Chapter 416
Chapter 416
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 416
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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The monkey statue easily came off in Kang Seol's hand.
It detached cleanly without any breakage, as though it had been meant to be handled separately from the start.
“Where should we put that monkey?”
“If we just place it anywhere, it might get stepped on and crushed….”
Kang Seol approached the back of the troll holding the club.
“Lady Marizhu, over here.”
“Ah! Yes!”
Fwoosh…
When he brought the flame close to the troll's back, a change occurred soon after.
Sizzle…
A pattern similar to the one engraved on the floor appeared on the statue's back.
“The monkey… here….”
Click…
The monkey statue attached to the troll's back without any issue.
Marizhu said.
“Sir Zalbu.”
“Understood!”
Swipe…
When Zalbu caressed the round orb, the light from before emanated soon after.
Whoooong…
Crackle…
The battle began.
Pshhh…
A pirate's sword plunged into the small troll's chest.
Tang—!
A warrior deflecting the giant troll's club.
Up to this point, it was the same as before.
Creak—!
Thud—!
The monkey hanging on the troll's back snapped its necklace and dropped it to the ground.
Kwaaaah—!
The enraged troll.
Fwoosh—!
Soon, hot flames engulfed its head.
Sizzle…
The party grimaced at the realistic smell of burning flesh.
Crackle…
The dwarves and monkey reverted to stone.
However, the trolls scattered into dust while shattered.
Swoosh…
Clank—!
“Door! It's a door!”
The secret room was no longer a secret room.
Part of the outer wall had turned into a door.
“Is it just a matter of going out?”
Zalbu asked Kang Seol.
“First, those guys.”
Rumble…
The statues clustered neatly and proceeded along the door.
Their movements were perfectly uniform, as if rails had been laid beneath their feet.
Kang Seol's party followed their lead.
“Magic or a mechanism… It's fascinating.”
“Doesn't the Federation have Kastreng?”
“Eh… Kastreng is a product of ego crafted from logic plus a handful of magic… But this feels like magic straight out of a fairy tale, doesn't it?”
“Magic from a fairy tale… That has merit.”
“Oppa, why did these statues suddenly appear?”
With people scattered across the vast space, they hadn't encountered anyone else yet.
Kang Seol's party discussed the statues' trial.
“The ruins are testing us, perhaps…”
“Testing? Suddenly?”
“You remember that severed head at the auction house?”
“Ah, that man! I remember. It was grotesque.”
“Everything started right after his words. They must be connected.”
“What kind of scoundrels are involved… Do they know these ruins well?”
“At least better than us. They likely anticipated things unfolding this way.”
Marizhu pressed her forehead.
“This is trouble. Escaping the ruins is hard enough, and now conspirators are mixed in.”
Zalbu thumped his chest.
“Trust only me, Lady Marizhu! I will deliver you to the mansion without a single scratch!”
“Your knees are already scraped…”
“That's…”
“I'm kidding.”
“Hmm! At least we who gathered here can trust each other!”
“……”
“……”
“Uh, ahem… Apparently not.”
Neither Marizhu nor Kang Seol's party responded.
Creak…
“The statues stopped.”
Kang Seol looked up at the ceiling, where those characters emerged again.
Kang Seol deciphered the sentence without difficulty this time as well.
“The path to the destination is a series of hardships.”
Rustle…
Another stone structure appeared nearby.
It resembled vines.
“Only the impossible will open the way.”
As Kang Seol spoke, everyone nodded along and chimed in.
“That round orb was the impossible, right?”
“Something's hidden in there.”
Kang Seol slowly approached the mage statue.
A wall of vines blocked their path ahead.
He stroked the round sphere.
Then.
Whoooong…
The round orb reacted.
The statue came alive again, just like before, if only briefly.
Fwaaah—!
Light burst from the blue orb.
The vines brimmed with vibrant green, looking impossibly tough and unbreakable.
Whooo…
In that moment, the mage's orb bathed the vines in light.
Psssh…
“My god…”
“…The vines are disappearing.”
“Are they… rotting?”
Kang Seol watched the scene without blinking.
Boom…
Once the vines vanished, the dwarves reverted to statues.
They pressed forward again as if nothing had happened.
“…It's odd not running into anyone amid all this.”
“More than that, what power resides in that orb…?”
“It seems to accelerate decay…”
“It looks that way, but it might be draining life force.”
“Indeed! That could be the case.”
Kang Seol noted their deductions but pondered alone.
Marizhu drew close to Kang Seol, who forged ahead solo, and asked.
“…You have other ideas, don't you?”
“……Something's coming to mind.”
“Would you share?”
“……”
Kang Seol glanced at the party and said.
“Both have merit, but let's observe more. The next trial might reveal it.”
“Ah! Well, it doesn't matter…”
Kang Seol tilted his head and asked Han So-mi.
“So-mi.”
“Yes, why?”
“Were the ruins originally this large?”
“I'm wondering the same…”
Marizhu answered in her place.
“Star Tomb extends underground. It must have merged with the interior as it shifted.”
“…An absurd size.”
“Right? Same thought.”
But suddenly, the dwarves halted on their path.
“Huh? Why'd they stop…”
Other dwarves popped out from the left path.
Evidently, others were undergoing the same trial.
Zing…
The dwarves on Kang Seol's side activated the orb's power.
Psssh…
The opposite dwarves shattered into dust and vanished entirely.
The power contained in the orb had been absorbed into the orb of the dwarves who destroyed them.
“From here on, we go together?”
Ahead lay a severed stone bridge.
The bridge was impressively scaled.
Of course, only the framework remained, leaving its former glory to the imagination.
That was when.
“Wait! Someone's coming!”
Swoosh…
A chill swept in from the opposite side.
And soon, someone's scream followed.
“M-Murderer!”
“The murderer's chasing us!”
In an instant, Han So-mi and Marizhu's faces soured.
Zalbu asked.
“Murderer?”
“T-That man killed everyone he was with. Aaaah! There he is!”
Kang Seol smirked upon seeing the man they pointed at.
“Ur…”
“Yeah… I caught your scent here. Lucky we picked the same path.”
Meeting Ur was welcome, but he bore the stigma of murderer.
Kang Seol asked.
“Did you kill someone?”
“Kill? Yeah, I did.”
The six who had crossed over spoke.
“He turned them into ice chunks in a flash and slaughtered them all!”
“He murdered out of nowhere! He's one of them! With the ones who ruined the auction!”
Kang Seol lightly raised his hand, silencing them.
If asked who in the world could seal multiple mouths with such a simple gesture, one could point right here.
Whooong…
Just the faint aura Kang Seol released made them calm.
More precisely, they cowered—but Kang Seol had deliberately crushed his aura and erased his killing intent, so they didn't notice.
“Why'd you kill them?”
“Interrogating me?”
“No, just curious.”
Ur let out a deep sigh.
“Doesn't it strike you as odd?”
“……”
“How guys absent from the auction knew what happened there.”
“…I see.”
Ur had observed.
Every face at the auction.
Masks or not, they couldn't fool his eyes or senses.
These people hadn't been there.
In other words, high odds they were accomplices of the plotters.
Of course, killing on that clue alone wasn't wrong.
Something more must have been at play.
Zalbu shouted.
“Killing over that alone… They might've heard from someone…”
“No, they appeared in my space right after it went down. And I've got a keen nose. Especially…”
Ur strode forward.
“For the scent of killing intent.”
“……”
“The moment they realized I was alone, they leaked their clumsy killing intent. No mask hides that foul stench. Right, Kang Seol?”
“What the… Just baseless suspicion… Lady Marizhu! This man and…”
Zalbu defended the newcomers.
But Kang Seol nodded to Ur.
“Step back, Lady Marizhu. And So-mi.”
“Got it.”
“I'll guard Lady Marizhu!”
With Han So-mi and Marizhu retreating, Zalbu couldn't hold his ground.
Majority ruled.
“Th-Then… Right! Lady Marizhu! Things are getting messy, so…”
Zalbu tried to stand back-to-back with Kang Seol.
Each covering the other.
Kang Seol said curtly.
“What are you doing, Zalbu?”
“There are too many. Let's pool our strength…”
“Isn't your place over there?”
“…Huh?”
Silence fell for a moment.
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“You're unskilled at concealing killing intent.”
“…What nonsense? Suspecting me now too?”
Zalbu yelled.
“Lady Marizhu! This guy's off! That one over there too…”
Marizhu merely stared at Zalbu with unwavering eyes.
Her icy gaze betrayed her shifted loyalties.
“…Lady Marizhu?”
“Sir Zalbu, you've been my escort for about five years.”
“Yes. So…”
“From this moment, you are no longer a knight of House Sansi.”
“…What!”
“Exactly as Kang Seol said. You're unskilled at hiding killing intent.”
“……”
Zalbu stepped over to join the six who had unmasked.
“…When did you catch on?”
“I suspected. Confirmed right after the ruins changed.”
“…How?”
“You leaked killing intent just from us being alone together.”
It was true.
That was why Kang Seol had kept extra distance from the pair.
Had Kang Seol and Han So-mi not been there, Zalbu would've killed Marizhu.
Faint killing intent had leaked in that brief window.
He'd noticed early but held his tongue.
“Then why'd you two play it cool?”
“We three weren't sure we could take you, Zalbu. You're strong.”
Kang Seol's reasoning was the opposite.
He'd let him be, hoping he'd expose other tails.
“Then why the change now?”
“Just now, I faintly sensed Kang Seol's aura. So subtle I thought it imagination. You, Zalbu… no…”
Marizhu declared boldly.
“You can't beat Kang Seol.”
“What?”
“Puhahaha! Clinging to life and spouting nonsense.”
Seven against one?
Had they claimed four—including Kang Seol—were unbeatable, it might've seemed thoughtful.
Shing…
“Then, shall we verify?”
Marizhu ducked behind Kang Seol.
“Pardon… This feels safest.”
“……”
“…Extinguish the flame.”
“…Pardon?”
“It'll be a gruesome sight.”
Nod…
Marizhu doused the fire, plunging the ruins into darkness.
The faint leaking light barely let her make out what was right in front.
Pshwaaak—!
A horrific sound rang out, followed by splattering blood.
She felt droplets hit her dress.
“Now it's fine.”
The flames reignited.
Fwoosh…
“…My god.”
The darkness had lasted a mere instant.
She hadn't even counted to three inwardly.
Yet… the slaughter before her eyes far exceeded imagination.
Headless corpses stood like fools.
Thud—!
Thud—!
They toppled backward in unison.
“Hii… Hiiik…”
Only Zalbu bashed his head on the ground, sobbing.
“Stop… you monster…”
What had he witnessed?
Marizhu recoiled at the mere thought.
“You… far stronger than imagined.”
“……”
Kang Seol approached Zalbu and locked eyes.
Crackle…
Soon, his memories yielded information to Kang Seol.
“Hmm…”
“Did you uncover something?”
Kang Seol scratched his chin at Ur's question, who had drawn near.
“This is indeed an ancient dwarf ruin long dormant.”
“Knew that.”
“The auction ruiners seek treasure slumbering here. These guys… showed no interest in the auction.”
“Ho… Treasure, huh. No clue what?”
“This one doesn't know.”
“Why plot now?”
“The ruins needed living sacrifices to reclaim power, it seems.”
“Oh dear, the day hordes of sacrifices waltz in on their own is today.”
“…Yeah.”
“…What of the woman?”
Ur already knew of Han So-mi traveling with him.
He meant Marizhu.
Swipe…
She removed her mask.
Ruby-red eyes and striking features emerged.
“Sansi Marizhu. Greeting you anew. Regrettably, I just lost my escort.”
“……”
“Help me escape safely, and I'll convey House Sansi's thanks.”
“Oppa…”
Han So-mi wore a rain-soaked puppy expression.
She was the affectionate type.
Kang Seol didn't mind that trait.
“…Understood.”
“Thank you…”
Ur snorted.
“Hmph… Anyway… Hey, Kang Seol. That's the extent of your info?”
“Yeah. You know more?”
“…Yeah. That orb.”
The blue orb clutched by the dwarf.
It still glowed in the mage dwarf's hand.
Kang Seol followed Ur's pointing finger.
“What even is that orb? Why these trials from the ruins…”
“Trials? No. It's telling a story.”
“Story?”
“What transpired because of that orb.”
“That orb's that remarkable?”
“…Kang Seol, behold this.”
Whooong…
Ur activated the orb.
Light spread into the air.
Crackle…
The transformation from the expanding light overwhelmed them all.
The massive stone bridge regained its former glory.
“Impossible…”
“This is…”
Kang Seol's face hardened.
It wasn't rebuilding the bridge.
It was restoring it to its prior state.
Ur grinned.
“This… belongs to Kagon.”
The Kagon Empire, pinnacle of time and word magic.
Kagon: the forgotten empire only Ur ever extolled.
“A Kagon relic fell into a dwarf's hands. That's where the tale begins.”
Rumble…
The ruins began shifting.
Far off, the structure morphed, birthing something new.
A fortress.
A castle scaled to model size.
Marizhu narrowed her eyes.
“I've seen that castle before.”
“You have?”
“Traces linger in the north.”
She sighed.
“The Throne of Ashes. Ancient dwarf kingdom.”