I Became a Ruined Character in a Dark Fantasy-Chapter 385

Awooooo—

The cries of beasts occasionally echoed in the distance, blending into the eerie quiet.

A celebration was beginning at the fortress. Any presences they sensed were all heading uphill, toward the mountain's base.

The group, led by Diana, pressed forward in silence. Her steps were sure and unwavering, yet she stayed within the shadows of the forest, never exposing herself. It was as though she could see clearly through the mist that blanketed their surroundings.

Ian noticed quickly—she was following almost the exact path the wanderers had taken down the mountain. Perhaps even the undead were heading toward the rift.

Thanks to Diana's guidance, they didn't stop even once. They ate meals on the move, sharing jerky from Diana's stash. It was so tough they had to hold it in their mouths, letting their saliva soften it before they could chew.

It's like eating a dog chew

Several hours passed, and the incline evened out. At the same time, Ian noticed the mist around them thickening.

As if in response, Diana's steps gradually slowed until she came to a full stop. This was shortly after Ian's intuition had sounded alarms.

"Just a bit further, and we'll reach the boundary," Diana whispered, turning to Ian.

Ian met her gaze, his brows furrowing slightly. "You sure you're up for it? You look exhausted."

Her murky green eyes seemed even more dulled, clouded with fatigue. It was clear she had been awake far longer than either Ian or Lucia, enduring several trials in the meantime.

But Diana shook her head firmly. "I still have enough energy to walk the edge. There's a shelter just past it where we can rest. We'll sleep when we get there."

"If that's the guide's decision," Ian replied with a shrug.

Despite his unease, he trusted her instincts. Fairies were a species known to value their lives above all else. And, of course, her eagerness to recover her belongings might have been another factor driving her determination.

"It'd be better with the mask, but you won't give it to me, will you?"

"Of course not. Don't even ask," Ian replied flatly.

Diana sighed, as if she'd expected that answer, then turned to look at both Ian and Lucia in turn. "We'll need to walk a single file from here. Keep your eyes on the back of the person in front of you. If you're unsure, grab their arm. Do not stop under any circumstances, and try not to look around. Most importantly, don't veer off the path."

Quite a list of things not to do.

"Where's the safest spot?" he asked aloud.

"Right behind me," Diana answered without hesitation.

Ian turned to Lucia. "You heard her. Hold on to Diana's arm and keep your eyes on her back."

"You'll stay at the very back, Sir Ian?"

"I'll be fine. I can see Diana's back, and I won't be grabbing anyone's arm. So don't turn around for any reason."

"Understood. I'll be relying on you, Diana," Lucia said as she moved forward.

Diana didn't reply. She simply turned her back to them again.

Lucia reached out and gripped Diana's forearm, steadying herself as the group prepared to enter the boundary of the rift.

Ian stood a few steps behind Lucia. From his position, he could see both the back of her head and Diana's ahead of her.

—At last, I'll have my curiosity satisfied.

Yog whispered lazily in Ian's mind. Despite all the warnings about the dangers, the creature's tone was devoid of any tension. It seemed like it didn't mind dying as long as it was entertained.

As Ian clicked his tongue, Diana crouched slightly.

"We'll start. Keep your eyes forward." She stepped into the dense mist, her movements deliberate. Lucia followed closely, and Ian brought up the rear, carefully matching their pace.

The mist thickened rapidly, saturated with magic so dense it felt like walking through cotton.

So this is why she said not to take your eyes off the person ahead.

Ian realized that even a brief pause or glance away would make it impossible to distinguish his companions from the haze.

His sight wasn't the only thing distorted. Ian's senses felt strangely misaligned, warped by the heavy concentration of magic in the air. Even someone without a shred of magical talent could undoubtedly feel its presence here.

—Fascinating.

The flow of magic came alive in Ian's mind—a slow spiral leading toward the heart of the rift, where chaos churned violently.

How does she even navigate through this?

Ian's gaze locked onto Diana's back. With calm precision, she flowed with the magic, staying clear of the center's pull.

Whenever the concentration of magic grew too dense, she calmly adjusted their path to lead them away from the pull. She appeared to understand that no escape was possible for anyone caught in the current.

The deeper they went, the more pronounced the distortions became. Ian felt his limbs stretch unnaturally, like molten taffy, while the landscape seemed to race away at impossible speeds despite their measured pace.

It wasn't just a feeling. At some point, the ground began tilting, undulating as if it were a rolling wave, making it feel like they were walking on a swaying disc.

—Amusing. To experience warped space time like this.

Amusing my ass. It's terrifying.

Even so, he didn't let his eyes stray from Diana's and Lucia's backs. His focus sharpened further as Lucia occasionally stumbled, though she neither stopped nor looked away.

So it's not just me feeling this way.

The flow of time felt blurred as they pressed forward. Suddenly, he noticed a change in the magical flow pushing against his back. Though it still swirled like a vortex, the direction had reversed—flowing outward from the center instead of inward.

It seemed to be what Diana was waiting for, as she didn't alter her course and pressed forward steadily.

How long have we been walking?

The question surfaced in his mind just as the ground beneath them leveled out again. It felt as if only a few minutes had passed and as if several hours had slipped away—a strange, disorienting sensation.

The next moment, he realized that the ground beneath his feet had leveled out again. The magical flow that had been pushing against his back weakened, and his distorted senses started returning to normal.

Diana's pace quickened steadily. Fixing his gaze on the back of her head, Ian suddenly knew, without anyone needing to tell him, that they had crossed the boundary of the rift.

"Phew.. Phew..." Diana stumbled to a halt, leaning forward with her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"We're out."

Lucia, too, seemed to have realized they'd exited the rift even before Diana stopped. She let go of Diana's arm and hurried to the side, bending over with her hands on her knees.

"Urgh, blegh!" Lucia, now slumped on the ground, began vomiting what little she had eaten. There was no need to ask her how the experience inside had been—it was written all over her pale, exhausted face.

— It was far more entertaining than I expected. I'd love to go again. Maybe deeper next time,

I'll toss you in myself next time, Ian thought bitterly, keeping the retort to himself as he steadied his breathing. He wasn't as bad off as Lucia, but the dizziness and pounding headache were enough to unsettle him.

Is this what ground sickness feels like?

"Impressive," Diana remarked suddenly.

She was already facing him. "For someone walking the edge for the first time, you handled it well."

"It's not fine. My insides are in knots."

"That's exactly what's impressive. Most people—"

"Really, never again," interrupted Lucia, her voice muffled as she kept her head bowed low.

Gasping for air, she added, "I never want to go through that again."

Diana shrugged with exaggerated nonchalance and continued, "You endured better than most. Usually, people wet themselves, cry uncontrollably, and can't even stand for a while."

Her tone almost sounded as if she'd hoped Ian would crumble, which explained why she hadn't warned them about what to expect beforehand.

Ian smirked faintly. "Were you the same when you first tried it?"

"Me?" Diana blinked, as she didn't expect him to ask, then subtly averted her gaze as she replied, "I was perfectly fine. Practically natural at it."

So she probably cried her eyes out, Ian thought, letting out a soft scoff.

Clearing her throat hastily, Diana added, "Anyway, we made it. This is where we wanted to be."

Ian finally glanced up at the sky. The color was entirely different now, a deep navy reminiscent of a night sky. The texture of the ground beneath his boots and even the air's scent had changed completely.

It took little to realize they had covered a distance that would have otherwise taken days in mere moments.

"Phew." Lucia approached them, wiping her mouth with her arm. Her already pale complexion now looked nearly translucent.

"Feeling better?" Ian asked.

"No, not really," Lucia replied, shaking her head. "I couldn't think straight. The magic surged wildly, the ground kept rolling like waves, and even though I stayed still, it felt like the entire world was spinning."

Diana, surveying their surroundings, flashed a smug smile. "You'll need time to adapt. At least five or six trips before you get the hang of it."

"So, the trick is to ignore the distorted sensations and focus solely on the flow of magic?" Ian asked.

"Exactly, that's the secret—" Diana answered, but paused.

Her brows furrowed as she turned to look at him. "You mean you felt that on your first try?"

"I have good instincts," Ian replied with a shrug, the corner of his lips twitching into a faint smirk.

Diana's frown deepened, her irritation clearly visible. "It's not that simple."

"Well, actually doing it myself would probably be an entirely different story," Ian replied.

Not that I want to try.

Ian nodded and kept the rest of his thoughts to himself.

Walking the edge of the rift was too dangerous. While it had been necessary this time, he resolved not to rely on it again unless there was absolutely no other choice, especially when it was just him and Lucia traveling together.

"Lead the way. Either way, we need some rest."

"Finally, something we agree on," Diana replied, turning her head into the mist.

"It's just a little farther," she added.

***

The wilderness they entered was a sparse expanse of rocky terrain, patches of grass, and scraggly, thin trees. The ever-present mist moved silently across the landscape.

Diana led the group to a relatively flat, protruding rock with a crooked tree growing beside it. The tree's roots seemed to have burrowed into a hollow space beneath the rock, forming a small shelter.

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Lucia, staring at the remnants of a campfire in the center of the hollow, murmured, "I'm exhausted."

"Get some sleep. The next rift will take even longer than today's," Diana said as she gathered the remaining pieces of wood into a pile.

Lucia sighed.

Ian set down a storage container beside her.

"Then we should eat well," he said, placing a neatly dried rabbit pelt on the lid. When he unwrapped it to reveal a pair of blackened hind legs, Diana blinked and promptly turned away.

"I'll gather more firewood," she said, already climbing the crooked tree.

As Diana moved to collect branches, Lucia kindled a flame in the woodpile and pulled blankets from the storage container.

"It's convenient having more hands. Snack on some jerky while you wait—I'll roast the meat soon," Ian said, slicing shallow cuts into the rabbit's leg before skewering it with his black sword.

Lucia leaned into the storage container as she replied, "Let's share the jerky. We don't have to ration it anymore."

"Don't finish it all. You might start missing the taste of bland food when it's gone," Ian said with a casual shrug.

Just then, Diana returned with her arms full of small branches. As she added them to the fire, Lucia took out a piece of jerky and placed a bottle of alcohol next to Ian.

Diana watched as Ian opened the bottle with one hand and took a sip. Her gaze followed the bottle, almost hypnotized.

"Is that liquor?"

"Yeah," Ian replied, raising the bottle to his lips again.

As Ian roasted the rabbit leg over the fire, he offered, "Want a sip?"

"If you insist, gladly," Diana said, hesitantly averting her eyes before taking the bottle from him.

She took a swig, and her brows immediately furrowed. "It's strong."

"It's Northern liquor," Ian explained.

"But it's excellent. This can't be compared to the stuff we drink here," Diana said, savoring the taste.

Ian raised a brow and looked at her. "You have liquor here too?"

"Yes. It's made from potatoes, and it tastes like something that could rot your nose off," Diana replied with a faint grimace.

"Are you sure that stuff is from a real potato?" Ian asked, recalling the taste of the earlier potato balls.

Diana paused for a moment before murmuring, "Maybe not. But we've called it that for so long. It's impossible to think otherwise now."

"Fair enough. I guess you can call anything whatever you want," Chewing on the jerky Lucia had handed him, Ian replied with a chuckle, shifting his focus to the cooking meat.

Meanwhile, Diana took a few more sips of the liquor before opening her bag and pulling out the charred, diagonally split wooden carving they had taken from the fortress.

Lucia handed her a piece of jerky and asked, "That's the wooden carving we found at the fortress, right?"

"Yes. They were probably drawing power through this," Diana replied with a slight nod, her voice slurring faintly as the alcohol took effect.

Lucia's eyes glinted coldly. "It was an idol, then. That's why it's destroyed. Do you know which demon was sending them power?"

"Of course," Diana said, turning to Lucia with a low, steady voice. "Akihatara."

"Akiha—" Lucia gasped, her eyes widening in shock.

Ian flipped the meat on the fire with a casual spin of his blade and spoke. "Seems like a famous name?"

Diana turned to him, frowning deeply. "You know how to catch me off guard, Ian Hope."

Lucia responded calmly, her gaze shifting to Ian. "Most people outside the Wall probably have forgotten the name by now. I only remembered it from reading old texts."

Then, with a measured tone, she explained, "Akihatara was one of the great archdemons who commanded a massive dominion. Also called the Godmother of the Feathered Crown and the Blood-Soaked Wings."