After leaving Dunnwon Village, Estella and the Squirrel Mercenary Band rode without stopping even once.

It wasn’t only because Estella’s firm resolve had been conveyed to the Squirrels in its entirety, but because they too wanted to help Dunnwon Village as quickly as possible.

The sight of the emaciated children did not leave their minds.

'If I’d known it would be like this, I would have at least brought a good amount of funds with me…'

Even knowing it was useless to think so, Estella regretted over and over that day she had left with only the bare minimum to keep herself light.

Clop, clop.

Dadadadadada.

Wherever the seven horses’ hooves passed, clouds of dust rose like smoke.

The farther east they went, the more the blue of the sky lost its vitality, and with every gust of wind the dust and sand grew thicker.

The air was stifling, and the heat radiating from the ground made the horses breathe harder.

By the roadside stood dead trees, their bark split like spiderwebs from dryness, and the ground was cracked and parched; scattered like junk were rusted spears and helmets, and broken bones like remnants of some long-ago battle.

Just as she judged it impossible to ride any farther, a black, glossy plain appeared in Estella’s field of vision. It was the second day since they had left Dunnwon.

Once the horses stepped onto the Black Glass Plain, they began walking slowly, as if to catch their breath.

Tak, tak.

Each time their hooves struck the hard ground, it made an uneasy sound like scorched bark breaking.

In the eerie silence that enveloped the entire plain, even the smallest crack of sound felt magnified.

The wind that had been blowing hot and heavy had stopped dead on the Glass Plain; the heat was enough to make sweat drip, yet at the same time a chill crawled up the spine and made fingertips cold.

Wherever the eye reached, the ground stretched out endlessly, smooth and shiny like a mirror, the black surface absorbing the full heat of the sun’s rays.

On both sides of the plain, sheer cliffs rose vertically like giant walls, as if to bar any further entry, an unspoken pressure that made Estella and the Squirrels unconsciously hold their breath and dismount.

A place where not a blade of grass nor a single bird could be seen.

The very place Ria and her father had furiously forbidden her to go the moment it was mentioned.

A place where only Zuhara could survive—like a perfect replica of hell brought here.

“So this is Belzram.”

Airi murmured softly as she slowly surveyed their surroundings.

Under normal circumstances it would have been too quiet to hear, but here, where everything was holding its breath, even that sounded loud.

Estella nodded and carefully took the Abyss Mirror from her breast.

At the same time, the Squirrels each readied the portable crossbows they had prepared in advance, in addition to their weapons, fitting them to their arms and aiming.

They didn’t know when or where Zuhara might appear, so it was better to be ready.

“That’s it?”

Ciel asked, looking at the hazy, clouded mirror.

On the first night they had camped outdoors, Estella had told the Squirrels about this secret weapon—the Abyss Mirror.

Estella grinned and nodded, but her gaze still roved constantly over the expanse of the Black Glass Plain.

“There’s nothing here.”

Even after looking around for a long time and not seeing even an ant, Bruno lowered the axe he’d been holding and spoke in a slightly deflated voice.

“Your patience is—”

Just as Lily was about to snap at him as usual, white breath puffed visibly from the mouths of Estella and the Squirrels.

The cold came not from the air outside, but from deep in their bones.

Before they could wonder at it—

Crack-crack-crack-crack!

Shhhhhh!

The flawless, glossy surface under their feet split open in a jagged line in an instant, and from the fissure poured scalding steam and a strong, fishy stench like rotting fish guts.

With steam hot enough to cook anything, Ciel, Estella, and the Squirrels scattered to either side at once.

“Ugh! What a foul-smelling bastard!”

Even while retreating, Lily gagged and cursed Zuhara.

“Airi!”

At Ciel’s shout, a buzzing sound came from Airi’s palm, and a blue magic circle floated into the air, forming a blue barrier on the ground beneath their feet.

“Stay on this! I’ll try to spread it as wide as I can!”

In that moment—

Crackkkkk!

The fissure widened, and the enormous head of a pitch-black serpent surged upward.

The air, already thick with fish stink, became as nauseating as if someone had shoved fish entrails right under their noses.

“It’s Zuhara!”

“Ugh!”

“Get back!”

“What the hell is that thing…”

Its size was so massive their bodies leaned back instinctively just to look up at it.

The glossy black scales were packed so tightly not even a needle could slip between them, and its eyes, burning red like molten lava, were sharp enough to pierce a person’s heart with a glance.

Shhhk!

It flicked its two long, red tongues alternately, detecting the intruders who had dared approach without fear.

Each tongue was as thick as Estella’s torso.

Shhhhk!

It was smiling—as if pleased by the sight of a well-laid feast before it.

“Split its attention!”

At Estella’s command, the Squirrels sprang apart to either side.

Whoosh!

Lily’s Nevrion steel arrow shot straight for Zuhara’s eye, but it twisted its head swiftly to avoid it.

It was the first time they had seen a monster so openly dodge an arrow, but Lily was unfazed and immediately loosed another.

This time it dodged quickly again, but thanks to her anticipating its movement, the arrow struck its neck.

Thunk!

Any other monster would have suffered a lethal wound, but this one reacted as if a fishbone had pricked it.

It was clearly no easy opponent.

It also deftly avoided the follow-up strikes from Ciel and Kyle, almost as if enjoying a game.

Whirr!

Bruno’s axe flew toward its head, then spun back like a boomerang into his hand—his specialty.

“You dodged that nicely!”

Grabbing the axe that had cut nothing, Bruno shouted in frustration.

For all its heavy bulk, Zuhara moved with incredible agility.

Even Estella, whose dynamic vision was sharp, struggled to follow its movements.

'We have to pierce its heart in one strike.'

Zuhara was a monster that could regenerate endlessly as long as its heart remained intact, even if its body were cut into pieces.

The problem was that its heart moved around inside its body—shifting rapidly toward the head or tail to avoid enemy attacks, as if it had a life of its own.

This was why the Abyss Mirror was needed.

Estella lifted the mirror, reflecting Zuhara’s body as it fought the Squirrels.

At once, the surface that had never reflected anything before displayed Zuhara’s form, engraved as vividly as a living relief sculpture.

Staring fixedly at the image, Estella spotted a ladybug-sized red dot gleaming near its tail.

The dot, like a child playing hide-and-seek, was hiding at the tail tip, ready to move elsewhere.

Estella drew her sword and charged.

“Bruno! Cut the tail!”

At her shout, Bruno, who had been attacking only the head until now, turned and hurled his axe at the tail.

Whirr.

Thunk!

The axe severed the tail tip at once—but the heart was faster.

Dark red blood oozed thickly from the severed tail, and the stench of rot grew stronger over the plain.

In the mirror, the heart was now moving rapidly toward the creature’s center.

“Damn it!”

When the fallen tail tried to reattach, Airi quickly incinerated it with fire magic.

“Ugh! Smells like rotting meat cooking!”

Lily pinched her nose and irritably loosed another arrow toward Zuhara’s head.

The tail writhed like a living snake before the cold magical flames reduced it to ash.

Szzzt, szzzt.

From the cut surface, Zuhara regenerated a new tail.

The speed was so fast it was like watching a video at ten times normal speed.

“Estella, where is it?!”

At Ciel’s urgent shout, Estella pulled her scattered focus back to the mirror.

Now the red dot was blinking tauntingly in the middle of its body.

A location too vague to explain.

“Center!”

Even as her word left her mouth, crossbow bolts rained toward its torso from all sides.

Fwip! Fwip!

Zuhara twisted frantically to dodge, but the Squirrels’ relentless, multi-directional attacks left it reeling, unable to find its bearings.

Whirr!

Bruno’s axe sliced a piece from its body and returned to him.

Haru had somehow climbed atop its head, stabbing one eye with a dagger before leaping down, and Airi caught his fall lightly with magic.

Ciel’s movements were astonishing—each sweep of his sword sent black scales falling like snow, exposing bare flesh for Haru to stab sharply.

Thunk!

Lily’s arrow flew again toward its head, and this time it buried itself squarely in the center of Zuhara’s left cheek.

“Got it!”

But the creature, as if mocking her success, coiled its long tongue around the arrow, yanked it out, and flung it away.

Every part of its body moved with an unsettling autonomy.

Swish-swish-swish!

More crossbow bolts struck its torso center.

“Keep going!”

At Estella’s cry, the rapidly reloaded crossbows fired again into its body, and at last the heart in the mirror began to move.

'The head!'

The red dot was squirming upward.

When it finally passed the throat and reached the head, Estella dashed toward it without hesitation.

“Head!”

“Estella!”

Seeing her sprint straight for Zuhara’s gaping maw made Ciel’s mind flash white, but he quickly leapt and brought his sword down hard toward its head.

Squelch!

Thunk!

Even the Nevrion steel sword couldn’t cut clean through the head in one blow, and the heart slipped swiftly back down below the neck.

Whirr!

Bruno’s axe flew again, slicing part of its neck away.

Reeling from severe wounds to head and neck, Zuhara staggered and crashed to the ground.

“Estella, get back!”

At Ciel’s urgent shout, Estella rolled aside.

But Zuhara, as if mocking her effort, twisted its head toward where she’d rolled and opened its jaws wide.

“Estella!”

Leaping to her feet the moment she rolled, Estella was engulfed in its massive jaws the next instant.

“Estella!”

“No!”

Ciel and the Squirrels rushed toward it in desperation, but by the time Zuhara raised its head, Estella was gone.

Szzzt, szzzt.

It began regenerating its wounds again, and within seconds the severed, gaping flesh returned to its original, unblemished state.

“…No. No!”

Ciel muttered in a daze, staring at the restored creature.

Slither-slither-slither.

Zuhara coiled itself proudly before them, flicking its tongue.

At that moment—

“Boss! Don’t!”

Panting with despair, Ciel snatched up his Nevrion steel sword and charged straight toward the towering, coiling Zuhara.

Chapter 154

Comments