I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 157
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 157
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I guided Anata to the front yard of the Cabin where Jenas’s body lay.
There, Jenas’s wounded body lay collapsed in a pool of blood. He had already stopped breathing.
I had thought it would be difficult to kill Jenas. But in the end, even that great Mage was an imperfect human being.
Anata approached Jenas with faltering steps and collapsed before him. We watched her in silence.
Or rather, everyone except Diego, who was carrying Kaiden on his back, stood watching her with caution.
Anata’s shoulders trembled. She was sobbing. After crying for a long time, she lifted her head with a disheveled face.
“The Pendant?”
Then Anata turned to me and asked. I answered without taking the Pendant from my pocket.
“Let me ask again. You truly didn’t know? That opening the Escape Gate was forbidden?”
She stared at me helplessly, like someone who had lost the will to respond. Eventually, Anata nodded slowly.
“It’s true. But no matter what I say, could you possibly believe me?”
“If you can provide a convincing reason for why you helped us, then yes, I could believe you.”
Upon hearing my words, Anata looked at Kaiden, whom Diego was carrying with one arm.
Kaiden still hadn’t awakened since he collapsed earlier. It seemed he had exerted himself excessively.
“I know I’m the scum of humanity. But I no longer have the confidence to convince you. Will it convince you? I’m the Designer of this damned Experiment.”
Anata stared at me as if to say kill her if they must, showing no intention of making excuses.
Perhaps her words were truly the truth. Even if Jenas considered her his sister, he wouldn’t have revealed the traps he had set to someone who betrayed him.
“That’s right, that argument holds no persuasive power. You’re one of the Designers of this damned Experiment.”
The Prince of Asdal retorted with an angry face. He had his eyes covered with cloth torn from a T-shirt, and thanks to Yuanna’s Divine Power, the bleeding seemed to have stopped.
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid also spoke menacingly, still holding his Sword drawn toward Anata.
“The only reason I’m not killing you right now is because you’re the only one who knows how to Escape.”
Anata buried her face in her palms with an anguished expression.
“I hope you’ll believe me anyway. Jenas and I designed and conducted the Island, but our Experiment wasn’t something we led independently. There were other forces and multiple Mages involved. The other Mages who came to the Island with us couldn’t endure and all died.”
“….”
Yes. I had suspected as much. Wasn’t the Papal Court and the Rohade Family involved in this Experiment? I hadn’t failed to anticipate that there would be others who cooperated in sending us here.
‘Everyone who came with me is dead. That’s why I’m alone.’
When I first met young Jenas, he had said such things to me. He had definitely used the expression “people” who came with him, not just a single “person.”
Jenas’s Cabin was excessively spacious for two people to live in. It was large enough to accommodate at least ten people, and there were far too many Rooms.
Moreover, it wasn’t messy as if quite a few people had lived there.
“Those bastards outside have sponsored this Experiment generation after generation for a thousand years, killing anyone who opposed it and anyone who knew of it, repeating such deeds. Of course, this was only possible because Jenas, the leader of the Experiment, managed all those forces.”
To have done such things for a thousand years. The depths of human depravity and cruelty struck me anew.
Anata continued speaking.
“They revered Jenas like a god and supported him. He’s a Great Mage who lived for a thousand years, after all. How could they not? Jenas, intoxicated by their reverence, was confident that if he succeeded in the Experiment, he would be rewarded for a thousand years of time. But my thoughts are different. This Experiment ultimately only benefits those ‘bastards’ outside.”
“Is that force the Papal Court and the Rohade Family?”
At my question, Anata looked at me with a face as if organizing her thoughts for a moment. After a long pause, she opened her mouth.
“There are more beyond that. You were all brought here after being betrayed by those close to you. Well, there is one who wasn’t exactly betrayed.”
As Anata said this final remark, she looked at me.
Wait, does that mean I was dragged to this Island without even being betrayed? Am I just cursed with terrible luck?
Anger surged through me, choking off my breath. All the suffering I’d endured on this Island without understanding why I’d been brought here came flooding back.
“Once you leave the Island, look for a peony flower pattern caught in a spider web. That’s the mark proving the existence of that force.”
Anata’s gaze shifted to Kaiden as she finished speaking. There was something oddly meaningful in the way her eyes regarded him.
Puzzled, I followed her gaze to examine Kaiden, but I couldn’t detect anything particularly unusual about him.
The rest of my Companions couldn’t hide their shock at Anata’s words. Yet soon all eyes turned back to me, as if waiting for my response.
I asked Anata again.
“…Is there another way to escape the Island? The Saint can escape too, right?”
“It’s less another method than a different approach. If we open the Gate now and the Island is destroyed, naturally the Saint can escape. But to force open the escape Gate and still have the Warp Gate function properly, you’ll need power that surpasses that.”
“Wait. Can I really, truly leave…?”
Yuanna Lucy interjected, her voice trembling audibly. She covered her mouth briefly, then looked at Anata with an expression of disbelief.
Anata gazed at Yuanna Lucy quietly before nodding.
“You can leave. I’ll make it happen.”
Yuanna Lucy, who had been standing dazed, looked around with a complicated expression. She still didn’t fully believe those words.
“I never held onto hope in the first place. Because it would only hurt more later…”
I quietly took Yuanna Lucy’s hand as she stood beside me. Her face contorted as she looked at me. Biting her lower lip, she slowly lowered her head.
Anata, who had been watching us silently, opened her mouth.
“The vengeful spirits that the Archbishop carries within his body—they haven’t found peace yet. Release those spirits. They’ll help destroy the Island. I’ll unseal the Pendant and open the Warp Gate so you can all escape.”
All eyes concentrated on Archbishop Luzef.
Archbishop Luzef answered calmly, as if he’d anticipated this moment.
“…I don’t wish for your survival, but understand this. As you know, if you release those vengeful spirits, they won’t leave you alone.”
“…”
“Their power is stronger than you realize. Even if you unseal the Pendant and take its Mana, you may struggle to withstand those spirits.”
“I told you. My purpose is to get you all out. The Experiment failed, and I’m going to Hell anyway. I don’t need your concern.”
No one could respond to Anata’s final words. A brief silence fell.
A person who had toyed with countless lives over a thousand years. Thus, no one pitied her.
Looking at Anata again, her Red Eyes held no light. She seemed like someone who had abandoned all will to live.
If Archbishop Luzef was right and Anata took the Pendant’s Mana and changed her mind to betray us, there seemed to be no cause for concern.
In truth, there was no other option now but to hand the Pendant to Anata.
After long deliberation, Archbishop Luzef quietly placed his hand over mine, which held the Pendant.
“Don’t worry. The anger of those vengeful spirits is beyond imagination. Once I release them, the Island may collapse immediately. So when the Warp Gate opens, it would be best to run straight through.”
Hearing Archbishop Luzef’s words, I looked at Eun-ji, who was dangling from my forearm with a curious expression, tilting her head.
If necessary, I might have to ride on the agile Eun-ji and pass through the Warp Gate.
“But wasn’t the Pendant something only Jenas could unseal?”
“Do you know what this is? This isn’t Jenas’s ‘body.’ It’s a fragment of his soul and part of his Magic Power. You can open the Pendant by making contact with his spirit.”
Anata pointed to Jenas’s corpse. Indeed, for a Great Mage of Jenas’s caliber, even his corpse could be considered extraordinary.
I deliberated briefly before ultimately handing the Pendant to her.
“Everyone step back.”
She whispered as she took the Pendant. We slowly withdrew from her. The surroundings grew quiet.
Anata dipped her finger in Jenas’s blood and pressed it onto the teardrop-shaped Amethyst embedded in the Pendant. Soon a pure white flame rose above the Pendant, and a Magic Formula began to form.
It seemed to be the Magic Formula for unsealing the Pendant.
Seeing this, Archbishop Luzef took a deep breath, then closed his eyes. He murmured something under his breath, and suddenly the sky began to darken.
It was the same phenomenon as when the vengeful spirits had been sealed within Archbishop Luzef’s body, and when the seal broke open before the cabin, releasing his Magic Power.
Flash—!
White lightning struck down from above.
Archbishop Luzef’s long hair whipped violently in the fierce wind. Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid carefully pulled me back, shielding me as he held me from behind.
Soon, a powerful gust accompanied by thunder roared overhead, and lightning struck down multiple times in succession.
[Aaaaah–!]
Massive voices announcing liberation echoed through the sky. It was eerie, as if thousands of people had cried out in unison.
Pure white light erupted from Archbishop Luzef’s body, and the lightning that descended from the sky struck directly at Anata.
It looked almost like divine punishment.
Crackle—whoosh!
Anata’s entire body burst into roaring flames. She let out a agonized scream.
I could no longer see Anata’s face through the inferno.
But then the lightning attacking Anata suddenly began striking Kaiden as well. Wait—why was it suddenly targeting Kaiden?!
“Kaiden!”
I rushed desperately toward Diego, who was carrying Kaiden.
Kaiden wasn’t engulfed in flames like Anata. Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid checked Kaiden’s condition in my stead, and it seemed there was no immediate danger to his life.
Unlike Anata, it appeared the vengeful spirits’ true target was something other than Kaiden.
The strange thing was that the lightning had no effect on Diego whatsoever.
“Look there! A Gate seems to be opening!”
At that moment, the Prince of Asdal pointed toward the western region. Just as he said, a massive vortex swirled in the western sky, and something was forming like a black hole.
I felt the ground shake violently as I channeled my Magic Power to Eun-ji.
Eun-ji’s body gradually expanded, taking on the form of a colossal Anaconda. I leaped onto Eun-ji’s head and called to my companions.
“Everyone, get on!”
I could see Diego dragging Yuanna Lucy away from Anata’s side, as she refused to leave.
Once I had my companions mounted on Eun-ji’s head, I turned back to look at Anata. She remained engulfed in the flames.
Then, as if Anata’s Magic Formula activation had completed, the Pendant floating above the inferno began swirling with brilliant Magic Formulas.
They quickly spread outward, seizing control of the entire area.
All sound vanished in an instant.
Moments later, the ground trembled with a massive burst of light. It truly seemed as though the Island was beginning to collapse.
From within the flames, Anata’s fading voice resonated through the void.
[I have opened the Gate. Leave now, this instant. And tell our descendant only this.]
Just as I was about to depart on Eun-ji, she added her final words.
[Thank you for living.]
With those words, the flames surrounding her surged even more violently. Lightning bolts crashed down relentlessly upon the inferno engulfing Anata.
The lightning struck not only Anata but continued to rain down on Kaiden as well. Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid and I sat before and behind Kaiden, yet the lightning had no effect on us either.
Why in the world was it doing this to Kaiden?
“Ugh.”
At that moment, Kaiden let out a pained groan.
Archbishop Luzef, equally bewildered, tried to stop the lightning, but it was futile. The lightning relentlessly continued its assault on Kaiden.
“There doesn’t appear to be any immediate threat to his life, but if this continues, it could become dangerous.”
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid examined Kaiden’s condition as he spoke.
“We have no choice but to escape quickly!”
At Archbishop Luzef’s cry, I urged Eun-ji forward.
The ground fractured and tremors shook the Island. A massive tsunami surged from the Beach, and the land was being submerged.
A black hole continued to form near the western edge of the Island, and moments later, a Gate appeared before it—it resembled a Warp Gate.
Eun-ji, carrying us, crawled rapidly toward it. However, the closer we approached the Gate, the more violent the Mana wavelength became.
We all experienced excruciating pain as if our entire bodies were being torn to shreds. I thought we would die without even reaching the Warp Gate.
Suddenly, layers upon layers of pristine Protective Barriers formed, enveloping Eun-ji and us.
“Protective Magic has been cast! It seems that Mage is keeping his promise to help us!”
The Prince of Asdal, sitting behind me, shouted toward me.
[Destroy!]
With the delighted, maddened voices of the vengeful spirits as our final accompaniment, we passed through the Gate aboard the enormous Eun-ji.
At that same moment, the Island exploded completely.
Once we fully emerged from the Gate, Kaiden was no longer attacked by the vengeful spirits.
* * *
Thus we returned to the Langrid Empire of our dreams, though we faced a rather inconvenient problem.
We had landed precisely on a Battlefield where the Langrid Empire, Hestia Kingdom, and the forces of the Papal Court clashed with the Northern Nations.
It was only natural that soldiers panicked upon witnessing a colossal Anaconda descending from the Sky.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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