Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Relics and Pursuit
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“Shields up!”
“Block that side—it’s breaking through!”
“Hey, you bastard! Don’t fall back!”
The battle erupted in chaos.
They had been caught completely off guard, but fortunately, their armament was far more solid than when they’d first arrived.
Trusting in their upgraded weapons and comrades, the soldiers raised their shields to form a wall.
The results of their recent training—not as hunters, but as proper soldiers—were finally showing.
“Urk!”
“That one’s slipping through! Back it up from behind!”
“It’s got the shield! Help!”
Exoskeletal creatures always packed more punch than their size suggested, and these insect magic beasts were no exception, boasting tremendous strength.
One grabbed a shield and shook it wildly, flinging the soldier holding it around like a ragdoll.
“Let go!”
A mage bellowed, aimed his staff, and unleashed a bolt of lightning.
After a flash of light, the struck beast released the shield and staggered back.
It wasn’t enough to kill, but plenty to make it let go.
A soldier plunged an enchanted sword into the stumbling beast’s head, finishing it off. The mage turned and asked,
“You alright?”
“Y-Yes... thank you.”
Even in his dazed state, the soldier managed a word of gratitude.
He knew full well that without the help, he’d have been dragged off and killed.
Once he’d caught his breath, the soldier shouted again and rejoined the fray.
Supporting his weaker comrades, making up for their lack of strength through sheer grit.
That was how the weak fought.
Lenoc, tasked with commanding them, screamed himself hoarse.
While the frail did their duty, the knights rampaged like lions with the shield wall at their backs.
Kieeeek—!
A massive mantis-like beast, at least two meters tall, swung its blade-armed foreleg.
A normal person would have recoiled in terror or tried to block.
But Arsen charged forward instead, letting the blade graze him—lightly, just skimming the surface.
If he’d been unarmored or in leather, his chest would’ve been shredded in an instant. But his black star-iron plate took only a shallow scratch.
The reward for trusting his armor and closing in was sweet.
Arsen’s longsword sliced into the mantis’s torso, then arced upward, cleaving its head in two.
Even with its upper body split, the mantis made a final spasm, but Arsen easily twisted aside.
“Whew...”
Catching his breath, he glanced left and right. Bazcal and Maroon were locked in fierce struggles too.
Neither was faring particularly well—one due to poor gear, the other to lack of skill.
‘Maroon’s hopeless in close quarters, huh?’
Maroon wielded his halberd with effort, but his technique and stance were amateurish.
Despite his superior equipment, he was getting battered and pushed back repeatedly.
Bazcal, meanwhile, held his own with inferior weapons and armor, fighting with practiced ease.
[Fall back to the left!]
At Eloise’s voice through the earring, Arsen immediately threw himself sideways.
Exactly one second later, a deafening roar filled the air as a blinding bolt of lightning streaked past.
The flash was so intense it temporarily blinded him.
When he opened his eyes, only the charred remains of what had once been magic beasts littered the ground ahead.
[How’s that?]
[...Perfect.]
Every nearby magic beast lay dead, and the curse gate began shoving aside the debris to close.
More beasts charged from afar, but luckily, the gate shut faster.
Once it sealed completely, the soldiers collapsed in exhaustion.
“No way... This make any sense? How’re there so many?”
Bazcal grumbled between ragged breaths, his voice hoarse.
Eloise hustled between the wounded, groaning soldiers, healing them. A few other mages who could cast healing spells joined in.
Plenty injured, but no fatalities—thank the gods.
Arsen surveyed the scene, then called out to Maroon, who sat slumped against his Jin, gulping water.
“Sir Maroon, just to check—any relics that could get us through this?”
“Well, I’ve got a few offensive ones, but...”
After inspecting the relics Maroon carried and hearing his explanations, Arsen shook his head.
“Nothing useful for this situation.”
The first was like a flare grenade—using it risked filling the whole underground with poison gas.
That might explain why they hadn’t used fire spells earlier.
The ice lance relic and poison cloud one had their own limits too.
The former wasn’t suited for groups, the latter could harm friend and foe alike in an enclosed space, just like the grenade.
“What about setting a fire and closing the gate?”
Lenoc suggested. Arsen shook his head.
“We don’t know the airflow. Fine now, but no guarantee we can keep breathing inside.”
The air had felt different when they first entered, but with the room already opened once, he couldn’t count on the magic holding.
Waiting days to test it for real air shortage would be foolish.
No clear solution emerged from discussion until Eloise spoke up.
“How about checking the relics we just grabbed?”
Arsen pulled them from his pack and laid them out: helmet, shield, two staves.
They started with the offensive ones—the staves. He picked up the blue one first.
“Everyone, back.”
Aiming at an empty spot, he channeled mana. Moments later—boom—a shockwave erupted.
“Eek!”
“Gah!”
The blast was loud enough to make ears ring and startle screams from nearby.
Even Arsen, casting directly, stumbled back a step from the recoil.
The desk where it hit was crumpled like a giant had smashed it.
Impressive, considering it was metal.
“Amazing. A shockwave alone does this much—even effective against knights. But... it guzzles mana.”
Arsen had above-average mana for a knight, yet even he felt the drain.
Fine for a finisher, but not for casual use.
“Next.”
The gold staff was shorter, about forearm-length—like a baton swung in one hand.
He channeled mana, but nothing happened.
“...What?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s happening.”
Bazcal, Maroon, and Eloise tried too—with no luck.
The gold staff went aside for later. Next: the shield.
“Please.”
“Of course! Leave it to me.”
Having burned mana on the first staff, Maroon volunteered.
He held the shield toward an empty area and infused mana.
Soon, it hummed faintly, radiating gentle heat.
“Ooh.”
“It’s heating up?”
No visible change, but the reddish-gold surface seethed with fearsome heat.
A test piece from a dead beast sizzled, charred, then incinerated instantly.
“A heating enchantment! No effect on the holder. Another treasure.”
Maroon shook it in awe. Arsen extended a hand.
“That’s enough, Sir Maroon.”
“Hm?”
“Hand it over. You’ve got no hand free for a shield anyway.”
True—Maroon’s two-handed halberd left no room.
Maroon reluctantly passed it. Arsen took it, then offered the helmet.
Maroon donned it, groaned briefly, then removed it, shaking his head.
“Not sure? Color shifts, vision gets blurry...”
“I’ll try.”
Arsen put it on.
The front visor was transparent crystal, like a motorcycle helmet’s.
The world through it was utterly changed.
“This is...”
He saw people ahead, and eerie flows of light within them.
Lenoc and soldiers: light dormant throughout.
Bazcal: circulating body-wide.
Eloise: pooled in her head.
Maroon: circulating, plus something extra in his head.
Swords, shields, the Jin, soldiers’ relics—even faint glows.
Arsen realized: it visualized mana.
“I can see mana with this helmet.”
“Oh? That explains earlier...”
Mages saw mana naturally; it must’ve overlapped confusingly.
Arsen blinked off the helmet, adjusting his eyes.
“Good. Let’s distribute them.”
Distribution based solely on efficiency.
Proper sorting later, but now, for the fight ahead—this was best.
Shockwave staff to Maroon: he had knight and mage mana, topping total reserves.
Arsen took helmet and shield: low mana cost, and he could wield his sword one-handed, if awkwardly.
“Then let’s push on.”
“I’ll lead with this.”
Maroon took point, staff raised. Arsen readied the door beside him.
Arsen touched it. It opened.
“Take this—!”
Maroon jammed the staff in the gap, roaring heartily.
The massive boom and shockwave smashed the beasts crowding the entrance.
* * *
Unlike before, this fight was a breeze.
They’d been unprepared last time, seizing the initiative reactively. Now, prepared and striking first—easy.
First shockwave obliterated the front pack at the entrance. Soldiers sealed it tight while mages fired lightning through the staff.
When corpses piled up, Maroon blasted space open again.
Arsen and Bazcal played cleanup, diving in when soldiers struggled.
The new heating shield attacked and defended just by activating and thrusting.
Extra potent against fire-weak insects.
Kieek—
Arsen stabbed a beast’s head, twisted, and kicked off its neck.
He turned down the corridor.
Sizzled, sliced, shattered remains filled it.
Hundreds, maybe—uncountable.
Only after long waiting did they confirm no live ones remained.
Bazcal emerged from the gate, grinning triumphantly.
“We got ’em all!”
“Quiet.”
“Huh?”
Scolding Bazcal’s careless shout, Arsen inspected the corpses closely.
[Eli, see anything on the beasts?]
“Hm? No, just dead.”
‘Not even in a mage’s sight.’
Through the mana helmet, Arsen saw something odd.
Faint lines from the dead beasts’ heads, stretching down the corridor.
‘What’s this?’
First thought: something controlling or luring them.
No precedent, but the unnatural numbers and aggression fit.
They could proceed, but if something orchestrated this attack...
They couldn’t let it escape.
Vengeance or preventing future threats—either way.
Glancing back, soldiers’ stamina and morale held up.
“Rest’s over. Gear up—we’re exploring deeper.”
And if someone or something at the end sparked this feast...
They’d pay dearly.