MHHC Chapter 94

The Gap

Adele ran through the forest path with desperate haste. It was strange.

Unlike when she had first entered the sanctuary, everything in the forest seemed to repel her now.

Even finding the path proved difficult. That boulder, that tree, that trail and those thickets...... had they always been in those positions? It was as though they were alive and moving.

Unless some spell had been cast over the forest to make one lose all sense of direction, this should not be possible.

'That same tree again.'

After passing the tree with its distinctively gouged stump three times, suspicion hardened into certainty.

From that point on, Adele stopped trusting the paths before her eyes. Instead she sensed the magic Valentin had planted and used it as her guide.

'It leads east.'

If an illusion spell covered the entire forest, it was unprecedented in scale, and maintaining an illusion of such magnitude would require conduits to replenish the magic at regular intervals.

And to solve this supply problem, Valentin had generously embedded high-purity mana stones at regular intervals from the forest's innermost core all the way to its outer edges.

The very barriers he had layered to stop her now served as her waypoints.

'The magic feels especially concentrated here.'

Moving toward the point where magical vibrations originated, Adele eventually collided violently with something.

She clutched her forehead and sank to the ground.

"Ow......"

She lifted her head to see what she had struck. But there was nothing before her eyes.

Only the winding trails, thickets, and densely packed trees she had been passing through all along.

'How strange. I definitely hit something.'

Was there some invisible wall? Adele straightened herself and took a deep breath.

Then slowly extended her hand forward. Her hand bounced off the empty air as though striking an obstacle.

It was certain. An invisible curtain barred the way.

'He used illusion magic to make the forest appear continuous. Beyond this must be the sanctuary's boundary. To get outside, I'll have to break through the barrier.'

Adele tried reciting several barrier-dispelling incantations and unleashed every spell she knew. But the barrier would not budge.

'Magic doesn't seem to work. But what if I try brute force instead?'

Illusion barrier magic represented the pinnacle of exquisitely delicate and precise magical technique.

If she could somehow disrupt even one of the countless formulae woven densely into the barrier, she might be able to shatter it.

Adele rapidly drew up her mana and wrapped it around her hand. Then she clenched her reinforced fist tight and struck the wall with all her strength.

'Break.'

The impact was so fierce that vibrations spread from the point of contact, seeming to reach the very apex of the sky.

Yet still the barrier did not move. Adele bit her lip and struck the wall again with every ounce of force she possessed.

'Break!'

Magic was the manifestation of fervent desire. That was why mana came to be called sacred power.

Humanity's first mages had called magic divine mercy and miracle.

They believed that when humans yearned for something with sufficient intensity, God would bestow mercy in that moment and bring forth a miracle.

Therefore, if she wished for it with desire stronger than anything else, a miracle was bound to occur.

"Please......!"

She gathered every last shred of her strength and brought it down upon the barrier. For an instant she thought she heard a sound like crack, crack, something fracturing.

But after that, no matter what she tried, the barrier refused to budge any further.

Adele sank slowly to the ground, gasping for the breath that had begun to come in ragged bursts.

"Hah, ngh......"

It had been impossible from the start, truly. She was a fledgling as a mage.

Operating simple spells was the extent of her capabilities—how could she possibly dispel a barrier laid by Valentin himself?

'This is why he treats me like a cherished pet. What difference is there between this and being kept caged?'

Her heart was frantic but nothing worked. Grief welled up within her. She was barely suppressing the sob rising in her throat when—

"Princess Adelheid?"

A suspicious voice came from beyond the barrier. Adele startled and lifted her head.

Ahead of her was still only dense forest path, with no one visible nearby.

Yet, certainly.

"......Nadia?"

At her call, the faint sense of presence grew somewhat clearer.

Though the barrier and wards blocked sight, someone's approaching footsteps sounded urgent.

They stopped precisely before the barrier where she sat collapsed.

"Is it really you, Princess? Dear God...... You are unharmed right now, yes?"

Confusion colored Nadia's voice. Adele replied calmly.

"It really is me, Nadia."

"What were the last words we exchanged?"

"I believe we discussed something related to the child. Though it's hazy."

"......The child?"

Brief silence. While Adele hesitated over where to begin her explanation, Nadia let out a deliberately theatrical exclamation.

"Ah, right. I remember now. We truly did...... So many incidents came crashing down at once back then, I'd completely forgotten."

Before Adele could respond, Nadia continued in rapid speech.

"But how did you suddenly appear like this? What happened?"

"That's what I want to ask you. What on earth has been happening in the outside world?"

"You truly don't know?"

"I've been in a space completely cut off from the outside. I genuinely don't know how the situation has unfolded. Please, tell me anything, Nadia."

"......I don't even know where to begin."

Nadia released a deep sigh. Though Adele could not see through the barrier, she could vividly picture Nadia scratching the back of her head.

"First, in the three years since you disappeared, Nürnberg has......"

"Three years?"

She had tried not to interrupt Nadia's explanation, but the preposterous statement emerging from the very beginning was impossible to endure. Adele quickly added:

"What do you mean...... To me, this was all just a few days ago. Of course, I kept sleeping and waking repeatedly...... so I can't judge precisely, but even so, surely no more than ten days have passed......"

"Exactly three years have passed since you disappeared, Princess. And Nürnberg is already on the brink of annihilation."

Nadia cut through her rambling words with finality. At that chilling pronouncement, the blood drained from Adele's face.

Adele let both hands drop limply, her face drained white as she barely managed to move her lips.

"Annihilation."

"Everyone begged for forgiveness, but the dragon forgave nothing. Many people died. Nürnberg and three surrounding kingdoms are resisting desperately, but no one knows how far the dragon's wrath will extend."

"......"

"Perhaps he truly intends to exterminate all of humanity."

"That can't be."

The reflexive denial carried no conviction, even to her own ears. Nadia replied weakly.

"I can't tell you how much I've regretted not following your advice back then—not telling the dragon. Sometimes it feels like this entire catastrophe is all my fault, and I......"

Deep remorse suffused Nadia's tone as she revisited the past.

The woman whose voice had trembled as though she might weep at any moment soon collected herself.

"In any case, if I'm to explain the war situation—it's utterly unfavorable to us. The number of people who can use magic keeps decreasing. Even I can no longer use spatial movement magic."

"People who can use magic are decreasing? What... what does that even mean?"

At the shocking statement, Adele asked urgently. Nadia calmly elaborated.

"There's a problem with the sacred power itself. The dragon inherited the Creator's power, but ultimately he is God's proxy who swore an oath to protect humanity according to natural law. Yet he broke that oath and attacked humans...... It's no wonder the sacred power is corrupting."

Adele could only work her lips without knowing how to respond, then stopped.

'Corrupted sacred power.' It felt as strange a phrase as 'warm ice.' After a moment's silence, Nadia added in an imploring voice.

"I know it's confusing to hear so much all at once, but this is the truth. Magic is no longer the spectrum of colors it once was. Those whose magical power was formidable still maintain faint hues, but most have turned black."

"But, if that were true, my own magic power still......"

Adele stopped mid-sentence as she suddenly realized something. If three years had truly passed since 'that incident,' the child in her womb could not possibly have remained unchanged all this time.

If Nadia spoke truth, it meant time flowed differently inside the sanctuary alone.

Slowly, these devastating circumstances began making sense one by one.

"If you've been at the dragon's side, Princess, you must have seen it at least once, yes? That black miasma clinging all over the dragon's body."

Something immediately came to mind at Nadia's words. That black corruption Valentin had struggled desperately to tear from himself...

All of that was corrupted sacred power? But it had appeared to be attacking Valentin. Could power originating from him somehow turn against its own source?

Moreover, if Valentin had been attacking humans, one more question remained.

"How are you even holding out? It's even stranger given that you say the number of people who can use magic has decreased. If the dragon truly resolved to harm humanity—forgive me for phrasing it this way—it shouldn't have taken three years."

Adele was certain she heard Nadia snort through the thick barrier.

"Well, that's because every time he harms a human, the dragon's own flesh ruptures along with it."