The Third Abyss Cleared
Of the ten Abysses created by the Northern God, only one held the true body.
Of course, from the outside there was no way to tell which one. And so the Ancient Undead of each Legion had scattered with their units, each descending into a different Abyss in search of it.
And then—
[Hmm.]
Erzebet was in a tight spot.
[This one is rather troublesome.]
The undead that roamed this Abyss in the greatest numbers recalled mutated Drakes — dinosaur-like things whose corpses, though long dead, still carried a hardened exoskeleton. The fangs of her corpse spiders were struggling to pierce it.
Krarakararak!
Whether they knew they had cornered their prey or not, the creatures thrust their long necks forward, flicking their tongues, and closed in around Erzebet. But though they had surrounded her, they hesitated to move recklessly.
Shhk—
Because nearly invisible spiderwebs were already spread in a dense lattice all around her. The standoff only stretched longer and longer.
She flicked the webs at her fingertips, lost in thought.
'I don't have time to be stuck down here.'
To put it simply, this place was a dud. Erzebet had descended all the way to the bottom of the Abyss and searched every corner, but nowhere was there any sign of the Northern God.
And the moment she turned to climb back out, the undead came pouring down from above as if they'd been waiting for exactly that.
Fighting your way up was, naturally, far harder than fighting your way down.
[I've always thought it — the Northern God fights so cleverly.]
She crossed her arms and drew up her jet-black energy.
[Here, I shall simply force my way through—]
"Erze!"
Erzebet's brow lifted.
Even amid the din of an enemy encirclement, this voice rang in her ears as if hammered into them. She raised her head — and there he was, the blue-haired boy she so adored, falling down into the Abyss.
[L-Lord Commander?]
The undead that had surrounded her naturally turned their heads toward Simon. Sensing a slightly easier target, they began to shift into attacking stance against him.
'Where are Pier and Herseba? This is reckless!'
Descending into an Abyss without the power of a Legion Commander — with nothing but the strength of an ordinary Kizen student — was suicide.
Erzebet swept her arm in desperation, sending her webs outward —
'Too late!'
The Drake undead gaped their jaws wide and hurled themselves at Simon. Sparks flew in her eyes.
'I WILL protect him!'
Fwaaaaah!
Jet-black energy began to swirl violently through her spiderwebs. Seeing it, Simon lowered his arm as well, resonating with her will.
'Geheim!'
The threads, once fine as silk, swelled into massive chains, bristling with growing barbs. Her eyes blazing with dark light, Erzebet swung both arms like a pianist driven mad.
For a moment, silence hung in the Abyss.
Thududududuk!
The Drake undead were carved apart like carrots, exoskeletons and all, and rained down. The terrain itself had suffered too — here and there, the cavern walls split apart like slices of fruit pie.
[Lord Commander—!]
Having annihilated every enemy, Erzebet came running, her voice choked with sobs. She snatched Simon out of the air and swept him into her embrace.
[Ahh! Lord Commander! My light! My sun! Are you unharmed?]
She spun him around in circles several times, then held him aloft at arm's length, and Simon lurched upward. The difference in raw strength between an Ancient Undead and a human was staggering — every time she moved, Simon swayed like a puppet.
"Erze, I'm getting dizzy."
[I am overjoyed that you are safe, indeed I am!]
Having confirmed with her own eyes, one more time, that Simon was unharmed, Erzebet squeezed him tight. Then, putting on a deliberately cross tone:
[And yet that was far too dangerous, it was! Leaping into a battlefield without even Pier or Herseba!]
"What's dangerous about it?"
Simon grinned and added:
"You're here."
At those words she looked at him with shining, moved eyes, and then — seemingly unable to hold back any longer — crushed him in another fierce hug. Simon, breath crushed out of him, let out a strangled "urk."
[Those words just now, and that picture-perfect smile! This maiden feels as though she has received every reward this northern campaign could offer.]
"Th-that's good."
[And the Abyss you entered with the staff woman, my lord?]
"Came back safe from the very bottom," Simon answered with a shrug. "Though the Northern God wasn't there either. Now — would you kindly put me down?"
Erzebet, marveling that Simon had reached the bottom even faster than she had, finally set him on the ground.
[Did you use the Archduke's Flag, perchance?]
"I was going to."
Simon drew the golden flag out of his subspace and showed it to her.
"But Herseba talked me out of it."
Thanks to Herseba pushing herself to drag the undead into the World of Sand, the flag had been spared.
Of course, the backlash of using Geheim and the World of Sand together had left Herseba completely wiped out.
Having heard the story, Erzebet nodded.
[There was no Northern God in this Abyss either.]
"Good. Let's move on to the next."
He didn't know how the other teams were faring, but at the very least two of the ten Abysses had now been cleared.
Simon stepped close and pressed himself against her as if asking to be held. Erzebet smiled a wide, satisfied smile and patted the top of his head, the way one might soothe a child.
"Hurry up and go!"
An embarrassed Simon shouted.
[As you command!]
She raised her right arm and seized hold of a spiderweb. The moment she did, both their feet left the ground, and they began to be drawn smoothly upward.
[Where shall we go next, my lord?]
"Let's check on Prince first."
Simon wore a meaningful smile.
"Because there's a way to finish this quickly."
Riding Erzebet's spiderwebs, the two of them shot out of the Abyss and back onto the surface.
[The wind is so refreshing! Hold tight to this maiden, my lord.]
"Right."
Erzebet anchored her webs to the tower-like undead nests jutting up on either side, and the two traveled by swinging from web to web.
She pointed at one of the ten Abysses.
[That one there — that is the Abyss Prince entered!]
"Take us down."
Simon and Erzebet connected a web to the surface, then descended into the Abyss like climbers rappelling down a rope.
There was no enemy attack. There were only the chaotic traces of the battle Prince and his zombie unit had left behind. Everywhere, undead lay squashed flat like bugs, and here and there walls bore deep, cratered dents — the mark, it seemed, of Prince's Hidden Card Punch.
[Can you feel Prince's presence, my lord?]
"No. Not yet."
Simon's eyes were narrowed to slits, focused to the utmost.
"It feels like he's fought his way down somewhere quite deep."
The range of Simon's presence-sense couldn't reach where Prince was.
Instead, though—
'There's a more certain method than sensing!'
With one hand wrapped around Erzebet's waist, Simon stretched his other hand straight out in front of him.
Wuuuuuung!
Jet-black energy spread out over his palm like a blueprint drawn in midair, tracing out equations and geometric figures. It was Prince's corpse explosion magic circle — refined to an extraordinary degree of complexity.
'I've been researching and improving this the whole time we were in the North!'
Nine magic circles spun and linked together one after another. Watching them, Erzebet batted her long lashes.
[What are you doing, my lord?]
"Locking onto Prince with dark magic. The corpse explosion circle is deployed — keep descending."
Erzebet paid out more web, and the two plunged swiftly toward the depths of the Abyss.
Simon kept the circle aimed downward, holding his focus.
But the circle couldn't find its target and only spun uselessly in place. With nothing for the equations to lock onto, it whirred like a trigger failing to catch — nothing but a wheezing, empty sound.
Until—
Clunk!
The magic circle found its target. Equations and rune-script scrambled busily into place across it, readying the spell for activation.
"I've got Prince! Stop here!"
Erzebet halted without lowering the web any further. The two of them hung suspended from the strand, peering down into the dark below.
All that met the eye was pitch blackness. Every so often, a distant intermittent boom — kuung! kuung! — rolled up from far below.
Weeeeng—!
Then the circle lost its target. Simon shouted:
"Erze! Lower me a little more!"
[Yes!]
They descended further, and the circle caught the target again. Like this, keeping pace with Prince by a hair's breadth the whole way down, Simon readied the spell.
The target was locked on — but the circle wouldn't fully arm, and the trigger of the magic circle, the clenched fist at its core, wouldn't close. His outstretched palm only trembled and shook.
Prince's conditions for corpse explosion had not yet been met.
And then—
'!'
Will aligned, jet-black energy cycled, every piece of the circle found its place — and the moment the fist he'd been chasing finally began to close was coming.
Miss the timing even once, and it was over. Simon clenched his fist with everything he had.
'Corpse Explosion!'
The magic circle fired with perfect precision, and the sensation of a button being pressed deep ran through his entire body. Simon, the spell cast, roared until his throat tore:
"NOW! Up! Erze, UP!"
Erzebet yanked the web instantly.
Their bodies shot violently upward, and at the very same moment—
GU-GOOOONG!
From the pitch-black depths of the Abyss, a blinding flare of light surged up, as though a sun were rising from below. Sweltering heat licked at the soles of their feet.
'Here it comes!'
The shockwave of the blast began climbing the walls of the Abyss. The whole chasm roared alight, raging as if it meant to blow itself apart.
Kugugugugugugugugu!
Even as the two of them ascended at tremendous speed, the blast smoke chased at their heels, hungry to swallow them whole. It was an impossible speed.
Quaquaquaquaaaa—!
The hot air gushing up from below stung their skin.
"We're going to get caught in it! Can't you go any faster?!"
[This IS my top speed, my lord!]
The blast's wake came screaming up the walls of the Abyss, tearing them apart with terrifying force.
Simon looked up. The sky was drawing closer.
"NOW!"
[Yes!]
Erzebet whipped out a fresh web sideways. In the next instant, she and Simon each grabbed it with one hand.
Zharararuruk!
The web retracted, yanking the two of them out of the Abyss — and they went tumbling across the ground.
"Gahk!"
They rolled across the snow-covered earth in a daze for a long while. Even as he tumbled head over heels, Simon kept his eyes fixed on the Abyss.
And the instant they had cleared it—
KUWAAAAAAA!
Like a volcano erupting, a colossal fireball and a cloud of dust blasted skyward.
"Hha. Hahaha……!"
Watching it, Simon flopped onto his back on the ground, wearing a goofy grin.
Goooohhh!
The mushroom-shaped dust cloud boiled upward.
Gazing blankly at the sky, Simon spoke into the ring on his left hand.
"Good work, Prince. I'll take it from here."
The ring quivered once or twice, then went still.
The third Abyss.
Perfectly cleared.
He hadn't seen it with his own eyes, but if the Northern God had been down there, it would have been destroyed without question.
'And that was with the power dialed back.'
Herseba. Erzebet. And now Prince.
Their new techniques were blazing through real combat.
The Legion had grown unmistakably, immeasurably stronger than it had been before coming North.
'Now — seven left.'
Simon brushed off his trousers and stood, looking at the Abyss. Erzebet drifted over to his side on light, graceful steps.
[Lord Commander. Where shall we head next?]
Simon thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Let's split up into two teams and—"
Kukukukung—!
One Abyss in particular was uproariously loud.
Here and there, dark liquid was geysering up like fountains.
'Impressive.'
An Ancient Undead of the Second Legion.
Pluto was fighting — right there, before their eyes.