Chapter 31: Salvation

This was no golem.

Unlike the ones created by alchemists, necromancers, or some exceptionally skilled mages, this was merely a trick—an animated form driven by a bound spirit.

Not only did it fall short in performance and power, but its connection was so unstable that even a relatively mild shock could sever the spirit inhabiting it.

After the spirits fled, I moved past the secret door.

Of course, I didn’t forget to take out the Key of Tindalos from my inner pocket beforehand.

The footsteps echoing behind me as I walked sounded oppressively loud within the cave.

So much so that even I glanced up at the ceiling, half-wondering whether it might collapse.

Anyone listening deep inside would surely feel the same pressure.

A faint ray of light shone through a narrow gap in the distance, and my steps quickened.

Normally, this would be the moment to tread even more cautiously, anticipating a final, hidden trap.

But relying on the wards and the Key of Tindalos, this was a risk I could afford.

I opened the final door.

Arrows, attack spells, curses—whatever might be waiting didn’t matter.

Even if a large force like the day before was waiting, it wouldn’t matter.

Whatever awaited, it would be the faces of assassins tainted with disappointment and a faint fear.

“…?”

But nothing leapt at me when I opened the door.

No, it wasn’t just that.

There was no massive force waiting, nor any of the top-tier assassins or the red-haired man who had approached me yesterday.

“You’ve arrived.”

The only one there waiting for me was Hailer.

In this vast space—large enough to fit well over a hundred people—and now with its floor leveled and finished unlike the rest, only Hailer stood in the center, facing me.

That was all.

The only other things present were a few embedded light fixtures on the walls and a half-erased, large teleportation circle etched into one side.

“…Where are the others?”

I stepped further in, allowing the spirits to enter naturally as well.

“They’ve left. But they did say they’d watch the situation through one of those lights.”

As Hailer spoke, I noticed something in his slightly outstretched hand.

That must’ve been the final trap—but before I could even focus on that, the overwhelming sense of emptiness left me with nothing but a laugh.

“…Hahaha. I see. So that’s how it is. I wasn’t completely off, but the order was wrong.”

I felt a slight blush rising to my cheeks.

I had been reasoning and analyzing so thoroughly just moments ago, but the very premise had been flawed.

“Right. I did think it odd there were so few hoof prints for such a large group, and I kept thinking the traps were too strange. But I stopped at just that.”

This cave wasn’t a trap designed for a specific target.

It was a secret base.

No, more precisely—a secret passage.

I’d heard rumors that the high-ranking Assassin Guild had created portal bases across the continent for covert, rapid movement.

But to think this was one of them…

“They must’ve been in quite a hurry. To abandon one of their major transport hubs just to kill me.”

I had no idea which of the lights was being used to observe this situation, but I directed my words—laced with anger and scorn—toward the red-haired man surely watching now.

Of course, in this situation, it amounted to little more than an empty threat.

“They said it was worth it. Though, it didn’t seem like they truly believed it would work.”

As Hailer spoke, he wore the faintest of smiles.

Though his eyes still brimmed with rage and hatred, that color had clearly begun to fade.

“…So, Hailer. If you didn’t think it would succeed, why did you stay?”

A foolish question.

I already knew the answer, but I just wasn’t ready—delaying for just a little longer, trying to buy time.

“You already know the answer, don’t you?”

His eyes pleaded with me, filled with resentment, rage, and sorrow.

Begging me.

“…Yes. Of course.”

I activated the Key of Tindalos.

A strange and vivid light flooded the area, and within this strange, isolated space, we stood facing one another.

“You could’ve activated it the moment I stepped in, couldn’t you?”

What he held in his hand was a small scroll used to trigger spells—typically sold to buyers who couldn’t use magic themselves.

It likely contained a self-destruct spell capable of collapsing the entire cave.

That’s what I would’ve done.

The magic circles in the entrance had been dismantled by the rats, but such destructive spells are usually hidden where invaders can’t reach.

And the latter sections had been beyond their access.

“Well, that would’ve been too anticlimactic, wouldn’t it?”

Hailer let the scroll fall from his hand.

In this isolated dimensional space, the activation signal would go nowhere.

“And besides, it no longer matters.”

He smiled gently.

He knew this was the end.

The end of all pain.

The end of all emotional contradictions.

The end of all nightmares.

He was telling me this was the salvation he truly longed for.

“Now then, let’s bring it to an end.”

He spread his one remaining arm wide, as if welcoming the fate about to descend.

“I—”

A silence fell between us.

It lasted but a moment, yet it was enough to hold the weight of all that had come before.

“…Just asking on the off chance—do you know why that red-haired man is after me?”

More stalling.

Pathetic.

“I don’t know. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Of course.”

There was no more room to stall.

Just as he had, I too had to steel myself.

At my will, mana flowed to my fingertips, and crimson flames ignited in the air—the same spell, Innerbursting, that had incinerated his sister and the bandit leader.

“…I’m sorry, Hailer. For not being able to save your sister.”

If it hadn’t been me back then—if it had been Orcan or Lauti or Lord Medluf—maybe the girl could’ve been saved.

Or maybe there was another way I could’ve done it.

Memories are deceptive like that.

Saying there was no way might just be a form of self-justification.

Maybe I really could have done something else.

“And for not being able to save you.”

And if the one standing here right now weren’t me, but Lowell, Lauti, or Lord Medluf… perhaps they could have truly saved him.

Not this imperfect attempt I’m making now, but something that could have genuinely healed the wounds in his heart and rescued his soul from pain and nightmares.

But the only one standing here is me.

Because of my selfish desire not to taint even a speck of their light with darkness or impurity.

Because of my fear that they might fail.

That’s why I stood here alone.

“…There’s no need to apologize.”

He asked me.

He commanded me.

He begged me.

Something he could never do himself.

But something he desperately wanted.

“Innerbursting…!”

With the incantation, the flames surged toward him, and maybe it was just my wishful thinking, but I saw a glimmer of peace in his eyes.

“I’ll be there soon, Anna.”

He seemed to whisper softly.

The flames pierced into his body, and he collapsed to the ground.

“…May his soul find rest.”

It mustn’t be just death.

It mustn’t be just an escape.

His memories, his pain, his rage, and hatred would never allow that.

From that day until now, they must have driven him endlessly, like an unresolved curse.

What he truly wanted wasn’t revenge—it was salvation.

And for people like him, like me, the only salvation we can find is something this imperfect, this far from beautiful.

I stood quietly and watched as Hailer’s body turned to ash until the power of Key of Tindalos ceased.

There might have been some hypocritical or self-comforting motives mixed in—something impure—but this was still a form of respect for him.

To my memory, Hailer no longer had any family.

And I doubted he ever made anyone else dear to him.

There would be no one left in this world to mourn his death.

This was his funeral—the final trace of his existence.

His body had completely turned to ash, and Key of Tindalos also stopped its activation.

The strange colors vanished, and the cave returned to its original state.

“…Destroy it.”

The spirits, following my command, began smashing the light fixtures embedded in the wall.

I picked up the scroll Hailer had dropped.

There was no point in chasing them now.

The erased parts of the magic circle were likely related to their location, and I had no ability to track down assassins determined to remain hidden.

“So they only dipped one foot in.”

Given how desperate their lure was, I assumed they’d burned their bridges.

If they had been prepared to sacrifice such a key base for the operation, staking their lives would have been a given.

I, too, came here fully committed—layering the wards as densely as possible and conserving my mana every step of the way.

And yet, they fled.

And according to Hailer, they didn’t even believe they’d succeed.

They simply abandoned one of their strongholds, gambling on a slim chance.

Are they just cowards?

Or are they truly confident in their ability to hide?

Or perhaps… they think they’ve already achieved their goal?

Of course, thinking about it now wouldn’t give me the answer.

I just wanted to distract myself from the turmoil inside.

“…Let’s head back.”

I dismissed the spirits dwelling in the rocky bodies, and I turned toward the entrance myself.