Where is this...?
Leon gazed up at the towering dome above him.
He found himself inside a luxurious and ornate palace, with intricate carvings and tapestries adorning the columns and walls. However, when he looked farther ahead, a persistent, indistinct white mist obstructed his view.
An unknown impulse made him look forward again. Ahead, between the halls, there was a staircase leading upward. At the top of the staircase stood a grand throne.
Leon slowly lifted his feet, ascending the stairs one step at a time.
He had been walking for a long time, but the throne remained distant and unattainable.
"This is not where you should be. Go back."
The voice—so familiar.
Darkness then descended.
...
When he groggily woke up, Leon found himself staring at the uneven rock walls. Shadows flickered on the stone surfaces, cast by the dancing light of a nearby fire.
It appeared to be a natural cave in the crevice of a mountain, with the sound of a storm raging outside. For a moment, Leon was confused.
Had he crossed over again? Leon was momentarily stunned, but as the haze of sleep lifted, he recalled everything that had happened before.
He remembered firing that flash of light and injuring the mercenary, then suddenly feeling drained and losing consciousness. So now... Leon cautiously turned his stiff neck to look beside him.
He saw the reassuring sight of his companions.
There was a makeshift campfire surrounded by stones, and Azerian was lying nearby, fast asleep with a shield under his head and his sword sheathed beside him.
At the cave entrance stood Lohak, bare-chested and wearing chainmail, his iron helmet on, holding the single-handed sword that had once belonged to the dead mercenary. He was watching the thunderstorm outside, keeping watch.
The rain was pouring heavily outside. Leon couldn't tell what time it was, but judging by the darkness outside, it was likely nighttime.
He propped himself up, sitting straight. Though he still felt a bit fatigued, his body seemed fine.
When Lohak noticed him moving, he looked over and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his companion was awake. "You're awake."
"How long was I out? Where are we?" Leon sat up cross-legged, removing the heavy armor padding that someone had placed over him and rubbed his temple to relieve his dizziness. The absence of shackles on his wrists felt wonderfully freeing.
"You've been asleep for almost an entire day. As for where we are... I think you're not asking about this little cave, right? Azerian says we should be in the Mamor County of Kantadar now." Lohak glanced at Azerian, still fast asleep by the fire.
Mamor County? Well, asking didn't seem to help much. The original owner of this body had never left his hometown. He didn't know much about the geography of the enemy kingdom, Kantadar, and as for the kingdom of Serian, besides the path from his settlement to the holy city, he didn't know anything else about the rest of the kingdom either.
Oh... It's not like he had no idea at all. At least he knew that Kantadar, the kingdom that had launched the invasion, lay to the west of Serian. He also remembered hearing traders who roamed the world speak of a more powerful kingdom, Orland, to the north, but that kingdom had a good relationship with Serian, unlike Kantadar, which was always on edge.
"Is there water and food?" Leon asked.
"Yeah, there's some food left." Lohak answered, getting up and taking a water flask and some dry bread from a tattered cloth bag, handing them to Leon.
Clearly, these were things they had taken from the dead Kantadar mercenary.
"What happened after I passed out?" Leon asked while eating.
"... We killed that guy, then stripped him clean and dragged him into the woods to bury him..." Lohak briefly explained what happened after Leon had lost consciousness.
"You guys really took care of it without a trace, huh? At least you didn't leave the body on the road. That muddy path was probably one that mercenaries frequently used, covered in footprints and horseshoe prints. If the body had been found too soon, someone might have traced us." Leon nodded.
"Uh, cough, cough... Actually, it was Azerian's idea. My mind wasn't as quick." Lohak scratched his head awkwardly.
To be honest, he had just wanted to leave as quickly as possible, and he hadn't expected Azerian to not rush off. Instead, Azerian had even taken the time to cover the muddy ground with some fresh soil to hide the bloodstains.
They had argued a bit about leaving hastily, as digging a proper grave without the right tools was quite a challenge.
"Thanks for not leaving me behind like a burden." Leon said gratefully.
"Of course not. We're alive because of you too. How could we leave you behind?" Lohak shook his head, then recalled Leon's incredible performance the other day. He still found it unbelievable.
The boy's eyes shone with curiosity, and he cautiously asked Leon, "By the way, what was that thing you did the other day? I saw a light and suddenly... swish~ The hand of that Kantadar bastard was cut off."
He faltered, unsure of how to describe the glowing arrow he had seen. Raising his right arm, which was missing a piece of chainmail, he exclaimed, "It was incredible! Even his armor was pierced through! Was that magic?"
Leon smiled bitterly and shrugged. "I don't even know how to explain it. I heard a voice, and... just think of it as some kind of miracle from the gods. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it again."
He remembered the mysterious voice saying it was a one-time chance. Leon wasn't sure how the spell worked, but he didn't believe that simple hand gestures could recreate that light arrow.
Thinking back to the intense pain when he released the light arrow, Leon believed that, at most, he had only served as the "launcher" for the spell. Whoever had truly cast the spell... wasn't him.
However, the power of the glowing arrow had left a deep impression on him. It had cut right through the mercenary's arm, armor, and the thick padding beneath it with a clean and effortless strike. Even modern firearms with standard calibers wouldn't be able to do something so efficient and precise.
But the cost was higher than expected. Leon had never anticipated that releasing the arrow would cause him to lose consciousness.
He glanced at the storm outside the cave, with thunder and lightning flashing. If those two boys had been a little more cold-hearted and just fled, leaving him behind to face whatever fate awaited him in the forest, he would have either been captured by mercenaries again or been left to die in the storm, suffering from exposure.
"A miracle? A voice?" Lohak was stunned, but he didn't press further. Such power beyond comprehension was difficult to understand. Since his companion had attributed it to divine intervention, he simply accepted it as a blessing from the Holy Sun and the Holy Prophet. "It seems that the great Sun God has not abandoned us. If we can return to Serian, Leon, you might be able to become a priest of the Church."
Hearing the boy's words, Leon chuckled and felt lighter. As a person from a modern world, he didn't feel particularly invested in the faith of the Serian Kingdom's Sun God or Holy Prophet, but it was undeniable that an inexplicable force had saved him.
He was grateful to the mysterious voice, and who knew? Perhaps there were gods in this strange world. After all, crossing over to another world was a ridiculously absurd event in itself.
"So, what do we do next? Any ideas?" Leon asked, swallowing another mouthful of the dry bread that was only slightly better than the stuff they had eaten in the cage.
Lohak immediately responded, without hesitation, "I want to rescue my sister."
"You're going to look for her now?" Leon was exasperated by the boy's impulsiveness.
"Of course! I can't let her fall into the hands of those Kantadar bastards! Those devils are no better than animals! What if my sister—" Lohak's eyes suddenly filled with tears as he recalled the brutal murder of his family during the sacking of his village. His voice became increasingly filled with anger.
"Do you know where she is?" Leon countered. "Without a location, and without a place to hide, how do you plan to find her?"
"Well... I..." Lohak frowned, not knowing how to answer.
"Alright, brother, let me ask you a different question. Can you speak the language of Kantadar?" Leon asked, bluntly and pragmatically.
Lohak opened his mouth but was at a loss for words. He was frustrated, yet didn't know how to respond.
"I understand how you feel." Leon sighed sympathetically. It wasn't easy for him either, having lost his own parents, but vengeance and anger, if not channeled properly, were meaningless.
"We're still on enemy soil. Neither of us speaks Kantadarian. We can't pass ourselves off as locals. If we make contact with anyone, soldiers could catch us again and throw us in jail or worse," Leon continued, casting a glance at Lohak's tense expression. "And even if you knew where your sister was sold, just going alone wouldn't save her. The person who bought her didn't seem like a commoner. Even if I wanted to help, there's nothing I could do."
"He's right." Another voice suddenly interjected.
Both Leon and Lohak turned to look at Azerian by the fire. The pale-skinned youth had been awakened by their conversation.