Chapter 145 – Floating Island Gate (2)

“Honey, can you take a picture for my Star-stagram? Make sure you get the floating island in the shot, okay?”

The woman asked her boyfriend to take the photo, making a V-sign with her fingers against the backdrop of the floating island.

They weren’t the only couple.

After all, a verification shot with the floating island was one of the essential photos for any Star-stagram account.

The floating island hovering over Seoul had now become a national landmark.

At first, people feared monsters would pour out of it at any moment, but there were no signs of that happening.

Instead, it began to feel as if it had always been there.

Like an island straight out of a fairy tale.

And at that same moment.

The floating island, moving above the concrete jungle, was enjoying peaceful days, oblivious to the reactions of the people on the ground.

Some were sleeping in and rolling around in bed, while others woke early to prepare for logging.

The water from the fountain lazily sprayed into the air.

Children, fascinated, waved their hands through it, bursting into fits of giggles.

A land where children could laugh and run without a care was a testament to its peace.

Not long ago, countless soldiers had sacrificed their lives for the Rania estate to protect its dignity.

Of course, their deaths were not in vain. Rania had developed and united even more strongly to overcome the pain.

“Everyone, that’s enough! Let’s go!”

A young girl was calling out as if supervising the children who were playing in the grand plaza as if it were their playground.

The girl, who would have been about elementary school age in the modern world, was the oldest among the children who had come to the floating island.

Of course, even though she was the oldest, she was still a child herself, and the others hardly listened to her.

“Does no one want chicken?”

“Chiiicken?”

Only then did the children react to her words.

Seeing this, the girl let out a quiet sigh.

“Seo-yeon said she’s sending some over soon. If you don’t want any, you can just stay here.”

“I wanna go, I wanna go!”

“Chiiickeeen!”

The children instantly broke into bright smiles and lined up, one after another.

Only then was the girl able to get them under control.

The girl led the way, and the children followed. The procession looked just like a line of ducklings, making anyone who saw it smile.

“The kids seem to be listening well for once, don’t they?”

At the passing city guard’s comment, the girl wrinkled her nose and replied with a hint of complaint.

“What do you think it is?”

“The chicken?”

Food from the outside world, occasionally delivered to the castle.

There were various flavors of chicken, but the sweet and spicy kind was especially popular.

“That stuff is delicious. It’s the kind of flavor you keep craving.”

“She said she sent a lot.”

“Oh, that’s a relief. And that, uh… soju. Tell her to send some more soju, too.”

The guard said, his mouth practically watering.

Watching him, the girl shook her head as if she couldn’t understand at all.

“I don’t get what’s so good about something so bitter.”

“That bitterness is the point. It’s like life. Hey, wait a minute… How do you know it’s bitter?”

Ignoring the guard, the girl passed through the gate and entered the inner castle.

Maids and servants moving about the castle waved to her.

The children, still fascinated by the castle’s interior, kept touching everything.

Each time, the girl, acting as their guardian, would scold them to stop, but the children’s faces showed no sign of being upset.

The girl’s name was Enya, and she had no surname.

In the modern world, she had been called Iho.

“Woooow, chiiicken!”

“Awesome, awesome!”

Seeing the chicken feast, the children began to eat, their little maple-leaf-like hands moving happily.

Their faces were a mess, not to mention their hands, sticky with chicken sauce and pickled radish juice.

Still, no one scolded them.

“Eat without spilling. The ones over there are for the other adults, so don’t touch them!”

“We can’t?”

“No, you can’t.”

In truth, there was more than enough chicken for them to eat their fill and still have leftovers.

The girl was able to live on the floating island thanks to Katrinne’s consideration.

Life on the floating island was so different from life back there.

The children, who had lived as if born to die, trapped in a small, barred prison, now enjoyed endless freedom in this vast land.

Everything was satisfying.

Above all, everyone treated them with warmth.

The adults here didn’t hit or threaten them, nor did they perform painful treatments.

“Enya, you should eat too.”

“Ah, yes.”

A benevolent woman spoke to the girl with a gentle smile.

She was a maid who worked in the castle, someone who had been there long before the castle’s mistress, Katrinne, was born.

She looked at Enya with affection.

Enya felt herself blush slightly as she ate the sweet and spicy chicken.

She was a little clumsy with them, but unlike the younger children, she used wooden chopsticks.

Part of it was because she didn’t like getting her hands dirty, but she also had the misconception that being good with chopsticks made one look more mature.

“Enya, have you thought about it?”

“Yes….”

The children who came to the floating island had no parents.

For their sake, the lord of the estate, Katrinne, and her vassals had conferred and decided to have them adopted by childless families.

Most of the children already had adoptive families arranged. But Enya, the most mature of them, had yet to decide.

“It’s all right, there’s no rush. You can take your time to answer.”

At the warm-hearted middle-aged woman’s words, Enya nodded.

In truth, she had felt it from the moment she first saw the woman.

She liked this person.

As a Mana Stone human, Enya could see a person’s colors.

The color she possessed was so kind and warm.

It was the kind of warmth that made you want to close your eyes and drift off.

And yet, the reason Enya couldn’t give a definite answer wasn’t because she disliked the woman.

She was scared.

She was an unlucky child.

So many of the friends who had been with her had died, one after another.

She wondered if it was okay for her to be the only one to find happiness.

Most unsettling of all, she couldn’t feel a future.

Enya could sense the future.

Thanks to Seo-yeon, who had a similar power, she had learned to control her ability little by little.

They were only trivial futures, but she had learned how to see ahead. She was happy thinking this power could help someone.

But she couldn’t see it.

Her future with this woman.

She thought she could live happily with this person. But the future gave no answer.

It was in that moment.

Enya froze. Scenes flashed past her widened eyes, searing themselves into her mind.

It only lasted a second or two.

Enya couldn’t believe what she had just seen.

In this peaceful land, something so terrible was about to happen.

“Why…”

Tears like pearls dripped from Enya’s eyes.

Seeing the girl’s sudden tears, the woman looked on with concern.

Enya looked back at the woman.

The kind woman, while trying to shield her, was brutally murdered by a foreigner with curly brown hair.

Enya’s hands trembled.

The children here, laughing happily and eating delicious food, would all meet gruesome ends.

“Aah…!”

Enya sobbed.

Hers was a life that should have ended in that small, dark place.

She should have been grateful to have at least enjoyed this brief happiness.

But she didn’t want to.

“What’s wrong? Is it because of me?”

“Enya?”

Seeing Enya crying, the middle-aged woman and the other children grew somber.

The power to see the future was a cursed ability.

Because every time her friends beside her died, one by one, she could do nothing.

But now was different.

‘Seo-yeon must have seen it too.’

Anyone with the ability to travel between dimensions also possesses the power of foresight.

Whether it be great or small.

She did not want these good people, in this good land, to meet such a horrible end.

“Thank you….”

Enya said, looking at the middle-aged woman.

This woman, who was not her real mother, had held her and died in her place.

Enya stood up from her seat.

Seo-yeon must have felt it too, so she would act to prevent the coming tragedy.

The future is not set in stone.

You can guide something rolling this way to roll to the side instead. You can stop it from rolling at all.

Or you can move to another place to avoid the rolling stone.

“I’ll be back in a moment….”

“Enya…?”

Enya left the children and the middle-aged woman and went outside.

And she did the bare minimum she could do.

To create even a small variable that could change the future.

“Enemies are coming!”

Seeing Enya suddenly running around shouting through cupped hands, the soldiers tilted their heads in confusion.

Enya, who was usually quiet and acted like the eldest sister, didn’t seem like she was playing a prank.

“Enya.”

“Mister!”

“Calm down. What’s going on?”

A passing knight captain, despite his stern face, knelt down to her eye level and asked gently.

That mature child, that pitiful child, was now trembling in fear.

“Enemies… monsters are coming….”

“Enemies? From where?”

As far as the knight captain knew, the estate was currently afloat.

There were no enemies who could invade the estate while it was protected between dimensions.

“From the sky, from a black vortex. Lots of them, a whole lot!”

The knight captain stroked the terrified Enya’s head.

His face was covered in scars, but his gentle expression made Enya’s tears subside for a moment.

“Don’t worry. The knights and soldiers protecting this estate are the continent’s strongest elites. Even if the Demon King’s army were to come, they wouldn’t be able to invade this place easily.”

The knight captain spoke with confidence.

The elite soldiers who fought alongside the legendary Hero are here.

No ordinary army would dare to challenge this place.

“…!”

In that instant, Enya saw it.

The captain who commanded the knights, melting in the flames spewed by a giant monster.

Once again, pearl-like tears began to fall from Enya’s large eyes.

No one can stop it.

A powerful slaughterer armed with modern weaponry is coming. And for some unknown reason, giant demonic beasts are pouring in endlessly.

“Giant monsters are coming. Monsters that breathe fire and terrifying slaughterers. Everyone died… everyone….”

“Don’t worry.”

The knight captain said as he stood up.

He could have dismissed it as the words of a child. But.

‘The Lord said so.’

Enya may not have the power to cross dimensions like the Lord, but she has the ability to glimpse the future.

He had said that in that one ability alone, her talent surpassed even the Lord’s.

He couldn’t dismiss the words of Lord Katrinne, who was known as the greatest saint on the continent.

“Knights, assemble!”

On the peaceful floating island of Rania, all forces assembled for the first time in a long while.

The knights, who had grown somewhat lax, quickly finished their battle preparations.

Though they might have seemed like idlers who spent their days making trivial jokes, these were the knights who had crossed the continent with the Hero.

Upon learning that a battle might occur, they all became sharp, like well-honed swords.

The time of Enya’s prophecy had come.

The civilians had all evacuated to the inner castle in case of an emergency, while the knights and soldiers kept a strict watch around the outer castle.

A tense silence fell.

The soldiers guarding the estate could feel it.

It seemed peaceful at a glance, but something was different from usual.

The air was thick with the scent of war.

As if to prove Enya’s words were not a lie.

“To the side, on the left!”

Enya’s shrill voice rang out.

At the same time, dark clouds began to gather in the sky.

They writhed like a living thing, like a serpent flying through the sky.

It coiled around the sky, squeezing lightning from the dark clouds.

Drip.

Black rainwater began to fall.

Witnessing this unprecedented natural phenomenon, everyone fell silent with tension.

Drip, drop.

The rain gradually began to intensify.

The dark clouds merged into one, spewing rain and lightning.

And then, in an instant, the clouds parted as if by a miracle, revealing a black vortex.

Thump.

A giant half-moon appeared in the black sky.

No, it wasn’t a half-moon.

It was a creature trying to cross dimensions, pushing its head through the rift.

“My god….”

“Oh, Lord…!”

A horned monster, baring its fangs and roaring, began to emerge, shattering the rift.

“Wh-what is that…!”

A colossal creation forged by a demon roared, ready to destroy everything living.

Its cry stimulated a primal fear, making even the most disciplined men weak in the knees.

No one could stand properly without covering their ears.

The nightmare didn’t end there.

From the open gate, so many monsters were falling that it could have been mistaken for rain at a glance.

“All units, prepare for battle!”

“Archers! Forward!”

These were the exact scenes she had seen in her vision.

The archers unleashed a rain of arrows upon the incoming enemies.

The rain-soaked ground was instantly covered with the blood and flesh of monsters, and broken arrows.

Kuaaaaaah!

Once again, the roar of the giant demonic beast echoed.

In that moment, the soldiers once again felt a paralyzing fear.

If they managed to defeat these countless monsters, they would then have to face the giant beast in the rift.

Was it even possible to defeat that thing?

Just as the people were about to succumb to fear.

A brilliant golden light enveloped the castle walls, and the surging monsters screamed, covering their eyes and mouths as they retreated.

Amidst the ugly retreat where they trampled one another, the soldiers felt the fear recede like a tide.

Bless.

A skill that pushes away fear and blesses one with courage.

It was a skill Lord Katrinne often used.

“It’s a totem!”

A stone wall fell from the sky and embedded itself inside the castle gate, carving blue runes and forming a barrier around it.

As the saint’s miracle descended, strengthening bodies and healing all wounds, the morale of the soldiers and knights soared to its peak.

‘I saw this too.’

She had seen this very scene in her vision.

Even with the blessing of the Lord, the peerless saint, this estate was destined for annihilation.

“No, this can’t happen.”

Enya clutched her pounding chest in anxiety.

-Things like foresight aren’t perfect. Even the smallest variable can completely change the future.

Enya looked at the monster trying to escape the rift.

Mana Stone human.

By exploding the mana stone contained within a human body, one can force a system bug and create a dimensional space.

It was information she never wanted to know, but knew nonetheless.

Enya realized what she could do.

A gate space is inherently a place with many variables. It is a space where countless dimensions intertwine.

If a small-scale gate were to open in such a place, perhaps that small variable could prevent the great demon from descending.

‘With just my one life.’

She didn’t want to die.

But if she could do something, if she could struggle to save her younger siblings like Iho, who had died before her…

‘A struggle.’

Then Enya remembered.

The first vision she had seen was a future where everyone died.

Miserably. But the moment she met someone, that future was twisted.

She didn’t know why.

She didn’t know the reason.

“This little kid is still as pessimistic as ever.”

“…!”

Someone placed a hand on Enya’s head.

It was a strong, yet gentle touch.

Enya looked up to see the owner of the familiar voice, and in that moment, she saw another vision.

“Ah….”

The future had changed.