Chapter 45
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Mysterious Mine Trap
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Although there had been a brief commotion along the way, the Alize Mercenary Corps ultimately arrived safely at their destination.
But upon arrival, an utterly unexpected sight unfolded before their eyes.
"What the hell is this?"
"No way, there's actually a mine here?"
Alize and Cloyang gasped in astonishment.
At the location indicated by the administrator, a cave of considerable size gaped open with a pitch-black maw.
"How could a mine this massive have remained unknown until now?"
The Alize Mercenary Corps had been active around Tvante Village for quite some time, yet they had never once heard of a mine like this.
An undiscovered mine!
It had been suspicious from the start, but now their doubts deepened even further.
'A mine this big, occupied by just five trolls?'
It was hard to swallow.
Alize heightened her inner tension while subtly glancing at Ruyan.
'He'll be fine, right?'
She had accepted this shady request precisely because she trusted him.
In truth, she only knew he was strong; even she was unaware of the exact extent of Ruyan's abilities.
But call it intuition—she felt that if he took the lead, nothing would be impossible.
'That's why we have to resolve this while Ruyan's still with us.'
Ruyan would leave soon.
Once he obtained his Rank 4 mercenary badge, there would be no pretext to keep him any longer.
Without him in this chaotic situation, they would undoubtedly face far greater dangers than now.
'Ruyan, sorry, but I have to ask one last favor.'
Alize stole a sidelong glance at him while bowing her head inwardly.
At that moment, Eric and Eddie began striding toward the mine.
"Whoa, I've never seen a mine this huge in my life."
"Check out that gloomy vibe. This is a total jackpot!"
Of course, they weren't acting recklessly out of sheer thoughtlessness.
Eric and Eddie were well aware that something was off about this mine.
That's precisely why they stepped forward first.
To prevent the group's mood from growing heavier.
"Doesn't look like trolls are holed up in there, though."
Though his tone brimmed with playfulness, Eric carefully scanned the mine entrance.
But the interior was so pitch-black that he couldn't gauge its depths from outside.
"They said it was an active mining operation, but there's not a single sign of human activity."
Eric tilted his head and poked his face into the entrance.
"Hellloo! Anyone in there?"
Eric had meant to gauge the mine's depth this way.
His voice echoed wildly from the dark mine, reverberating everywhere.
The resonance was so intense it hurt the ears.
"Ugh, unique structure, huh?"
Eric quickly plugged his ears and scowled as he turned back.
But...
Nothing was there.
Even after pulling his head out, only thick darkness filled the view.
"Eek? What the—?"
Startled, Eric frantically looked around.
A space filled solely with darkness!
Left alone, Eric felt his mind gradually growing hazy.
"Whoa!"
It happened so suddenly that no one could react in time.
Eric, who had been checking the mine entrance, vanished in an instant.
Eddie, following behind, flinched in shock and reached out hastily.
"Eric! Where did you—"
But Eddie's voice cut off before he could finish.
The moment his hand touched the entrance, he too disappeared.
Alize and Cloyang, spotting this belatedly, hardened their expressions and exchanged glances.
"Warp Gate!"
They screamed it in unison.
A high-tier spell that teleported anyone passing through to a random location!
Merely calling it high-tier didn't do it justice.
'Warp Gate' was a spell even 6th Circle archmages found challenging.
Without extensive training and astronomically valuable magic items, it was impossible to even attempt.
"My god. I suspected an archmage might be involved, but..."
To this extent!
This was far bigger than Alize had imagined.
"Alize! No time for that. The twins are in danger!"
Cloyang's sharp voice snapped Alize back to reality.
'Damn it, this is bad. Really bad!'
They had no idea where Eric and Eddie had gone. In the worst case, they could have landed right in the enemy's lair.
They had to rescue them before something horrific happened.
"Ruyan!"
In her desperation, Alize reflexively called his name and searched for him.
How long had he been moving?
Ruyan was already walking steadily toward the mine entrance.
"I'll go first."
He announced calmly and stepped inside without hesitation.
'Quite the peculiar energy.'
Ruyan had noticed the strange aura clinging to the mine from the beginning.
He hadn't identified it yet, but experiencing it firsthand revealed its basic principle.
'It's a hole punched through space using mana.'
As he entered the mine, the surroundings warped subtly before shifting to an unfamiliar place.
A space filled purely with darkness, without a single speck of light.
"Eric, Eddie, you there?"
Ruyan raised his voice slightly, but no response came.
In fact, it felt like his voice wasn't propagating at all.
'Tch. What a bizarre place.'
Clicking his tongue, Ruyan focused his senses. Surprisingly, he felt nothing at all.
'Hah! So it's not some shallow illusion.'
The space itself suppressed the flow of energy.
Even the Divine Bow had lost his senses here—this was undoubtedly a terrifyingly dangerous spell.
'Not something achievable merely by deep inner energy. Magic truly is astounding.'
Having gained nothing from his search, Ruyan simply stared into the darkness.
Tssrrrrk.
A change soon occurred.
Something pitch-black—dark enough to perceive even in the gloom—spread like ink.
Only then did Ruyan detect traces of mana in this alien space.
'That energy from before.'
The black, ominous mana used by the orc lich!
This impure mana, which stung the skin just from exposure, swiftly dominated the space.
'Means someone's pulling the strings behind this.'
He didn't know their method yet, but someone was clearly injecting mana.
Ruyan watched it spread before stomping lightly.
Boom.
A shockwave erupted from his foot, sweeping low across the space.
Shwaaak.
It battered the darkness fiercely as it advanced.
But...
'No reaction at all.'
The Divine Bow's Foot Strike!
A single step powerful enough to upheave heaven and earth, piercing all things.
Even the orc lich's 6th Circle spell couldn't withstand Ruyan's step.
Yet this time was different.
Astonishingly, nothing in this space collided with the shockwave.
Pfssht.
His internal energy wandered an endless tunnel-like void before scattering futilely.
'Hah, and I poured in at least thirty years' worth of energy...'
What he'd dismissed as simple was far from weak.
His single step carried the might to shake mountains.
Now, even Ruyan had to get serious.
'A space without substance. I can't fathom the principle.'
As his thoughts deepened, the black mana continued spreading rapidly.
Tssrrrrk.
It took less than ten seconds for the insolent mana to fill the space.
Once it fully enveloped the area, it began constricting and pressing against Ruyan's body.
'Urk.'
His naturally attuned body, which usually protected him, now acted like a double-edged sword.
Shallow energies couldn't even approach him.
But once dominated?
For someone so sensitive to energies, this mana brimming with hostility was excruciating.
'Truly vicious mana.'
His breath caught, chest tightening. It was a power too malevolent for any human to wield.
"Tch. I was curious about the mechanism and wanted to play along a bit."
Ruyan clicked his tongue lightly and slowly drew his bow, gripping it firmly.
"Even childish games have rules that must be upheld."
Twang.
The bow, nocked with an arrow, bent fiercely.
Made from divine wood branches, it devoured the darkness and emitted a faint glow.
Pew.
With a subtle sound, the arrow shot forth.
Swoosh.
Buried in the dim space, its form barely visible, the arrow flew proudly alone.
This was a space without substance.
Normally, the arrow should have fallen aimlessly without a target.
But it wobbled precariously yet never plummeted.
The Divine Bow's arrow!
Third stage of the Secret Bow Arts, the realm of the Divine Archer. No shot ever missed its mark.
Just as nothing could defy the will of the gods.
Vrrr.
Vibrating wildly, the arrow vanished beyond the darkness.
And struck precisely at the space's core.
KABOOOM.
With a colossal explosion, the black mana vanished without a trace.
The enveloping darkness lifted in an instant, revealing the reality beyond.
'So this is the real place.'
A laboratory brimming with luxurious magic items.
Its scale was so vast it couldn't be taken in at a glance, with bizarre magic circles etched across walls and floors.
At the center stood a house-sized orb, now shattered into pieces.
'That must have been the magic item powering the Warp Gate.'
The culprit that transported the Alize Mercenary Corps here and trapped them in the spatial rift.
With such a special item destroyed, a massive explosion was inevitable.
Ruyan glanced around briefly before looking down at his feet.
Eric and Eddie lay slumped unconscious.
'Good, they're not badly hurt.'
Their breathing, though irregular, continued—they had simply fainted.
Surviving that malevolent mana's assault, which had even troubled Ruyan, was commendable.
"Ughhh."
"Keurk."
As Ruyan checked on the twins, retching sounds echoed from behind.
Alize, Cloyang, and Gerard clutched their throats in agony.
'Tch. They might've been better off fainting.'
Having entered later, they'd barely endured, but their state looked even more wretched than the twins'.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine soon."
Ruyan averted his gaze from the mercenaries and looked straight ahead.
"Come out now."
His calm voice rang through the lab, and the space warped as someone appeared.
A beauty in a form-fitting dress, her red hair cascading to her waist.
It was Jule.
"Oh my, I didn't expect you'd catch on."
Jule spun around with a feigned look of surprise, her expression infuriatingly smug.
"Are you the master of this place?"
"Yep. This is the cradle of great history itself. Cool, right?"
It was a question that needed no answer.
Ruyan scanned the surroundings once more and shook his head.
"Impressive, though. Shattering a top-grade magic stone like that so easily. You're no ordinary one yourself."
As Jule eyed him up and down, a dark glint flashed in her gaze.
Like a child spotting a coveted toy.
An eerily chilling look.
But Ruyan regarded her with an impassive, emotionless expression.
"I'll ask: was the previous lich your doing as well?"
At Ruyan's question, Jule's eyebrow twitched slightly. Though she tried to compose herself, her excitement was evident.
"That's right. My precious test subject. But some naughty colt went and ruined it."
Naughty colt.
Amused by the fresh insult, Ruyan let out a chuckle.
Such a conversation would have been unimaginable in the Central Plains. The Sobles Continent truly was an entertaining place.