RTTFW CH 3.15

Izel spoke softly, as if persuading him, while observing the not-so-bright expression on Ent’s face.

“Somehow, I feel that the purpose of this cave lies beyond that path – a path invisible to my eyes, yet visible only to Lord Ent.”

The one who left this wolf beastman’s corpse behind was surely someone who entered and exited this cave. From the cave entrance until now, during their long walk, the only thing Ent and Izel had discovered together was this single wolf corpse.

That it lay abandoned like this in the path, and that beyond it lay a path invisible to his eyes, felt like some kind of signpost. Something was beyond it.

“… Haa.”

‘What do you care what the purpose is? What are you even planning to do with that information?’ The questions climbed all the way up to the tip of Ent’s tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to spit them out.

Was Izel truly a Harbilta through and through? People liked to call them the hidden hand of the Empire, but in reality, the Harbilta family led Moffit – a group dedicated to cleaning up the Imperial Family’s messes. This curiosity of his was a classic trait of the faction.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Ent sighed softly and rose from his seat. He gently stroked the animal’s corpse. Hoping it would wait just a little longer, he carefully moved it to one side of the floor.

Ent placed his hand cautiously over his chest.

‘My heart… is pounding.’

Wasn’t it because he knew? Just as Izel had predicted, something lay beyond this point, and it was probably…

That was likely why Ent had walked all the way into this cave himself, driven by the desire to confirm the existence of that being he had been so desperate not to meet.

Anxiety was weighing down his entire body.

Until just now, Izel had led the way, but since the path was no longer visible to his eyes, Ent had to take the lead. Izel asked several times, “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”, but since there was no other way, Ent just nodded somewhat.

“I sense a peculiar pressure of magic.”

It was an unfamiliar feeling even to Izel, who had experienced much in his life. This was clearly a dead end. Yet, as Ent stepped forward, the flow of magic shifted, and a path gradually appeared before their eyes.

Of course, Ent felt nothing of this pressure or flow of magic; he simply walked the visible path.

“… Be careful. The path is getting narrower.”

The side path grew narrower the further they went. It narrowed to the point where they wondered if it would simply end. What had initially seemed wide enough for two people to walk side by side gradually shrank to barely one person’s width, then narrowed further until they had to stoop slightly to pass.

“Is there still a path?”
“Yeah, there is.”

Only the rough breathing sounds of Ent and Izel filled the narrow cave interior. Though significantly less intense than Ent’s, Izel hadn’t gasped for air like this in a long time. It wasn’t that walking was difficult or that he was out of breath.

“Ugh… Ah, I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah. I can handle it.”

It was just the pungent, fishy stench that stung his nose with every breath that made breathing difficult. A disgusting, fishy stench. Ent and Izel weren’t speaking, but they both already knew what this smell was. Ent barely managed to suppress the nausea rising in his throat.

“… Lord Ent.”
“Hm?”
“If you ever want to go back, please tell me.”
“What is this, all of a sudden?”

Izel wasn’t the type to give up on something like this easily. The unexpected words didn’t seem like the usual Izel, and Ent found himself smiling slightly, out of place in the situation.

“If even the slightest harm comes to you because of my selfishness, I will deeply regret it.”
“… It’s fine.”

Ent could see the end of this narrow path beyond. It was just a little further.

“You promised to protect me. Just keep that promise.”
“… Yes.”

Was Ent really any different? He wanted to escape this place too. The suffocating, damp, stifling air in this narrow tunnel.

The sickening stench, enough to turn one’s stomach, gave a rough idea of what lay ahead. Honestly, he felt like running away right now.

And beyond this, Abril might be waiting. What if it was that Abril – the one who helped slit Ent Harbilta’s throat in that book, the one who aided Fade, the hero who saved the world? Perhaps it would be better to turn back now, pretending he never came.

‘But what if… what if Abril really is here?’

Ironically, that was also why Ent couldn’t turn back and leave this place. What if, just like the book said, Abril was trapped in this disgusting place? What if that genius mage, simply because he was born with exceptional magical power, was being held here, subjected to all kinds of torture and experiments?

‘Could I live ignoring that?’

No, Ent Harbilta had no confidence he could. What did it matter if that was Abril’s fate, written in that book? Ent hated following a damned destiny more than anything in the world.

“Haah, haah… Izel. We’re almost there. Just get out of here…”

Who in the world is meant to live according to what’s predetermined? If that were true, Ent should have already died when he took Park Jaeyoon’s body. He was someone who had stubbornly clung to life even amidst such cruel twists of fate.

He forced his way out of the narrow tunnel, folding his body to squeeze through the end. Following Ent, Izel emerged from the narrow passage, and soon both of them lifted their heads.

The space was so vast it was hard to believe they had just passed through a narrow tunnel barely wide enough for one person to crawl through. It was a wide, enormous space, so vast that no matter how high they looked, they couldn’t see its end.

Squelch, squelch.

As Ent absentmindedly moved his foot, an unpleasant, squelching sound came from beneath him. It was still dark all around, and visibility was poor. For a moment, he stayed close to Izel, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

Gradually, he began to make out what lay ahead. Looking around now, he saw small candles lit here and there, so it wasn’t complete darkness.

“Ah, Izel. Over there… there’s a mountain…”

Ent pointed to a single, towering mountain visible in the darkness. A mountain inside a cave within a mountain? That was a strange thing to say. Then Ent stared intently at that towering space, and suddenly froze stiff.

Thump.

As if to hide Ent, Izel pulled Ent behind his back.

“… Lord Ent. That is not a mountain.”

At Izel’s quiet words, Ent felt a chill run down his spine. He wanted to say he already knew, but the words wouldn’t come.

It wasn’t a mountain.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t a mountain made of earth and stone.

Corpses and white bones. It was a mountain of corpses, reeking of horrific death. Perched precariously atop it, a single white skull stared directly at Ent.

It felt as if it were asking, Why have you come here?

Faced with a sight he’d never seen before, Ent’s hands began to tremble slightly. Glancing down at the squelching floor, he saw something sticky and viscous, as if trying to trap his footsteps, oozing thickly.

Looking around, Ent simply couldn’t believe the scene before him.

“… Hell, perhaps.”

Had he passed through that narrow cave only to arrive in hell? That was the only way Ent could describe it.

The sickening stench of blood was overwhelming, making his chest ache with every breath. The entire floor was a bloody mess. Ent couldn’t believe the sticky substance he was stepping on was the blood of nameless beings.

Corpses, once living beings, lay scattered haphazardly, piled into a mountain. Some with flesh long rotted away, others still seemingly alive, their decay not yet complete.

There were skeletons too, their flesh long decayed and rotted away, leaving only bones behind.

“Ugh, ugh…”

The moment he thought he’d locked eyes again with a skull, nothing but bones, Ent couldn’t hold back the retching. In this vast space, so large that sound echoed loudly, there were only the corpses of the dead and himself.

He hadn’t eaten anything, so there was nothing to vomit. Ent simply clutched his chest, gasping for breath as the dry heaves surged up. Even forcing himself to inhale felt agonizing.

Everywhere he looked, horror met his eyes.

“Lord Ent.”

Ent’s confused mind began to clear slightly as firm hands gripped his shoulders. A gentle touch stroked his back, and instead of crimson blood or horribly mangled corpses, the familiar sight of green hair entered his vision.

“… I, Izel.”

He had never seen such a sight in his entire life. Suddenly, Ent thought for the first time that Park Jaeyoon’s world might be better than this one. At least in that world, he wouldn’t have to see people discarded like trash like this.

‘… Grab hold of my senses.’

But that world was already a place he couldn’t return to. No, return? What did that even mean? Wasn’t his original world supposed to be here in the first place?

He had to stay lucid. Even in the face of this horrific scene that threatened to make him lose his mind, he had to keep his eyes wide open and take in the gruesome sight.

Because this was happening in the world he lived in.

Ent was someone who was acutely aware that he was a member of the Harbilta family.