Arman Abandoned Mine (6)

The chimera Gerald had summoned was a hulking beast over two meters tall, its massive tiger body crowned with three heads.

"Every time I see this disgusting form, it sours my mood... but maybe it'll feel a bit better if I hang your head on it."

Gerald cackled triumphantly, shoving the chimera forward as if victory was already his.

Watching the scene...

"...Hah."

A sigh escaped me.

"Kek! Regretting it now is too late, mage!"

"No, that's not it."

I pointed at the chimera looming behind him and continued.

"Is that all you've got? Just a chimera?"

"If that's bluffing, it won't work on me! Kek!"

"Sigh..."

I'd really thought he was hiding something else.

I glanced at Diren standing behind me.

He was watching the situation with the Book of Rituals open.

"Is it ready now?"

"Yes. Well..."

I continued listlessly.

"No variables left."

No sooner had the words left my mouth than the magic catalyst atop Diren's book shone brilliantly.

As his mana seeped into the Book of Rituals, mana spread outward through the surroundings.

Sensing something amiss, the black mage Gerald hurriedly commanded his chimera to charge at us.

But then—

Rrrumble—!

Something erupted fiercely from beneath Diren's feet.

Composed of thick tree trunks, it lunged at the oncoming chimera, extending tendrils like a dense spiderweb to ensnare it.

The trunks kept growing, eventually forming a massive wooden figure before Diren.

The Mountain Walker, Wuder.

A summon boasting stats comparable to the giant golem soldiers on Labyrinth Dungeon's 7th floor when fully manifested.

Due to the underground tunnel's size, it had been summoned in a slightly scaled-down form.

Crack—

The chimera thrashed against Wuder's bindings, severely damaging the trunks.

It wouldn't hold for long.

But time was on our side anyway.

Whoosh—

"Three."

Even as we tangled with the chimera, Beth steadily decapitated undead after undead.

Three elite-grade NPCs down already.

Beth was an assassin.

And assassins demanded the most psychological warfare in combat.

No matter how much these undead retained their pre-death prowess, their movements were simpler than they had been in life, by their own recollections.

It made them less effective against assassins who thrived on intricate mind games.

Slash—

"Four."

Meanwhile, the fourth undead's head rolled across the floor.

I kept an eye on Gerald's black magic while supporting Beth with Splitting Ray.

That's when one undead lunged at her.

—Groooar!

Executioner Millen.

He swung his massive axe through the air.

With Beth stealthed, he resorted to wide-area swings.

From behind him—

Fwoosh—!

Madman Restoff.

The fire mage who unleashed explosions large enough to engulf everyone nearby.

He set a wide area ablaze, Millen included.

Tzzing—

I seized the opening and hit Restoff's neck with Splitting Ray.

At the same time—

Whoosh—

"Five."

Beth, having dodged every attack with ease, severed Executioner Millen's head.

Five elite undead left now.

—Grraaah—!

The chimera seemed on the verge of breaking free from Wuder's trunks.

But—

Snap—!

Fresh tendrils from Wuder whipped forward like lashes, smashing one of the chimera's three heads completely. Brains oozed out.

"Urgh... uuurgh!"

Gerald groaned as his plans unraveled.

Each swing of his staff spewed plumes of deathly mist into the air.

But flowers bloomed at the tips of Wuder's extending trunks, sucking in the mist.

The blackened flowers withered and dropped, only for new ones to bloom.

"Magic! Use magic!"

Gerald bellowed, and the chimera's remaining two heads began chanting spells.

The other undead started gathering mana for their own magic.

Whoosh—

Tzzing—!

But casting without guards only exposed openings.

"Seven."

Beth's daggers sliced the throats of two undead mid-chant.

I followed with Splitting Ray, decomposing three more undead heads.

Their half-formed spells fizzled into nothing.

"Spit! Kill them!"

A corrupted spear from the chimera flew at me, but—

Rrrumble—!

Wuder's trunks blocked it, snuffing it out harmlessly.

"Kuh... kuuugh!"

With every option sealed, Gerald clawed at his head, letting out a scream laced with groans.

His face, twisted in frustration and rage, was a sight to behold even from afar.

Then—

—Ooooh...

—Uuugh...

—Grraaah...

Undead began pouring in from every tunnel in the mine.

He'd apparently gathered all the regular undead—not elites—to block paths.

Thousands of them, by rough count, surrounded us.

"I'll remember this day! All of you!"

Gerald clutched the skull on his staff, smashing it against the ground.

A red aura exploded from it, spreading outward.

—False Form

The ritual that had previously altered the undead's faces to mimic the living now activated.

Suddenly, every undead around us bore the face of black mage Gerald.

Thousands blending in to escape...

Not on my watch.

I quickly pulled the Altar Ritual Dagger from my inventory and called out to Gerald.

"Running away?"

"Running? I'll hunt you all down someday!"

"Sure. Run away, just like in your past. Fugitive Gerald."

"...What? How do you know my name...?"

Gerald hated his master.

His master, Resdog, had taken four black mages as disciples, including Gerald.

But Resdog's goal was a four-headed black mage chimera.

He poisoned their food to subdue them and harvest their heads one by one.

Discovered early, battle ensued.

Three disciples lost ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their heads and became the chimera.

Gerald was the survivor.

That's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠why he carried his master's chimera—he hated him for it.

The heads on that chimera were his old comrades.

But one fact Gerald didn't know yet...

"Your master, Resdog, is still alive."

"...What?"

Resdog lived on.

Gerald would only discover it later, when he dissected a chimera and sensed his master's mana inside.

The chimera's intact state meant Gerald hadn't claimed a single necromancer head yet.

His black mage hunt began the day he killed his master.

I'd considered every possible variable, but no changes stood out.

"When you returned to Resdog's workshop after gaining power, was that corpse really his?"

As I finished, doubt flickered in Gerald's eyes.

I didn't miss the opening.

I'd never shown it before—Blink+ took me behind Gerald in an instant.

Stunned by the sudden shift, Gerald lost sight of me amid his confusion.

I slashed with the Altar Ritual Dagger, drawing a shallow cut on his arm to claim a bit of his blood.

He turned part of his body to smoke and retreated, but—

"Too late."

The False Form ritual required a small amount of the target's blood to shape appearances.

Gerald had used it to mask all the undead as himself.

Thus—

A ritual only needed a trace of blood to release.

Ritual mages had to guard against fulfilling release conditions.

But... too late now.

I stood before the altar embedded in the tunnel floor, its tip protruding.

Touching the bloodied Altar Ritual Dagger to it—

The undead faces mimicking Gerald melted away in unison.

"Ah... aaaah!"

Gerald let out a beastly howl.

Unable to endure any longer—

Bang—!

His body exploded into black smoke, shattering into five fragments that scattered.

Gerald's black magic: Fragmentation.

Divide the body into pieces; as long as one survived, he could regenerate power and revive someday.

His final resort when combat became impossible.

In that state, he couldn't use most black magic.

Thus—

"That's what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was waiting for."

The most annoying black magic—spell reflection, Mirror—was now off the table.

I shouted for Beth to fall back and raised my staff.

Then—

Crackle—!

The rising current orbs struck the undead before me.

Charred black, the lightning spiderwebbed outward in an instant—

ZZZAP—!!

It incinerated all 1,416 surrounding undead, then engulfed the chimera.

—Kieeeek!

—Kiiik!

Screams erupted from the chimera's two human heads before the whole beast burned to ash.

"...Impressive power."

Diren closed the Book of Rituals, and his summoned Wuder dissolved into motes of light.

Gazing toward the tunnel Gerald had fled through, he continued.

"So, no need to pursue?"

"It's fine."

Shattered into five for escape, Gerald's fragments held almost no mana for combat.

Even an apprentice knight could handle them.

With all paths blocked, no worries there.

For now, though—

"Let's go."

We followed the path Knight Captain Wilen had taken.

The traces of his battle with Roxfel stretched to the tunnel's end.

"Kha! You finally made it?"

At the deepest part, Wilen lay on the ground, blood pouring from him, clutching Roxfel's severed head.

Fortunately, Wilen had won.

"I'll rest a bit and head out!"

With that, Knight Captain Wilen rolled back his eyes and passed out.

"......"

His wounds were deep, but a knight of Wilen's caliber wouldn't die from blood loss as long as he drew breath.

Even dismembered, regeneration outpaced the HP drain.

"I'll head out first."

Diren said he'd pursue the fleeing black mage and exited the tunnel.

Beth and I finished checking the underground passages before ascending to the first floor.

"Shall we split up?"

"Yeah."

Arman Abandoned Mine was a massive three-level structure: second floor, first floor, and underground.

For efficiency, Beth would search from the top down, while I went bottom-up, meeting in the middle.

As we parted—

Clatter—

Rocks tumbled from the wall.

Looking over, we saw a man in armor.

Radiant Revolutionaries Commander Rodri.

The revolutionaries' leader who originally occupied this place—the mine's true boss.

His eyes met ours from where he'd hidden among the rocks.

"......"

"......"

Beth's form blurred instantly as she dashed at Rodri.

Her dagger arced for his throat—

"W-Wait!"

Rodri raised both hands in surrender, shouting loudly.

"I'll do anything! Just spare me!"

"......"

Hm.

Anything, huh... but I didn't really need anything.

"What do you want to know? I'll tell you everything! The 2nd Prince's book? The kingdom's politics? Anything!"

The 2nd Prince's book?