Chapter 23: I Take Refuge (Namu) (6) (1/2)
Chapter 23: I Take Refuge (Namu) (6)
It was all Ru Hiana could do to think about Ru Amuh; hopes that he ell—no, still alive and the hts that it was already too late warred in her mind As a hero, she knew she had to accept the reality of the situation Still, Ru A hero whose skills she had personally witnessed by his side No er or how dire the situation was, Ru Aed to survive Thus, Ru Hiana couldn’t accept his death easily She knew that the title of hero was ht now, she siht of Ru A Noever, after listening to what the na s But if she really…
She didn’t knohen she fell asleep It seeuilt
—I…
Ru Hiana opened her eyes slightly She had heard soine it?’</eain
–Ruana…
Ru Hiana opened her eyes wide A red light flashed past her, and she jerked her head around
“Ruahu?” she called out in a hoarse voice No one answered She turned her head sideways, but only saw people sleeping around her She couldn’t spot Ru Ah?
“Ruahu…” Ru Hiana ot to her feet She stuered across the camp like she was possessed “Ruahu, Ruahu…” She cried out continuously and stopped Could it be—no, it couldn’t Ru Hiana’s eyes widened at the figure in front of her The figure looked pale, and the edges of his eyes looked dark, almost purple He had bloodstains all over his body, and he stared at her from afar with sorrowful eyes: it was Ru Amuh Ru Hiana came to a halt
“Ruahu” An emotion she couldn’t explain by words rose inside her “Ruahu…!” Ru Hiana ran like ot here weren’t important at this moment All she could think of was that Ru Amuh had returned, and he was alive
“Ruahu!” Ru Hiana was about to run and hug him when her eyes widened “Are you alr…?”
He was there just a one without a trace
“Ru…!” Ru Hiana looked around desperately and saw Ru Aain Like how she found hi at her froain, but she couldn’t close the distance between theot away, always out of her reach by a hair Ru Hiana even ran soh; she wasn’t in theelse but the Ru Ao! Where are you going! Please!” Ru Hiana shouted with all her htly
—Hel…
His lips twitched
-Help…
As if he wanted to…no, as if he didn’t want to keep talking, his face scrunched up Finally, Ru Aorously and completely disappeared In a way, it almost looked like he had fallen over backward As she ran desperately, Ru Hiana felt sonored it She found a pit where Ru Amuh had last stood There was no need for her to think any longer She had been enduring well until now, but with Ru Amuh’s sudden appearance, her heart couldn’t take it anymore
Ru Hiana entered the pit She stepped on the rocks protruding froround and got ready to ju pull her by the ankles By the time she realized it, her body had turned half a circle
Flop!
She hit the floor hard before she could do anything
“Ugh…” Ru Hiana’s eyes narrowed from the pain Her face felt sticky, and she smelled the metallic smell of blood It was extremely unpleasant Ru Hiana looked up, perplexedot up slowly and looked around her She had never seen this place before She had trouble seeing clearly in the dark, but she saw enough to be confused about how she ended up in this unfaht about it, she had been chasing…Ru Aained her senses It was like someone had poured water onto her and woken her up from her dream
—Kkirik, kki, kki, kki, kki
She suddenly heard a series of strange noises
“Ru-Ruahu?” Ru Hiana stuttered
—Kkiugh, ugh, ugh!
She heard so her? It was then the firelight colimmered It was only for a ures that flickered in and out of existence
Shudder Goosebumps popped up all over her body A heavy silence abruptly swept the place, and she could neither hear nor see anything However, she could feel it, a terrifying and ulfed the entirety of the empty space until there wasn’t a corner untouched At thisShe reached for her belongings and pulled out a finely woven red silk thread that flowed out like waves Ru Hiana lifted the silk thread high in the air and stopped It was like she had suddenly stopped while dancing happily
“Ha-ah…Ha-ah…”
Ru Hiana quelled her tre breath and tried to understand the situation The silence didn’t last long
an to treround shook so intensely that Ru Hiana’s legs were vibrating The red silk thread was also shaking along with everything No, it wasn’t just shaking It fluctuated wildly like it was full of wrath and ready to tear their opponent apart madly
Ru Hiana felt a sudden pull frorip Rather than grabbing it froiven and quickly turned on her holograraer
‘Please… please…’
She called one of her saved contacts and quickly sent a ain, the red silk thread was already in tatters The round had slash marks all over it The silk thread had been split in half and scattered into pieces like it had been shredded by a razor blade The cloud of dust dispersed all over the place and suddenly settled down Ru Hiana backed aith a fear-stricken face; it felt like aat her
‘Please!’ An entirely different sensation hit her It felt like the being was going to s her whole She squeezed her eyes shut intently ‘Come quickly…!’
A couple of hours earlier
“Let’s go in first and sleep”
“What?”
“Of course, not without doing anything”
Chi-Woo had told her to wait and went into the tent for a short while before returning to her
“Could you tie this to yourself first, please?”
Ru Hiana looked at the rope Chi-Woo handed her It was the rope that had been used to tie her up “This is”
“You pro the sweat on his forehead, “That you will do anything to save Ru Amuh”
Ru Hiana looked taken aback and stared at Chi-Woo contemptuously “I don’t want to”
“What do you ”
“No I can’t do it I’ve never done anything like this, and until you save Ruahu…” Ru Hiana trailed off when she saw one of Chi-Woo’s eyebrows slowly go up
Ru Hiana saw his reaction and asked to make sure, “Did I just misunderstand you?”
“Yes But I did say it in a way that you would misunderstand I’m sorry It’s because I’m tired” True to his words, Chi-Woo was completely soaked in sweat He continued, “You don’t need to tie up your whole body; just tie it to a certain area—it can be your ar to be very difficult, but…” Ru Hiana looked at hi this because you think I’ll secretly run off by myself?”
“I’ve already considered that possibility in et some sleep and rest a bit We’ll head off once the sun rises”
Ru Hiana had heard this before
“It’s a simple plan However, it was made on the premise that I would be able to successfully borrow the statue”
“What if you can’t borrow it?”
“Then it can’t be helped When that happens, I won’t stop you fro” In other words, Chi-Woo would wash his hands of this whole situation
Ru Hiana hesitated for a while and finally spoke, “You know…Ruahu…is probably dead, right?”