Eyes could see through the essence of living beings.

But she couldn’t feel anything from the creature in front of her.

Neither with her senses nor with her eyes.

It was a situation she had experienced before.

It was the same when she first met the woman named Arkan.

The presence was undetectable due to the overwhelmingly superior rank.

Even after gritting her teeth and opening the mana of her Red Eyes, blood trickled down due to the pressure of the energy that dominated the space.

‘…Dangerous.’

Rudine was shrewd.

So she instinctively knew.

That was a monster.

It was fundamentally different from anything she had dealt with so far.

It was an energy of immense and profound purity, difficult to fathom.

‘What is this…’

The monster’s gaze turned towards them.

Just making eye contact made her legs wobble under the immense pressure.

She didn’t even feel the urge to attack.

Rudine loved hunting, but that wasn't her prey.

The best course of action was to just run away, but for some reason, her feet, stuck to the ground, wouldn't budge.

But then.

“…Luke?”

Luke, who had been standing still, slowly extended his right arm.

At the same time, he muttered a familiar activation word.

“Acceleration.”

Woong.

A bluish haze flowed from his fingertips.

The undulating energy surged towards the monster in a spiral.

“Return.”

Fragments of light embroidered in the air lined up in rows as if they had a will of their own.

Light connected with light to form lines, and lines connected to form a plane.

In no time, a pure white sphere, emitting light every second, trapped the monster.

“Time.”

Fragments of light randomly cut through space.

An overwhelming flow of time fluctuated through the gaps. Space and time were bonded.

And at that moment, the corners of Luke’s lips curled up.

“End.”

Screech!

Space distorted.

The pressure of bonded time tore through space and compressed into a single point.

And.

“!!!”

It was over in an instant.

The monster’s massive body withered like a mummy, then turned into ash scattered by the wind and disappeared.