PFC Chapter 192
Chapter 192
Chapter 192
“Hey, hey! Be careful! If you jump into the lava like that— ah, hot! Hey, I told you to be careful!”
“Woof!”
“What do you mean why?! I don’t have resistance to lava like you!”
Siri was fast.
Very fast.
The Hellhound climbed up and down the rocks without hesitation and crossed the rivers of lava with no problem.
But… she crossed them too problem-free(?).
Maybe she forgot that she was carrying me on her back, because Siri suddenly leapt straight into the lava.
Thanks to that, the lava nearly splashed onto me… but every time that happened, I activated the Rune of Water and somehow managed not to get injured.
“But you really are fast.”
“Woof!”
“You’ll be able to catch up to Rage soon.”
Riding on Siri’s back, I activated the Power of Peregrie once more.
With that power, I sent the wind far ahead to locate Rage again.
‘He didn’t go that far.’
Maybe because Siri was so fast, the distance between us and Rage was narrowing rapidly.
At this rate, in just a few minutes, we would…….
“Huh? Wait. What’s that?”
Something suddenly appeared within my wind-sight.
And there were a lot of those somethings, blocking our path not far ahead.
“Siri. Stop for a moment.”
“Woof?”
“Hurry. There’s something up ahead.”
At my words, Siri stopped her rapid sprint.
I got off her back and narrowed my eyes, staring forward.
“Hmmm.”
A canyon made of countless rocky mountains.
A canyon where lava flowed instead of water— and Siri and I were standing right in the narrow middle of it.
And… I began to see them from afar.
Soldiers— soldiers made of stone.
“What… are those?”
I had never seen monsters shaped like that.
Stone— no, to be precise, volcanic rock.
Stone created by lava.
They were soldiers made entirely of such volcanic rock.
And there were many of them.
‘At least a hundred… hundreds. No, more than a thousand.’
Using the wind to check, I saw that those stone soldiers filled the entire canyon.
‘They’re packed way too tightly.’
The canyon I stood in was narrow by default.
And there weren’t many alternate routes.
The stone soldiers had occupied all the side paths.
Meaning— we couldn’t avoid them.
To reach Rage, we had to break straight through that massive number of enemies.
‘Soldiers made of volcanic rock. Bedir said the Evil God of Lava… so is that evil god commanding them?’
I examined the stone soldiers approaching from afar.
First of all, they didn’t seem to have any sense of self.
Just monotonous, mechanical movements— like puppet dolls.
If I fought them one by one, I was confident I could overwhelm them.
But the problem was that there were far too many.
Breaking through all of them would take an enormous amount of time.
And more importantly…….
‘Can I break through all that alone?’
Even if they moved mechanically, with numbers like that, I couldn’t guarantee my victory.
If I slipped even once, I might end up the one getting taken down.
“…Hey, Siri. Your Shadow Movement— it still doesn’t work……?”
“Woof.”
“No, don’t be sorry. You moved from Lysquare all the way here in one go— it’d be weird if you could use it again within a day.”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
As the stone soldiers drew closer, their heavy footsteps grew louder.
I drew the Mistcatcher and looked at Siri.
“It’s dangerous, so stay inside the shadow.”
“Woof!”
“…Don’t talk nonsense? No, but being told ‘don’t bark nonsense’ by an actual dog is… No. This is not the time for this conversation.”
I let out a small laugh and patted Siri’s head.
“So you’re saying you’ll fight with me, right?”
“Woof! Woof-woof!”
“You’re really my best friend. Where else would I find a Hellhound like you?”
After saying that to Siri with a smile, I looked ahead again.
The stone soldiers kept advancing without stopping.
“Watch my back. I’ll break through the front.”
“Woof!”
“Alright. Then let’s do this.”
I clad my whole body in aura and moved toward the stone soldiers.
Still, I wanted to use something other than a direct breakthrough if possible.
‘I do have one more chance left.’
While striking a stone soldier aside with the Mistcatcher, I glanced at my right arm.
Only one blue line remained.
‘I do have an item that could break this situation. But… using it here would be such a waste.’
I used two of my three chances on Suiroti.
Only one chance remained.
In a way, this cheat-like option was something I should reserve for when fighting Rage or Suiroti.
‘If this drags on too long, I’ll have to use it… but for now, I’ll hold out as long as I can.’
I kicked a stone soldier into the lava.
Then I reached up toward the sky and drew upon the Power of Peregrie.
Kukwha-kooong—!
A massive lightning bolt struck down from the sky.
Dozens of stone soldiers were reduced to ash instantly.
But even so, many still remained.
“…I’ve still got a long way to go.”
I glanced behind me.
Siri was working hard, biting the stone soldiers and tossing them into the lava.
She was faithfully guarding my rear.
“Stay close, Siri. If it gets dangerous, retreat into the shadow.”
“Woof!”
Together with Siri, I kept pushing forward.
Felling stone soldiers again and again.
Yet the stone soldiers seemed endless.
After about twenty minutes of nonstop fighting—
Even though we never stopped, their number was still overwhelming.
‘I barely made any progress in twenty minutes.’
Even after taking down so many stone soldiers, we probably hadn’t advanced even a hundred meters.
By now, Rage was getting farther away— no, he might have already reached the destination.
Bedir’s fragment.
If Rage touched that fragment, I had no idea what would happen.
Before that happened, I needed to reach Rage somehow…….
“Graaaar?!”
“Siri!”
One stone soldier seized an opening in Siri’s movements and struck her hind leg extremely hard.
Siri collapsed, and the stone soldiers didn’t miss the chance.
They all charged toward her.
I rushed toward Siri immediately.
“Move!”
Cladding my sword in Blood Energy, I smashed all the stone soldiers surrounding Siri in a single sweep.
Then I quickly checked Siri’s condition.
“You okay? Can you move?”
“Ki… kiing… woof……”
“Thank goodness. Looks like you can still move. Doesn’t seem like your leg is broken……”
I slashed through the oncoming Rock Soldiers while keeping an eye on Siri’s condition.
It wasn’t a serious injury, but she definitely needed some rest.
“Get inside the shadow and take a break. You fought well so far.”
“Woof! Woof woof! Grrr, woof!”
“What do you mean, you still want to fight? You can’t even run properly with that leg.”
“Woof!”
“Then how do you plan to break through these stone piles? Well… there is a way.”
I looked down at my right arm once again.
As I had said before, it was a waste to use it here—but if I didn’t, there was a high chance I would lose Rage.
No… Rage might have already reached his destination and come into contact with Bedir’s fragment by now.
‘I can’t afford to waste more time. If I’m going to use it, it has to be now.’
Better to use it than hold back and never get the chance.
I stared at the last remaining blue line engraved on my arm.
Among all the items I had, the only one that could either wipe out this army or let me pass without fighting was...
“Gideon.”
“…Huh?”
“Get down.”
A familiar voice suddenly called from nearby.
I immediately ducked—
Boom―!
A red shockwave swept just above my head.
And the Rock Soldiers struck by that shockwave shattered into dust where they stood.
“…Lisa Noona?”
“Stop going off on your own. Every time you disappear like this… I swear, it drives me crazy.”
“How did you get here…?”
“Was it Berry? That fairy. She sent me here.”
“It’s Veron. Gideon, you’d better tell your future wife correctly.”
The King of Fairies was perched on my shoulder before I realized it.
Lisa’s sudden arrival surprised me, but seeing him too left me even more stunned.
“Veron? What are you doing here…?”
“Was it Eisen? That guy from the Isrinbloom Family. He told me you went after Rage alone. And, well… I had a feeling you’d need help, so I brought some along.”
“You brought Lisa Noona?”
“Lisa—and a few others.”
Boom!
Kaboom!
No sooner had Veron spoken than several explosions echoed nearby.
Through the dust, I saw a group charging into the canyon, smashing the Rock Soldiers apart with overwhelming force.
“I used a bit too much of my mystical power getting from the Protected Zone for Other Races to the Capital. So I could only bring a few people. But hey, those few are way better than a whole army.”
As the dust settled, I could clearly see who Veron had brought.
“Hey, Andrew! You better cover me properly! Don’t mess around!”
“Just keep swinging your sword.”
“Fine!”
Boom! Boom!
Kafka was swinging her greatsword like a madwoman.
Each strike turned dozens of Rock Soldiers into literal dust.
And Andrew was guarding her perfectly—cutting down the ones she missed with swift, precise moves.
“Gideon!”
“Instructor Luke. And… Jason too.”
“Well, I figured I might as well tag along. Sara came too.”
Luke, Jason, and Sara—all three ran up beside me.
“I was planning to come with just us three—me and the two Dukes—but these three insisted on joining.”
Luke gave a wry smile, then quickly turned serious.
“Anyway, Gideon—you said you’re chasing Rage, right?”
“Yes, I have to go quickly.”
“Then leave this to us and go. You’re better off alone, right?”
“…Yeah, that might be best.”
I glanced at Veron, still perched on my shoulder.
He nodded and hopped off.
“This is a matter between the Mainac Family and the Isrinbloom Family. Those two houses should finish it. But if you need help, just call—I’ll come running.”
“Got it. Oh, and please take care of Siri. She’s hurt and can’t move properly right now.”
“Woof?”
Siri tilted her head at me.
I smiled faintly and patted the Hellhound’s head.
“You’ve done enough. Take a rest. I’ll be back soon.”
After giving Siri a brief farewell, I turned to Lisa.
“Noona, I’ll be right back.”
“…Once we finish these Rock Monsters, we’ll follow right after you.”
“Alright. Then… I’ll go finish what’s been a long, long journey.”
As soon as I said that, Luke grinned and raised his sword.
A brilliant aura—stronger than ever before—flared around him, and when he swung, every Rock Soldier blocking the path shattered to pieces.
A road opened before me.
“Go on!”
“Yeah, thanks!”
I dashed forward—this time to bring everything to an end.
A few minutes after Gideon left, the battle with the Rock Soldiers continued.
Luke, Kafka, Andrew, and Lisa—
The four handled the monsters effortlessly.
Jason stayed near Siri, guarding both Sara and Veron.
Sara, meanwhile, had been staring toward the direction Gideon had gone for several minutes now.
Jason noticed and smirked.
“Something on your mind?”
“…Was it that obvious?”
“Even with that arm of his, he can’t fight properly. You know that. And yet you came this far with us… because you felt there was something you had to do, didn’t you?”
“…Yeah. I just had this feeling—like there’s something only I can do.”
“Then go do it.”
“Huh?”
“What’s so hard about that? If you think there’s something you need to do, go find out, right?”
Jason smiled faintly and patted her head.
Sara looked up at him in surprise.
“But… would it really be right for me to step in? Someone like me…”
“It’s not someone like you. It’s you. There’s something only you can do. And if you think now’s the time to do it… then go. There aren’t many of these Rock bastards left—you can catch up to Gideon.”
Sara hesitated for a moment before asking softly,
“Jason.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you believe in me?”
“I’ve never not believed in you.”
Unlike her, Jason answered without the slightest hesitation.
Sara blinked in surprise, then nodded as if she’d found her answer.
And then she started running— toward the direction Gideon had gone.