Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Ire Ruins (5)
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[Chapter 101 - Ire Ruins (4)]
The knights, momentarily faltering under the force of the explosion.
A moment later, they grew even angrier at themselves for flinching from an attack that posed no real threat, and began urging their mounts forward.
A tangible strike wounds the body, but cowering from an intangible menace wounds the pride.
At that moment, the old knight shouted urgently.
"Wait, hold them back for a moment!"
"Why?"
Moru asked in a hoarse tone from beside him.
"What if those bastards reactivate the traps? Wouldn't that be a disaster if we charge in like this...?"
"Is now the time to worry about that?!"
Rashka rarely raised his voice in a bellow like this.
As the old knight fell silent at his attitude, Rashka hurriedly began persuading the others.
"We catch them before they can reactivate the traps! Do you really think the traps in ruins this massive can be turned off and on so easily?!"
There was no evidence, but it sounded logical enough at first glance.
Before they could think too deeply about it, he continued his explanation.
"Besides, if we capture them, we might learn the secret to controlling these ruins! Didn't you see that guy open the door earlier? What about stopping the traps?!"
Those final words were decisive.
The immense reward of the secret to mastering the ruins seeped into the other knights' hearts, bearing the fruit of greed.
They too had witnessed that scene just moments ago.
He had merely placed his hand on it, and the door opened on its own—as if he were the master of the ruins.
If that were possible, how much could they claim in this ruined city, said to hold hundreds, even thousands, of such sites still slumbering?
Their minds aligned as one.
"Chase them!"
"We'll go this way and cut off their flank!"
"Got it! We'll keep straight ahead!"
To prevent Arsen's group from circling back through another path, they split into two groups and began the pursuit.
* * *
"Huff, huff."
Bazkal urged his tiger onward while glancing back.
Arsen racing through the twisting corridors, and Maroon running alongside.
Right behind them, several knights were giving chase.
Rashka led the pack.
"Brother!"
"Got it!"
Arsen twisted at the waist while maintaining his pace and hurled a javelin. A standard one this time.
Rashka proved surprisingly skilled, deftly deflecting the javelin with his shield.
Judging that javelin attacks wouldn't yield results, Arsen turned back and urged Jin to greater speed.
"Counterattack! Don't let them escape!"
Rashka's shout rang out, followed immediately by javelins flying from behind.
Deflecting rearward projectiles while steering a mount like Jin was no easy task under normal circumstances, but the relic Arsen had obtained fighting Zanark was perfect for this situation.
The item was a bracelet that detected incoming projectiles.
It buzzed violently, alerting Arsen to the attack and pinpointing its target.
Thanks to it, Arsen could steer Jin forward while swinging his axe backward—without even looking—to bat away the incoming javelin.
Once, twice, and on the third javelin as well. Shouts of astonishment erupted from behind.
"That crazy bastard!"
"What the hell is that?!"
It was a feat so dazzling it was hard to believe even seeing it, but he couldn't keep deflecting like this indefinitely.
It was akin to running blindfolded, relying solely on sound—mentally exhausting, even if not physically taxing.
As Arsen caught his breath and continued driving Jin forward, a voice came through his earring.
Eloise was sending anxious messages nonstop.
[Respond, respond, respond, respond...]
[I hear you.]
[Respond... We're all here! Where are you? You okay?]
[Almost there. Just a...]
Then, another javelin flew from behind.
Lacking the focus to deflect it while talking to Eloise, Arsen veered Jin aside to dodge.
Seizing the opening, the charging Moru swung his hammer down.
"Die!"
Arsen raised his axe with both hands and swung with all his might at the descending hammer, twisting its trajectory.
A thunderous crash echoed, and Moru groaned as he pulled his mount back.
Arsen felt the same.
His hands went numb from the impact so fierce he feared he might drop the axe.
He could tell the opponent's strength clearly surpassed his own, and his face twisted slightly.
At that moment, Bazkal beside him drove his tiger close to Moru and stabbed at his side.
"Eat this, you punk!"
"Urk!"
Moru took the unexpectedly limp stab to the side and retreated a step with a scream.
It wasn't deep—he merely clutched his side briefly—but that alone gave Arsen valuable intel.
'His reflexes are dull!'
Moru's power overwhelmed even Arsen, but his movements and reactions were astonishingly slow. Even by ordinary knight standards.
For a moment, Arsen wondered if he faced an elite knight relying on quintessence, but it seemed he simply possessed a skill that boosted raw strength. If so, he could handle him easily.
That reassurance lasted only briefly. Arsen quickly scanned the surroundings to assess the situation.
While Maroon and Bazkal had halted to aid him, the enemies had already encircled them.
Six knights had followed, along with about a dozen soldiers; the rest were out of sight.
Maroon, facing melee combat, slung his bow on Jin and drew his partisan.
"That all of you?"
"No way. We've already taken full control of these ruins. Surrounded so tight not even an ant could slip out."
Rashka replied with a vile grin.
"So, how's it feel? Fun while the others fawned over you? Young kid with some strength, thought the world was yours, huh?"
The jeer dripped with an inexplicably intense hatred.
Arsen didn't bother asking why. The situation left no room for leisure.
When Arsen didn't respond, Rashka's tone deflated somewhat.
"How about surrendering? The ruins don't have that many branches. No escape structurally. Cooperate nicely, and I'll spare your life."
He didn't truly expect Arsen to surrender—it seemed more a casual probe, hoping for an easy resolution.
Nor was he wrong; even without an escape, Arsen wouldn't have yielded.
Circumstantially, to avoid being branded criminals, they couldn't let any of Arsen's group survive.
"If you're surrounding us, looks like the others came in too?"
"Why do you..."
No need to wait for a reply.
Arsen whispered softly to Maroon and Bazkal right beside him.
"We break straight back. Sir Maroon, stay close to me. You too, Bazkal."
With that order, Arsen muttered quietly.
"Activate traps."
-Command confirmed. Resuming trap functions.-
In that single short phrase, hell erupted within the ruins.
A faint hum spread throughout the entire structure.
The moment confusion flickered across the enemies' faces, Arsen whipped his mount around.
"Now!"
Before they could comprehend, Arsen's axe flew toward one of the knights forming the encirclement.
* * *
"Tch, damn bastards. How long they gonna run? They'll just get cornered at the ruins' end anyway."
Knight Lati grumbled as he vigorously drove his Jin forward.
They were part of the pursuit group tasked with blocking the retreat, taking a more remote path.
His sworn brother and comrade, Locke, who rode beside him, chuckled and replied.
"Come on, just a bit more. Didn't you see their gear?"
"Yeah. Even the grunts were loaded with relics."
Having seen the enemy's loot and armament firsthand, this band of criminals brimmed with greed from head to toe.
They vowed to hunt Arsen's group to the world's end.
Mid-stride in their vigorous chase, Locke craned his neck around, peering about as he spoke.
"But seriously, it's wild. How the hell did they shut down the traps here?"
"Tell me about it."
They too had once poked around these famed ruins in the past, only to flee in terror after minor injuries from the entrance traps.
This was their first time venturing this deep.
"Once we catch 'em, gotta find out how they did it..."
As he spoke, a bizarre hum began resonating through the entire ruins.
The small but profound vibration transmitted through the ground and their mounts, halting the pursuers in their tracks simultaneously.
No one had ordered them to stop.
None realized it was an innate survival instinct, as if they were animals.
"What is this?"
"Dunno, but we should be careful..."
Before Locke could finish, they learned the hum's source.
Tragedy struck immediately.
With a metallic click, the wall beside them slid open, spraying a crimson-black liquid.
Three soldiers standing right there were drenched. The liquid ignited fiercely upon contact.
"Gyaaaaah—!"
The soldiers screamed, frantically trying to brush off the flames, but it was as futile as trying to part water with their hands.
The viscous fluid clung stubbornly, spreading to their flailing hands and intensifying.
When the fire died, only unnaturally white ash piles remained.
Unenlightened modern folk might not grasp it, but this "burning oil" was infamous since antiquity for incinerating even bones.
The devil's touch reached the other soldiers watching from behind without mercy.
First, the ground beneath one soldier's mount vanished to match its foot size, swallowing the ankle. Blades whirred as the foot yanked free, severing it.
The mount predictably screamed and toppled, spilling its rider.
The fallen soldier clutched his waist, groaning, then naturally looked up—unfortunately.
Dozens of metal spikes dangled from the ceiling, poised to drop.
He pointed upward with a finger, attempting a warning scream.
But as if embarrassed by the attention, a spike shot down, silencing him.
It tore his throat and shattered his spine; the scream swirled unheard within.
Fortunate or not, companions aplenty followed.
The spikes weren't singular; nearby comrades endured the rain as well.
"Kuaaaaaah—!"
"Please, mercy—!"
Soldiers swung weapons and shields to fend them off, but the spikes possessed incomprehensible hardness and penetration.
They pierced shields and armor like straw, ravaging bodies.
Once all spikes fell, one soldier—minus two legs, an arm, with holes in jaw and gut—emerged as the least mangled.
No other survivors.
"C-Captain...!"
The soldier wailed through his shattered jaw, extending his last remaining left hand toward Lati.
Detecting the motion, another spike dropped, ending his misery.
Lati squeezed his eyes shut, unable to watch, then scanned left and right with a pale, rigid face.
His spot between traps seemed a safe zone.
But he couldn't stay forever.
Screams and trap noises echoing everywhere signaled this catastrophe engulfed the whole ruins.
At last, he called to his most trusted sworn brother, Locke.
"What do we do, Locke?"
No answer came.
"...Locke?"
Lati whipped his head forward where Locke should be.
"Oh god, no...!"
Lati's face contorted in horror.
His sworn brother had urged his Jin ahead, trying to flee the spikes a fraction faster.
Whatever had attacked him had vanished back into the wall, but Locke and his Jin lay scattered in over ten chunks.
The lesson of his death: charging ahead blindly would doom Lati the same.
"Please."
Lati's voice, now alone, echoed hollowly.
"Please, someone... save me...!"
For the first time since manhood, Lati wept like a child.
And in this instant, the same unfolded throughout the ruins.
The slumbering monster had awakened, devouring the intruders.