The Second Task (9)
The Second Task (9)
[No one knows why the king, once praised as a wise and benevolent ruler, went mad overnight.]
[The knights condemned it as the work of sinister sorcery, while the mages arrogantly scoffed, dismissing it as the delusions of uncouth warriors.]
[As factional strife spread like poison within the castle walls, the world outside crumbled silently.]
[With governance paralyzed, the continental trade routes were severed, and starving monsters began attacking villages. The knights, consumed by their hollow duty to protect the throne, never left the castle, while the mages who should have dealt with the growing anomalies turned a deaf ear to the people's screams, lost in their research.]
[Yet, the kingdom still appeared strong. Centuries of accumulated power were not so fragile as to collapse overnight. The suffering people endured their harsher lives, praying for tomorrow's sun as they struggled through today.]
[...But what ultimately pushed the glorious kingdom into the abyss of ruin was my miscalculation—my sin.]
[One day, as if by miracle, the king regained his senses with clear eyes. When he desperately sought someone, I dared to offer counsel: he should go out and proclaim the royal family's stability to rally the people's hearts.]
[Though gaunt, the king silently nodded. When he emerged into the plaza in royal garb, flanked by his knights, the prelude to tragedy began. The moment the people gazed upon his radiant visage reflected in those brilliant eyes, the dormant madness awoke.]
[The king let out a bloodcurdling scream and tore apart the nearest commoner with his bare hands. The peaceful plaza turned into a slaughterhouse in an instant. The stunned knights moved too late to restrain him.]
[But human strength was no match for the maddened king. That day, thousands who had come for blessings were crushed into cold corpses beneath his hands. Blood and entrails gushed like rivers between the cobblestones.]
[Though the mages eventually subdued the king, the dead would never return.]
[After that bloody massacre, the empire began its irreversible descent into ruin.]
[If anyone reads this blood-stained record, heed my words:]
[Never look upon the king's visage.]
[For there is no escape from death.]
[KREEEEEEEEEEE—!]
A crowned monstrosity charged at me with a bone-chilling shriek.
Its speed was so sudden it could have been an ambush. But I had already prepared for this.
Click.
I aimed the forbidden tome at the creature. Yet before I could fire, the Lantern darted in front of me.
WHOOSH—!!
Blinding flames erupted from behind her glass, so intense they could sear retinas. At the same time, viscous shadows slithered from the darkness below like serpents.
HISSSSS—!
The shadows pounced like beasts, coiling around the monster's limbs. Its momentum wrenched to a grotesque halt mid-air. With bestial snarls, it thrashed wildly, tearing through the shadows one by one until it finally broke free.
Sssk—
But the shadows were already grinning. Beneath its feet, a massive maw had opened wide.
CRUNCH!
Chomp, chomp.
The shadow swallowed it whole. Disgusting chewing sounds echoed through the hall as the shadow wriggled in satisfaction.
Bzzzt bzzzt—
The Lantern fluttered beside me, shaking her body cutely as if demanding praise.
But my gaze wasn't on her.
"He'll be out soon."
The shadow froze mid-chew, desperately trying to gulp down its prey.
It failed.
[KREEEEEEE—!!]
With an explosive roar, the crowned monstrosity tore through the shadow's innards and burst free. Its vitality was unreal. The Lantern trembled nervously, peeking at me as if checking my reaction. I ignored her and channeled mana into the forbidden tome. Golden energy condensed at the barrel, warping space.
But I didn't fire.
THUD!
"Run!"
Ha-rin yanked me onto her broomstick mid-flight. The moment I mounted it, the broom accelerated, streaking down the corridor.
The Lantern and the forbidden tomes chased frantically behind us, as if afraid of being left behind.
"Eek! Watch where you grab!"
"Not the time! Where are the other mages?"
"All dead!"
Clutching her slender waist with one hand, I steadied myself while aiming the tome backward with the other.
"Your aim's shaky. Steer properly."
"Slowing down means death!"
"Doesn't matter. I'll blast it before it reaches us."
"WHAT?!"
She whipped her head around, baffled.
"That's an aberration! A calamity-class one at that! Our magic can't possibly work on it!"
I frowned at her necromancer-level pessimism.
"Watch the front! At this speed, a crash means instant death."
"Stop worrying about that and think about how to escape!"
She clearly didn't know. I calmly explained.
"If we kill that thing, we can leave."
"That's impossible! I sent a distress signal—we just need to hold out until rescue arrives!"
Rescue? For us?
Before I could question her, someone else did.
"Rescue? Keheheh! You think high-rank mages would lift a finger for fledglings like you? Kekeke!"
The necromancer, still clutched in the Lantern's shadow, sneered.
"Ha! What would a lowlife like you know? If the Bureau fails to rescue me and I get so much as a scratch, it'll mean war."
She scowled at him.
"War... Ah, that arrogance. You're from the Joo Family. The heir born with the Heavenly Eye, was it? Kekeke! Lucky me! To have such a noble brat as company!"
"Enough of your disgusting drivel."
"Keheheh! Now that I know the source of your baseless confidence, I'm relieved. Because it's all meaningless!!"
The necromancer's eyes bulged as he raved.
"This is the past, recreated by a magic book! A severed world where no outside interference or intrusion is possible! You'll never leave. You'll just die! Kyahahaha!"
Ha-rin's pupils shook violently.
"A magic book? You mean to tell me a lowlife like you possessed a tome powerful enough to recreate the past?"
"Keheheh! Your mistake was thinking this was just a barrier! The moment you stepped in, you were already dead!!!"
"That can't be..."
The shock must have stunned her. Ha-rin drifted into thought, distracted.
And then—a massive wall slammed down in front of us.
BOOM—!
Luckily, the broom swerved instinctively, avoiding a fatal crash. But the path was blocked. Behind us, the monstrosity closed in.
"Kahaha! The castle itself wants you dead! Moving walls to cut off escape—how desperate!"
The necromancer cackled amid the chaos.
Total disaster.
"Whatdowedowhatdowedo?!"
"Snap out of it."
I dismounted first.
Pushing the panicking Ha-rin behind me, I faced the charging aberration.
[KREEEEEEE—!]
The distance between us vanished in seconds.
Best to finish this before it reaches us.
I leveled the forbidden tome horizontally at the oncoming death.
"Load."
VOOOOOM—
At my command, the tome's pages flipped wildly, devouring ambient mana. Golden particles erupted from the pages, condensing into a high-density sphere at the barrel.
HUM—
The tome trembled violently, glowing molten gold. Like a ravenous beast eager to unleash destruction, it vibrated eagerly in my grip.
No reason to delay.
"Fire."
The world flashed white.
KABOOOOOM—!
A colossal pillar of light filled the corridor, swallowing the aberration whole.
"Eek! This light... Holy Magic?!"
Ha-rin finally snapped out of it.
Staring dumbfounded at the surreal spectacle, her delicate lips parted in shock.
"No way... You can actually damage an aberration directly?"
She fell silent. A pity—because the next voice we heard was grating and unpleasant.
"LIES!!! IMPOSSIBLE!! HOW CAN SOMEONE LIKE YOU FIGHT A CALAMITY-CLASS ABERRATION?! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!!"
The necromancer, still bound in shadow, screamed as if his last hope had crumbled.
Ignoring him, I watched the smoke rising from the light's trajectory.
The aberration had been blasted into the far wall. Charred and mangled, it slowly raised its head with trembling arms. And the moment our eyes met—
I saw it.
An unfamiliar emotion flickering in its deranged, murky gaze.
Unmistakable fear.