NOVEL NEXT Chapter 645
Chapter 645: I Knew You Would Definitely Come.
In that moment, when everyone had frozen, only one person moved quickly.
“Ghislaine!”
Yulien swung his sword at the black tentacles.
Squelch!
Dozens of black tentacles were severed. However, he couldn’t completely cut them all off.
It happened so fast, and with Ghislaine trapped, he couldn’t exert his full power.
In the blink of an eye, Ghislaine’s body was sucked into the black curtain.
“Young Master!”
“Your Highness!”
Belinda and Gillian rushed toward the curtain. Their furious attacks slammed into the barrier.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
It was an attack fueled by urgency. They had to save Ghislaine somehow.
But the barrier only shook slightly, standing firm against their efforts.
Seeing this, Parniel intervened and shouted loudly.
“Saint, lend me your strength!”
Piote immediately closed his eyes. His hair turned silver.
In his desperation, he gathered all his divine power and channeled it to Parniel.
Wham!
Parniel’s mace shone brighter than ever. She swung the mace toward the black curtain.
Boom!
The black curtain shook violently. Yet, it remained sturdily in place.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
No matter how hard they struck, the black curtain wouldn’t open. The people grew increasingly anxious, unsure of Ghislaine’s condition within.
“Get out of the way!”
Jerome shouted loudly, gathering his magic. He was determined to unleash the strongest attack possible. There’s no destruction as instantaneous as magic.
Vanessa placed her hand on Jerome’s back, transferring her magic to him.
Rumbling!
As the two mages’ immense magics intertwined, the ground trembled. Jerome extended both hands forward.
Boom!
Powerful, pure magic erupted from Jerome’s hands. It concentrated solely on destroying the target without any tricks or transformations.
Whooosh!
The magic collided with the barrier. It shook more violently than ever, but that was all.
“Profit!”
Jerome gritted his teeth and gathered more magic. Having poured so much magic at once, blood was trickling from his nose.
Vanessa stumbled as well. Her magic was drained in an instant.
Still, they couldn’t break through the black curtain. It was akin to a wall of despair.
“I’ll give it a shot.”
At that moment, Yulien stepped up.
Everyone stepped back, looking at Yulien with desperate eyes.
Yulien slowly drew his sword and closed his eyes.
“Huuh…”
Unlike usual, he was cautious. He had to put all his power into a single strike.
Yulien focused his will. The power he possessed defied the natural order.
The black curtain was also a manifestation of the present world. It needed to be shaken at its very foundation.
Sssss…
A heavy silence descended around Yulien. It seemed like everything in heaven, earth, and the world held its breath.
At the peak of his concentration, he swung his sword through the air.
Swish.
A small wave erupted, akin to the flutter of a butterfly’s wings.
And then right after that—
Crack!
The ground split apart. The world could not endure the strength of his will and tore asunder.
And that power reached the black curtain.
Wham!
The curtain split apart. The people quickly scanned inside.
Ghislaine was nowhere to be seen. The inside of the curtain was still filled with darkness.
Belinda and Gillian rushed in, disregarding any thoughts of caution.
Crash!
The two immediately bounced back as if they hit an invisible wall the moment they entered.
As if time had rewound, the black energies swiftly intertwined again, returning to their original form.
“Oh…”
Belinda’s face twisted in despair. No matter what they did, it seemed they couldn’t break that barrier.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gillian gritted his teeth and continued to slam against the barrier. He was intent on attacking until it shattered.
Parniel was the same. Supported by Piote’s divine power, she continued to attack the curtain.
But the curtain only swayed; it would not open.
After a while, Yulien finally spoke.
“Enough.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It seemed as if everyone ignored his words. No one stopped attacking.
Belinda held a dagger in her hand, jabbing it at the curtain. Jerome and Vanessa continued to pour out their remaining magic.
Piote also tried to help as much as he could, blasting divine power toward them.
Yulien spoke again.
“Enough.”
This time, there was a force of will behind his words. Only then did everyone turn back.
Panic, despair, sadness, urgency, rage—all kinds of emotions mixed in their expressions toward him.
Yulien looked at them with a calm gaze. He slowly spoke one sentence.
“Let’s wait.”
“……”
“He’s not someone who will be easily defeated.”
“But!”
Before Belinda could protest, Yulien continued.
“There must be a reason why it only reacted to Ghislaine. For now, we have no way to act, so let’s just wait a little longer.”
Yulien’s voice was calm yet firm. Strangely, those who heard his words found their excitement settling down.
This was yet another reason why Yulien was able to lead the Human Alliance in his previous life.
He possessed a mysterious power that transcended pure force.
“Haah, let’s just wait a bit longer for now.”
Jerome sighed and sat down. Even he, filled with immense knowledge, could find no solution in the current situation.
Vanessa asked with a worried expression.
“What if nothing changes in this state?”
Everyone looked toward Yulien. With Ghislaine absent, Yulien naturally became the leader.
After a moment of thought, Yulien opened his mouth.
“I will bring the mages and priests from across the continent to open this thing…”
If it couldn’t be opened, he would break it by any means.
Yulien’s cold gaze spoke of that determination.
At his words, everyone felt a peculiar sense of relief. They believed that man would surely accomplish what he said.
The group stepped back slightly, staring at the curtain.
They hoped for even the smallest sign of change from the black curtain that had swallowed Ghislaine.
* * *
“Oh?”
Contrary to the worries of those outside, Ghislaine was just fine. He looked around with an expression full of curiosity.
It was dark. The surroundings were simply filled with darkness.
Yet in that space, Ghislaine wasn’t afraid. He calmly tried to understand where he was and what phenomenon was taking place.
“Dark.”
Swish!
Dark transformed into the form of a crow. Unlike usual, it was wrapped in mana, giving off a faint red glow.
—I have arrived.
“How is it? Do you know what kind of space this is?”
—Hmm, something seems off.
“What do you mean?”
—It feels like a not-so-bad vibe.
“Is that it?”
—That’s it. What more do you want?
Ghislaine made a contemptuous expression. As expected, this guy was no help at times like these.
“For now, let’s check our surroundings.”
Ghislaine made several clones of Dark and sent them in every direction. The red-glowing Dark scattered.
—Nothing here.
—Looks like nothing’s visible?
—Just darkness.
“Hm…”
—Geez! Are we trapped here? I’m! Sca! red!
As time passed, Dark began to panic. Well, anyone would feel fear after being in such darkness for a while.
Nevertheless, Ghislaine remained calm. He started to tap his feet to check the ground.
“Isn’t there… a sound?”
He was clearly standing, but even when he stomped down hard, he felt nothing, and there was no sound.
He reached out to touch the ground.
“Hmm?”
His hand, which should be blocked beneath his feet, sank through. Though nothing was visible, his senses were telling him so.
Ghislaine realized that this place was not a space governed by the normal laws of physics.
He wasn’t under mental control. If he were, Dark would surely have reacted.
‘Or maybe that means Dark is too powerful to react.’
Taking a deep breath, he waited for a moment. Clearly, he had been drawn in after hearing the saintess’s voice. This phenomenon wouldn’t have occurred without reason.
Paaaaah…
Sure enough, after a brief wait, a faint light began to draw on the ground. It seemed to be a sign pointing the way.
Ghislaine slowly followed the markings.
Before long, something entered his line of sight.
‘Light?’
A tiny, small light floated in the air.
And from that light came a voice.
“…You’ve come. I knew you would keep your promise. Because you’re that kind of person.”
Ghislaine chuckled softly. To think that light actually spoke to him, acting as if it were quite familiar with him.
He quickly regained his composure and asked.
“Who are you?”
“We’ve known each other well enough already.”
“……”
Could this truly be the saintess from his dreams? No, even if so, doubts remained.
—I don’t know you well. But I’ve heard many tales from my mage friend.
—A friend from the future.
When Ghislaine first started dreaming, the saintess had clearly said she didn’t know him. Talking about a friend from the future was something Ghislaine found incomprehensible at that time.
Yet now, she claimed they knew each other well?
It didn’t seem like a mere statement made from a couple of dream encounters.
‘The mention of a “promise” wasn’t made without reason.’
So he questioned again.
“You just said you didn’t know me.”
“Now I do.”
“How?”
“Because I met you and was with you.”
“What does that mean? I don’t know you. I don’t know your face or your name. I’ve never met you.”
He had seen the saintess’s face in his dreams. He had witnessed the hero’s face and some heroes with obscured faces, but was that truly real?
He had never actually met them in person. They had never had a proper conversation.
Thus, Ghislaine could not genuinely claim to know them.
The light flickered momentarily. It seemed to be smiling.
“I understand it’s confusing. But you will meet soon.”
“What?”
“Through numerous attempts and coincidences, the present and future have changed… and the past has changed too…”
“What do you mean…?”
“Past, present, and future move together.”
“What are you talking about? Where is this place? What do you want? Speak plainly!”
“I can only intervene up to this point. This is my last arrangement.”
“Hey.”
“Don’t rush. You will know everything soon. And the choice will be yours.”
“Choice? What do you mean?”
Ghislaine asked urgently. Suddenly, the light began to flicker more quickly and dim.
The light felt like it was trying to convey an important message with all its strength.
“Don’t forget… Do anything as you desire… I will respect your choice… And it will be the right path…”
“……”
After a brief silence, the light softly offered its last farewell.
“Now… it’s time for us to ‘meet again.’”
Fwoosh!
The light dispersed and spread everywhere. The dark space was suddenly filled with blinding light.
Ghislaine could no longer endure it and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his body was outside the curtain.
The saintess’s final voice seemed to linger in his ears.
—My precious friend, Ghislaine Perdium.