Chapter 12
Lowest-grade Sword Expert.
The stage where one was recognized as a swordsman, and could cut things beyond common sense.
According to Loraine, when one reached the lowest-grade Sword Expert level, they could fulfill their role and be recognized by everyone.
...In other words, this meant that once one reached this realm, most threats wouldn't be a big problem.
"Ugh... ack. Guh."
Perhaps because a protection magic activated before my hammer hit, his head was badly cracked but he wasn't dead.
I stepped on the black mage lying on the ground and looked around.
It seems the security formula has activated.
A magic formula that activated when the owner received a fatal wound or forcibly lost consciousness.
It was my first time seeing it directly, but I knew what it was thanks to Loraine's detailed explanation.
"...Die. Die... "
"How dare... How, how dare? How dare?"
"Hu... human... Eat, eat human."
It was magic that activated all the protective measures accumulated by the mage or black mage.
I looked at the monsters coming out from all around, holding human corpses in grotesque forms.
A form crudely mixing humans and monsters.
They were too twisted to be called human, and didn't have a human form to be called monsters.
Looking at this, I hit the black mage’s head with my hammer again and moved my feet.
At least ten enemies.
The number could increase as not all chimeras have been released yet.
So, keeping this in mind, I grabbed the mace hanging at my waist to fight.
Unlike a one-handed hammer, the mace was extremely different in length and weight, so its usage was different.
While the hammer was for light and quick strikes, the mace was a power-focused weapon that carried risks.
Therefore, if an attack failed, one could be in danger instead.
...But even considering this, if the attack succeeded, one could achieve destructive power that couldn't be obtained with a one-handed hammer.
I smashed the head of the chimera at the front with the mace.
This was literally what happened.
As a dull but loud sound was heard, the chimera's flesh and blue blood droplets burst in all directions, dirtying the surroundings.
Confirming that the state had become more appropriate to describe as "burst" rather than "smashed", I turned my gaze.
"Di... die... die."
"Save... save me..."
Even though they were chimeras crudely stitched together from various life forms, it seemed instincts still remained.
Seeing one of their similar chimeras instantly die, they show frightened reactions and step back.
Seeing this sight, I was about to move slowly and eliminate them all when.
"Grrrr."
A monster in a large iron cage next to me was threatening me by strongly striking the cage with its front paws while making deep breathing sounds.
Bang, bang, bang!
Perhaps because it was a sewer, vibrations traveled up my feet every time the monster strongly struck with its front paws.
Judging that if this continued, the sewer's purification facility might collapse, I decided to eliminate it first.
Should I break the cage and rush in? Or should I choose another method?
Just as I was thinking I should choose quickly as there wasn't much time, the Sun Spirit sitting on my shoulder absorbed all the mana around and then began to pour massive fire into the huge iron cage.
Pure fire that melted everything.
Ordinary fire would have had difficulty melting even the iron cage, let alone the monster.
But the fire emitted by the Sun Spirit was on a different level from ordinary fire, so it quickly melted everything and made everything disappear.
Everything disappeared without even acrid smoke remaining.
Looking at the huge iron cage and that chimera which had disappeared without a trace, not even evidence of their existence, I awkwardly smiled and stroked the spirit.
"...Well done."
"Myeong!"
Until now, I had only been getting help with creating warmth.
The Sun Spirit was described in the original work as a being that could match even the ancient dragon called the strongest, so it was a powerful being.
I didn't know why such a being was trapped in the glacier of the North, but the important fact was that such a spirit was fully helping me.
I nodded with satisfaction and looked around.
It seemed experiments had been carried out for a long time, as worn experimental equipment and structures caught my eye.
Seeing this, I thought it would be good to bring Loraine, who would be waiting at the entrance in case of any situation, so I moved my feet and what I saw was…
A pile of chimera corpses that could accurately be described as forming a mountain, easily exceeding a hundred.
Loraine was expressionlessly shaking off the blue blood on her sword and cleaning up when she saw me, smiled slightly, and waved her hand.
"Ah, Young Master. I was waiting."
She slowly approached me and looked around.
"Not long after you went in, enemies swarmed in. Judging by the lack of strong ones, they seem to be just tails."
"Tails?"
"Hmm, how should I explain this? You know how lizards cut off their tails and run away when they sense danger? Similarly, black mages create tails that can be discarded at any time in case of unforeseen situations. Considering that and looking at the current situation, I think this place might have been set up as somewhere that could be abandoned at any time."
The moment I heard Loraine's words, one hypothesis came to mind.
A suspicion that the reason this place was set up like a trap was a double trap to draw in the weak and push away those who were quick-witted.
To explain in more detail, ordinary people almost never entered while investigating the surroundings, so they were drawn inside.
For those who were entering while “investigating”, it gave a sense of wariness that it was a trap, making them retreat instead.
And when those who were lingering around for investigation returned,
It seemed they were planning to immediately close this place and run away.
But because I charged in without hesitation, they seemed to have missed the chance to escape.
So the self-proclaimed friend tried to separate Loraine and me to somehow survive and use this to escape.
Unfortunately, since I hit his head with a hammer, all plans seemed to have gone to waste.
And in other words, this meant there was a high probability that useful information still remained inside, so I decided to explore inside.
"Loraine, I'm going to explore inside the sewer, follow me."
"Yes."
Loraine, who had wiped all the blood off her sword, approached me and asked one question, "By the way, Young Master, was the battle manageable?"
...Judging by the fact that she directly mentioned “battle”, it seemed she had been constantly assessing my condition.
While recalling the considerable distance between where I fought and this place, and once again remembering that Loraine was a monster, I discovered a strange staircase going down.
"Hmm, it's too obvious. Considering the nature of black mages, this looks like a trap... The real one is likely hidden somewhere else."
Still, in case this might be the real passage,
I picked up the black mage and threw him in, and the sound of flesh bursting came from the bottom of the stairs.
"It is a trap."
"Yes. Considering the characteristics of black mages who live in the shadows, they would never openly make something like a door. This staircase is likely to be false."
Then where should we go?
While looking around, I noticed the Sun Spirit barking, "Myeong myeong," while looking at one side of the wall.
Seeing this, I realized something was hidden there, stroked the spirit's head, and raised my mace.
Then, without hesitation, I struck the wall with the mace, and with a shattering sound like breaking glass, an entrance to the inside appeared.
Realizing this was the place the black mages had tried to hide at all costs, I slowly moved my feet.
A dirty corridor strewn with all sorts of bloodstains.
Judging by the many nail marks on the lower part of the corridor walls,
It seemed the black mages had dragged living sacrifices through here.
Following this disgusting path that couldn't even be described as okay in empty words, what I saw was a huge mass of flesh made by piling up human corpses and monster carcasses.
...When on earth did they make something like this?
Beyond being bizarre, it was disgusting.
I was frowning at seeing the mass of flesh being maintained without rotting by what might be black magic or something when a weak rustling sound came from inside an iron cage.
"Young Master."
If Loraine, who had been nonchalant, drew her sword and became wary, it meant something quite problematic existed here.
I nodded towards Loraine.
After identifying an escape route in case we needed to run away at any time, I headed towards where the sound was coming from.
"..."
A faint breathing sound similar to crying spreads in all directions along the blood-soaked walls.
Reaching the inside while hearing this eerily chilling sound, what I saw was a snow-white, frail girl bound by shackles.
A girl with an empty face as if she had given up on everything, slumped like a marionette staring into space.
This alone was quite bizarre, but, when I noticed that she was connected to the huge mass of flesh by shackles, the strangeness intensified even more.
...I've seen this somewhere before.
Feeling like I might remember if I thought a little more, I narrowed my eyes and fell into thought, but it didn't connect to anything.
Unable to understand why, I placed the Sun Spirit on my palm and approached her, and a strange sense of déjà vu flashed through my mind.
— I've recently discovered quite an interesting research topic. It's research on converting human negative emotions into curses, and it's quite fascinating.
Negative emotions... and curses.
The moment these words came to mind, I felt as if my blood was running backward, and realized her identity.
...The worst curse that bloomed by swallowing the despair of thousands.
It was the Archmage, Siren.