Lich Apep
Even with two Gold Rank swordsmen stepping forward, the situation did not improve. If anything, the coordinated assault of the three Death Knights proved so overwhelming that they began to be driven back.
The three Death Knights moved as if they were a single body. Their three blades flashed in rapid succession, serving as both offense and defense at once.
The greatsword Terra wielded was enormous. When she swung it with all her strength, it nearly filled the narrow corridor, and when she stretched her arms fully, the black walls and floor of the passage were frequently scraped raw.
In other words, swinging a sword alongside Terra was impossible. Unlike the three Death Knights who wielded their blades as one, Terra and I had to carefully time our strikes and repeatedly dart in and out.
Clang—!
Sword met sword, generating a fierce blast of wind pressure. Dust billowed up in a hazy cloud from the impact, but I had to pull back at once.
Slash—!
A blade cut through empty air like a serpent’s flickering tongue. Terra filled the space I had left. She swung the greatsword she had drawn far back, forcing the three Death Knights away.
Boom!
To make matters worse, new enemies were pouring in from the far end of the corridor—an army of the dead formed of pure white bone. Skeletons had appeared.
Seeing them, I shouted.
“Terra! Hold them just a little longer!”
“Kh—!”
I immediately retreated a good distance and accelerated the rotation of my circles. With a high-pitched whine, the nature of the mana blanketing my entire body began to change.
There was no time to weigh options. This was not some artificial dungeon the royal house of Raoum had constructed for the Third Prince.
I felt the full weight of responsibility. This was my doing. Because of my mistake, every one of us had been flung into an unknown dungeon.
The three Death Knights, cloaked in malevolent mana, were opponents that swordsmanship alone could not bring down. Had we been fighting in an open space rather than a narrow corridor, things might have been different—but that was a meaningless what-if now.
“Ceris! How much longer do I have to hold?!”
Terra, shouldering all three Death Knights alone, cried out urgently, her face pale. A little longer still. I had to keep concentrating my mana until it had completely transformed my body.
“Ce-Ceris…? That thing on your head…”
I ignored Alfonso’s voice from behind me. The change had finally become visible enough for the others to notice. Sharp fangs brushed the tip of my tongue, and the horns that had sprouted atop my head cast long shadows in the lamp light.
The secret I had been hiding was laid bare. The gazes of the adventurers who had journeyed with me turned strange. People instinctively recoiled from anything different from themselves. These would be no exception.
Once the transformation of my body was complete, the mana focused on a single point. The moment the searing mana gathered near my solar plexus, a small flame flickered in the breath I exhaled low.
Fwoosh—
“I-I can’t hold any longer!”
Done. Everything was ready. I took a single step toward Terra, who was still fighting alone. No signal was needed. A Gold Rank swordsman would have sensed my approach.
Indeed, Terra seemed to notice; she recovered her sword and fell back.
“Wh-what horns…?”
Terra’s gaze touched the top of my head, then dropped away. I had no strength left to answer her question. The instant I opened my mouth, scorching flames would burst forth.
Fwoosh—!
When the breath that erupted from my nose became a torrent of searing fire, I unleashed everything I had been holding inside.
In that moment, the flames of ruin that once scorched the world swallowed everything in a straight line.
Fwoooooosh—!
The red shifted to bright orange, then orange again to blue. The corridor began to melt under the intense heat, yet the three Death Knights were still moving.
I furrowed my brow and raised the output even higher.
Fwoooooosh—!
As the temperature of the breath climbed, color began to drain from the blue flames that had blanketed everything. The glittering white light became a pure line, burning away every last scrap of the ominous mana that had cloaked the Death Knights.
With the mana that had protected their bodies gone, the knights in their ancient full plate began to melt. Beyond the liquefying armor, their true forms were revealed.
Old knights who had been denied the rest of death. When the light faded from their eyes, the pure white bones vanished into white radiance without leaving even ash behind.
The corridor, once brilliantly lit by the breath’s glow, began to sink back into darkness. It happened the moment the flames pouring from my mouth slowly died away.
“Haa…”
I exhaled the remaining heat in a long sigh. The air where my breath had passed shimmered like a heat haze.
Even after the three Death Knights had been slain, no one spoke. Silence settled over the corridor, still thick with lingering heat.
I touched the head where everyone’s eyes were fixed. The horns that had sprouted there made their presence known with quiet insistence.
Curiosity and awe, shock and revulsion. Gazes laden with tangled emotions flew at me. I did not look away; I simply accepted them with calm composure.
“Ahem…”
Alfonso’s forced cough broke the silence. He brushed black ash from his clothes and approached me.
“Th-thank you, Ceris.”
I looked up at his dazed face. What had he come closer to say? His gaze took in my whole form rather than lingering on my horns or eyes.
Alfonso’s eyes moved quickly. In that brief span he read the atmosphere flowing among the adventurers.
“I never imagined you were a mage.”
“A mage…?”
“Was she a mage?”
“Certainly, that powerful flame can’t be explained as anything but magic…”
The adventurers murmured at Alfonso’s words. The revulsion in their gazes began to fade like a dying fire.
“That change in your appearance must be connected to magic as well, yes?”
“Well…”
I trailed off and nodded. I had used mana to work a mystery. Broadly speaking, even a breath belonged to the discipline of magic. So I did not deny it.
Ordinary adventurers inevitably knew little of magic. The Magic Towers monopolized everything related to it and never released that knowledge into the world. Thus they failed to notice that my magic differed from that of ordinary mages.
Alfonso had set the stage. He had acted as the party’s leader, yet everyone knew he was the Third Prince. The weight of his words could not be the same.
The party members came to accept me as a mage.
The searing heat filling the corridor was enough to melt the soles of our boots. We could not move until it cooled. The party naturally had to take a rest.
Everyone sat in suitable spots and eased their bodies, yet none released their weapons, ready for any threat. When a subtle tension blanketed the corridor, Terra sidled up to me.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Can I touch those horns?”
“The horns…?”
I touched the horns that had sprouted atop my head. Because I had not stopped circulating my mana, they still held their place. So did the sharp fangs and the elongated pupils like those of a monster.
“Mm. All right.”
There was nothing particularly wrong with it. The horns had no living nerves, after all. I tilted my head slightly and offered them.
“Wow…”
Terra smiled as if my horns were fascinating. Her small fingers moved curiously, gently exploring them.
About an hour.
That was how long it took for the fiercely heated corridor to cool enough to walk on.
Just as we prepared to set out again to explore the dungeon, an adventurer behind me posed a question.
“Uh, Mage.”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t there any magic that can get us out of this dungeon?”
“Escape the dungeon?”
At my counter-question the adventurer swallowed dryly and nodded. I frowned at his words. The magic I could use was not that extensive. I had no idea how to cast spatial magic like Blink or Teleport, so I dared not even attempt it.
There was the Guiding Star spell that pointed the way, but it only indicated the shortest distance to a destination. In a labyrinthine dungeon like this, it was of little use.
“I’m not sure.”
“Ah… I see…”
He may have tried not to show it, but disappointment spread among the adventurers. They raised their own expectations and dashed them themselves. Knowing nothing of magic, it was a natural reaction.
“Then let’s move out.”
The party began advancing slowly through the dungeon. There was no need to worry about traps. Every trap in a straight line had melted along with the corridor.
After walking a long while over the melted passage, an intact stretch of corridor that had escaped the flames came into view. The party members’ gazes began to focus on me. The time had come to meet their expectations.
It was a truly crude method, but with the Gold Rank ranger dead, this was the only way for the entire party to escape the dungeon safely.
Whirr—!
The Mana Circle in my heart spun rapidly, kindling flames. The moment those flames gathered near my solar plexus, I once again unleashed a massive torrent of fire.
Fwoooooosh—!
A white-hot beam of heat melted everything in a straight line. The black walls liquefied, revealing new walls beyond, which melted in turn. The process repeated until the white heat ray faded.
“Cough, cough…”
After pouring out the flames, I sagged, hacking residual coughs. A sharp, raw pain rose in my throat as if I had caught a cold. Consecutive use of the breath had a limit of two times. My once-ample mana had hit bottom.
“Incredible… truly incredible…!”
Alfonso clapped his hands in delight. The party once again had to rest until the fiercely heated corridor cooled.
While I lay on the melted floor, focusing on recovering my mana, I sensed a vast movement of mana deep underground. That immense mana was rising toward us, accompanied by countless deaths.