Holy Knight (1)
Holy Knight (1)
A monster's nest, littered with the corpses of monsters.
Perhaps drawn by the scent of blood, bugs and small monsters were gathering, preparing to feast.
But this hardly seemed like the time for a feast.
Thud.
A crashing sound echoed in the distance. It sounded like a giant boulder being slammed into the ground.
The noisy clearing fell silent in an instant.
Thud.
At the sound's return, the bugs clinging to the monster corpses scattered in all directions.
Thud.
The sound was gradually drawing closer.
Even the small monsters that had been approaching the shrine knight lying in the center of the nest couldn't bear it and fled in haste.
The once-noisy clearing fell quiet again.
In its place came the sound and vibration of the earth shaking.
Thud.
The sound grew louder and louder. Now even the monsters and the knight lying on the ground trembled with it.
Crunch, crunch.
Now the sound of trees snapping could be heard.
It wasn't the sound of small twigs breaking off, but of entire trees snapping.
Rumble.
Once again, the earth rumbled.
Growl.
And from beyond the trees came a harsh growl.
Crunch, boom.
Then the trees fell, and the entity that had made the growling sound emerged into the clearing.
It was a colossal monster.
It was a beast capable of toppling a massive tree with a single hand.
The beast was incredibly grotesque.
From a distance, it might have looked like a giant bear, but its body was tattered, cracked, and crumbling.
Its skin was split open, exposing its internal organs, and the skin on its limbs had melted away so much that its blood vessels and muscles could be seen writhing.
Though its body was far from whole, it didn't look weak.
Its blood vessels pulsed vigorously, and its ruptured internal organs healed once more.
In contrast to its tattered body, the monster wore an old helmet on its head, obscuring its face.
Only two red pupils could be seen through the gaps in the helmet.
The colossal, grotesque monster scanned the clearing, then stared at the knight's corpse lying in the center.
The monster lifted its leg and stomped down.
Boom!
Unlike before, this was no ordinary step.
The monster corpses scattered around the clearing went flying, and the colossal monster's foot sank deep into the ground.
Even without looking, it was easy to imagine what had happened to the knight's corpse beneath its foot.
After crushing the human corpse, the monster looked toward the distant ruins.
They were the very ruins that it and the other monsters had destroyed long ago.
The humans had definitely gone toward the ruins.
The monster decided to seek out the humans who had trespassed into its territory in person.
The stones in the ruins were quite troublesome, but even so, it couldn't let the intruders go unchallenged.
This was the duty of one who had received orders from the sleeping Demon King to guard this place.
The King of this region, the Monster King, began walking toward the ruins.
Thud. Thud.
The ruined temple drew closer and closer.
With one knee bent and their heads bowed, the golems looked like knights bowing to their king.
The golems did not move from that posture.
We had watched the golems tensely. When they remained still, we approached them cautiously.
Even when we waved our hands in front of them or touched them lightly, nothing changed.
Once we felt safe, our group began examining the golems in earnest.
"Can we call this an artifact?"
The most energetic of us was the Grand Archduchess.
She examined the patterns, placed her hand on the golem's body, and inspected it with her ability.
Balea also did her best to move the golem using her own ability.
Unfortunately, the golems rejected Balea's ability.
As for the other knights and physical ability users, though the living, moving stones were fascinating, they were still just objects they were seeing for the first time.
When the golems remained still, Balea asked me,
"The reason these Rock Humans are acting like this is because of the sword Young Lord Alex is holding, right?"
The entire group had seen the sword hum and the golems stop.
"Yes. I don't know why, either, but it seems that way."
"You came to this dungeon based on information you got from that sword, after all."
"That's right."
"Then it must mean it has a connection to this dungeon..."
There was no question it was connected.
This dungeon—no, these ruins—was a temple.
A temple of a religion that revered the 'divine sword' in my hand as a holy relic.
I could confidently say that these ruins were the 'Temple of the Holy Knight'.
"In that case, why not try hiding the sword again? To see if those Rock Humans start moving again, or perhaps even retreat..."
As expected of Balea. There was a reason she'd been beating around the bush.
Fortunately, before I could refuse, the two princesses covered her mouth.
"No! That's too dangerous!"
"We can finally investigate safely, so what on earth are you talking about?"
Balea was scolded by the two princesses.
Just as the Grand Archduchess said, we had a chance to examine the golems of the Old Empire safely, but we couldn't just waste time here.
Leading the reluctant Grand Archduchess, we walked into the central passage, where traces remained.
Thud, thud, thud.
Once we had all entered the passage, the kneeling golems moved again.
The golems returned to the places where they had first landed and stood upright.
Then holes opened in the ceiling again, and the golems were sucked back up into them.
Swish, swish, swish.
I found it even more fascinating that the golems were soaring upward like that than that they could move at all.
They were lifting such heavy rocks without even touching them.
If I hadn't been busy, I would have wanted to find out how they did it.
As we continued along the passage, another underground plaza appeared.
This time, too, broken golem pieces and corpses were visible.
I entered the plaza with the sword held out in front of me.
This time, holes formed in the walls, and golems walked out.
They were different from the golems that had appeared the first time.
Aside from their appearance, though, I couldn't tell any difference.
That was because the second batch of golems also knelt on the floor once the sword hummed.
We were able to move safely this time, too, but the group's expressions were grim.
There were more human corpses than stone fragments in the second plaza.
Mercenaries, priests, and knights alike lay collapsed in a terrible state.
Without examining the kneeling golems, we passed through the plaza.
It seemed there were three passages in each plaza.
The first had been the central passage. This time, it was the left passage.
The Mana Thread and the bloodstains pointed to the same passage.
There were fewer bloodstains along the passage than in the first plaza.
It was likely because the number of survivors had dwindled.
Then came the third underground plaza.
Standing at the end of the passage and looking around the plaza, our group couldn't close their mouths.
"Did they all die here?"
Everyone seemed to share the Princess's question.
There weren't many stone fragments on the floor of the third plaza.
Perhaps three or four pieces if you gathered them together.
But there were many corpses.
The vast majority of them were shrine knights.
None of the corpses had made it past the center of the plaza.
They had died before even making it halfway across.
Without a word, I entered the plaza with the sword held out in front of me.
Hum.
This time, holes formed in the floor.
Golems rose up once more and knelt.
It was a fascinating sight, but with corpses scattered everywhere, it felt rather eerie now.
We passed through the plaza in silence.
Following the Mana Thread, we headed toward the right passage.
"There is a survivor."
A bloody handprint was stamped on the passage wall.
Just one handprint. At least one person had made it here alive.
It was a complicated feeling.
I didn't know whether to be glad or feel pity.
"Let's go."
We moved our feet once more.
As we walked down the passage, we stopped in our tracks midway.
At the end of the passage, where another plaza came into view, a person was visible.
Though he looked a bit strange, he was indeed a knight clad in plate armor.
A shrine knight. He was the knight who had entered the passage and survived alone.
I gestured for the others to stay alert and slowly approached him.
As I drew closer, I realized why he had looked strange.
One of his arms was missing.
Perhaps because he had stopped the bleeding, he wasn't losing much blood.
But the blood dripping from him made it clear that his arm had been severed only moments ago.
"Who is there?"
He wasn't dead. The shrine knight, who had been staring at the plaza, turned his head.
Although the Grand Archduchess was the team leader and Katrin the supervising professor, I was at the very front, so I answered on behalf of the group.
"We're professors and students of the Carlos Royal Academy. We came to these ruins as part of a practical training class."
In truth, we had come for a group project rather than a practical class, and even that was merely a pretext. But mentioning a practical class was the best way to make the other party understand.
"Ah... I see. Was it that time of year already?"
As expected, he was aware of the practical classes, too.
His voice was sharp, in keeping with his appearance, but at the moment he seemed to have a screw loose.
"How unfortunate. You've come to a useless place, only to lose your lives."
He shook his head and turned toward us.
"This place is the Temple of the Evil God. Since we are purifying it in the name of the Order, none of you will leave here alive."
Perhaps because he had lost his mind, the knight was surprisingly forthcoming.
The knight's words made us realize why we had been attacked by the shrine knights in the ruins.
"Since you won't be able to return alive anyway, it would be better for you to die by my hand. Ahead of here lies the priest of the Evil God. That man, who died long ago, is waiting for you—and for me—wearing different clothes."
Holding his sword and staring at us, the knight rambled incoherently.
"Why didn't he finish me off? He wasn't even bound to this place like those Rock Humans. Does the priest of the Evil God know mercy?"
As the knight spoke, his senses seemed to be gradually returning to him.
"But how did you get all the way here? Did you defeat them all? There's no way... No, there aren't even any signs of battle... What is that sword?"
The knight, who had been looking at us strangely, widened his eyes at the sight of the sword in my hand. He seemed to recognize it.
"Are you bastards also minions of the Evil God? Even though we wiped you out so thoroughly, you keep cropping up like this!"
Suddenly, the knight launched into an impassioned tirade. His whole demeanor changed. His dark expression erupted like an active volcano.
"I cannot allow you bastards to possess the Evil God's Sword! There is only one God, and only one Order in this world!"
He lunged toward us.
As he lunged, he was no longer the weak-looking knight from before.
Clang!
I blocked his sword from the very front, but I couldn't help being startled.
His skill was formidable.
It was a level of skill that seemed capable of rivaling even the Vice-Commander of the Royal Knights.
But he was in no condition to fight. One of his arms was severed, and his mana and physical body were both at their limits.
I could tell after only a few exchanges.
"I will kill you bastards. I, Franz, the Second Battalion Commander of the Purge Squad, will uphold the divine command and bury you in the depths of history!"
But my opponent didn't realize it. No, he was turning a blind eye to it.
I was surprised to hear him call himself a Purge Squad commander, but given his skill, being a Purge Squad leader was certainly within his capabilities.
But to think the Purge Squad was involved...
I didn't know why the Purge Squad had gotten involved, but I decided to end this fight here.
I deflected his sword and thrust my blade deep into his chest.
At the final moment, the knight waved his severed arm at me.
It was likely an action related to his ability, but because the arm was severed, it became a meaningless gesture.
As the knight collapsed, we looked at one another with troubled expressions.
Having heard the name of the Purge Squad, the Order's ultimate military force and source of terror, we couldn't possibly remain unfazed.
At Balea's words, we decided to put this matter aside for now.
Leaving the knight's corpse behind, we all walked toward the plaza.
Inside the plaza, a knight made of stone was waiting for us.