The Lost Ruins (1)
You have acquired [Gate Ticket] x3!
The winning bids were delivered on the spot.
Three tickets materialized out of thin air.
▷ A special ticket crafted with lost ancient technology. Using it transports the bearer to the Lost Magic City Ruins. This gate cannot be exited until it has been cleared.
The material was thin as paper, yet the circuitry of some mechanical device had been etched into its surface.
Using this would take us to the gate where the Magic Crafting skill book awaited.
"Here, one for each of you."
"Weird little things, aren't they?"
Ji Yeon-ha inspected her ticket and let out a soft, tuneless hum.
"So, how much did you pay for this one?"
"The one you're holding, Ms. Yeon-ha, cost 1.5 billion gold."
"…Huh?!"
Ji Yeon-ha sucked in a sharp breath and cradled the ticket in both hands as if it were sacred.
"The one I'm holding cost 5 billion."
"Th-then what about mine…?"
"15.2 billion."
"KYAAA?!"
Ah Seo-ah jolted upright and instantly threw a protective barrier spell around her ticket.
"You don't have to be that dramatic."
"How is this dramatic?! It's 15.2 billion gold!"
Not that any of it would matter once we used them — they'd vanish without a trace.
I calmed the two of them down and had everyone hold their tickets.
"Just so you know — once we're in, there's no leaving until we clear it."
The gate had no entrance or exit of its own. The only way out was to clear the gate itself.
"What's there to worry about? I'll be right there with you."
"Yeah! With Ms. Yeon-ha and me here, you've got nothing to worry about!"
Ah Seo-ah was making a none-too-subtle attempt to advertise her own value.
"It'll probably be a little different from any gate you've experienced so far, so brace yourselves."
And with that said —
We all poured mana into our tickets at once. Light flooded into the etched circuits, and the tickets began to activate.
Using [Gate Ticket].
Transferring users to the gate.
May your wisdom reach the heavens.
FLASH!
A searing light stabbed at my eyes, and soon a mysterious sensation wrapped around my body.
The moment my vision returned, what greeted me were the ancient traces of a fallen civilization.
Moss and weeds ran riot across the paved streets, and creeping vines had swallowed the buildings whole. Nameless plants flaunted their presence from every corner.
A colossal city, devoured by Mother Nature herself.
So this is it.
The Lost Magic City Ruins — the interior of the gate where Magic Crafting could be obtained.
"There's something strangely off about this place."
Ji Yeon-ha glanced around.
"It looks like an advanced civilization's city, but… I've never seen an architectural style like this before."
"That's because it's not from the world we came from."
This was a city built upon mana and gears.
"This world was where the civilization of magitech blossomed."
Magitech — in other words, a world where mana existed innately and the crafting of artifacts was possible.
That was precisely how a city with such a unique atmosphere had come to be.
"Huh? A butterfly!"
Ah Seo-ah reached her hand out toward a butterfly flitting around nearby.
"It's so pretty! The pattern looks almost man-made!"
"It is man-made."
"Huh? What do you—"
Observing the butterfly perched on her hand, Ah Seo-ah jerked back and shrieked.
"GYAAAAH! I-It's a machine! There's a CAMERA in its eyes!"
Every living animal in this city had already gone extinct.
All that remained were creatures like that butterfly, their entire bodies replaced with mechanical parts.
"Ugh… I already hate it here…."
Ah Seo-ah shooed the butterfly away with a whimper.
Meanwhile, I expanded my field of vision and surveyed the city.
The clear condition for this place was breaking through the Hall of Magic at the city's center.
Getting close to it is the first objective.
That alone was no easy task, though. The city was absurdly massive, the vegetation that had swallowed it made travel painfully slow — and above all, hostile mechanical lifeforms lurked on all sides.
The one silver lining —
— was that the plants didn't grow all the way up into the sky.
"Everyone, hold on tight."
"Huh?"
"What, now?"
Head tilted in confusion, the two of them grabbed my arms as instructed.
"Come out, Moss."
WHOOOONG!
"GRUUAAAH-!"
A colossal dragon's spirit body burst forth from my shadow.
Moss hoisted us onto his back and launched straight into the sky.
"WHOOOAAAA-!"
"A-A DRAGON?!"
Ji Yeon-ha stared at me with an expression of pure disbelief.
"How on earth do you keep a dragon as a summoned creature?!"
"Now, now — you haven't forgotten our contract, have you?"
The subordinate does not question the master, nor does the subordinate ask questions.
When I invoked the terms of our agreement, Ji Yeon-ha bowed her head and muttered under her breath.
"The more I learn about you, the more questions I end up with…."
Beneath us, the sweeping vista of a vast engineering city unfolded.
An ecosystem of magitech creatures intertwined with green forest. It was, in its own way, a magnificent sight.
"Don't get too relaxed, you two."
I said it offhandedly.
"We're about to have some company."
"Some company?"
"Speak of the devil — there they come now."
I extended a finger toward something hurtling toward us from the distance.
A body and wings of intricate machinery. Forelegs resembling an eagle's, and a body like a lion's.
"Is that a griffin?!"
More precisely, it was a guardian device — a Guardian — built with the griffin as its model.
Guardians of all shapes and forms were flying toward us in unison.
CLANK!
The mechanical clatter spread like the roar of a wave, and every Guardian's gaze locked onto us.
"Well, then."
HWA-ROK!
I raised Karma Flame into my hand as I spoke.
"Let the gate raid begin!"
"Huhhh?!"
Ah Seo-ah let out a gob-smacked sound and turned her head — and at almost the same instant, a Guardian unleashed a barrage of mana cannons.
FUBUBUBUBUNG!
"Nngh! I can't keep track of anything anymore!"
Ah Seo-ah swiftly deployed a shield and blocked the attack. As expected, when it came to magic alone, the girl could more than hold her own.
"You earn your keep."
I shaped the Karma Flame I had raised into the form of a spear.
"Flame Soul Javelin."
Then I layered Fenrir's authority on top of it.
[Resonance: Bleeding Strike]
The Flame Soul Javelin shimmered blood-red and transformed into the shape of an arrow.
"Blood Soul Arrow."
KWAJIK! FWOONG!
Three arrows shot forth at a terrifying velocity and blew the Guardians apart. Caught in the explosions, more Guardians crumbled and crashed down to the ground.
"Stay careful, everyone — it's dangerous up here."
Ji Yeon-ha spread a dense mantle of mana wide and readied her spells.
[Chain Lightning]
[Hell Fire]
[Ice Spear]
[Wind Cannon]
Four spells being constructed simultaneously.
"She's quad-casting that casually…?!"
Ah Seo-ah's eyes sparkled as she drank in the sight of Ji Yeon-ha.
ZZZT-KRAK! FWOOSH! HSSSS! WHOOOM!
Four spells fired off together, sweeping away a whole crowd of Guardians in a single stroke.
Come to think of it, every spell she'd chosen was one optimized for dealing with multiple enemies at once.
The sheer power of her magic is one thing, but this woman had an extraordinary instinct for this kind of thing. More than half of that horde of Guardians had just been swept away by that one barrage.
"Hm. Couldn't finish them all off, though."
"Doesn't matter — they'll just keep getting replenished."
As many as Ji Yeon-ha had felled, new Guardians appeared to fill the gaps.
CLANK! GRRRRK!
Mana rounds and arrows being loaded. Hundreds of attacks came pouring down like rain all at once.
"Hngh!"
Ah Seo-ah barely held her balance and deployed her magic.
[High Mana Barrier]
[Reflect]
A double cast. A round shield wreathed in the power of reflection magic formed in the air, deflecting every last attack. The redirected mana rounds struck back at the Guardians in turn.
"A double cast in THIS situation, and on top of that, applied Reflect over a mana barrier? You're quite the capable little mage, aren't you?"
"Ah…! Th-thank you…."
Praised by Ji Yeon-ha, Ah Seo-ah flashed a smug grin.
"But even with all this, their numbers don't seem to be shrinking."
The rate at which new Guardians were being replenished was nearly outpacing the rate at which we felled them. At this pace, Moss couldn't pick up speed even if he wanted to.
I need to carve a path in one go.
If only we could clear those things out of the way, Moss could accelerate in a single burst and punch through.
"I'll wipe them out in one strike."
As it happened, I had a technique perfect for dealing with crowds.
I invoked Dragon Humanification and shifted into my half-dragon form — scales like a suit of armor, and a proud pair of wings.
"And just what in the world is THAT…?!"
Before Ji Yeon-ha could even finish her sentence, I spread my wings and flew into the sky. The practice I'd put in had made flying fairly comfortable by now.
SHUUUUUUNG!
Wind rushed past my ears, filling them with a roar. As I closed in on the Guardians, their heads swiveled to track me.
My mana is overflowing.
In this state, I could unleash it more completely than ever before.
"Spear God's Wild Dance."
The second dance of the spear.
"Heaven-Soaking Moonlight Rain Dance."
Condensed violet mana stretched out toward the flock of Guardians — then split down the middle into two streams, then split again into four.
ZZZT-KZZK! ZUZUZUZU!
Splitting, and splitting again — until at last a single attack became hundreds, then thousands.
A boundless rain of falling spears.
KUGUGUGUGUGU-!
And that piercing barrage repeated, over and over again. Hundreds of millions of streaks of light poured down onto the Guardians.
FUBUBUBUNG! POONG!
KWADDEUK!
The extreme power born when dragon mana met the spear dance. The moment even a single slender thread of mana so much as grazed a Guardian, its body crumpled and broke apart.
"Th-they're going down!"
Ah Seo-ah cried out, eyes round.
"The machine freaks are getting wiped out!"
No matter how numerous the Guardians were, they couldn't outnumber the rain. The moment the spear dance unfolded, Guardians by the dozen were shredded apart, and a gap opened in their formation.
Soon it had thinned enough for Moss to burst through, and —
"Ah! That way…!"
Ji Yeon-ha, catching on to my plan, hurriedly cast the right spells.
[Haste]
[Over Drive]
Two acceleration buffs layered onto Moss. A green-tinted wind and red flames lightened his wings.
"Go! Moss!"
"GRAAAAAAAAAH!"
KWOONG!
Moss beat his wings powerfully and shot forward at what felt like the speed of a launched missile, tearing out of the Guardians' formation in one bound and onto a clear path.
Except — there was one problem.
Carving the path was all well and good…
— but I couldn't keep up with him. I was already a clumsier flier than Moss, and I had no buff magic of my own either.
I could just slow down for a bit, right?
DEOLKOK! GRRRRK…!
New Guardians were already coming. If I slowed down now, I'd almost certainly be swallowed back into their formation.
"Nothing for it but to chase him down, then!"
I concentrated everything into my wings and flew at my absolute top speed. Just as I barely managed to close the distance, a blue steel chain appeared before my eyes.
"Grab hold!"
A chain forged from Ji Yeon-ha's mana. The moment I seized it, it shot toward me like a serpent and coiled tightly around my body.
"Connected!"
"Got it!"
At Ji Yeon-ha's command, Ah Seo-ah took hold of the chain.
"PUUUULLLL!"
The chain cinched around me as I was hauled toward them, little by little.
"Just a biiiiit more…!"
"GRRGH!"
After a desperate, straining pull — I finally landed on Moss's back.
"Good work, everyone. Nicely done."
"HUUAAH! That was exhausting…."
"Yeah… I'm starting to think physical exertion really isn't for me…."
The two mages flopped down and groaned.
And we'd barely done anything. Both of them were drenched in sweat already.
"GRAAH-!"
Moss flew on with even greater vigor —
toward the Hall, drawing ever closer.