Chapter 662
Episode 168: Escape, Shuri’s Ordeal
Beyond the door was not the cave that led into the tomb, but a certain spot on the Caldaran snowfield.
And as soon as Jin stepped outside, he was forced to confirm that yet another urgent crisis awaited them.
‘As expected, quite some time must have passed outside.’
The landscape of the Caldaran snowfield had changed.
The snow, which had once swallowed them up to their knees, was now stained completely black. The swirling gray blizzard had turned pitch-black, engulfing everything in chaotic darkness.
‘Has the entire snowfield been consumed by chaos?’
Even when focusing on the farthest visible point, there was no place untouched by the darkness.
The chaotic blizzard carried madness within it; anyone untrained exposed to it might lose their mind just from the sheer presence.
Kiiieeeek! Kraaak!
On top of that, the roars of chaos dragons shook the sky.
Looking up, Jin saw them unleashing black breaths onto the ground like cannon fire.
On the surface, chaos-tainted knights and monsters that looked like they belonged in the Black Sea swarmed everywhere.
[Jin, I can’t open any more dimensional gates… You seem exhausted too. What should we do?]
Neru was already barely standing, exhausted since the moment Jin first found her.
Opening dimensional gates required a massive amount of energy or the claw of a cat god—neither of which was available.
“It’s alright, Neru. I still have enough strength to break through this encirclement. And…”
Jin closed his eyes briefly, sharpening his senses.
Amid the chaos saturating the snowfield, other forces were detectable to him—auras, magical power, and mana. These were clearly the energies of allies and comrades.
“It seems there are those fighting to save us. If we join them, we should be able to escape without issue. I’ll listen carefully to what you and Valeria have to say once we’re out.”
[Really? Did you tell the others before entering the tomb?]
“Not just the comrades, but also Ziphl and Kinzello, with whom we formed a temporary alliance.”
[Ziphl and Kinzello!?]
“They’re friends who come in handy in moments like this.”
[Meow!]
Jin summoned Shuri, placed Neru on her back, and bound the sealed Valeria.
The energies not tainted by chaos were scattered, not gathered in one place.
North, east, west. Jin had to decide whether to reveal his position to them and gather everyone or not.
‘If we all gather and someone like Rosana or an equivalent being shows up, preventing our escape, that would be a problem.’
The number of allies detected was not large.
This meant the forces sent to rescue Jin were small elite groups from each faction.
Therefore, Jin decided to first reveal himself to the weakest among them.
Naturally, the first people he needed to find were Tikan’s. Since Thalaris was injured, Tikan’s elite were likely the weakest.
Depending on the situation, rescuing them first and then joining other factions might be the best course.
“Eastward.”
The most familiar energies were to the east.
As Shuri began to run, nearby monsters all turned their gaze toward her.
Before Jin could even unleash sword energy or magic, Shuri fired a beam of magical power that disintegrated the creatures without a trace.
[Meowaaak!]
Fortunately, they didn’t encounter any chaotic beings with remaining sanity on the way east.
Before even fifteen minutes had passed, Jin came across Tikan’s comrades struggling fiercely.
“Sir Balkas!”
Balkas, Amela, Lata, and Julian.
These four were assigned to search the Caldaran snowfield for Tikan.
“My lord! Uncle Balkas, my lord! And, what’s this? A cute little stranger!”
“My lord! You rescued Valeria…!”
As Jin feared, they were having a tough time.
Around them lay the corpses of chaos beings—monsters and former knights—forming rivers and mountains of black.
“There’s no time. Sir Balkas, please explain the situation.”
“Five days have passed since you entered the tomb, my lord. During that time, the Garden of Blades hasn’t directly attacked Tikan or other factions, but has completely corrupted the Caldaran snowfield.”
That explained why they were struggling despite the absence of transcendent chaos beings. They had been fighting an endless wave of chaos since arriving.
“It’s fortunate there have been no direct attacks outside the Garden of Blades. Any casualties?”
“None in the Bamel Alliance. The allies likely the same. We may have lost some bio-golems and experts, though.”
According to Balkas, no transcendent chaos beings had appeared on the Bamel side.
Instead, monsters of the inner core level had been appearing across the snowfield for days.
“If Rosana learns I escaped the tomb, she might send transcendent beings immediately. After you found me, what’s the plan for escape?”
“We’ll use the captain’s dimensional gate.”
“Good. Let’s go!”
The atmosphere of Tikan’s party shifted the moment Jin joined.
Not just because they confirmed Jin was alive.
Though Jin’s stamina was nearly depleted from opening the tomb and fighting Runtia, he still effortlessly wiped out ordinary chaos beings.
Flames formed in both his hands incinerated dozens of monsters every second.
Even so, he showed mercy to those who appeared to be former knights, ensuring they died without unnecessary suffering.
Kinzello and Ziphl were positioned northwest. With everyone aboard Shuri, they would soon encounter other factions.
The first to meet were Ziphl’s Hedo and Sandra.
They had separated from the rest of Ziphl’s group to search for Jin. Naturally, Sandra had caused a commotion.
She insisted that half-hearted searching wouldn’t save Jin—Ziphl was genuinely trying—and so, upon arriving at the snowfield, she took Hedo aside to act independently.
“Darling! Is it really Jin? Right, Hedo?”
“Yes, the 12th squad. So please stop pulling on my clothes.”
“See? I told you I had to act alone. The fools in the family probably still don’t know Jin’s back.”
“Sandra and I just found out too. We didn’t find him ourselves; rather, the 12th squad found us.”
“Jin!”
Sandra leapt onto Shuri, trying to hug Jin, but he instinctively dodged her.
As a result, Sandra fell onto Valeria, who was bound behind Jin.
Clang!
The sound of ice and a head colliding rang out.
“Damn! If I’d been a moment faster, I could’ve hugged you… Hah! This woman is a very precious person who almost made our darling disappear from the world, huh? I want to smash her—no, no, Sandra. Right now, the joy of Jin’s safe return comes first!”
With that, Sandra climbed onto Shuri’s back.
Though Shuri possessed the strength to destroy mountains if given time, carrying so many people was heavy, and she occasionally twisted her head in discomfort.
Hedo, too large to ride on Shuri’s back, clung to her side.
It looked awkward, but Hedo didn’t seem to mind.
“You made it, 12th squad.”
“Yes, captain. We’ll express our gratitude when we return. I’m also curious about your sword. I believe you feel the same.”
“Jin, what about me?”
“Thank you too, Sandra.”
“If you’d said ‘thank you’ properly, I’d have extended this ice-bound woman’s life by two days. I’m always watching, ready to take her down myself.”
“Much appreciated.”
“Hahaha, that’s the spirit!”
Jin, Valeria, Neru, Balkas, Amela, Lata, Julian, Sandra, and Hedo.
Nine people in total rode on Shuri as she surged forward again.
But before long, Shuri had to take on more passengers.
“Darling, who’s that ragged guy? Looks dead.”
“That’s Ranke Halobiche, a demon. Sandra.”
Ranke Halobiche. Judging by his state, he had become a ‘berserk Ranke’ but had collapsed from exhaustion after days of fighting inner core-level chaos beasts.
“We don’t have room. Should we just leave him? No, if he comes along, Sandra and Jin can stay closer, and we’ll be farther from that ice block. Hedo!”
Whip!
Hedo grabbed Ranke and threw him onto Shuri’s back. Balkas roughly tied him up with rope.
More and more people either rode or clung to Shuri.
“Bubbar Gaston? He’s not a fighter. Why did Kinzello bring him?”
“Hedo!”
Whip!
“…Ainas Caligo? Oh, with Bubbar here, it makes sense.”
“Hedo!”
Whip! Whip! Whip!
“That guy looks like the White Wolf tribe’s assault captain, but I don’t know his name.”
“Hedo!”
Whip!
By the time they neared Orgal, Shuri was carrying about twenty people, hanging off her like fruit.
Sandra, clinging tightly to Jin, looked almost flattened like a steamed bun, and Shuri wore a tired frown.
Then, as they faced Orgal, those clinging to Jin and Shuri finally understood why they had only been able to fight chaos beings without rank until now.
Orgal and Zephyr were fighting Lionel, Stam, and some unknown ancient Black Knights.
“Orgal… truly an extraordinary being. I suspected Lionel’s ordeal wasn’t over back then, but to think he’d show up so soon. And those corpses—they all seem like transcendent chaos entities.”
Yet Orgal looked visibly exhausted. The moment he saw Jin, his face brightened and he waved his hand.
[Oh… I was just about at my limit. Perfect timing, Jin Runcandel. Looks like you saved your lover?]
“No, I’m the one who saved you, Jin. You’ve got it all wrong.”
[Well, it’s just as well. Something truly uncontrollable was about to burst out. We should get out of here immediately.]
Orgal deflected Lionel’s sword as he spoke.
Lionel was gasping for breath, already missing an arm.
[You think you can run, demon?]
No sooner had Lionel finished speaking than a steel gate opened between the group and Orgal.
At the same time, on the opposite side, a black gate of chaos swung open.
“But Orgal, what about Ziphl?”
[You don’t seriously think Runcandel would want to take Ziphl along? Better for those guys to find their own way back.]
“Even so, this is a temporary alliance. At the very least, shouldn’t we inform them that we’re escaping?”
“Sir, let’s just go first! The person coming out of that gate looks insanely strong!”
“Miss, Ziphl belongs to your family.”
“What do I care? Jin’s about to die!”
Emerging from the chaos gate was none other than Padler Runcandel.
Orgal shook his head as if to say, “Look at that,” and Jin nodded in agreement.
[I’ll fire the signal flare.]
“That’s the best plan. Shuri, through the steel gate.”
[Jin… Runcandel…]
Padler’s voice was dark and heavy.
Just before he stepped through the chaos gate, fortunately, Shuri managed to leap safely through the steel gate with the many people she was carrying.
Orgal and Zephyrin followed swiftly after through the steel gate, leaving Padler to watch helplessly as the gate they disappeared into closed behind them.