“Hey, miss! Wake up now! We’ve arrived.”
“Ah… Thank you.”
Adelia, who had been dozing off with drool at the corner of her mouth, jolted awake at the coachman’s hearty voice.
The carriage the butler had arranged was an ordinary one used by commoners.
As she hurriedly grabbed her bag and stepped out, a rough-looking coachman approached her.
Adelia flinched at the sight of him.
With a scar running across his face and a thick, scruffy beard, the coachman looked at first glance like a terrifying wanted criminal.
She silently prayed.
The man was several times Adelia’s size, and with each step he took, it felt like the ground shook.
As he approached, Adelia gulped and clutched her bag tightly to her chest.
“Travelling is nice and all, but be careful, miss. The tides have been rough lately—lots of folks headed to the temple ended up dead.”
The coachman, now standing right in front of her, smiled warmly as he spoke.
Startled, Adelia responded before she could think.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Ever since the temple where the Saint appeared showed up here, we’ve been gettin’ a lot of a visitors. But some got swept away by the waves and died. So be careful, miss.”
“Ha… ha. Thank you.”
Bowing politely to the unexpectedly kind coachman, Adelia turned toward her destination.
“Was there a Saint in the original story? Now that I’ve possessed this world, I’m learning all sorts of new things.”
The unfamiliar detail briefly caught her interest, but her attention quickly shifted as more people filled the area.
She passed through the bustling city streets and a row of inns before a wide, sandy beach came into view.
A thick mist had settled over the beach, where fine white sand stretched endlessly.
The fog was so dense that the blue sea couldn’t be seen at all, though the crashing of fierce waves echoed in the distance.
“So gloomy and eerie… Someone could die here and no one would even notice.”
It was no wonder there were rumors of many people dying in this place.
The landscape looked so perfectly suited for a ghost to appear at any moment that Adelia couldn’t help but shiver.
“Well, I still have to go. What are the odds a ghost will actually pop out?”
Hoo… Adelia took a deep breath and began walking along the fog-thinned area near the shoreline.
She brushed off the sand that slipped between the low heels of her shoes, taking short breaks whenever her legs started to ache, and steadily made her way into the fog.
After nearly an hour of determined walking, a glow returned to her face as she scanned the sea with a frown.
“Found it!”
A towering cliff came into view, stretching endlessly toward the ocean.
As she placed her hand on the rocky wall and followed the cliffside, a thick curtain of fog veiled her path once more.
Even as her vision blurred and her steps slowed, she never stopped walking.
The sound of waves crashing grew louder and louder.
The cool scent of the sea tickled her nose, and a low, humming vibration brushed past her ears.
When she turned toward the direction of the sound, a massive cave came into view.
“Wow… It looks exactly like in the original story.”
Thick vines hung down from the towering cave entrance.
They were so densely tangled that someone could easily pass by without noticing there was a cave at all.
Adelia gently pushed the vines aside and stepped into the cave.
From the entrance alone, a chill swept across her entire body.
Taking a lamp from her bag, she quietly pressed forward.
The dark cave stretched so deep it seemed to have no end.
This is exhausting…
As time passed, her steps grew noticeably sluggish.
Cold sweat trickled down her elegant face and met the chilly air, dropping her body temperature even further.
Her legs trembled from the continuous walking without rest, and her breath came in short, shallow gasps.
Her face twisted with discomfort as it became harder and harder to breathe.
“I’m really going to die at this rate—huh?”
Adelia, who had been bent over and gasping for breath, slowly lifted her head.
Before she realized it, she was leaning on something right in front of her.
And in a cave like this, there was only one thing that could be blocking the way so solidly.
“The end of the cave! I made it!”
She called out, feeling along the solid dead-end wall with her hands.
Despite the cold wind that swept through the cave, a faint warmth radiated from the surface.
This was it—the place she had been searching for.
A look of triumph spread across her face, but it quickly gave way to seriousness.
This is where the villain…
Adelia slowly retraced the events of the original story in her mind.
There was only one reason she had come to this place: to intercept the white mana that the villain had stolen from here in the original timeline.
White mana, known for its power of healing and defense, wasn’t just the key to ending her terminal condition—
it was also the foundation for gaining something far greater.
“I seek the source of all power… the ability that carries the might of the strongest light.”
The line that should’ve come from the villain’s mouth several years later now belonged to Adelia.
The moment her words ended, a strange sound echoed from beyond the wall.
“Who goes there?”
Just as she expected.
Adelia smirked, confidently placing her hands on her hips.
“I am Adelia Vita.”
Her name echoed through the cave.
As the sound warped and rumbled within the hollow space, a reply came from the other side of the wall.
“How strange. A human with two names?”
“…How did you know that?”
Adelia’s blue eyes widened, her pupils dilating in shock.
But soon, she remembered—
the Guardian of Light could see a person’s true nature.
Her shoulders, which had shot up in surprise, slowly relaxed again.
“Kim Bada. That’s my first name.”
“Oh-ho… To truly have two names. Could it be a blessing from the gods?”
“Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, I think I’ve answered enough.
Would you please open the door now?”
“Very well. I grant you entry.”
A moment later, the ground began to shake as if struck by an earthquake. Dust scattered in all directions, and with a deafening rumble, the wall began to move.
Moments passed.
Where the wall once stood, there was now a door shimmering and glowing leading into a radiant chamber.
“Huff….”
Adelia barely managed to cover her gaping mouth with her hand as she stepped inside.
“This is insane… How much is all this worth?”
Drawn in like she was under a spell, Adelia wandered in, eyes wide, scanning her surroundings.
The chamber, built from rugged stone walls, held mountains of gold coins piled high. In the center stood a holy sword, gleaming brightly, embedded in a stone.
She had expected the place home to the Holy Sword and the Guardian of Light to be extraordinary, but this far exceeded her imagination.
“Hah. The first thing you notice upon entering isn’t the sword or me, but the gold? How materialistic,”
the Guardian of Light remarked dryly.
“Haha. It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
Adelia replied boldly. It was only natural for her eyes to be drawn to something so beautiful.
As proof, the place where Adelia’s gaze lingered the longest was not on the gold—but on the Guardian of Light.
The creature, in the shape of a majestic wolf, had fur so luscious it looked like strands of silk dipped in gold at the tips. With every movement, it scattered light as if shimmering dust floated around it.
The wolf, easily twice her size, stepped closer.
“I am the Guardian of Light. It’s been a while since I last saw a human—how delightful.”
“Nice to meet you, Guardian,” Adelia greeted politely.
The Guardian circled her slowly, inspecting her from every angle.
A frail-looking body. A pale face that looked like it had never met the sun.
“You’re disqualified.”
“…Excuse me?”
Adelia stood there, speechless. That came out of nowhere.
Disqualified? Just like that?
“With that fragile body, you think you can handle White Mana? You’ll suffer horribly from side effects. And do you even realize how much advanced math you’d need to calculate spell formulas?”
Snorting dismissively, the wolf ambled over and flopped down on top of a pile of gold coins.
Adelia, her lips tightly pressed together, stared at the arrogant creature with narrowed eyes.
The wolf, unfazed, rubbed its body lazily against the pile of gold and closed its eyes as if dismissing her completely.
Adelia’s clenched fists trembled with fury. Her insides were boiling.
“Hey.”
“…Hey?”
The wolf’s eyes snapped open in surprise. It looked around, tilting its head as if to ask, are you talking to me?
“Yes, you. I called you ‘Guardian of Light’ out of respect, and what do you say? That I’m too weak? What a joke!”
“You! How dare you speak to me like that!”
The wolf jumped to its feet with a thunderous stomp and stormed toward her. It snarled viciously, baring its sharp, gleaming fangs just inches from her face.
The beast looked every bit the feral predator—massive, deadly, and terrifying enough to make a normal person faint on the spot.
But Adelia didn’t flinch. Instead, she lifted her chin with a confident smirk.
“You can’t hurt humans. Can you?”
