The Altar of Black Magic
I descended the long staircase in complete silence, so quietly that no one could possibly hear me. We moved slowly through the endless darkness, guided only by the faint light of the torches mounted on the walls. Drip... drip. In the narrow underground passage, the only sound was the falling of water droplets. Yet the intense remnants of dark magic rising from below tainted my mood. ...Or perhaps it was making me feel good? I couldn't tell.
By the time we reached the bottom of the stairs, a narrow corridor greeted us. Small doors lined both sides of the hallway. ".........."
Erielle gestured toward the left, and understanding her meaning, I carefully examined the right side as I advanced slowly. 'One. Two. Three.'
Creak... Seeing Erielle hold up three fingers, I counted silently in my head before immediately pushing the door handle. Gulp. As I stepped inside, a space resembling a storage room came into view. Not knowing where a dark mage might be hiding, I summoned a Dark Spear in one hand and thoroughly scanned the room's interior.
'What? There's really nothing here?' It seemed it had only been used as a storeroom after all. Only shelves and several boxes covered in thick layers of old dust were present. Just to be sure, I checked for any magic around the boxes and shelves, but I felt nothing.
"...Nothing over there either?"
"Yes. It looks like a simple storage room."
"That's strange..."
I checked the stairs we'd descended once more, but found nothing unusual. 'What was that dark magic from earlier?' There had definitely been a thick aura of dark magic even before we came down the stairs. It was even denser than the dark magic I'd felt in the cave where I'd met Erielle. Yet the moment we reached the bottom, it had vanished without a trace, like it had never existed. Almost as if an illusion spell had been used.
....Wait. An illusion?
'If it's dark magic... wouldn't that be possible?' Dark magic was a power that denied the world itself. It could launch curses as physical attacks, strengthen or twist the body. So why couldn't it create illusions as well?
"Just a moment."
"...Did you figure something out? Go ahead."
I used my magic eye to examine everything from the stairs down to the corridor once more. There was no trace of dark magic in the hallway itself, but at the far end visible from the top of the stairs, an intense surge of it radiated outward. I immediately walked toward the end of the corridor. It looked like a solid, dead-end wall, but if my guess was right...
"I've found it. Let's go quickly."
"I have no idea how you found it. Are you just that intuitive?"
And so, the seemingly blocked wall rippled, allowing our bodies to pass straight through. Erielle let out a small sound of admiration before walking ahead of me once again.
'This is it. You filthy bastards.'
The moment we crossed the wall, an overwhelming wave of dark magic hit me. It felt like insects were crawling up from beneath my feet, sending chills across my entire body. At the same time, I felt something rising within me.
A powerful surge of dark magic is detected. Your total dark magic capacity has increased!
Dark Magic Proficiency Lv.1 → Lv.2
It was like a skill leveling up in a game. The status window began to flicker. At the same time, the flow of dark magic dominating this space became clearer to my eyes, and I felt like I could control it better.
".....What the hell are you guys..."
"Execution."
Swoosh—!
The moment the man in the black robe—who was clearly a dark mage—opened his mouth upon seeing us suddenly enter, his body was sliced cleanly in half at Erielle's murmur. Thud... clatter. The man died with his eyes still wide open, not even understanding what had happened.
"We should be careful. There's no way these vermin only have one guard."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
It was magic powerful enough to cut a person in half instantly, yet I couldn't sense even the slightest disturbance in Erielle's mana. It simply flowed as calmly as the sea. '...The moment I'm discovered, I'll end up just like that, won't I?'
Overwhelmed by that terrifying firepower, I stared at the bisected corpse of the dark mage and swore to myself that I must never be found out.
Creak... We opened another door along the long corridor. The sound of the hinges was so faint that it would have been inaudible without concentration.
"Huk... Hiccup..."
"Ugh, will you shut up already! You little shits! Should I just kill you all right now?!"
"Hup... Hnng...!"
The moment we entered the room, I saw a dark mage screaming at children trapped behind iron bars. The children looked relatively unharmed. They must have been captured recently and hadn't yet been subjected to experiments.
Shh— The dark mage sat in a chair with his back to the door, while the children faced me directly. I raised my index finger to my lips, and thankfully, the children nodded their heads slightly so as not to alert him.
"Just wait a little longer! Soon you'll all become the foundation for the Demon God...!"
"I'm afraid that won't be happening."
"....What—!"
Stab—
"Guh... Gah..."
"Demon God or whatever. Why don't you go meet your actual god first?"
I quietly approached the dark mage from behind and drove the Dark Spear straight through his throat.
"You... Guh... Gaaah..."
Seeing the dark magic flowing from the Dark Spear, veins bulged on his forehead in rage. As expected of a dark mage, it seemed a pierced throat alone wasn't enough to kill him. Slowly... The hole in his throat was even beginning to close. He was healing himself with dark magic.
Crash—!
"Just die already."
"...Glurgh..."
Stab. Stab. Using my magic eye to perform an inverse calculation on his dark magic, I nullified the regeneration and repeatedly stabbed his heart. The dark mage died with his eyes still wide in fury.
...Well. What could you even do?
After dealing with the dark mage so easily, Erielle, who had been watching, approached me.
"....I've been wondering this for a while, but have you killed people before?"
"Haha... No. I just moved according to what my body told me to do."
"Hmm... That's interesting. To pierce a person's vital points so accurately. And without any hesitation."
In truth, I was surprised too. The first time I'd ever killed someone directly was when I rescued Erielle. Yet whenever I aimed for vital points as skillfully as if I'd done it dozens of times, even I was shocked by my own proficiency.
"Huk... Hic..."
"Ah. I showed you something you shouldn't have seen. I'm sorry."
"N-no... Sniff..."
"It's still dangerous outside, so could you wait here just a little longer?"
"Yes..."
When I lowered myself to meet the children's eyes and spoke to them, they thankfully agreed. "Let's go quickly. Before it's too late."
"Right. Let's hurry."
Crack— How dare they do this to children? I'll kill every last one of those dark mage bastards. Looking at those kids made me think of the children from our orphanage. It was already too late. Just imagining them being tortured and experimented on until they died was horrifying and repulsive.
'Let's kill them all.' You deserve to die. That would be better for this world.
Stab— Slash—!
"Guh... Hack..."
"...Go quietly."
I executed yet another dark mage. By now, I didn't even feel any hesitation. After all, there was no guilt in stepping on vermin that gnawed away at the world.
"Th-thank you... Thank you so much...!"
"I'm glad we weren't too late. Could you wait here for a bit?"
"Y-yes...!"
Leaving behind the person who was crying—whether from released tension or relief—we stepped back out into the corridor with Erielle. Now, only one door remained directly ahead.
"It looks like that's the end."
"Yeah. Let's finish this quickly and get the people out."
We grabbed the handle of the largest door at the end and pulled it open. Rumble... The sound of the door scraping against the floor echoed, sending vibrations through the air.
"....What the hell is this place?"
"An altar... perhaps."
The moment we opened the door and entered, an incomparably dense dark magic filled the air. In the middle of the dark cave stood a suspicious-looking altar.
Ping—! At that moment, I noticed a faint magic circle activating beneath Erielle's feet as she walked ahead. The sinister black energy suggested it was made with dark magic. However, Erielle didn't seem to notice it and continued staring at the altar.
"....It's dangerous!"
"....Ugh!"
I immediately threw myself at Erielle and pushed her out of the way. At the same time, dark magic began rapidly filling the circle.
Whoosh—! As the magic circle activated, chains made of dark magic shot out and bound my entire body. The chains tightened around me with increasing force.
"...Venice! Why did you—!"
Step... step.
"Oh dear... Another bug has been caught."
At that moment, someone emerged from the darkness beyond the altar. A sly, repulsive voice filled the cave. The man with slicked-back hair and narrowed eyes emanated a dark magic so thick it made the previous dark mages seem insignificant by comparison.
"Was this your doing?!"
"Hehehe... My original plan was to capture you and torture the others right in front of your helpless eyes... What a shame."
"....What!"
Whew... That was close. It's probably better that I'm the one bound by these chains.
"You. You won't die easily."
"Hehehe... Go ahead and try! With this magic nullification orb, mages like you are no threat—"
"....Hah."
Erielle looked at the confidently smiling man and let out a small scoff.
Rumble...! At the same time, the mana in the air began to vibrate so intensely that the ground shook. And that mana swirled quietly around Erielle.
"Wh-what?! The magic nullification orb should be—!"
"....You really thought something like that could stop me?"
Erielle's mana dominated the space, making the air feel heavy. It was so dense that an ordinary person would faint just from coming into contact with it.
Crack... Craaack..! At the same time, cracks began to form on the magic nullification orb, unable to withstand the overwhelming power.
"N-no way..?!"
Shatter—! Eventually, the orb that couldn't endure the mana exploded into pieces that scattered everywhere. The dark mage stared at the fragments in utter disbelief.
"It won't work a second time. And."
"W-wait—!"
"Goodbye."
Swoosh—!
With a small gesture from Erielle, the condensed mana flew toward him. Slice— Slice-slice-slice—! The moment the condensed mana touched the dark mage's body, it sliced him into exactly 182 pieces, like a perfectly cubed steak.
"....Venice. Are you okay?"
"....Hic!"
The basics of magic release. Without even a chant, Erielle had literally diced a person apart. As she approached me, the magic circle's user having vanished caused the circle to disintegrate into dust and scatter into the air, freeing me from my bonds. Yet Erielle reached out her hand toward me.
Feeling an inexplicable terror, I reminded myself once again. 'I must never be discovered. Ever.'