Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: The Traitor Has His Uses
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"Whew, that's a terrible smell. Anyway, good. So, mages, are you ready?"
"We've had it memorized for days, so no worries. 'Small Water Wave'!"
With the mage's incantation, a magic circle formed on the floor, and as mana gathered at the tip of the staff, a fierce stream of water gushed forth, beginning to wash away the purple poison liquid on the ground.
The purple poisonous smoke had already been dealt with earlier by widening the entrance during the construction work, so once this poison liquid was handled, they'd be able to break through the steel wall immediately.
"It seems almost done."
"Good. Then it's my turn now."
Shhhrrrk…
Sir Alseth immediately drew his sword and approached the steel wall.
And as he focused his aura into the sword with a breath, befitting its name 'Wind Spirit Sword', the sound of wind began to be heard, and it started to glow.
At the same time, he felt his body becoming lighter. Magical artifacts really are different, Sir Alseth thought, pouring all his aura into the blade and swung with all his might.
"Huuup!"
A long scar appeared along the silent trajectory of the sword, opening a crack in the steel wall blocking the ruin's entrance.
It was so large it didn't fully fit within the sword's reach, so it wasn't completely cut through, but even with just a large crack appearing, the inside became visible, and purple smoke began leaking out from within.
Sir Alseth clenched his fist tightly, regulated his breathing, gathered his aura, and swung his sword again.
"Hup!"
"Ohh, as expected of Sir Alseth. A skill worthy of the renowned knight of the Kemel family! Amazing."
Another fissure appeared. He precisely struck at a right angle to the previous cut, ensuring a clean slice.
But perhaps it was tougher than expected, as beads of sweat were forming on Sir Alseth's forehead. He let out a brief exhale, catching his breath.
"Hooou~ You flatter me… It's all thanks to this sword. But it's really thick. Even with the family's magical artifact and aura at full power, this is all I could open. I'm confident I could slice through armor whole and all…"
"We must consider it the mysterious techniques and power of the ancient era."
"Anyway, a few more like this and it should open. Though I need a moment… to catch my breath."
Thud!
So Alseth paused to regulate his breathing and continued focusing his aura to sever the door. The steadfastly standing steel wall was cleaved open, creating a gap large enough for a person to pass through.
Then the mages behind stepped forward, washed away the poison liquid, covered their mouths and noses with cloth wrapped around charcoal to avoid inhaling the poison smoke, and cautiously re-entered the ruins.
"Good. I'll make this entrance wider. The rest of you, proceed to investigate the interior, staying alert for trap activations. Do not let your guard down for a moment. You never know what might appear, where, or when. And… if by any chance you encounter that bastard Beonald, kill him on the spot and bring only the corpse."
"Yes! Sir Alseth."
"I'll rest briefly and then enter."
Due to the extreme depletion of his aura, Sir Alseth, whose head was throbbing, simply gave his instructions, exited the ruins, and sat down for a short rest.
Watching the procession of knights, adventurers, and mages descending below, he felt reassured that the work could now proceed, and he looked forward to receiving the corpse of that nuisance Beonald.
"Ooh… This is the first time I've seen a Unified Empire-era ruin preserved this well."
"Not just the style, the preservation is truly remarkable."
"Wooow~ It's so fascinating."
The adventurers sent ahead carefully advanced with torches and lanterns, checking whether there were any traps in the ruins.
The knights of the Kemel family and the dispatched mages, keeping a slight distance from them, maintained their vigilance, but perhaps because it was a dark place, they chatted to dispel the ominous feeling.
"Wow, the guys who came to relieve us weren't exaggerating. This is an incredible ruin."
"Was this made in the distant past?"
"You said it. Who on earth built something like this? Elves? Dwarves? Or… dragons?"
"Humans. And it's only! 500 years old!"
Beonald, who had been preparing to greet the enemies since they started breaking the barrier, fumed inwardly upon hearing their conversation, retorting silently so they couldn't hear.
Having slept fitfully for a week while modifying the commoner-use 'Knight Armor' for knightly use, he had no choice but to hurriedly don the unfinished suit and prepare for battle against the intruders.
"Hoo… Alright, shall we go then?"
Kooong!
Along with a heavy footstep, a metallic sound echoed in the central control room, and the figure of a knight clad entirely in metal, standing about 2 meters 50 centimeters tall, began to move.
True to its name 'Knight Armor', it was shaped like knightly plate armor. Its design was so ornate, reminiscent of a beautiful statue, even with a cape draped down, and its material, being experimental, generously incorporated expensive metals like mithril and adamantium. If light had shone upon it, its luster would have been splendid and beautiful.
The movement is good. As expected, powering it with my aura was the right answer.
The original Knight Armor had a separate mana engine called a 'Magic Stone Engine' installed on the back to substitute for a knight's mana pool, but the magic stones currently in this 'Molting Tomb' had other uses, so Beonald had no choice but to modify it to run on his own 'aura'.
But this… is quite strenuous. I removed quite a lot of unnecessary enchantments… Grrr…
The drawback was that the wearer had to continuously generate 'aura'. Even after removing unnecessary enchantments from within the armor, Beonald found it quite taxing.
However, in return, its performance was definite. As he began to move in earnest, he could move faster than his original body's speed and maneuver as freely as if it were his own body.
This is good. Anyway, it seems I have no choice but to fight a short decisive battle?
Its massive size and weight belied the small sound of its footsteps. Beonald immediately took position and prepared to receive his guests.
"Let's go! Alterio."
Kwaaaaaak!
While there was basically an enchanted mithril sword as a weapon, Beonald thought he needed a weapon with particularly powerful firepower to defeat his opponents. So he either slung several failures on his back or carried them directly toward the large passageway where the intruders were coming from.
"Truly astonishing. To think I could lift a 'Siege Mana Cannon'. Hah!"
And among the various weapons in Beonald's hands, a giant piece of black metal revealed its true form.
An appearance reminiscent of a building's pillar or an H-beam. It was one of Beonald's research projects, a 'Siege Mana Cannon' from which all miscellaneous parts had been stripped, assembled with only the barrel, mana charging device, and firing trigger remaining.
I had to save magic stones to use this.
Kuuuuuung!
To withstand the recoil, Beonald braced his legs, digging them into the stone floor, and simultaneously opened the magic stone's mana to begin charging. A faint blue light glowed, and the gauge indicating the 'Siege Mana Cannon's' charge level slowly began to fill.
To be honest, when I tested it in actual combat, it was a failure, so I'm a bit uneasy… but there's no choice.
Thinking it was probably in this 'Molting Tomb' for a reason and surely had defects, he was nervous, but trusting in the defensive power of the Knight Armor he was now wearing, Beonald steeled his resolve and pressed the firing switch as soon as he confirmed the charge was complete.
"…Huh? What's that?"
"Something's glowing? Did someone touch somethi……."
"This is ma…."
The adventurers at the very front of the exploration procession could not finish their words.
The moment they saw the flashing blue light, their fate was sealed. Without leaving a single last word, their bodies were swallowed by the blue light, disappearing completely, leaving only the parts below their knees untouched by the light.
"This is ma… mana?"
"Damn! We'll block it! Quick, defensive magic support…!"
"Yes. 'Mana Shield'!"
The knights and mages of the Kemel family, positioned slightly further back, had faster reflexes. The knights who drew up their aura stepped forward as a wall to resist, and the mages cast spells for defense. Thanks to that, even though they were swept up in the blue mana, they barely endured and managed to survive.
"Phew…! Is everyone alright? What on earth is this?"
"I, I think we're fine. We are… that is."
"Damn!"
However, only the knights and mages were unharmed. The adventurers who had been scouting for traps ahead and the laborers following from the rear had long since vanished, leaving only the parts below their knees.
Without even a moment to mourn, the first thing to do was identify the nature of the attack that had just flown in. The mages struggled, mobilizing their wisdom and memorized spells to figure out the cause of the attack.
"A detection spell suggests someone is far away at the end. But for a magic of this power at such a distance… Could it be a demon race or a lich?"
"Or perhaps that Beonald fellow Sir Alseth mentioned is using the magical artifacts of this ruin. Anyway, another attack like this could come, so we must first find cover."
"Understood. Then let's open this treasure vault door to protect ourselves. And one of us must quickly go out and report this."
The knights and mages, pressed against the wall, began discussing the situation and started working to open what they presumed was a treasure vault door among those they passed. One knight turned around and headed outside the ruins.
The door, thoroughly sealed with enchantments, was not easy to open, which was a golden opportunity for Beonald, but he was currently not in a position to attack.
"Ah… As expected, it's a failure for a reason. Damn! Now I understand why it wasn't commercialized. This… the material to withstand the output and this explosion were the problems."
Kuuuuung!
Frowning, Beonald irritably threw the Siege Mana Cannon the Knight Armor was holding onto the ground.
After firing just one shot, the barrel exploded, and Beonald was also swept up in the not-insignificant blast.
He had roughly anticipated something like this, but for it to overload and explode after a single shot, his mood was truly foul.
"But… this isn't the end. Hah!"
Admiring his own thoroughness and indulging in self-praise, Beonald took out the giant iron ballista, the size of a grown man, slung on his back, and began setting it up.
'Explosion Ballista'. A giant crossbow whose bolt tip was enchanted with a spell set to explode exactly five seconds after activation, a weapon designed to pierce the skin of a giant monster, embed itself, and then trigger an explosion.
The problem is you have to hit… but that's… Grrrrrr! Wah! This is tough even wearing the Knight Armor?
Beonald strained to crank the crossbow's winch while pressing against the wall.
If they had experienced the first Siege Mana Cannon, the enemies would only have two courses of action. Either stick close to the ground and observe the situation, or press against the walls on either side to prepare for the next attack.
Seeing through that psychology, Beonald attached the crossbow to the wall, activated the trigger, and pulled.
"One."
Fwoooooosh!
"Two."
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
"Three… four… five……."
Kwagugugugugugugugug!
As time passed, the mingled sounds of screams and explosions echoed from inside the passageway. Beonald smiled with satisfaction and began loading the next bolt. Even with the Knight Armor's assistance, the strenuous reloading made him realize once again why this Explosion Ballista had also ended up here.
…I just remembered now. This failed because it was such a pain to use like this. So I reduced it to a size a person could use, but then the production cost and power balance of the enchanted bolts didn't match, so that failed too! In the end, only the new model crossbow succeeded… Grrrrrrrr!
Fwoooooosh!
Demonstrating firsthand how arduous weapon development could be, Beonald fired the next shot.
From their perspective, after being hit by an overwhelming mana attack, now a giant arrow, one that even exploded, was flying at them. It must have been utterly terrifying.
But their perspective was not Beonald's concern, as the bastards from the Kemel family were ultimately thieves who came to steal his legacy, and they too had likely staked their lives here for wealth, honor, and glory, so it was an even match.