193. Where the sky becomes thin (4)
#193
“What the fuck…!”
Ronan gritted his teeth. A scream escaped through clenched teeth. Even in front of the Mother of Fire, the pain was so intense that I could not bear to swear.
“You have to endure.”
Navardose said calmly. Ronan clenched his fists instead of answering. She couldn’t get up anyway because she was pressing down on her chest with all her strength. Her blood flowed from where her fingernails had dug in.
Ronan took a deep breath and looked around. A mana convection phenomenon so strong that the entire room seemed distorted was occurring around him. Navarre, who had been staring at Ronan’s heart the whole time, frowned at him.
“This curse is much more powerful than I thought. “Your father is a father who thought of implanting something like this in his child’s body, but you, who have endured all this time, are no easy feat either.”
“What exactly does this curse do?”
“What, can you hear me? “The pain must be extreme.”
“In hindsight, I feel like it was worth holding on to.”
Ronan said in a hoarse voice. Navardose’s eyebrows twitched. As the creator of fire magic, she knew how much pain Haeju was causing Ronan now.
It must have felt like all the blood in his body had turned into lava, but instead of fainting, he asked for conversation. She giggled and stroked his head with her other hand.
“You’re a proud kid.”
“Hehehe… it feels different… than when I received it from my sister…”
Ronan let out a weak laugh. She even seemed to feel some relief from the pain. She wondered if her mother, who passed away at a young age, also felt this way when she stroked my sister and I’s heads.
‘Damn it, I can’t think about anything because it hurts.’
Ronan bit his lower lip. Although she got better, she was still very sick. Navardose’s voice was heard in the vision that was repeatedly blurring and becoming clearer.
“The curse I am currently dealing with is a fire magic that has now lost its name. The purpose is to plant a spark in the target’s heart and burn it out from the inside out. “It was originally a curse used for the purpose of killing…”
“killing···? “Holy shit… was it that terrible?”
“okay. The fire that burns up all internal strength and energy eventually devours the body. But…”
Navardose trailed off. His face could not be seen because of his flame pocket, but his tone seemed to be somewhat serious. For an instant, the heat burning my heart subsided.
“…There is too much to burn. But that’s not the problem. ■■. “Did they block Hae Joo like this?”
“Whew, you’re stopping Haeju…?”
“That’s literally it. If you get rid of this right now, your body won’t be able to handle it. “The curses originating from wind and water keep each other in check, so when one disappears, the remaining curses are designed to become explosively stronger.”
Ronan frowned. Even in her dazed state, she could vaguely sense that she had been fucked. She did what she said.
“If the fire goes out, there will be flooding and a tsunami. Conversely, if the water dries up, the fire will spread uncontrollably with the wind. “Just like the original curse, until it completely burns your body.”
“Then…what should I do…?”
“We must try to remove the curse while maintaining the heat of the fire. “It’s become a hassle.”
“Is that possible?”
Ronan asked. It took quite a while for the answer to come back. Navardose, who had finished thinking, patted his chest.
“then. Trust me kid. “I just need to use a little effort, so let’s refrain from talking.”
“yes?”
Navardose whispered a few words that sounded like incantations. Suddenly, my eyelids began to feel heavy. A voice as soft as a baby’s skin lingered in my ears.
“Shh…let’s fall asleep.”
The palm pressing my chest was getting hot again. Unable to bear it anymore, she screamed, asking what Ronan was doing to my body, but it had already happened in her dream.
****
“Ugh…fuck….”
Ronan opened his eyes. Her eyes were as refreshed as the morning after recovering from a fever. She must have been sweating profusely, so her entire body was damp. While catching his breath, he slowly raised his upper body.
“···What happened?”
I had no idea how much time had passed. The place was still his father’s room. A strange red light was shining overhead.
I didn’t feel any significant physical changes. It was only natural to feel cold as the sweat cooled off, but my body felt warm as if I was wearing a coat. At that time, a soft voice came from behind.
“Are you awake, child?”
“Oh, I was there…”
It was Navardose’s voice. Ronan turned his head without thinking and then froze. The unfinished ending flowed out like residue.
“···yo. this?”
“It’s amazing that you came to your senses so quickly. Hehe… I need to get some rest.”
Navardose was sitting on the bed next to him, looking at Ronan. A tired but satisfied smile appeared on his red face. Ronan swallowed thickly.
‘no way.’
Once I paid attention, I also noticed the overall disheveled outfit. The stiff dress had many wrinkles. Her sweat-soaked hair was slightly wet and matted.
Ronan took a deep breath to blow away the impure thoughts floating around in his head. He regained at least some courage and opened his mouth.
“What happened…?”
“I had a bit of trouble changing my plans. “It was a success in the end.”
“That means my curse…”
“okay. It’s not perfect, but it’s a successful replacement. “Right now, the curse and my embers are burning together in your heart.”
Navardose said in a weak voice. Ronan’s eyes widened. Her foolish illusions were blown away in an instant.
“What do you mean, embers?”
“That’s literally it. I took a little bit of the fire that formed the basis of my strength and planted it in your heart. Replacing it all at once could be difficult, so only a very small amount was put in. Still, I never imagined that humans could handle this power…”
Her eyes were sparkling with pure admiration as she looked at Ronan. Ronan walked her way and she sat dumbfounded, as if a flower pot had hit her on the head.
‘Fuck, what did you put in it?’
It was an explanation that did not feel realistic. Of course, Navardose had no reason to lie, so it was probably the truth. Ronan opened her mouth.
“Why so much…”
“I just kept my promise. “Didn’t he say he would repay me for saving Ir?”
It was a clear reason. Now I immediately understand that she is tired. Stripping away the foundation of her power meant that she ultimately gave away her own life force. Navardose stretched himself up.
“You may not feel much of a difference right now. At best, it might be more refreshing than usual. But as time goes by, you will feel a clear difference. Because it is a completely different force from the curse that is meant to harm and oppress you. “As you become stronger, my spark will grow bigger and eventually completely incinerate the curse.”
To put it simply, it was a case of inserting fake parts that were better than the original. The flaw was that it was overly powerful, but it was better than a curse anyway. Ronan, who had his hand on his left chest, lowered his head.
“thank you. “Navardose.”
“Lift your head up, child. I really want to thank you. In fact, I saw him save my daughter.”
“Oh, did you see that?”
“okay. “I was a very proud child, so I deliberately didn’t bring it up in front of people…”
Only then did Ronan put on his top. He felt fortunate that her body temperature did not rise to the point where she could not wear clothes. Ronan cursed under his breath.
‘Fuck. I feel like my body is becoming increasingly strange.’
It was a different story from the curse being lifted. A stone ghost that looks like Seniel or something. Vajra’s core wasn’t enough, so this time it was the spark of the beginning. Since Vajra had brought about such a dramatic change, I was afraid of what the hell would happen this time. Well, doesn’t it have to be as shocking as sparkling mana coming out?
“How long has it been?”
“About six hours. “It’s amazing resilience.”
“It certainly hasn’t been that long. But it really looks like there’s nothing here. What are you doing here… hmm?”
Ronan’s eyes narrowed as he looked around for a moment. A blue energy that had not been visible when he first came in was clearly flowing from under the study desk. Looking at the subtle blinking, it contained sparkling mana, the symbol of Nebula Clage. Navardose tilted his head.
“Why are you doing that?”
“No… wait a minute. “What is that?”
Ronan slowly approached Mana. She guessed from Navarre’s reaction that he seemed invisible to her. As I bent down to get under her desk, her energy became even more intense. Ronan was looking around her closely, and soon she could see a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of her desk.
‘What is this again?’
At first glance, it was ordinary parchment. An unidentified mana was oozing out from there, and it looked like she had just glued it together without any special magical measures. Ronan squirmed out from under the desk, holding her parchment in his mouth. Navardose shrugged his eyebrows.
“that?”
“I don’t know either. “I’m going to check it now.”
Ronan spoke with slurred pronunciation. I just hoped it wasn’t a blank page. When I unfolded the twice-folded parchment, a picture appeared. Ronan took a deep breath.
“This···!”
Although it was crude, it was recognizable. It was definitely a map. Navarre, who was watching from the side, muttered with his eyes wide open.
“I can’t believe you left something like this behind. “I didn’t notice it at all.”
I really didn’t seem to notice. Judging from the fact that she couldn’t find Ronan in the beginning, it seemed like her senses became more sensitive as the story progressed. Still, I didn’t expect to see results this quickly. Ronan, who was examining the map, shrugged his eyebrows.
‘This coastline… somehow looks familiar.’
The picture drawn with ordinary ink indicated the vicinity of a certain beach. To the north the ocean was depicted as a wide blank space. It was clearly somewhere, and it was something I had seen recently. Ronan, who was quickly rummaging through his mind, quickly came up with a result.
“ah.”
The unidentified map showed almost the same location as the map of the blacksmith shop that Alogin had sent. Heyran. At the northern tip of the continent, there is a blacksmith shop to forge the holy sword.
‘I heard you went to the north. ‘Has it gone this far?’
I felt my heart beating fast. Given the circumstances, it seemed clear that one of the two had painted it. It was a moment when I unconsciously gained strength in the hand holding the map. As the parchment crumpled slightly, changes began to occur on the map.
“What is this again?”
A stain was forming in the wide blank space depicting the North Sea. Ronan put his face close to me. What was strangely pulsating was that the material was different from the ink used to draw existing maps.
The blob wriggled and expanded as if it were alive. Navardose was also standing close to Ronan, watching the interesting scene. Soon, when the movement on the map stopped, Ronan realized that it was in the shape of an island.
“···That’s why the margins were widened. Did Elthea leave it behind?”
“I don’t know. “Seeing as the map changed in response to your mana, we cannot ignore the possibility that ■■ left it himself.”
“Maybe so. But isn’t it a bit strange? “There’s no way there’s an island here.”
“hmm? “What do you mean?”
“It’s a sea of ghosts. here.”
Ronan said in a doubtful tone. Navardose, who realized this fact too late, let out a small sigh. The place where the island was drawn was an area called the Sea of Ghosts.
‘What on earth is here?’
An extreme remote area where even the sea water is frozen and chunks of ice larger than mountains roam around like buoys. It was one of the most famous horse racers on this planet, and sailors were reluctant to even call its name.
“It’s definitely suspicious. “It is a place where only cold and death exist.”
“Right.”
“Apart from that, I feel a little bad. “The situation that is happening right now is so contrived.”
Navardose narrowed his brows. Ronan also nodded in agreement. She opened her mouth, her eyes fixed on her map.
“Don’t you think I left it there knowing you would find it?”
