Chapter 153: World Eroders Past
World Eroders.
They are outsiders who, for various reasons, have arrived in this world.
Each of them once belonged to a world of their own, a ce where they had undoubtedly found happiness.
But the nature of worlds is always finite.
Ebsque Benapotchi.
The world she once lived in was no exception.
Her world, known as Dyrox, had already reached its end by the time she was born.
Acid rain constantly poured from the skies, and the soil was barren, unable to nurture any form of life.
Thus, the creatures of Dyrox turned vicious in their struggle to survive. Beneath the earth, sheltered from the acidic downpours, countless people established their own subterranean cities.
Ebsque was a vagabond in one such city, living a life of mere survival, scraping by day after day.
Her one dream was always to see the outside world.
She had never, even once since birth,id eyes on the world above.
To fulfill that longing, she saved every penny she could, even skimping on food, to buy books from an antique shop.
Those books contained stories and illustrations of the surface world from a long time ago.
Reading them was her sole source of joy.
Then, one day, she stumbled upon a certain book at the antique shop.
Necromancer Studies.
It was a book on a long-lost field of study.
Fascinated, she began reading it, and soon realized one thing.
She had a natural talent for necromancy.
How else could she have, in just one day, crafted a bony monster using the remains of a rat she had eaten recently?
Watching the skeletal creature move ording to her will was utterly mesmerizing.
From that day forward, she dedicated herself to studying necromancy daily, devouring every book she could find on the subject.
Secretly, she spent her days immersed in the research of necromancy.
Until one day…
「Ebsque!」
A girl’s voice rang out, threatening to break down the rickety door of her shack.
Startled, Ebsque hurriedly hid her materials.
Then, feigning innocence, she greeted the intruder with a calm demeanor.
「Ah, Aimy, you scared me. What’s going on?」
The girl who had burst in was a young woman with braided brown hair.
The bright and cheerful girl was Ebsque’s oldest and dearest friend, someone who had been by her side since childhood.
Even during the hardest times, when surviving each day seemed impossible, she had been Ebsque’s most precious—and onlypanion.
「Why are you so startled? Don’t tell me you were looking at something naughty again.」
「W-what?! When have I ever done that?」
Ebsque shouted, her face turning bright red.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been teased like this. Once, she had identally purchased an erotic novel, not realizing its content.
She’d been caught reading it engrossedly, and ever since, her friend never let her live it down.
Laughing yfully, her friend entered the shack with exaggerated excitement.
「Ebsque, do you remember the rumors going around recently?」
「Rumors?」
「Yeah, the one about the surface being safe again!」
Ebsque blinked in surprise.
Of course, she had heard the same rumors about the surface bing safe, but she hadn’t paid much attention.
This world was far too grim to believe in such hopeful rumors.
Even the underground cities were running out of time.
It wouldn’t be long now.
The estimation was three years.
Within that time, all the resources of the underground would be depleted. The shelters sustaining the cities would fail, leading to the copse of the ground itself under the relentless acid rain.
Such was the bleak future of this world.
Yet, Aimy, this ever-hopeful girl, never lost her brightness or optimism.
「No, Ebsque, this time it’s real. A group calling themselves the Dyrox Salvation Corps is actively recruiting people from each city to venture to the surface.」
Ebsque’s expression turned to one of surprise.
If the cities themselves were organizing such a group, it was a different matter entirely.
「Th-that’s just like a regr reconnaissance team, isn’t it?」
「No, this time it’s different. Thest reconnaissance team that returned found signs that the surface is bing safe again. The city is gathering its most skilled people for the mission.」
Aimy’s eyes sparkled with fierce determination.
She was a Nuker, abatant who fought against the criminal gangs and twisted monsters lurking in the underground.
As one of the best in her field, Aimy carried a strong sense of pride and ambition in her work.
Her eyes, glowing with confidence, now shone brighter than ever.
「They’re even nning to build a spatial transport magic circle connected to the underground at the location where the signs were discovered.」
「A-Aimy, don’t tell me you’re nning to join them?」
「Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m thinking.」
Aimy’s gaze was deadly serious.
Seeing that look, Ebsque felt a wave of unease.
Even if signs of safety on the surface had been discovered, it was still just the word of the reconnaissance team.
Nobody knew what the reality up there would truly be like.
In truth, this was nothing short of a gamble by the underground city, which had only three years of life left.
One misstep, and they wouldn’t even make it to the end of those three years, facing death instead.
Aimy was struggling against that looming fate.
「Aimy, it’s too dangerous.」
Ebsque said with deep concern.
Aimy had mentioned that many others were also participating, so Ebsque wanted to tell her that she didn’t need to take part.
「I’ve been appointed vice-captain of the Nukers this time. The previous vice-captain died after a lung infection.」
Aimy exined.
In the underground city, proper sanitation and medicine were unavable.
As a result, the inhabitants were highly susceptible to illness, and Nukers were even more so.
Their direct involvement inbat made it easier for infections to take hold.
Yet Nukers continued to exist.
They were the only ones capable of protecting the city.
「It’d look bad if the vice-captain spot stayed empty, right?」
Ebsque realized why Aimy hade to her today.
She was here to say goodbye.
「Aimy.」
「Trust me. I’m the strongest fighter in the city, aren’t I?」
Aimy smiled as she looked at Ebsque, her confidence unwavering.
Seeing that smile, Ebsque grabbed her hand tightly.
「Be safe.」
「Of course. If I find any books, I’ll bring them all back for you. Preferably erotic novels, right?」
「Stop it with that already!」
Aimy burst intoughter at Ebsque’s outburst, then left.
Thus, the Salvation Corps departed amidst the hopes of everyone in the city.
One year passed.
The Salvation Corps never returned.
Naturally, Aimy was among those who didn’te back.
「Aimy, you promised…」
After hearing of her disappearance, Ebsque was left in a daze.
She and Aimy had essentially grown up together, sharing every hardship and joy.
At times, Aimy felt like an older sister, and at others, like a younger one.
Her disappearance shook Ebsque to her core.
To make matters worse, the city’s security deteriorated rapidly.
Many skilled Nukers had been sent off with the Salvation Corps, leaving fewer hands to maintain order.
As a result, criminal groups found it easier to infiltrate the city.
The city’s lifespan was dwindling at an rming rate.
The apocalypse was knocking on their door.
People sumbed to fear and despair.
Some began to praise the end, dering that salvationy in death, and set fire to homes in a frenzy.
The city was beginning to ept its slow demise.
<i>Knock, knock—</i>
One day, as Ebsque sat lifeless in her home, paralyzed by the news of Aimy’s disappearance, someone knocked on her door.
Dragging her sluggish body, she opened it.
Standing before her was a middle-aged man, once renowned as “Iron Lion,” but now retired.
He nced at the nearly broken Ebsque and spoke.
「Ebsque, I’ve heard that you’ve been studying necromancy.」
Ebsque flinched at his words.
Of course, necromancy was a forbidden art in the city, despite being a lost discipline.
The very act of manipting corpses was fraught with countless ethical and societal issues.
Naturally, she assumed he hade to punish her for viting the city’s regtions.
「Th-that’s impossible! I’d never study something like that!」
「We need your help.」
Ebsque froze in ce.
When she looked at him with confusion, Iron Lion returned her gaze with a serious expression.
「Do you remember the people who joined the Salvation Corps a year ago?」
How could she forget? Among them was her most precious friend, Aimy.
「Recently, a signal was received through themunication magic device.
The magical field on the surface is so intense that we couldn’t decipher its meaning, but it’s unmistakably a survival signal.」
「W-what?! Is that true?!」
Ebsque shouted, startled by his words.
「Yes. If you wish, I can confirm it for you myself. We believe they’ve reached a safe location and are sending the signal because, for some reason, they cannot activate the spatial magic circle.」
Ebsque’s eyes widened in disbelief.
「For the past year, storms of acid rain and intense magical fields have been making it impossible to return. But as of today, when the signal was detected, both the storms and the magical fields have started to subside.」
It was an incredibly hopeful observation.
But hearing it, Ebsque’s heart raced.
Aimy was alive.
That realization filled her with a surge of energy.
「The city is preparing to send a second Salvation Corps. This time, the preparations will be far better than before.」
「I-is there something I can do to help?」
「The storms and magical fields have drastically altered the paths leading to the surface. We need to determine if those paths are navigable for humans.」
Ebsque finally understood.
As a necromancer who could control corpses, she could use them to test the paths ahead of the team, ensuring a safer route.
Resolve lit up in Ebsque’s eyes.
「Alright. I’ll join.」
For her friend, Aimy, she would do whatever it took to bring her back.
She was determined to join this second Salvation Corps, no matter what.
Seeing her firm resolve, Iron Lion nodded.
「We leave in two days. Be ready.」
With those parting words, he left.
Two dayster, Ebsque officially joined the Salvation Corps.
The team consisted of only four members.
Iron Lion as the leader.
Ebsque, the necromancer.
A male mage specializing in spatial magic.
A one-armed female swordsman, the most skilled Nuker left in the city.
It was a small group, especiallypared to the first Salvation Corps.
But the city was stretched to its limits; they could spare no more.
Almost all of their most capable individuals had been sent with the first Corps.
「Let’s move out.」
At Iron Lion’smand, the group began ascending the staircase leading to the surface.
Ebsque’s heart pounded as she climbed.
The surface—a ce she had never seen in her entire life.
A ce she had always been so curious about.
It was no surprise her excitement and nervousness were at their peak.
「Hey, Captain, wasn’t the first Salvation Corps called ‘Avalos’? What’s the name of our group?」
Avalos, meaning “wings” in thenguage of Dyrox, had been the name of the first Corps.
When the one-armed swordswoman, Ruzrang, asked about the name of their group, Iron Lion responded briefly.
「Benapotchi.」
「Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?」
Ruzrang tilted her head, clearly unfamiliar with the word.
The male mage, Muzkang, chuckled lightly.
「It’s an ancient word that means ‘hope.’」
「Pfft, seriously? That’s way too sentimental.」
「Well, we are thest hope, after all. The city is nearing its end.」
Muzkang nced down the seemingly endless staircase they had climbed, his gaze lingering on the underground city far below.
His expression was somber as he stared at the ce where only death remained.
「It won’t be long now.」
Iron Lion said curtly, as if telling them to focus.
At that moment, Ebsque spotted the entrance to the surface.
A massive doorway reinforced with steel and other materials loomed ahead.
Reaching the door, Iron Lion ced his hands firmly on the circr handle and began turning it with great effort.
<i>Creak, creeeeaak!</i>
The heavy door finally swung open with a loud thud.
As light poured in, Ebsque instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
Having lived her entire life underground, she was highly sensitive to light.
When she slowly opened her eyes again, the sight that greeted her was breathtaking.
Cracked earth and sand stretched out before her.
Above it all, the sun shone brightly in the sky.
Her eyes widened as she felt the warmth of the sun for the first time in her life.
This was the outside.
This was the world she had dreamed of.
「The sun’s out. Seems like we’re lucky today.」
Iron Lion remarked as he gazed up at the sky.
Then his expression darkened as he turned his gaze toward the horizon.
「But it won’t stay that way for long.」
In the distance, with a rumbling boom, dark clouds began to gather.
The storm clouds, heavy with acid rain, were rolling in, ready to turn thend into hell once more.
The rain would pour with such intensity that it would create rivers.
「We need to move quickly.」
And so, the journey of the four began.
＊ ＊ ＊
The journey was, as expected, grueling and relentless.
「The ground is copsing!」
The constant acid rain over the years had weakened the terrain.
With each step, the ground seemed ready to give way and swallow them into the underground abyss.
「There’s so many of them! Captain, hold them off over there! Ebstick, help me here!」
「I told you, it’s not Ebstick! It’s Ebsque!」
「They’reing again!」
「Enough chatter, focus!」
Even in the acid rain, monsters roaming the surface, blinded by hunger, rushed at them in packs.
As time went on, the four grew increasingly haggard.@@novelbin@@
Fending off the acid rain was exhausting enough, but the crumbling terrain, the ceaseless appearance of monsters, and asional magical storms made every step of the journey feel like walking through hell.
Perhaps because of this, the four talked to each other more often.
「In times like these, if we stop talking, we’ll stop trusting each other. If that happens, we won’t be able to rely on one another. Mistakes will follow.」
This was the philosophy of Iron Lion, the captain of the second Salvation Corps.
At first, the other three just went along with it, not thinking much of it.
But as the journey wore on, they found themselves talking more and more.
They all subconsciously realized that the moment their conversations ceased, it would mark the beginning of their end.
「I was born from a mother who was assaulted by criminals. She killed herself right after giving birth to me. I ended up sold in a back-alley deal and grew up as a ve. My owner was a lunatic with a hand fetish. When I was eight, he decided my hands were at their prettiest and cut one off. That bastard.」
Ruzrang, the one-armed swordswoman, shared her harrowing past with grim detachment.
「Haha, I don’t have any dark stories like that. Oh, wait—maybe just this. My master, afraid I’d surpass him, tried to kill me.」
Muzkang, the mage, tried to sound lighthearted, but the weight of his words betrayed him.
Later, he revealed that the master who had tried to kill him was none other than his own father.
「When I was sick and bedridden after retiring, my daughter joined the first Salvation Corps. The medicine that kept me alive was the cost of her departure.」
Iron Lion exined why he had chosen to join this second Corps.
More than anyone, he wanted to find the first Salvation Corps.
Because among them was his daughter.
It waster revealed that Iron Lion’s daughter’s name was Benapotchi.
「Haha, then why don’t we make the Second Salvation Corps into our own family? The Benapotchi family. What do you think? The city’s so-called nobles do it all the time, those selfish trash.」
「A family? That would mean I’d be in the same family as Ruzrang. That’s unpleasant.」
「Stop being in love with me already.」
「…Who said anything about love?」
Ruzrang and Muzkang often bickered like this.
Though they seemed to be at odds, during dangerous moments, they always prioritized each other’s safety.
「Ugh… you’re awful at this…」
「Shut up. You’re just too rough.」
During the night, Ebsque pretended not to hear the noisesing from their bickering once again.
One day, Iron Lion shared an unexpected story with Ebsque.
「Your friend and my daughter were friends.」
Ebsque was surprised to learn that her best friend, Aimy, had been close to Iron Lion’s daughter, Benapotchi.
Iron Lion admitted that he felt guilty about bringing Ebsque along.
She wasn’t much older than his own daughter, and although he prioritized his daughter’s safety, the decision still weighed heavily on him.
「It’s fine. I’m on this journey to find my friends.」
Iron Lion looked at her with surprise.
Ebsque, slightly embarrassed, continued.
「Ahem. Well, a friend’s friend is also a friend, right? So that makes Benapotchi my friend, too.」
Hearing this, Iron Lion gave a small smile for the first time.
「…I see. My daughter would like that.」
That smile remained etched in Ebsque’s memory.
The journey continued.
At times, they lost their way.
Thendscape had changed so much over the years that navigation was far from easy.
Still, the four pressed on, following the signal diligently.
But eventually, the first casualty urred.
Trantors note: