By Zephyria 
It took two full days to reach the dark, black cave entrance, guided by wolves.
Nine wolves had initially volunteered to lead us.
Two of them couldn’t cross a narrow bridge connecting one cliff edge to another. Two more disappeared, tails tucked, after attempting to climb a cliff. The remaining four got sidetracked, playing with Orc Steel Corpses they encountered along the way.
The single one left was lying down. It gestured towards the cave’s interior with its eyes, belly pressed flat against the ground, constantly nudging the rocky ground with its nose. Seeing its desperate attempts to flee made it clear this was a place the wolves feared.
“Do not enter unfamiliar caves carelessly” is a proverb passed down through generations.
While it was said that caves in the Central Plains held fortuitous encounters, every cave in the Sierran Empire had an owner. Venturing into a lair occupied by a giant monster unarmed was tantamount to suicide, a fact most people were cautious of and avoided.
Because of this, we didn’t immediately enter the suspicious cave.
Marianne, who had been practically carried by the others, opened her bulky backpack and poured several Mana Stone fragments onto the ground. Leon, along with a few mercenaries, thoroughly searched the surrounding area.
Hugh Benson, watching the ground at the cave entrance, casually rolled a familiar Artifact between his fingers, making a clicking sound. He was idly standing there until Marianne chided him.
“Ah, take two steps back. Don’t get too close.”
“Did you find something?”
“I’m about to.”
Marianne stoutly rolled up her sleeves and twisted two fist-sized Artifacts clockwise. Then, with a soft thud, she rolled them into the cave. It remained silent as I counted to thirty internally.
After a moment of waiting, Marianne placed both hands on the Magic Circle. A faint purple Mana swirled on the circle before fading with a puff of smoke.
“…It looks like an Ogre’s den?”
“What? How did you know?”
“I briefly scouted about 10 meters inside from the entrance. The internal height is about 13 meters. For a large monster without wings, of that size… I couldn’t think of anything other than an Ogre.”
“What about people?”
“None near the entrance. There’s some Contaminated Mana pooled nearby, but if a monster lives here, this is within acceptable limits. Whether a Black magician is present, we’ll only know once we go inside.”
“So, we should prepare for Ogres?”
“Yes.”
Then Leon approached with a peculiar expression and offered a different opinion.
“From what I see… well, I don’t think it’s an Ogre’s den.”
“Why?”
“Count might know better, but…”
“I’ve never seen a wild Ogre. Speak freely.”
Leon then pointed to several pillars at a distance. We had slid down from a high place to stand at this cave entrance, but he was pointing in the opposite direction, towards the path leading downwards. Four sharply split pillars were embedded, decorating both sides of that path.
“Ogres are monsters with a skewed center of gravity, aren’t they? When climbing a slope like this, they normally use their arms to brace themselves. The ground is solid rock, so there are no gouges, but there aren’t any collapsed pillars around…”
“So?”
“Isn’t it more likely that a Chilopoda-Worm lived in this cave…?”
It was a valid point.
The Chilopoda-Worm I had defeated during the Hunting Festival was a juvenile. I now knew that even a large one had a relatively soft carapace and was quite slow-moving. Knowing how robust the carapace of a Sandworm was, and how massive that creature was, this felt like a daunting opponent.
Ogres didn’t carry poison, but these vermin were known to spew poison. If the diameter was 13 meters, how large would it be? My brow furrowed involuntarily.
“We’ll have to be careful not to break the cave inside.”
“The floor is quite solid, but the upper parts of the cave seem like they’ll split easily along the grain. Let’s be careful.”
Without hesitation, I took half a step forward.
“I’ll take the lead.”
“Because of the poison?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll watch over Your Highness.”
“…”
Ruben endured the ‘protected person’ treatment with practiced ease. He pulled Rubel close to his side. Hugh Benson, stopping Benjamin from stepping forward to follow me, spoke next.
“If it’s an Ogre or a non-toxic monster, Elvin and Leon will hold the front, and the rest will attack. I’ll stay in the rear, watching Marianne and Your Highness, and the rest will position themselves as they see fit.”
“Me too?”
“Yes, Benjamin, you too.”
“Understood.”
Why was he smiling so happily? Benjamin’s excited demeanor was endearing. Marianne nudged Benjamin’s side with her elbow, and he twisted silently. Seeing that, I suppressed a smile with my tongue.
“If it’s a Chilopoda-Worm or a toxic monster, Michael and I will be at the vanguard. Elvin will stay in the rear, looking after Marianne and Your Highness. The rest of you, try not to come forward if possible. If you hold a defensive stance, we’ll find a way to deal with it.”
“Yes.”
“And if it’s a flying monster…”
Hugh Benson surveyed the group once, then pointed with his index finger, pairing everyone up.
“Look after your partner. There won’t be any flying monsters that two or more Sword Masters can handle, and if there are, Michael, Peter, and I will take care of them. Just don’t get carried away; hold your position. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Fortunately, Hugh Benson assigned me as Ruben’s partner.
It was an appropriate choice. If I were paired with someone else, Ruben would undoubtedly lose his composure if I were in danger. Keeping Ruben by my side would likely put him at ease.
To prepare for the possibility of a Chilopoda-Worm, I took the lead, with Hugh Benson right behind me. The rest of the party followed in two or three rows, paired up.
Considering how sound would travel in the cave, everyone kept their mouths shut. We spread our Qi sense wide and walked without making a sound. Thanks to the stealthy footsteps of those who were already skilled at controlling their bodies, and Marianne’s Silence Magic, not even the sound of a rolling stone could be heard.
We advanced cautiously, one breath and one step at a time, for about forty minutes.
As suspicion grew on the path where not even a field mouse appeared, we began to hear distant murmurs.
“Stop bullshitting and just wipe out the wolves already.”
“They’re pathetic.”
“Because of your bullshit, we’re just piling up the cliff faces with Orc variants. How many weeks has it been? Eighty percent of the ones we sent into the desert have already dissolved; we have to use what we have left.”
“He said he’d go and catch them.”
“Just talk?”
There were three people walking ahead.
One short, two tall. All three wore black robes and had their hoods pulled down. The two talkative ones were conversing, while one of the tall ones interjected with brief, confrontational remarks.
“Still no Divine Revelation?”
“Nah. You know that guy, he’s been having fits and foaming at the mouth all day. Before, even a random kid in Owen received a Divine Revelation just fine, so why is he making such a fuss over something so trivial?”
“What about you?”
“Me… Damn it, am I lacking in faith? I’m a devout follower, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, right.”
I showed my clenched fist to the people behind me. I extended three fingers, then folded them back into a fist and shook it.
Can we take them, three of them?
When I looked back, Hugh Benson shook his head. He opened and closed three fingers, then drew a line over them with his index finger. Then, he made a gesture of slitting his own throat with his thumb.
If we don’t take them down simultaneously, we’ll die.
I drew my left index finger across the three fingers of my right hand. I folded my fingers again and shook my fist.
What if we take them down simultaneously?
Hugh Benson narrowed his eyes and drew two Flying Daggers. Even without exhaling, I could see him sigh.
Let’s try it.
No further conversation was needed.
Whoosh. A blue lightning bolt struck the dark void.
The silently drawn sword split the closest short figure horizontally. Clang! The next sword strike was blocked. It was a familiar sensation. A shield. Magic cast using an Artifact.
Glancing at the third figure, who had Hugh Benson’s Flying Dagger lodged in his brow, I raised my sword again. I brought it down.
It was a moment when I was slashing with my sword, dividing one second into sixty parts and striking with one-third of that time. Because of this, Marianne’s scream-like voice reached my ears in extreme slow motion.
“…Glee Oppa?”
Glee?
Glotin Tenner?
Clang. It was blocked again. My focus had wavered, and I couldn’t cut between the Formula of the shield.
The smooth face of the figure whose hood had fallen off was indeed one I had seen a couple of times. A youth with very bright hair and deep green eyes, wearing round, silver-rimmed glasses. He was Marianne’s first love, who had vanished without a trace at some point and had long been forgotten.
He looked at me and Marianne alternately, clearly bewildered.
He had narrowly blocked my sword, but he had already lost in terms of strength. He collapsed, shuffling backward on his rear. The staff he had raised high was visibly cracked.
Can I kill him in front of Marianne?
“Crazy, what are you doing!”
Hugh Benson hastily threw a Flying Dagger, but it was too late. Glotin Tenner seized the brief opportunity and shattered the beads in his possession simultaneously. Before thick fog could fill the cave, I quickly deployed my Aura Barrier.
Fortunately, it wasn’t poison.
Thump.
Something far more dreadful emerged.
I was speechless as I watched a blood-red skinned Ogre lumbering towards us from the distance. These guys had turned Ogres into Blood Corpse Fiends. Seeing Leon and Elvin, who had been holding the rear, step forward, fearing their swords would be thrown into disarray, I felt a surge of guilt.
“…I’m sorry.”
However, there was a voice that apologized before mine. Knowing Marianne’s voice had become suddenly damp, I was deeply troubled and didn’t know what to do.
365 – 365
A fierce battle continued.
A Sword Master fighting an Ogre alone was something that shouldn’t be done without safety measures. However, with three Sword Masters, it should have been easy to defeat one Ogre safely and comfortably. Since one Ogre had appeared, they should have left three Mercenaries behind and departed.
But the Ogre’s dusky skin and the Black Magic Circle that crumpled and writhed across half its upper body, starting from the back of its neck, captured everyone’s attention. Fearing something terrible might happen, no one could leave their posts.
Indeed, the Blood Corpse Ogre was stronger, faster, and more agile than a regular Ogre.
It stood firm even after being struck by everyone’s swords. It was natural for a Blood Corpse to feel no pain, but the sight of its tough muscles exposed through torn flesh was utterly repulsive.
The Ogres I knew were lumbering creatures, moving clumsily to match their large bodies. But this one’s shoulders were level, so its footing didn’t falter when it swung its arms. It was natural that there were no signs of it having grabbed onto surrounding pillars.
The Blood Corpse Ogre swung its well-balanced limbs like a human. The ground trembled with each heavy step it took. Leon, who had narrowly dodged its kicks twice, leaped up like a wedge, aiming for its jaw, but—
CRANG!
He was struck by the edge of its hand and slammed into the nearest wall.
The sound wasn’t of a person hitting a wall, but like striking a gong with a thick rod. The cave shook for a moment, dust rising. Leon quickly shouted from within the dust.
“I’m fine!”
“How strong is it!”
“Not enough to kill me!”
“How many?”
“Four!”
This was quite useful information in a situation where every second counted, even if he hadn’t been hit directly.
It meant that after one blow, it was manageable. Their confidence in being able to defeat it with four Sword Masters put everyone’s minds at ease. Ogres couldn’t use Magic, nor could they use poison.
The reason they had requested only four Mercenaries be left behind was likely because they didn’t know what kind of monsters were further inside. It was a request to leave the fewest possible people, as they didn’t know how many teams they would need to split into, even if it was tight.
However, Hugh Benson did not take the risk.
“All five Mercenaries stay. Defeat the Ogre and join us inside immediately.”
“Yes!”
“I’m giving you thirty minutes. Go and finish it!”
“What?”
Hugh Benson gestured with his chin. Benjamin picked Marianne up onto his shoulder.
Ruben, who had been steadily receiving my New Magic training, could move almost as fast as a Sword Master. The child knew how to hide behind others’ swordplay and hold his ground in the safest spot. Whenever my gaze met his, he would smile at me. Or he would glare at the enemy, acting bravely.
Benjamin ran well, even with Marianne on one shoulder. Marianne couldn’t conjure Magic Formulas. Was it due to the severe shock? But the ones protecting her were Elvin, Hugh, and myself, not just anyone. Even without Marianne’s Magic, this group was more than capable of killing a few Blood Corpses.
And so, our party charged deeper into the cave.
We had to chase the cornered rats before they could escape. The Black Magician we needed to capture numbered about thirty. It would have been ideal if we could have secretly eliminated the first three. But at that time, there was no other choice. No other choice…
Squelch. The liquid pooled on the floor was sticky.
From some point on, the cave floor had been constantly wet. Two figures in black robes stood in the blood. Before them, five Troll Blood Corpses were slowly rising.
It had been a long time since I had seen a freshly created Blood Corpse. The Troll, reeking of blood from head to toe, walked forward with a splish-splash.
I was seasoned in dealing with those long arms. I swung without hesitation. My sword was imbued with excessive Aura, fearing I might lack the strength. One Troll was not just cut in half; a long vertical sword mark remained on the cave wall.
CRUNCH.
Simultaneously, there was a sound of something falling. Whether our party had finally defeated the Blood Corpse Ogre from behind, or if I had caused part of the cave to collapse, I couldn’t tell. Regardless, Hugh Benson scolded me.
“Fuck, watch the wall!”
“Yes!”
I didn’t have time to utter the five syllables of “I’m sorry” and just replied.
I sliced the next Troll vertically and then cut off both its arms and its neck. These two Black Magicians were killed by Elvin. In the meantime, Ruben stripped the Black Magicians’ robes one by one to check their faces, but I, who couldn’t identify anyone even by their faces, had no way to stop him.
We ran into the next room.
For a very brief moment, we stepped on dry ground. Red footprints were left pitter-patter on the cave floor.
Now, the party no longer tried to silence their footsteps. They ran, and ran again.
If an enemy appeared, we cut them down; if a monster appeared, we split them. It was fortunate there were no forks in the path. From ahead, we could hear the continuous pitter-patter of running. Occasionally, the sounds of falling, curses, and screams of terror bounced off the cave walls and poured down upon us.
Later, half-formed zombies crawled and grabbed at our ankles.
Kicking their heads and crushing them, I found myself standing in hell once more. A sea of blood was not far off. It wasn’t just made of human corpses. The bones and flesh of all sorts of beasts and monsters stained the dark cave with a red, grotesque light.
Then, tap, the view opened up.
It was a vast cavern. The floor was covered in a lake of blood, and the corpses of various monsters were lined up around it. In the hall, where dozens of Magic Circles were densely carved into the walls and floor, a low altar stood in the deepest part.
Behind the altar, a black hole gaped open. Through the opening, emitting a strange black Aura, figures in black robes were seen leaping into it, weeping.
Among them, only one had their hood off.
Glotin Tenner. His head, shining brightly, made him stand out even more. He paused while shoving a half-conscious figure in black robes into the hole and looked towards us. He looked at Marianne, as if he had something to say, and fumbled, trying to speak.
Marianne didn’t want to hear the rest. Instead, she shouted to me with a blood-soaked voice,
“It’s okay! Kill them all!”
“….”
How I wished this place were an open desert instead of inside a cave.
A Twin-headed Ogre Blood Corpse blocked the sword I had driven into its back. With holes in its body that revealed its ribcage, it guarded the Black Magicians’ retreat with its hands and body.
The gap Hugh Benson tried to squeeze through was blocked by a swarm of Goblin Iron Ghouls rolling and piling up at his feet. Every sword Elvin Brooks swung impaled Trolls, making them hang like pendants. What tried to cling to Benjamin’s limbs were Kobolds, and what leaped at Ruben, blocking his path, were Orcs.
It was a sordid fight.
Those who wanted to live had already fled far away, leaving only those who wanted to kill and the already dead entangled. By the time I was sick of shaking off the corpses that tangled with every swing of my sword, our allies arrived.
“We’re here!”
“Thirty minutes are up, you brats!”
“Just once!”
Before they could finish saying “Please spare us,” they joined the battle.
But it was futile. This wasn’t a fight where you could systematically cut down one by one; it was difficult to leap forward to stop those trying to escape. The cavern was excessively wide, and the strange hole swallowed them up greedily.
Just as I managed to sever both heads of the Twin-headed Ogre Blood Corpse,
The black hole before me had shrunk to the size of a fist.
While the black passage was open, the zombies, who had been struggling and supporting themselves with their severed arms and legs, began to collapse one by one with wet, grotesque sounds. The remaining ones silently finished off the remaining zombies.
“Fuck,” it was the moment Hugh Benson cursed and kicked an Orc’s head.
Rumble.
A strange noise was heard.
“…Where is that coming from?”
“Outside.”
Rumble.
It was from below. Something was collapsing beneath our feet. The party’s faces turned pale. Without a word, those closest to the cave entrance ran out. Benjamin, with Marianne on one side and Rubel on the other, looked at me.
Without hesitation, he threw Rubel towards me. I leaped into the air and caught the child with both hands. As I held the bewildered and gagging Ruben on my right shoulder, trying to soothe him—
CRUUUMBLE.
The world collapsed.
* * *
Was there ever another moment I resented not having wings as much as this?
I couldn’t deflect a house-sized boulder by wrapping it with Aura Barrier. I held Ruben’s back with my right arm and protected the child’s head with my left. It would have been nice to have two more arms, but I considered this a good choice for now.
We fell endlessly.
Thud. When I was hit in the head by a falling boulder, I lost consciousness for a moment. Seeing me get hit, the child began to cry. Every time I heard his sobbing from within my embrace, I felt relieved. He was conscious. He was alive. So, I didn’t try to comfort him.
Wherever I could find a place to step, I stepped. I tried to reduce the impact by jumping upwards or dodging sideways. I kicked falling rocks to change their direction. I twisted my body in mid-air to ensure even small fragments wouldn’t reach the child.
At some point, perhaps because there was nothing left to fall, I could see a black sky without falling rocks. I remembered a story my master once told me. He said that for a swordsman who uses their right arm, it’s better to use their left arm as a support. Without much thought, I plunged my left arm into the cliff face.
Crack.
Due to the speed of the fall and the child’s weight, bone protruded white, tearing through my skin.
It’s fine. In the Central Plains, this would have been a wound for which I might have cut off my arm, but now, a superior Healing Artifact hung at my waist. Moreover, the child was still sobbing in my arms, calling my name. I felt no sorrow at all.
“Mika. Mika…”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I… I’m fine, but…”
Should I climb up, or descend?
Above was a dizzying cliff, and below was an even more dizzying darkness.
Yet, I felt no desire to give up. It was truly strange.