The Spiral maze (Part II)
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Although Ellyad managed to escape, he was completely disoriented. He knew Thrett had been taken by the palace guards, but he had no idea which direction the palace was in.
This area was shrouded in darkness, with few lights besides the starlight and moonlight. The high tower-like buildings all looked similar, and while some might have been hidden or too distant to see, Ellyad couldn’t afford to confirm each one individually. If he were discovered by Lofisso and the pain of the contract returned, his movements and speed would surely slow down, increasing the likelihood of being caught again. Therefore, Ellyad had to make the most of his time. He searched constantly for signs pointing to the palace but found either markers leading him in circles or pointing upwards to the sky, as if playing a prank. It suddenly dawned on Ellyad that the country’s most common defense mechanism was the intricate maze of bridges, and only the nobles invited or permitted knew the correct path to the palace. Perhaps the signs weren’t misleading him; rather, Ellyad didn’t possess the answer, hence his inability to find the way to the palace smoothly.
‘What should I do now…’
As Ellyad was sinking into worry, a sudden pain struck his chest. He quickly tensed his nerves, preparing himself, but this time, he felt his throat being tightly grasped, causing him intense agony as if being crushed alive.
“Ugh… Ahh!”
The pain far exceeded the first time, and Ellyad couldn’t bear it. He even screamed in agony, his legs buckling as he collapsed to the ground before he could reach the wall for support. No matter how he struggled, the relentless pain tormented his nerves and sanity. The excruciating pain almost drove Ellyad mad, and he couldn’t help but howl uncontrollably. He had thought he could endure it, but he ended up falling here.
“Agh, it hurts… it hurts so much… Thrett, save me…” Ellyad cried out incoherently, shouting the name of the only person he could trust with his soul. The snow-white specks of light dispersed from Ellyad’s body for the third time, but this time, the specks extinguished one by one before him. As the specks faded, the pain on Ellyad’s body gradually subsided.
Though he immediately knew he was once again saved by these unnamed white specks of light, watching them fade away left him involuntarily chilled. It seemed as if these specks sacrificed themselves to ensure Ellyad’s safety. As the last speck was about to vanish, Ellyad hurriedly reached out to grab it, but when he opened his palm, there was nothing left, just like snowflakes made of light.
“What are these specks of light?” Ellyad only knew that these specks would disappear without a trace from now on, never to appear again. But in the end, he couldn’t understand what had happened at all.
“That’s magic.” Suddenly, a voice piped up, answering Ellyad’s doubts.
Ellyad startled and quickly searched for the source of the voice, turning his head to see the same handsome man he had encountered in the dark alley, dressed entirely in white. The man stood on the stone railing of the bridge, looking down at Ellyad expressionlessly.
“Do you know what those specks of light were just now? Did you do that?” Ellyad didn’t plan to interrogate the man about his mysterious appearances and disappearances but rather wanted to find out the truth about the specks of light first.
“It wasn’t me. It was a special magic cast on you by someone else.” The man unabashedly stared at Ellyad, sizing him up.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“The magic on you consists of three effects: defense, healing, and transfer. These three types of magic belong to completely different domains, and few people can use them so haphazardly, which makes it special. The activation condition is a spell, or rather, it requires a keyword. As long as you say the keyword, the magic will activate.”
“What’s the keyword then?”
“I don’t know, but you triggered it three times and used up all the magic without knowing the keyword?”
Ellyad couldn’t recall ever learning any spells, so he pondered over what he had said before—the answer instantly came to mind.
The keyword was “Thrett.”
He always instinctively called out Thrett’s name, and the magic always activated when he did, repeatedly protecting him from harm. Even though he couldn’t see Thrett, he could still feel his presence. Thrett had always urged Ellyad to trust him, and Ellyad had initially thought he harbored doubts, but in reality, he had already placed deep trust in him.
Ellyad’s trust was met with a response; Thrett hadn’t violated their agreement, and Ellyad couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re smiling,” the man said as he jumped down from the railing and looked at Ellyad. Suddenly, he reached out and pushed aside Ellyad’s bangs, gazing into his eyes. “I came to confirm once again… indeed, your eyes are more golden than the color of ears of grain.”
Ellyad had no interest in his own eye color and was somewhat repelled by the man’s persistent actions. He pushed aside the man’s hand and took a few steps back, asking, “Who are you, exactly?”
“Me? I am—” The man jumped down from the railing and approached Ellyad, bringing his face very close before calmly answering with a flat tone:
“I am Thrett Fyndrilval Ellyad.”
Upon hearing this, Ellyad raised an eyebrow and pointed the blade of the Hero’s Sword at the man. “Don’t make jokes using Thrett’s name.”
He knew this man seemed to have already seen through his affairs, so it was impossible for him not to know Thrett’s full name, especially since ‘Ellyad’ was derived from there.
“Are you angry?”
Ellyad nodded, but then sheathed his sword. The man was not simple, and now was not the time to deal with him, so there was no need to waste time here.
“Because you seem to like this name very much, I wanted to use it too. You do like ‘Thrett Fyndrilval Ellyad,’ don’t you?”
Ellyad had to admit that when he first heard Thrett’s full name in the town where he met Thrett, he found it quite strange but still had a fondness for the name. That was why he made the absurd request for a name-sharing with a strange demon he met for the first time. But things were different now because that was Thrett’s name, a part of him, which was why Ellyad liked it.
“Do you not have a name yourself?” Ellyad asked.
“I’ve just been born, so I haven’t thought of a name for myself yet.”
Although Ellyad knew that the man was unlikely to be human, his appearance seemed to be around twenty years old at least, which didn’t align at all with being ‘just born.’ However, now was not the time to dwell on this mysterious man. Ignoring him, Ellyad continued to scan for the direction leading to the palace.
“If you’re looking for the way to the palace, I can help you,” the man said, hovering in mid-air before flying ahead. Ellyad had no choice but to gamble and follow along. It was better than staying in place and wasting time. Despite not having made a good impression, the man hadn’t shown any hostility towards Ellyad so far, so he could temporarily trust him.
As Ellyad chased after the white man floating in mid-air, he asked, “Why are you helping me?”
“Because you need help right?” the man replied to Ellyad’s question with another question.
Perhaps the man was intentionally concealing something, so Ellyad decided not to press further. Whatever needed to happen would happen in due time. However, Ellyad thought of another important matter:
“What do you mean by ‘transfer’?” Ellyad only understood the first two types of magic, but the concept of ‘transfer’ seemed vague to him. If ‘transfer’ meant redirecting pain, where exactly was it being redirected to?
“Such magic is usually used to take curses on behalf of others, transferring all calamities and suffering onto the caster, who then bears the responsibility,” the man explained.
“What!” Ellyad gasped, realizing the implications. If what the man said was true, then all the pain and punishment that could have killed Ellyad…
“…would have been transferred to Thrett,” Ellyad finished the thought, his expression turning pale. He had relaxed his thinking when the pain had finally subsided, never considering where the pain might have gone.
The man remained expressionless, showing no signs of comfort or concern. However, he uttered the words Ellyad most wanted to hear: “The palace, it’s right there.”
He extended his finger and pointed ahead. In the moonlight, he saw towering castle towers with domed roofs, connected by numerous bridges underneath, giving the illusion from afar of a castle arching in mid-air, as if ensnared by thorns.
Just now, Ellyad had been entirely focused on keeping up with the man, his mind consumed by thoughts of Thrett, so he hadn’t noticed how the man had found the castle. Perhaps it was because of his ability to fly in the air that he could clearly discern the direction of the palace.
“To enter the castle, you have to pass through the maze below, but I don’t intend to go with you,” the man said before abruptly vanishing. However, Ellyad had long known that this person could leave at any moment without a word, so he didn’t mind, nor did he want to be distracted by it.
The pain of the contract punishment was unbearable for Ellyad even for a few minutes. Now, transferred to Thrett, if the pain intensified due to Ellyad’s escape, he couldn’t be sure if Thrett could endure until Ellyad rescued him. And what after the rescue? Even if they successfully liberated Thrett from imprisonment, the punishment wouldn’t cease. Though Thrett had once told Ellyad that he was a somewhat special kind of demon, slightly stronger than the average, Ellyad couldn’t confirm Trett’s safety firsthand, making it an agonizing ordeal for him.
‘What should I do? Should I go back to Lofisso to get the contract book?’ Ellyad panicked momentarily. The goal was within reach, and perhaps turning back wouldn’t take too much time, but if Lofisso found out he had escaped, she would likely catch up. After all, she had intended to use Ellyad as a scapegoat, and even if he died, she would want his body to take the blame.
‘No, I can’t.’
He couldn’t trust Lofisso. Even if he revealed the truth to her, there was no guarantee she would be willing to help. Moreover, Ellyad couldn’t be certain if she had prepared other ruthless methods to deal with this situation. Therefore, he had no choice but to continue forward.
‘Thrett, please, stay safe no matter what,’ Ellyad prayed countless times in his heart.
He ran along the straight empty bridge, observing that there were actually guard posts set up in these mazes. Each post was manned by four guards, but their distribution seemed to lack any specific pattern, appearing rather randomly placed. However, Ellyad speculated that following these guard posts might actually lead to the correct path to the palace. Nevertheless, no matter the approach, the fundamental way to navigate the maze was to head straight towards the ‘target object.’
This maze of bridge-like structures, resembling a thicket, was densely packed with bridges. With just a little leap, one could jump directly to the adjacent or lower bridge. If going upwards was necessary, climbing up from the bridge piers on the higher bridges was sufficient. The only danger lay in the guard posts; although they seemed scattered, they acted as all-encompassing surveillance eyes. Any slight anomaly would easily be noticed. However, Ellyad was skilled in stealth, adept at moving silently in the darkness.
Once he made up his mind, he began to climb. As he stepped over the railing of the bridge, he realized another danger. Although the distance between the bridges was only about as wide as an adult could spread their arms, beneath the bridge lay a bottomless abyss of darkness. If he were to fall carelessly, with a stroke of luck, he might land on another bridge; with less luck, he might plummet straight into the darkness below.
The Iron Gray Nation was built above a river, and below could very well be the turbulent river or the lower bridge deck serving as the foundation. The distance between the lower and upper levels was like that between heaven and earth, so no matter what lay below, falling would be fatal. Ellyad climbed steadily and agilely, lurking alone in the darkness of the night, making it difficult for the guards at the posts to detect any intruders. Even if he were discovered, silently subduing the soldiers would not be difficult for Ellyad.
