Chapter 125 – Purification (2)

“There was a prophecy from the prophet.”

This was Hayden’s answer to Caroline’s question about how they knew to wait here.

At Hayden’s words, the summoners who came with Caroline were quite surprised.

Because the prophet’s prophecies in the past weren’t this detailed.

Unlike them, Sun-woo who could sufficiently expect this greeted the woman who was with Hayden.

She was Clara the pyromancer whom he had met several times with Hayden during this time.

Though they came together for work, the two seemed to have grown closer. If Michael had been there, he would definitely have teased them for a while.

“Oh, more importantly, the city is in danger. We need to hurry.”

Caroline, who was worried about the underground city after hearing the story in the city, urgently brought up the matter.

“So that’s why Miss Silvia told me to hurry and bring you all here.”

Hayden, who heard Caroline’s words, asked the group to follow and took the lead.

“From now on, I’ll guide you. We’ll move quickly so please follow well.”

Though the situation was urgent, Hayden skillfully guided the group into the cave.

Not much time had passed but he seemed to have become a proper soldier and adult now.

The cave leading underground was still difficult to find. Other people besides Sun-woo only noticed there was a cave entrance when they arrived right in front of it.

Sun-woo walked into the cave again, the one he had walked with the prophet alone, together with the other group members looking around with curiosity.

“Everyone must follow closely behind me. If you fall far behind, you’ll lose your way.”

Hayden who was leading warned the group.

The cave that was originally close to a maze had now become difficult to properly identify even known paths.

To Sun-woo’s eyes too, paths strangely overlapped, feeling like some kind of illusion technique was deployed.

“Everyone be careful. Ah, Brother Sun-woo should be fine.”

Sun-woo’s eyes showed a bit of surprise at the word “brother.”

Because Hayden had called him brother for the first time.

Though he turned his face away after speaking as if still embarrassed, his growth could be seen.

“We’ve placed amplification stones containing bewildering abilities throughout the cave. We need to recharge them frequently, but it can’t be helped to prevent enemy intrusion.”

“You can store abilities in amplification stones?”

“Ah, this time an ability user who can grant others’ abilities to amplification stones came. Thanks to that, we’re minimizing watchers and replacing them with amplification stones with bewildering abilities instead.”

Sun-woo could roughly understand what Hayden’s words meant.

When he first came to this world, it seemed to be a similar method of granting abilities as the amplification stone that held a dead person’s ability.

The bewildering ability wasn’t much different from Sun-woo’s illusion technique.

When Sun-woo circulated his inner strength to enhance <Illusion Technique>, the passage that looked like two became visible as only one.

Sun-woo could identify the path with illusion technique or sorcery.

Other people without such abilities stuck as close to Hayden’s back as possible.

After going down for quite a while through various branching paths, they finally met the massive underground river they had seen before.

Sun-woo and the group saw an unexpected sight there.

On one side of the underground river brightly visible with fires lit everywhere, a not-small dock had been built, and several boats were lined up beside that dock.

Moreover, several boats were floating on the river fishing with nets.

When the group looked at that sight with surprised eyes, Hayden explained the situation.

“Thanks to this river, the food problem has been considerably resolved.”

Caroline asked with a surprised expression while looking at a boat pulling in nets.

“Fish really live in this river?”

“There are quite many fish with degenerated eyes and transparent skin. The taste is also decent so we’re catching them leaving only enough to maintain numbers.”

Since they were people who had only eaten giant rat meat until now, it might feel even more delicious.

Sun-woo looked around and muttered.

“Did they expand the city all the way here?”

Many people were coming and going at the dock. There seemed to be quite a few ability users hiding and guarding the surroundings.

But to the eye, it looked just like seeing a dock in a port town.

“People who came in from outside this time found it difficult to endure the stuffiness of the underground city. At least they’re finding peace of mind and relieving stuffiness at this underground river.”

As long as the contaminated people above didn’t find out, dispersing like this might actually be better.

“At this rate, it might become an underground kingdom instead of an underground city…”

Sun-woo was a bit worried about the lively appearance around the river, but it wasn’t something he could say anything about.

Sun-woo shook his head slightly and headed toward the underground city following Hayden.

***

The group passed the ferry landing and arrived at the underground city Eden through the cave Sun-woo had made to open the waterway.

The underground city had changed again from the last time he came.

When he last saw it, a stench filled the entire city due to sewage flowing in the waterway.

The current waterway had clean water drawn from the underground river flowing through it, and the stench that had overflowed in the city had all disappeared.

The people who had crowded the city tremendously had also decreased considerably. Many people seemed to have gone outside through the waterway.

But still many people were visible in the city.

Their expressions were much brighter unlike before.

They seemed to have largely overcome the pain of the Empire’s destruction and the city’s isolation.

Hayden guided the group not to the house where the prophet lived but to the administrative building in the city center.

The city’s administrative office was a stone building more than twice as large as other buildings.

And people who appeared to be elderly ability users and several mutants with deformed bodies were waiting for the group.

These were the committee members who ruled this underground city according to the prophet’s words.

Committee members representing mutants, ability users, and ordinary people respectively – there was an ability user who had been with Silvia, and Stein whose body was made of rock could also be seen.

They who greeted Sun-woo’s group with awkward expressions stiffened their faces when they saw Caroline and the refugees.

At the same time, Caroline and the refugees who saw the Scavengers also stiffened their expressions.

Their expressions stiffened because they had encountered each other many times in the past.

One side was Empire soldiers, the other side was rebels and terrorists – they had heard each other’s names to death and had faced each other as enemies.

Shortly after, a middle-aged man who appeared to be the representative relaxed his expression and greeted Caroline’s group.

But the other people’s expressions didn’t relax easily.

Caroline also exchanged greetings with the man with a forced smile, and soon both sides took their seats and began conversing with awkward expressions.

Finally the Empire refugees and the underground city rebels had begun negotiations.

“Seems the escort mission is roughly finished… Is it time to do the next mission now?”

Sun-woo muttered while standing against one wall looking at the people, and then Hayden approached.

“Miss Silvia called for you separately.”

Indeed working with the prophet was extremely convenient.

Because preparations were finished before speaking since she knew in advance.

Sun-woo exchanged eye greetings with Caroline who seemed to be gradually getting to the main point, then left the building following Hayden together with Nanseol and Yeonhwa.

Outside the building, Silvia, who recently became the city’s prophetic ability user and highest authority, was waiting for the group.

Still young, she unlike the previous prophet wasn’t waiting for the group at her home.

“Welcome. There are many things to talk about, but we should handle the urgent matters first.”

Unlike the brightened city and Hayden’s appearance, Silvia still looked clearly tired.

Silvia took the lead and guided the group.

“As you know, the contaminated summoner who newly came to the city is installing a powerful contamination formation in central Stuttgart to contaminate our Eden.”

Sun-woo noticed that the direction Silvia was guiding wasn’t toward the prophet’s house.

The current direction was toward the house where the spatial ability user was.

“After learning that fact through prophecy a while ago, I tried using prophecy many times in the direction of sending ability users to resolve it. But no matter what method I used, the operation failed and I saw a future where the city becomes contaminated.”

She continued smiling at people met on the road even while guiding the group.

“As an alternative, I sent people to search the river and other areas through the newly opened passage, and tried finding new ability users.”

She let out a small sigh without people knowing then continued speaking.

“But without Sun-woo and the group, it wasn’t an alternative. Moreover, my ability makes it difficult to accurately see other worlds, so not knowing when Sun-woo would come again, my worry was considerable.”

While listening to Silvia’s words, the group arrived at the building where the spatial ability user was.

“Fortunately, I learned not long ago that Sun-woo would come in time. Moreover, that Sun-woo would bring good news.”

She who smiled slightly toward Sun-woo looked at the building floor.

Shortly after, her complexion changed and her body stiffened.

On the building floor, traces of the pit Sun-woo had made still remained.

Silvia had been buried in that pit and still hadn’t fully forgotten the shock from that time.

Thanks to that she overcame contamination and awakened as a mental ability user, but the memory of being buried alive still remained as a deep wound deep in her heart.

But this was something Sun-woo couldn’t help with.

Silvia also soon forcibly moved her body and went inside passing the place where she was buried.

The spatial ability user wasn’t in the central hall but in his own quarters on the second floor slacking off.

According to his words, he was recovering his ability from too much hardship, but outwardly he just looked lazy.

The spatial ability user who was lying on the bed rolling around sprang up when he saw Sun-woo and was delighted.

“Hehe, it’s all thanks to you. Because you opened the waterway and cave leading to the river, I can rest. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be shitting blood transporting people, right?”

He who praised Sun-woo greatly soon looked around at his group then gave Sun-woo a thumbs up.

“Heh, another new lady.”

At his appearance Yeonhwa giggled and Nanseol frowned.

Silvia let out a small sigh at his storm-like chatter then explained the reason for coming here.

“Well, that’s nothing. I’ll send you right away.”

Indeed his words about consumed ability were a lie.

At the spatial ability user’s instructions, Sun-woo, Nanseol, Yeonhwa, and Hayden took their positions.

When the group took positions, Clara who came together this far looked at Hayden with worried eyes and Hayden nodded toward her.

At the two’s appearance the women smiled, but Sun-woo wanted to say something instead of Michael at the mischief rising from inside.

But teasing Hayden while leaving the spatial ability user right in front looking at him with envious eyes was unreasonable.

When preparations finished, Nanseol who had been quiet until then asked Silvia a question.

“By any chance, are there things we should be careful about there? And in the scenes you saw through prophecy, do we return safely?”

At Nanseol’s question, Silvia smiled vaguely.

“I’m sorry. As I told Sun-woo last time, I can’t speak of the future to those involved. Because the moment I speak, the future changes.”

Silvia, who answered Nanseol’s question with an apologetic expression, looked directly at Sun-woo.

“I can tell you other stories besides that future. At the place you’re going now, there’s the man Sun-woo was looking for.”

“What?”

Sun-woo tried to ask a question in surprise, but Silvia shook her head while looking at Sun-woo, and soon sent a signal to the spatial ability user.

“Then, have a safe trip.”

The spatial ability user waved his hand toward Sun-woo then immediately sent the group near where the contamination formation was being installed in Stuttgart.