LTTH C21

Chapter 21

Damn it, I nearly lost my footing.

At the sight of James casually rattling off pet names one might call a beloved, my body suddenly pitched forward.

“Be cautious.”

“…Thank you.”

Fortunately, thanks to the youth beside me, I avoided sprawling upon the floor, yet the embarrassment did not abate.

‘Surely, he does not intend to call me that for real.’

“Darling always has the best ring to it, doesn’t it, darling?”

“…Surely, you don’t mean to call me ‘darling,’ do you?”

“Huh? But I said you could call me whatever you like, darling.”

His nonchalant manner in response was teasing. Indeed, he had said I might call him anything, but such a humiliating sobriquet was never among my desires. At best, I expected titles like Healer, Noble, or Messiah. Had I foreseen such terms, I would have shared my true name by now.

‘Sigh.’

Late regret filled me as I reluctantly spoke. No matter how I considered it, I could not endure hearing such nicknames.

“Chae Hansol, at your service.”

“Oh, Hansol! That name has a fine ring.”

James, with a smile wholly incongruous to his burly frame, toyed with my name endlessly. How many times he repeated it, I could not count—until at last he fell silent, and I felt my ears burn.

“Well, very well!”

When one speaks of the world’s foremost hunter, is it not expected they carry an aura of force or charisma? I had thought so at first, but within mere minutes, the man before me had become simply ‘James,’ a foreign fellow bearing only his name.

‘At least he’s spared me the blush-inducing epithets.’

If comfort could be found anywhere, it would be there. I nodded faintly and resumed my steps. It was time to gather our scattered ranks with all due haste. Though the scene before us was peaceful, the Gate remained a place rife with untold dangers.

“Darling. Just a moment.”

“…Please, cease that name.”

A deep, resonant voice uttered the nickname again, and heat surged anew in my nape. The tone was pleasant, though my relief might have been greater had it not been directed at me.

“Huh? Ah. ‘Darling’ suits you better than anyone, after all.”

“No, that’s not—”

“Well, anyway.”

The conversation shifted so naturally that I was momentarily lost for words. I had been ensnared—no other term would suffice.

Despite my vigilance, James had won first my name, then the right to employ what nicknames he pleased. By all accounts, it was a defeat.

“Look here, look here.”

Though I’d believed we had ventured far from the Gate we entered, the scene before us remained unchanged—bright azure skies and verdant fields stretching wide. Following James’s pointing hand, I perceived once more the dark soil from the Gate’s origin.

“This is…”

“I do not believe we have mistakenly entered a wrong Gate.”

“Impossible.”

“Indeed, suspicion remains ever justified when facing a new Gate.”

True enough. One’s worst foe within a Gate was careless complacency.

“Come, let us follow this trail. If possible, erase any trace.”

“…Agreed.”

James’s eyes held mine with a hint of apology. They sparkled with the transparent hope of an innocent child, revealing his desires plainly.

Before us lay a dusky patch of earth no larger than a hand. As though beseeching me to unleash my ability to cleanse, it rested in the bounds of a single ‘Purification’ spell.

“Purify.”

Hansol’s low voice accompanied the spread of a pure white light from his fingertip, seeping into the dark soil until it softened and transformed into purified ground emanating gentle radiance.

Alongside, a system message flickered, confirming a minor gain of experience, though barely visible beneath the Level 20 mark. Were it not for the subtle shift, one might have remained unaware of the system’s acknowledgment.

“So, it was true.”

“…Merely simple Purification, nothing more.”

“Darling seems vastly unaware of his own powers.”

“I know well.”

“On the contrary, you know nothing at all.”

James fixed a burning gaze upon Hansol’s fingertip, staring intently at the subtle glow. Unlike during skill activation, no sparkling nor any unusual effect accompanied it. Yet the gaze lingered persistently.

“When we depart, Darling, there is a favour I wish to ask of you.”

Among those gathered for the Gate’s clearing—including the man before Hansol—none moved for mere coin. Each had purpose and will to contribute, and thus it was only right that Hansol repay where he could. At least such was the custom of those from the Land of Courtesy.

Hansol nodded gravely into James’s eyes, for that was the sole reason.

“If it lies within my power, I shall gladly assist.”

“Much appreciated.”

James’s smile, touched with earnestness unlike before, brightened as he turned and strode forth.

We had traveled a fair distance upon the dusky trail, and only after Hansol’s Purification had raised his once-faint experience bar to a delicate yellow tint did we arrive near our destination. Yet, contrary to expectation, neither undead nor monsters cloaked in dark aura awaited us.

Instead of the darkened patch once purified, a swamp spread before us, brimming with viscous liquids. The problem lay in the repulsive black tentacles rising from within.

“…Mages?”

“What bring these fiends here?”

Among those entangled by the thick black tentacles were the famed rankers glimpsed earlier within the Gate. And, naturally, the Master of the Mage Tower robed in his characteristic garb.

“Ugh…”

The problem was that these hunters were ensnared powerless, unable to resist the tendrils. Could it be that their starting point differed from ours—that this place had been their abode from the beginning? Gratitude stirred for his own fortunate start, yet Hansol’s thoughts became tangled.

“Darling, focus! These creatures drain their mana.”

“Ah.”

Tentacles that absorbed mana—monsters unlike any he had known.

James’s words seized Hansol’s attention as he peered intently at the black tendrils. The dark aura wrapping the captives grew, and those hunters moaned weakness and wore thin.

Should he purify the swamp? Would Purification even take? Could those ensnared escape were he to purify? A thousand questions churned within his mind.

At that moment, with a crash, James collided with a tentacled monster. The young Holy Knight, Sehyun, drew his lone blade and began severing the writhing limbs sprouting from the earth. The effect was minimal at best; severed tendrils promptly regenerated and reattached.

Fortune smiled only in that the monsters did not drain mana from James or Sehyun. A grim reality indeed.

While the rankers and the Master of the Tower remained ensnared, the sole damage dealers, Sehyun and the tank, found themselves impotent. Desperate, Hansol combined Healing Prayer with Purification near the tentacles, stalling their advance briefly, yet the hunters remained bound, their mana being ruthlessly drained.

“This cannot continue.”

“Phew, no matter how many we sever, they revive.”

“…Healing skills fail as well.”

As their growing groans shortened in pace, the three exchanged concerned glances.

“Sanctuary! Can’t we use it now?”

“Ah…”

Hansol’s eyes betrayed hesitation at James’s suggestion. Almost certainly, with his newly gained skill points from leveling, he could invoke a Sanctuary Declaration. Yet he wished to reserve it as a last resort. The Gate was uncertain—no deity could foresee what might transpire.

Besides, the Gate barely midway through. If they were to face foes akin to the prior Lich, they would need time to prepare. Such hesitation was natural. The Sanctuary declaration lingered unspoken atop his skill window, for the same reason.

‘…No choice. I must use it.’

Though reluctant, he had braced himself to expend a single skill point among the four he still held. As he hesitated to speak, his skill window flickered.

“Wait just a moment!”

“Hm?”

Upon touching the blinking skill window, a new skill shimmered before him. No skill points had been spent, nor any achievements attained. Yet, before Hansol, a skill hitherto unseen now took its place.

Blessing Lv.1

Blesses the target in proportion to divine power.

‘What is this?’

Could it be called a skill? The explanation was so sparse, Hansol tilted his head in wonder. Clicking the skill window again merely repeated its monotony—one brief line of description, nothing more.

“U-um…”

Moreover, the environment offered scant respite to ponder this newfound power; the groans of the rankers continued to diminish only gradually. This was no cause for comfort—it marked the depletion of their energy.

‘…A gamble worth taking.’

Should this fail, he could always call upon Sanctuary Declaration. First, he turned his blessing upon the Master of the Mage Tower, who clung fiercely to his robe—an acquaintance nevertheless, and perhaps the key to the present dilemma.

The Mage Tower’s Mages were renowned for their tenacity in research and exploration.