Kays Translations

Chapter 33- Lost in the fog

It was from this moment that the rain began to fall gradually in the surroundings.

In a place like this, sudden changes in weather were not uncommon, so there was no sense of unease about it. Getting wet in the light rain was not much of a concern. However, after the rain stopped, a thin mist began to form, gradually turning into a dense white fog.

A new anomaly occurred at this point. Ren and Licia stopped in their tracks and leaned against each other as if protecting one another. In the blink of an eye, the presence of people around them disappeared. Sarah and the others who were supposed to be by their side, as well as the other guests, were gone.

"Ren..."

"I understand. Please don't leave my side under any circumstances."

Ren stopped and looked around.

The pressure he emitted now was something Licia had never felt before. Ren's presence during the battle with Jerukku was considerable, but this pressure he exuded now was on a different level. It was a pressure unique to Ren, who possessed an exceptional strength.

Ren stood in front of Licia, as if protecting her, and silently summoned his iron magic sword. It had been a long time since he boldly summoned a magic sword in front of her. Without being surprised, Licia drew the sword "White End" she carried on her waist and readied herself.

Preparing for anything that might suddenly attack them, the two sharpened their senses.

However, there was nothing.Even after ten seconds passed, even after a minute went by, the two remained standing in this silent space.

The dense fog around them didn't seem to sway in the wind, strangely enough.

"There is no presence of people. And by the way, no presence of monsters either."

"...What should we do?"

In this inexplicable situation, they loosened their stance ever so slightly.

Several minutes passed, and still, the situation remained unchanged. It was as if their vigilance had been in vain, as if nothing had happened.

"Let's try something once."

Ren swung his iron magic sword around in the surroundings. He tried using his Star killer technique, but he didn't sense any magic being dispelled. There was no apparent reaction indicating that it had failed to dispel anything. It became clear that this situation wasn't caused by any kind of magic.

However, it was undeniably strange.

Ren drove the iron magic sword into the ground and summoned the Great Tree magic sword.

Without hesitation, he wielded natural magic and caused a single tree to grow by their side. It was a tall tree with a thick trunk.

"W-Whoa... R-Ren, you summoned that!? It's completely different from what I saw before!"

"Well, let's see... I guess you could call it an evolution or something..."

Words were not enough to fully express it as an evolution. For now, Ren believed there was something he should do first and placed his foot on the tall tree he had created.

He wanted to avoid separating from Licia in this space. So, there was only one answer.

"I'm going to climb the tree and see what's happening around."

"Should I wait here then?"

"No. I don't want to risk anything happening to you, so let's climb together."

When he mentioned climbing together, did he mean climbing from different places? Even so, that didn't bother Licia, but Ren reached out his hand to her.

"Excuse me. Is that okay?"

"What do you mean... What are you going to do?"

"I'll lift you up and climb up."

"Uh... Okay. Uh?"

Licia responded absentmindedly, looking up at Ren's face, which was clearly visible even in the dense fog while being carried like a princess.

"Huh?"

"Well then, here we go."

While she was thinking that it couldn't possibly be true, Ren took off.

With a single kick to the big tree, he landed on a branch. Then he kicked off that branch and continued climbing up the tree, reaching the top in no time.

As for Licia, who was still being held, she said,

"Re-Ren! I-I’m not heavy, right?"

"You’re not heavy, and please don't worry about such things at a time like this."

"But, it might be true... Don't say something logical all of a sudden!"

Although Licia was flustered by the situation, she didn't move or do anything to hinder Ren.

Ren kicked a couple more times and then stopped on a branch.

"I can't see anything at all..."

Despite being at a considerable height, they couldn't see anything around them. The dense fog obstructed their view.

Ren descended to the ground and slowly put Licia down. Licia, who stood on her own feet after about a minute, said with a small smile,

"Anyway, let's walk for a bit."

Even if they were stranded, it would be unwise to stay still. Although everyone would deny that this was just a shipwreck if asked, with people suddenly disappearing and finding themselves in a strange space, it didn't seem like a simple shipwreck.

However, it also didn't seem right to stay still, so the two of them started moving again.

"Shall we go?"

Ren said so and erased the wooden magic sword, and the tree from earlier also disappeared.

Seeing that, Licia, who was beside him, recalled the question she had in mind before.

"A strange power..."

Although Licia knew that it was due to the sword Ren took out from nowhere, she had never asked him about the details, always concerned about Ren.

And now, Ren was hesitating.

Licia's mutter reached his ears, and it made him think.

(-Maybe I should tell her now.)

Honestly, that would have been fine. Ren had planned to tell her after the Lion King's Festival, so it didn't matter if he told her today.

However, he wondered if it was the right time to reveal such a confusing situation.

But in the end, what was more important was the ease of coordination between him and Licia, so Ren was about to mention the summoning art of the sword when...

"Ren!"

While walking, Licia suddenly stopped.

The fog suddenly cleared a bit, allowing them to see a little of their surroundings.

Ren and Licia witnessed it right there.

"What... is this?"

"What's happening?"

They were standing where the choir was supposed to be, at the end of the edge leading to the mountain path and the seal.

Now they were standing in front of the seal that had been surrounded by a dense fog-like seal... a time cage, leaving them speechless.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

I could only determine that we were inside the cage of time.

Ren frowned as he looked at the nearby stone staircase, while Licia gazed intently at the fog wall that formed the cage of time. However, they couldn't see the

outside due to the dense fog, so they had no way of knowing what was happening.

Even when they tried to touch the cage of time, they were pushed back by an invisible wall.

(Come to think of it, the dream I had before was like this.)

The morning after flying in a magic ship near Roses Caitas, Ren had a strange dream that he couldn't recall. Since then, he could hear the sound of a bell that only him and Licia could hear, and his field of vision would waver like a mirage.

(Are Licia-sama and I the only ones trapped in this situation?)

If that were the case, it meant that this wasn't just a sudden event; there must be some reason why only the two of them were trapped inside the cage of time. They didn't know the reason, but not everything was a mere coincidence.

Or maybe...

"Did God get angry because I said something strange?"

"What do you mean by something strange?"

"What I said at the magic ship gathering the other day."

"You mean... about what's happening inside the seal?"

Ren nodded, and Licia smiled.

"That's silly. There's no reason for God to get angry about something like that. ...Besides, if I got scolded, it means I was talking about the same topic too."

Setting aside jokes, the problem was what to do next.

The two of them huddled together, wary of their surroundings, and surveyed the area. The view that became slightly visible was still the place where the cage of time should have been.

No one could imagine why it had turned out like this, but there was one thing certain.

"We have to find a way to get out of here."

As Licia said, that was the only conclusion.

However, they couldn't think of a means to do so... It was a story about whether a boy and a girl could break a powerful seal that trapped and purified the Demon Lord's Army from the inside. Although they didn't say it aloud, they understood it was an impossible task.

(But...)

Ren thought calmly.

For example, an immense destructive power. If he had the power of a sword like Flame Sword Asval, perhaps it would be possible. However, he couldn't summon that magic sword, so it was out of the question.

Licia, who had crossed her arms behind her back, turned to Ren, lost in thought.

"Ren? Did you come up with something?"

"Well, um..."

Ren hesitated about how to articulate his thoughts and turned his face away uneasily.

In response, Licia circled around and looked up at Ren's face.

"Tell me what you were thinking."

"Well, you see..."

"Spit it out. If you don't say it..."

"What if I don't say it... what will you do?"

Licia herself couldn't come up with what she would do if he didn't say it.

Still holding Ren's cheek, she blinked repeatedly and immersed herself in thought. It was a somewhat pathetic gesture, and she couldn't help but wonder what she was doing herself.

"That's it, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about how to break the seal."

"It's impossible. It's a seal imbued with the power of God. Even Ren...?"

However, Ren's expression didn't look like he was joking.

They looked straight into each other's eyes, communicating without words as if they could have a conversation with just that. Yet there was no confirmation beyond that.

Licia eventually lowered her hands that had been resting on Ren's cheeks.

“If only you had that power...”

Licia hadn't seen it with her own eyes and had only glimpsed it briefly before losing consciousness. But she couldn't forget about that power. When Ren placed his hand on her chest and drew power from her magic stone, a manifested magic sword appeared.

Perhaps with that, they could break the seal...

“No, I don't want to try it.”

Ren shook his head, voicing his refusal.

Even without words, Licia could sense what he was thinking.

“Wh-Why!? It was an incredible power, right?! I don't know how you used that power, Ren, but with it, we might be able to escape!”

It wasn't that he didn't want to reveal the existence of the magic sword; it was because it involved Licia's magic stone that he hesitated. Even if they could use that power once again, he didn't know what would happen next. Regular humans didn't possess magic stones in their bodies, but they resided within the body of a powerful Saint like Licia. Applying common sense in this world, putting a strain on the magic stone wouldn't lead to anything good.

“Tell me.”

Not for her own sake of wanting to go outside, but for Ren's sake, Licia persisted.

Finally, Ren explained his reasons while looking into Licia’s eyes.

“That power is dangerous for you, Licia-sama.”

“How is it dangerous? Are you saying that I might get involved in that power, the incredible light, and disappear?”

Ren shook his head and raised both of his hands, overlapping them with Licia's hands.

As he slowly lowered her hands, by chance, he placed her own hands on her chest, overlapping them as if in prayer. It happened to be close to where her magic stone resided.

“I'll tell you everything.”

Then, one by one, he conjured up various magic swords, such as the Great Tree Sword, Iron Sword, and Flame Sword, out of nothing, surprising Licia.

“My power allows me to summon swords imbued with special abilities.”

Licia, who had several magical swords with special powers in her sight, didn't say anything and stared at Ren with her mouth shut.

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