CHAPTER 142
Chapter 142: It Was You
The sword tore through fur and sliced the heart. The heart that was beating wildly and other internal organs tangled messily, scattering blood.
One, then another. Jinwoo's sword cut not only the flesh but the soul as well. He was absorbing the Black Flames as if harvesting them.
'It's faint, but I'm getting slightly stronger.'
A minion of a Monarch. In the past, he would have become significantly stronger just by catching one, but now the effect was minimal. Jinwoo, who had defeated two Monarchs—Jerakson and Prycia—and sucked up their power. Now, a single minion didn't make him drastically stronger.
But it was filling up. Even if it was a sip, no, a drop of faint power, he could feel it filling. Rather than feeling like he was getting stronger, it was more like...
'The feeling of returning to normal.'
Like returning to the state he should be in. Reclaiming what was originally his.
Stitch by stitch, very slowly but surely, he was returning. With the power gained that way, Jinwoo stabbed the heart of the next wolf. Which Monarch controlled beasts like this? Jinwoo checked the knowledge he had gained from Jerakson.
'Probably the God of the Iron Canyon. Cain, the Lord of Iron and Beasts.'
He was called the King of Beastmen who ruled the Canyon of Steel and commanded the countless beasts of the canyon. Furthermore, he was also a craftsman who handled high-quality iron, and it was said that the armor he hammered gained a spirit of its own and moved.
Rondar was also an excellent craftsman, but his foundation was that of a warrior. Compared to Cain, who settled in the Canyon of Steel and constantly hammered iron, Rondar was lacking. Or so Jerakson perceived.
'Would he have a sword stronger than this one?'
That was the first thought that crossed his mind. The Nebula Sword obtained from Rondar. It was certainly an item worthy of being called a peerless famous sword. Not only Rondar's power but also his past self had been involved in its creation.
Did Cain possess a sword better than this? The possibility was sufficient. Thinking about that, he suddenly felt greedy for it.
'...Thinking about all sorts of things.'
It was a bad habit to get starry-eyed just seeing a sword. Since obtaining the Nebula Sword, his interest in other clumsy swords had dropped, so this was the first time in a while. He was excited by the mere fact that there might be a sword superior to this one.
'Anyway.'
First, the beasts in front of him. Jinwoo's sword cut down all the remaining wolves. Some were aided by Ipril's support fire. Of course, Jinwoo diligently collected the Black Flames even from the ones Ipril took down.
"Jinwoo!"
After knocking them all down and shaking the blood off his sword, Rona came running. He had known of her presence from the start. After all, he had come looking for her after sensing she was surrounded.
"You came to save us."
Rona spoke with a face that looked like she was about to cry. It was certainly a crisis situation, but even considering that, she was strangely emotional. Was there another reason besides the danger?
"I had some business, so I came to look for something. I met up with Ipril by chance."
"Greetings, Sir Garcia. It is the first time since we met on the 3rd Floor."
"Thank you, both of you. Really..."
Rona shook hands with Ipril and held Jinwoo's hand as well. Holding his palm, Rona paused for a moment, then stroked it as if thinking of something. Come to think of it, had she done something like this once before?
"Are all the other Elves safe?"
"Ah, yes. Probably."
When Jinwoo spoke, Rona answered in surprise. She led Jinwoo and Ipril to the cave.
About 50 Elves were huddled together, trembling. They were surprised once by Ipril's muscular physique and once more by Jinwoo's ears.
"It's okay. He's human, but he's on our side."
When Rona calmly reassured them, everyone calmed down. She had mixed a trace amount of mana with her words to care for the minds and bodies of her compatriots.
After all, they wouldn't be able to trust a human who suddenly appeared while they were cornered in such a disaster situation.
"Rona. You seem badly hurt; do you have any Nectar left?"
"Excuse me? Ah, no. I used almost all of it while fighting."
"I don't have any left either..."
Ipril also scratched her head and spoke apologetically. Before meeting Jinwoo, she had also been fighting alone continuously. Precious potions like Nectar had long since been used up.
The 50 village Elves in this place wouldn't have precious things like Nectar either. In the first place, that was something only nobles like High Elves, or warriors fighting on the front lines, would possess.
"I have a few potions. They aren't as good as Nectar, but take them for now."
Jinwoo distributed the healing potions he had brought from Earth. Some were bought with money, and others were made by Chartia. The latter were much more effective.
He gave 5 regular potions and 2 of Chartia's special potions to each of them. It was an amount that was more than sufficient.
"Thank you."
"Thanks."
The two Elves accepted the potions as if genuinely relieved. They didn't decline; since it was practically an extra life, they didn't have the leeway to be polite. Moreover, if they couldn't protect themselves, they might hold Jinwoo back, so there was no option not to accept.
Rona opened a regular potion and poured it on her wounds. The wound on her flank was especially large, though it had healed somewhat with Nectar. Other than that, there were long cuts on her shoulder and back, and a wound on her thigh as well.
She poured the potion on the wound sites and diluted the remaining potion with water to drink. She didn't want to waste even a bit of the medicinal effect.
"It's late today, so let's rest here for now. We'll move starting tomorrow."
Both Rona and Ipril nodded. The 50 Elves huddled behind them. They had to discuss what to do with them from now on.
They couldn't take this many people with them. Especially since they were all non-combatants. But they couldn't leave them behind either; they would be wiped out if even a single wolf attacked. They couldn't do that.
"Is there a safe place nearby?"
"There is an area where some knights and soldiers have gathered to protect people. I was guiding these people there when we got held up here."
"I see."
Even if it wasn't a modern nation, this was still a country. There were knights and soldiers maintaining order, evacuating and protecting the kingdom's citizens.
Then they just had to escort them there. With a destination decided, his mind felt at ease. Relaxing a bit more, Jinwoo asked.
"Do you know what happened to the Royal Palace?"
"That is... a little bit."
"Did you meet Permu?"
"No, I couldn't see her. I and other knights tried to enter the tower somehow, but it was impossible."
After that, Rona told him about the Royal Palace. It was a bit more detailed, but not much different from what Ipril had said. simply put, neither Rona nor the other knights knew anything.
"There are many who think it's the Mother World Tree going berserk, but we Royal Knights know. The enemy isn't the Mother World Tree, but someone else."
"You knew because you were at the palace."
"Yes. Mother World Tree repelled and pushed out the invading enemy. In that process, we were all pushed out too, but..."
It seemed the World Tree had extended black roots centered on the White Tower to push away all existences, including enemies and allies. In that process, Rona had seen the black roots, but she wasn't greatly surprised. She had seen black roots when she encountered the King of Dark Elves with Jinwoo before.
"The Lord of Iron and Beasts. The enemy is that guy. Probably."
"The Lord of Beasts?"
"On the 3rd Floor, he was called the God of the Iron Canyon."
Jinwoo shared some of the information he knew. Since they decided to act together, they needed to know.
Ipril was surprised by the name she had heard often on the 3rd Floor, while Rona wasn't particularly surprised. Instead, she wore an even colder and more composed expression, suppressing deep anger.
Well, seeing the entity that reduced the kingdom to this state and threatened her compatriots, she couldn't help but be angry. It was also the cause of the palace being isolated.
After sharing some necessary information, the sun soon set. Night came, and Jinwoo came out of the cave to guard the surroundings. He sat on a hill, watching for the approach of Black Flames.
"Jinwoo."
At that moment, Rona came to find him. He had told her to rest quietly since she needed to heal her wounds.
"Thanks to you, I'm almost fully healed. They must be expensive potions; thank you."
"They are expensive, but they can't compare to a life."
"Fufu."
Finding something amusing, she laughed once and sat down next to him, hips touching.
"You have become unrecognizably strong. In the past, I used to teach you swordsmanship."
"I was grateful back then. Becoming this strong is also thanks to you. Even now, I sometimes recall the sword theory you taught me."
"Really?"
Rona spoke as if surprised. To her eyes, Jinwoo was now an existence beyond her reach. The existence closest to the Divine Spirit she aimed for.
84.2s

She was confident she wouldn’t be surprised even if Jinwoo ascended to become a Spirit tomorrow. And such a being still took the time to think about her sword.
"You have potential, too. If you continue to train with an upright heart."
"Potential? Do you mean to become a Spirit?"
"Yes. Not yet, but if you can break through your walls and surpass your limits, you will."
Rona certainly had potential. More than anything, she had plenty of time. With hundreds of years still ahead of her, if she continued her training steadily, she would one day ascend to the Spirit Realm.
"Then I suppose I can't die now."
"That's right."
Of course, all of this was under the assumption that she wouldn't die an untimely death along the way.
Still, Jinwoo's encouragement greatly eased Rona's anxiety. It told her there was no need to rush; what was more important was to keep her own pace.
Rona took Jinwoo's hand and gently touched it. This was the third time, so Jinwoo didn't bother stopping her. Then, she closed her eyes and brought his hand to her face. The hand that touched her chin traced up her cheek until it reached the corner of her eye. In her dark vision, she clearly recalled that sensation.
"What's wrong?"
"Has something like this ever happened to you before? An attack by wolves, I mean."
"It has. You helped me back in the Original Forest. I was shocked when I woke up to find a pile of wolf carcasses under the tree."
"Now that you mention it, that did happen."
Rona burst into laughter. "Ahaha." Right when Jinwoo had just become a Hunter, something like that had occurred. But that wasn't what she was asking about.
"Not then. Much earlier than that."
"Earlier? Before that, I was a day laborer."
"I'm talking about 150 years ago."
"Rona. I'm human. I wasn't even born 150 years ago."
He was right. Thinking back, she had suspected Jinwoo once before. But she had dismissed him as a candidate when she realized he was a human who hadn't even lived 30 years.
But now, that fact was not enough to shake her conviction. What does the flow of time matter? That's what she thought. That's how certain she was.
"Come to think of it, something similar happened when I entered the 0th Floor."
"What happened?"
A memory surfaced, and Jinwoo began to speak. Rona immediately latched on, asking for the rest of the story. With no reason to hide it, Jinwoo recounted what had happened then.
The story of a mansion burning down before his eyes. The story of the werewolves that had attacked it. They were clearly the same type as the wolves now. Of course, the current ones were far stronger, possessing the Black Flame.
He had saved a young elf back then. He had poured Nectar into her eye, which she had been on the verge of losing, and protected her to the end from the swarming wolves.
The trial had cleared before the child woke up, so they parted without so much as a greeting, but he remembered feeling proud. He had thought to himself that his power, though he had only recently become a Hunter, was enough to save someone else.
"I see. So that's what happened..."
Rona listened to Jinwoo's words calmly. She neither interrupted him nor offered excessive reactions. Yet, he could feel that she was listening with her full attention until the very end.
When the story was over, Rona smiled.
So it really was you.
Her unspoken heart became the night wind, brushing past them both.