Knight of Embers
Knight of Embers
We advanced slowly but deliberately.
Even the labyrinthine terrain couldn't constrain us, which was entirely thanks to combining the ancient rune map with the phantom map.
After crossing through several stretches of terrain, we finally reached what seemed to be the end of it all.
My vision went black.
"Girls, still with me?"
"Agh! Someone stepped on my foot!"
"Then watch yourself."
"Stop—quit stepping on it! You're doing it on purpose!"
An incomprehensible space unfolded around us.
Darkness filled every direction. Aside from the fact that our feet were on a level floor, there was nothing else we could be certain of.
But according to the map, this was unmistakably the heart of the temple. I focused on the ambient energy.
Darkness didn't matter. Sensing the currents of energy was no different from having eyes.
"...."
Sizing up the space didn't take long.
As I felt it out, it was a wide, circular chamber.
The sort of place ringed by tiered spectator seats, where a theater troupe might put on a performance.
That was when it happened.
BANG—!
A very small light source suddenly flared to life, illuminating only a portion of the center.
"Nobody move."
After telling the other three to stay put, I slowly advanced toward that point.
Step— step—
Only the sound of footsteps echoed through the silent space.
"Someone else is here, I see."
A bewitching voice reached me from straight ahead.
I quietly faced forward.
I felt no bloodlust whatsoever, so there was no need to adopt a posture of open wariness.
"Mage energy... Ah, I knew it."
And then a female knight appeared—as if someone had sculpted a crimson rose into human form.
Janet.
Squad leader of Cheonchuk.
Behind her, in the darkness, three other Cheonchuk knights had already taken up positions.
"That figures. I knew I'd run into you here."
She nodded and took another step toward me. Then, abruptly, she extended a hand.
"It's been a while. A handshake?"
I studied her quietly.
It went without saying that Cheonchuk was not weak. They were the squad everyone already agreed on as the favorites to win.
Our points and Cheonchuk's were neck-and-neck, and the only way for them to secure more points while avoiding Dead Dragon would have been to visit this temple.
"Not offering a handshake makes this a bit awkward. I went out of my way because I found your teleportation magic rather entertaining."
Janet's appearance did not betray her reputation. She bore no visible wounds and showed almost no sign of fatigue.
Eventually she withdrew her hand.
"Well, fine. Plan. I'll make a different proposal."
I listened in silence.
"You see, we want your points."
"...."
"Transfer at least half to us. In return, I won't lay a finger on you until the subjugation festival is over. Promise."
She playfully stuck out a single pinky.
"What do you think? Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me."
I gave her a level reply.
"You're speaking informally."
"...Hm?"
She slowly swept her crimson hair back.
With an elegant motion, she rummaged inside her jacket and produced a single coin, fixing her gaze on me as she did.
"I simply want to resolve things peacefully. This is a danger zone—an unpredictable space where anything could happen. Is there truly anything more important than peace?"
"Janet."
I spoke her name quietly.
"I believe I said you're speaking informally."
A cold anger began to simmer. It wasn't any ill feeling toward Cheonchuk.
"If you're going to beg for points, honorifics are the bare minimum."
It was simple.
I wanted to examine the ancient rune treasure, and the mere fact that I was wasting time on other people annoyed me.
"Seems you're the one kicking peace aside. Do you not realize you're the one in a precarious position?"
Janet considered that for a moment, then hung her head. She placed a hand on the back of her neck and burst out laughing.
"You really are overflowing with confidence. I don't dislike that about you. Still, that doesn't mean I intend to concede victory."
Janet continued.
"We could fight it out viciously and seize the points by force. But you don't want that either, do you?"
Ping—!
Janet flicked the coin into the air with her thumb. It soared high, then settled back onto her finger without issue.
"Think it over and give me your answer. Let's go peacefully. Peace is best for both of us."
I had been watching Janet habitually flick the coin. I used Telekinesis to launch it far away.
"...."
A flash of displeasure crossed Janet's face.
A brief silence followed.
Despite the coin's absence, Janet moved her thumb as if flicking something invisible.
By then, everyone in the space had their eyes fixed on Janet's now-empty fingers.
"Hey, Plan."
Unsurprisingly, Janet was the first to break the silence.
While keeping her body still, her lips moved. Then she slowly raised only her eyes to look at me.
"Are you messing with me right now...?"
The words were never finished.
In a split-second.
Shwaaak—!
From the direction the coin had flown, a black shadow shot in like a serpent.
Its target was me, and I evaded it without difficulty. Right after, an unmistakable killing intent flooded the space.
The shift came from the appearance of two other figures.
The moment I saw the one to the side, I knew.
She was the mastermind handling all those shadows—the Maine who had insolently observed me.
The figure on the right simply stared at us in silence. The witch on the left giggled as she spoke.
"Still, the coin was a bit offensive. Did he mistake me for some kind of piggy bank...? Hmm-hmm."
I didn't bother answering the witch. In my mind, a Maine was nothing more than an insect.
Instead, I addressed Janet.
"Are those two part of your party, Janet?"
"Of course not. They're both Maine to begin with."
Everyone's gaze turned to the two Maine. They stood with the light behind them, so their faces weren't visible.
Janet leveled her sword at them.
"Show yourselves before I skewer you!"
At that, all the darkness in the space lifted. Simultaneously, everybody's expressions went cold.
One of the two had an all-too-familiar face.
She was unmistakably a Maine now, but this was clearly a person we had once faced as a knight.
I narrowed my brow slightly. Not for any particular reason—just because her name wouldn't immediately come to mind.
Then, with great effort, I recalled it.
"...Ella, was it?"
"Right. I definitely carried out an honor execution on her with my own hands."
Janet murmured in disbelief.
Ella. She had been reborn as a Maine.
Whether she had received some abstruse power from the Maine or not, she radiated an overwhelmingly powerful presence wholly incomparable to before.
Even so, I held a smirk.
"No matter how I look at it... it seems you failed to kill her."
"Now that you mention it, you're right. I remember now. I left her limbs paralyzed while her breath was still intact."
Uhuhuhuhuh—!
At that, the witch let out a bone-chilling laugh.
"Is this what it feels like when every last pet that ran away comes home? Welcome back, all of you~"
"I clearly showed you a vision of the future. You were bold enough not to run."
"Ah~ that little trick of yours did surprise me. That was a crystal orb I was rather fond of, you know."
Serpent-like shadows were writhing toward us. I quietly tracked their covert movements with my eyes.
"What is your name?"
"Call me whatever you like~ We won't be acquainted for long, will we?"
Plan nodded calmly.
"Well, never mind. You can introduce yourself later."
I made everyone else step back a few paces. Janet shot me a quizzical look, but when she met my earnest gaze, she complied in the end.
"One more still hasn't arrived."
Fwoosh—
The next moment.
A faint, crackling sound could be heard.
It was small, yet eerily distinct.
And then, the next moment.
A vertical fissure radiating heat split across the wall.
KWOAAAAAR—!
The space was cleaved in half by a crimson Sword Aura.
"...!"
By the time shock dawned on the others' faces, a perfectly straight furrow had already been carved before our eyes.
If I hadn't made everyone pull back, they would all have been reduced to a handful of ash.
The blast of heat surged through a beat later. Soon, lava pooled in the trench, and the searing air threatened to scorch the skin.
A space rapidly heating to an extreme temperature.
A narrow river of lava.
Across ground no human being could ever set foot on.
A female knight walked, utterly unconcerned.
Step by step, far in the distance, I could see her planting her feet deep into the lava as if it were nothing.
Knight of Embers, Scarlet.
"...The rest can wait until that one gets here."
I merely murmured that to myself.