Chapter 29. What Remains
After the incident ended—which was less of a battle and more like Ingwang desperately struggling to survive—many of them were left speechless, their eyes wandering aimlessly.
A cocoon made of chains burned so brightly that the faint blue glow of the surrounding vines had disappeared completely.
From inside, loud noises periodically echoed, as if the Great Hero was constantly trying to escape.
Those sounds were the only thing barely keeping them from losing themselves to the small fear creeping into their hearts.
What they could see was not the brightly burning cocoon or the passage leading outside.
It was Ingwang's smiling body, left sitting in front of the cocoon exactly according to his plan, with a small flame crouched beside him.
Modak.
“…”
Pai felt as if the hope and light she had barely managed to find had once again been taken far away from her life.
It was difficult for her to put her current feelings into words.
The only reason she hadn't completely broken down was because Ingwang had promised that he would return.
And because, unlike usual, he had looked directly into her eyes for a long time before leaving, as if he wanted to remember her clearly.
But Pai's mental state had been much more unstable than Ingwang realized.
It was clearly only a matter of time before she collapsed.
“What are you doing?”
In that silent space, Oehorn's blunt voice rang out.
It was an incredibly calm voice that didn't fit the atmosphere filled with sadness and confusion.
“…”
“Will staring at me change anything?”
Pai glared at Oehorn with such intense killing intent that even he flinched for a moment.
Yet Oehorn answered her bluntly once again.
“Didn't he clearly say that he would return? He is someone who always fulfills what he says, in one form or another. You were beside him the entire time. Why don't you understand that?”
“…Shut up…”
If she had known they would part like this, she would have talked to him more.
She would have tried to learn more about him.
Even though he had promised to return, it was a promise without a set time.
She might have to wait countless years.
And she wasn't confident that she could endure such a long wait.
Slowly, she sank deeper into an overwhelming sense of emptiness.
“I'm leaving this place. Fortunately, there is a passage leading outside.”
“Get lost.”
“You're coming with me too. We never made a promise about it, but I'm sure he wanted me to protect you.”
“Why should I? I'm not leaving this place.”
Oehorn scratched his throbbing head in frustration.
He cursed Ingwang for leaving him with such an annoying task.
At the same time, he also cursed himself for moving to protect Pai even for a moment.
As he wondered what he should do about Pai, who was sitting blankly in front of Ingwang, bound by the chains of the cocoon, he was about to simply give up and leave.
Then one of the Badgers, apparently one of their leaders, stepped forward.
“Hey, woman who was flirting with the Great Warrior.”
“You get lost too.”
“We cannot do that. The honorable Great Warrior tied all of his honor to you before leaving. Now that the Great Warrior is gone, we intend to follow you.”
“It's an order. Get lost.”
“We cannot do that. Wasn't the reason the Great Warrior met us and brought us all the way here because he wanted to spend even a little more time with you?”
Pai looked at the Badger with her bloodshot eyes.
The Badger puffed out his chest and continued speaking clearly and confidently, more boldly than anyone else present.
“If you intend to stay here until you starve to death, we will force porridge into your stomach and keep you alive. If you try to injure yourself and die, we will break your arms and legs and even pull out your teeth if necessary to stop you. If you gradually go insane, we will take you to the Fairy Lake and ask the fairies to force you to regain your senses. And if the returning Great Warrior sees your condition and decides to kill us, there could be no greater honor.”
Pai was dumbfounded by those words.
They were completely abnormal.
They were horrifying words from creatures who had been infected by the madness Ingwang had spread.
“…What are you talking about?”
“The Great Warrior wanted only one thing. He wanted you to wait for him. If that is the Great Warrior's goal, then it is ours as well.”
“…”
“Even if you trample on the Great Warrior's will and wishes, ignore them, and spit on them, we will keep you alive until he returns. The Great Warrior would have done the same.”
Whether Ingwang would really leave Pai alone if she actually did all those things was questionable.
But since Pai was listening carefully, Oehorn decided to remain silent for now.
“However, we do not intend to simply wait. When the Great Warrior returns, we intend to offer him this entire Labyrinth Forest. And by then, we will become strong enough to retrieve an insignificant artifact like that without even needing the Great Warrior to step forward!”
“That's right! That's right!”
The Badgers laughed madly as the power of madness rose from them.
The goblins, who had somehow been infected by the Badgers, joined them.
Although Ingwang wasn't there at that moment, their aura faintly reminded everyone of him.
“Even if Oehorn speaks like that, I'm sure he'll wander around this tree to protect the Great Warrior!”
“You noisy fools.”
“Isn't this that thing? The thing where people become friends after fighting? As expected, the Great Warrior is amazing!”
“That's right! He's a god!”
