Hell Week (4): Trauma the World

"Y-You... h-human... J-Just what the hell are you...?!"

Priest Karim, the boss of the third floor of the Black Pyramid, gasped out those words to the woman who had utterly crushed him and was now straddling him on top.

"Shut up. And for the record, I'm not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠human."

"Wh-What...!?"

Now that he thought about it, those ears... No way, an elf!?

Karim couldn't hide his shock as he took in the woman's appearance—especially her ears. Pointed ears, the unmistakable mark of an elf.

"A living elf...!?"

The reason for Karim's extreme shock was simple: elves were an ancient race that had long since vanished from the world. For one to appear right in front of him like this, his reaction was only natural.

"Hmph. I'd prefer if you didn't lump me in with your run-of-the-mill elves. I'm a high elf."

"A h-high elf!? That's impossible! There might be a few surviving elves out there somewhere, but high elves? No way!"

High elves were a superior race even among elves, known as the guardians of the World Tree. They were the royal bloodline of elves, said to be children crafted directly by the World Tree itself. But it was common knowledge that their line had died out with the death of the last high elf princess, Elisis, before the elves disappeared entirely...

"That appearance... Could it be..."

Karim's words trailed off. The woman had hurled her spear straight at his life vessel, shattering it.

"Who gave you the right to utter that name with your filthy mouth?"

She brushed herself off like she was shaking off dust and stood up, then extracted some kind of red gem from Karim's body.

"Retrieval complete."

The woman polished the red gem before slipping it into her pocket. She started to leave the Black Pyramid but suddenly froze, sensing something.

"This presence... Someone's come in?"

Someone had entered the Black Pyramid. No—several someones.

"About four of them? Come to think of it, that idiot Yuda mentioned something about Elan Academy's Hell Week kicking off."

A wicked grin curled at the corner of her lips.

"Plenty of time left. Might as well have some fun."

Our party passed through the entrance of the Black Pyramid and descended the stairs into the first floor...

"What the hell is this?"

"They're all dead?"

"Wh-What happened here?"

Black Wind, Erara Rururu, and Lien Astray Argano grimaced at the gruesome scene, while I...

Someone got here before us?

I eyed the mummy men— the first-floor monsters of the Black Pyramid—scattered everywhere.

Another party with a similar mission? Nah. No way they'd go this far.

Mummy men were slow movers. And the Black Pyramid wasn't really a dungeon where you needed to fight much anyway. Even academy students who knew that and got the same mission wouldn't slaughter them like this.

Every single one has a hole punched through its chest?

All the mummy men's chests had been torn open, like someone was searching for something inside.

Who the hell would do this?

Not academy students—a third party? But during Hell Week, Liv Roth Astaroth's barrier sealed off the entire region to outsiders. Sneaking in would mean evading her eyes, which should be impossible...

Unless that third party was strong enough to dodge Liv's detection.

"Let's head deeper for now. Standing around won't solve anything."

"Yeah, Ijun's right."

"Got it."

"O-Okay."

We decided to push forward. Trekking through a road of mummy corpses for a while, we reached the first-floor boss area. There stood the open stairs to the second floor—and right in front, the mangled corpse of the first-floor boss, the Mummy Man Captain.

"One-shot, looks like. Chest pierced clean through."

Black Wind judged from the wound right in the center of the Mummy Man Captain's body. Even to my eyes, it screamed instant kill.

"Probably a spear user. To drop the captain in one hit—who could do that?"

Judging by the wound's size and traces, it had to be a spear master. A high-level one, at that.

And those traces again.

Just like with the mummy men, the wound had been rummaged through, like searching for something.

A high-level spear master... with a clear goal in mind...

I started racking my brain. Anyone in my memories matching that? Flipping through my mental archives, one candidate popped up.

Philipp...? No, Elisis.

Elisis Mayer Greenwood, the fifth apostle of Muksirok, just like Yuda Iscariot. A high elf by race. The high elf princess, known in legends as long dead. Her weapon of choice? A spear, uncharacteristic for an elf.

Why would an elf, a race of light, serve Muksirok, worshippers of the dark Satan? Not because she's a devil worshipper. Elisis's goal is the revival of the World Tree and her kin.

If it's really her, this could be a headache.

Elisis was on a whole other level compared to Yuda. As a high elf above regular elves, her spirit affinity was insane. She's contracted with the Wind Spirit King Sylphien, and a illusionist wielding the Abl Illusion through Vil Wish. Combat skills? Perfect. Utility? Perfect. A total monster of a woman.

I could take her, but the Wind Spirit King is one thing—the illusions are the problem.

I could shake off illusions myself, but the others? Erara would be fine; her spirit tribe traits grant mental immunity. Black Wind's tough enough. But Lien...

Lien seems to have low mental resistance.

From what I'd observed, Lien was mentally unstable. I didn't know her full story, but she always seemed anxious, trembling on the edge.

Still, it's just a hunch about Elisis.

Better safe than sorry, though.

As my party witnessed the same carnage on the second floor and stepped into the third, Elisis sensed it and sprang into action.

"Two guys, two girls—sounds ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fun. Time to show you your traumas."

Elisis's Abl Illusion activated, and black mist began enveloping my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠party as we entered the third floor.

Huh?

I frowned at the glitching alert window.

"Guess it is Elisis. But what's with this?"

No clue why it errored out. I scanned our surroundings.

"Ijun, what the hell's going on? Black Wind and Lien collapsed!"

"Illusion debuff. Probably that same bastard who cleared the first and second floors."

"What? The one who wiped those monsters is an illusionist? Then they're the villain."

Erara called them a villain upon realizing it was illusion magic for a simple reason: mental abilities were taboo on the continent. Outside of Dean Liv at the academy, anyone using them got wanted by the Holy Kingdom and Empire. That's why Erara labeled Elisis a bad guy.

"The caster's nearby. And if I'm right, not your average illusionist."

"Gotta stay sharp, then."

I and Erara went on high alert.

"I... I'm... Aaaargh!!!!"

"I-Ijun. Something's wrong with Lien?"

"Huh?"

I turned at Erara's urgent voice. Black energy rippled as Lien began to rise. But it didn't look like she'd snapped out of it.

"I'm... Lina? No, Lien? No, Lina? No, Lien? No, Lina?"

What the hell did the illusion show her?

This... felt like pure shit hitting the fan.