By Zephyria 
Mana residue floated around in the air like dandelion seeds.
The surroundings shimmered with multicolored light, and I furrowed my brow.
When I first arrived in the Widdrow Duchy, I had entered a Mana cave under Hugh Benson’s guidance. Back then, Hugh Benson had boasted, explaining that the clear, silvery lake was the essence of Mana. At the time, I was a novice, overjoyed to be so close to the legendary Mana Stone.
This cave now was not much different from that Mana cave.
However, instead of a clear, gentle lake of light, Mana Stone fragments of all sizes were rolling around on the floor. The light they emitted reflected off the walls and ceiling, illuminating the entire area.
Of course, if it were only that, I wouldn’t have been so breathless with surprise.
Each Mana Stone that sprouted from the floor like stalagmites had a human clad in familiar clothing embedded in it.
Without a moment to spare, I reached out to check their pulses. The one embedded in the stalagmite closest to me had messy blond hair. His lips were tinged blue, making me think he was dead, but his pulse was strong. He was alive.
Seeing my actions, the rest of the party each grabbed one and checked the Knights’ complexions. They flipped eyelids, opened mouths if they could, and placed a hand under noses to check for breath.
“…They’re alive.”
“This one too. Still breathing.”
“Anyone you recognize?”
“That red-haired guy over there, he’s my senior’s senior. I saw him in class.”
“Are they Imperial Knights?”
“Yeah. They are. The insignia on their clothes are all familiar. Looks like a few are from the Widdrow Duchy too.”
Mage Boulder, who had rubbed the stalagmite with both hands and even licked it with his tongue, scrunched up his brow.
“It’s a Mana Stone, but the grade is too low to be usable. It’s full of impurities.”
“Even with this clear color?”
“That’s why it’s strange! This doesn’t happen often. Usually, the clearer and more transparent a Mana Stone’s color, the higher its grade, right? But this… it’s like all the Mana was sucked out and used elsewhere, leaving only about 40mp of residue.”
“You can tell just by tasting it?”
“Mana Stones with high Mana concentration make your tongue tingle when you put them in your mouth.”
“…”
Gano Paquin, his face troubled, nudged my shoulder and took my place.
“Move aside for a moment.”
“…”
What was he going to do?
I placed my right and left hands, one over the other, on the forehead of the trapped Knight. As I breathed a gust of air over them, the glistening stalagmite that had imprisoned him began to melt, starting from the top. As I pondered how best to carry them all, the Knight, whose body was revealed up to his waist, opened his eyes.
“What, my consciousness…”
Then he mumbled. At first, I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
But the more the same words were repeated, the more goosebumps prickled my skin.
“The Heavenly Demon’s return, Ten Thousand Demons’ blessing.”
“…What?”
“The Heavenly Demon’s return, Ten Thousand Demons’ blessing! The Demonic Cult is invincible, the Central Plains united!”
“What is he talking about? Is this some kind of nonsense, too?”
“The Heavenly Demon’s return! Ten Thousand Demons’ blessing! Heavenly Demon for ten thousand years, Heavenly God for all under heaven!”
As he raised his voice and shouted, all the trapped individuals’ eyes snapped open. Their mouths followed suit. The voices, repeating the same phrases to make the tunnel rumble, sounded like a drenched monk chanting Buddhist scriptures. The Heavenly Demon’s return, Ten Thousand Demons’ blessing, the Demonic Cult is invincible, the Central Plains united, the Heavenly Demon’s return, Ten Thousand Demons’ blessing, the Heavenly Demon for ten thousand years, the Heavenly God for all under heaven…
I was so dumbfounded I started to laugh. I turned to look at Gano Paquin, who was rigid with tension.
“You said only two had come over with their memories intact?”
“Two… only two. The ones I saw before, the ones I saw…”
“Then what is this?”
“Do I know?”
I was about to retort, “If you don’t know, then who does?”
Until a chilling, scuttling sound echoed from afar.
“What is that noise?”
“No need to check outside… It’s Armored Crabs.”
“Why are they swarming into the tunnel?”
“Right? They’re coming in… Why?”
Armored Crabs were just large, tough crabs. They were weak, small monsters that even a nine-year-old could defeat if they aimed for the mouth and avoided the exceptionally large right claw’s cutting power.
But that was when there were only one or two.
Hundreds, thousands of them swarmed in like a pack of dogs.
The entire party drew their swords, standing back-to-back to protect the Knights, and let out deep sighs. No matter how deranged the Imperial Knights here were, I didn’t want to see them get hurt by Armored Crabs.
Gano Paquin, looking extremely anxious, rushed deeper into the tunnel to find the source of this incident.
How many minutes passed?
Before long, we realized the Armored Crab swarm was only attacking our party. If the immobilized Imperial Knights wouldn’t get hurt, dealing with these pests was as easy as picking up candy. The party members, who had been tensely fending off the Armored Crabs trying to climb the stalagmites, all relaxed.
Scuttle, scuttle. I sliced an Armored Crab in half as it leaped towards my chest. Its yellowish innards splattered wetly on the floor. The air filled with a pungent, briny smell, and the mysterious cave was gone. It felt like walking barefoot in the middle of a fish market.
“I don’t think I’ll eat crab for the next three years,” Mage Boulder grumbled, pushing a frozen Armored Crab away.
The party members, who had been focused on slicing crabs while enduring the stench, began to speak one by one. Most talked about how unbearable it was, whether it would be better to abandon the crabs and flee, or if there was some other way to resolve this situation.
Boulder pressed close to my side and asked, his round eyes gleaming. “But what are they mumbling? Tenmajelin Wanmoapoo…?”
“What? You mean… ‘The Heavenly Demon’s return, Ten Thousand Demons’ blessing’?”
“Yes. It was a bit creepy at first, but the more I hear it, the more it sounds like a chant.”
“I told you the leader of the Demonic Cult was called the Heavenly Demon. It means something like, ‘The Heavenly Demon will return, and all Demonic Arts will obey him.’ It’s just a trivial oath of loyalty.”
“…Ah. Well, it has no magical effect, right?”
“I thought it didn’t, but it summoned the crabs…”
“Kuhuk.”
Benjamin, after tapping an Armored Crab’s head with his sword to knock it out, stifled a laugh. Feeling mischievous, I teased him.
“Is it funny?”
“No, I mean… weren’t you just making a joke?”
“As if.”
I ignored the stubborn look he gave me, his eyes narrowed like a flounder.
However, the more I thought about it, the stranger it was. They wished for the Heavenly Demon’s return, here? The Ninth God desires a return, didn’t he? It’s impossible to know who is deceiving whom, the Demonic Cult or the Ninth God.
It was quite suspicious that no sound was coming from the direction Gano Paquin had gone.
“This place seems fine, shall we go further inside?”
“And what if they attack the Knights while we’re gone?”
“Then…”
Elvin swung his large sword, pushing back the Armored Crabs. The way they circled him was quite amusing. He blinked once and opened his mouth.
“I will.”
“…Then please, Sir Brooks, could you handle it? I’d appreciate it.”
“Yes.”
Hugh Benson, watching the scene, added, “If anything happens, shout. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
Elvin merely nodded without answering.
Pushing and swatting away the Armored Crabs that kept following him with the tip of his boot, he entered the tunnel. While everyone walked in silence, Boulder, gripping his staff with both hands, grumbled incessantly.
“Ugh, it was so gross. I guess it’s a seaside area, so there are a lot of Armored Crabs. You could raise fifty Owlbears with this many! Did you know Owlbears peel off the shell first when they eat Armored Crabs? They grab it around the triangular area in front of the head and… snap like this…”
“You don’t like Armored Crabs much?”
“Ah, I’m not too fond of things with many legs. I prefer those without legs; they’re cuter.”
“…So you don’t like Chilopoda-Worms either?”
“Hey, they’re huge. These crabs here are tiny. I like large monsters.”
“…”
But goblins aren’t large monsters, are they? I couldn’t fathom his criteria.
Suddenly, another question came to mind.
“Didn’t you get banned from the Yuil Mountains before?”
“…Yes? Uh, um… Hmm.”
“Why was that?”
Boulder’s babbling mouth snapped shut. Leon, following behind, chuckled and answered instead.
“You were caught trying to smuggle a baby Owlbear, the very one we just mentioned. When they’re young, they’re only about the size of an adult woman’s forearm, so you must have thought you could hide it in a bundle. You brought it into the Widdrow Duchy without authorization, and well…”
“No, I was just going to leave, leave soon. I reported it to the First Magic Tower right away…”
“The Duke at the time was furious. It even affected us, and we had a hard time.”
“…”
I didn’t ask any more questions.
I wondered if we would come across a fork in the path, but thankfully, it was a straight tunnel, so there was no need to get lost. About twenty minutes after we started walking at a brisk pace, I met Gano Paquin again. He was standing before a massive pillar, peering at it.
The pillar, slanted into the ground, was black… but its shape was strangely familiar. It was a pillar that perfectly mimicked the smooth surface of the Ebony Wood I had seen at Biban’s, with a gold rope adorned with five-colored ribbons in the Central Plains style wrapped around it.
Golden letters were carved into the pillar, and at a glance, they looked like an ancient script used long ago on the Sierren continent. With few recognizable words, I narrowed my eyes to examine them. Lake, origin, wish…?
“What is this?”
“Haa… This is, you see, the spear I used to use.”
“…What?”
“It’s what I used when I tore apart the Ninth this time. It’s what I used to drive its origin all the way to the bottom… I distinctly remember burying it beyond the Yuil Mountains… and it’s here.”