Chapter 869

His consciousness, long submerged, began to rise slowly.

Yuder opened his eyes in pitch-black darkness.

‘Where... is this?’

A mysterious space where he couldn’t tell whether he was standing, sitting, or floating in midair. Cold, ominous, and so quiet it was terrifying. And yet... Yuder faintly recalled having been here before.

And the very next thing to surface in his mind was the memory of a white glove he had encountered in a place just like this.

Tensing sharply, Yuder looked around—and sure enough, not far off, he saw a pair of pale, white hands.

‘......’

They remained perfectly still, almost as if waiting for Yuder to recognize them. The moment he locked eyes with them, one of the hands gently wiggled its fingers in greeting.

Yes. It was unmistakably a greeting.

Raising one hand upright and softly fluttering four fingers like a breeze—how could that be interpreted as anything but a wave? It reminded Yuder precisely of how Kishiar la Orr used to sneak into Yudrain Aile’s chambers and casually wave over the window. Yuder’s breath caught in his throat.

There was no way to describe what he was feeling.

‘Why am I seeing that again here? I was definitely...’

The funeral. The temple. The pounding hail. The blackened sky. The Sage and Naham. The battle.

The rift that had opened above the temple.

The red blood covering half of Kishiar’s face.

The hand that had pulled Yuder close by the shoulder.

As fragmented memories swirled in his muddled mind, they all paused at the feeling of that hand resting on his shoulder.

He remembered nothing after that. Which meant Yuder Aile was currently unconscious. So was this a repeat of the dream he’d had before? Or... a new dream brought on by a new rift?

‘Probably... the latter.’

His memory was hazy, but he was certain the last time he’d been here, that white hand hadn’t waved like that. Yuder came to a conclusion and silently watched the pair of hands slowly approaching him.

Even now, the sight of them stirred a deep instinctual revulsion. But being his second encounter, it no longer shocked him like before. Even the thick, fishy smell that grew stronger as they neared was bearable.

‘You really do get used to the weirdest things in life.’

The gloved hands seemed to sense Yuder’s changed attitude. As they paused right in front of him, they circled slowly around him. When Yuder made no move to react, the air around him trembled faintly. A cold chill spread, as if an unseen breath had passed through the space.

But the chill vanished the moment Yuder instinctively shivered—as if something had blocked it off entirely.

‘......’

“Hey.”

Before the white gloves could do anything else, Yuder opened his mouth, hesitantly. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to speak, but to his surprise, his voice emerged. Muffled, like it came from deep underwater, it didn’t carry far—but if it reached those hands, that was enough.

“What is this place? What are you? Why are we here like this? Is this a dream or reality? Can I ask why it’s only hands that are showing? I...”

Before he could finish, one of the hands reached forward and touched his left hand. It slowly turned Yuder’s palm upward and held it there. He suppressed the chill crawling up his spine, and soon the other hand reached out and gently traced a fingertip across his palm.

‘There’s no point in repeating an answer already given.’

The finger moved slowly, but clearly enough that anyone who could read would understand the words. Even in this surreal place, the way the hand danced across his palm was graceful, almost like writing with a brush.

‘It could be either.’

‘It could be neither.’

“...What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Couldn’t it speak plainly? If Kishiar were here, maybe he would understand the deeper meaning of those words—but to Yuder, they made no sense.

Even as Yuder frowned, the finger continued to write.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He followed the motion with his eyes, sounding the words out in his mind.

‘You’re here’

‘Because you came.’

“...I came here? Willingly?”

As ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) he reflexively looked up and questioned the statement, the fingers continued to move.

‘So go back.’

‘Don’t come again.’

‘Ever.’

Ever.

After tracing the final word, the finger pressed firmly into his palm—hard enough to hurt. As if placing a period on a sentence... and as if something had begun to bind his entire body from that point.

Yuder flinched.

Then the hands clenched into fists and withdrew completely.

Without giving him time to react, both hands rose to his face—then forcefully shoved him in the chest.

Though it felt like he’d been floating weightlessly, the moment he was pushed, he became suddenly aware of the full weight of his body. He gasped—and began to fall into the darkness.

‘Ah...’

Unlike ordinary falling, there was no wind brushing past him. The absence of what should have been a natural sensation was deeply unnatural—and horrifying.

And yet the feeling of falling was vivid and sharp.

The hands that pushed him receded into the distance in an instant.

In that brief moment, Yuder caught a glimpse of something shifting behind those white gloves.

He had seen those things somewhere before...

But that was as far as his thoughts could go.

“....”

Gasping for breath, Yuder opened his eyes again. But this time, what greeted him was not a cursed darkness.

He blinked several times, and his blurry vision gradually cleared—revealing intricate plant-themed patterns and cherubs decorating the edge of the ceiling. It was none other than the Southern Cavalry branch’s elegant interior.

As soon as he realized that, the buzzing sound around him surged and pierced into his ears.

“He’s awake! Yuder’s awake!”

Turning his eyes toward the voice, Yuder saw a familiar head of green hair through his still-blurry vision. It was Lusan, no doubt.

“Where?!”

“What? Yuder’s awake?!”

“Outta the way, you punks! Get lost, you can wait! Move!”

With several loud thuds, the curtain was yanked open with a harsh rustling, and a new figure stepped in—Inon, looking far more haggard than the last time Yuder had seen him. Shadows loomed under his eyes as he looked down at him.

“...You.”

“......”

“First, let me beat the crap out of you.”

Inon reached out to grab Yuder’s face, but Lusan dove between them, desperately trying to stop him.

“You can’t, Master Inon! No matter how mad you are, you promised to wait at least a week!”

“Who said stop the pharmacist!”

More people rushed in and grabbed Inon’s arms to restrain him.

In the end, it was the chaos of those trying to stop Inon that collapsed the curtain rods around Yuder’s bed. While Yuder himself wasn’t harmed, several of those who fell with the curtain suffered minor bruises and sprains. As Lusan panicked and poured divine power into treating them, Yuder realized that the lingering chill from the dream had completely vanished.

“...Damn it. For fuck’s sake. Get these idiots out of here. Now.”

“But they’re patients too!”

“Do I look like I care? If they can be healed with divine power, they’re not real patients! Out!”

As Inon shouted curses, Yuder slowly swallowed a few times and opened his mouth.

“...I...non.”

“......”

His voice was so hoarse it was barely more than a breath—but that was enough to make Inon stop.

As Inon snapped his head around, Yuder pushed through the pain in his throat to speak again.

“...The Commander. Is he...”

“......”

Of course, the moment he said it, Inon exploded again.

It took several more minutes and a cleared room before they were finally able to have a proper conversation.