Hero's Coffin Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The grass swayed gently in the breeze. The vast field was dotted with colorful wildflowers, creating a scene like a painting, and every time the wind blew, a fresh scent wafted through the air.

In the distance, several old buildings were visible. The structures, covered in vines, wore the unique stillness of a space long untouched by visitors. The temple at the center of the various buildings seemed to shimmer with ethereal light as it caught the moonlight.

He looked around in a daze.

"Clouds..."

White fluffy clouds floated at a distance that seemed close enough to touch. There was even a waterfall in the distance, with the stream of water pouring into the void creating a rainbow, giving an overwhelmingly surreal impression.

They had really arrived at the sky island.

Though it was deep in the night, the moonlight was bright enough to see the surroundings clearly. After gazing blankly at the heavenly landscape, he turned his head. Harenir was looking around the area where they had just fallen, and his nonchalant behavior sparked a surge of anger.

They had managed to reach the sky island somehow, but Harenir had enveloped them in holy power as they fell. Didn't that mean he wasn't certain they would arrive safely? They could have both died. No, no. Since Harenir was the son who received God's love in abundance and didn't get hurt, only he would have died.

Wow, what a way to carry out an execution.

But before he could confront him, their companions came pouring down from above.

"Ugh, uuuuugh!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

"..."

Kalterik and Noi's resounding screams echoed through the space, while Mela seemed to have already grasped the situation and was falling calmly. She looked at the two with eyes that seemed to want to distance herself greatly.

As they got closer to the ground, the speed of their fall gradually decreased. But only Mela noticed this, so she was the only one to land safely by putting one foot down first, while the other two realized belatedly, flailed, and ended up rolling on the ground with a thud!

He looked up at the sky where they had fallen from. They had suddenly appeared in the sky at some point, but how was it connected to the relic site on the ground?

Noi got up with a groan of "Ugh," then marveled at the pile of objects nearby.

"Wow, these are traces of the numerous attempts to measure the depth of the tomb over about a thousand years!"

The mountain-like pile of objects turned out to be measuring tools. It seemed that these were what Harenir had been examining earlier.

There were hundreds of devices that had been lowered on ropes but had suddenly snapped and couldn't be retrieved, and quite a few magical tools were visible as well. It was amusing to see some trash mixed in, but that also made it feel more real. It really was a connected space.

But then...

"How are we going to get back?"

If the huge tomb site in Rus was connected to the sky here, the question of how to return naturally arose. If we fall from this island again, will we be connected to that place? No, where would we end up then?

He looked at Harenir in confusion and asked, and Harenir shrugged.

"Don't you know?"

"...Huh?"

The answer came back in a tone that suggested it should be obvious. Are you talking to me? He pointed at himself quizzically with his index finger, and Harenir nodded. His gently creasing eyes created a beautiful smile.

"Yes. After we find the holy relic today, we can rest for the night and leave tomorrow. Who knows when we'll get to come here again?"

The smile full of trust might have been something he would have wanted, but in the current situation, it was not at all a welcome belief.

It felt somewhat spiteful, but this time a realistic vagueness set in. The only being resting in this tomb would be the first emperor, and in the historical hall, it had shown that he couldn't summon the emperor's soul at his current level. What should he do in this situation? He worriedly looked down to find the NPC and was startled.

En was nowhere to be seen.

While it had always been an NPC faithful to its cat setting, appearing and disappearing at will, he had a feeling that this time it hadn't been able to follow at all. When was the last time he had seen it? They had been together while walking through the historical hall, but it hadn't been able to enter the special relic storage room because of the barrier.

After that, he had no memory of seeing En as they quickly headed to the relic site and he was grabbed by Harenir and fell. Should he have found it and jumped together? He looked up at the sky with an oddly empty feeling. Nothing else fell.

"The sky island seems to have grown in size!"

Just then, Noi exclaimed in wonder. As if more and more surprised the more he looked around, he pointed to the distant temple with a flushed face and said,

"It's much wider than the area measured in the past. Look how far away the temple is!"

The records stated that the first emperor's tomb, the temple, and its surroundings had risen, but now that temple was far away beyond the vast field. Well, there were no records of a waterfall rising together in the past either.

The sky island, much larger than what he had seen in book illustrations, was almost the size of a small village.

"This must be the land touched by God's hand for a thousand years..."

"Solnium..."

At Noi's murmur, Kalterik called out the name of God in an overwhelmed voice and clasped his hands, while Mela also placed her hand on her chest and closed her eyes. She wore a necklace with Solnium's emblem around her neck.

There probably wasn't a place that proved the existence of God more than the sky island. Even for an atheist like him, it was an amazing sight. However, he wasn't about to pray like the devout believers, so he just looked around awkwardly, feeling somewhat out of place, when unexpectedly, he found Harenir standing still.

His back view, gazing up at the sky, was quiet. Was he perhaps communicating directly with God? But for that... his blue eyes were quite cold, and even seemed cynical at a glance. His eyes, with the moonlight falling obliquely on them, looked infinitely chilly.

"..."

Harenir tilted his head slightly and met his eyes. He seemed not to have expected him to be staring so intently, and for a moment he made a strange expression before quickly putting on a gentle smile.

"Shall we set off now?"

Now that they had entered the sky island, it was time to go find the holy relic, which was their purpose.

The temple was visible even from afar. It was covered in vines, as if to show the passage of time, but even that looked sacred. Step, step. It felt strange to walk across a field that must have been quiet for a very long time. The night air was thick with the scent of grass.

"Hmm hmm, hmm—."

Noi seemed to like the sky island so much that he walked as if he might fly away at any moment, even humming a tune. Was he happy because it was not only touched by God's hand but also full of life force? According to what the Dium had said in the previous Encroachment Zone, fairies had gone extinct long ago, and Noi was thought to be one of the few remaining descendants. Perhaps this land was like the land from the distant past when it was full of fairies.

When they finally arrived in front of the temple, Noi rummaged through his bag and pulled out a parchment.

"They say that while the exterior looks like a temple, the interior was built to be as complex as a maze. There were no floor plans left, and no one could go and check, so everyone just made guesses... but they say they excavated a floor plan from the past while investigating the ruins two months ago! They were planning to reveal it at the special exhibition, and I happened to find it in the relic storage room!"

"...Did you steal it?"

"What are you saying! I'm going to draw it from memory now!"

Noi raised his eyes as if greatly offended by his question. The parchment he unfolded was indeed blank. Then he knelt on the ground and quickly began to draw incredibly complex intertwining paths, leaving him bewildered.

He remembers all that? The time spent in the relic storage room was less than twenty or thirty minutes, and he thought Noi was focused on the ancient soul he summoned at the end.

However, his companions accepted Noi's words as if they were natural. Kalterik let out a big exclamation of admiration when he saw the map Noi had completed.

"Woooow, as expected of a genius aide. A genius who remembers everything after seeing it once!"

"Of course! Do you think I became the hero's aide by luck?!"

Ah, so there was a clear reason why Noi had insisted on being taken along, saying he would be helpful. He felt awkward and just rolled his eyes to the side. Before he could even apologize, Noi was already happily smiling at the praise Harenir had given him among the companions.

In a normal game, brief information about characters would be displayed, but this game didn't provide any such convenience, often leading to situations like this. What a terrible game, as always. Muttering the phrase that had become like a catchphrase internally, he vowed to torment En when they returned.

Anyway, now that they had a map of the temple, finding the holy relic should be a breeze. All the companions thought so too and entered confidently, but.

Clank, clank, clank...

As soon as they entered, they encountered soldiers in white armor. Noi, who came face to face with them moving in groups as if on patrol, exclaimed blankly,

"Oh, this wasn't on the map."

Of course it wouldn't be.

Ah, they had overlooked the 'tomb + maze = trap' formula. He sighed inwardly, suspecting if the first emperor might be an isekai version of that emperor from a certain country who searched for the elixir of immortality. There were too many soldiers. If there were this many just in this corridor, how many soldiers were there in the entire temple?