The Ancient Secret Beneath the Palace
"The only good black mage is a dead black mage."
"I don't know the details, but... I heard it's in a hidden space beneath the imperial palace."
"A hidden space?"
"I think it was created during the ancient civilization era. Our organization's job was just to buy time until the client finished whatever they were doing there."
"...At that point, aren't you basically spilling all the information?"
"I don't know the details either! That's all I heard secondhand!"
Judging by the doll burning fiercely before us, it didn't seem like minor information. Beyond the black corrosion, its limbs twisted as if being wrung out like laundry, and its entire body blazed with flames. Even having the doll bear the cost of the binding wasn't enough—the lingering energy of the restriction began targeting the black mage himself. I stepped in.
"That's enough. With that much information, we've already gotten more than our money's worth."
"You're not going to finish him off?" Mei asked.
"That would be far too merciful."
He would pay with his labor while alive. After death, he would either endure a full course of torture from demons or be used as living bio-energy fuel—squeezed dry to the last drop. Mei seemed to grasp the black mage's future from my words and withdrew without protest. I tossed the surviving black mage back into the rift and looked around.
"I was planning to send the non-combatants to the Water Realm. If any of you want to go, you're welcome to."
No one raised their hand. They were confident in their abilities, it seemed. Taking their reactions as half provocation, I grinned at the few who looked visibly annoyed.
"My mistake. That was rude, considering your resolve. I apologize."
Even outside the North, the will of warriors existed. I offered a sincere apology to the warriors from other regions and opened a rift leading to the Water Realm. After sending the attendants through, I explained a simple operation to the remaining combatants.
"Our top priority is rescuing civilians. Even without us, plenty of people will be tackling the otherworld, so minimizing casualties is key."
"So if we find black mages or what seems to be the center of the otherworld while we're at it, we change the plan?"
"Exactly. Just because rescue is priority one doesn't mean the rest isn't important."
"Simple. I like it."
The Clockwork Knight, who had been quiet until now, nodded with satisfaction. Southern Mysteries often required following certain rules, so he seemed to prefer straightforward processes. Once everyone appeared to understand, I didn't hesitate. I drew a summoning circle in the air and called forth the Ikelos.
The wolf-shaped Ikelos listened to the commands transmitted directly into their minds, instantly disassembling into fragments and moving beneath the warriors' feet. They reformed into wolf shapes once more. In an instant, the Ikelos carried the warriors on their backs and raced across the sky, cutting through the maze.
Thanks to Pathfinder techniques and World Resonance, we navigated smoothly, and the rescue operation proceeded without issue. It seemed the Dark Star side had finally stabilized the otherworld—they had begun releasing monsters into the maze to pick off scattered groups one by one, but they were too late. Those who could gather had already done so, and each group had at least three knight-class fighters attached. The unidentified monsters released into the maze were strong, but not enough to defeat the elites from various nations. Still, they were more than sufficient for slaughtering attendants, so if things had gone according to their plan, there would have been massive casualties.
Suppressing a shudder at the thought of what might have been, I looked at the warriors following me and asked a question. I needed to understand why they were targeting the space beneath the imperial palace if I was going to come up with a countermeasure.
"Does anyone from the imperial family know anything about a space beneath the palace created during the ancient civilization era?"
"I've never heard of such a thing."
"If there was such a space in the palace, word would have spread somehow."
"I've heard rumors of a sealed demon in the basement, but this is the first I've heard of a space from the ancient civilization."
From their reactions, they didn't seem to be lying. The imperial knights wore genuinely puzzled expressions. Did the Empire truly know nothing about the underground space? Given the ancient civilization era and the phenomenon that erased memories, it was entirely possible. To learn the truth, I would have to meet the imperial family directly. As I rescued several groups of people, a thought occurred to me.
Krrrrrrrumble!
Suddenly, the otherworld shook violently, and fine cracks appeared in the floor and walls. The tremors were strong enough to knock someone over if they'd been standing on the ground, but fortunately, we were riding the Ikelos floating through the air, so we were safe.
"What was that?"
"Probably one of those three people causing a spiral-shaped disturbance."
"One of those three?"
"The ones who were having a power struggle with the imperial capital as their domain."
"Ah."
The imperial knight's face lit up with understanding. Only those people could cause this much chaos. Whether they intended to destroy the otherworld and return to the palace or not, large and small tremors continued to echo. Regardless, thanks to the Ikelos, we moved without interference and rescued people.
Beatrice, who had been following beside me, lifted her nose and sniffed.
"I smell something."
"What kind of smell?"
"The familiar scent of black mana."
Neon, then. No matter how good his control over black mana was, he couldn't hide it in a situation like this. Thanks to the Ikelos's speed, we rescued everyone without rest. There would be plenty of others stepping up, so I decided to end the operation and head toward Neon. Since arriving in the North, I'd drawn aggro quite well—there was a chance I'd attracted dangerous enemies.
"This way."
Following the direction Beatrice pointed with her sensitive nose for black mana, we heard explosions in the distance. Along with the blasts came the pained cries of monsters. It seemed someone was in the middle of a fight—the explosions came in rapid succession, so I urged the Ikelos to go faster.
Racing through the sky, we arrived at a scene where Neon was casting magic against dozens of black mages.
"Hahaha! You thought that would be enough to deal with me?"
He dodged the black magic rushing from all sides with ease and counterattacked, taking them down one by one in a relaxed manner. The black mages who had come to attack looked horrified at Neon's leisurely demeanor, as if he found the whole thing genuinely enjoyable.
"How the hell is a mage moving that fast?!"
"Moving casting? He learned that?"
"How do we even catch him?!"
Neon provoked them by giving just enough openings to keep them hooked, and the black mages struggled desperately to catch him. But perhaps because their attention was too focused on Neon, some failed to notice the ice lasers coming from the side and were turned into ice statues. Shinshia, the one who had cast the magic, looked at the black mages with cold eyes.
"Don't forget about me."
"That was a beautiful strike, Shinshia!"
"R-really? Hehe."
Shinshia's expression softened instantly at Neon's praise, but watching their coordinated attacks steadily reduce the number of black mages, it seemed they would win even without our help. The warriors who had followed me seemed to think the same. The lion beastman beside me whispered with an awkward expression.
"Interfering between those two would just kill the mood. Should we just head back?"
"We have to join up eventually, so we might as well do it now."
At the lion beastman's words, I shot the couple a glare. I'd come all this way worried about them, and they were just flirting with each other. When had they gotten this far? Ruin and Runa also wore awkward expressions, as if their sides were aching from watching. Meanwhile, Neon and Shinshia finished off the remaining black mages on their own and began recovering. The surrounding area suddenly darkened, and a suspicious-looking old man appeared across from the two of them.
From the aura he gave off, he seemed to be Gold-class, but with little combat experience—he hadn't noticed us hiding in the distance and was staring at Neon and Shinshia with gloomy eyes. As he began spouting something to set the mood, the Clockwork Knight, who had been silent, pulled out a peculiar pistol from his coat. It resembled the pistols seen in movies or games, with a magical flair added that made it look quite impressive. I hadn't expected to see something like that in this era.
"He looks like the mastermind. Should I shoot?"
"Will it work?"
"It's a pistol with magic-piercing properties. The bullet crafting cost is brutal, so there's only one shot, but the power is guaranteed."
From his confident tone, the power was probably real. But I shook my head and stopped the Clockwork Knight from firing.
"If it's that expensive, we should save it. We'll handle him."
"So it's finally our turn?"
"At that level, the three of us don't even need to step in."
Ruin and Runa stepped forward confidently. I patted their shoulders and pulled the sword-spear from my inventory. A small ripple of light appeared in the air as the weapon manifested. I wrapped it in aura and bent my knees.
"You lot will never—huh?"
The old man finally noticed us, but it was already too late.
BOOM!
The ground shattered beneath us as we leaped. The distance between the old man and us closed in the blink of an eye. Before the shocked old man could react, my attack and Ruin and Runa's strikes pierced through his defensive magic and struck his body.
"Krrghhh!"
The black mage flew like a human skipping stone, bouncing across the ground several times before slamming into the wall. It was a pathetic end for someone who had supposedly reached the level of a grand mage, but in a way, it was only natural. How could a black mage with little real combat experience block attacks from three Masters who had been through countless battles? Besides, with a Central mindset, he probably never imagined three Gold-class fighters would suddenly appear and attack him.
I sent an Ikelos to bind the unconscious black mage and waved casually at Neon with a grin.
"Hey there. Looks like you had some fun while we were gone?"
"Argo?"
"How rude, leaving us out and enjoying yourselves without us!"
"It looked fun, so I joined in too."
"Runa and Ruin?"
When we appeared, the two of them wore flustered expressions, like children caught playing a prank. They just smiled awkwardly, as if they had deliberately kept quiet because they knew this would happen. Runa grinned mischievously and was about to approach Shinshia when—
Krrrrrrrumble!
The ground, which had been shaking intermittently, began trembling violently like an erupting volcano, and the entire maze became filled with cracks. Seeing this, I used the Ikelos to carry Neon and Shinshia and floated into the air.
"Wh-what's happening?"
"It means the Transcendents have started seriously resolving the situation."
They must have found the core of the otherworld after their search. The violently shaking otherworld finally failed to maintain its form and collapsed. As the otherworld crumbled, we returned to the imperial palace where we had originally been.
Instead of a gloomy ceiling, a bright sky greeted us. I wanted to enjoy the cool breeze and relax, but unfortunately, the palace's situation was far from good. Smoke rose from various places, and the sounds of shouting and clashing weapons echoed throughout. Since the goal of the Dark Star—or whatever they called themselves—had been to trap most of the forces in the garden, their plan had succeeded brilliantly. All we could do now was hope the space beneath the palace remained safe until we arrived.
BOOOOOOM!
KieeEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
Hearing the distant explosion and the roars of countless ants, I felt relieved. At least the palace wouldn't fall before we got there.