Chapter 24: Ten Minutes to Survive

Chapter 24: Ten Minutes to Survive

Another hour had passed.

We had finally reached the edge of Gramps Zach's formation.

It was an invisible barrier, cloaked in natural energy.

I couldn’t help but marvel at how something so massive and undetectable could be man-made.

The way it held itself together made me wonder how it operated and how someone had even managed to create it in the first place.

Right now, all I could do was watch Lynn. She seemed to be activating some kind of mechanism, trying to unlock a loophole that would allow us to pass through the barrier.

I had no idea what she was doing, so I sat quietly on a flat stone, gazing up at her as she hovered midair, pressing against the air like she was panning for gold.

Out of boredom, I glanced back toward the battlefield.

Even from this distance, the destruction remained visible.

At first, I had been terrified of the residual blasts. They could have erased me in an instant. These were beings capable of destroying entire worlds.

Compared to them, I was less than an insect. Even the force of their breath might be enough to kill me.

It was only natural to be afraid.

I was still human, after all.

But now, seeing that the battle was still ongoing, a deeper anxiety crept in. If their power kept intensifying, it might eventually reach us.

Even this grand formation might not withstand the pressure of their auras.

Thankfully, we were still hundreds of miles away.

It would take time for the energy to travel this far.

Maybe two or three hours, give or take.

Still, they were far too powerful. Just remembering Szélanya’s earlier attack made my skin crawl.

She had summoned tornadoes the size of entire cities.

If that kind of force struck a capital, it would leave nothing behind. An entire population could be wiped out.

But all I had were guesses.

I couldn’t know for sure.

I had only heard fragmented explanations from Lynn, and I had no way of knowing what trump cards either side possessed.

I shook my head and turned my gaze back to the barrier.

I wasn’t worried about Gramps Zach or Szélanya. They were too strong to fall so easily.

I believed they could handle themselves. Worrying about them felt foolish, especially when I was the one in danger.

I was pregnant and powerless in battle. If anyone had reason to be afraid, it was me.

So I turned my focus inward and waited for Lynn.

I couldn't afford to die here, not before getting my revenge or returning to my world.

Death was not an option.

I activated my Divine Vision and concentrated on the sky.

The barrier shimmered with countless runes, layered with unfamiliar energies.

Even with my improved perception, the design was too intricate for me to fully grasp.

"What is that?" I murmured.

Despite its overwhelming complexity, I kept watching, drawn by curiosity. Gradually I began to understand bits and pieces of the structure.

I was even sure I would be able to replicate its rune, albeit in a more inferior form.

"Amazing."

It was absorbing natural energy to sustain itself.

I had assumed it was draining too much, but I had been wrong. Inside the formation, countless microscopic power signatures, invisible to ordinary sight, supported its operation.

They possibly provided defense or even offense if necessary.

I wasn’t completely certain, but I was at least eighty percent confident in my observations.

Encouraged by the discovery, I continued examining the barrier, hoping to learn something useful for the future.

Minutes passed, then half an hour.

I had just started recognizing a few foundational magical constructs when a sudden, bone-chilling howl shattered the stillness.

Awooo! Hraaaao!

Three sharp howls echoed across the forest.

I jerked upright, startled, as I sensed something fast approaching.

A monster.

"What is that?" I muttered, narrowing my eyes.

It looked like a wolf, but far larger and more menacing.

Its fur was pitch black, and its body was nearly the size of a school bus. Clearly, it was either evolved or mutated.

"I’m screwed."

That was my first thought.

But strangely, I felt a sliver of relief that there was only one.

If there had been more, I wouldn’t have stood a chance, especially in my condition.

Cradling my belly, I reached for several stone shards and began infusing them with low-level elemental magic.

"Young miss!"

Lynn’s voice rang out, but I didn’t respond. She was busy with something even more dangerous.

If she stopped now, the backlash from the formation could trap her there. She was so close to breaking through.

One mistake could ruin everything.

"Awrgh...!"

"Young miss, please run. That monster is classified as B-Rank by human standards. It is dangerous to remain!"

I heard the urgency in her voice, but I stayed focused on the elemental infusion.

The black wolf raced toward me, closing the distance with terrifying speed.

Ten meters.

Nine meters.

Eight meters.

Seven.

It charged forward, its jaws wide open.

Trees snapped, bushes flattened, and the air filled with the thunder of its footsteps.

"You want to eat me? Then eat this. Dinner is served."

Just as it lunged, I hurled the shard, boosting it with wind magic. Even from a seated position, my throw was perfect.

The shard flew straight into the creature’s open mouth and lodged itself deep inside.

"GRAAAHHWOOOOO!"

Its howl turned into a roar of agony. It was enraged.

But it was already too late.

Five meters.

Four.

It stopped at three.

Its body locked in place, frozen mid-charge. Bones cracked.

Its legs gave out. Smoke poured from its glowing red eyes as a deep, splitting sound echoed from its skull.

For several seconds, everything fell completely silent.

"Young miss, what happened?"

"Ah, nothing. I was just testing if that trick worked. Seems like it did."

"Noted."

Although Lynn’s expression was full of silent questions as she tried to understand what had just happened, I immediately fidgeted and pretended to look innocent, as if I had done something wrong by using a strange power.

"Hmm?"

Pfft... hahahaha. This was what I loved about Lynn. Her puzzled expression, like a robot trying to interpret human behavior, was absolutely fascinating.

"Could it have been wrong?"

"No, young miss. Everything is functioning properly. It was just difficult to understand without observing the principle behind the power you used."

"Really? It's not forbidden?"

"Correct. It is not."

Forbidden my foot.

I was just teasing her, but she truly couldn’t grasp any part of it. Deceiving someone so emotionless was always amusing.

"Um, Lynn, did you succeed?"

"Not yet, young miss."

"Mhm... okay."

"Don’t worry, young miss. It will take approximately ten more minutes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Good. Keep working.

I had no desire to be buried alive here. The aftermath of that monstrous battle was too dangerous. We needed to leave before death caught up with us.

Lynn immediately resumed her task, attempting to open a loophole in the formation so we could escape safely.

Meanwhile, I was bored out of my mind and had something else in mind. I wanted to check on that damn wolf and see if it had a core worth collecting.

I stood up carefully, lifting my leg with slow, deliberate movements. I began walking toward the fallen black wolf.

I activated my Divine Vision, scanning its body for any lingering mana signatures.

I searched for the source that would lead me to its core.

Monster cores were rare and valuable. If this one had one, it could fetch a high price. I was unsure of its current market value, but it was probably enough to sustain us for years.

Without money, I might have resorted to scamming nobles just to survive. But with Lynn by my side and a core in hand, life was finally starting to ease.

I formed a thin thread of mana and infused it into the leaves I held.

They became strong enough to serve as vessels for sword energy, so I sharpened them with a touch of it and then used mana to levitate them.

With careful control, I sliced into the wolf’s flesh.

The cut was clean and effortless, as if gliding through softened butter.

At first, I was in a good mood.

But the moment I opened its stomach, I nearly choked.

"Urghk!"

I doubled over, gagging as watery vomit spilled from my mouth.

"Ha... ha..."

I gasped for air, unable to stop the retching. The sight inside was unbearable. Something about it turned my stomach in ways I could not explain.

I could not keep looking.

Its insides were ruptured and burned beyond recognition. Torn, shredded, scorched. Every angle offered a different kind of horror.

I sighed.

So using three elements really was dangerous. It had started as a theory, but I never expected it to work so well.

The wolf had died instantly.

Water, fire, and wind.

That combination had drained a massive amount of mana just to stabilize them within one vessel---the stone.

The condensed water magic created a liquid seed inside the stone, ready to react in a warm, wet environment like a stomach.

Wind magic formed a micro-vacuum seal, containing pressure and delaying the steam's release.

Fire engravings, etched with heat-sensitive, mana-reactive symbols, activated upon exposure to heat and vaporized the water in an instant.

In simpler terms, the water inside turned into superheated steam. It worked like a pressure cooker, with the wind increasing the internal pressure and the fire triggering an explosive reaction.

A steam detonation erupted inside the stomach, rupturing the organs from within.

A silent, brutal death.

The attack may have seemed clumsy on the surface, but in reality, it was surgical and lethal. It was not ideal for repeated use, but as a surprise move, it was devastating.

"So terrifying. Definitely a good trump card."

It had worked, so I counted it as a success. What had begun as an experiment after observing the runes of that massive formation would be refined further.

I planned to increase its destructive potential and improve its stability.

But now was not the time for testing. This place was too dangerous. When the time came, I would create a proper testing ground of my own.

Turning back to the wolf’s corpse, I focused despite the dull headache building in my temples. I reached inside and extracted a glowing white core.

It was beautiful and compact, slightly smaller than a pearl but dense with crystallized mana.

It radiated pure, potent energy.

I could sense it was mid-tier, likely the same grade as my own. I knew because my own core reacted subtly to its presence. Lynn’s core did not, which made my guess more certain.

We were close in strength.

Now that I had this item, selling it might be troublesome. But with Lynn around, everything would fall into place.

I returned to the flat stone and sat down, resting as I watched Lynn continue her work.

Ten minutes passed.

Finally, she found a loophole. A small portal shimmered into view, glowing faintly. Through it, I could see an entirely different landscape, like another world.

"Young miss, it’s ready. We can go now."

"I got lost in thought. Thanks for letting me know. Let’s go."

"As you command."

Lynn descended gently, wrapping her arms around me and lifting me like a princess.

We floated toward the portal.

It pulsed with strange light, like the entrance to a distant realm untouched by the chaos behind us.

"Let’s go."

"Yes, young miss."