The False Signal
The Supporters, including Sylvia, had set out to search for the Holy Relic, and for a while, nothing went wrong. The knights, divided into five squads, swept through the tower with practiced ease and began moving upward, while Courtney cast magic to keep the castle from warping any further.
"That's strange."
After walking for quite some time, Owen murmured under his breath. He prodded the corpse of a dead monster and frowned.
"Don't you think only the weak ones are showing up?"
"Well, better than the strong ones turning up."
"Appleton. Any signs yet?"
A Supporter in Sylvia's squad rested a hand on her shoulder and asked. Sylvia only shook her head.
"Nothing yet."
"Still, that's unexpected. This is the first time Appleton hasn't picked up a thing."
"Isn't that really weird?"
One of the Supporters who had only just started going on assignments looked frightened as he spoke. Sylvia did not want to feed such uncertain alarm, but she couldn't deny that something truly was off.
"It is strange. Too clean. I can't see a single magic circle in the tower."
"What do you mean by that?"
At Sylvia's words, Owen planted his sword into the floor and leaned against it at an angle as he asked. But Sylvia had no answer that would satisfy him, so she shook her head.
"I don't know. But towers are usually packed with magic circles. And this place was being maintained by people until just a week ago, so there should have been magic circles here naturally, but there isn't anything. Not outside, not inside."
"……."
At her words, everyone went cold, as if they had caught the scent of something ominous. The brief sound of someone swallowing echoed in the silence, and then, just like that, an alert came through that a signal had been found. With the gemstone on their reddened wrists, everyone let out a breath of relief.
"Well, let's not overthink it. We've got a signal now. We should join up."
Sylvia did not want to say anything unnecessarily grim either, so she clenched her fist over the magic circle on her palm, which still had not picked up a single signal, and hid it away.
The signal had been detected two floors above.
If it was only two floors up, it would have been stranger for Sylvia not to pick it up, but for now she focused on the fact that there were no injured people.
Right. Don't overthink it. Maybe I'm just not feeling well today.
The other squads seemed to have run into only the lowest-grade monsters as well. Looking not the least bit exhausted, they all shook the thick slime off their swords. Some faces even looked relieved. One of the younger knights in Sylvia's squad was even joking that she had scared him by saying she couldn't see any magic circles.
"Miss Appleton said it like this. 'I can't see a single magic circle.' In such a serious voice, too. I really thought my heart had dropped into my boots."
"Aglis, shut your mouth and stop running it."
Owen brought his hand down hard on the young knight's head as he spoke. From the look of it, they were probably close. The knight named Aglis also kept grabbing Owen's shoulder and teasing him in return. With those bright eyes, he seemed to admire Owen.
"Pfft."
Then laughter came from behind them. Sylvia turned around, and Courtney lowered the hand covering his mouth before shrugging his shoulders.
"As far as I know, Posmata don't always see magic circles. And you know what? Apparently, a lot of people suddenly lose that ability one day."
There was something oddly sharp in his tone. The people around them exchanged glances between Sylvia and Courtney at the out-of-place remark, and Courtney only stepped back with that inscrutable smile of his. "Just saying," he seemed to imply.
"Huh? Wait, you don't mean Miss Appleton's ability has gone away or anything, right?"
Only the gullible Aglis took the bait, panicking in place. Courtney rested a gentle hand on Aglis's shoulder and smiled.
"Well, even if it had, wouldn't that be perfectly fine? It's not as if you're a mage, and Supporters can't really make use of a Posmata's ability in the first place."
His words pricked at her nerves one by one. Owen lowered his head and whispered near Sylvia's ear.
"Did you do something wrong?"
He meant what in the world she could have done to invite such obvious malice. Sylvia shoved him irritably.
"I didn't do anything. He did something wrong to me."
"What?"
"He mocked me when I was at my worst."
Sylvia thought Owen might ask if he should get revenge for her. Like when he had stripped Wilden down to his trousers. But Owen only stared at her. He stared so intently it became uncomfortable, and she was the first to look away.
The occasional monster that sprang out at them only briefly halted their steps and posed no real threat. Owen didn't even move his body; he simply swung his sword and wiped them out, and the other knights dealt with everything in no more than three exchanges.
"This really is easy."
Aglis, who had been following behind Owen, muttered that under his breath, then shoved a monster aside and thrust his sword through the squelching slime to stab the core.
"Ah, no more saying it's easy. No more saying anything ominous."
A blue-haired knight who seemed tired of the unease drifting around them said that as he plunged his blade into the monster's neck like a mole. Green blood sprayed from the sword he yanked out irritably.
"Oh, I think this is it?"
Then Aglis shouted. The monster he had kicked was shoved aside, and a door opened. In front of that door, the Supporter standing there had a marker in her palm whose needle was practically vibrating, indicating they were close to the target.
"Dominic!"
The chief knight called out to the knight carrying the vessel for the Holy Relic. Dominic, with the large circular container hanging around his neck, hurriedly pressed himself behind the chief knight.
"You, Yugo, and Lorenz—go with Perry. Owen, watch the perimeter."
Owen nodded. But then the building suddenly lurched hard once. Everyone lost their balance at once and collapsed, grabbing at the wall to steady themselves.
"Cough, cough."
Stone dust rained down in a pale cloud, and many people coughed. Sylvia nearly lost her balance and fell hard, but a hand had already wrapped around her waist and held her upright. When she turned her head, sure enough, it was Owen's face she saw.
"Mage! What's going on here?"
Keeping the building from moving was basic training for any mage ascending the tower. The chief knight, his face twisted in irritation, called loudly for Courtney. But Courtney, standing farther back, was sending mana up toward the sky with an expression of strained effort.
"I don't know. I think we should get inside first! The stairs are about to collapse."
It was a reckless thing to say, but the truth was that nothing could really be guaranteed in an infected tower. The chief knight muttered a curse and clicked his tongue, and on the chief Supporter's signal, Sylvia and the others threw defensive magic over their heads.
"If we recover the Holy Relic, the tower will stop moving. Let's finish this quickly."
Someone shouted that, and indeed, the stairs below them had already begun to crumble, forcing everyone to hurry inside. In the midst of the chaos, Sylvia thought that Courtney's magic felt a little strange.
"Ugh!"
"Watch out!"
The moment they entered, a monster wielding massive thorned vines attacked from the center while clutching its core, and the knights drew their swords. The vines were so huge it was almost as if human bodies were flying through the air.
Owen clicked his tongue and drew his sword, then removed his hand from Sylvia's waist and whispered for her to stay close behind him.
"Watch your footing."
Then her eyes stung. The mana pouring out from the corrupted Holy Relic seemed to turn her insides over. Her head swam, and for an instant everything before her went black.
The Owen in front of her dodged a massive vine that had lunged to within inches of him and drew back. Sylvia, with her head bowed, lost her balance and fell backward.
"Sorry."
Not being able to see properly terrified her. She apologized for becoming a burden, and then a hand suddenly seized hers.
"What's wrong?"
The sound of blades clashing and people shouting for them to dodge rang out around her.
"I can't see."
At her timid confession, Owen gave a short click of his tongue and wrapped his arm around her waist. It seemed he meant to carry her and get them through this. Sylvia pushed at him, telling him not to.
"If I cover myself with mana, I can avoid most of it. You don't need to go that far because of me."
"No matter what, I'm not leaving someone who says they can't see behind. Stay still. And it's not like it's your fault; this is a monster we've never seen before, so everyone will take care of it soon enough."
He took Sylvia's hand and placed it around his neck himself.
"This is safer than having you on my back. Sorry."
Then, like a child, he lifted her into his arms from the front. Sylvia inhaled sharply at being suddenly hoisted up, and his arm locked firmly beneath her hips. Fearing she might fall, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his body.
Lowering her head, she could hear the pounding of his heart from the side of his neck.
"Stay still. If you fall, you'll get hurt."
"I've got a path cleared here!"
Then Aglis shouted. The severed chunks of monster flesh stank horribly. A path just wide enough for one person had opened before Aglis. And at the end of it, the corrupted Holy Relic, pulsing with faint blue light, was lodged in the monster's heart.
"Dominic! Pass the container to Aglis!"
The ornate, elongated cylinder studded with gemstones flew through the air. Aglis leaped and caught it, then reached out and snatched the Holy Relic from the monster's heart. He immediately threw it into the container.
Kieeek!
Along with the monster's scream, a violent vibration sounded from within the container as the Holy Relic trembled. Aglis grinned brightly, already thinking he might receive the Emperor's medal for this.
"That's done it!"
But something was wrong. Instead of losing strength, the monster only raged harder, and several people were flung back into the walls. The ground shook violently, making such a roar that it seemed about to collapse at any moment, and cracks spread along the walls.
"W-What the hell is this?"
"Are you sure you pulled it out?"
"Yes! It definitely was the Holy Relic... It was glowing blue."
"Idiot! Holy Relics don't glow blue!"
Stones began crashing down from above.
"Get out for now! Mage! Help us already!"
The chief knight shouted at Courtney. But then, the container holding the Holy Relic in Aglis's arms was seized by some invisible force and split cleanly through the air, landing in Courtney's grasp.
"What the—"
As if sensing something was terribly wrong, Aglis frowned deeply. Courtney looked calmly at the panicked people, and then, in particular, he looked with clear satisfaction at Sylvia, who couldn't even open her eyes and was clinging to Owen like a fool, and muttered, "Idiot."
Aglis saw the shape of his lips clearly even in the confusion. And in that instant, Aglis realized it. Courtney intended to leave this place alone. He had betrayed them for whatever reason.
Then Courtney reached toward the sky, and at that moment, a massive stone fell and swallowed up their line of sight. And when Aglis finally came to his senses, Courtney was nowhere to be seen.