[Vol. 9] Chapter 35: Old Friend
It was like a bolt of thunder suddenly striking Moraya’s mind. Even though it was only a simple sentence, she felt as if a thick fog in her head had been torn open, leaving stormy waves of pain that almost split her mind apart.
“Ugh…”
The girl clutched her forehead in pain, her eyes half-open. The once pure and clear look in her eyes became filled with dark shadows. Faint, unclear whispers flashed again and again in her mind, but as if blocked by some force, they could never form into a clear picture.
Triggered by this, an ice-blue, eight-petal snowflake mark glowed faintly on her forehead. Its quiet light spread like a shield, covering her body. The silent sense of dignity and holiness coming from that mark was enough to make almost anyone who saw it fall to their knees in worship.
Yet Violet was completely unaffected. She simply stood there, silently watching Moraya’s struggle. She even frowned a little, as if she had noticed something. The little wooden puppet by her feet tilted its head in a very human-like way, quietly staring at Moraya with curiosity.
For some reason, the whole scene felt strangely eerie.
After a while, the darkness in Moraya’s eyes finally faded. She swayed where she stood, and the snowflake mark on her forehead also quietly disappeared. Barely managing not to collapse from dizziness, she looked at the thoughtful priestess in front of her and couldn’t hold back her question anymore.
“Was that… a mental attack? When did it…?”
Lifting her eyes to look at her, the priestess raised her brows slightly and gave a look of approval.
“Your willpower is very good. But no one was attacking you. That was simply the price you pay when you touch certain truths. Truth itself is like poison. Some knowledge can damage the spirit simply by being known.”
“It’s too complicated to explain now. Just remember what I told you earlier. You’ll understand soon enough. Let’s go.”
Without waiting for Moraya’s reply, she stepped forward. Her figure passed through the white light and disappeared into the door just a step away. The golden-glowing little wooden puppet happily hopped after her.
Seeing this, even though her heart was full of questions and confusion, the snow girl could only press down the chaos in her chest and quickly follow.
The moment she passed through the white light, Moraya felt some strange, indescribable power flow through her entire body. It was like being scanned, or as if something was being forcefully poured into her. She didn’t know what this power was or what it was for. All she knew was that it gave her the same sense of complete exposure as when Violet looked directly at her earlier, but this time it was even more forceful, rough, and unreasonable.
Moraya hated this feeling.
Since being chosen as a candidate for Holy Maiden and receiving the sacred baptism, even the true Holy Maiden herself would treat her with great respect. With her legendary-level strength, plus all her hidden treasures, she thought there was no place in the world she couldn’t go.
Becoming a Holy Maiden candidate had cost her dearly, but in return it gave her the strength and confidence she had now. Yet, ever since waking up in this place, everything she had seen seemed beyond her understanding. Anything here could crush her easily. A warrior always standing at the very front lines, she now felt like a baby chick in need of a mother hen’s protection. Such a contrast was not something she could easily accept.
But before she could react, all the power pressing down on her body suddenly vanished.
The sudden change in brightness made her instinctively shut her eyes. While she couldn’t see, the sound of waves and the moist sea breeze came rushing to her face. Moraya struggled to adjust to the light. When her vision finally cleared again, the world around her had completely changed.
“Splash~ Splash~”
Waves crashed against naturally shaped reefs, creating a rhythm like music. The sky was bright, and clear sunlight poured down from above. It brushed over her body, bringing Moraya a strange but long-lost feeling of warmth.
The snow girl slightly widened her eyes. Looking around, she realized that in front of her was a vast endless beach, while the dark forest they had just passed through was right behind them, only a single step away.
Yet that one step felt like the distance between two completely different worlds. No light from outside could reach into that forest. Its deep, endless darkness looked like a terrifying mouth ready to swallow people, and also like staring into the void eyes of some invisible monster. Just glancing back made Moraya’s whole body turn cold.
It was hard to imagine, how did she manage to walk out of such a place unharmed?
As if suddenly understanding something, she quickly lowered her head and looked at the strange little wooden puppet circling around the black-haired girl’s feet, swaying proudly as if waiting to be praised.
Was it… because of this thing?
Now that the sky was bright, the golden light it naturally gave off was no longer so obvious. But Moraya clearly remembered. In that forest, besides the faint campfire that couldn’t move and seemed to appear out of nowhere, only this little puppet gave off light strong enough to push back the surrounding darkness.
From the moment they woke up, Violet had been busy adjusting and working on this strange little puppet. She only set out after she finished dealing with it. Violet didn’t seem like the kind of person to do something meaningless. So that dark forest was definitely not as simple as it looked. Most likely, it was thanks to this puppet that they were able to leave it so easily.
With those thoughts in her mind, the two girls didn’t stop walking. They reached the shore, where the damp salty sea breeze blew against them. Violet was the first to lift her head, looking out over the endless sea with a relaxed smile.
“Well, what do you think? This must be your first time seeing a sea like this, right?”
“Uh… yes, that’s true.”
Not sure what Violet was really getting at, Moraya only nodded slightly. Still, what Violet said was correct. The snow region was always cold, winter all year round. Not only the inland Ice Sea, but even the outer seas near the eastern coast were frozen year-round. A warm and pleasant beach like this could only exist far south of the frozen lands.
As if she had guessed what Moraya was thinking, Violet chuckled again and said without turning her head:
“But this isn’t some southern coast. In theory, this is an island. An island on the outer sea of the Endless Sea.”
“The outer sea of the Endless Sea? Miss Violet, how do you know? Have you been here before?”
“Of course not. But an old friend of ours is here. Since they’re here, this place can’t be anywhere else~”
Moraya was stunned for a moment, but before she could ask further, the tide in front of them suddenly began retreating at a speed visible to the naked eye. The wet seabed and reefs quickly spread open before their eyes.
“!”
Seeing this, Moraya’s pupils shrank sharply. She instinctively took half a step back, her body tensing as she took up a fighting stance!
Because as the sea withdrew, countless bizarre and terrifying creatures appeared along with it. They had bodies roughly the size of humans, but their muscles and skin had long rotted away after being soaked in seawater for so long. In their place were countless writhing, living tentacles, densely packed and horrifying to behold!