[T.L: punisher87]
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The light extending from the blade of the Bale was gradually changing into a 'door'-like shape. The speed at which the door formed was exactly proportional to the infusion of shadow force.
Sandra trembled with excitement, believing that this was the power of her wishes, while Hedo looked at his sword and the door in a daze.
'... Is it true that Bale is related to the old Runcandel or Solderet, as Black Dragon Murakan once said?'
Hedo's sword had the word "Bale" engraved on its blade, which he had obtained by chance a long time ago.
-You...where did you get that sword?
-You are asking a strange question, Black Dragon. And from those who have experienced your battle prowess on the Gaifa Islands before, I've heard that it wasn't quite like this.
-Keep that sword safe. It seems to be something related to this Murakan. Let's go, kid.
When the group first met Hedo at the White Tower, Murakan suffered a brief headache upon seeing Hedo's sword, as if a forgotten memory had surfaced.
Even after escaping the Sota Desert, Murakan continued to try to recall memories related to the sword Veil, but failed every time.
Because of this, the party assumed that Hedo's sword was also an object whose history was manipulated, but of course no one could have imagined that Bale would become intertwined with Temar's tomb in this way.
"I don't know what the reason is. You used a large amount of shadow force when fighting with me in the past, and there was no reaction at that time."
"It's probably because the positional condition of Temar's tomb wasn't fulfilled. It seems that the sword is the key to opening the tomb. Where did you get that sword?"
"I obtained it by defeating a monster in the Black Sea when I was young."
"I'd like to hear more details about that later. Anyway, thanks to your sword, we have hope, Tower Keeper. Thank you."
Coincidence, it was close to pure coincidence that Jin brought Hedo to the Kaldran snowfield this time. However, Jin thought that if his sword had a story about Runcandel, it might not be a coincidence, but fate.
"12th flagbearer. When the portal is complete, you intend to enter it, right?"
"Yes."
"I'm going in too!"
"No, my lady."
"You can't go, Sandra."
Both Jin and Hedo spoke at the same time.
"Why not!?"
"We don't know what might happen inside. If Hister's survivor is alive, she may have gone in there and never got out."
"I agree. This is a different issue from when we came to the Kaldran snowfield. If this door leads to Temar's tomb, we can't predict what will happen inside. It could mean that escape is impossible."
"What about you, Jin? You are Rosa's only opponent. What if you go in alone and die?"
"Temar's tomb is a tribute my god and ancestors left for Runcandel. I've been wandering around these tombs and have never been in danger. Also, I could always escape through the shadow force whenever I wanted."
Of course, this was a lie.
Jin had almost died at the hands of guardians in most tombs, and in the fourth tomb, he didn't know how to get out and had to wait endlessly with Valeria.
However, since Euria was not here now, Sandra had no way to confirm the truth. Even if it were confirmed, Jin planned to go in alone.
"We can't wait here during that time. We don't know how long it will take or what the situation will be, so we need to think about what me, my lady, and the demon dragon should do."
"Based on my experience so far, I could return to the human world within a day or two."
"We can't wait here for that long."
"I know, so please go back. As long as Rosa doesn't come in person, I can escape in any situation."
"I won't leave you alone!"
"Sandra, please."
First and foremost, although Jin grew quite close to Sandra, she and Hedo were clearly Zipfel's people. Jin couldn't bring them into Temar's tomb.
"Still, you can't go alone. Even if it were friendly before, this tomb might be hostile to Jin. Hedo and I can be helpful. Besides, just opening the door has exhausted Jin like this."
When the door was fully formed, Jin felt a great sense of exhaustion, just as Sandra had said. Jin consumed all of his shadow force just by opening the door.
'I think the amount of shadow force used is several times greater than what Murakan used in the first tomb.'
Although Jin had aura and mana, he couldn't fight with full force if he met a tough opponent inside.
"And what about Runcandel's 3rd flagbearer!? It's a problem even if there's a 3rd flagbearer not Rosa when you come back. You have to deal with the 3rd flagbearer alone in a tired state, right in the middle of enemy territory."
Runcandel 3rd flagbearer, Luntia Runcandel.
Ronil said she led the pursuit team herself and chased after Valeria, but they hadn't seen Luntia yet. The group speculated that she might be among the reinforcements that were expected to arrive.
As Jin tried to enter the door, Sandra threw herself in that direction first. Hedo immediately tried to stop her, but soon realized that there was no need.
Tung-!
"Ugh!"
A shockwave occurred as Sandra approached the door, causing her to bounce back.
"Damn, what is this...! Hedo, see if it bounces you off too."
The same thing happened to Hedo when he tried to approach with superhuman strength. As soon as he touched the door, he could no longer move forward, as if blocked by a wall.
"I have a feeling there might be trouble with the door if I go any further, my lady. Give up."
However, Jin did not experience the same phenomenon at all.
"The 12th flagbearer."
Jin looked back at Hedo.
"If possible, stall for at least three days inside the tomb. That way, we can return and request help from Kinzelo."
Hedo concluded that using the leader's dimensional portal was the best option for now, and Jin immediately agreed.
"Understood. Please make sure to do so."
"Also, when we leave the tomb, if we return to this cave, release as much energy as possible. We will use that as a signal to request that the leader open the dimensional portal."
"Despite your appearance, it seems that your brain processes information very quickly, Tower Keeper. It sounds like a good idea. That would give me more peace of mind."
"I will put Orgal on standby as soon as possible. Good luck."
"Jin!"
As Jin was about to enter the door, Sandra hugged him and said, "Remember this, if by any chance only your companion returns alive to Tikan, I will do whatever it takes to kill that person."
Jin's head immediately throbbed with the realization that Sandra wasn't joking, but he still smiled and replied, "I'll keep that in mind."
As soon as Jin entered the door, the light forming from Bale disappeared.
Sandra stared blankly at the spot where Jin disappeared for a while, and Hedo patted her on the shoulder.
* * *
In the fifth tomb of Temar, the darkness was so thick that it felt like being in the abyss of Glyek.
"Valeria!"
Even when Jin shouted Valeria's name, there was no echo.
Jin didn't feel the same sense of comfort he had in the other tombs, and he wondered if it was because of his anxiousness or something else.
'Unlike the tombs that I went through in the past, there is no sense of shadow force guiding me. There are no traces of damage by Zipfel or other forces. Is there another reason?'
He had no choice but to explore the tomb himself.
[Myaah!]
Shuri emerged from the ruby and Jin immediately began searching the vast desert of the subspace on Shuri's back.
The flow of time in the subspace was different from that of the human world. Jin had experienced that time flowed much faster in the human world.
'Where are you, Valeria...!'
After about an hour of searching with no progress, Jin began to feel anxious.
Then, Shuri stopped walking and pointed with her front paw.
[Mya, myaah!]
There was something transparent that shone like glass, emitting a faint light that was about to go out. Jin could recognize that it was a fragment of mana that took the form of a window.
It was a piece of "Record Magic."
'These are the traces left by Valeria...!'
Jin's heart began to beat rapidly.
Record Magic was not only used to find past records but also to leave markers like this.
'It's either very old or was left in a state where almost no mana remained, given how faint the trace is.'
Above all, the fact that the magic remained meant that the caster is still alive.
Only then was Jin able to take a deep breath for the first time.
'She isn't dead. My teacher definitely remains in this subspace.'
Jin's heart was filled with the belief that he could save her. However, as he followed the direction indicated by Valeria's mana fragment, he felt an unpleasant energy approaching instead of Valeria's magic. It was a pure and enormous chaos energy, qualitatively incomparable to what he had felt in the Kaldran snowfield.
As he approached the source of the chaos, the Subspace showed not only desolate darkness but also traces of battle. There were cracks and distortions all over the space, as if they were caused by destructive swordsmanship.
Eventually, Jin came face to face with a woman who was not Valeria.
[It's been a while...… my youngest brother.]
It was Luntia Runcandel, his second sister.
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