Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Teia Mountains Unsealed
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The Teia Mountains, managed by the Schubert family. Human access was restricted, allowing a wide variety of magical beasts to thrive there.
Nearby knight orders sometimes used it as a training ground with the family's permission, but lately even that was rarely approved.
During the civil war, Rubia seized control of the area. She had her eyes on the ancient civilization ruins nestled in the mountains.
In the process, three volumes of the Book of Hell were discovered as well. Rubia saw no great value in unreadable ancient tomes and handed them over to Damian without issue.
“There are quite a few such ruins in the Teia Mountains. I’ve heard Lord Damian has a strong interest in archaeology.”
To the public, Damian was known as someone who collected ancient books out of personal curiosity. It was the simplest explanation.
After about half an hour by carriage, guards blocked the road. Their chests bore the Schubert family crest.
“It’s Damian Renekht.”
Did it even need explaining? His face was already well-known, and recent events had skyrocketed his notoriety to levels incomparable to before.
Normally, entry required tedious procedures, but direct family members faced no such restrictions. Not when another direct descendant vouched for them.
With Anna and Felix seeing them off, the two ventured into the mountains. The terrain wasn’t treacherous, but with no human paths, they had to follow game trails.
“The ruins Lord Damian mentioned are this way. I’ve spotted a few while passing through here myself.”
He already knew the location but had asked Agnes to guide him.
It would invite needless suspicion if Damian, visiting the Teia Mountains for the first time today, knew the lay of the land inside out.
The place where Agnes had trained alone for two years was none other than the heart of the Teia Mountains. She knew the area like the back of her hand.
They soon arrived at the ruins in question. A half-ruined stone structure contained stairs leading underground.
The style resembled the imperial tower ruins yet felt subtly different.
The light from the entrance wasn’t enough to make out the surroundings, so Damian pulled a lantern from his subspace pouch.
“…There’s nothing here.”
Just as Agnes said, the interior was completely empty. Even with restricted access, there was no reason looters wouldn’t hit such an obvious site.
Leaving Agnes, who was poking at the moss with a puzzled tilt of her head, Damian stood before a wall carved with an unusual tree.
Its roots stretched toward the sky, branches toward the earth. An orb wrapped in those roots bore unknown runes.
Placing his hand there, he felt a mana flow that had persisted for ages.
Unlike the mana-blocking stone in the abandoned tower. If that had been meant for a “test,” this was clearly for “sealing.”
Hence, it bore a special magic that no ordinary black magician could unravel.
Fortunate or unfortunate, the first time Damian visited, the greatest mage of the era had been at his side. Rubia de Clarent, whom he loathed to his core.
-Come on, follow after me. Like this, like this. Hehe. Your skin’s tingling. Is it because of my body heat?
The horrific memory sent chills racing across his entire body. Even Agnes, watching from afar, grew concerned.
Hoo. Damian took a deep breath and placed his fingers on the tree pattern. It was a memory he desperately wanted to erase from his mind, but there was no other way to break the seal before him.
Wooong. A blue light flickered at his fingertips. One of the few spells Damian could cast—and even that he couldn’t sustain for long.
He had more aptitude for it than for auras, but his talent as a mage was just as dismal.
Still, understanding the seal’s principle meant he didn’t need much mana to undo it.
The light detached from his fingertips and danced over the wooden carving, almost like it was drawing pictures or writing letters.
“This is…?”
Agnes had drawn near at some point, staring intently at the light’s movements.
Fwaaah! Suddenly, light poured from the tree pattern. The wall shuddered and parted, revealing a new passage.
Unlike the outside, there were no signs of human interference. That made sense—no one had broken the seal before Rubia arrived.
“Let’s go inside.”
Damian took the first step, and Agnes followed.
“Seeing something like this really shows how useful magic can be outside of combat.”
Agnes peppered him with questions, from how he’d developed an interest in archaeology to how he’d undone that seal.
She’d thought his mind was entirely consumed by the sword, yet here he was, curious about things like this.
But Damian lacked the energy to answer sincerely. The spell he’d just cast had left him quite fatigued.
And all it had done was create a tiny orb of light. His poor skill and efficiency had consumed far more mana than expected.
“W-Was it because of what I did earlier…?”
Agnes’s face clouded with worry. She feared it was from her using aura during their spar.
“It’s just the dust. I’m a bit dizzy, that’s all.”
“Wait a moment.”
Agnes pressed close to his side and offered her shoulder.
“This should make it a little easier.”
Agnes was tall for a woman, but still shorter than Damian, who had shot up over the past two years.
His body naturally leaned toward her.
“…Doesn’t it smell?”
Her slightly sweat-dampened hair swayed before his eyes. She wore no perfume, so her natural scent was unavoidable—but it wasn’t unpleasant.
If anything, Damian preferred this subtle aroma over heavy fragrances. A faint influence from his mother’s features now, perhaps.
With Agnes’s support, they pressed deeper. It really did help.
Before long, they entered a vast open space. The furnishings weren’t much different from the previous area, but this one felt more meticulously crafted, as if it were the real deal.
“To think something like this was here…”
Gold coins from an indeterminable era piled high on the floor, scattered haphazardly with jewelry atop them.
Damian ignored them. Ancient magic artifacts would be another story, but these were just ordinary treasures.
His gaze went straight to a small shelf. Ancient tomes sat there: two Mem volumes and one He.
“Um…”
Agnes’s lips parted hesitantly. He could guess why.
This was Schubert territory, after all. Artifacts unearthed here belonged to the family, and the patriarch decided their fate.
Her uncle was someone she wanted dead on sight, but reporting this to him was the right thing to do. Yet without Damian, they wouldn’t have found the chamber at all.
Torn between choices, she wavered.
She really was steadfast. At their first meeting in the ballroom after his regression, he’d found it annoying—but now, oddly, the corner of Damian’s mouth twitched upward.
“Reporting to the patriarch comes first, I suppose. Oh, and if the Schubert family doesn’t need these ancient tomes, could you hand them over to me?”
“Y-Yes! I’ll speak to him about it.”
With treasures like these piled up, would they risk their lives over three worn books?
Especially considering his relationship with Damian, the patriarch wouldn’t refuse.
No more business in the Teia Mountains. Damian and Agnes headed back to the surface to call porters for the loot.
That was when it happened.
“Hold up—stop.”
The ground trembled faintly, vibrations rippling through. Startled birds burst into flight, and beasts scurried away.
“It’s an ogre.”
Agnes grimaced as she spoke. She could smell its distinctive stench even from afar.
The two headed toward the source. Soon, a massive silhouette appeared beyond the brush.
“Grrrrr.”
One hand gripped a wooden club, the other hoisted an entire deer, which it chewed on.
‘Why here?’
Ogres were powerful magical beasts typically found deep in the Teia Mountains. Yet one had appeared near the entrance.
It wouldn’t have pushed through competitors to reach here. Nor did it seem like one freshly exiled from its pack mid-meal.
Bone jewelry dangled from it, and though crude, metal studs reinforced the club. It didn’t look low in the hierarchy.
“Grooo.”
Sensing their presence, the ogre tossed the deer aside and turned toward them.
It didn’t charge immediately, instead assessing the situation—signs of high intelligence.
‘A trap?’
As Damian pondered, Agnes drew her sword and stepped forward.
“Please stay here, Lord Damian. I’ll handle it quickly.”
“Too rash…!”
In cases like this, observe first. His pre-regression experience and Derek’s teachings had drilled that in.
He reached to stop her, but it was too late—only a footprint remained in the dirt.
Kwachik! The sound followed. Agnes launched at the ogre, which bellowed and swung its massive club wildly.
“Krroooo!!”
A superhuman versus a magical beast. Their clashes weren’t confined to the fighters; the surroundings suffered too.
Clang! Clang! Each sword-club impact rang like an explosion felt through the skin, not the ears.
The intangible energies they unleashed shook the earth, splintered trees at the base, and toppled them.
A wide clearing formed in the Teia Mountains in no time.
“Woo! Woo! Woooooo!”
It looked even at first, but the tide slowly turned toward Agnes.
She read her opponent’s rhythm now, dodging strikes by a hair’s breadth instead of clashing blades, closing the distance.
Once aura matures, it takes on personal traits.
Agnes’s aura trait was 『Sword Dance』. With sword in hand, her movements transcended technique into art.
Reading the ogre’s breath, subtle muscle twitches, and gaze direction, she calculated feasible moves and chose the highest-probability one.
Her battle-hardened body had the prowess to execute it.
The dance’s finale: Agnes’s blade carved deep into the ogre’s forearm.
“Kweeeee!!”
Enraged, the ogre smashed its club down from overhead.
But Agnes spun in place, evading effortlessly. The ground cratered instead.
The one-sided beatdown continued.
Dancing the 『Sword Dance』, Agnes toyed with the ogre’s heavy blows, dodging while accumulating wounds, wearing it down.
Ogres boasted immense vitality and absurd regeneration.
Stab what you think is a vital spot, and it counters—Damian had nearly died that way once.
Slowly, steadily constrict. Like a spider’s web tightening. Push it to the brink, then end it.
“Krroooo…….”
It didn’t take Agnes long to sever the ogre’s neck.
‘False alarm?’
No anomalies occurred. Agnes shrugged at Damian, as if to say it was needless worry.
Gooooo. The translucent aura faded. Her mana-heated body cooled.
That instant.
Shiiik—!
“Agnes!!”
He shouted, but the wind-cutting whistle was faster.
“Uh…”
An arrow buried in her waist. Agnes’s body lurched sideways.
“L-Lord Damian… r-run…”
Her eyes slowly closing, she couldn’t finish before collapsing.