Chapter: 153
The World Erosionists.
They are outsiders who have reached this world for various reasons.
Each of them once had their own world, where they surely found happiness.
But the world was always finite.
Ebelasque Benapoch.
The world she lived in was no different.
Her world was called Dirox.
By the time she was born, Dirox was already a world nearing its end.
Acid rain continuously poured from the sky, and the soil could not sustain any life.
Naturally, creatures grew increasingly vicious to survive.
Below ground where the acid rain couldn’t reach.
Countless people established their own cities.
Ebelasque was a street urchin in one such city.
Day by day, she barely scraped by.
Her dream was always to see the outside world.
After all, she had never laid eyes on it.
So, she saved every penny she earned just to buy books from the antique shop.
Those books contained stories and pictures of the world above, long gone from existence.
That was the only joy in her life.
Then one day, she stumbled upon a book in the antique shop.
“Necromancer Studies.”
Holding the book that purportedly contained knowledge lost long ago, she read it with fascination.
Soon, she realized one important fact.
She had a considerable talent for necromancy.
Can you believe it? In just one day, she used the leftover bones of a rat she’d eaten to create a skeletal monster.
Watching the skeletal body move according to her will was extremely thrilling.
From that day, she began to study necromancy every day.
She amassed every related book she could find.
As she secretly immersed herself in her studies of necromancy,
“Ebelasque!”
A girl’s shout pierced through the ramshackle door, startling Ebelasque.
In a panic, she hid her materials.
“Ah, Aimi! You scared me. What’s up?”
Feigning ignorance, she greeted the girl who entered.
The girl had braided brown hair and a bright, cheerful demeanor.
She was Ebelasque’s long-time friend from childhood.
In times when surviving day-to-day was tough, they clung to each other—her most precious and only friend.
“Why are you so surprised? Were you looking at something naughty again?”
“I-I was never looking at anything naughty!”
Ebelasque shouted, her face turning beet red.
She felt embarrassed recalling that one day when she’d accidentally bought a romance novel and got caught reading it.
“You’re always teasing me!”
With a playful laugh, Aimi burst in dramatically.
“Ebelasque, do you remember the rumor going around recently?”
“Rumor?”
“Yeah! The one about how the surface has become safe!”
Ebelasque’s eyes widened.
She had heard that rumor, too.
However, she didn’t find it particularly interesting.
How could she trust such hopeful news in a world like this?
After all, the underground cities had little time left to live.
It was estimated they’d last three more years.
All resources underground would deplete, the shelters would fail, and acid rain would cause the ground to crumble.
That was the bleak future of this desolate world.
But Aimi, that girl, always remained bright and hopeful.
“No way! Ebelasque, this time it’s real! They’re gathering people from every city to head to the surface under the name ‘Dirox Salvation Team.’”
Ebelasque looked shocked.
If the cities were organizing something like this, it was a whole different story.
“Aren’t they just a regular investigation team?”
“This one’s different. The recently returned investigation team claimed they found signs that the surface is safe! They’re gathering notable figures directly from the cities!”
Aimi’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
She was a ‘Nuker,’ a job that involved battling against criminal groups and twisted monsters prowling the underground.
And she was among the top contenders among Nukers.
Her pride in her profession and honorable aspirations lit up her eyes.
“They’ve built a spatial transfer magic circle connecting the underground to the surface where those signs were found.”
“Wait, Aimi, are you planning to join it?!”
“Yep, I am.”
Aimi’s expression turned somber.
Ebelasque was taken aback by her serious gaze.
Though they’d found signs of safety, that was only the investigation team’s word.
No one truly knew what was happening out there.
This was effectively a gamble for the underground cities, given their three-year expiration date.
If luck ran out, they might not survive even that long.
Aimi was struggling against such a fate.
“Aimi, it’s too dangerous.”
Ebelasque spoke with concern.
According to Aimi, many others would be joining, so she wished to express that Aimi didn’t have to participate.
“I’m getting promoted to the deputy leader of the Nukers this time. The former deputy died after a hole was put in their lung.”
Underground cities lack proper sanitation and medicine, making their people vulnerable to illness, especially Nukers.
They engaged in direct combat, making them susceptible to infections.
Yet, the Nukers were the only ones who could defend the cities.
“If the deputy doesn’t show up, it’s embarrassing.”
Ebelasque quickly pieced together why Aimi had come today.
She had come to tell her she was leaving.
“Aimi.”
“Trust me. Aren’t you the renowned powerhouse in the city?”
Aimi smiled at Ebelasque.
Upon seeing her smile, Ebelasque clutched her hand tightly.
“Be careful out there.”
“Okay! If I find any books when I get back, I’ll grab them all. Preferably ones with a romantic theme, alright?”
“Not that again!”
As Ebelasque shouted, Aimi giggled and left.
Then the Salvation Team was dispatched, filled with everyone’s expectations.
A year passed.
The Salvation Team ultimately did not return.
Naturally, Aimi was among those who didn’t come back.
“Aimi, you promised…”
Upon hearing of Aimi’s disappearance, Ebelasque was left in shock.
After all, they had grown up together for a lifetime.
Sometimes she felt like an older sister, sometimes a younger sister, and Aimi’s loss left a huge void in Ebelasque’s heart.
On top of that, the security of the city began to deteriorate rapidly.
Many capable Nukers had been dispatched to the Salvation Team, meaning fewer people were left to maintain order.
As a result, criminal groups found it easier to invade.
The city’s lifespan was dwindling quickly.
The end was knocking on their door.
People fell into despair and unease.
Some even praised the end, proclaiming that salvation was found only in death, setting houses ablaze in the process.
As the city began to accept its imminent death,
Knock knock—
Following Aimi’s disappearance, someone knocked on the door of Ebelasque’s home, where she lived in a daze daily.
When Ebelasque opened the door with a shaky body,
She found a middle-aged man who had once been famous as the Iron-Hand and had now retired.
He glanced at her, almost broken, and spoke.
“Ebelasque, I’ve heard that you’re studying necromancy.”
Ebelasque flinched at that question.
This was only natural.
Although necromancy was a lost art, it was banned in the city.
Handling corpses creates countless issues.
So, Ebelasque thought he was here to punish her for breaking the city’s rules.
“Th-That can’t be! I wouldn’t study something like that!”
“I need your help.”
Ebelasque froze.
When she looked at him with a puzzled expression, the Iron-Hand held her gaze earnestly.
“Do you remember the people who went with the Salvation Team a year ago?”
How could she forget?
Among them was her most precious friend, Aimi.
“A magic signal was received recently through the communication crystal. The surface is overrun by too much mana, making it impossible to understand the signal’s meaning, but it’s undoubtedly a sign of survival.”
“W-What?! Really?!”
Ebelasque gasped in surprise, shouting at him.
“Yes, if you want, I can confirm it directly. We believe they arrived at a safe location, and for some unknown reason, the spatial magic circle is unable to operate, yet they are sending signals.”
Ebelasque’s eyes widened.
“I thought the storms of acid rain and the overcharged mana field had prevented them from returning! And the storms and the mana field have reduced today when the signal was confirmed!”
Such optimistic observations felt too good to be true.
But upon hearing this, Ebelasque’s heart raced.
Aimi was alive.
That fact invigorated her.
“The city plans to dispatch a second Salvation Team. They’ll be better prepared than they were last time.”
“C-Can I be of help?”
“The storms of acid rain and mana field have altered the paths completely. We need to reassess the routes for human travel.”
Finally, Ebelasque understood.
As a necromancer, she was the one who could manage corpses.
If she prepared corpses in advance for route testing, they could secure routes more safely.
Ebelasque’s eyes shimmered with determination.
“Alright! I’ll participate!”
To find her friend Aimi,
She was vehemently determined to join this Salvation Team.
Seeing her resolute spirit, the Iron-Hand nodded.
“Departure is in two days. Be ready.”
The Iron-Hand said that and left.
Then, two days later,
Ebelasque joined the Salvation Team.
There were four members in this second Salvation Team.
The Iron-Hand and Ebelasque as the lead,
A male mage specializing in spatial magic,
And a one-armed female swordsman, the most prominent among the remaining Nukers.
This small crew, totaling four, made up the second Salvation Team.
Compared to the first, it was significantly smaller.
But the city could no longer afford to lose more people.
All the remaining strong fighters were members of the first Salvation Team.
“Let’s set off.”
With the Iron-Hand’s command, Ebelasque began to ascend the staircase leading to the surface.
Her heart raced with excitement.
The surface, something she had never seen before.
Of course, it made sense she would feel excited now, as she was finally climbing toward the world above that had so intrigued her.
“Hey, Captain, wasn’t the first Salvation Team called Abalos? What’s our second team going to be?”
Abalos, which means Wings of Dirox.
The one-armed female swordsman, Ruze, asked, and the Iron-Hand answered briefly.
“Benapoch.”
“Huh? What does that even mean?”
When Ruze tilted her head, the male mage, Muzkan, chuckled.
“It means hope in ancient language.”
“Ugh, how cheesy.”
“Well, it’s true we are the last hope. The city is nearing its end.”
Muzkan glanced down at the endless staircase.
He looked with a heavy heart at the underground city that was left with only death.
“It’s coming.”
Just then, the Iron-Hand admonished them to keep their thoughts to themselves.
Ebelasque’s eyes caught the entrance leading to the surface.
A doorway blocked with steel and various materials.
The Iron-Hand approached and firmly twisted the round door handle with both hands.
Creeeak, creeeak!
After a while, the door thudded open.
In that moment, Ebelasque squeezed her eyes shut against the blinding light.
Of course, she couldn’t help but be weak against the light since she had lived her entire life underground.
Once she slowly opened her eyes,
She saw the scorched earth and sand.
And the bright sun shining down.
Ebelasque’s eyes widened with astonishment.
She was feeling the warmth of the sun for the very first time.
Outside.
This was the outside world.
“The sun is shining! Looks like a lucky day!”
The Iron-Hand said as he looked up at the sky.
“And it’s about to get bad soon.”
At the same time, his gaze shifted towards the distance.
Off in the horizon, with the crackling sound, dark clouds were rolling in.
Bringing acid rain, the clouds aimed to turn this land into hell once again.
The falling rain would be heavy enough to create a river.
“Let’s move quickly.”
Thus, their journey began.
＊ ＊ ＊
And as expected, it was a treacherous one.
“It’s caving in!”
Due to the daily onslaught of acid rain, the weak terrain crumbled with every step they took, trying to swallow them into the depths.
“There are too many! Captain, hold that line! I’ll help from this side!”
“It’s not my chest! I’m Ebelasque, dammit!”
“More’s coming!”
“Everyone, stop jabbering and concentrate.”
Despite the acid rain, monsters prowling the surface would fixate on them as prey, descending in droves.
With that, everyone became more ragged as time passed.
It was a struggle just to withstand the acid rain; the ground kept collapsing, monsters sprang up from somewhere, and mana storms occasionally erupted.
If Hell existed, this was it.
Yet perhaps because of that, they engaged in conversation more frequently.
“At times like this, if we stop communicating, we can’t trust and rely on each other, leading to mistakes.”
That was the Iron-Hand’s philosophy as the leader of the Second Salvation Team.
Initially, all three nodded along.
But as time wore on, their talking became more and more abundant.
They could feel it vaguely.
The moment this conversation faltered would symbolize their end.
“I was born under a mother who was raped by criminals. Mom committed suicide the moment I was born, and I was sold into slavery. My master was a psycho with a fetish for hands. So when I turned eight, he decided my hands were too pretty and chopped them off. Bastard.”
Ruze, the one-armed swordsman, shared her harrowing past.
“Haha, I don’t have that kind of dark story, though. Oh, I do have one. My talent was so great that my master feared I’d take his position, so he tried to kill me!”
Muzkan, pretending to be bright, revealed his past.
Later, he disclosed that the master he referred to was, in fact, his father.
“When I retired, my sick body lay there. My daughter was off with the first Salvation Team. The medication was costly.”
The Iron-Hand shared why he joined this Salvation Team.
More than anyone, he wanted to find the first Salvation Team.
His daughter was surely there.
Later, he learned that the name of his daughter was Benapoch.
“Then how about we use this second Salvation Team to start our family lineage? The House of Benapoch. What do you think? Nobles in the city do that all the time, those garbage people who only know themselves.”
“A family lineage? Wouldn’t that make Ruze and me family? That’s troubling.”
“Seriously, stop that crush of yours.”
“Who said I had a crush on you?!”
Ruze and Muzkan frequently bickered like that.
They seemed to have a bad relationship, yet when danger lurked, they prioritized each other first.
“Ugh, I can’t believe how useless you are…”
“Shut it, you’re the rough one!”
Despite the sounds echoing throughout the night, Ebelasque pretended not to hear.
“I heard your friend and my daughter were friends.”
The Iron-Hand unveiled an unexpected story.
Aimi and his daughter, Benapoch, were said to have been friends.
He felt guilt for having brought Ebelasque along.
Understandably so, as she was of similar age to his daughter, but he prioritized her long ago, which left him feeling uneasy.
“It’s okay. I’m going to find my friends.”
The Iron-Hand turned to her, looking surprised.
Ebelasque, slightly embarrassed, continued.
“Uh, it’s only natural. A friend’s friend is still a friend, you know? So Benapoch is my friend too!”
As the Iron-Hand absorbed her words, he smiled for the first time.
“…I see. She’d love that.”
That smile became a vivid memory for Ebelasque.
And their journey continued.
They occasionally lost their way.
It was not easy to find the path, given how frequently it had changed over time.
Yet, the four continued to move diligently, following the signals.
Eventually, the first casualty occurred.
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