Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: On a Mission
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Today was one of those days.
Madness surged from the very entrance of the ruins.
So much so that we had to raise our shields from the start.
There was a brief commotion, with some arguing it was too dangerous.
But the opinion that it was too much of a waste to give up on this, our final exploration, ultimately prevailed.
Lorraine had offered the exploration team a 1,000% bonus and enhanced shield magic.
And yet, this was the mess we were in.
Despite the enhanced shields and the soaring morale from the promise of a 1,000% bonus,
all of it became meaningless the moment we reached the ruins’ lowest level.
‘This feels really bad.’
Even I felt a considerable sense of unease from the subtle distortion of my senses and the growing nausea.
If I, who had achieved Metamorphosis, was feeling this way, it went without saying for my companions.
“Blech! Bleegh!”
Throwing up every five minutes was the least of their worries.
“A m-monster! When did it—!”
Some were so delirious they even swung their swords at their comrades.
Our exploration devolved into a crawl, maintaining a careful distance from one another in formation, each person watching the others.
Cold sweat dripped with every single step.
In the end,
I drew Vanroah.
The power of its Starmetal, which annihilated all things profane, cast a faint silver glow on our surroundings.
“Ah…”
“Huh?”
The faces of my companions, who had been pressing forward with gritted teeth, relaxed considerably.
They even started rolling their shoulders and stretching.
Whether they sensed it instinctively or not, the companions who had been walking at a distance began to creep closer to my side.
But that, too, was short-lived.
It was like being trapped in a pot with the temperature slowly rising.
The deeper we went, the more ragged their breathing became, and their cold sweat soaked the ground in torrents.
As if that wasn't grueling enough…
Those damn leeches.
The demonic creatures we'd named "Abyss Leeches" grew more numerous the deeper we went.
We first discovered them three days ago.
They hadn't been much of a problem until now.
Only one or two would crawl out occasionally, and I'd simply burn them away with my aura as soon as I sensed them.
But today was different.
The leeches,
*Plop!*
poured from the ceiling,
*Thwump! Thwump!*
and shot from the walls like crossbow bolts.
Not only had the already stealthy creatures multiplied, but the mana storm that raged the closer we got to the core also dulled our senses… Even I couldn't fend them all off.
This was what finally shattered our companions' morale.
*Squeeelch!*
“Ugh! When did it—!”
Before the maws of these leeches, aura, shields, nothing was of any use.
Not even armor.
Depuan, a mercenary in his early thirties, shuddered as he tore a leech off his vambrace.
*Splat! Splat!*
He slammed it to the ground and quickly stomped it to death, but,
‘This is where it gets creepy.’
the Abyss Leech seemed to bypass space itself, tearing flesh and sucking blood.
Even though it had bitten the top of his vambrace, the wound had appeared on his skin.
Depuan couldn't calm down at all.
*Drip, drip.*
Blood trickled down his fingers.
But the real problem wasn't the bleeding or the wound.
“Fuck! Seriously! Fucking hell!”
As his trembling hands unstrapped the vambrace where the leech had been and rolled up his sleeve, only a stream of curses left Depuan’s mouth.
“Fuck! Fucking seriously!”
On Depuan’s arm,
*Blink—*
*Blink, blink—*
a single eyeball had sprouted.
The skin of his arm was torn, making it look as though bloody tears were streaming from the corners of the eye.
The eye rolled around on his arm, staring up at Depuan.
This was the final blow.
The fact that the area bitten by an Abyss Leech would mutate.
Skin would tear open to reveal an eye, a small hand would pop out, or an ear or a nose would appear and start twitching.
The already fragile morale of my companions crumbled completely in the face of their own bodies being defiled.
“Everyone, stay calm! I'm analyzing it now. This can be fully reversed with healing magic, so stay calm!”
Even as Kask shouted, our companions couldn't easily compose themselves. It’s hard to stay calm when an eyeball is swiveling around on your arm. Most people would find it difficult.
*Sting— Sting—*
My situation was relatively better.
For one, the leech's fangs couldn't pierce my skin, which had undergone Metamorphosis.
Even so, some kind of curse seemed to linger, as the bitten areas remained itchy and tingly.
‘Haa… I want to get this over with.’
I’d rather have a straightforward fight.
This feeling of having my nerves slowly frayed was unpleasant and unsettling, even for me.
*Thud, thud, thud, thud.*
Did everyone feel the same? Our pace quickened as we continued the exploration.
Eventually, we were almost running.
*Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle.*
And then, it began, all of a sudden.
*Shudder!*
A chill ran down my spine.
Something.
The moment I thought that something high-dimensional, something that barely registered even to my senses honed by Metamorphosis, had swept past us,
*Patter-patter-patter!*
a downpour of leeches began.
Abyss Leeches, ‘literally’ born from thin air, rained down on us.
“Everyone, run!”
As if to drag us deeper,
an endless stream of leeches spawned above our heads and behind us.
I moved on reflex.
[Sword Spirit Awakening]
I drew Vanroah, activated the skill, and unleashed a full-power storm of aura threads, shredding everything in all directions to protect our rear.
*Swiiish!*
Black blood splattered everywhere.
*Fwoooosh!*
The leeches burst into flames from the purifying energy radiating from Vanroah.
Despite that, I couldn't block them all.
‘Damn it. They're just ignoring me.’
The smaller leeches slipped right through the dense net of aura threads, and a new swarm even materialized right behind my back.
“Eek! Get away!”
“My cheek! No! Not my face!”
The mercenaries fell into a panic as leeches latched onto them from all sides.
The one who helped us break through this hell wasn't me, but Kask.
His clear, resonant voice echoed through the long, dark corridor.
[That which is heavy becomes the earth, and that which is light becomes the sky. That which is soft becomes the leaf, and that which is hard becomes the rock…]
Drawing his sword, Kask began to chant.
I had seen his magic many times, but this was the first time I had seen him chant.
Even when using large-scale magic, he would just draw a magic circle in the air with his sword and finish casting in an instant…
Paying no mind to the leeches stuck to his body, Kask chanted, sweat pouring down his face.
Was it because of the difficult process?
The spell he completed was astonishingly effective.
[Let all things return to their original, pure potential…! Awaken!]
A pure white light blossomed from the tip of his sword, making our surroundings tremble.
A sacred radiance that, despite being weightless light, left a deep resonance in our chests like the tolling of a bronze bell.
The swarming leeches melted away like snow in the light, and the mutated parts of our bodies returned to their original forms.
The eyeballs that had been swiveling on arms and cheeks dissolved, and new flesh grew over the bleeding wounds.
The same happened to me.
The madness that had been seeping into my mind and the itchy, stinging sensation vanished completely, leaving me much more comfortable.
Kask raised his glowing sword high and shouted.
“We’re almost there. Just a little more!”
I have to admit it.
That was pretty cool.
Kask.
But Kask’s magic didn’t last long. Maybe three minutes?
Even so, it was enough to send the exploration team’s morale soaring.
Having experienced firsthand that they could overcome the crisis and restore their mutated bodies, their courage returned.
“Forget about minor artifacts! We’re heading to the end at full speed!”
Following Kask’s command, we ran.
I took the rear while the others broke through the front.
After running like that for ten minutes,
we finally reached the end.
“There’s a barrier here! Once we get past this barrier, it’s over!”
In the middle of fending off leeches, I turned my head and called out to Kask.
“Kask! Use that spell one more time! I’ll take the barrier!”
“Got it!”
Just as Kask and I were about to switch positions,
*Fwoosh!*
something suddenly burst out from inside the barrier. It was a colossal being, wreathed in dazzling light and radiating immense power.
*Fwhaaa—*
A light brighter than the sun illuminated the entire passage, erasing every shadow.
*Swoosh—*
‘What is this?’
The ridiculously numerous leeches, enough to make the entire passage seem to ripple, all melted away before the brilliant light.
Like snowflakes falling on a palm, like a shadow in the sun.
They dissolved and scattered the instant they touched the light cast by this being.
And then,
[This is a Special Containment Zone. Intruders will be eliminated.]
After its declaration, the ‘dazzling thing’ raised its sword and struck down at Kask.
Its momentum was truly formidable.
I instinctively shot forward to shield him.
*Claaaaaaang!*
The shockwave sent tremors through the ruins.
The power was incredible.
Even though I had taken the attack in a poor stance while rushing to protect Kask, my body—which had undergone Metamorphosis and was enhanced by top-tier magic armor—was shaken to its core.
My stomach churned, and the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth.
With our swords locked, I looked at the being beyond them.
‘A person?’
It had a human-like form, but my instincts told me it wasn't.
A towering height of 2.5 meters.
White armor covering its entire body.
A brilliant light pouring from the gaps between the armor plates.
And an unknown power, neither magic nor aura, coursing through its entire being.
‘Is this… the secret lurking at the end of these ruins?’
At a glance, it was a worthy opponent that I couldn't guarantee victory against, even in my magic armor. No, perhaps even more than that!
However,
worthy opponent or not…
I first snarled at the thing.
“You… you dare aim for our captain?”
I was seriously pissed.
Extremely displeased.
Who the hell do you think you are… trying to touch our Kask?
Our good Kask, who keeps giving me more even after I've taken everything from him!
***
“He… he called me… captain…”
Kask’s voice was filled with emotion.
“You, get back for now, you punk!”
I shooed him away, my gaze fixed forward.
2.5 meters. The massive being, swords still locked, looked down at me impassively.
It began to press down, adding more and more force as if to push my sword away, and the weight was considerable.
I had to use everything—the physical strength of my Metamorphosed body, my aura, the power of the magic armor, the weight I added with Body Sword, and a finely tuned sense of balance—just to hold on.
*Creeeeak!*
The unidentified being pressed down on me for a while, and when it saw that wasn't working, it spoke again.
[Stand down. This is a Special Containment Zone. Those who attempt to intrude will be eliminated without warning.]
Its voice vibrated threateningly through the air, piercing past my ears and drilling directly into my mind.
It was a language I’d never heard before, yet we all understood its meaning.
“Special Containment Zone? What’s that? And what are you?”
It looked at me.
An alien being, emitting a brilliant light even from its eye slits.
The more I looked at its human form, the more unsettling it became.
Behind its back, streams of light created from a fusion of aura and magic fanned out like wings.
The mercenaries gasped at the sight.
“An angel…?”
“Four pairs of wings made of light… flaming armor and sword…”
“It’s just like the legends…”
An angel?
That thing… a servant of the gods or whatever?
But god or angel, it didn't matter.
Right now, my fighting spirit was blazing.
Because that thing tried to kill our Kask.
But my head grew cold.
‘An angel. So it’s a being from the Age of Myths? I don’t know how a being from 50,000 years ago is still alive… but I’d better be careful.’
The Age of Myths was an era that always defied imagination.
I had to fight cautiously, assuming it had dozens of techniques I knew nothing about.
I sharpened all my senses like blades and drew my Sword Spirit in extremely close. So close it was hard to tell if I was the Sword Spirit or it was me, right on that borderline.
I had made every preparation to fight, but the actions of this ‘angel’ were a bit strange.
[Friendly code detected. Commencing scan.]
After saying something incomprehensible,
*Whirr— Whirr—*
a strange light emanated from its entire body, slowly scanning me from head to toe.
Then it suddenly spouted nonsense.
[Higher code detected. Analyzing… ‘Zero Code’ confirmed! Retracting all hostile actions immediately. Apologies. Confirmation was delayed due to an unknown error!]
The change was abrupt.
The wings of light that had been menacingly dominating the area subsided with a soft hiss. They were tucked humbly behind its back.
The blinding radiance of its armor dimmed to the level of a soft lamp.
The being even withdrew the force pressing against my sword and leaped back.
Then, standing with the discipline of a well-trained soldier, it ‘reported’ to me.
[Annihilator Angel A12 Omega. Currently on a mission!]
This sudden turn of events was enough to leave even me dumbfounded.
What is this situation, all of a sudden?