Peer Mountains (3)
What the hell are those people?
With his link to the hobgoblin severed, Ellen sorted through everything he had witnessed inside the cave.
It was all unknowns.
He still had no idea why the monsters had gathered there. He didn't know who those men were. He didn't understand the magic they used. And he had no clue what effect that red-glowing orb was supposed to have.
But one thing was certain.
They're gathering monsters for a full-scale assault.
He hadn't overheard who "that person" was, or when they would arrive. But he was sure of this much: those men were collecting monsters.
There's no stopping that.
Even the creatures packed into that single cavern were already beyond what the Kenipra Gate could hope to hold. And they intended to gather more. If that combined force ever hit the gate, it wouldn't last more than a few days.
This just got a lot more urgent.
Sitting back and investigating at a leisurely pace was no longer an option. He had to solve this before they finished assembling their army and launched their assault. From what he'd seen, they were controlling the monsters through that orb. At the very least, he needed to seize it.
Even he had no confidence he could beat a monster coalition that included ogres.
Rumble.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a tremendous noise erupted from within the cave. The ground shook as the cavern disgorged its monsters in a roaring flood.
In a way, it's almost a spectacle.
Who else had ever seen so many different monsters move as one? At the same time, a cold anxiety settled over him. Even this much already looked devastating — he couldn't begin to imagine the sight of an even larger horde pouring down on the Kenipra Gate.
When the last of them had passed, the world fell quiet again, as if none of it had happened. Only birdsong drifted from far away.
Might as well start by searching that place more carefully.
Investigation through the hobgoblin alone had its limits. He hadn't been able to leave the chamber where the monsters were packed. But the cave itself looked far larger than that. The next clue was definitely still inside.
Detect. View Mana Force. Scan.
Standing before the cave mouth, Ellen cast three detection spells at once — a method that made effective use of his Chantless Casting. By now, casting multiple spells simultaneously had become nearly as natural as layering them atop one another.
No mana signature answered from within. No life signs either. The men must have left with the monsters. Confirming that, Ellen stepped inside.
Step by step, his footsteps echoed through the cavern. Light magic kept the interior bright, but it was colder and damper than he'd expected.
Tch. If they're going to leave Light spells running, they could at least throw up some temperature and humidity control.
Worst of all was the smell. Something was rotting, sharp enough to sting his nostrils, and it only grew thicker the deeper he went. Phillips's physical training had sharpened every one of his senses — including his sense of smell — which made the stench even more nauseating.
What exactly are they letting rot in here?
Even so, Ellen deliberately cast no protective magic, wanting to stay as sensitive as possible to any change in his surroundings.
A little farther in, the vast chamber he had seen through the hobgoblin opened before him.
Here it is.
At the far end, the passageway the men had used was still visible. Ellen stopped in front of it. The feeling was almost the same as when he used to delve into dungeons — never knowing when or from where danger might strike.
Detect. View Mana Force. Scan.
He cast the detection spells again. His mana unfurled along the passage, probing every corner. That caution was the reason he had survived so many dungeons unscathed.
A faint mana reaction? No — traces of mana.
Still no life signs, but unlike before, weak residual mana lingered in the air. Ellen figured the men were responsible.
I'll have to see for myself.
He pushed deeper. The farther he went, the clearer the source of the smell became.
Rotting corpses. And blood mixed in with it…
A nameless dread crawled up his spine. But turning back was not an option. He was determined to find even the smallest scrap of a clue.
Several rooms branched off ahead. Ellen began searching them one by one. The rooms made it clear that the men had been living here for quite some time.
Just that one room left?
Creak.
Bang.
"Ugh."
The moment he opened the door, Ellen clamped a hand over his nose and slammed it shut. This was the source of the reek that had saturated the entire cave. Forced to cast a protective spell at last, he opened the door again.
Unlike the rest of the cave, no Light magic illuminated this room. Ellen circulated his mana to sharpen his vision.
What the hell…
His expression hardened as he took in the interior. The overall layout was similar to Proveng's laboratory back in Enis — a mage's research room, built for magical experimentation. But something else entirely froze Ellen's face.
In one corner of the lab, human corpses were piled into a mountain. Their skin was shriveled and desiccated, their eyes empty sockets — they looked like mummies.
Grotesque.
Beneath the heap of bodies, an intricate magic circle had been drawn. Blood from the corpses soaked it thoroughly, as if the circle itself were drinking.
Ellen approached the circle. He had the uncanny sensation that the empty eye sockets were watching him.
This formula is another one I've never seen before.
Even Ellen, who knew every magic circle that would appear over the next twenty years, had never encountered anything like this. Still, its overall structure closely resembled the one that had been cast on the hobgoblin.
Magic from a school I don't know about?
Whoosh.
Absorbed in the circle, Ellen suddenly spun toward a presence at his back. Nothing was there.
"You little rat. You have any idea where you've crawled into?"
Whoosh.
His head snapped toward a voice on the right.
"Coming all the way into the Peer Mountains — must be pretty confident in your skills."
This time the presence flickered on the right again — then vanished just as quickly.
What a nuisance.
The darkness around him seemed to thicken. The presence kept shifting, appearing and disappearing without rest.
Ellen stretched out an open palm and tracked the movement with his eyes.
Catch.
Snap.
He closed his hand into a fist. The constantly darting presence froze in place. At last, he could see its owner — one of the men from the chamber earlier, now caught fast in Ellen's telekinetic grip.
Ellen walked toward the immobilized man. The man's eyes were stretched so wide they looked ready to tear, speaking volumes about his state of mind.
"Stop hopping around so much."
"How did you find me?"
"Moving at that speed is easy enou—"
Fwoosh.
Ellen cut himself off and hurled his body sideways. The landing was ugly — he hit the floor and rolled.
BOOM.
A black sphere slammed into the spot he'd just vacated and exploded.
"There was another one? Now that's a surprise."
"So you're the one who meddled with one of the monsters."
A man in a black hood stepped slowly into view. He was the same one who had been thrashing the orc earlier.
"You knew from the start?"
"I knew after I activated the orb. There was a creature with a new spell on it that shouldn't have been there."
Thud.
The black-hooded mage slammed his staff into the ground. Dark mana poured down the staff and into the earth.
"You heard things you shouldn't have. The price for that is your life."
The ground split open, and black mana writhed out through the cracks like a snake flicking its tongue.
"I did eavesdrop, I'll give you that. But can you actually kill me?"
"Full of confidence, aren't you?"
WHOOOOSH.
Provoked, the man swung his massive staff and unleashed his attack. The black mana thrashing in the fissures surged toward Ellen.
CLANG.
Ellen blocked it with Protect. A single layer was more than enough for an attack of this level.
Whirr.
Then the black mana suddenly began absorbing the mana that composed the barrier.
Crack-crack.
Starved of the mana holding it together, Protect fractured — and shattered.
What?
Emboldened by what it had consumed, the black mana crashed toward him with even greater force.
BOOM.
Ellen leapt hard backward, clearing the strike.
"For a mage, you've got good footwork."
The man spoke with easy leisure.
"I'll finish this quickly."
The black mana twisted its path like a living thing, streaking after Ellen again.
Stone Edge.
Rumble.
Stone pillars erupted from the floor and collided with the black mana. The result was the same. It simply absorbed Ellen's magic.
"It eats that too?"
"Kahaha! Careful now. That thing will devour your mana as well."
Having smashed through the pillars, the black mana lunged for Ellen, hungry for more.
BOOM.
If spells would only be absorbed, there was no point. Ellen decided to dodge instead.
"You run well. Let's see how far you can go."
The man seemed to be enjoying himself. Looking closer, his eyes were bloodshot, veins standing out across his forehead.
BOOM.
Ellen kept dodging, offering no real counter.
I think I've seen enough.
His eyes fixed on the man.
And he's not in his right mind either.
The more violently the black mana raged, the worse the man's condition became. He didn't seem to care in the slightest.
I'll know once I finish this.
Flash.
An afterimage — and then Ellen was standing at the man's left side.
"How—?"
"How else? Speed."
Ellen raised his staff and swung.
CRACK.
The blow to the head staggered the man.
"You're not a mage?"
"I am a mage."
CRACK.
Ellen swung again. This time the man couldn't stay on his feet. But Ellen's staff didn't stop. He hammered the man's body from every angle until the man curled instinctively into a ball.
"Uuugh…"
When foam finally flecked the man's lips and his consciousness gave out, Ellen lowered the staff.
"You should have fainted a long time ago."
The black mana slowly faded, seeping back into the cracks in the ground.
"One down. Time to get some answers from the other one."
Ellen turned toward the restrained man with a wicked smile.
"You… you actually… to him…"
But the man didn't seem to hear a word. He was muttering to himself.
"Have to run. Have to get away."
Cold sweat poured down his face.
"What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind? That's a problem. Who's going to give me information?"
Alarmed, Ellen stepped closer.
BOOM!
An explosion roared behind him.
"Heh heh heh."
The man who had been sprawled unconscious a moment ago was on his feet again, staggering, that hair-raising laughter spilling from his lips.