Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Dungeon (5)
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Agnes's Icicle Field had yet to regain its full size.
It wasn't even enough to fill this small plaza completely.
Still, when she could properly unleash Icicle Field...
She'd be able to erect her own ice palace on any battlefield and reign supreme.
"Good work."
I approached her as she panted for breath and fed her one of the elixirs from my pocket.
She shook her head in refusal, but she lacked the strength to resist, so I forced it down her throat.
"Puha!"
A little while after consuming the elixir, she finally caught her breath properly.
The ice spreading around us was melting away bit by bit.
The elixir I'd given her was one of the five I carried just in case—good for ten days' worth anyway.
With 200 days' worth stockpiled here, wasting one like this was no big deal.
"Can you walk?"
"Yes..."
She answered with difficulty, but she seemed able to move.
She cautiously approached the sword embedded in the ground.
Saah...
The sword that hadn't frozen even amid the ice palace's deployment, emanating its own chill.
She stared at it intently, then...
Kwak.
Gripped the hilt and pulled it free.
As expected, it came out smoothly without any resistance.
She checked the blade once, then gripped it firmly.
Lenoc's sword seemed to approve of Agnes.
If I'd tried to pick it up, it probably would've frozen my arm solid.
With that thought, I slung her arm over my shoulder to support her as we advanced.
"You don't need to support me."
"Your legs are still shaking. Just stay still."
"..."
Why was she acting on such pointless pride?
I clicked my tongue inwardly and checked ahead.
Among all the doors we'd encountered in the dungeon so far, this was the smallest.
Opening this one meant it was the last.
Agnes stared blankly at the door before speaking.
"Whose soul did Lenoc embed in that Skeleton Warrior? Magic swordsmen weren't exactly common in his era."
A good question.
The answer lay beyond that door.
I didn't bother replying and simply opened it.
With a creak, a small chamber came into view.
An elixir radiating chill. A book utterly undamaged despite the passage of ages.
And in between them, a woman seated in midair.
The woman spoke.
"Congratulations on making it this far."
"...Who are you?"
"Are you asking because you don't know? Or pretending not to?"
I knew, of course.
Agnes probably did too but was naturally playing dumb and asking anyway.
"Whatever. My name is Lenoc. The first to shatter the boundary between magic and sword."
The magic swordsman Lenoc spread her arms wide.
Just like in the novel's description.
"How are you still alive? Weren't you from centuries ago?"
Agnes's eyes widened in surprise, even though she'd suspected as much.
"Hmm, has it been centuries? With help from the great archmage Iliad, I established this dungeon and waited for my successor. What you see here is merely a fragment of my soul."
So they were acquaintances after all.
Explains why it was built in the forest near Iliad Academy.
"This dungeon only reveals itself to those with the aptitude to inherit my sword and magic. Or to those who've read my will."
Agnes turned to look at me at Lenoc's following words.
Her expression asked how I'd found this place.
Spilling even the unnecessary details.
I kept supporting Agnes as I stepped forward.
"According to your will, you were certain no one could surpass your talent. Is that right?"
"Correct. I thought so, and Iliad agreed. No one in the current era could recreate a magic swordsman. That's what we believed."
Well, yeah. Being a magic swordsman is pretty demanding.
"So you built this dungeon and waited centuries. To meet you two."
Lenoc abruptly stood in midair.
Two? There must be some misunderstanding. I had no intention of becoming a magic swordsman.
Agnes, who'd been listening quietly, finally spoke.
"Then all the trials we passed through..."
"Were the bare minimum tests."
Lenoc reached out toward the elixir.
Her spiritual body passed right through it without touching.
"Swordsmanship, ability, character of those with talent. Kid, you think I created the Skeleton Warrior by embedding someone else's soul?"
"If not, what was that Skeleton Warrior?"
"Me."
Lenoc boldly pointed at herself.
Even I'd been dumbfounded when I read that line in the novel.
How must Agnes feel?
"You!?"
"Need me to say it again? The Skeleton Warrior outside was a fragment of my soul."
Lenoc said it nonchalantly, but it was anything but nonchalant.
It meant she'd split her own soul and sealed a piece inside a skull.
"Is that even possible?"
"It must be, since the Skeleton Warrior was there. It just worked when I tried."
A swordsman and a mage.
The result of Lenoc and Iliad combining their overwhelming powers.
"So, what's the theme of this room?"
I asked on behalf of the stupefied Agnes.
I just wanted to get out of here quickly.
That elixir up there looked too tempting.
"What, you even figured out the theme?"
"Wouldn't it be weirder not to?"
Even without the novel's hints, anyone could piece it together.
The knight emphasized 'sparring,' and the skeleton taught 'real combat.'
So what was this room's theme?
Lenoc scratched her head before answering.
"Reward. Given to those who've endured sparring and real combat. And that girl even got my sword as a bonus."
The sword in Agnes's hand.
Lenoc's weapon of choice in life, perfectly suited to cold energy.
"It has a name, but a new owner needs a new name. What'll it be?"
Agnes pondered Lenoc's question for a moment before replying.
"Absolute Shadow. I'll call it Absolute Shadow."
Lenoc burst into laughter at Agnes's naming and waved her hand dismissively.
Meaning, get out.
I carefully gathered the elixir and the book.
The book held Lenoc's knowledge essential for a magic swordsman, so I'd give it to Agnes later.
The elixir could wait until after we left.
Or so I thought.
As Agnes exited first and I moved to follow...
Lenoc approached and whispered in my ear.
"Weak bond between body and soul. I don't know how you ended up in that body, but the thing trapped here is coming for you. Best prepare."
"What are you talking about?"
"What else? You're possessed."
Pretending ignorance didn't work.
Lenoc knew I wasn't the original owner of this body.
"With that body's infinite potential and Arxius's mana, you might even kill it. But my successor will die in the process. And you don't want that."
Not a magic swordsman—a witch.
How much did she see through?
"What do you want me to do?"
"Don't eat the elixir. Give it to my successor. Then both you and that girl live."
"You know my condition and still say that?"
"You're not confident you'll die anyway, right? A terminally ill guy this desperate is a rare sight. And you knew the will's contents without reading it."
I swallowed hard.
If she knew Agnes hadn't read the will, she knew most of it.
But handing over this elixir to Agnes?
I hesitated slightly, but I could always recover it later.
I nodded cautiously.
Lenoc pulled back with a satisfied expression.
Then she asked.
"If you have time, check my real will. Tear off the last page."
"Advice? Or a request?"
"Hmm... call it advice to a junior."
Junior?
I widened my eyes and stared at Lenoc.
But she just pressed her index finger to her lips in a shh gesture.
And with that, I left Lenoc's chamber.
"Here."
"Why give this to me?"
I handed her the elixir right away.
Eternal Ice Crystal.
A full year's worth.
If I took it, it'd stack to a year and 210 days.
But I gave it to Agnes.
"And prepare for battle. From here on, it's real combat."
The thing trapped in this dungeon.
I didn't know exactly who or what. It never appeared in the novel.
Only that Iliad and Lenoc had gone to the trouble of sealing it here.
And that it now had its eyes on me.
Agnes gripped Absolute Shadow tightly at my warning.
I drew my own sword and downed all my spare elixirs.
Confirming my lifespan extended to 250 days, I pressed forward.
The atmosphere grew increasingly eerie the closer we got to the exit.
That mood peaked as we reached the arena.
"Insane."
What the hell was this aura?
It had to be crazy. My flesh was crawling.
The dungeon flickered dimly, as if on the verge of plunging into darkness.
The statues had halted their movements, emitting faint light.
And beyond them, in the passage where we'd first entered, loomed a certain monster.
Sasasak.
A massive body slithering across the floor, flicking its tongue.
A serpent that had trained for a millennium yet failed to become a dragon.
And now, twisted into an evil existence.
Ink Scale Blood Serpent.
Shaaaa!
That colossal beast...
Blocked our path.
"You crazy bastard, Lenoc!"
I uttered the name of someone long dead.
Anyone overhearing might accuse me of cursing the deceased, but only Agnes was beside me now.
And fuck it, so what if I cursed a bit.
Kwang!
The wall shattered.
Its red eyes and slit pupils fixed on me.
With its thrashing, the stone wall crumbled completely, forming a vast plaza.
Perfect for the beast to maneuver.
This should've collapsed the cave, yet it showed no signs of giving way.
'Lenoc must've cast some spell.'
Not the time to think about that.
How the hell do I take down that damned snake bastard?
"Agnes!"
"Yes!"
As the Ink Scale Blood Serpent's body shifted, I shouted over the noise.
Agnes turned at my voice.
"That simultaneous deployment you showed earlier. Can you bind that thing with it?"
"Yes. But five seconds is the limit at best."
"How are you so sure?"
"A hunch."
I nodded at Agnes's serious expression.
A hunch. Never thought I'd hear such a half-assed answer from her.
If it were anyone else, I'd have kicked them for that.
But from Agnes, the beautiful genius...
Her hunch was practically precognition.
I drew my sword and took deep breaths.
"Casting time?"
"Three minutes. That's plenty."
"Okay."
Now, my job boiled down to two things.
Buy time for Agnes to bind it with simultaneous deployment, then sever the bound serpent's head.
That was it.