Jackpot

Swish—

Dust trickled from the ceiling.

The workshop had been filled with gas, amplifying the firepower of the flame explosion mine even further.

"Master! I see a body over there!"

Holy knight corpses lay neatly aligned like signposts.

They hadn't seemed so gruesome when viewed through the skeleton miner's eyes, but seeing them up close made it even worse.

'The armor's melted?'

The silver plate armor bore clear signs of melting.

Not just scorch marks from fire—actual melting.

It looked like they'd been doused in strong acid.

'Do higher undead or special entities use acid-laced attacks?'

I gauged the enemy roughly from the holy knight's corpse.

We shouldn't run into them, but it never hurt to prepare for the worst.

"Theo-nim! I've grabbed all the usable parts!"

While I assessed the foe, Lena had rifled through the holy knight's belongings and collected anything worthwhile.

In the meantime, Camilla kept watch around us, discreetly decapitating a few lesser undead.

Even undead seemed powerless once separated from their heads and torsos.

This was our first time fighting as a trio, yet roles had fallen into place automatically.

They didn't seem immediately useful, but they might come in handy for crafting later, so I collected them.

The rest had dissolved in the acid, unrecognizable and worthless.

"Camilla, we're done here. Let's go!"

Camilla returned, glancing at the dead holy knight before muttering to herself.

"Mm-hmm, human undead! Acid attacks effective. Memo!"

Her playful tone almost made me laugh it off, but instead, a chill ran down my spine.

'She wasn't even thinking of fighting holy knights... She's lost her mind.'

I'd considered undead as enemies but unconsciously excluded holy knights.

That was a mistake.

'Can't get complacent just because they're human...'

I needed to guard against that carelessness.

On the battlefield, nothing was trustworthy.

Only myself.

Camilla had snapped me back to reality.

"Theo-nim! I think it's here!"

As I reflected, we'd arrived where the mana circuits converged.

The smooth wall bore no decorations.

Camilla tilted her head at the spot where we'd stopped.

"Lena-unnie? What's supposed to be here?"

Unable to see mana circuits, it looked like an ordinary wall to Camilla.

Even an SS-rank assassin sensed nothing from it.

"Camilla, do you feel anything beyond the wall? Like empty space?"

"Hmm... nothing to feel. It's just a wall! Wall! Should I grab some skullheads to dig into it?"

"Those guys probably failed at that and ended up creating floors 2 and 3."

Truth be told, I sensed nothing either.

I could see the mana circuits, but they were dark, unresponsive like dead lights.

'Maybe...'

I pulled the Magrid Emblem from my Deep Backpack and infused it with mana.

Normally, a map would appear.

But not this time.

"Theo-nim! The mana circuits!"

The dormant circuits resonated with the emblem, mana beginning to flow.

The mana I poured into the emblem acted like a key, infusing the wall's circuits.

Pop-pop-pop-pop—flash!

The circuits lighting up was good, but something unexpected happened.

Mana lamps flickered on one by one in the dark workshop.

"Whoa? Master! Lights out! Lights out!"

"Damn it, that wasn't me!"

"Uh-oh? This is bad..."

"Uh-oh? This is bad..."

Camilla created shadow clones.

One dashed off.

"Master! Undead are swarming! I'll buy us time!"

A double-locked chamber.

First, the emblem was needed; second, the seal had to be broken.

And it was hidden so well even an SS-rank assassin couldn't detect it.

'If I had time, I'd analyze each part... but no choice.'

No time for leisure.

First, break the seal.

Boom!

"What in the world?!"

"Fall back, Commander Petra! The retreat is blocked!"

"You vile scum... blowing up the escape route!"

Petra, clad in silver armor, swung her sword.

But the once-radiant silver plate no longer looked holy.

It had long been stained with enemy filth and unidentified black ooze.

Only the sacred light from her blade proved she was a holy knight.

Flash—

Each gleam of light cleaved the undead horde in half.

Despite the prolonged battle, Petra showed no fatigue.

But the other holy knights were different.

"Urghhh! Co-Commander Petra!"

Glowing blue eyes surrounded the holy knights endlessly.

Even those armed with pious faith faced soul-crushing despair.

But Commander Petra did not break.

"Our souls, sworn to the divine, have forgotten fear!"

Whoosh—

The holy knights' swords glowed in unison.

The flash blinded the undead, staggering them.

But only briefly.

Grrrrowl—

"Beware! A lich! We must retreat!"

A massive shadow stirred amid the mid-tier undead.

It was ghostly.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

A robed humanoid figure floated mid-air, wreathed in dark mana, robes billowing.

Rumble—

"A lich! How dare such a depraved being appear! Blasphemy!"

She empowered her sword with holy power.

But it seemed ineffective against the lich.

The lich even taunted her verbally.

"Fear us. Even in life, Seras could not touch us. Light-bearers, dread the darkness."

A grating, metal-scraping voice emanated from the lich's mouth.

The soul of a fallen mage who retained memories of life, voluntarily turned undead.

A depraved lich.

"If holy power fails..."

Petra hurled her sword.

Now she held a holy tome.

"Lord, my Lord Seras! Grant your servant the power to burn away darkness..."

The tome glowed.

Light spread from Petra, incinerating the undead.

But higher undead endured somewhat.

Boom!

The lich shrugged off the light indifferently.

Their movements quickened instead.

Screech—

Sizzle—

"Urk!"

A holy knight's armor tore.

A higher undead's claw sliced flesh.

"Death to the filthy heretics..."

A higher undead's spear pierced a holy knight's chest.

Blood sprayed like a fountain.

"Fall back! Everyone, fall back!"

Petra's desperate cry echoed.

But it was too late.

Slash—

Thud—

"Gah! Se-Seras... grant salvation..."

Another holy knight fell pointlessly.

Undead swarmed his corpse.

The undead legion moved without hesitation.

Rumble—

"Impossible... It was all a trap! You wicked fiends!"

Petra realized.

Something interfered with holy power.

They couldn't unleash it fully.

Higher undead immune to their strength.

And a lich supplying endless dark mana.

They'd fallen perfectly into the trap.

"You... were waiting for us."

Holy knights fell one by one.

Only Petra and two knights remained.

Then.

"Aaaah! M-my body won't move! G-gah!"

A black tentacle from the darkness pierced a holy knight's throat.

The special entity that claimed one victim on the first floor.

It had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠returned.

Gurgle—gurgle—grrrlug—

With eerie sounds, it revealed itself.

A massive eyeball clump.

A grotesque form where one giant eyeball was covered in tentacles forming eyelids.

"Even Seras's dogs are helpless before darkness! Bark like the dogs you are, light-bearers."

"You dare... utter Her name!"

Petra's tome glowed once more.

But the lich merely laughed.

Mockingly.

"Too late. Your vaunted goddess can't protect you."

The special entity's tentacles lashed out everywhere.

The last remaining holy knight fell helplessly.

Thud—thud—

"R-run... Commander... tell them... what happened..."

The final holy knight collapsed.

Now only Petra remained.

"For Seras!"

With Petra's scream, the tome tore apart.

Her body transformed into explosive light.

Boom!

In her final moment, a holy explosion fueled by her soul.

A noble sacrifice.

If it could guide the fallen to the light, her life was a small price.

But.

"Not a step outside our expectations, foolish slaves of light."

The lich laughed.

Higher undead layered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like walls.

The special entity's tentacles filled the gaps.

"I'm looking forward to your face when you rise as a death knight. Kehhehehe."

Petra could only face despair amid the fading light.

The message appeared, sequencing the process.

The seal was designed to unlock via mana purification, circulation, and conversion.

Conceptually similar to item crafting.

"Purify with Tears of Refinement."

I touched the first mana circuit while casting.

"Balance with Elemental Control..."

The second circuit reacted.

The weathered, broken circuit began reconstructing.

"Finally, twist into harmony with Guidance of Harmony?"

The final circuit lit up.

The wall rippled like water.

Shooo—

A rectangular crack formed on the blank wall, wind gusting out.

Internal air pressure equalizing, the wall dissolved like waves, revealing a passage.

'What magic is this? Is it even magic?'

No hunter-era memory matched this effect.

The system went silent after detection.

Insight of Discovery failed.

First time for everything.

'As expected... Magrid is Magrid.'

Expectations soared.

But no time to waste admiring Magrid tech.

I plunged into the opened space.

"Camilla! Follow!"

"Ooh! Magrid! Magrid! Coming!"

"Theo-nim! The door's closing!"

Rumble—

The door sealed shut once we were all inside.

"Well, now."

I was startled by the closing door, but a smile crept onto my face.

From inside, we could freely observe outside.

Like a mirror room—viewable one-way from within.

Jackpot.