Chapter 1046 – Holy Demon Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

000

[So, I should have told you. Going inside this mountain means facing even greater despair.]

A little distance away, Guardian-A, who saw that the expedition team had encountered another Guardian, muttered this.

The place where she is now is the entrance to the ruins that lead underground, hidden somewhere in Mt. Cheonryong.

In other words, it was an area assigned to her that she guarded so that no one would pass through.

The guardians of each mountain, each with different tendencies and limitations, were blocking intruders from entering the mountain.

Among them, Guardian-A was located at ‘Cheonryong Mountain’ at the entrance of this mountain range, so his role was to send back those who had entered the mountain unknowingly with a half-hearted attitude or because they had lost their way.

Nevertheless, it was because of her kind heart that she did not want to show off her strong fighting skills and, if possible, did not want to conflict with anyone.

And, if there are people trying to set foot on Inryongsan Mountain, the second mountain following Cheonryongsan Mountain.

Appear in front of them and warn them.

If you understand what he says and return there, we can erase your memories of what happened in the Four Dragon Mountains and send you to a safe location.

However, if you refuse, she opens the blocked path and sends the intruder to Inryong Mountain.

Due to Guardian-A’s extreme reluctance to collide with intruders, the intruders misunderstood that all Guardians might be like that…

Soon, they realize that it was an illusion and that the mountain itself, including the guardians, is more like a huge prison.

The moment they crossed the river that runs between the two mountains, they crossed a path of no return.

─Guardian-K (Kappa).

The emerald-colored guardian of Mt. Inryong.

She is a woman who has the magical power to freely control plants, and is like the mother goddess of the earth, who restores nature and enriches the earth.

It was nice to see that there was little interaction between her guardians, but her Alpha, who had been with her for a long time and guarded her entrance, knew very well how she regarded her intruders and how she dealt with them. 〉

She loves.

She considers everything that comes within her territory as something worthy of her love, care, and protection.

It is not love towards a ‘lover’, but love towards family or children.

In other words, everything that existed within her own domain was considered her own ‘child’.

That’s why I don’t want them to go any further and put themselves in danger.

Also, they don’t want to go back and despair of their failures.

You must embrace and protect everything you can recognize.

Even if it’s just a little bit of coercion.

So, by holding them, oppressing them, putting them in a prison from which they can never escape, they are gradually taking away the ‘freedom of thought’ from their brains.

Her personality was clearly kind and loving, but at the same time, she was self-righteous and had the type of stubbornness and devilishness that corrupted people.

With her saint-like appearance, her witch-like nature, and both her praise and contempt, those who created us gave her another name.

Seongma Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

She is a sexual witch who saves and guides all living beings with her mercy, while at the same time corrupting everyone.

The plants that grow within her territory become her cloth’s hands and her cloth’s eyes and help her.

The woman who commands them, the woman who is called love, spreads her cruel curses without distinction between her and her friends.

In fact, she was the guardian of obsession and contradiction, refusing to be saved and trying to save even those who could not be saved.

001

Once again, green light emanated from Kuon.

When the resilient wind of divine magic rushed through the area where the battle was in full swing, you could feel the wounds healing from the area it touched.

Quartz and the other half-ghosts would have gained the strength to fight once again through this – but the problem would have been Kuon, who was supporting them.

Kuon’s healing magic was restoring her fellow demons while also consuming her own physical strength.

“At least, if I could use Gallatin…”

Kuon said so, but he expressed his resentment that Galatin, who had changed into the form of a small accessory and fell asleep, did not wake up and could not use the power of the Holy Swordsman.

If it were possible, she would have been able to support her own magic consumption to some extent through the magic power provided by her holy sword.

Listening to her Kuon’s heavy breathing, Aine, who was standing closest to her, put her own opinion into her mouth, biting her lower lip in exasperation.

“Quon, Quartz. It’s better to retreat from here. If you’re in an open area like this, plants will come from all directions. At least, if you fight with your back to the river, you can block the enemy’s offensive from one side.”

Aine probably had a point, but Quartz shook her head.

“No. No. If we leave this place, it means we cannot protect the rest of the personnel. … Besides, no matter where you are on this mountain, it is within her territory.”

In other words, no matter where you go, you will get the same results, and the safety of others who remain here cannot be guaranteed.

“B-But. If we keep going like this, Kuon’s magic power will run out… We’ll be at a disadvantage in the war of attrition…!”

As Dryne said that, she must have been confused as to what to do.

“Calm down, Draine. If you panic like that, you will show the enemy an opportunity and use up even more of Kuon’s magic power.”

Zwei tried to calm down her younger brother by scolding her, but she seemed to be even more worried about Kuon’s condition, but Kuon must have responded while having a hard time hearing her words.

“I-I’m fine…! I can still use recovery magic a few more times…”

Kuon’s words may not have been lies… But that doesn’t mean she really can’t just deal with the flocking plant-type monsters forever.

Let’s think about how we can overcome this difficulty. If Cleon had been here, how would he have tried to solve it.

Normally, it was Cleon and Layla’s role to think of a breakthrough like this, but if neither of them were around – on their own.

Even if I had to do it alone, I had to do something.

Her face was frowning, her mind was spinning several times faster than usual, and she felt like she was going to have a fever.

Meanwhile, the half-ghosts cut down the vines of plants coming towards them, but they regenerated themselves again from where they were cut and came back.

[Quon. When dealing with a difficult enemy, you need to analyze the opponent. It’s not just about the opponent’s attack methods, but also what characteristics they have. And whether he has the means to overcome that characteristic.]

At that time, it felt like the imaginary Cleon inside Kuon was talking like that.

She herself is not sure what the imaginary Cleon is, but she probably remembers what Cleon once said to her in the past.

So, Kuon follows those words and looks intently at their enemy.

‘Plants that constantly regenerate… That’s not because the plants themselves have outstanding vitality, but because there is another source of magical power that regenerates them. That magical power─ clearly, from the guardian.’

But she said she knew, so what should she do?

I don’t have the firepower to burn them all at once and make regeneration impossible.

And, it was impossible to even block the magic flowing from the guardian.

No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed like there was no way to ‘defeat’ those monsters with the card he was holding.

[Then, isn’t ‘stopping’ rather than defeating it… A kind of method?]

“─I see, that’s right!”

There, Kuon let out a loud voice without realizing it.

Her half-eared audience must have turned to look at her at the sound of Kuon’s voice.

“Quo, Mr. Quartz! Do you have a rope!?”

“If it is a rope used to capture the enemy.”

As she said that, she untied the rope that appeared to be tying the blanket around her waist.

“That was meant to be used against the enemy…! With those ropes, weave plants and tie them up! As many as possible!”

“… But, with the power of those guys, it would break and break free in no time.”

Quartz said that she hadn’t thought about it, but Kuon seemed to be shaking his head.

“No! I will assist you…!”

“… As expected, he seems to have something on his mind.”

Kuon’s confident behavior made her nod her head.

Then Quartz looked back at her students, and like Quartz, they also untied the ropes around their bodies and-

At the same time, she ran out in all directions and started swinging the rope at the guys coming toward them, skillfully trapping them.

Just like weaving a gulbi, the rope moves like a snake and creates a loop, one, and another.

They tied up the plants that were approaching.

And in response, Kuon slams her staff down hard on the ground.

“Barrier… Deployment!”

Kuon’s magic that started from her staff flowed through the ground and reached the plant’s body.

However, her magic went up the plant’s body again and reached the rope, making it even stronger.

Then, the plants writhe on the spot because the rope they were trying to untie with their own strength does not come loose, and they fall to the ground or fall against each other, becoming even more entangled.

A body made of vines would become entangled with each other if they were gathered together like that.

“Okay, that’s enough…!”

Kuon couldn’t help but sigh in relief that things went as she expected.

With this, even if the half-ghosts didn’t cut down the enemies, they would be able to buy time without being attacked by plants.

“With this, you’re safe—”

[You must be a kind child who cares about plants. If so, this mother will take care of you.]

At that time, she may have misunderstood something.

She was looking over here, smiling quietly.

The illusion of the guardian floating in the air came right next to the party as if leaping through space.

“─!?”

Aine, who was by her side to protect Kuon, was the first to reflexively swing her sword and cut down her illusion.

However, if you think about the meaning of cutting down an illusion, there could not have been an action as meaningless as that.

In the end, the illusion did not disappear on the spot, and was still standing in the air, showing the dress swaying in the sky.

And the Guardian also knew that he was an illusion, so he did what he set out to do without being embarrassed even when he was cut by the sword.

That is, they slowly opened their mouths near them and tried to speak out.

Seeing that, the hairs on Kuon’s whole body stood up.

“! Everyone cover your ears!”

That’s why Kuon followed her instinct and raised her voice like that.

It seemed like she could somehow tell Kuon what she would do right away.

In fact, while the other members of the class blocked her ears, Kuon himself, who spoke her warning, could not stop his own ears.

[J-J-R-U-R-A-G-]

“Ugh…!?”

A voice like a painful scream burst from Kuon’s mouth.

Rather than the voice that flowed from the Guardian’s mouth containing strong magical power, the word itself was a word with great power.

‘Poetry, hymn to new language…!’

Kuon can also be used, it contains direct speech – the unpronounceable language of God.

The idea was to put it into a melody and insert it into a form of ‘music’ to create a form that would exercise coercive force.

Immediately after that, an intense feeling of dizziness came over Kuon’s body – no, her soul.

This was because her soul was reacting to the divine hymn, losing her mind and trying to fall asleep here like everyone else.

“No, no… If you fall asleep now…”

As Kuon said that, she took a deep breath.

[Why…? You have already done everything you could for your colleagues… No one will blame you.]

And toward her, her guardian stretched out his hand.

The movement of her hand, as if stroking her hair, seemed to really be touching Kuon’s hair, even though the other person was clearly an illusion.

‘This is the power of the Guardian… I think I know why Artis was so wary… If they try to annihilate us from the beginning, we will have no means of resistance…’

Nevertheless, Laplace called it ‘safe’ to pass through this route.

Why? Think about it. If so, there must be a way to break through.

Even a madman who despises life can overcome the guardian’s obstruction and move on…

Kuon heard the guardian’s voice once again.

[For now, forget about what you have to do for a moment and fall into a beautiful and peaceful dream. If you do that, you will be able to live in a place without any pain.]

A sweet temptation after all.

A warm voice, like her mother in her hometown.

Kuon thought that if he continued to listen to that voice, he would really fall asleep.
His consciousness was slowly fading.

[Please sleep… Inside me…]

She felt like if she heard one more word, she would really lose her senses.

Last.

Squeezing the last of her strength, Cuon once again turned to the imaginary Cleon in her head and asked.

No matter how much you try, no matter what tricks you use, what should you do when you encounter a difficulty that you feel you can’t overcome with your current self?

Kuon, who needed the answer right now, remembers Cleon looking worried for a moment.

And, the imaginary Cleon would reply like this.

[In that case, don’t overdo it. Sigh.]

Ha?

[Surprisingly, you might easily come up with a method when you wake up. Forcing something to happen that doesn’t work is a way of getting lucky or sacrificing something. It’s like a dungeon puzzle that I tried and failed several times in the past, and once I woke up, I solved it on the first try—]

‘That… The backstory… That’s enough…’

In the end, Kuon falls asleep in a dream world, quietly resenting Cleon for saying such irresponsible things.

What caught her eye before her consciousness was completely lost.

Before Kuon lost her mind, only her barrier-maintaining staff was standing in place.

That was it.