Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Underground Screams (2)
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"What the fuck."
Ronan shot to his feet. It was the same eerie sound he'd heard on the day they left Gran Kapadokia. And now faint screams were echoing up from below.
Asel flinched at Ronan's hardened expression.
"W-What's wrong, Ronan?"
"Looks like something's happened down below."
Ronan jabbed wildly at the back of the brazier. Suddenly, a specific section sank in with a click, and the floor began to descend. Ronan grimaced and muttered,
"Too slow..."
The descent was agonizingly sluggish. Ronan snatched a warhammer from the wall. Then he started hammering away at one corner of the lift.
Bang!Bang!Bang!
"W-What the hell are you doing?!"
Marya yelped in shock at Ronan's sudden outburst. Hollow echoes rang out as stone chips flew. Ronan met her eyes and nodded.
"Right, you're the strongest. Give me a hand."
"H-Huh?"
Ronan tossed the warhammer to Marya. She stared back and forth between him and the hammer. Ronan bellowed,
"Damn it, hurry up! We've gotta grab your money and weapons!"
"Ugh, fine!"
Marya gripped the haft. Mana seeped along it, gathering in the hammerhead.
She hoisted it high above her head and slammed it down onto the lift floor. Boom! A bluish arc traced through the air amid a thunderous roar.
"That rice-ball geezer was right. This suits you."
The lift's corner crumbled, revealing a pitch-black void. Not a speck of light anywhere below their feet.
A chill gust wafted up, wetting Ronan's bangs. He wrinkled his nose at the rotten-egg stench.
"Sulfur..."
"Urk!"
Asel and Marya clamped their noses and mouths. It was far more intense than ordinary sulfur.
Ronan twisted his lips, running through possibilities. Boiling lava underground, sulfur stench, dwarves digging through the earth.
His worldly experience offered no rosy outlook. He shot Asel a glance.
"Let's go, Asel."
"Huh? Uh? O-Okay?"
"Marya. Head back to Phileon and report this. Make sure to tell Gidokan especially."
"Gidokan... the hunting instructor? Diddikan's brother?"
"Yeah. He's got a knack for tracking people. And our professors are sharp enough to know what's up with that forge. Anyway, hurry."
"R-Ronan? Why are you grabbing me..."
Ronan seized Asel's hood. Asel tried to backpedal, sensing familiar dread. Ronan stepped forward and leaped into the hole.
"Gaaaaah!"
"Kyaaaaah!"
Darkness swallowed the boys' heads. Marya's scream echoed from above. Sita's eyes bulged as it folded its wings and dove toward Ronan and Asel.
"Piiiii!"
Sita reached them in an instant and clutched Ronan's back. Its four wings unfurled, slightly slowing their fall. As Asel regained his wits and began chanting,
"I-In-Invisible..."
"Not yet."
Ronan clapped a hand over Asel's mouth. Even hurtling downward at breakneck speed, Ronan's face was calm as a picnic. He yanked Asel's hood closer.
"Can't stop now. Wait till we're almost down. Got it?"
"Mmph...! Mmph!"
"Do it right. Screw up this time and we're really dead—no exaggeration. Nod if you understand."
Ronan pressed. Asel managed a nod. Tears welled in his eyes and scattered into the void. Finally, light bloomed below, revealing Gran Kapadokia. Ronan twisted his lips.
"Shit, too late."
"What... what the hell is this?!"
It was a devastation. As if a storm of boulders had ravaged the cavern. Neat buildings lay half-crumbled like sandcastles stomped flat.
Congealed lava had overflowed, cooling in the streets. Most stalactites and stalagmites were snapped. Ronan scowled at the intensified sulfur reek.
"Get ready."
"Y-Yeah!"
Steel supports whipped past the boys. Asel shut his eyes. Amid the howling wind, a low chant rose.
"What?"
He'd never heard that spell before. Asel thrust his hand toward the ground. A geometric magic circle bloomed at the landing zone, drastically slowing their descent.
"Ooh."
Ronan whistled in admiration. Their slowing bodies hovered nearly stationary five meters above ground. Asel's lips parted again with a familiar incantation.
Invisible hands caught their slowed bodies. Asel's telekinesis lowered them swiftly and safely to the ground.
Ronan's feet hit solid earth. He clapped Asel's back heartily.
"Not bad, Asel. When'd you learn that?"
Asel using magic beyond Invisible Hand—it was fresh and impressive. Asel panted, sighing in relief.
"Hah! Urk! Fr-From this week's class... Glad it worked."
Luckily, the load was light enough for success. Then, a faint groan nearby.
"Ugh... uuuuh..."
The boys whipped around. The sound came from under a toppled stalactite.
Ronan rushed over and shoved it aside. A dwarf in an apron emerged.
"Kuhk, hack! Haaah..."
Ronan recognized the face— the dwarf who'd ranted about transparent scrolls and chewed out Diddikan before. His eyes widened.
"L-Leg... guh."
Asel dry-heaved at the grotesquely twisted limb. Ronan tapped Sita, still clinging to his back.
"Sita."
"Pi."
Sita chirped affirmatively and cast on the dwarf. A tiny magic circle formed, straightening the leg.
The dwarf's eyes bulged as pain ebbed.
"L-Leg...? Wait, you two... you're the ones who came with Diddikan before..."
"That's us. No time, geezer—quick questions. Rockslide? Pissed-off rock spirit? Cave giant? Which one? Personally hoping not the last two."
Ronan shook his shoulders. The dwarf stammered, trembling,
"Th-The third... They swarmed from deep in the tunnel..."
"Damn, figured. Stay put."
They'd hit a cave giant nest while digging. Rare monsters dwelling deep underground—dwarves and their tunnels. Ronan turned to leave.
"H-Hey... wait..."
The dwarf struggled up, clutching Ronan's pant leg.
"H-Help us... My comrades were kidnapped. Old Doron too..."
"Fuck, Doron too?"
"Y-Yeah... That stubborn fool holed up. He fought back... Diddikan went to save him, hasn't returned."
Ronan raked his bangs irritably. Not a pleasant situation.
"How long since the rockheads hit?"
"N-Not long. A few hours at most."
"Small mercy. Wait here."
Ronan nodded. Cave giant habits gave hope— they hoarded captives, eating slowly. Tears like chicken droppings streamed from the aproned dwarf's eyes.
"Pl-Please... Both are too valuable to lose... Especially Diddikan..."
"I'll try."
Ronan propped him against a rock and scanned around. Tracing the giants' path was easy.
Giant footprints led one way. But groans echoed everywhere.
"Damn... Asel, can you handle it alone?"
"I-I'll try. But it's too wide—mana won't last."
"Figures. Shit, no time."
Ronan clicked his tongue. Rescuing captives mattered, but ignoring near-death survivors wasn't an option.
The area was too vast for Asel alone. Telekinesis-searching blindly would drain mana fast.
If only they knew locations... Ronan decided swiftly, bitterly.
"No choice. I'll be quick—save who you can."
"Got it."
Asel nodded resolutely. Sita, who'd been cocking its head, hopped atop his.
"Sita?"
"Piya."
Four wings snapped open. Red eyes gleamed. Soon, crimson beams rose from rubble piles. Ronan's eyes widened.
"Piii!"
"No way..."
Ronan dashed to the nearest beam. Brushing dirt revealed a fuzzy-faced dwarf. He coughed up soil and stones.
"Cough! Cough!"
"Holy shit, Sita, you little..."
Ronan laughed in disbelief. Blood trickled from the dwarf's nostrils—source of the beams.
Blood-tracking magic changed everything. Ronan yelled to Asel,
"Asel, dig out only where beams rise—with telekinesis!"
"O-Okay!"
"Sita, keep this up and heal the wounded. You can?"
"Pi!"
Sita crowed confidently. Asel chanted toward the beams. Debris floated up, revealing buried dwarves and humans.
"Y-You okay...?"
"Ugh... uuuuh... my arm..."
Sita circled, healing. Blood droplets from scattered stains flew to it, absorbed.
Rather than follow tracks, Ronan bolted for Doron's forge. The aproned dwarf's parting words:
- Hey, wait... Still have something to say...
- What? No time. Doron and Diddikan might be giant shit by now.
- Still... Your weapons are in Doron's workshop.
- Our weapons?
- Yeah. Haven't seen him that excited in ages. They'll help.
No reason to refuse. They'd come for weapons anyway.
Ronan soon spotted a cubic building, intact amid ruins.
'Perfect. Tough hides that swords barely nick.'
A good blade would help. Entrance just 100m away. Rumble...! Nearby rubble erupted. A hulking figure caked in ore like makeshift armor rose.
The cave giant shook off debris and roared at Ronan.
"RAAAAAAGH!!"
"Fuck."
The cavern shook. Five meters tall head to toe. Ronan gritted his teeth against the sulfurous breath.
"Your pals are off eating—why're you lingering?"
The giant raised its right foot instead. Ronan drew his sword hilt. Boom! Its foot crashed where he'd stood.
"Krrk?"
Nothing underfoot. Ronan slipped between its legs, slashing the left ankle repeatedly. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Stone shattered in chain reactions.
"Fucking tough."
"GRRRAAGH!"
It worked, but his hands throbbed. The giant swung an arm to grab him. Ronan dodged, hammering the same spot.
After twenty-five strikes, the ore armor shattered. Ronan slashed the exposed gray flesh.
Shlick! Like cutting frozen meat—yellow blood spurted.
"RAAAAAGH!"
Another cavern-shaking scream. The giant toppled off-balance.
As its face hit ground, Ronan jammed his sword deep into an eye socket. The tip pierced something soft. Grrk...! It thrashed its death throes and slumped.
"Disgusting bastards."
Good thing he was used to big ones. He yanked the sword free with a shake. The blade, gore-smeared, was already nicked.
Might be more giants. Ronan sprinted stealthily to Doron's forge.
Thankfully, none appeared entering. A sudden doubt hit Ronan.
'How'd they know what my weapon was?'
He'd forgotten to ask the key detail. No use dwelling. He stepped inside.
The weapon-nest remained. Center: unextinguished brazier and pristine anvil.
"That...?"
Ronan's eyes widened at the anvil. A never-before-seen sword lay atop it.
He approached, mesmerized. Short hilt, barely a pommel. Long, black blade so thin the edge showed through.
"This a sword?"
Instinct said it was his. Testing the edge, he pricked his finger.
"Tch!"
Ridiculous sharpness. Blood trickled down, absorbed into the blade. Ronan's eyes bulged.
"Rice-ball geezer... what the hell did you make?"