Chapter 80 – In which they have a nightmare (5)

Phlox sat on her sleeping mat, meditating.

‘A past self…’

Strangely enough, she never entertained this idea seriously before.

Caught up in thinking that this repetitive dream must be some kind of divine vision, must have some important meaning, she never stopped to consider this simple possibility.

Perhaps it was because her dream self felt so similar to her real self.

Reincarnation’s supposed to change you.

To become someone new, to take upon a new role.

If things didn’t change, what was the meaning of that repetition?

If you couldn’t make a change, then why would you continue on living?

She sighed.

There was no one here to answer her questions.

And no point of trying to solve that philosophical conundrum by herself.

So she lied down and closed her eyes to sleep.

When she opened them again, she already entered the dream.

A dazzling woman stood in the center of her vision, a few meters away.

Even when wearing simple linen clothing, her hair was like melted gold and her skin reminded Phlox of polished ebony wood.

An elegant curved snake mask seemed rather like a precious crown, rather than a disguise tool made from wood and leather.

The dream Phlox called the woman ‘Imoogi’.

It seemed there was some spiteful history behind that nickname, because when looking at her now, the dream Phlox idly thought:

‘Rather than a snake that is trying to ascend to heavens, isn’t she a snake, who descended from heaven?’

Even in such a dreadful situation, the woman seemed to shine in the darkness.

The fake Imoogi was currently receiving some urgent report.

While listening, her eyes narrowed and turned cold.

It didn’t seem like good news.

Phlox approached when the messenger left.

“Ah, dear flower.”

‘Flower’.

That was what Imoogi called Phlox from the beginning.

Because neither of them knew each other’s names.

In the past, Phlox thought that was an insult, but now she thought that the woman was probably complimenting her like this.

Though it was hard to understand what flower she saw in Phlox, with her gray hair and white eyes.

“Is there a problem?”

She had no time to understand, though. They were in a situation that didn’t allow for idle chatter.

Immogi’s lips twitched as she nodded and then shook her head.

“My crazy brother tricked all the forces allocated to him into joining two other squads. There is no one to protect him now… But he’ll be fine.”

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It didn’t sound fine, but if they tried to turn those forces around and make them join him, it would be no different from sending them to a certain death.

It would be a useless sacrifice.

Phlox knew that though the woman would be dying from worry, she spoke like this to reassure herself.

So she agreed:

“Yes, he’ll be fine. Which one are you talking about, though?”

“The older one, of course. My younger brother is sane and reasonable.”

Phlox thought that the younger one was actually more of a lunatic, but she didn’t say it.

Instead, she changed the topic.

“Let’s allocate those additional forces then… It may be good to put them on the left flank…”

Phlox stared at the map that was lying in front of Imoogi, when she heard a quiet chuckle.

She raised her head and met with shinning yellow eyes.

“What?”

“It’s nothing. I just still find it surprising.”

“What… is surprising?”

Imoogi smiled slightly.

It wasn’t her typical snake-like smile.

This one was gentle.

“I thought you would leave with everyone else.”

“I thought so too…”

Phlox turned to look at the map again.

The thick black line marking the border was like a gush that ran across her heart.

“But some poisons are too painful to tolerate.”

“… Okay, this snake will remember to bite lightly.”

Phlox could feel her cheeks burn, and she was so glad that the mask was covering half of her face at least.

She took a deep breath.

“Please concentrate.”

“I’m concentrating.”

“Please concentrate on what you have to do…”

“Mhm.”

That didn’t sound very reassuring.

“How did we all even end up entrusting such a task to you… ”

Phlox mumbled under her breath, and fake Imoogi laughed.

It probably wasn’t how someone, who was shouldering a responsibility for numerous lives and this land’s entire future, should behave, but somehow Phlox felt reassured.

‘As long as you’re laughing, it will be alright…’

*-*-*

But it wasn’t.

“Retreat behind the fourth line!”

Phlox gave the order and the small force under her command followed.

She bit her lips as she examined the enemy lines.

No matter how much information you have, no matter how much you prepare, there was little you could do to predict how far someone desperate can go.

‘To sacrifice your own people…!’

Even though she knew about all the atrocities, she couldn’t imagine them going this far.

To kill your own troops and bound their souls to your shields like some kind of luck charms.

The worst thing, it worked.

The mages’ spells keep going awry and warriors’ blades keep missing.

Phlox and other spiritual users tried to divert their effects, but it was no use.

The beliefs of thousands of dead souls were shaping the rulers of this battle.

‘The numbers are the problem. The numbers are always the problem.’

Their forces were severely outnumbered from the beginning.

So their only option was guerilla warfare and playing cat and mouse game, while preventing the enemy from approaching Imoogi, who was forging a contract.

Phlox looked back.

Three pillars of light cut through the darkness.

It would be a beautiful sight if not that it was so damn flashy.

‘Why can’t you be less eye-catching for once!’

She lamented inside, as the enemy troops were now clearly advancing towards the pillar of light she was trying so hard to protect.

“Captain.”

The second-in-command, a man that always smelled like candles for some reason, even on the battlefield, spoke to her with a dry voice:

“There is a canyon ahead. We can drive them there and hold as long as we can.”

‘As long as we can’.

In other words, to the moment they die.

‘That won’t do.’

Phlox knew those people came here with knowledge that they might and probably will die.

And there always will be sacrifices in the battle.

But…

‘But she will cry.’

She knew that even if her beautiful Imoogi pretended it was okay, that she accepted the necessary sacrifice, it was all a lie.

The Imoogi, who descended from heaven, couldn’t accept death.

And so, she would cry.

Phlox didn’t want her to cry.

She glared at the enemy lines.

Their number wasn’t that big actually.

If only they could release the suffering of those souls and heal the injuries of their allies….

She suddenly had an idea.

“No. Let’s find some flat ground with a lot of stones around.”

“Captain?”

“I’m going to hold a ritual. Protect me until I finish.”

It was a lot to ask, but if she succeeded, they could maximize their chances of surviving.

The group followed her orders.

*-*-*

The ritual was old, hard to understand and frankly speaking Phlox had no idea what she was doing half of the time.

All she had was her belief that it would work.

‘Earth receives blessings of heavens and gives them to people…’

She acted on this old saying she heard from someone in her family.

Perhaps that principle was true, or her belief was just strong enough.

She succeeded in the ritual.

The souls were released and no longer affected the battlefield.

Her allies were healed and could fight again as if they only entered the battle.

No matter how many souls the enemy brought or how hurt her allies were, the souls were freed and the injuries were healed.

No curse or poison could touch them.

But it had a price.

Every ritual has a price.

Usually a god handles most of it on the priest’s behalf.

But in nature rituals there was no god to handle it.

Phlox, who had rich spirituality and mana, easily forgot about it.

Sometimes there are things that you can’t pay for.

“As expected… my math is terrible…”

She collapsed.

She didn’t know if it was her flickering life, but the sky seemed unusually bright.

Too bright even.

She closed her eyes.

“… My flower…”

A whisper beside her ears.

Perhaps a hallucination, perhaps a reality.

Still, it was nice.

It was a truly nice voice.

Not like a snake at all.

Drip. Drip.

Something hot fell on her face.

Even her tears weren’t cold like that of a snake.

Phlox smiled at this thought.

She mumbled:

“… You know… I’m… really… really… selfish…”

… I didn’t want you to cry for anyone else but me.

*~*~*