There were no sound makers, only those who kept silent. It was eerily quiet. The colossal being only bore a sinister smile without uttering a word, and the party members were so stiff they couldn't move a step. Even Sherry, an S-class, barely managed to stand on her two legs under the pressure of something indescribable.
It is said that in the face of situations so abnormal they defy common sense, people's bodies stiffen and they become flustered. That was the case now.
When we entered the heart of the pyramid said to have appeared in Egypt, we found a statue, and amidst the situation of a comrade having died, the statue suddenly coming to life was something that couldn't be understood or accepted with our existing knowledge.
"Ah…"
A sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a moan flowed from Jihye's lips. That voice seemed to awaken the mind, and Kang Sihyun, with his hands gripping Haeun tighter and his shoulders bearing an inexplicable weight, looked at the towering entity.
Its eyes, pitch-black from head to toe, leisurely examined the party members before rolling towards Kang Sihyun.
It was a vertically slit eye.
It was familiar, so when their gazes met, Kang Sihyun twitched his shoulder and let out a pained name.
"Gula…"
The large eyes with vertically slit pupils and the third eye embedded in its forehead.
Everything about it reminded one of Gula, of disaster.
However, it wasn't Gula. The paintings seen within the Orc tribes and the entity before us were different, as was the overwhelming presence from the eyes that met on the day the sky tore apart and the apocalypse descended.
Then what was this creature's identity?
It was definitely an Irregular, but beyond that, no ideas came to mind. If this entity had shown itself before, there must be records somewhere, but nowhere did it mention an Irregular like the one before us.
No one in the party seemed to recognize it, causing shoulders to tense. It was a moment of tension, guessing its identity, when Sherry, stiff for a while, furrowed her brow and stepped forward.
"Step back."
Sherry, positioning herself at the forefront of the party, looked up at the Irregular with wary eyes. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and before anyone knew it, Sherry had a sniper rifle in her hand.
"If you move, I'll shoot."
Despite there being no chance of communication with the Irregular, Sherry warned in a low voice. Then, the dark entity narrowed its eyes as if amused by the situation. Its horns glinted menacingly at that moment.
Drrrrrr―.
The ground shook once, and the stone fragments on the floor levitated into the air.
"Emma!"
"I got it!"
At Sherry's shout, Emma immediately enveloped all the party members in a protective shield. Her skills and reflexes as a nearly S-class were indeed reliable. Having another healer was reassuring, but unfortunately, the situation did not allow for the comfort of having two healers.
The stones rose high, higher than the heads of the party members and even higher than the head of the Irregular, nearly touching the lofty ceiling, stopping only when the Irregular slightly nodded its head.
Was this an attack?
Just when everyone tensed, expecting the stones to plummet towards them, the stones began to move.
Not downwards, but sideways.
The levitated stones moved busily to the sides, forming some letters in the air. The tense atmosphere turned unexpectedly peaceful, causing Sherry to blink. Emma, too, let out a breath of relief after having been tense with her staff in hand. Amidst this, Kang Sihyun, who had been silently observing the sky, narrowed his eyes.
They were writing something.
The stones busily moved amongst themselves, leaving some letters in the air. Realizing this, one of the party members adjusted his glasses and muttered 'Letters?' but no one could read the letters written in the sky.
It was an unfamiliar script.
It wasn't Korean, nor was it the alphabet, nor Hindi. It was not a language known to humanity. It was unfamiliar to everyone.
Except for Kang Sihyun.
To be precise, even Kang Sihyun couldn't recognize the script itself. It felt like the language of Irregulars. However, as a strong headache began to surge, the letters in Kang Sihyun's vision transformed.
From the unreadable script of the Irregulars to Korean consonants and vowels.
The letters changed into a form that Kang Sihyun could read.
Having experienced this phenomenon several times before, Kang Sihyun instinctively read the letters written in the air.
“'You are... humans, aren’t you?'”
“……?”
As Kang Sihyun suddenly uttered something incomprehensible, everyone except Sherry, who was still on guard against the Irregular, turned their gaze towards the young
boy. Kang Sihyun continued without taking his eyes off the sky.
It seemed like the stones were moving according to the will of the Irregular before him.
“'I have many questions, perhaps we could... talk?'”
Kang Sihyun furrowed his brows at that point.
Talk?
Was it suggesting a conversation?
His questioning gaze moved from the stones to the Irregular. As their eyes met, the creature curled its lips into a smirk. Kang Sihyun flinched and then shuddered slightly.
“This Irregular has intelligence, and quite high at that. It might even be capable of having a proper conversation with humans.”
“What are you talking about?”
“More importantly, Kang Sihyun, did you just read that?”
“Did you read those letters?”
“Did the Irregular use telepathy or something?”
The party members immediately became flustered, pouring out their questions. Except for Haemin and Ruth, no one knew he could read the language of the Irregulars. It was the first time he had deciphered the language of an Irregular in front of others, so their astonishment was understandable.
However, they were in an unidentified pyramid, facing an inscrutable and formidable entity. There was no time to resolve everyone's questions, so Kang Sihyun calmed the excitement and surprise with a promise to explain later, then took a deep breath.
“...Do you want to talk?”
It was unknown whether the creature could understand Korean, the language of humans. Yet, since it had requested a conversation from its side, Kang Sihyun asked, and the entity nodded its head. Even that slight gesture caused the already tense party members to flinch.
“An Irregular wanting to converse with humans, what kind of…”
As if he had seen the end of unreasonableness, one of the party members mumbled with a vacant expression. His pale face looked slightly pitiable. Kang Sihyun, while sympathizing with his thoughts, tried not to show any disturbance and spoke up.
“What conversation do you wish to have?”
“Look, it’s moving!”
Before Kang Sihyun could finish asking, the stones moved again, pointing fingers towards the sky. Despite knowing the entity had no intention to attack, everyone hunched their shoulders, adopting a defensive stance. It was always better to be prepared for a surprise attack or betrayal.
Tick, tick, tick.
The stones collided with each other, moving here and there, and stretched out into elongated letters. Once again, those letters transformed into Korean before Kang Sihyun’s eyes.
Anything.
Just when it seemed the answer had concluded, the stones continued to move.
“'I have many questions about you. ...Was the paradise we were expelled from enjoyable?'”
“……”
“Paradise?”
“...Expelled?”
The party's expressions hardened at the Irregular's response. It seemed they had caught on that the Irregular was not entirely friendly from its answer. To Kang Sihyun, the letters floating in the air seemed far from kind and gentle.
Expelled.
Among those present, only Kang Sihyun knew exactly what the Irregular was trying to say.
If the content of the paintings seen in the Orc tribe was anything to go by, the Irregulars were banished from the world by the deity due to Gula's misdeeds and trapped in a dark space. This Irregular was talking about that day.
This doesn't bode well.
Goosebumps rose all over his body, and his senses sharpened. A bad premonition filled him as he observed the Irregular, which, despite its massive size compared to the small humans, seemed to find their reactions and defenses amusing and chuckled, raising its hand.
Despite its incredible length, its nails seemed sturdy enough not to break and tapped the stones lightly. Then, the stones moved even faster than before, forming letters.
“'Throughout my imprisonment in the abyss, I awaited only this moment.'”
Without being prompted, Kang Sihyun interpreted the letters and narrowed his eyes, signaling the party members with a glance. They understood the hint to step back and gripped their weapons tightly, each taking a few steps back.
The atmosphere gradually grew grimmer, the content of the conversation seemingly not light. Watching them, Kang Sihyun, too, tensed his body and opened his mouth towards the grinning Irregular.
In this situation, the stronger party was the Irregular.
They hadn't clashed, but it was clear. If they all combined their strength for a battle, it might be different, but judging by individual prowess, this Irregular was stronger than anyone present. His instincts as an Awakened told him so.
Or maybe it was a survival instinct.
An instinct warning that if you recklessly challenge this opponent, you might die because it is stronger than you.
Therefore, while the creature was being friendly, they had to play along. It wasn't common to find an Irregular willing to
converse. If not now, they might not get another chance to extract information, so Kang Sihyun calmed his pounding heart.
“What are you?”
After a deep breath, he asked, and the stones moved. Whether it was becoming accustomed to conversing through stones or not, the speed was noticeably faster this time.
‘Mother's twelfth child, Decumanus.’
The Irregular introduced itself as such. Unconsciously reading the name as it appeared, Kang Sihyun showed a moment of disturbance before hearing the voices of his companions asking why and shook his head.
This wasn't the time to be distracted.
“...Are you talking about Gula?”
The Irregular smiled even more broadly. It was a confirmation. Merely smiling, but the chilling aura that ran down Kang Sihyun's back made his guts turn cold. He hesitated for a moment before asking what he had most wanted to know since entering this place.
That is, about Haeun's death.
“Is this... your doing?”
“……”
Glancing towards Haeun in his arms as he spoke, the party members held their breath as if on cue. Kang Sihyun, who had asked more cautiously and quietly than usual, froze his breath when the Irregular split its lips once more.
Gripping Haeun tighter.
Why.
Why her of all people.
Why.
Just as he was about to ask, the stones moved once again. Kang Sihyun slowly interpreted the letters that seemed etched into his eyes.
‘A sacrifice.’
‘For mother's resurrection.’
When Kang Sihyun's eyes trembled violently at the two disjointed sentences, Decumanus laughed deeper than ever before. It wasn't just any laughter. A smile that stretched to the ears, ripping with laughter, was so sinister it felt cruel, sending chills down everyone's spine. At that moment, feeling a bone-chilling sensation pour over him, Kang Sihyun shouted.
“Run!”
At Kang Sihyun's cry, the party members, reacting swiftly, split in two directions and ran.
Crash!
At the same time, the floor where Kang Sihyun and the party had been standing just moments before shot up sharply into the sky. If there had been any living creature on it, it would have been pierced through by the rising stones.
Once more, silence enveloped the space, and a strange light filled the eyes of the party members. From the recent attack, everyone realized.
The time for peaceful conversation was now over.
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