Volume 3 - CH 55

Volume 3

Chapter 55-The door and the hidden past

(TL:By Rafael,valhallatls.blogspot.com)

After a congenial supper, we had a well-deserved rest afterwards.

There was no sign of the demons, and my uncle said he would stand guard, so we spread out our blankets and sleeping bags in the tent and slept together.

It was our first opportunity - and I'm sure it will be the last.

I felt a pang of loneliness and fear of the loneliness to come, but the warmth and breath of the sleeping girls turned to love and I decided to embrace the warmth of their breathing as they slept, and I knew that if my feelings were born from my love for them, they would be precious to me.

The next day, after breakfast and putting on our adventurer's gear, we were in high spirits.

"Well then, let's get going,"(Saga)

My uncle said lightly.

We were about to enter the deepest part of the cave, but I was feeling a little disheartened.

"Lun, will you take care of the delivery?"(Yuki)

"Yes."(Nibelung)

Nibelung starts up the "Gopro-kun G" that I repaired yesterday.

The floating automatic photography magic tool artifact slowly swirls above her head.

Okay, looks like there's no problem.

I open my mouth to "Gopro-kun G.

"The "delivery" was temporarily interrupted due to a malfunction of the magic tool artifact, but we have reached the innermost part of the "Colorless Darkness". I wonder if this "delivery" has reached the ground?　We are now heading to the deepest part of the Abyss, ......, the Abyss Gate."

We cannot check the status of the "delivery" from here, but I still made an announcement.

As long as we are on the ley line network of the Nibelung's "gold", some magical tool artifact should be able to pick it up.

If this is still our world.

At least, the words will remain on the built-in magic stone for recording.

"It's finally here-......We have reached it Yuki!"(Marina)

"Getting all excited, aren't you?"(Yuki)

"Because it's our dream!"(Marina)

Marina's smiling face brought back the words of that day vividly to my mind.

—"Let's go up there and ...... deliver it live!"(Marina {Past})

I feel a sense of wonder at the fact that the promise of that day, when she did not laugh at my somewhat adolescent dreams but said she would go with me, is now about to be fulfilled.

"But maybe it's not quite what I thought it would be."(Marina)

'Yes, it's a......"(Silk)

"A little scary."(Rain)

The three girls look ahead to the darkness to which they are headed and swallow with bated breath.

I feel the same way. I thought I would arrive there with a greater sense of accomplishment and elation, and show people how far we've come to the edge of the world through a soothing "live feed".

But what is going on here is entirely different.

What emanates from this end is a sense of rejection and oppression. And a hint of hatred.

I almost lost my footing.

"It's just like being in front of the door of the floor boss."(Yuki)

I suddenly let those words slip out.

"That's an odd thing to say. But Yes, I think that's a surprisingly catchy expression."(Saga)

My uncle, who had his hand on his chin, gave a small nod.

"Seeing is believing, Let's go."(Saga)

We followed my uncle's back as he walked away.

"I'm very nervous. It's like we're walking into a place we definitely shouldn't enter. ......"(Silk)

"Yeah. With my senses  I don't know if this is safe."(Rain)

We can't see anything yet.

But with every step we took, the growing sense of presence made our backs break out in a cold sweat.

"There, I see it."(Saga)

My uncle stopped, turned around, and pointed at it with his thumb.

There was a door.

A faintly glowing outline in the darkness formed the shape of a door.

"This is the 'Abyssal Gate of the Abyss' ......"(Yuki)

"No, it's not."(Saga)

My uncle shakes his head and denies it.

"This is a seal. A seal to keep the Abyssal Gate here."(Saga)

"What do you mean?"(Rain)

"The edge of the world, the door to the otherworld ......, none of that is wrong. But you know there is a better word for it."(Saga)

My uncle, with his hand on the door, gives me a questioning look.

I start to wonder about the question.

If this is a seal, how feeble is it?

The luminosity has faded, cracked and broken in places, and a thick presence is spewing out through the cracks.

"...... This is the 'cull. The real thing."(Yuki)

A guess, a certainty, escaped my mouth.

My uncle nodded.

'Yes, this world has been undergoing a "culling" for twenty years."(Saga)

"Since the day the "Colorless Darkness" advance team arrived here?"(Silk)

"Maybe even earlier. But it is certain that we were dispatched because of an anomaly. The labyrinth dungeons in various places became out of control, and "stampedes" occurred frequently. And then there was the outpouring of the Invisible Darkness."(Saga)

The seal of the door that my uncle touches is gradually broken.

"No way. ......"(Yuki)

"Your hometown was the first place in this world to be swallowed up by the 'Inverted Labyrinth of Tenebrae."(Saga)

I was told that my uncle rescued me from my hometown.

My memories of that time are hazy, and even now I can't recall it, but I do remember a vague sense of dread that something terrible had happened.

I was told by my uncle and my adoptive family that the "stampede" had destroyed the place.

Now it is the domain of the demon monsters and one can't go there.

I remember when I first decided to become an adventurer, I was a bit of a pouty kid who wanted to go see my real hometown.

"Yuki. I owe you an apology for leading you to become an adventurer and for making you stand here now."(Saga)

With a crackling sound, the glitter of the seal crumbled away.

Finally, with a high-pitched crack, the light dissipated.

"Lend me your strength, Yuki. If it is not you, ...... the being who was once turned inside out, if it is not you, we will not be able to overcome that thing. You can hate me. But only you can do it."(Saga)

My uncle pointed beyond the open darkness.

What I saw was a huge dragon.