Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Freak (3)
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A brief silence followed.
Veron let out a sigh of relief as he glanced at the old man, who had clamped his mouth shut.
The dazed old man scrunched up his wrinkled face.
“Resistant to illusion magic, are you? …Lucky bastard. But the second trial will be different. You can’t cross this place without wings. Heh heh heh.”
The old man quickly relaxed his expression, recalling that there was another trial ahead.
Veron bit his lower lip at the grating laugh, like nails scraping iron.
The old man’s confident voice kept stirring up bad premonitions.
Meanwhile, the group had entered a new path and arrived at a vast cavern cradling a sprawling lake. They stood speechless before it.
The cavern was filled to the brim with water, leaving no room to stand.
Its walls were blanketed in moss, and the ceiling, dangling with stalactites, loomed so high they had to crane their necks to take it in. There seemed no way across except swimming.
The lake’s surface looked calm at a glance—no danger there—but after the recent illusion, that stillness felt ominous to them.
The group on the shore tasted the water, tossed stones, tested everything they could think of, then pulled rope from their bags and tied it around Allen’s waist. Watching this, the old man bared his rotten teeth.
“Quite cautious. But do you think that’ll get you across? The lake looks serene, but fierce whirlpools lurk beneath. That’s why I named this trial the ‘Typhoon Mire.’”
At the old man’s words, Veron looked at Allen with worry. Allen, rope securely fastened around his waist, hesitated at the water’s edge.
Behind him loomed Jenes, threatening.
Iriel stood beside them, pumping her fist in encouragement.
Allen, face twisted in dread, waded in and began swimming. Jenes held the rope tied to him.
Allen cleaved through the water, shooting forward.
He soon reached about halfway across the lake.
That’s when the tranquil surface began to churn.
Ripples spread across the once-still lake, growing violent.
Startled by the sudden change, Allen panicked and veered sharply back toward Jenes on shore.
But at the lake’s center, the water dipped inward, birthing a whirlpool.
Swept into its current, Allen couldn’t advance and was slowly dragged toward its heart.
The old man pointed and guffawed.
“Ha ha ha ha! Like a bug drowning in a chamber pot!”
He clutched his belly in delight. But the laughter didn’t last.
Jenes yanked the rope hard, and Allen, flailing in the water, shot up along it like a live fish breaching the surface.
Pulled ashore by Jenes, Allen hacked up water, and Iriel hurriedly thumped his back.
The lake had already calmed, its ferocity vanishing as if by magic.
“…You’ve tested the Typhoon Mire, but now what? Can you lot really cross it!”
The old man muttered to his mirror.
As if in answer, Jenes moved. He said something to Allen and Iriel, then grabbed their collars.
And bolted toward the water.
“Th-that…!”
The old man and Veron gaped at the sight.
Allen and Iriel flapped in Jenes’s grip like flags in the wind.
Jenes leaped from the shore, shattering the ground beneath his feet.
His form skimmed just above the surface, shooting forward.
Like a white heron gliding over water.
The lake split in a wedge behind him, waves trailing his path. Veron thought Jenes was flying.
But his speed was slowing.
Crossing in one go seemed impossible.
“Th-that’s not nearly enough!”
The old man shouted, flushed, as Jenes slid across the water.
At this rate, he’d plunge in, just as the old man predicted.
Veron clenched his fists, watching unblinking.
“Kehelhelhel! What an idiot! Did you think you could leap the lake in one bound!”
Sensing victory, the old man roared with laughter.
Jenes and the others slowed, about to drop into the lake.
Then came something unbelievable.
Jenes planted a foot on the surface. Circular ripples spread as the lake bore his weight.
Incredibly, he was standing on the water. He pushed off again, sending a massive spray behind him.
His form shot forward once more, impossibly.
The ‘Typhoon Mire’ lay dormant, undisturbed. Jenes alighted on the far shore.
He set Allen and Iriel down.
The two, who’d flown with him, wore dazed expressions like half-awake sleepers.
“…Wh-what…”
The old man gaped at Jenes, speechless. His rigid face looked like a corpse in a coffin.
Veron watched and smiled silently.
Anxiety had gnawed at him until now, but it was clear.
The old man couldn’t stop Jenes.
“You rat bastards!”
Growling, the old man snatched a staff leaning in the corner.
A blue magic stone gleamed at its tip, intricate runes etched within.
He glared at Veron with blazing, hollow eyes.
“You somehow passed the Typhoon Mire, but they’ll regret it soon. I’ll tear their limbs myself. I’d planned to preserve them as test subjects, but you dared enrage me? They’ll pay dearly. Watch your comrades’ gruesome deaths from here. Learn how terrifying it is to anger me.”
Having issued his threat, the old man strode out of the lab.
* * *
“Wh-what was that just now?”
Iriel, slumped on the ground, asked with a soul-shocked look.
She still seemed stunned.
Meanwhile, Allen—looking like a drowned rat—gazed at me in rapture.
“It felt like flying through the sky.”
“Pathetic. Get up, both of you.”
At my scolding, they finally scrambled up and shouldered their bags.
“…What’s next?”
Allen eyed the deep cave ahead with unease. We trudged the narrow, uneven path again.
Soon, another vast space opened up.
At its center stood a skeletal old man, skull-like.
He looked like he’d just risen from a coffin.
“Kekeke, not bad, reaching here.”
“The kid?”
I cut straight to it.
His voice was so loathsome I didn’t even want to ask why he’d done this.
“Already dead. I gouged out his eyes and ripped out his guts myself. No need to worry, though. I’ll make you the same soon enough.”
I felt Allen and Iriel’s breaths hitch.
I said,
“You’re a lousy liar.”
“Think what you want. All you’ll see is the kid’s corpse anyway.”
The bastard’s face didn’t look pleased. That told me my probe had hit truth.
Veron was alive.
Simple reason.
Facial features don’t lie.
He screamed pervert who relishes others’ despair. If he’d really killed Veron, he’d have delighted at my doubt.
Savoring the despair I’d feel later.
Perverts like him are predictable.
“Arsenos!”
Chanting, the old man slammed his staff down. A crimson-black magic circle bloomed on the floor.
Some kind of black magic.
Black mist rose from it.
A deep growl echoed through.
“…Grrr.”
With a massive monster’s rumble, a hulking form burst from the mist.
A giant troll, four meters tall.
Unlike any I knew—skin dark, eyes milky like fog-shrouded—but a troll for sure.
First live monster I’d seen.
I observed it keenly. Misreading me, the old man cackled.
“Ha ha ha ha! Paralyzed with fear?! The petty games end here. This one has infinite stamina and endless regeneration—even a mid-level Sword Expert knight falls easily! Kehelhel!”
For his looks, he sure talked and laughed a lot.
“Kill them now!”
The beast, glaring fiercely and exuding pressure, charged at the old man’s command.
Tamed monster?
Eyes rolling, the troll barreled forward. Its mountain-like bulk brought real pressure.
Whoosh.
Blue flames ignited along Thundercloud Sword’s blade.
A vivid sword aura flared.
Before it closed in, I swung. A flash lanced toward it.
Crescent flying sword qi.
The diagonal arc cleaved the troll in half—and the old man behind it too.
Zzzzzing!
It carved a long diagonal gash in the wall beyond.
One stroke felled them all.
“…It’s over already?”
Allen stammered, staring at the bisected troll and old man’s corpses. They froze mid-stance to meet it.
“Too easy to feel real.”
Allen straightened, flashing an awkward smile.
He’d braced for a brutal fight, but I ended it in one.
Alone, maybe, but with Veron hostage, no drawn-out dance with a mage.
Unknown spells and all.
Plus, this was his lair.
Quick and clean.
Curious why the idiot did this, what he hid in the mountains—but answers lingered in his lab.
Mages always leave traces.
Opening the door at the wall’s end revealed the lab. A familiar voice rang out.
“Sis!”
“Veron!”
Iriel rushed to Veron, bound to a chair. Allen hurried after. I followed slowly, scanning the room.
“No injuries?”
Iriel sliced the ropes and checked him over.
“Nope! Not a scratch!”
Veron nodded bravely.
Allen ruffled his hair.
“Not scared? You held up great.”
As Allen said, Veron’s face was tear-free, fine.
“I was scared but didn’t cry once! I knew Jenes would come save me!”
“You’re better than these two.”
I lumped the still-fussing Allen and Iriel together. Then scanned the surroundings.
“What was this pervert doing holed up in the mountains?”
Allen, holding Veron, glanced around too. Mangled corpses, mystery reagents—unfathomable stuff everywhere.
“He said he’d make us his slaves!”
Veron recited what he’d heard. But it revealed little.
How could normals grasp a madman’s deeds?
We were all black magic novices anyway.
Scanning, my eyes landed on a thick book on the desk.
Its leather cover showed age but was pristine.
Title: 「City of Immortality」.
I opened it.
The runes made my brow furrow.
“What? What’s it say?”
Iriel sidled up at my expression.
“Can you read runes?”
“Nope.”
“Same here.”
“Oh.”
Dizzying script crammed the pages. Mage tongue, runes.
“Let’s go.”
I set it down, interest gone.
What did a dead man’s research matter?
“J-Jenes!”
Allen, who’d gone ahead, called urgently. Outside the door, he stared wide-eyed, pupils quivering like he’d seen something awful.
“Th-there.”
He pointed, stammering. Following his finger, I saw why his face was ashen.
“It vanished completely?!”
Allen bellowed, echoing through the cavern. Despite seeing the same thing.
Had he taken my eyes for decoration?
I smacked his head to shut him up and approached the anomaly for a closer look.
It was odd, sure.
The old man’s corpse had been here.
Yet in moments, no trace remained.