༺ Nartania (1) ༻
From Oben, they traveled northeast for four days.
Crossing over a huge mountain range and passing through a rigid plateau where the snowy field turned into dark frost, there was a cave at the edge of a cliff.
When they finally arrived at their destination, Aisha spoke.
“But there’s nothing here?”
[Look up, half-beast kid.]
Annalise answered Aisha’s question.
Aisha then lifted her head upwards.
Then, she stopped breathing.
“…!”
Aisha’s fur bristled as she looked at the scene before her.
“A castle…”
A massive citadel was hanging among irregularly grown black stalactites on the cave’s ceiling.
Miller stroked his chin and let out a sigh of admiration.
“How was this made? Is it magic?”
[Must be. It couldn’t be done with just sorcery.]
“Look at this old hag?”
Amid the ongoing tension, Vera described the appearance of the castle to Renee.
“Everything that makes up this cave is black frost. From the stalagmites on the ground to the stalactites on the ceiling, and even the pillars connecting them. It should be too dark to see anything, yet there’s a mysterious light illuminating the surroundings, so you can faintly see around. And the castle…”
Vera’s sunken eyes were directed at the large castle hanging from the ceiling.
“It looks like they built the castle upside down on the ceiling. I can’t help but feel that gravity is reversed there. The castle is entirely black so it’s hard to identify, but the shapes of the windows are clearly distinguishable. All visible windows have colorful stained glass.”
“Um… I can’t quite imagine that.”
“It’s completely understandable. It’s an unbelievable sight even for me, who’s looking at it with my own eyes.”
Renee nodded at Vera’s words.
And she muttered as if she was talking to herself.
“…Nartania is in there, isn’t she?”
“Yes, the Queen of the Dark Season is there.”
She was given that nickname because all who encountered her lived the rest of their lives in darkness.
Nartania, the Queen of the Dark Season, was right at the center of that castle.
“Can we resolve this without fighting?”
”…We have to. We have no choice but to hope that she will not hesitate to give us the legacy.”
He was hopeful, but Vera knew as he spoke.
‘A battle is unavoidable.’
Whether the opponent was a vampire or even Nartania herself.
Friction would occur in some way.
After all, wasn’t the only ancient species who directly targeted Renee on the Week of the Midnight Sun?
She was the only half-god who moved the Followers of the Night to lift her own curse.
This was different from the case of the dragonians.
The dragonians who targeted Renee were hybrids outside of Locrion’s interest, but the Followers of the Night were Nartania’s elite guards.
Unlike the half-dragons who moved out of a simple desire for power, they moved to lift the curse that bound them, so their motivations were completely different.
“…Let’s go.”
Renee spoke.
She tapped her cane with a thud.
The rest of the group followed and began to walk with tense expressions.
And then.
“…You’ve come.”
They encountered a vampire.
***
The Fifth Hand of the Followers of the Night, Dreimas.
He dared to doubt the Queen’s command that was given to him.
‘What on hell am I thinking?’
He felt uncomfortable.
He wanted to capture the Miracle in front of him at this very moment.
Their power was not to be underestimated, but they were still humans and few in number.
If all the followers of the Citadel came out, along with their familiars, they could easily subdue them and claim the Miracle.
‘…Bring them here.’
The Queen simply ordered him to bring them before her.
Dreimas frowned.
He had to follow the Queen’s orders, of course, but it was not easy to control his emotions.
‘Kogin was caught.’
Four years ago, during the White Night.
Dreimas clearly remembered what happened that day.
The Seventh Hand, Kogin, went out to capture the Miracle and never returned. That incident fueled Dreimas’s anger.
And it wasn’t just that.
How many of their kin were killed by those servants of the Gods fifty years ago?
As many as Nine Hands had disappeared.
Thousands of their kind were eradicated.
The Citadel had not yet recovered from the damage, and the Queen had not yet restored the Hands, but how could she welcome such an enemy?
”…Vampire.”
At the very front, the black-haired man who was next to the Miracle spoke.
Dreimas felt his body shake at the killing intent emanating from him, and he responded, angry at himself.
“How crude. Indeed, humans are a foolish species who cannot even distinguish proper terms.”
“I just called a vampire, a vampire.”
“We are the Followers of the Night, pilgrims who worship the greatest darkness. Remember this well, for I will not tolerate it twice.”
Dreimas fluttered his cloak.
He clicked his tongue and added.
“By Her Majesty’s command, I have come to meet you, so you must dutifully appreciate and follow this grace.”
He didn’t like it.
He detested it to the point where his teeth chattered.
However, in the end, Dreimas followed the command.
The position as a Noble of the Citadel, and the title Hand of the Queen, held that meaning to him.
***
The way to the Citadel hanging from the ceiling was simpler than expected.
‘They’ve reversed gravity.’
As they entered the Citadel, their bodies suddenly ‘plunged’ towards the sky.
Fortunately, more than half of the group was able to react, so there was no harm done.
Still, Vera couldn’t hide his irritation.
It was because of Dreimas’ attitude of just sticking the group to the ceiling without any explanation.
“You flew quite well.”
A tone full of contempt.
Outright hostility.
Vera wanted to slit his throat right away, but he should not make trouble in a situation where Nartania did not antagonize them.
He made an effort to ignore him and looked at Renee in his arms.
“Are you alright?”
Renee, who had been stiff, slowly raised her head.
“Yes, yes…”
Thump. Thump.
She felt her heart pounding heavily.
It was probably because her senses became messed up due to her inability to see what was happening.
“I’m okay. How about the others?”
“Everyone has landed safely.”
“That’s a relief…”
A sigh of relief came out from Renee.
“Could you let me down? I’ve gotten a bit used to it, so I can walk on my own.”
“Okay.”
Renee set her foot on the ground.
She tapped the ground with her feet and leaned on her cane. Then, Vera took her hand as she reached out.
“Yes, I can walk now.”
Perhaps because the gravity itself was working toward the ceiling, they didn’t feel strange.
Once Vera confirmed that Renee was comfortable with the reversed gravity, he threw his gaze at Dreimas, who had been glaring at them all this time.
“…I don’t know if this can be called guiding.”
“If you can’t even handle this, you’re not qualified.”
Dreimas snorted.
And he fluttered his cloak again and turned away.
“The Queen is waiting. Do not delay.”
His arrogance remained unchanged.
Vera felt a fire boiling inside him, and he tried hard to hold it back.
***
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Dreimas stopped walking.
The faces of the group members who stopped with him were tense.
“…It seems like we’ve arrived.”
Vera said, staring at the gigantic door in front of him.
The door was embossed with all sorts of colorful patterns and decorations, similar to the royal palace of Maleus in the Cradle.
“Behave yourselves. This is Her Majesty’s chamber.”
Dreimas spoke in a stern voice.
Feeling annoyed once again, Vera held the Holy Sword.
As he did so, he felt puzzled at his own emotions.
‘…Why?’
Why am I this emotional?
Am I under some kind of spell?
Vera scanned his body with his divinity.
‘There’s nothing.’
He didn’t feel any curses or spells.
‘Is it the mana flowing throughout the castle?’
That was the question.
Was the sticky and ominous mana interfering with his mind?
‘…I don’t know.’
There was no way to know if it was due to the influence of the ancient species’ power.
Looking at Locrion with a half-opened Intention almost caused an accident that was engraved into his soul, so he could not open his Intention right now.
Vera frowned at Dreimas, but soon exhaled.
‘…I must control it.’
This is a crucial moment.
If I mess up now, it’ll be difficult to handle the aftermath.
Nartania is an obvious enemy.
If this outburst of emotion was caused by her, and if she intended for it to happen…
He absolutely should not follow it.
“I will open it.”
Dreimas knelt before the royal palace.
And he chanted as if singing a hymn.
“Your Majesty! Your Fifth Hand, Dreimas, has fulfilled your command and returned!”
What came out was a shout that one wouldn’t imagine could come from his skinny body.
Immediately afterward, the gate opened.
Gooong—
A loud noise echoed.
Darkness poured out from the gap of the opened gate.
Vera narrowed his eyes.
In the dark chamber where he could barely see an inch ahead, he felt a strangely familiar aura.
‘…It’s familiar?’
What is it?
Though the question arose, he could not find an answer.
[Enter.]
At that moment, a voice came from the inside.
Vera’s thoughts wavered at this voice, which sounded like it could belong to a young girl, a woman, and also an old lady.
Hesitate—
“Vera?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
Vera’s face showed a deep bewilderment, but no one could see it at that moment.
The chilling darkness covered everyone’s eyes.
Renee gripped Vera’s hand even tighter.
“Let’s go.”
Vera must be nervous as well.
He must be pressured to protect her.
Concluding that she needed to get her act together, Renee led Vera into the palace, and everyone else followed.
And right after that, the voice was heard again.
[Oh, you look troubled.]
A voice full of laughter.
Upon hearing it, Vera lifted his head.
His expression grew even more grim.
“…Nartania.”
He called out to the owner of the voice.
After a moment of silence, Nartania responded.
[Welcome to my palace.]
The darkness dispersed.
The fog cleared.
And then, a massive silhouette was revealed.
Vera looked at the figure before him with strained eyes.
‘…That’s Nartania.’
The moment he caught sight of her true form, Vera felt two conflicting emotions.
It was eerie and beautiful.
There was a massive, writhing mass of flesh.
Above the squirming, blood-colored flesh, half of a woman’s naked body jutted out, resting her chin.
Shining golden hair as if spun from gold threads, skin whiter than even the snows of Oben, and a body that seemed to snatch away one’s soul.
Vera was momentarily enchanted by it, but the sight of her face snapped him back to his senses.
‘…It’s not there.’
There were no facial features. There were no eyes, nose, mouth, or organs one would expect a human to have.
Instead, there were eerie holes in their place.
From these holes, dead blood flowed constantly.
The blood dripped down her pale skin and left a trail more vivid than anything else.
As it flowed down her jaw, her throat, her collarbone, and through her breast, Vera discovered something he hadn’t noticed before because she was resting on her chin.
Ten arms extended from her ribcage.
[Why aren’t you answering?]
Nartania laughed.
The two arms attached to her shoulders, along with the ten arms extending from her ribcage, began to perform various actions, like stroking her head, covering her body, and wiping the flowing blood.
The moment the faces of the group turned as white as a sheet at the sight…
[Vera, didn’t I greet you?]
She called Vera’s name.
