[정답이다.]
I was right.
As the voice brushed through her mind like a lick, Elfihera finally faced the truth.
What she had believed to be treasures were dried human remains, and what she had thought was a precious elixir was actually a sword piercing through the stone statue's chest.
"Ugh... urgh...!"
She stepped back, covering her mouth. The shock of seeing the statue twisted her insides.
Her heart pounded, her hands and feet trembled, and she found herself stepping forward involuntarily. I want to grasp it. I want to hold it. I want to pull it out and possess it.
A temptation she had never felt before, a terrible desire hidden behind a veil of deception, was crushing her chest.
But she shouldn't.
She is an elf. The most noble race under the heavens. Succumbing to the wicked temptation embedded in a human corpse would be too, too degrading.
She is a mage. Among all professions in the world, hers requires the most rationality. Being consumed by emotion and acting impulsively is a disgrace to a mage.
So, so...
[I have many names, but you may call me Salvation. I know the desires you hold. Rightfully desire, and it shall be granted.]
No, you are not my god.
Elfihera unconsciously took a step forward, then stopped with a start when she felt the bones crumbling beneath her feet.
[Pull it out. Then you shall receive. I tell you, you will receive what you have prayed for all your life. Raise your hand and pull it out.]
The statue's voice carried divinity. It was the kind that mortal spirituality could not possibly resist.
Perhaps it's inevitable. Perhaps resisting such a thing is meaningless in itself.
Elfihera couldn't distinguish whether this was resignation to temptation, or if the temptation itself was whispering in her own voice.
As she took another step forward, a cold voice pierced her ear.
Yes, her ear.
"Your words are lies."
Cooling her fevered mind, cold.
Low and chilling. Growling like a fierce beast with a sharp edge.
Contrasting with the soft, sweet voice of the statue, unlike the one echoing in her head, this one clearly reached her ear.
But because of that, it had a sense of reality... a 'person's' voice.
A mortal's voice cutting through the boundary between myth and fantasy. Therefore more clearly imprinted, reassuring...
"You were sealed by human hands."
In a dry tone, calmly stating that humans had already defeated you long ago.
[Listen to me!!]
"No."
Even as divinity dark enough to be visible to the naked eye stained the surroundings,
And the sword embedded in the statue's chest rattled as if trying to pull itself out.
The hand gripping that sword hilt was heavy, slowly despite the divinity entangled like chains. But with firm conviction.
Removing one finger at a time, one by one.
[Stop, stop!! You cannot kill me! I am your god!!]
Regardless of the statue's screams. Unwavering despite the terrible temptation that could be felt just by looking at it.
How could he do that? If she were in his place, she would have probably given up.
Facing most of the malice head-on, with only a single stream of divinity flowing beyond his broad back, she is in such pain right now.
When Elfihera was trembling, a low voice reached her, and her trembling gradually subsided.
"I've met those who believed themselves gods before."
Crack, crackle. The sound of breaking rock echoed as divinity scattered madly in all directions.
Though invisible beyond the man's back, there are things one can know without seeing.
The man is now killing a god.
"They died."
A dry voice devoid of excitement, passion, honor for the feat he was accomplishing, or any sense of achievement.
Just calmly, dryly whispering as if recounting a past experience, and then.
-CRACK!!
With a firm grip, he crushed the statue's head.
"Ah..."
Divinity exploded from within the seal. An intense presence that made the world seem distorted poured down on this hill of remains.
It was the death cry of an ancient god.
The scream of an immortal, mixed with agony and pain.
The lamentation of a blasphemer that would deafen ears and taint souls just by hearing it.
Elfihera barely opened her mouth and cried out in a cracked voice.
"Get away!! Run!! That... that...!"
How should she explain? To convince that man to retreat...
If he stays there, no, if he stays in this room, he'll be cursed by that thing.
Elfihera barely kept her eyes open in the swirling wind and finally chose the most appropriate word.
So that even human intelligence could understand...!
"That thing is going to explode!!"
"Hmm."
Ivan's gaze fell on Elfihera. He nodded briefly and vanished from her sight in an instant.
"Huh?!"
"Good thing I brought you."
Ivan, who had suddenly appeared before Elfihera's eyes, wrapped his arm around her waist and turned his back.
Just as he was about to leave the room, she heard a sound like "chwarek."
"Hmm."
Ivan's body stopped abruptly. She saw chains wrapped around his ankle. Looking back, black divinity seeping from the shattered statue had gripped him.
"What's the explosion radius?"
"Ex-explosion is just an expression... More precisely, it's a conceptual reversal..."
"Summarize."
"I don't know! But judging by the seal structure... considering the range of its power... definitely within this room...!"
"Close the door and wait."
Huh?!
Elfihera felt extreme buoyancy in her distorted vision.
With a thud and a numbing pain in her buttocks that brought her back to her senses, she found herself thrown outside the room.
"What about you?! I said it's dangerous!"
"I'll be fine."
Her body trembled at the low voice.
With an intense sense of déjà vu, she looked up at Ivan's face with trembling eyes.
An impassive face that seemed unbothered, with only the eye shape remaining from his appearance 12 years ago...
"I expected phase 2."
Ivan, being a sensible person, naturally knew about boss battle structures.
At most 5 phases, at least 2 phases.
Phase 1 was the gimmick, so phase 2 would be physical. Fortunately, he was confident in that area.
"No, what does that mean..."
Ivan didn't answer her and turned around.
With a bang, the door closed in front of her.
Just like when she first encountered this door, not a single trace of magic or divinity could be felt.
She crawled to the doorway on her weakened legs and touched the tightly closed door gap with her fingertips, then.
She hugged her knees, sniffled, and lowered her head.
Human lifespans are too short.
That human will also vanish like a fleeting moment, but.
That human's soul, like an elf's, despite its brief life, remains steadfastly upright...
"Come back..."
Elfihera closed her eyes with a sniffle.
Ivan turned around and climbed back up the hill of remains.
[You alone—]
"What can I do, I'll show you."
[You are merely—]
"A mere human, you're right."
There was no more temptation. Just anger with nowhere to go.
In the malice overflowing from the destroyed statue's head, only one emotion was burning.
Slowly, the black darkness seeping from the statue took shape. Into the form of a giant with five heads.
Ivan walked straight up to the statue.
This being had been sealed for the past 2,000 years,
2,000 years ago, it was defeated by humans,
And during that time, it had struggled to dig traps and widen the gaps in the seal.
Naturally, its power would not be at its peak, and.
Fortunately, his power was still at its peak.
To add one more point.
"For something that tempted with happiness, you have quite an ugly appearance in the end. Are you not happy now?"
[You...!!]
"Let's end this quickly. I have a lot to do."
Ivan gripped the sword that had been embedded in the statue's chest again.
No more temptation could be felt.
That means this sword is no longer acting as a seal for that thing, and.
One more thing.
If it was once used as a catalyst to seal that thing, it's a weapon that can inflict damage on that thing's true form.
The fact that every boss battle has a gimmick is "common sense" that no 21st-century Earthling would be unaware of.
-Srrng.
The unadorned iron sword came out smoothly from the marble statue's chest with a flesh-cutting sound, without any friction.
Ivan lightly flicked his wrist to gauge the center of gravity and held it straight up.
A well-made weapon. If it was a catalyst that sealed an evil god, would it be a mage item or a warrior item?
When we return to the surface, who would be most efficient to equip it to?
Thinking such thoughts.
Elfihera, who had been sitting with her back against the door, lost her balance and collapsed when the door opened silently and smoothly.
"Eek?!"
"Were you sleeping?"
Warm body heat warmed her back. When she raised her head with trembling eyes, there stood a man with the same expression as when they first entered that room.
"I-I-I'm fi..."
"It's fine."
Ivan picked up Elfihera and supported her as he moved forward.
Half-cradled in his arms, Elfihera spoke.
"What happened in there..."
"Nothing happened."
"Huh... that can't be."
"That's how it was."
"If you don't want to talk, then don't."
"Okay."
"Wow... really. Humans...!! I worry and get nothing in return!"
Ivan, who had been ignoring Elfihera's outburst, raised his head as he stood at the end of the ruins.
In the deep underground where the veil of magic had lifted, a small cluster of light could be seen far above.
"Can you cast a levitation spell?"
"Of course I can."
"Good thing I brought you after all."
"..."
She lowered her head in Ivan's arms, mumbling, then tilted her head.
A thought suddenly occurred to her.
Why is it so... 'warm'...? No, this is exactly...?
She hesitantly placed her hand on his chest and was startled.
"Why is your body like a fireball! What did you do in there?!"
"Hmm."
"Don't 'hmm' me! This is driving me crazy! I understand that humans have limited conversational abilities, but...!"
"It's fine."
"Aaaaargh!! Stop saying that!! What's fine about this?! Are we betting on whether my insides burst first or yours?!"
Elfihera shouted and completed her spell.
Their bodies slowly began to float.
Ivan took one last look at the ruins and then raised his gaze again.
The underground waterway was close. There would be Elizabeta's forces at the entrance to the waterway, and even if not, the waterway was a direct line to the university.
It meant they had reached a secure area.
"Good work."
"...You did more. I didn't really do anything properly."
"No. You fulfilled your role."
Finding the seal and interpreting the ancient language. Just that much. He had never expected more.
So she had done exactly what needed to be done.
Everything else—the safety of this little one, the elimination of the sealed entity, understanding and dealing with the situation, reconnaissance—was all his role.
Ivan slowly closed his eyes as his vision blurred.
At Ivan's words, Elfihera lowered her head again, mumbling her lips before speaking.
"Um, by any chance. 12 years ago. That, um. You know."
"..."
"You do remember, right? When I..."
"..."
"Hello?"
When Elfihera looked up, she saw Ivan with his eyes closed.
Listening to his regular breathing, she raised her hand and stroked his cheek.
"I'm sorry I couldn't thank you before. For today too, thank you."
Standing in the underground waterway, she didn't dispel the levitation spell cast on Ivan, but slowly floated across the waterway while cradled in his arms.
"You worked hard. Sleep well."
Ivan grabbed his head and opened his eyes.
Consciousness emerged hazily with a stinging headache.
It was like a hangover after a night of drinking. But surprisingly for this era, Ivan is someone who hardly drinks alcohol. Therefore, he doesn't experience hangovers.
He rose from the bed, pushing aside the soft velvet blanket.
"What...?"
Velvet blanket? Bed?
Ivan's thoughts rapidly sank.
A floor covered with red carpet and a bed with velvet blankets gently billowing.
And at the end, a silhouette lying turned away.
A woman.
"Hmm."