Eldacrad's Mausoleum (2)
The mausoleum had somehow turned into a dungeon. The statues, now corrupted into monsters, were swarming toward us.
“Who would’ve thought the statues would be the first to move?”
“Let’s dodge for now!”
The statues swung their swords. Swoooosh!
I fired mana bullets to repel their attacks. Bang! Bang-bang-bang-bang!
“Can we break them?”
The mana bullets pouring from my hand struck the knight statues down. Crunch! They shattered on impact. The statues were weaker than expected. Which meant they hadn’t been created as anti-tomb-raiding measures from the start. They were simply being forced to move by demonic energy.
“Goddamn it. Why the hell did we even come in here?”
There hadn’t been any urgent reason to rush. I should have brought Seria and Kise along. Even though this was the Ashtar family mausoleum, and we’d recently taken down Pector nearby, I’d apparently grown complacent—thinking nothing would happen in this area.
“Are you all right, Lady Olivia?”
“Let’s head back up to the first floor. This is getting dangerous.”
If we left now, we could still retreat without it being too humiliating. Staying any longer would be risky.
“Uh, but going back looks difficult too?”
Kiriel pointed at a door engraved with a purple magic circle.
“What the hell is that? A barrier?”
Of all things, the door leading back to the first floor was sealed with a barrier. Had a black magic spell been embedded into it? We were screwed.
“It’s even a triple barrier. Just injecting Ashtar mana probably won’t be enough.”
No, it wasn’t impossible. Since it was originally the family’s mana authentication system, all it required was pouring in the corresponding amount of mana—enough to break through the barrier.
But.
When I tried feeding it a small amount, it was clear an ordinary quantity wouldn’t cut it. And the statues weren’t going to sit idle while we worked.
“This is fucking annoying.”
Just how many knight statues had they crammed into this mausoleum? No—there was an even bigger problem.
“If it’s black magic, that means someone is down here, right?”
“Yeah. That’s exactly it.”
A black magician operating at a time like this. Who could it be? Maybe one of Clanice’s subordinates. Why were they targeting Ashtar? Were they after Eldacrad’s body?
“In the end, it looks like we’ll have to go all the way down to the third floor. Your grandfather seems to be carrying quite a grudge.”
Kiriel’s voice sounded drained.
Yeah. That’s what we’d have to do. But it pissed me off.
“This is such a hassle, I’m gonna die.”
We were truly screwed.
Underground Third Floor of the Mausoleum
Eldacrad’s Mausoleum was a massive tomb that housed the remains of Eldacrad, the hero who had led the Ashtar family’s golden age. The people of Ashtar revered it as sacred. It was a hero’s resting place, after all.
Yet the third floor of that once-holy mausoleum was now steeped in malice. The air was so thick with demonic energy that it wouldn’t have been strange for an army of the dead to rise at any moment.
A woman in a nun’s habit leaned her face against a white coffin located at the deepest part of the hero’s burial chamber on the third floor. She whispered lovingly to it.
“My lord. My beloved lord.”
The dead within the coffin could not answer her whisper. Still, she continued.
“It seems someone has dared to intrude upon your mausoleum simply because they share your blood. What should we do about them?”
She had known the moment Olivia entered the Ashtar Mausoleum. So she could not simply send her away. Going out to kill her personally would be troublesome, but killing an Ashtar who came to the mausoleum was easy enough. That was why she had cast the barrier—triple-layered—so they could never leave.
“Even though you betrayed me, I am still protecting you. I no longer love you as much as I once did, but I still try to protect you. So why… why are there so many people getting in the way?”
The dead still offered no reply.
“Do you still think I was the one at fault?”
“No. You were the one who was wrong.”
“That’s right. So now you must listen to me. Cut down those pathetic descendants who interfere with us. Slice apart the worms disturbing their ancestor’s sleep with your own hands.”
The woman chanted an indecipherable spell. Then an abnormality appeared in the white coffin.
Grrrrrrrk.
The hero of old, clad in silver armor, rose from his long slumber. A crimson sword bloomed in his right hand.
“Cut down the enemies who disturb our time.”
The dead man awakened by the woman began walking toward the second floor. To slay his own descendant.
Bang!Bang-bang!Baaang!
Mana bullets spread through the air around me and shattered the statues. There were far more than I’d anticipated. Seeing them swarm endlessly, there had to be more here than the number originally installed. As expected, someone was behind this. They would know only those of Ashtar blood could enter, so they were trying to stop me from reaching Eldacrad’s burial chamber.
Who the hell was it? Were they really after Eldacrad like I suspected? A black magician might attempt to resurrect his body. Necromancers loved that sort of thing.
“Wow, Lady Olivia. You’re quite skilled. But do you only use mana bullets?”
“It’s difficult to use my right arm, so I don’t have much choice.”
Kiriel. This woman fought surprisingly well herself.
“By the way, just how many of these statues are there?”
“Who knows. Probably quite a lot. They might all be coming from the third floor.”
It was almost certain. The sound of the knight statues moving carried the feeling of motion from below. The occasional rumble of the floor confirmed it.
“What should we do? There are too many.”
“Let’s fall back a little. The rear is shaped like a bottle neck, so no matter how many there are, it won’t matter.”
If I poured mana bullets from behind, I could pierce straight through and take out several at once. There had to be a limit to the number of knights too.
“Aha, so we’re only shooting the ones coming from the back with mana bullets?”
“Exactly.”
That was the answer. The only escape route was blocked by a black magic barrier. It was a deliberate scheme to trap us. Since running was no longer an option, I intended to fight to the end. It would be easier for us to eliminate the enemies.
“You seem like quite the skilled fighter. Are you all right?”
“I’ll just do what I can for now. Whatever.”
Bang!Bang-bang-bang!
The knights charging in a line were skewered by the mana bullets. Since they weren’t attacking from all directions but running down the corridor, two or three went down with each shot.
Kiriel’s magic was attribute-based—water attribute. In response to her mana, the spellbook at her waist flipped open and a massive volume of water swallowed the knights.
Gurgle-gurgle.
In other words, when I destroyed them with mana bullets, Kiriel’s water swept the remains away. It was a method that minimized the mana both of us consumed.
“This is actually manageable?”
“Yeah.”
“I had no idea you were so proficient with mana bullets, my lady.”
“Using mana bullets isn’t that difficult, is it?”
“The bullets themselves aren’t hard. It’s the power output and control that are the problem. Yet you precisely destroyed the cores and took out three knight statues at once. That level of power isn’t normally possible.”
“You’re the same, Lady Kiriel.”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
This time a massive shield appeared. A large rectangular shield emblazoned with the Ashtar family crest blocked the water.
“What, are the next ones shield-bearers?”
“They look like holy knights. Weren’t the mausoleum statues said to be Eldacrad’s subordinates from when they were alive?”
Spears were visible behind the shields. Meaning each shield-bearer held that enormous shield in one hand and a spear in the other. Having soldiers like that at the front must have been incredibly reassuring.
“Yes. There was definitely a stele like that outside the mausoleum.”
They were only statues, so different from real knights. But the pressure they gave off was immense.
“Impressive. If they led forces like that while alive, it’s no wonder they ushered in Ashtar’s golden age.”
This wasn’t the time to be impressed.
“This isn’t the time for admiration. They’re using magic.”
It really wasn’t. The knights had infused their shields with mana. Of course, that mana was tainted with demonic energy. Without a doubt, this was the work of a black magician. Whether that black magician was a man or a woman, I would tear them apart.
I gathered the mana bullets into a single mass.
“But the sound of the water seems to have decreased?”
“That shield is blocking everything. It’s pointless.”
If the shield moved, Eldacrad would have risen as well. In that case, I couldn’t waste power here. Better to deal with the shield knights as efficiently as possible.
“Let’s switch to destruction. I’ll strip their shields.”
I hurled the mana mass into the corridor.
Boom!
When the mana mass exploded violently between the shield knights, the formation staggered. Kiriel seized the moment and hurled flame bullets to finish them off.
Crash! Boom!
After destroying several waves, the shield knights were gone.
“Is this enough?”
“Not yet. Conserve your mana as much as possible for now.”
We still had to face Eldacrad.
“Is something else coming?”
“Would the black magician who’s taken over this mausoleum have revived only those knights?”
Absolutely not.
“Ah.”
“Grandfather will be there too.”
Could we face Eldacrad, who wielded sword magic? It would be lucky if my body didn’t get sliced in half. And besides Eldacrad, we’d have to fight the black magician’s main body.
“Um, by the way, my lady.”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you happen to know someone named Noah?”
Why was she suddenly asking about me?
“You mean the former mage of the hero party?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you asking about him all of a sudden?”
Did she know something about me? Was it because of sword magic? There was no benefit in talking about Noah unnecessarily.
“If you don’t know, never mind.”
Thud. Thud.
An even heavier sound echoed. All the knight statues had vanished. It felt like the calm before a storm.
“This feels ominous. Like something big is about to pop out.”
“Yeah. Looks like one huge thing is coming.”
A giant shadow appeared at the far end of the corridor.
“Does teleportation not work here?”
“I’ve already tried. It doesn’t.”
In the end, we had no choice but to fight that massive shadow.
“Here it comes.”
“If it’s a figure wearing silver armor, there’s only one possibility. Eldacrad.”
He looked exactly like the person in the portrait left behind by the first generation. A man in silver armor. Using black sword magic, he had mercilessly cut down the Demon King’s army. Despite being the child of a concubine, he possessed a charisma that made the Ashtar family’s vassals follow him. The only lord—not a hero or high-ranking adventurer—who had raised a mighty army.
“Wow, he really is using sword magic.”
“And it’s incredibly red.”
While each person’s mana had a unique color and sword magic revealed that color, this was no ordinary spell. This sword magic was created from a black magician’s demonic energy. That was why it glowed red.
Black magic that raised corpses had great difficulty replicating the techniques the deceased had used in life. To interfere with sword magic, which purely manipulated mana… the black magician’s skill must have reached an extraordinary level.
Neither Eldacrad nor the black magician seemed ordinary. It looked like I might have to sacrifice an arm in this fight.