[T.L: punisher87]
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Jin's hand, holding onto red hair, was shaking slightly as he walked into the cave.
On the outside, Zephyrin was also roughly tidying up things. In the first place, the knights attached to her did not have the anti-air ability to deal with a dragon like Zephyrin.
"Hmph, that unlucky demon dragon is strong, it seems it's almost over. If Hedo do well, would you lose?"
"It's not over yet, Sandra Zipfel."
"Really? It looks like things have been sorted out."
"Reinforcements are on their way."
Sandra tilted her head and looked at Hado as if asking what he meant.
"What do you mean? 12th flagbearer."
"Focus, Tower Keeper. At first, I thought that the energy of chaos was concentrated only near the cave, but as soon as the battle began, I could feel the faint energy of chaos coming from far away."
Hedo, who closed his eyes once and raised his senses, immediately showed a look of surprise.
He could sense an extremely faint energy, as small as a tiny bug hidden in a field, but he was sure it existed without having to search for it. It was an energy that could never be detected without focusing, especially in a blizzard in the Kaldran snowfield.
"You... sensed it without even focusing?"
"I've been able to feel chaos more acutely for a while now. It's not just one place, the energy is coming from all over the snowfields. They'll probably be here within an hour. And there will probably be more reinforcements behind them."
If he could sense such a faint energy of chaos from over an hour away, then the scale of the presence would be enormous when they met face-to-face.
"Tower keeper, can you tell Zephyrin about the situation?"
At those words, Sandra's eyes lit up like a flashlight.
"Go quickly, Hurry up! And come as late as possible."
Her eyes lit up with excitement at the thought of being alone in the cave with Jin, as soon as Hedo left to inform Zephyrin.
Besides, Jin was walking very slowly. Of course, it was because he wanted to carefully explore the cave in detail after Valeria disappeared. However, Sandra decided not to think about that and instead focused on the fact that she was alone with Jin.
"Come to think of it, this is the first time I've walked with Jin alone. It's so nice...?" Sandra said.
But Jin was too focused on observing the inside of the cave to even hear her. After a while, Sandra grabbed his shoulder and asked, "Is the person we're looking for very important to you?"
"Yeah. Why are you asking such an obvious question?"
"It may not be her hair. So don't be too impatient."
"I'm sure it's her hair," Jin replied.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because it's a rare color."
Of course, Valeria is not the only one in the world who has red hair. However, Jin clearly recognized that it was Valeria's hair, and it was something that was difficult to explain in words.
"Will you come to rescue me too if I get kidnapped somewhere in the future," Sandra said.
"It depends on the situation," Jin replied.
"That's very cold of you, but I forgive you because it's cool. But I believe you'll come to rescue me anyway," Sandra said.
"I don't want to go through something like this again. So always stick with the Tower Keeper."
Sandra was moved to tears, while Jin continued to observe their surroundings.
'I still don't see anything out of the ordinary, as Ronil said...'
The cave wasn't very deep, and even after a few minutes, Jin hadn't noticed anything noteworthy.
From then on, Sandra stopped complaining and instead began to meticulously search the cave for Jin.
'There is still energy of chaos because the knights have been residing there, but since Valeria disappeared, the Garden of Swords has not made any additional changes to this place.'
Despite this being a land where an important figure disappeared, they only arranged for personnel, without making any changes.
The meaning of this fact was clear.
"It seems like Runcandel... no, the Garden of the Swords is being very cautious about this place, darling. Even though Hister disappeared, they didn't dig up the ground or demolish the walls. Even the icicles are still intact. They must be hundreds, if not tens of years old."
"I was also thinking the same thing."
"You said that the tomb of the first patriarch of Runcandel is a subspace, right? I think they were looking for a way to enter that subspace. If Runcandel knows it is a subspace."
"It is quite possible."
Eventually, when they reached the end of the cave, Hedo, who had gone to tell Zephyrin the news, returned.
"Why are you back so soon! It was just starting to get peaceful and quiet, but you're as oblivious as a musclehead."
"Everything has been sorted out over there, and Zephyrin said she will scout accurately first. She also said that if possible, she would delay or annihilate any reinforcements that arrived."
"Alright, Tower Keeper."
If Zephyrin did that, it would add more time for the additional troops to arrive, but it was difficult to gauge how much.
At the end of the cave was a chamber filled with a transparent ice-like substance, with no part of it broken and reformed.
"Big brother Ronil was right, there's only one way out of here, either go back the way we came or break through the ice wall...I see now why the Hister survivor couldn't be tracked down by my clan."
Even after Jin and Sandra continued to search for any remaining traces of mana in the cave, they found nothing special. The blue window displaying the record magic that Ronil had seen was also gone, which was expected since the wizard was no longer there.
'Valeria was out of contact for about two months before she disappeared from here...and left no clues about Temar's tomb either.'
Valeria was most likely in a desperate situation where she couldn't even make contact with Tikan during those two months. And she disappeared suddenly from this very spot, with a slightly shaved lock of hair.
'... Sir Ronil didn't get to face my teacher properly, but it's certain that Rosa's knights fought with Valeria.'
Valeria would have searched for this cave after escaping from that battle. Ronil would have pursued her, and so would Luntia.
Even after combining all the information from Ronil, the incident became increasingly unclear.
Already more than ten minutes had passed.
"12th flagbearer, I think it's a trap. Rosa Runcandel must have expected you to come here."
"Perhaps."
"In that case, she should have placed more troops or prepared to ambush us when we entered, or even appeared herself. It feels like Rosa Runcandel is purposely giving you time."
Jin nodded, as he had been considering this possibility all along.
"As the tower keeper said, Temar's tomb is assumed to be here. She must have waited, assuming that I have a way to get there."
Suddenly, the image of Padler Runcandel flashed through Jin's mind.
'There's a high possibility that Sir Padler is the guardian of the fifth tomb. However, if the prophet took Sir Padler out of the tomb, she must have entered the fifth tomb at least once.'
But why is Rosa giving me time as if she wants me to find this.
'Is it because Valeria is still inside the tomb? Maybe the prophet who came out of the tomb for some reason doesn't know how to go back in.'
The problem is that even Jin doesn't know how to enter the tomb. It wasn't like the first tomb, where there was a key or a guide.
Time was passing incredibly fast.
"The 12th flagbearer."
"Speak, Tower Keeper."
"We won't be able to come back here. If it becomes clear that there's no other way, Rosa will completely block this place. So, how about we try something they haven't done and leave quickly?"
"Are you suggesting we destroy the cave?"
"Yes. It seems like there's no other option."
"We won't destroy the cave. Even if we go back today without any harvest, we don't want to eliminate any reason to come back later."
"So, are we just going to stay like this? We need to be rational."
For Hedo, it was more important not to put Sandra in danger than to find Hister.
Especially in a situation as hopeless as this, it was even more important.
"Hedo! You said she's someone very precious to Jin. Think of something more drastic!"
"I think it would be better to stay put, my lady."
Hedo was right. If they couldn't harvest anything, they needed to go back as soon as possible and reconsider their search.
"I'll try one last thing, and if it doesn't work, we'll go back."
"Good idea. What's the plan?"
"I will fill the cave with shadow force. If there is no response, we will withdraw without further delay."
Jin sat upright and released his shadow force. When using the key to the first tomb in the past, Murakan also injected a large amount of shadow force in this way.
'Perhaps the shadow force itself is the key to responding to subspace. Please open...…!' Jin thought, but in reality, if shadow force was needed, Valeria's entry into the tomb would not have been possible.
Jin was just grasping at straws. Shadow force quickly filled the inside of the cave.
However, even when Jin released a massive amount of shadow force in an instant, there was no response.
Watching from the side, Sandra bit her nails and turned her head to Hedo.
"Can't you do anything else, Hedo?"
"I don't think there's anything I can do, my lady. I'm not a shadow force user."
"Then pray! Don't just sit there!"
"....You mean pray?"
"Yes, sincerely. Ask for help to find Hister, Jin's friend."
Sandra closed her eyes and clasped her hands. Seeing her, Hedo let out a deep sigh and took the same pose next to her. He wanted to know what this was, but he couldn't help it because it was obvious that if he didn't do it, there would be another commotion.
And then, the shock came when Jin felt a sudden blow to the back of his head.
'Suddenly, shadow force is being absorbed into one place...!'
It is the first time that a change has occurred.
Jin immediately moved his gaze to the place where shadow force was converging. It was where Sandra and Hedo were praying side by side.
"Hedo! Your sword! The sword is shining and making something, heaven has answered our prayers!"
"I am seeing it too, my lady. What the hell is this...…."
Jin had a strong intuition that Hedo's sword was the key to Temar's fifth tomb.
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