Chapter 149

The entire cave shuddered as though it were sobbing. The mana stones hanging from the black ceiling flickered with an anxious, unsteady light.

"…!"

Ethan, lost in thought, snapped his head up and scanned his surroundings.

Terrified screams and shouted evacuation orders erupted from every corner of the cavern.

The cave is shaking? Why all of a sudden….

He started to chase the question—then dropped it.

Whether it was the prolonged battle taking its toll, or whatever force had triggered the sudden anomaly—

Any number of things could account for what was happening. The cause didn't matter right now.

Either way, I need to get out.

Ethan moved toward the crowd heading for the cave's exit—then froze mid-step as something struck him.

His gaze drifted slowly and came to rest beside the basilisk's corpse.

More precisely, on the boy standing there.

"……"

Mikhail looked as though the chaos around him didn't register at all.

He'd been standing motionless—then his face twisted with a grimace and he staggered, only to steady himself and reach toward the basilisk's body.

In the middle of all this… what is he trying to do?

Ethan watched Mikhail's movements, then flicked his eyes upward toward the trembling ceiling.

Rumble….

The shaking showed no signs of letting up. Ethan moved quickly toward Mikhail.

He didn't want to interfere with whatever Mikhail was doing. He really didn't.

But right now, at least, getting him somewhere safe seemed like the better call.

"Mikhail."

Ethan approached from the front. Mikhail turned his head toward him, and Ethan spoke.

"Let's get out of here. It's way too dangerous to stay—"

"Ethan."

Mikhail cut him off in that dry, matter-of-fact voice of his, glanced at the open stretch behind them, and said:

"Cover for me?"

"……"

"There's something I still need to check here. I'll look at what I need and be out right after."

Ethan said nothing. He just stood there as if rooted to the spot, staring at Mikhail.

Mikhail held that silent gaze for a moment, then let a crooked smile slip and rummaged through his inner pocket.

"Don't worry. I'm not being reckless."

What appeared in his hand was a return stone, glowing with a soft light.

Mikhail waved it gently, the corner of his mouth tugging upward.

"See? Works perfectly fine. I can use this to get out of the cave in no time."

Ethan stared at the return stone in Mikhail's hand.

Then his eyes drifted downward, and he clenched the fist hanging at his side.

"……"

His tightly sealed lips stirred. But no sound came out.

That left Mikhail as the confused one instead. He watched Ethan for a beat, then furrowed his brow—curiosity sharpening into a clear question.

"Ethan?"

Ethan's shoulders flinched. Before either of them could say more, a booming voice rang out from behind.

"Hey! What are you two still doing back there! Everyone's moving!"

Mikhail ducked low in a flash. He retreated a step behind the basilisk and spoke to Ethan.

"…I really will be out soon. Just tell them nobody's here. Please."

Only then did Ethan raise his eyes and meet Mikhail's gaze.

A look weighted and low hung across the air between them for one long beat.

Ethan hesitated—but in the end, he nodded.

"Fine. I'll do what you say."

Ethan turned his back on Mikhail and took a few steps toward the group heading for the exit.

Then he stopped and added one more thing.

"…You need to come out fast. Promise me."

"Yeah."

Only after hearing Mikhail's answer did Ethan start walking again.

He approached the reinforcement unit members who'd been watching, exchanged a few words with them, and headed toward the cave's entrance alongside the group.

"……"

Mikhail watched them go until they shrank into the distance, then turned his gaze to the basilisk beside him.

The dark-violet mana lingering inside the basilisk's body.

He needed to investigate it further.

The moment I touched the dark-violet mana, something changed inside me.

Mikhail looked down at his left hand and narrowed his eyes.

Given the circumstances… the trigger was probably my own mana.

Beeee—. Beeeee—.

Mikhail pushed the phantom whale cry to the back of his awareness and placed his hand against the basilisk's eye socket.

A faint glow bled from his fingertips—mana laced with the power of the Abyss, dark blue in color.

Fssssh….

The moment that dark mana met the hardened surface, the basilisk's scales crumbled like sand.

What lay beneath was a dark-violet fluid. Beaded across the underside of the scales like dewdrops, the mana still held a vivid, unmistakable glow.

Mikhail studied the fluid, then moved his arm.

I don't know exactly why the power dwelling inside me resonated with the dark-violet mana.

But one thing was certain: something existed between the two forces—something that drew one toward the other.

If he could deduce any hierarchy, any cause-and-effect, any relationship between them—

It might give me more leverage down the line.

Tap.

Mikhail placed his hand beside the dark-violet mana. Better to establish the most critical variable first.

Things like which mana held dominance, or what kind of friction existed between them.

The dark-violet mana is the power the main storyline's primary antagonists wielded. I'm going to be clashing with it plenty going forward.

Mikhail channeled mana from his fingertips and shaped a dark-blue cluster the same size as the violet droplet.

He set the mana onto the basilisk's surface, lifted his finger away, and watched.

Fssssh….

The dark-blue mana obeyed the intent he'd imposed. It drifted toward the foreign power, dissolved its surface, then blackened and crumbled it apart.

Mikhail observed the result and narrowed his eyes in thought.

When the scale of mana is similar, the Abyss's properties take dominance—same as with everything else? Not bad….

That was when his train of thought snapped clean.

Mikhail's eyes flew wide. He went rigid, then dropped his gaze to his left hand.

The scattered traces of dark-violet mana around him.

The instant they stirred—as though reacting to what had just happened—the fingertips that had channeled his mana pulsed with a distinct, undeniable throb.

"…?"

Mikhail swallowed hard and moved again.

He pressed his finger against the dark-blue mana still clinging to the basilisk's surface, and murmured the words that had just surfaced in his mind.

"Go."

The moment permission was given, the dark-blue mana shot forward and collided with the dark-violet cluster.

The two rounded surfaces strained against each other, locked in a brief, taut contest of force.

Then the dark-blue mana crushed through the violet, and the shattered fragments were swallowed whole—consumed, overwritten in its own color.

Tszzzzz….

Mikhail watched the sequence play out, then tilted his head to one side.

What he'd witnessed looked like the strong devouring the weak. But the feeling it left behind was something else entirely.

Not predator and prey in a one-sided chain—

It felt more like watching a parent who'd finally found a lost child.

"……"

Mikhail was still caught in that strange, unsettling emotion when the dark-violet mana flickered like a candle flame caught in a gust of wind—then lost its light entirely and vanished without a trace.

Fssssh….

With that, no spark of life remained in the basilisk's body.

"……"

Mikhail paused for a moment, then lifted his hand from the reptile's corpse. He tilted his head back and looked up at the trembling ceiling.

I should head back.

He walked toward a section of the cavern where the vibrations were milder and fished the return stone from his coat.

Clink.

The stone in his palm glowed with a clear, steady light. Judging by its appearance, the mechanism was still intact—channel some mana to activate it, and he'd be transported to the cave entrance—

CRACK!

It happened in a flash. He registered the sound of something slicing through the air in the same instant the return stone shattered in his grip.

"……"

Mikhail stared at the fragments crumbling through his fingers, then scowled.

He turned toward the approaching footsteps.

A figure stepping out from the shadows, pulling back their hood as they closed the distance.

Verte Fischer's face came into sharp focus.

"Mikhail Senit. I'm here to settle this."

Verte stood across from Mikhail, his expression frozen into something cold and hard. Then he reached inside his coat, produced an activated return stone, and tossed it to the ground.

Clatter.

The stone slipped free of Verte's hand and skidded across the floor, coming to rest between them.

"……"

Mikhail glanced at the mana shimmering across its surface.

Then he lifted his gaze and looked straight ahead.

RUMMMBLE….

A deep roar echoed from somewhere far away as Verte's thorn-edged voice delivered its declaration.

"Only one of us walks out of here alive. You or me."

---

Meanwhile, among the group making their way out of the cave.

"—Look! We're almost there! I can see the entrance!"

Just as the shout proclaimed, a faint sliver of light had appeared at the far end of the dark passage.

A few more steps and they'd leave this godforsaken cave behind. That was what the sight promised.

Among Salvator's ranks, threading their way forward over the trembling ground, sighs of relief drifted out.

"Phew…. We're actually making it out without anything going wrong. Thank god."

"Dian, don't say stuff like that until we're completely outside. You'll jinx it."

"…Hey, Albin. Has it occurred to you that saying that just made me more nervous?"

Lloyd wedged himself between the bickering pair, looked from one to the other, and flashed a grin.

"If you've got enough energy to trade jabs, we really must be close. But there are people who aren't doing so well, so how about we keep it down for the walk?"

Lloyd pointed at the irritated glances aimed their way from nearby, and that put an end to the noise. He fell back in line with the rest and walked forward in silence.

Then, just once—

Lloyd cast a glance toward the distant rear.

"……"

The long passage behind them was nothing but darkness.

Even the light from the mana stones had dimmed to near-nothing.

Lloyd stared into the black space and recalled a scene he'd passed only moments ago.

RUMMMBLE….

The cavern thrown into chaos by the sudden tremor.

[……]

Behind the most secluded boulder of all, a young man crouched in hiding—staring down at the basilisk's corpse.

[…!]

Lloyd had spotted the figure instantly. He'd killed his presence on reflex and studied the intruder's features.

Mist-colored eyes beneath the hood.

Corneas smoldering with hostility, aimed squarely at Mikhail standing beside the basilisk—burning with unmistakable fighting spirit.

Persistent, I'll give him that. Verte Fischer.

Lloyd let a hollow breath escape and twisted the corner of his mouth. Then he erased the name from his mind.

It had turned gray a long time ago.

No point cluttering his memory with something useless.

Besides, there's someone far more interesting to think about.

Lloyd pulled his gaze from the dark air, faced forward again, and as he walked, traced another face in his thoughts.

Mikhail Senit.

Dark-blue hair brushing his shoulders. Eyes that stayed quiet and unreadable from start to finish—impossible to get a clear read on.

Throughout this campaign, the northern heir had planted his feet one step further than expected, again and again—surpassing every projection Lloyd had formed.

Flawless so far.

Lloyd recalled Mikhail chatting with Ethan, waving the return stone with that easy confidence—and walked on with a calm, settled expression.

"……"

Then, for just one moment. Lloyd curled the fingers dangling at his side and stole another glance at the dim, trembling passage behind him.

So I'll be watching again this time. At the end of whatever fight just found you—I want to see what you're worth.