[V12C45] A Gate for Humans

Once Theodore disappeared under the waves, Thule made a slow descent at the docks.

Cyril and Pikeh dismounted the white dragon, then Thule returned to the appearance of a silver-haired young man.

After confirming that they had nothing left to conceal, Isaac turned to Wildianu, who was perched on his shoulder.

“Thanks, Wil. You may rest easy now.”

“It is my pleasure to be of service.”

Wildianu lifted the illusion covering the harbor, and the transparent wall separating them from the city vanished like a popped bubble.

Soon after, the white lizard fell flat against Isaac’s shoulder, likely due to exhaustion.

Wildianu was not the only one exhausted. Everyone present displayed some degree of fatigue, including Monica, whose mana had practically bottomed out.

Even so, Nero, who was probably the healthiest one there, refused to descend from Monica’s shoulder for some reason.

“Nero, you’re kind of heavy…” Monica complained.

In response, Nero extended his front paw and patted Monica’s cheek.

“You haven’t praised your partner enough. Give me some compliments.”

Of course, Monica was very grateful to Nero.

But more importantly, Cyril was approaching them and staring at Nero with a stern expression.

(Waaaah! How do I explain this to Cyril-sama…?)

As Monica could do nothing but whimper, Nero continued speaking with confidence.

“As expected, I was way more amazing than the white one over there. Oi, junior, that’s where you’re supposed to agree with me.”

Nero called out to Isaac, but Isaac remained silent. He seemed to squinting his uncovered left eye, directing a look of suspicion in a completely different direction.

Monica followed Isaac’s gaze and quickly realized what he was thinking.

“…Huh? W-Why…?”

The gate for summoning the Spirit King of Darkness had closed its doors, but it was still present on the ground.

While there was no longer an outpour of dark mana, the gate was still glowing with power.

This gave Monica a profound sense of discomfort, like goosebumps on the back of her neck.

Only Theodore and Gluttonous Zoe had the power to maintain this gate.

(I already defeated Theodore with the Star Arrow… Does this mean Gluttonous Zoe can control the gate even from a sealed state?)

Nero and Isaac seemed to be thinking the same thing as Monica, as Nero started hissing with his fur on end, and Isaac shouted at the approaching Cyril.

“Cyril! Give us Gluttonous Zoe!”

“Y-Yes, it’s right here…!”

Apparently, Cyril had also realized that something was wrong. He quickly rushed to Isaac and handed over the artifact.

After carefully examining Gluttonous Zoe to ensure that no shadows were leaking out, Isaac handed it to Monica.

Monica immediately began her inspection.

The lid of the jet-black box was securely closed, and there was no sign of any gaps where the shadows could leak out. Sophocles’s seal was functioning perfectly.

(So why? How is the gate still being maintained…?)

Perhaps Gluttonous Zoe’s power needed to be employed again, to manually erase the gate? Right as Monica was about to take a closer look, something black descended from the sky.

It was a heavily injured crow. Most of its feathers had been torn off, and its legs were bent at an unnatural angle.

Even so, the crow’s twisted legs managed to snatch Gluttonous Zoe from Monica’s hands.

It happened so quickly that she did not have the time to attempt a chantless spell.

“…Ah!” Monica screamed.

Almost simultaneously, Nero and Isaac sprang into action.

Nero leapt into the air and slashed at the crow with his claws, cutting through through the bird’s wings.

Isaac threw a small knife, which pierced deep into the crow’s torso.

Even after sustaining such damage, the crow let out a feeble caw and continued its unsteady flight, before landing with a thud in front of the gate.

Monica suddenly remembered back to her first battle with Theodore. After her attempt at sniping Theodore from the roof of her home, Theodore had somehow disappeared and reappeared behind her, on the same roof.

(So he had transformed into a bird…!)

The crow transformed into a black mist, before swelling up and taking on the shape of a human.

A man with tousled reddish-brown hair, dressed in the high-collar outfit of a scholar… the form of Theodore Maxwell.

However, he was almost entirely covered in black shadows, probably the only thing gluing his tattered body into one piece.

His head was in especially awful shape, with the right side of his forehead almost entirely blackened. Clearly, he was not going to last much longer.

He had been weakened to such an extent that Nero’s heightened senses could not detect his approach.

Theodore convulsed a few times before heaving a splatter of fresh blood and shadows from his mouth, staining the ground in the colors of red and black.

Even in this pitiful state, Theodore maintained the same unreliable smile as when Monica first met him.

His fingers were already gone, so Theodore was hugging Gluttonous Zoe with a distorted hand made out of shadows.

“…I’ll keep my promise… We go… together…” Theodore mumbled.

Those words caused Cyril to gasp. Perhaps he had noticed something.

Monica glanced over at Cyril to see him with an anguished frown.

“…How can you be so foolish?” Cyril muttered. “You did all this… for that…?”

Despite calling Theodore foolish, Cyril seemed to be grieving for the dragon.

However, Monica could not understand the reason for Cyril’s sadness, nor what Theodore was trying to do.

Meanwhile, Theodore’s blood-stained lips continued moving, weaving words that did not seem to be intended for anyone in particular. Given his lonely tone, perhaps he was only speaking to himself.

“Oh, this gate really is meant for humans…”

Theodore began tilting backwards. The gate was right behind him.

It had been closed earlier, but for whatever reason, the doors were slightly ajar, just wide enough for a person to fit.

“…Because it’s too narrow for a dragon to pass through.”

Theodore was about to fall through the gate, with Gluttonous Zoe clutched to his chest.

Monica turned pale at the realization. The precious things the artifact had stolen were still inside it.

She didn’t know if regaining Felix’s face was the best choice for Isaac, but she didn’t want to take away his options.

What about Elianne, who was robbed of her skin and hair? The girl’s agonized scream echoed through Monica’s mind again. She had vowed to reclaim those with Glenn.

“No…!”

“Stop…!”

Monica attempted a chantless wind spell to prevent Theodore’s fall, but she lacked the mana to activate her spell.

Cyril dashed forward, reaching out to Theodore with his hand. However, there were still a dozen steps between him and the gate. He would not make it in time.

Out of everyone present, there was only one person who could.

Isaac threw a small knife imbued with water magic, which struck Theodore in the arm and caused him to drop Gluttonous Zoe.

Right before the jet-black box fell through the gate, it was entangled by a thin rope of water. This was the spell Isaac had placed on the knife, with the other end of the rope clutched firmly in his hands.

Isaac reeled in the rope and recovered Gluttonous Zoe. However, at the same time, a shadow came flying out of the gate.

The shadow slithered through the air like a snake before transforming into a human-like hand that grabbed hold of Gluttonous Zoe.

“Ike! Let go of it!” Monica shouted, but it was too late.

The shadow had already crawled up Isaac’s arm and dragged him to the ground.

“Ike!”

“Get off of him!”

Monica and Cyril reached out to save Isaac, but the shadow had entangled his entire body and started pulling him toward the gate along with Gluttonous Zoe.

Isaac began an incantation to break his binds, but the shadow extended to cover his mouth like a gag.

With his means of resistance sealed, he was powerless against the shadow dragging him away. All he could do was use his free left hand to throw a white lizard at Monica.

“Master!!” Wildianu screamed.

Isaac had already been pulled to the edge of the gate.

“Ike! Ike…!!”

Monica strained every ounce of her remaining mana, attempting to cast a spell to save him.

However, all she accomplished was making her vision go blurry from mana deficiency.

Monica dropped to her knees, crying out as Isaac fell through the gate.

“Nooooo!”

“Your Highness!!” Cyril shouted.

And then, the gate silently closed its doors again.




As he fell into the darkness, Isaac Walker whispered to himself.

(Cyril, I’ll be getting you for that one.)

He had yet to give up on anything.

Q: What happened to the offering that was supposed to be given to the Spirit King of Ice?

A: They defaulted on it.

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