Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: The Black Mage's Ritual
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13
5
Of course, the alley was narrow.
Especially since it was a back alley that wasn't properly maintained.
In a narrow passage barely wide enough for one or two people to walk side by side, it was hard to leverage numerical superiority.
That decided the outcome.
There were over a dozen thugs charging straight at him, but Ethan didn't budge from his spot.
He simply stood there, driving his fists into the oncoming thugs.
The way he precisely struck their stomachs or lower jaws was downright refreshing.
Ethan's back, having already knocked out three of them, looked just like the combat machine I remembered.
"Hoo..."
Ethan regulated his breathing.
He didn't look tired, so it was probably just an unconscious habit.
What about me? As you can see, I'm cheering alongside Choco.
"Fight on, fight!"
At the sound of my voice, Choco on my shoulder raised both hands high.
Fight on, raccoon... no, raccoon it is.
Cheering is damage too, anyway.
With Choco and me cheering, that's two people's worth.
-Tsk tsk, you really can't do anything without this body stepping in.
Deathwise grumbled again.
As if he could do anything without me.
...Insolent fool...!
His bristling reaction confirmed it was fact.
"The passage is narrow anyway, so even if I tried to help, I'd just get in the way."
So, it's not that I can't help even if I want to.
It's definitely not because it's a hassle...
"And protagonists don't usually deal with small fry anyway."
As I replied casually, someone growled from behind.
"You say that so we can hear?"
"Bro, that guy's smirking."
It was two of the small fry who had been surrounding us.
Maybe because I hit the nail on the head, they raised their daggers and knives and charged at me.
"...You're making this annoying because of you."
-It's your karma, karma. Just shut up and fight.
If I didn't fight, I'd be the one hurting.
Since I hated that, I drew Deathwise still in its sheath.
The sun was still high in the sky.
I couldn't unleash the demon sword's power.
No buffs came either, but the small fry's movements were monotonously simple.
Not even up to Louis's toes.
Thanks to that, dodging their attacks wasn't hard.
Thwack!
There's a strange resistance to hitting people, but this was self-defense, no question.
So, without hesitation, I slammed Deathwise into the solar plexuses of the two small fry.
The small fry, hit in vital spots, collapsed pathetically simple.
"Hoo!"
Right on cue, Ethan wiped the sweat from his forehead after taking down all the dozen-plus thugs.
Not a scratch on him meant he'd finished them before they could land a hit.
-Even as small fry, they were pretty tough.
I could understand Deathwise's admiration.
Ethan wasn't the dedicated tank for Leon's party for nothing.
Recalling that he was a damage tank, not a pure tank, this was actually par for the course.
-Hmm, damage tank this, damage tank that—you say the strangest things sometimes.
They exist, that's all.
Anyway, Ethan's tough.
And considering he hadn't even used his main weapon, his shield, he wasn't going all out.
"Urk..."
One of the thugs who'd been talking big to Ethan twitched on the ground.
From how he'd commanded the others earlier, he was clearly the leader.
"Don't get up. We're handing you over to the knights."
"Hah... You'll regret this..."
"Why would I?"
Ethan cut him off coldly.
But the leader let out a mocking sneer.
"Hey, Felt... You'd better beg them to let me go right now... No, you'll be begging... Since we've taken your precious little brother hostage...!"
At those words, Felt flinched.
His eyes widened in disbelief, but he could only look around anxiously, helpless.
"...Where'd you hide the kid?"
"You think I'll tell you...?"
No point listening anymore.
He wouldn't talk even under interrogation.
Judging that, Ethan knocked out the leader with a punch and knelt before Felt again.
"Don't worry. We're already involved, and ignoring a kid in trouble goes against knightly honor. We'll definitely save your brother."
It was such a noble, Ethan-like thing to say.
If you ignored the subtle switch from "I" to "we."
6
Just as Ethan said, since we were already involved, there was no way for me to back out alone.
I didn't want to force my way out and sour the mood, so I followed Felt deeper into the back alleys.
"That's their hideout?"
Felt nodded at Ethan's question.
The place we arrived at was a cocktail bar with a crooked, shabby sign.
"To think it was the Corbus Family."
"Corbus?"
"They're a group with some notoriety in Esett's back alleys."
More precisely, an affiliate of Viper, the largest illegal organization in Esett.
Because of that, they handled all the dirty work in the back alleys.
In reality, it was mostly just robbing items and money, but there were in-game rumors they dabbled in human trafficking too.
"You know them well."
"Well... They're kinda famous."
I brushed off Ethan's question vaguely.
Anyway, who would've thought I'd run into the Corbus Family like this.
I'd raided that cocktail bar once before, so it brought back memories.
"...There's an entrance to the basement inside the cocktail bar. No other way in besides the front door."
Felt spoke curtly in a voice cracked like drought-stricken earth.
Hm. Ethan pondered briefly, cracked his knuckles, and headed straight for the front door.
"Let's go then."
"Wait. There's a hostage, and you're storming the front door?"
I grabbed Ethan's shoulder first.
Ethan nodded with a puzzled look.
"No other way, right? Only one door."
"No... Just come here."
I dragged Ethan by the shoulder to a nearby manhole.
Using Deathwise as a lever to pry it open had him grumbling nonstop.
Ignoring it all, I descended into the manhole.
"Where are we?"
"Secret passage."
Ethan, following behind, looked around the sewer and asked.
The stench made breathing hard, so I answered curtly and stopped in front of a nearby water pipe.
"Break above. As quietly as possible."
Ethan shrugged and silently tapped above his head with his shield.
Even the light taps dislodged bricks from the ceiling.
Faint light shimmered above.
"No way... It connects under the cocktail bar...?"
Sharp kid, Felt.
Of course, I don't hate sharp kids.
I knew this route because I'd raided the Corbus Family once before.
Knowing a frontal assault meant trouble, I'd found a detour somehow.
This is where the devs' craftsmanship shines.
Riding the water pipe through the hole Ethan made, we climbed into the cocktail bar.
It connected to the sink in the bathroom.
I checked inside the bathroom first, then cracked the door to peek out.
Faint voices drifted in.
Three guys at a table near the bathroom, engrossed in poker.
I quietly closed the door and asked Ethan.
"Three ahead, playing poker. Take them out quietly. You can do it, right?"
He nodded without a hint of hesitation.
I carefully opened the door, and Ethan slipped out silently.
No other sounds followed.
A moment later, Ethan whispered through the crack that it was done.
Sure enough, the poker players were all face-down on the table, unconscious.
Their napes and jaws were swollen— one-hit KOs.
Never fight Ethan during the day, no matter what.
Praying sincerely, I began searching the cocktail bar.
7
"That's the last room?"
Ethan dusted off his hands after clearing the final room.
He didn't seem to have used much stamina taking down all the Corbus Family in the bar.
I cheered with Choco again this time, but since it was his brother involved, Felt helped with various tasks too.
Distracting enemies with his quick feet, disarming alarm devices scattered around...
Despite looking barely ten, his skills were impressive—he must've gone through hell to survive.
Pushing aside sentiment, I nodded to Ethan.
There were six rooms in the cocktail bar total.
We'd checked them all, but Felt's brother wasn't in any.
"One place left unchecked."
"Where?"
"The warehouse."
The warehouse at the very back of the cocktail bar.
Plenty of space there to hide a few kids.
We exchanged glances and headed to the warehouse.
Having taken out the visible Corbus Family along the way, nothing blocked our path.
Ethan cautiously opened the warehouse door.
The space beyond wasn't a warehouse.
Candles flickered from pillars regularly placed in a wide stone chamber.
Even with candles burning everywhere, an eerie gloom hung in the air.
Between the pillars stood an altar.
And atop the altar was a blond boy, bound.
"Louis...!"
Felt tried to rush forward.
But Ethan grabbed his arm and pulled him back first.
At the same time, a black orb collided with the kite shield Ethan thrust forward.
"Urk..."
Ethan couldn't withstand the black magic's impact and dropped to one knee.
"I'd hoped to finish you all at once, but what a pity."
The aged voice came from the altar's depths.
Reflexively glaring toward it, a grotesque old man in a pitch-black robe shuffled out.
"You're... who...!"
Ethan groaned the question.
As if he'd been waiting, the old man tapped the ground with his wooden staff.
"My name is Anirza of the Dark Valley, black mage carrying out the organization's plans under the Great Will."
I'd never heard the name Anirza.
But black mage, organization, Great Being—I could guess his identity.
In Broken World, all black mages belonged to one organization.
Up to here it was just suspicion, but this altar matched their style too.
The Precursors.
The black hand behind Broken World, root of all evil, as they called themselves.
They didn't truly emerge until much later.
Even called a black hand, they had no real ties to the Dark Guild episode or Karmut Federation episode—basically an omnibus setup.
But everything here reeked of the Precursors.
Were they already active?
No way to know for sure.
More importantly, right now it wasn't some unknown truth—it was saving Felt's brother, Louis, right in front of us.
Above all, this grotesque black mage Anirza didn't seem like he'd let us go quietly.
"I wondered who dared interfere with the great prelude to meeting the world's true masters, and it's mere whelps. But no matter. I'll use you as sacrifices too."
No one asked, but Anirza blabbed on about his plan anyway.
All the villains in this world are obsessed with exposition.
"Not happening."
Ethan, coldly sharpening again, drew his sword alongside his kite shield.
His battle-ready form was cool, but against a black mage, Ethan alone couldn't win.
Without night for the demon sword's power, I couldn't help much either.
Still, I drew Deathwise and stood beside Ethan.
"You... that sword... no way...!?"
Anirza's reaction was completely unexpected.
He gawked at Deathwise, then aimed his staff at me in horror.
"So you're no mere whelp...!"
What're you talking about.
I'm more shocked you recognized Deathwise.
"Can't underestimate you... No time to hold back..."
Anirza muttered to himself and pulled a scroll from his robes, beginning to chant.
Ethan seemed about to charge, but froze in place reflexively.
The mana swirling from the altar was unnaturally intense.
Anirza's incantation... Runes formed as mana exploded into shape.
What emerged was the upper body of a massive skull.
So enormous it pierced the ceiling to the surface, Anirza bellowed laughter with the skull looming behind him.
"Behold! This is the power of the Great One!"
"Grk, get the kids out! I'll buy time somehow!"
No chance of winning.
Judging that, Ethan yelled at me.
"No need to run."
But I didn't budge.
I simply sheathed Deathwise to the side and unfolded the paper I'd kept in my pocket.
'Construct, phase interference, mana control, reverse calculation, structure dominance...'
What slipped from my lips was rune language.
I'd finished translating it with Edmund right away.
I knew its effect, so I'd kept it just in case.
Never thought I'd use it like this, but good thing I had it now.
'Dominance complete, process projection, inversion ritual commence.'
The chant ended.
As if unwilling to wait, Anirza's giant skull reached out.
A sensation of something leaving my body hit at the same time as a brilliant light burst from the rune-inscribed paper, engulfing everything around us.