Chapter 200
Thud, thud, thud, thud—
I raced deep into the valley.
One of the monsters was chasing us.
"Those things are really strong!"
"I think their monster breeding is over!"
"So the mercenaries they sent until now were just to test their combat power! Before, they tried to capture us alive!"
"That must be it!"
They must have captured Uku early on. After that, they released the monsters to fight mercenaries and gauge their combat abilities. That's why the monsters kept getting stronger.
At the dead end of the valley, there was a cave.
I went straight into the cave.
After passing through the short tunnel, a rather wide chamber opened up. There were several passages leading out. From one of the seven tunnels on the other side, uku's roar echoed. It sounded like they were coming this way.
We entered the middle tunnel.
The monsters were likely coming from the direction of the base. As we proceeded a bit further, there were even more forks and branching paths.
"This cave is like a maze. It almost looks like someone made it on purpose, but the formation doesn't look artificial."
Just as Donnie said, it was a complicated maze.
The cave was spacious, and columns sat scattered like someone had designed it, yet there were no artificial structures.
"We need to gear up here."
I stopped running and pulled out the magic sack.
I quickly donned the Wolf Suit of Armor and took up my greatsword. Just as I finished equipping myself, the monsters burst out.
Kuwaaaargh—
I slashed through the charging Ukus, pressing forward into the tunnel from which the monsters had appeared.
They were creatures of ridiculous strength.
They swung their clubs savagely, shattering cave walls and sending rock shards flying. Their magic was considerable too.
But against our blows, ukus' bodies were mercilessly severed. With every blow, another body was cleaved in half. Knights would need at least five in a group for a chance.
"Donnie! Summon all the members!"
― Understood!
I blocked ahead while Donnie channeled Lightning magic into the summon ring. As considerable magic was poured in, a lightning wave burst, and then a door of light formed for a moment.
Before long, our members came through the door of light. Since they'd been waiting to be summoned, everyone was already wearing their armor. They joined the battle immediately.
We wiped out all the Ukus that had appeared and raced ahead once more. Whenever a fork appeared, we kept entering the tunnels from which monsters emerged.
"Watch out for the flying ones!"
Khaaaak!
There were also winged creatures, much like the ones we'd seen in the Forest of Death. These spat poison. Our suits were unaffected, but the stuff was strong enough to slightly melt metal.
"We need to get out quickly!"
I struck down the poison-spitting creatures and ran. The air filled with toxic fumes, burning my windpipe.
All sorts of monsters existed in this underground.
Outside, it was mid-summer, but the deeper we went, the colder it became—feeling like an ice storage.
Then, creatures whose whole bodies seemed frozen in ice began lumbering toward us. They radiated such intense cold air that simply being near made my body freeze up.
My sword nearly stuck from frost when I struck them, so we pressed onward without attacking. This time, there were gigantic insects shooting poison stingers.
Not only Uki, but all the monsters I'd seen so far were unfamiliar. Perhaps it was called a demonic beast dungeon because they weren't ordinary monsters.
We ran for a while and found a passage heading up.
There were stairs built into the original underground cave. The underground base seemed to be above.
We went straight up the stairs.
Suddenly, fire bursts rained down.
Pupupupupung—
I formed a barrier on instinct and blocked the flames.
They were flame spikes.
Flame spikes kept shooting in. The ones ahead were monsters I hadn't seen before—crimson, with monkey-like forms that hurled fire spikes with their hands.
Donnie unleashed a Horizontal Swordline, cutting them down. On approach, I saw the bodies of the red creatures split in half. Where had these things come from?
"They look like devils."
They looked that way to me as well.
Smooth, red bodies. Small horns. Yellow eyes.
They even had long tails.
There was no time to hesitate.
Devil-like beings poured out, repeating the same attack. These too, I had never heard of.
The upper floor was structured like a prison. It must have taken at least ten years to build. This wasn't all just to frame me as a devil worshiper.
Numerous cells housed monsters. They'd definitely been breeding monsters. There was even a wide experimental lab for combat.
"Everyone split up and look for Sez!"
"Understood!"
As another fork appeared, the members split up.
No humans were visible.
Soon, a shout was heard.
"There's another floor above to the northeast!"
"Everyone, that way!"
We raced forward.
At the point Mont shouted, there was a staircase blocked by iron bars. Donnie, who arrived first, hacked the bars apart with his greatsword.
Three raced in, pulling the bars apart to make an opening, and entered. We dashed up the stairs. Above was a sort of research lab.
A long corridor lined with rooms on both sides. All the doors stood open, and the inside was covered in magic runes. There were traces of habitation too.
There were fresh signs someone had just fled, so I didn't stop running. As I entered a turning hallway, suddenly two of the members ahead were flung backwards.
Thud!
"Young master! Mage—!"
The shouting members crashed into the wall and flew back toward us. Donnie and Hans barely managed to catch the two before they collided with us.
"Hold for a moment!"
A powerful mage was here.
The method used was a stem of strength.
It was the same magic as Rungha's mages in Gadisil.
Thunk—I charged into the bent hallway. Invisible strands of strength whipped toward me, trying to bind my ankles in an instant.
I leapt, flying right past them.
The mages were startled at my move.
They hadn't expected me to dodge that.
Splat—
My sword split the mage's crown. The ones behind him fell as well, their chests and shoulders cleaved.
They wore black Robes, and, like the fanatic Holy Knights, seemed totally unhinged. They'd made not just knights, but mages too.
As I ran, the members followed closely. Down another bend, eight men blocked the iron door. I swung my Sword Line without hesitation.
Chop— Slash—
One tried to defend against the Sword Line, but it was useless. All fell, their upper bodies severed.
Sez was not there.
They were the last of the personal guard.
Right then.
"Young master! Stop!"
"Ahhhh!"
"Guard the young master!"
Art Syren!
I fired Sword Lines at the iron door with all my power: horizontal! Diagonal! Vertical! Again, horizontal!
Donnie joined in, launching merciless Sword Lines. The thick iron door was slashed to ribbons, and the Sword Lines pierced right through into the inside.
"Aaargh!"
"Quickly, guard him! Hurry!"
Screams and shouts erupted within. Donnie stopped after four slashes, but I kept pouring all my magic power into Sword Lines.
Then I rammed the door.
Crash!
Even with magic-fueled kicks, the door did not open at first. Only after two more kicks did the iron finally bend inward and create a gap.
I dashed inside at once.
Six bodies were down. All either separated at the waist or bisected diagonally.
The room was a dead end.
But Art Syren was nowhere to be seen. All those downed were personal guards—only one wore a Robe.
I approached the one in the Robe.
I pulled back the hood, which was drawn low.
It was Commander Sez.
He was coughing up blood, staring at me. His diagonally cut abdomen spilled intestines.
"What were you trying to do?"
Commander Sez trembled all over.
He was squeezing out the last of his strength.
"A god... will come."
I sat before him.
Again he muttered.
"A god... will remake the world..."
His words faded off.
His fading, empty eyes stared up at me. Had he become a fanatic too?
"Art Syren isn't here."
"He escaped."
"Through a door of light?"
I nodded.
He had pre-opened one and escaped through, shutting it instantly. They must have had a device similar to ours.
"Check their belongings."
The members searched the fallen for belongings. All rings, necklaces, and so on were collected. Then I noticed a pair of legs lying severed.
Both legs, amputated below the knees.
Severed while fleeing in haste.
It was the suit of armor of the Tern knight order commander I'd seen before.
"That's Art Syren."
"These legs?"
"Yes. The strong figure that appeared in the slums wasn't the Tern knight order commander, but Art Syren."
So that's how it was.
Was that why he recognized me and fled?
He had intact arms. He was incomparably stronger than the previous Art Syren. Just like his previously severed left arm had regenerated, perhaps these legs would too.
It was certainly Art Syren.
Just a moment ago, Sez had shouted "young master."
He seemed determined to fight me.
"Search this place thoroughly."
"Understood."
The members returned the way we had come.
The room was a small bedroom.
It looked like Sez had always stayed here.
/ / /
Various items were stacked before me.
There was everything imaginable.
Magic orbs. Magic rune stones. Essence of magic.
"There are over 300 magic orbs altogether. All came with rune stones, and each is fairly full of magic."
I didn't know about the orbs and rune stones, but as for the essence of magic, I could guess where it came from. Either Tern, or the Valley of Death west of the western mountains.
They'd extracted the essence of magic from there to nurture Syren's elite and breed monsters. I also had an idea of what the magic rune stones were.
They were devices to extract magic.
My own magic was subtly being drawn into one of these devices. The rune stone absorbed magic, storing it in an orb.
Had they studied the essence of devils?
The power contained in the essence of devils was still unknown. These devices mimicked its properties.
"Did you find any captives?"
"When we entered, they had already been murdered. The bodies were being moved to the furnace below, and many remains had already been incinerated there."
"I'm sure their god is very pleased."
An utterly heinous act.
A god will come?
A god will remake the world?
That wasn't a god I knew.
The Grand Duke worshipped the demon god.
I didn't know if such a god truly existed.
"Burn this underground base."
The members headed below once more.
Even if the entire base went up in flames, it wouldn't spread beyond the mountain range. It was raining now anyway.
I touched the magic orbs.
The magic seemed to have been extracted from the monsters. These likely powered the Ukus and others.
I put everything we'd found into the magic sack. If I simply placed the rune stones and orbs at a source of magic essence, magic would gather there—no need to do anything further.
/ / /
I returned to the capital.
From the top floor of the intelligence bureau, I looked out the window. The nightscape of the capital was beautiful.
Sez was dead, and the last remaining personal guard was finished. Only Art Syren remained, but he'd have trouble moving for a while. I doubted those severed legs would heal soon.
Was there anyone I didn't know about?
If there was, they'd be in Tern.
Should I go to Tern?
Donnie entered the office.
He seemed to have a report.
"Have you secured the bases?"
"Yes. Two in Robe, five in Tern's capital, and five in Tris and each key base. Here are their locations."
He simply marked the map I'd drawn.
This map was classified military information to both the empire and Tern. Not that my drawing was completely precise.
Whenever funds from taxation or other sources were gathered, I sent money for securing bases. On the scale of the empire, this was not much money, and rebuilding the empire with it would have been impossible.
Rather than trying to patch a cracked pot, it was better for us to use it. At the very least, we were trying to avert a greater crisis in the future.
Just then—
Screams rang out from somewhere in the imperial palace.
Below, I saw the guards in a rush.
"What's going on?"
"I'm not sure."
Donnie and I watched the palace square.
People with torches were running.
The screams came from the Inner Court side.
"Squad leader, have you heard any reports?"
― It seems there's been a murder in the palace.
"You mean the serial murders?"
― Yes. Over the past few months, about 30 headless corpses have been found. Some of those had bite marks and fang wounds on their necks.
"You mean they were bitten by a person?"
― Yes. The decapitations might have been to hide the bite marks. Also...
"And?"
The squad leader hesitated.
― All the victims were drained of blood.
"Drained of blood?"
― Yes. I believe it's a vampire.
A vampire...
They were among the ancient devils and extremely powerful. Whoever was bitten became a vampire too.
Their number increasing would be dangerous.
Is darkness about to descend?