[V12C48] Open the Gate

Black Dragon Theodore and Isaac fell into the darkness that lied beyond the Spirit King Gate. Once the gate shut its doors, Monica’s vision went pitch black. Her consciousness had slipped away for a moment.

Cyril’s voice was what brought her back to reality.

“Your Highness!”

Cyril shouted, reaching into the shining door on the ground. However, his fingers passed through the particles of light forming the gate, only scratching the ground instead.

Returning to her senses, Monica crawled toward the gate with the last of her strength.

Cyril was right. It was far too early to give into despair.

She hadn’t even made an attempt yet.

(Of the people here, I’m the only one capable of Spirit King Summoning.)

Moreover, Monica had been researching dark magic for the past few weeks.

At this moment, Silent Witch Monica Everett was the person most knowledgeable about the gate for the Spirit King of Darkness.

(I have to save Ike.)

Monica placed her palm against the shining gate, attempting to manipulate the magical formula behind it.

The magical formula for Spirit King Summoning could be divided into four major steps: deploying the gate, stabilizing it, opening it, and finally, borrowing a portion of the Spirit King’s power through the opened gate.

Among them, opening the gate was by far the easiest step.

Monica’s mana was still on the verge of depletion, but simply opening the gate didn’t require that much.

First, she attempted the same procedure used when summoning the Spirit King of Wind. It didn’t work.

She went on to adjust the magical formulas bit by bit, gradually modifying the spell to fit the dark attribute rather than wind.

Repeating this on such a complex magical formula was an exhausting, painstaking task that made her head dizzy.

Monica was generally fine doing meticulous work, but right now, her fingertips trembled with panic at the time constraints.

(How much longer can the gate be maintained?)

The shining purple gate was gradually losing its luster. Time was running out.

While muttering to herself, Monica continued her attempts to interfere with the gate. Next to her was the white lizard Wildianu, touching the gate with his small hands.

Unlike Cyril, the mass of mana that made up the spirit’s hand could physically touch the gate instead of slipping through it.

However, being able to touch the gate did not mean he could open it, especially since Wildianu was already too exhausted to transform into human form.

“Oh right, a contracted spirit should be able to sense the location of their contractor…” Cyril said, looking at Wildianu.

“I don’t sense Master anywhere… It’s as if he’s completely disappeared!”

Wildianu’s scream caused Monica and Cyril to go pale.

Spirits were connected to their contractors by an invisible thread. Thus, they could vaguely sense the distance and direction of the other party even when separated.

If this connection could not be sensed, then the most likely explanation was… death.

(No, no, no.)

The panic and anxiety threatened to put a halt on Monica’s train of thought.

But no, she couldn’t afford to stop here. She was the only one who could open this gate. She had to do it.

After attempting interference so many times that she lost count, Monica felt a faint response, so tiny that it could have been easily missed.

On her previous attempts, Monica did not even sense the transmission of force when grabbing and pulling at the gate. But now, she could feel a force being applied.

——However, the gate was simply too heavy to open.

(Open, open…!)

Monica squeezed out all her remaining mana for a desperate last attempt.

She imagined grasping onto that tiny foothold and pulling with all her strength, then translated that image into a magical formula.

Before Monica knew it, she was shouting. The Silent Witch, famous for her lack of incantations, was shouting in desperation.

“——Open the gate!!”

The double doors of the gate moved ever so slightly. This created a truly tiny gap, just enough for a single finger.

Three sets of hands reached into that gap. Thule and Pikeh took their positions on the left side of the double doors, and Nero on the right.

They grabbed the doors and lifted them. The gap, originally wide enough for a finger, expanded to the size of a fist.

However, this caused a dark mist to overflow from the gate again.

“Sophocles!” Cyril shouted.

“On it!”

The Key of Knowledge Sophocles glowed on Cyril’s middle finger, creating a defensive barrier around Cyril and Monica.

Without hesitation, Cyril jammed his left hand into the gate, up to his shoulder. Wildianu jumped onto that hand.

“Master!”

The inside of the gate contained only a pitch-black darkness, making Cyril’s left arm completely invisible. Even so, Wildianu used that arm as a lifeline to dive into the abyss.

“Master! Over here! Master!”

＊　＊　＊

Isaac was pondering something while climbing the spiral staircase.

It had been over ten hours since he fell through the gate. Would the same amount of time have passed on the other side?

If so, it was very possible that the gate was already closed. In that case, where would he end up if he climbed to the top of the staircase?

(In stories where people fall into the underworld and climb back to the mortal realm, there are variations where they return years later, or they arrive at an unfamiliar location… I hope I can make it back to Sazandol.)

Another concern was the dark mana.

Isaac had been wandering through purgatory for quite some time, yet he showed no signs of mana poisoning.

In that case, where did the darkness overflowing from the Spirit King Gate come from?

Perhaps the underworld was surrounded by a wall of dark mana, and the gate summoning the Spirit King of Darkness punched a hole in that wall, causing the mana from the wall to overflow. That would explain it, but this was only speculation.

(I might have to cross that wall to return to the living world. But will my body hold up? The safest way seems to be slipping through the gate again, but that’s probably already closed…)

Isaac sharpened his senses again.

He had sensed Wildianu when he started climbing the staircase, and the spirit’s presence was growing stronger with each step.

——”Open the gate!!”

(That voice…)

The girl was usually quiet, but when she spoke in such a dignified voice, the miracles she created would always pave the way forward for Isaac.

Isaac looked up to see a single ray of light.

——”Master! Over here! Master!!”

“Wil!”

Isaac reached into the streaming light and felt a sensation against his fingertips. It was like cold reptilian skin.

A moment later, the hand of a man reached out to grab Isaac’s hand.

——”Your Highness!”

Setting aside various complaints, Isaac grabbed that hand back.

“Master!”

“Your Highness!”

“Ike!”

Monica reached out a small hand to help Cyril pull Isaac up. However, the feeble strength of the two was not sufficient to raise him.

Isaac considered pulling himself up with a rope made from water magic, when a third hand violently grabbed his wrist.

“You better be grateful, junior!” Nero declared.

Isaac was yanked upwards with the force of a vegetable pulled out of the soil. Once his upper body emerged from the gate, he crawled up the rest of the way on his own.

Almost simultaneously, the gate lost its luster and closed its doors again. The particles of light forming it gradually dispersed, and the surrounding air returned to normal.

(…Is it over?)

Black Dragon Theodore had fallen into the underworld, the gate for summoning the Spirit King of Darkness was gone, and the sealed Gluttonous Zoe was in their hands.

The series of events beginning with the theft of Gluttonous Zoe eight years ago had come to a close.

The sky above was blue, and the early summer breeze felt refreshing against their skin.

In addition, Monica and Cyril looked the same as when Isaac fell through the gate. Since Cyril was still soaking wet with seawater, not much time had passed.

(It seems I’ve aged an extra ten hours or so.)

Isaac felt strangely calm as he observed his master and rival in love collapsed on the ground.

The eyepatch was gone, but he no longer felt a blinding sensation.

Isaac blinked a few times and smiled.

“I’m back.”

Monica and Cyril jumped on Isaac, breathing heavily with tear-streaked faces.

They had enough momentum to knock over your average man.

“I-I-Ike…Wah! Waaaah!”

“Your Highness, t-thank goodness…hng…ugh…”

Monica started wailing like a child. Meanwhile, Cyril’s failed attempt to maintain his usual expression while crying only made him look incredibly awkward.

Such awful faces they were making. That said, Isaac was going to complain as his own from earlier wasn’t much better.

As he watched over the two, Isaac suddenly felt a small weight on top of his head.

“Master… Master…”

The white lizard Wildianu was mumbling there.

His partner usually perched on his shoulder, but now he was painfully pulling at Isaac’s hair with his small hands. Since spirits did not cry, this was the only way for him to express the extent of his emotions.

Thule said “I’m glad for you, Cyril,” as Pikeh made a triumphant pose. Meanwhile, Nero voiced the dinner request of “Let’s have roasted rabbit loin tonight.”

As expected from the great Nero-senpai. He had absolutely zero intention of reading the room.

Isaac savored the joy of survival and the warmth of the two clinging to him. Not to mention the weight of his partner on his head.

“I sure am loved, huh.”

The teary trio of Monica, Cyril, and Wildianu shouted “Of course!” in complete sync, which caused Isaac to burst into laughter.

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