Retire 341

341 Roses in the Sea (2)

The waves crashed.

The sea stretched endlessly toward the star-filled sky.

Perhaps because of that sky, it was easy to perceive the dungeon as an infinite space. It was only natural that people would attempt to explore it. An ecosystem, plants, and animals—later called monsters—unlike anything found on Earth.

It wasn’t hard to understand why some people found a kind of romance in such a place. Staring up at that starry sky, it was easy to fall into such sentimental musings, as if one might be drawn in.

But the space within a dungeon was not infinite. No matter how vast a dungeon might seem, if you walked far enough in any direction, you would eventually reach a wall. A transparent wall, domed and curving overhead.

Beyond the wall, you could see the stars.

There were no exceptions. Look at that sea. The waves rolled, and you could see the line where sky met water. Unlike the seas of Earth, if you launched a boat here, there would be no horizon to disappear behind. After all, a dungeon was not the Earth.

There was a movie he’d seen once, one his mother had loved. In it, if you took a small boat out onto a sea like this, you’d eventually reach a wall painted with a blue sky.

He couldn’t quite recall the plot of that film, but the ending scene lingered in his memory. Perhaps because that wall had reminded him of a dungeon.

Thud!

“…Hup!”

Kim Chaemin was thrown far from the sea. Henry Lehmann had shattered his magic with ease.

Yes! Shattered it. If he’d absorbed it or something, it would have been less shocking—but he broke it! Like a child tossing aside toy blocks!

“What kind of magic is this?”

Henry Lehmann tilted his head, holding a bundle of black threads in his hand. Before Lehmann could break it again, Kim Chaemin reclaimed the magic with a surge of power. The impact of having his magic destroyed was severe. Kim Chaemin swallowed down a wave of nausea.

Lehmann, on the other hand, clicked his tongue in disappointment as the magic vanished from his hand.

“What was that just now? I’ve never seen that kind of magic before.”

“……”

Lehmann didn’t seem to expect an answer, continuing to talk to himself.

“So archmages really are archmages, huh? Always hiding some trump card?”

Lehmann still hadn’t stepped out of the sea. He was about ten meters from the beach. Not so far that the vines couldn’t reach, but too far for them to exert their full strength.

It wasn’t that Kim Chaemin couldn’t use magic of other elements. It was just that none of them had enough power to affect Lehmann.

“Noah’s the same way, even if he doesn’t show it—he’s got his own trump cards. Just look at the runes he uses… Ah! Right, those runes. Noah was furious about you revealing them. I haven’t seen him that annoyed since Alex.”

If Lehmann was telling the truth, then the plan to provoke Noah Michel by revealing the runes had worked perfectly.

Kim Chaemin kept his silence, watching Henry Lehmann’s every move.

Ah, this is why you should never enter a dungeon alone. Especially one where you don’t know what’s inside.

This was the price for breaking the most basic rule of dungeon raids.

Kim Chaemin’s magic was excellent for gathering information. For plants, burrowing into places people couldn’t reach was easy. They weren’t animals, so growing them was easy too…

But for that very reason, Kim Chaemin’s magic lacked weight. It was easy to bind or restrain, like when he caught the Minotaur in Myeong-dong, but anything more was difficult. That was why he could only stand here, listening to Lehmann’s words, unable to do anything else! Damn it, if only he’d come a little closer, he could have bound him tight with vines.

And Lehmann knew that, which was why he stubbornly refused to leave the sea. He didn’t seem to have any particular means of attacking Kim Chaemin, either.

“……”

A tense standoff lingered for a while.

Lehmann picked up a rose petal that had drifted to his feet.

“I’ve never liked flowers.”

Lehmann murmured in a light voice, as if humming a song. It sounded as if he was speaking to Kim Chaemin, but also as if he was talking to himself.

“But if I had to pick a kind I could tolerate… You know, the ones that eat bugs.”

Lehmann lifted his head toward Kim Chaemin.

“What are they called again? You know, right? Aren’t you some kind of botanist?”

“……”

He could imitate it, but it wasn’t the same!

He might have done all sorts of research, but Kim Chaemin was, first and foremost, a mage. A mage.

If Woo Heejae had made such a careless remark, he’d have made him kneel and lectured him on the history of magic for three hours…

Kim Chaemin gritted his teeth. Where the hell were those people? Why hadn’t they shown up yet?!

Not knowing exactly what was happening on their end made this all the more frustrating. But there hadn’t been any sign of danger… Anyone else would have come running by now, but this was Hong Seokyeong. That Hong Seokyeong. If it were him, he’d break everything to get out.

Woo Heejae… Well, it’s not that he lacked skill, but with Hong Seokyeong at his side, would it ever be his turn?

“You know something?”

“…You.”

“Ah! Finally, you speak. I was starting to think you couldn’t talk.”

Kim Chaemin changed his mind.

There was no way to capture Lehmann right now. His magic was clearly insufficient, and even if he tried using unfamiliar elemental magic, as long as Lehmann stayed in the sea, it wouldn’t work.

In that case, he might as well try to draw him into conversation.

How much he could trust anything Lehmann said was another matter, but like a villain from an old movie, he seemed eager to ramble on.

So far, most of it had been complaints about Noah Michel and Alex Hope.

“Are you… human?”

“Oh. Going straight for that, huh?”

Lehmann laughed, as if deeply amused. His voice, which had been gentle and childlike, rose in pitch, taking on a bestial growl.

Lehmann tilted his head back. The long gills on his neck opened and closed, revealing raw, red flesh.

“What do you think? Do I look human to you?”

“Looking human doesn’t make you human.”

“Smart!”

Lehmann exclaimed, though it sounded more like he was mocking Kim Chaemin than truly impressed.

“But what can I say.”

This time, Lehmann’s expression was genuinely regretful.

“Unfortunately, I’m still human.”

“Still? Are you saying you don’t want to be?”

“I don’t dislike being human, not like Noah. It’s good, being human. Living as a human isn’t bad. Thanks to that, there’s a lot of fun to be had.”

“……”

“No. I just want to be stronger.”

“……”

“Why that face? Is it strange?”

For the boss of a crime syndicate that ruled Central and South America, let alone a member of the Ark, such an ambition was… what was the word? Ordinary? Not really. Romantic? Childish? Trivial?

It was a motivation hard to pin down.

With his playful attitude, exaggerated expressions, and childlike innocence, it was hard to believe that was the truth.

But for that very reason, it didn’t feel like a lie, either.

Kim Chaemin recalled what he knew about Henry Lehmann. An unremarkable life. No one knew how he’d become the head of such an organization, or where he’d come into contact with the Ark—a man shrouded in secrets.

When Kim Chaemin didn’t answer, Lehmann slumped his shoulders and looked openly disappointed.

“I thought you’d understand, since you’re a mage.”

“…What does me being a mage have to do with it?”

“Noah said I was childish, but at least he understood what I wanted. He even cheered me on, which is rare for him. That stuck-up lady, cheering me on.”

Lehmann’s laughter now sounded almost entirely animal. Kim Chaemin felt an instinctive aversion.

He barely restrained himself from stepping back.

“But isn’t it true?”

His eyes flashed gold.

“Humans are born as animals. And what are animals?”

For the first time, Kim Chaemin thought those eyes looked just like a predator’s, fixed on its prey.

“Only the strong survive.”

Lehmann took a step forward. His bare feet began to change shape. White feathers burst through his skin with a wet, tearing sound. From below the knee, feathers sprouted like new shoots. Blood dripped, staining the sea. Around Lehmann, a pool of crimson formed.

Kim Chaemin realized that it was the same red he had seen when Lehmann first appeared.

“Anyway, it’s enough that Noah cheered me on. He doesn’t like me, but with Alex gone, there’s no one else like me.”

Lehmann’s height grew. Kim Chaemin layered shield upon shield. No matter how many, it wasn’t enough. Not enough. Not enough! Not enough!

Lehmann laughed even louder at the sight.

“That’s why he even lent me his precious… collection. He said he wouldn’t care if it got broken, so I borrowed it. I guess I’ll just have to listen to a little nagging later.”

The sound of skin tearing was sickening. The stench of blood made Kim Chaemin’s stomach churn. Feathers grew, veins bulged, claws burst forth. No one could call those human feet. They were the feet of a beast.

Kim Chaemin did not blink. But he didn’t see Lehmann move.

Thud! Crash!!!

More than half his shields shattered. Kim Chaemin couldn’t stop himself from vomiting. Blood spilled onto the sand in a crimson gush.

If he hadn’t reinforced his shield just now, he’d be dead. Kim Chaemin kept raising shields. He cast more magic. Rose vines wrapped around the mage. But the beast tore through the roses as if playing with a ball of yarn.

“Noah’s collection is so powerful… If it weren’t for him, this would have been harder.”

The beast whispered sweetly.

“You used a lot of magic earlier, didn’t you? Thanks to that, I was able to track your mana. It was beautiful magic. Worth tearing apart.”

If only it weren’t the sea. If only it weren’t the sea!

But even though the beast had emerged from the sea, the roses could not bind it. Each time the beast kicked up sand, it vanished, only to reappear a short distance away.

Whether it was moving too fast for Kim Chaemin to see, or truly disappearing and reappearing, he didn’t have the luxury to find out.

Kim Chaemin gritted his teeth.

Woo Heejae—should he have joined those training sessions when that guy was drilling the kids?!

But it would have been ridiculous for an adult to join in with the kids! He was their teacher!!

Not just any teacher, either. An archmage! An archmage!!

He couldn’t just stand here and take it.

It wasn’t about life or death. This was about Kim Chaemin’s pride.

He couldn’t let himself be beaten by some ignorant beast.

“The ground where wildflowers dance for you.”

Kim Chaemin murmured, eyes blazing. Blood trickled from his lips.

A vision of green grass shimmered over the sand.

Archmage Kim Youngheon’s unique magic.

“The sweet forest where trees sing.”

Archmage Kim Kangyeon’s unique magic.

“Roses in full bloom.”

Archmage Kim Chaemin’s unique magic.

Three generations of honed magic now blossomed in this dungeon.