Chapter 708: 554, go back for me!
Outside the large cave, at a position about twenty meters away.
Here, Tettelot paced back and forth anxiously, while the Black Knight stood still, waiting for Reiger and Ash to return.
But setting aside the Black Knight for a moment, it was clear that Tettelot was not someone who could sit still.
"I say, Black Knight," Tettelot spoke with a restless heart, "have you felt an ominous presence coming from the direction of the cave?"
"...Yes." The Black Knight fell silent for a while before responding, "A chilling sensation has been uncontrollably emanating from the depths of my heart since a while ago, and it’s getting stronger."
This chilling sensation had actually been there from the start.
Tettelot and the Black Knight had instinctively resisted approaching the cave because of this feeling.
But now, this sensation was becoming stronger and stronger, and wisps of smoke-like substances that seemed like burning ash floated out from the cave.
This was obviously the rhythm of something happening.
"Could it be that something has happened to Ash?"
Tettelot wore a worried expression.
"Don’t worry," the Black Knight, however, was still composed, "You know Ash’s strength. She has overcome so many difficulties so far; a large cave wouldn’t stump her."
"Also, that magician, his strength is inscrutable. With him by Ash’s side, and the two watching each other’s backs, there should be no danger in this Britain that can trouble them both."
During the half-month journey, although Reiger always kept his true identity a secret, not even disclosing his name, which led Ash and the others to refer to him only by the nickname "Magician", Tettelot and the Black Knight had already witnessed his strength.
In that half-month, no matter how many magical beasts or Moors they encountered outdoors, Reiger handled everything with composure. Even when surrounded by a horde of Moors or hunted by packs of magical beasts, he effortlessly defeated the enemies.
Thus, although Tettelot and the Black Knight had not seen Reiger’s full capability, they no longer doubted Ash’s claim that Reiger was stronger than her; they believed it, at least halfway.
The reason it was only halfway was because they had more trust in Ash’s strength and hadn’t seen Reiger exert his full power; that’s why they didn’t fully believe it.
Even so, Reiger’s strength was recognized by Tettelot and the Black Knight.
In the Black Knight’s opinion, even if Reiger’s abilities weren’t as high as Ash had described, he was still among the very top echelon in this Britain.
With such a powerful magician teaming up with Ash, the savior, it was unlikely that they would encounter any danger they couldn’t resolve. The probability of that was naturally slim.
Convinced by the Black Knight, Tettelot finally stopped pacing.
Just then, an unusual disturbance came from the direction of the cave.
"Boom!"
Amidst the sound of an explosion, a blaze shot out at high speed from inside the cave, reaching the outside.
"Roar!"
At the same time, the cave trembled violently, and a terrifying force of curse burst forth like black fog, causing numerous hands of curse to appear at the entrance, writhing and stretching out in an eerie and evil manner.
"What?"
"Ash!"
Both the Black Knight and Tettelot’s faces changed dramatically as they witnessed the strange phenomenon within the cave, showing looks of shock.
What was that?
A curse?
Why so many, so terrifying...!?
While the Black Knight and Tettelot were shocked by the terrifying force of the curse emanating from the cave, a cold voice rose from the sky.
"Get back!"
The boy who had re-cloaked in his cape and hood, now holding a black blade in his hand, which he had conjured in an instant, and slashed it down.
In an instant, torrential flames descended from the sky, like a meteor of fire from heaven, directly hitting the curse, which twisted and stretched like black smoke.
"Thud!"
Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the flames severed the hands of curse, vaporizing the curse themselves, forcing the concentrated black smoky power back into the cave and causing it to recede.
"————"
The severed hands of curse from the cave writhed frantically, as if unwilling to retreat.
Perhaps because the source of this power was still slumbering and hadn’t fully awakened, the force of the curse seemed to weaken a lot after leaving the cave, causing those hands of curse to look powerless, reluctantly pushed back into the cave by the surging flames.
Before long, the curse was consumed by the flames, and the rest were all retracted back to the bottom of the cave, disappearing from sight.
Only then did the flames start to die out, causing the light in the sky to fall, landing on the ground.
"Huff... Huff..."
Reiger knelt on the ground on one knee as if he had exhausted all his strength. Sweat dripped from underneath his hood, and he breathed heavily, clearly in bad shape.
"Cough cough... Blugh...!"
Ash, held in Reiger’s arms, fared even worse, as if she had just been rescued from drowning, coughing a few times before beginning to vomit.
"Ash!"
Seeing this scene, both Tettelot and the Black Knight’s expressions changed again as they hurried over, arriving in front of Reiger and Ash.
"Reiger! Are you alright?"
Tettelot called out in a panic.
"I, I’m fine..."
Reiger’s condition had improved somewhat, but he was very pale, seeming extremely weak.
"Come, drink some water."
The Black Knight took out a water flask and handed it to Reiger, making him drink directly from it.
"Thank you."
It appeared to be no ordinary water, but a potion mixed with special herbs. As soon as Reiger drank it, his condition improved significantly.
Observing this, the Black Knight then passed the flask to Lotte.
Lotte didn’t hesitate to take it and guzzled several mouthfuls, calming his breathing.
"What did you encounter down there?" Tettelot couldn’t wait to ask, "How did it end up like this?"
"That was a curse just now, wasn’t it?" the Black Knight recalled the scene they had just witnessed and said in a heavy tone, "Judging by its nature, it should be of the same origin as the curse on Mors. Did you encounter Mors in the great cave, or did you come across a formed presence of ’Great Calamity’ or something?"
Upon hearing this, Lotte did not speak; only Reiger gave a bitter smile and said one sentence.
"If it were only the ’Great Calamity’, that would have been better."
Reiger actually said this, downgrading the ’Great Calamity’, which had always been regarded as a catastrophic event, to something they would have preferred to encounter.
No help for it.
"What’s down there is far more serious than the ’Great Calamity’ or anything like that," he said.
Remembering what he saw at the bottom of the great cave, Reiger’s expression became extremely bitter, very unpleasant.
This made both Tettelot and the Black Knight take a sharp intake of breath.
Having traveled with Reiger for so many years, it was the first time they had ever seen such an expression on his face.
Even when dealing with the extremely bad situations provoked by the fairies of Britannia during the eradication of ’Calamities’, Reiger had never looked this troubled.
Reiger even went on to say the following.
"We can’t stay here any longer."
She staggered to her feet and, in an indisputable tone, said:
"Although the thing below hasn’t awakened yet, my very presence has alarmed it. If we continue to stay here, it’s not impossible that it would open its eyes."
"We must leave quickly and find an opportunity to monitor this place."
"Otherwise..."
Not knowing what consequences she imagined, Reiger rarely showed an annoyed expression and bit her lip.
Seeing Reiger like this, Tettelot and the Black Knight looked at each other and ultimately nodded in agreement.
Although there were still many questions in their hearts, since Reiger had said so, all they could do was trust her judgment and act on her instructions.
"Are you okay?" After making her decision, Reiger turned to Lotte and helped him up, asking, "Do you still feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
This question did not elicit much reaction from Lotte but surprised Tettelot and the Black Knight somewhat.
The concern and care that were so rarely seen, and indeed, had never appeared before in Reiger’s words, were so obvious, and worry was clearly visible in her eyes, astonishing those who had always traveled with her.
As companions of Reiger, they, of course, knew that even though Reiger was called a savior and did the work of a savior, the long experiences and trials had made the Paradise Fairy’s heart full of scars, and an indifference had begun to take root deep inside her.
But now, the barely noticeable indifference in the depths of Reiger’s voice seemed to have vanished, even if only temporarily, leaving those who knew her feeling incredulous.
Lotte, meanwhile, shook his head, his voice calm again.
"That curse was indeed terrible, but fortunately, I have a high resistance to curses, so it didn’t cause much harm."
This was also the case for Reiger.
As a Paradise Fairy with the blessings from the Inner Sea of the Star, the dreadful curse had not caused her any substantial harm.
If it had been anyone else facing a curse that could even contaminate the planet itself, even if they had returned, they would likely have suffered unimaginable lingering illnesses and complications.
"That’s good to hear," Reiger said, relieved, "We should leave here without delay."
"Alright," Lotte said, nodding without any objections, "Hold on to me."
Lotte stretched out his hand to Tettelot and the Black Knight.
Tettelot immediately grabbed it, while the Black Knight placed his hand on Tettelot’s shoulder.
As for Reiger, she still leaned close to Lotte.
"[Advanced Teleportation]!"
Only then did Lotte activate the teleportation magic, disappearing from the spot with everyone else.
On a desolate piece of land, the great cave sat quietly as if nothing had ever happened, returning once again to calm.