[Vol. 9] Chapter 34: Beneath the Ice Sea
The priestess finally answered casually, without even turning her head, after the girl paused for a moment.
“Oh? So what?”
The snow tribe girl’s eyes were calm and steady, yet deep inside them shone a confidence that was hard to describe.
“So, not far from us, there should be a large lake or sea full of water element. But it cannot be the ice sea I know. In fact, the place we are now is already far away from the cold climate of the snowy lands. There are only two possible explanations. First, we were moved across an extremely far distance in space. Second…”
She looked more serious, and her voice dropped.
“…we are inside a special realm, cut off from the real world, with its own independent rules.”
“…Interesting~”
The black-haired girl in front finally turned her head at those words, her eyes landing on Moraya with a deeper meaning.
“Such knowledge and sharp judgment… That’s not something a duke’s daughter would normally have.”
In the moment when those silver-blue eyes flickered with black and white light, Moraya’s steps froze. She felt as if all her secrets were stripped bare, like her clothes had been torn off, leaving her completely exposed before the other girl’s gaze. A thin layer of sweat even began to appear without her control.
“Y-you…”
Luckily, that strange black-and-white glow that shook her heart only appeared for an instant. In the next second, it faded away, leaving Violet’s eyes as clear as before. She gave a small laugh, turned away, and waved her hand casually.
“Relax, relax. I may be curious, but I do have principles and limits. If you don’t want to say, I’m too lazy to force you… Besides, my guess is already eight or nine parts correct.”
It wasn’t clear whose guess she meant. Her gaze swept over the strange little wooden doll marching proudly ahead, then shifted toward the deep, dark jungle, and finally lifted upward.
“You know, something troublesome has its eyes on you. Even I can’t say if that’s good luck or bad. But since it’s here, I might as well join the fun, don’t you think?”
Moraya froze slightly, but then, as if realizing something, her cold and flawless face revealed a look of surprise she couldn’t hide.
A bizarre thought suddenly popped into her mind.
A sealed place without light.
Damp air heavy with water vapor.
Unusually warm temperature, unlike the snowfields.
And that girl’s words about “being watched by something”…
If this wasn’t a case of long-distance teleportation, then from a purely physical view, the only explanation could be—
“No way… Could it be that we were swallowed into the belly of some giant monster?”
“?”
The black-haired girl paused, tilting her head slightly in puzzlement. But the snow girl, the more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. Her heart sank.
That enormous tentacle reaching from beneath the ice sea had already been nearly a hundred meters thick. If that was just one small part of the body, then how terrifying must the full creature be?
A monster that size could easily contain a whole world inside its body, perfectly matching all the strange things that had happened so far. But since when had such a horrifying creature appeared beneath the ice sea?
“Pfft~ Your imagination might be a little too rich.”
While Moraya was still caught in her storm of thoughts, Violet only gave a small laugh, then moved forward again alongside the little wooden doll.
Moraya dared not fall behind. She quickly followed, countless doubts still rising in her mind. But no matter how she thought, she didn’t know how to ask again. In the end, she could only stay silent and continue walking.
The two girls kept moving one after the other through the jungle. Finally, a faint light appeared in the distance ahead. As they got closer, it slowly formed into something that looked like the opening of a cave.
After seeing so many strange and unbelievable things lately, Moraya wasn’t really surprised anymore. Instead, she felt a bit of joy in her heart. Change meant hope, and this might even be the exit from the jungle.
But just then, the black-haired girl walking in front suddenly stopped.
The simple yet lively little wooden doll seemed to share her thoughts and also stopped its hopping steps at the same time. The priestess turned her head to glance at Moraya, and before the latter could voice her doubts, she calmly spoke first:
“Don’t rush. Before the next stage starts, I need to warn you about a few things.”
“First of all, no matter what you see or what happens later, you must never make a move. I mean it, no attacks, no defenses, nothing that could be seen as violent. Even if a knife is coming straight at your head, you have to pretend like you didn’t see it. Do you understand what I mean?”
“?”
Although she was stunned by such sudden and strange instructions, Moraya was experienced and calm by nature. Very quickly, she understood something from the serious look in the black-haired girl’s eyes. She nodded slightly.
“I understand.”
“Good, good~”
Her quick and firm reply clearly pleased Violet. A bit of praise flashed in her eyes, and she didn’t press the topic further. Instead, she suddenly asked another question:
“Earlier, you fought against that… tentacle. How did it feel?”
“Very strong.”
She gave her answer without hesitation. After thinking a little more, Moraya added:
“In the state where I released my bloodline using forbidden arts to summon divine descent, I could at least reach combat power equal to the peak of sixth rank. With the [Divine Ice and Snow Seal] as a weapon, even a High Priest would have to be cautious. But when I fought that thing, I couldn’t gain the slightest advantage. In fact…”
“Stop, stop, stop, stop!”
Seeing Moraya analyzing the fight like she was making a research report, Violet quickly raised her hand to cut her off.
“I’m not asking about your own strength. I know better than you how powerful that thing is… I mean, besides ‘very strong,’ didn’t you feel anything else?”
“Anything else…?”
Moraya frowned, trying to recall every detail from the battle with that giant tentacle. But maybe it was because of the side effects of using divine forbidden arts, or maybe for some other reason. She always felt that her memory of that moment was strangely blurry.
This had happened before. At first, Moraya thought it was just damage to her soul, and that after some rest she would recover. But since so much time had passed without improvement. Especially now that this mysterious girl, who seemed to have everything under control, brought it up, Moraya faintly sensed something was wrong.
Her expression shifted slightly as she turned her questioning eyes toward Violet. Seeing that she already noticed the problem, the priestess didn’t push her to figure everything out herself. Instead, she directly reminded her:
“Looks like you’ve realized it too. Time is short, so I’ll keep it simple. Just remember this, there are actually no monsters under the Ice Sea.”
“!?”