That iron door was now completely open. We, who for a long time had been imprisoned in that suffocating dungeon-like darkness of the warehouse, where that one tiny, golden flame dancing on Helena's finger was our only support in the name of light, suddenly became witnesses to a sharp change.
As soon as the door fully turned on its hinges, a flood of light surged from the other side. That brightness was so intense and sudden that it pierced through that thick darkness settled inside the warehouse in a single moment. Due to staying in dense darkness for such a long time, our pupils had fully dilated, and now that sudden glare began to prick our eyes like thousands of hot needles.
"Ah!" A suppressed groan escaped from my mouth and I involuntarily placed my palm over my eyes. The glare was so strong that for a moment everything started looking like white mist. Helena, standing beside me, also narrowed her eyes, and Historia, who was closest to the door, put her hand forward like a shield. The moisture in the air was now being felt even more clearly. Due to that sharp light, tears filled my eyes, but as my vision gradually began to adjust to that brightness, the mist began to clear.
As soon as my eyes synchronized with that stinging light, the sight that emerged before me stunned me. Across the door, there was neither a secret room according to Helena's guess nor an open path to exit the harbor according to Historia's logic.
Standing just a few yards away was a massive and impenetrable wall. This was a thick and strong concrete wall about 12 to 13 feet high. This was the security rampart surrounding the entire harbor, and because of its height, passing over it was almost impossible. On the topmost part of the wall, coils of sharp barbed wires were installed, which are often laid out to stop thieves and intruders. The sharp sunlight falling on those wires was creating a harsh and dangerous glint.
I stepped out across the threshold of that door. The view here was like a 'backyard.' This narrow part between the back wall of the warehouse and that high security wall was neglected and desolate. Scrap, broken wooden boxes, and rusted iron pipes lay scattered on the ground. There was a strange stillness in the air here, as if time had come to a stop here.
Helena and Historia also came out behind me. Looking at that high wall, Helena said irritably, "So... we have come into a dead end?"
But that magical energy of the pendulum had still not calmed down. Its purple flames were pointing only toward that massive wall, as if it were screaming to tell us to go across it. But from that narrow space of the backyard, leaping over that 13-foot-high wall covered with barbed wires was a challenge even for us Paragons.
Then Helena raised a finger toward Historia with a smile and said mockingly, "See? Didn't I say before that there is no direct path to exit the harbor from here? Even if my point didn't turn out completely right, this 'Maid' hasn't proven right either."
Historia lowered her neck and apologized with full humility, "Forgive me Madam Helena. I am embarrassed for contradicting your point due to my wrong guess."
Helena raised her head in that same old arrogant manner and said while waving her hand in the air, "Hmph! I already knew that no path to go out exists here. From next time, remember your limits, and yes, you should apologize to me in an even better way."
Without any protest, Historia repeated again in a calm voice, "Okay Madam Helena, please forgive me from my heart."
I was standing there watching this 'drama' of theirs. Different thoughts were running in my mind. Even if what Historia said did not turn out completely right, the truth was that she was much more accurate than Helena. Helena's claim was that we would reach some secret room of the warehouse, whereas Historia had guessed a path going out of the harbor. This door had brought us right in front of that outer wall which, once crossed, would put us outside the harbor boundary. Looking at it, Historia's logic was much closer to reality.
I was just immersed in this bittersweet argument of theirs and my own thinking when Helena, resting her axe on her shoulder, asked me, "So Jona, what is our next step? Where exactly do we have to go?"
I looked at that steady coin of the pendulum and then turned my eyes toward that wall. "Actually, we have to go nowhere else but across this wall," I replied firmly. "The pendulum's signal is clear. That woman has probably crossed this wall to exit the harbor boundary and is now moving toward a safe path."
I looked at those lethal barbed wires on top of the wall. Helena narrowed her eyes at that massive concrete structure and said in a doubtful voice, "What? We have to cross this wall? Jona, leaping over these barbed wires and this height will prove extremely difficult for us."
I took a deep breath and looked at the pendulum. "Yes Helena, you are right, it is difficult. That kidnapper woman is not some Sequence 1 or 2 Paragon, and if the pendulum is pointing here, she must have surely jumped over this wall to exit the harbor boundary. That is why it is telling us to move forward from right here. But perhaps instead of going from here, we should go back out through the main gate of the harbor or through the same warehouse from where we came."
But hearing this point of mine, Helena immediately refused. "No Jona, we absolutely cannot do that! If we turn toward the main gate, we will have to go all the way around and a lot of time will be wasted in that. By then, that woman will have gone so far from us that perhaps even this pendulum won't be able to catch her. And we don't know yet if this pendulum will be able to find her again if she goes out of the 'Aurum Essence' range."
Gripping her axe firmly, she continued, "And the second biggest reason is that if we return, we will again have to face those giants Vyuk is fighting. Getting entangled in that fight means even more waste of time. Therefore, no matter how big a challenge it is, we have to get out from right here."
Hearing Helena's logical points, I completely agreed with her. We now had to find some 'workaround' here, some way by which we could beat this 13-foot-high wall and those wires.
Helena went near that massive wall and began trying to find a way while measuring its height with her eyes. She felt the thickness of the wall and said, "If this wall were a bit thinner and it were safe to pull it down, I would have shattered it with my full strength and the help of my axe. But I cannot take such a risk right now. It is possible that I put in all my life to take a long jump and climb up by catching its top part with my hands, but after such long battles, there is hardly enough energy left in our bodies that we can take such a high jump and cross the barbed wires safely."
Hearing Helena's words, I understood that none of her 'Brute Force' methods were going to work here. I was just thinking about some workaround myself when Historia's voice came to my ears:
"Master! I have found a way."
Hearing this, we turned back in surprise. I asked in wonder, "Really Historia? You found a way?"
Historia bowed her head with great grace and pointed toward the right. Helena and I immediately turned our necks toward that side. There was a massive pile of old and heavy wooden boxes. Those boxes were kept on top of each other right against the wall in such a way that their height had become more than 7 feet. Even though they lay disorganized like scrap, to the eye they were forming an uneven staircase-like structure.
Helena and I understood immediately. Historia's indication was clear—using that high pile of boxes, we could easily reach the top part of the wall and from there take a leap to get over the barbed wires. We also became certain that the kidnapper woman must have surely taken the help of this same path to exit the harbor.
We three reached near that pile of boxes and began inspecting their condition and height.
"I will go first," Helena said, handling her axe. "Let's see if this method works or not."
Helena took a few steps back, stabilized her breath, and then ran toward those boxes at full speed. She took the first step, then the second, and with the third step, she took a tremendous leap from the topmost part of the boxes. She flew in the air like a hawk and landed safely on the ground across the wall without touching the barbed wires.
This meant Historia's method was completely successful! I took a breath of relief and, turning toward Historia, said while praising her, "Well done Historia! Because of your ingenuity, another very big problem of ours has been solved today. Now we will be able to catch that woman."
A gentle smile appeared on Historia's face. She replied while lowering her blue eyes, "Thank you Master, but this was my duty. Your every problem is my own problem, and I will always be ready to help you in any situation."
Now it was my turn. I kept the pendulum safe in my pocket and moved my steps toward those boxes so that I too could go across.