Chapter 131
Chapter 131
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 131
Chapter Title: The Prisoner
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A building that almost certainly housed black mages.
It stood with its back to a towering cliff, giving it the appearance of a fortress.
Then again, that meant they had no escape route either. All he had to do was eliminate them one by one from the front.
*With the dark mana flowing from that building, I can fight without worry.*
Just as Loan was calculating his odds of victory.
The archbishop had just finished softly reciting a prayer to the Great Mother God.
"I never imagined such a wicked place could exist. And so openly, at that."
Indeed. Its location on the snowy mountain made it stand out even more.
The structure itself was too perfectly angular to look like an ordinary building.
He could guess it wasn't an existing structure built for residence, but a new one erected for a special purpose.
"Even for black mages, this is a bit much. Either they're overly confident in their abilities and trying to lure outsiders in, or there's a reason they had to paint it that color."
Fabian nodded in response to Loan's telepathic message.
"I've heard that magic involves various conditions and constraints. I suppose black magic is no different?"
"The type of mana used differs, but the fundamentals are likely similar. I found some common ground in that respect with a demon I met before."
"Ha, haha. Common ground with a demon, you say."
"In an academic sense."
That sounded even stranger, forcing Fabian to let out another hollow laugh.
Loan spoke.
"By the way, is it easy to access the Path of Penance from here? It seems so remote."
"The Path of Penance leading to the temple branches into many pilgrimage routes, following the footsteps of the apostles. In fact, they spread throughout all of Xion."
"I see."
"The White Peak Mountains block the way, but if one can cross them, it might actually be closer than where you joined from the northwest, Lord Loan."
The two slowly approached the black building, speculating on the possible routes of the black mages or the fallen ascetic.
The snowfall occasionally intensified, erasing their footprints in those brief moments, making it difficult to find any artificial tracks, let alone the path itself.
They could only navigate because Loan could read mana and Fabian could sense energy to a comparable degree.
Given how difficult it was, he could somewhat understand why they had left it so exposed.
But the real problem began when they arrived near the building.
No matter how hard the two of them looked with their sharp eyes, they couldn't see an entrance.
It just looked like a perfectly cut block of black stone.
Moreover, the dark mana was so dense that they couldn't discern any individual movements inside.
How should they get in? Should they lie in wait for Brien's group or the fallen ascetic to appear?
As they were both pondering this, Loan suddenly summoned Aul.
"Aul?"
Aul, who had briefly taken flight as if fascinated by the pure white world, spotted Fabian's head and fluttered down to settle there.
It then diligently began to fix the hair that had been blown to one side by the wind.
Loan spoke to the somewhat fussy-looking Aul.
"No, I was hoping you could help."
He then explained the situation.
Aul put on a serious expression, a stark contrast to its body, which was now comfortably nestled in the hair-nest.
"Aul..."
Finally, as if having made a great decision, Aul nodded firmly and shivered.
Shaking the snowflakes from its crown feathers, Aul took to the air and began circling the black building, gradually widening its search area.
"Aul!"
Then it stopped in one spot and began flapping its wings.
It was about halfway up the cliff, and upon closer inspection, it wasn't just a sheer wall.
What they had thought was a simple stratum was actually a naturally formed path following the grain of the rock.
It was a difficult optical illusion to notice.
With the added layer of snow, it would have been nearly impossible to spot unless you were looking down from above, like Aul.
After getting as close as possible, Fabian shook his head.
"I truly had no idea there was a path. It's like magic. Nature is so mysterious."
"Yes. I'd believe it if you told me it was a high-level barrier spell."
After Aul settled back into its hair-nest, Loan and Fabian cautiously began to climb the sloping path.
They remained vigilant, but they couldn't sense any living creatures other than themselves.
The path, which zigzagged up the cliff, gradually led into the snowy mountain's interior.
They didn't stop even as they passed through tunnels of stone or ice, confident that this path would surely lead to the black building.
Fortunately, their intuition was correct.
They both stopped walking at the same time.
A dead end appeared in the distance.
Two figures in thick bearskin coats stood guard in front of it, still too far away to sense Loan and Fabian's presence.
But if they continued walking, the guards would notice them before they could close the distance.
And it wasn't as if they would obediently open the door.
"They're black mages. That door must be connected to the black building."
Nodding at the archbishop's words, Loan extended his [Barrier of Perception] toward the mirror-like ice walls on either side.
*Vreeee—*
The barrier, which should have spread out like a spiderweb, instead reflected off the ice, bouncing back and forth repeatedly.
Forming a dense, diamond-shaped pattern, the barrier extended toward the dead-end door, reading every trace of dark mana in its path.
There were no other guards up to the door.
Only those two stood before it.
He couldn't feel enough magical power from the door itself to be concerned.
Still, he waited a little longer.
*With a sense of tension rather than anticipation...*
In case the guards were linked to the door. In case it served as some kind of alarm or notification system.
After checking thoroughly, Loan concluded that he didn't need to worry about that either.
"We just need to take care of those two."
He placed one hand on the ground.
One of the best spells for killing an opponent before they could react was [Bone Spikes].
It involved sharp stone pillars with the earth attribute shooting up from the ground to impale the target, but this place was far stronger in the water attribute than earth.
So, naturally.
"..."
It had to be spikes of ice that instantly killed the two black mages.
He even suppressed the vibrations of his vocal cords, determined not to allow even the slightest sound.
"Let's go."
It happened in an instant.
The archbishop marveled inwardly as he glided behind Loan.
"Hah, this is quite large."
Up close, the door was even bigger than he had thought.
It didn't seem to be for show, though, as its size felt a bit ambiguous for that purpose.
*It feels like it was deliberately made to move something.*
It was time to go inside and see what that "something" was.
Suddenly sensing a presence behind him, he turned to see the archbishop stripping the fur coats from the two fallen black mages.
"Are you planning to disguise us?"
"It would be best to postpone fighting them for as long as possible. It would be even better if we can first fully ascertain what they're doing and what they're plotting."
Loan agreed with the archbishop's thinking.
He only hesitated slightly due to matters of hygiene and style.
He was especially hesitant about having to wear the bear-head hat.
"Their blood froze instantly, which is convenient. The clothes are clean."
"Is that so..."
Fortunately, it was true.
Thankful to himself for the clean attack, Loan donned the bearskin and pressed the two bodies against the side walls, concealing them with ice.
This created bulging sections in the ice walls, but they didn't look out of place.
"You're applying the optical illusion effect again."
"Ah, it's a habit of mine to use what I've learned."
The two examined each other's attire and confirmed there were no issues.
The archbishop was shorter than the original black mage, and the coat nearly dragged on the floor, but fortunately, Aul, perched in its hair-nest, made him a little taller so the coat fit.
The proportions were a bit strange, though.
*Groooaaan—*
After opening the door, things went more smoothly than expected.
There were no guards just inside, and the people they passed while walking down the tunnel-like path didn't seem to find them strange.
Having traversed this treacherous path themselves, they could fully understand why the inhabitants were so relaxed.
"It must be hard for them to imagine an intruder."
"Yes, I think so."
Therefore, simply shrouding themselves in Convection filled with the ambient dark mana was disguise enough.
As a bonus, the archbishop inside the Convection could breathe as comfortably as the Faith Division seniors.
Noticing this, Fabian expressed his gratitude to Loan.
"I feel like I'm only receiving help, making my own resolve to be tense seem pointless."
"Don't mention it. There's no harm in being cautious."
Loan remained careful, just as he'd said.
The first reason was that the interior was larger than expected, and the second was that his widely spread [Barrier of Perception] had detected a considerable number of individuals.
"There seem to be dozens of black mages. And a significant number of ordinary people, too."
The archbishop responded to Loan's telepathic message with a look.
The two headed in the direction where they presumed the ordinary people were.
The number of people coming and going increased.
It was hard to say whether this would make them more suspicious or safer.
They followed the flow of others as naturally as possible, when suddenly.
A rather loud voice emerged from the crowd gathered in the direction they were heading.
"Bring the next applicants. Hey, you two over there."
The black mage who had been giving orders to the group pointed at Loan and Fabian and continued.
"You two go with them. If anyone changes their mind, take care of them."
Loan answered reflexively.
"Understood!"
And so, they found themselves unexpectedly following the black mages.
"If they're applicants..."
"I suppose so."
They arrived at the place they had anticipated.
It didn't have the atmosphere of a holding facility.
Unlike the other areas, it was a rather comfortable space, and most of the people gathered there in small groups were pilgrims.
He could tell by the seashells hanging around their necks.
For a moment, he felt a strange ripple within the Convection—an energy created as the archbishop steadied his wavering heart.
He spoke.
"At least they don't seem to be captives brought here by force."
The pilgrims' bodies and minds seemed excessively at ease.
It was partly because they were already intoxicated by the dark mana, their minds considerably broken, but the decisive factor was likely the lavish treatment they received after arriving here from the Path of Penance.
It was a pity they had succumbed to temptation, but it was too late to change their minds now.
One of the black mages who had entered the room first began to call out names.
"Lord Erwin, Lord Joseph, Lord Eric..."
After calling the pilgrims with honorifics, he added congratulations on their stepping onto the path to a better life.
The overjoyed pilgrims reminded him of the children at the shelter, but Loan held back.
Now was not the time.
"Shall we watch a little longer?"
As Fabian suggested, they needed to find out what kind of magic Brien had used to turn the pilgrims into fallen ascetics.
They had to confirm how the entities that emitted dark mana were created.
"Shall we go, then?"
Loan and Fabian followed the guide at the very back of the group.
It was a maze-like space, like an ant colony, but it was clear they were heading toward the black building.
The dark mana was growing denser.
And with it, a murmuring song.
"Ugh..."
Heard telepathically, the archbishop's groan felt somehow heavier.
They arrived with the pilgrims at the front, and as expected, it was the black building.
The interior was also a single, pitch-black space.
And beneath the torches that dimly lit the surroundings, black mages lined the walls, singing to welcome the pilgrims.
He could easily tell it was the demonic tongue.
"They're welcoming them. And celebrating their reception."
"Reception?"
"Yes, I believe they're referring to that thing you're looking at."
The floor sloped gently downward.
In the center of the lowest part of the hall, a murky green light was forming a shape.
An inverted pentagon.
It was the same shape he had seen in the shelter's annex.
And in the very center of the figure.
"A demon, you mean."
"Yes."
There was a demon.
It looked large even while lying down.
It was certainly smaller than Naberius from the underground city, but compared to the other demons he had met, it was quite large.
The awkwardly sized entrance was probably because of this demon.
Within its physique, which resembled both an inverted star and a starfish, ears, hands, eyes, feet, mouths, and noses were jumbled together haphazardly.
"So they too were instigated by a demon..."
Loan refuted Fabian's words.
"No, Archbishop. The magic circle on the floor is a barrier restraining its body."
"What?"
"That thing is captured."
The black mages had imprisoned a demon.
