Chapter 131:Rudbeckia I Don’t Want to Regret.

Rudbeckia opened her eyes.  

It was a deep darkness, where not even an inch ahead could be seen.  

The moment she inhaled, something sharp and cold scratched at her lungs.  

The air was thick and sticky, like rotten blood, and it tainted her insides as it traveled down her esophagus.  

A dense, dark magic filled the space, choking her throat as if suffocating her, pressing heavily on her entire body.  

That thick and sticky energy seemed to dig into her skin and seep into her bones.  

It was an environment where even keeping her sanity was difficult.  

‘Where… am I?’  

Rudbeckia twisted her face in confusion and looked around. She saw nothing. No objects, no living beings.  

Only the endless expanse of pitch-black emptiness, and the stifling magic that gnawed at her lungs with every breath.  

‘My head hurts…’  

Her head felt like it was slowly twisting. The throbbing pain grew more intense, and her vision blurred.  

She pressed her fingertips to her temples, but all she could feel was the sensation of melting away in the darkness.  

Rudbeckia instinctively knew.  

This place was not a living space.  

It was a place eroded by decay and death.  

‘It’s dangerous to stay here.’  

Human life force is made of mana. We breathe the mana in the air, and all the water we drink and food we eat carries mana.  

On the other hand, magic is its opposite. It could even be called poison. Short-term exposure doesn’t harm life, but breathing in magic for long periods can cause health problems.  

If she wasn’t careful, she could die.  

“Haah.”  

Rudbeckia tried to stay calm and raised her magical power. She didn’t know where she was, but she had to find an escape route, even if it meant making a hole.  

However-  

“…This isn’t going to work.”  

Despair quietly spread. Just as the place was full of magic, not a single trace of mana remained. That must have been the plan of those magic practitioners—to trap Yohan here.  

“Haah.”  

Rudbeckia sighed deeply and tightly closed her eyes. Even exhaling felt exhausting.  

She couldn’t use magic, and she didn’t know where she was. The air against her skin was cold and ominous.  

There was nothing she could do.  

But even so, she couldn’t just stay still.  

‘I need to get out. I have to move.’  

Rudbeckia took a heavy step and placed her hand on the wall. The cool, rough texture brushed her fingertips.  

One step.  

Another step.  

The darkness sank even deeper, and the silence pressed down heavily on her.  

But she couldn’t waste this opportunity again.

*    *    *

Paaak-!  

Pure mana surged in, purging the magic.  

The crack that had twisted like a broken mirror vanished. The darkness that had covered the sky slowly faded away, leaving only faint remnants, while the magic that had tainted the air scattered like grains of sand, swept away by the wind.  

Despite the massive consumption of mana and mental energy due to the high-grade magic cave’s crack, there was no time to rest.  

Covered in sweat, Yohan, who had been sitting down, exhaled roughly and quickly rose to his feet.  

He immediately surveyed the area. The exhausted knights and mages, covered in the blood of the magic beasts, were being treated by healers.  

In front of them, the bodies of the magic beasts were scattered, severed and torn apart.  

The blood-soaked ground and the horrific remnants. Just the sight of the scene was enough to imagine how fierce the battle had been.  

“Minister…!”  

As Yohan stumbled and looked around, Eris, covered in dust, approached. She, too, was drenched in the blood of the beasts but appeared unharmed.  

Once Yohan confirmed she was fine, he hardened his expression and asked her.  

“Report, please.”  

“Yes…!”  

Eris quickly responded to his question. A situation report and summary were essential.  

“The sudden flood of magic beasts and the surprise attack by the magic practitioners were successfully defended. However, Assistant Rudbeckia was hit by a curse and disappeared.”  

Yohan’s eyes narrowed.  

“I know that. But what happened to Rudbeckia? Did you find anything out?”  

Rudbeckia had disappeared. Yohan knew she had moved somewhere after protecting him.  

Although she couldn’t move and was focusing her mind, she still must have known something was going on.  

“According to a sensory-type mage, her mana suddenly disappeared. It seems she fell victim to the space transfer magic of the magic practitioners.”  

“Space transfer?”  

Eris nodded.  

“Yes… It’s a concept that leaps across space by connecting with magic and the magic beasts. It’s a method that can’t be done with mana.”  

Space transfer magic was a very complex spell that consumed a large amount of mana, and Yohan didn’t use it himself. It was less efficient than fast movement magic.  

But space transfer using magic beasts was different. It naturally had a denser quality than mana, making it easier to bridge separated spaces.  

“So, you don’t know where she went?”  

Yohan asked, taking a deep breath. In truth, he was hiding his deep unease. Rudbeckia had risked her life to protect him and was now in danger of death.  

But he was the Minister.  

Everyone trusted and followed him.  

Since he held the lives of the generals in his hands, maintaining composure was essential.  

“…No.”  

“Any reason?”  

When Yohan asked, Eris calmly continued explaining.  

“Because the mana is scarce in that area, we would need to track her using magic beasts, but since it’s a high-grade magic cave, the magic beasts are still widely spread.”  

In other words, the magic was too dense, making it impossible to accurately locate her.  

“…Is there no way?”  

“Sadly… no.”

Eris lowered her head deeply.  

Even though it was a surprise attack by the magic practitioners, allowing an attack while Yohan was restoring the crack was entirely her fault, as she was in charge of the elite unit and the 1st squad.  

Because of that, Assistant Rudbeckia, who had been guarding Yohan, had disappeared, and as a result, things had gotten quite tangled.  

“…”  

Yohan closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.  

It was obvious, but he didn’t blame Eris or the other generals. Who could have predicted the surprise attack by the magic practitioners? Something even he hadn’t noticed…  

He didn’t even know what kind of curse was being used.  

The fact that they had defended against the flood of magic beasts and the surprise attack with minimal damage was already a good outcome.  

Calming his breath, Yohan began to calculate in his mind.  

‘What should I do here?’  

His heart was leading him to search this entire magic cave to find Rudbeckia.  

But Yohan’s choices affected the lives of many others. He couldn’t make a hasty decision.  

The knights and mages, exhausted after defending against the magic beast flood and the magic practitioners’ surprise attack.  

Also, after being exposed to the dense magic of the high-grade magic cave for such a long time, their conditions were far from normal.  

Even with high-level healers, the slow recovery from even minor injuries was proof of that.  

‘Damn it.’  

Yohan harshly clenched the air. His nails dug into his palm. His fists trembled uncontrollably. His chest tightened. The feeling of powerlessness, which he hadn’t experienced since becoming a transcendent magician, weighed down on his heart.  

He hadn’t felt this helpless in a long time.  

“…What will you do?”  

Eris carefully asked.  

She, too, wanted desperately to go and find Rudbeckia right away, but thinking rationally, it would be better to retreat for now. The magic beasts were still around.  

Yohan, who had been deep in thought with his eyes closed, quietly spoke.  

“I’ll find her alone.”  

“…What? Are you saying you will search alone?”

Eris, who had briefly thought she misheard, blinked with a stunned expression and asked again.  

Yohan moved his body, checking if everything was fine, and then nodded.

“Yes. Eris, I will leave the command of the unit to you. I will take Rudbeckia’s aide with me.”  

“That’s too dangerous!”  

Eris shouted without realizing it. Her voice echoed loudly. Her ash-gray eyes were shaking.  

“Although the rift has been healed, there are still many monsters left! The minister’s condition isn’t normal either! We will go together!”  

Despite her plea, Yohan was firm.  

“I can’t put you all at risk. And, it will be more efficient if I search alone.”  

Their goal is him.  

He was certain that they were somewhere, waiting for another opportunity.  

It would be wiser to move alone, using high-speed movement, and search for them.  

That would be much faster and safer.  

“But…”  

“Eris, please.”  

“…”  

Eris bit her lip and lowered her head. Logically, it was clearly a bad decision, but she couldn’t refuse his request.  

It was a request from a man she liked, and she also wanted to find Rudbeckia’s aide.  

“…After we finish the repairs, we will re-enter and hunt down the monsters with the Changseobaek’s Celestial Knights. That way, the burden on the minister will be spread out.”  

Eris let out a deep breath and looked at Yohan.  

“I cannot concede any further.”  

“Alright, if you’re coming after the repairs, then that’s fine.”  

Yohan brushed his sweaty bangs back and slowly began gathering his magic to use high-speed movement.  

At that moment…  

“Yohan? What’s going on?”  

Francia and the other squad had returned from the center of the cave. They were covered in dirt and monster blood, as if they had fought against the flood.  

“Well…”  

Yohan briefly explained what had happened. After hearing the explanation, Francia widened her eyes and asked.  

“Did Rudbeckia’s aide get kidnapped?”  

“Kidnapped… something like that.”  

Although she wasn’t captured, she had been moved somewhere, so it was essentially the same as being kidnapped.  

“Hmm… Ah!”  

Francia narrowed her eyebrows and rubbed her chin for a moment. Then, as if something had occurred to her, her eyes widened, and she reached out.  

A faint light began to glow from the tip of her fingers. The dark magic, like a river meeting water, followed the light. The pitch black dispersed and turned into blue mana.  

It was purification.  

“You’re unable to track because there are too many demons, right?”  

“That’s correct.”  

“We can find it.”  

“What… Oh.”  

Yohan was about to say no, but then realized who was standing in front of him.  

Francia Ferbache.  

Many called her the Saintess of Obsidian.  

If she was here, she could purify the demons that were blocking the tracking and follow the demons leading to Rudbeckia.  

It would be like narrowing down the vague search range.  

“There’s still demonic energy at the spot where Rudbeckia’s aide was, right? If we trace that demon and purify the others, we should be able to find where it leads.”  

Yohan swallowed nervously. He had been planning to turn the entire cave upside down, but it seemed he could find her more easily than expected.  

“Let’s go find her right now.”  

Rudbeckia Friché.  

Leaving her behind was never an option from the start.