Chapter 50
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ King of Iron Mountain (6) ༻
Lady Josephine was a master of dimensional spells. She could use it during a battle but the main purpose was to teleport a long distance.
You might ask, were there no limitations to her long-distance dimensional spells?
The answer was no.
Lady Josephine could go anywhere she wanted as long as she stayed inside Merkarva City but things would become different if she wanted to travel outside the city.
Her dimensional spells required traces of her mana to be present at the destination. Merkarva City was a place she had been living in for over 80 years so that place had more than enough, but her traces had already vanished from other places.
This was where 'markers' came in. A marker was where you carved a specific rune letter inside that causes the suppressed mana inside to burst out and leave a trace.
It would automatically send a signal to Lady Josephine so she could move anywhere to where her 'marker' was at least once.
But it became her habit to teleport whenever there was a signal, which became the cause of the 'Josephine Clara Sealing Incident'.
"Korin Lork."
She glared at me with a sharp gaze. That was natural because the Chairman should be the only one who knew of this 'marker'.
"Answer me. How do you know about this marker?"
She threatened while pointing the wand at me. Inside the prayer room that could barely fit two, the dimensions around me were locked and were keeping me hostage.
I would lose all my limbs if I were to move here.
"It would be great if you could undo this spell first."
"Nonsense!"
Her voice was sharp but I could sense her fluster from within. It was about time for me to show myself to them, but... there was a more pressing matter at hand.
"Apparently the King of Iron Mountain is wreaking havoc right now. Aren't we short on time?"
"!! How much do you..."
"Let's deal with that first. Right now, Senior Marie is holding it back but everything would be over if it leaves the laboratory and comes outside."
"..."
There must be a lot of questions in her mind but now was not the right time. At least not just yet.
"Let's kill the boar first."
****
One of the 3 best facilities of Merkarva Academy - the large laboratory which went all the way down to the 5th underground floor regained its light.
The reason why the laboratory, which was intentionally kept dark to cut down on energy wastage, was suddenly dazzling bright was because of the huge ruckus that happened at one of the floors.
Hundreds of Fang Boars were noisily creating a fuss while the enormous snake was destroying everything in its sight.
Fighting against the two-legged beast King Tyrant was the Junk Golem, a combined cluster of dozens of golems.
All the demonic beasts of the laboratory were attempting to escape from this prison in harmony.
Such a thing was originally something that was impossible to happen.
Even though they were all classified as a 'demonic beast', a slight difference in their species meant they were unable to act together in a strategic manner.
Even aside from the Fang Boars, there were the Grade 3 demonic beast Owlbear, Grade 2 demonic beast Beowulf, semi-Grade 1 demonic beast Giant, Grade 1 demonic beasts Melting Dragon and the King Tyrant... all of them were from different types of species and yet they were doing the same thing on repeat with one objective in mind.
"This is unreal... I did see several alpha entities lead a pack but this..."
This was on a whole different scale.
Without even bothering to compare this to all the experiences that he went through over his long years as a mercenary, Dorron concluded that this was a very strange turn of events.
The only reason he wasn't shocked was because he had already seen something similar beforehand. The similarity between that recent event and this incident was that they both had a foe that was classified as a 'Unique Grade'.
"So that's the nightmare of the Dingle Peninsula, King of Iron Mountain, huh."
The demon boar of the Dingle Peninsula that was commonly introduced in legends and fairy tales. The monster that murdered countless heroes was now controlling the demonic beasts of the laboratory.
But what most of the people here did not know was that this was half the chaos that was originally supposed to happen.
The demonic spirits that were supposed to be affected by the demonic aura of a Unique Grade monster to rampage about, and the Unique Grade monster itself that was supposed to destroy the most number of things were both being kept in check ever since the beginning of this incident.
Blood Realm.
If not for the large blood-colored barrier that was locking the experiment room like a prison cell, the demon boar would have demolished this building and taken a step under the sun already.
"Krrhh..."
Dragging the chains that weren't fully removed from its legs, the large monster stood on its four legs. The overwhelming pressure emanating out of its entire body was enough to make everyone shiver.
"I thought it was seriously hard to believe even after Korin said it but..."
A historical monster of the past that was considered as nothing but an experimental subject after being heavily sealed... Marie, who had heard the prediction that it would escape from its seals beforehand, vacantly murmured to herself.
The entire body of the 'demon boar' was covered by deep dark blue hairs. Even the skin seemed tough as if it had turned into iron and the fangs of the monster were gleaming in a sharp light.
Its thick legs caused the ground below to crack on repeat.
"Doggo."
The blood familiar unhesitantly showed itself in response to the call of its owner. Even though its name was a very amicable one like 'Doggo', this familiar was as threatening as its owner. He should be a good addition to fighting against that monster but that wasn't Marie's intention.
"Go out of the Realm and help other people."
"Grrrhh!"
Doggo immediately refuted against his mother's command but Marie had already resolved her mind.
"It's okay. Trust me and go."
"..."
Doggo turned around with a grumble, but he couldn't help but create a few clones to stay behind.
"Good boy Doggo."
"Grrh..."
The blood dog that was growling back immediately turned quiet after a single compliment from his mother.
"Hope we can finish this before your daddy comes."
"Knngg!"
Doggo scoffed in dissatisfaction again. Even though he loved his creator and mother, he didn't seem to be very fond of his biological father who provided him with most of his blood.
"Kuraaaaaaaaaaa!"
After commanding the small dogs that came out of his body, Doggo left the barrier onto the outer world.
"Go!"
Marie turned cold-headed immediately after the commencement of the battle. The small demon dogs dashed forward following her command.
"Woof!"
They pounced at the boar's ankles with screeching howls. Their teeth should be able to shred most medium-grade monsters to powder but the boar continued walking without even sparing them a glance.
It elegantly took steps forward as if showing off the dignity of a king. While dragging the little dogs that were biting onto its ankles, the boar stood right in front of Marie.
"Krrrrhh..."
The blood boar gazed down at Marie. The large boar weighing 60 tonnes approached the vampire girl and pondered how to devour her.
"Don't be too careless. I'm a Unique Grade just like you."
That was when water drops exploded right before the eyes of the demonic boar.
❰Blood Bomb❱
They were water bombs that were amplified several times through Marie's specialty, <Mana Amplification>. The bombs exploded right in front of the boar's nose with a magnitude far superior to normal water bombs.
- Kugung!
Even the building itself quaked from the thunderous explosion but the boar only wobbled a little from that attack.
"How about this then? "
❰Combination Spell - Multi-Shield❱
- Kwang!
An enormous cluster of ice soared up from beneath the belly of the demon boar. The shield of ice that was large and strong enough to pierce through castle walls carried the boar all the way up and crashed it into the ceiling of the Blood Realm.
Marie did not stop even after pushing that large monster away.
"Mana Amplification."
The air heeded to her call.
As a genius mage, her manipulation over mana was now so delicate and profound that she could even control nature itself.
❰Combination Spell - Blood Ice❱
It resulted in a crimson roar.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The large ice was created at the cost of all the molecules in the nearby space. It was such a grandiose spell that others had trouble believing that it was cast by one single person.
Piercing through the shield that pushed the demon boar up into the sky, the spear at last landed on the monster.
The pillar of ice blood soared into the air and drove the boar deeper into the roof of the Realm. If the laboratory hadn't been built with all sorts of incredible materials with plenty of defensive spells cast on top of that, the building would have crumbled from the aftermath of her attack.
"Huaaaah..."
"W, what the hell is that..."
The soaring frozen fountain of blood gathered the eyes of the noisy crowd. Let alone people, even the demonic beasts shivered at the face of an overwhelming display of power.
- Kuwaangg!
After crashing into the roof, the enormous body of the demonic boar fell straight back down on the floor with the thunderous echo of a missile. The crater and cracks caused beneath its body was proof of how destructive her Blood Ice was. In fact, one would commend anyone if their body could be intact after that attack but...
- Crack! Crack!
The pebbles and the dust scattered down, revealing the 'blue' hairs of the demon boar. Seeing its body that was unbelievably unscathed, Marie widened her eyes in shock.
"I, it really is... like what Korin said..."
『Senior, you won't be able to defeat it.』
While explaining the plan, he gave a firm declaration. The reason for that was the Primal Rune the boar swallowed that was thus engraved onto its heart.
『Primal Rune - ó』
The reason it turned into a demon boar after crunching on the oldest steel.
'Paradise exists'
100% resistance to Physical/Magic attacks.
That was the reason why this monster could only be sealed without being killed even with the sacrifices of countless heroes.
****
King Tyrant.
Rather than a demonic beast, this specific Grade 1 monster resembled a monster enemy that would appear in large mecha games and novels.
It was a massive monster that should be killed immediately upon sight instead of being captured, but was captured thanks to a mage that was crazy for experiments paying a huge amount of money for it.
Ironically, you could say that the scale of this laboratory building being large enough to house even a monster like this was the reason why things turned this bad.
"Damn it. Everything's breaking down just from its movement! Do something!"
The irritation at the predicament made the tongue of the veteran mercenary coarser than usual.
"Yuel! I need more support!"
"Can that really move?"
Fighting against the King Tyrant was a trash giant.
Formed with the formula provided by Korin Lork plus Yuel’s reinforcement, the Junk Golem reached 13 meters in height and was definitely not small even when compared to the King Tyrant.
Supporting the Junk Golem was a fusion of multiple cores of elemental golems that had been destroyed by the rampant demonic beasts added with the tree roots created by the Druid of the Avelorn Forest.
“Kuwoooooooo…!”
King Tyrant, the monster at the peak of the food chain dashed forward at the potential competitor of the ecosystem that threatened its position. Its large claws that could tear down a whole mountain were swung at the Junk Golem.
- Kuang!
As one would expect from the sheer size of those claws, its attacks were incredibly heavy. The Junk Golem wobbled from a single attack from it.
“Can you please control it properly? My Wickerman is probably better than that!”
“You said you can only use that in the forest! Just focus on enhancing the snapped joints!”
Yuel the Druid of the Avelorn Forest,
Golem Mage Kranel Luden.
These two were the so-called ‘Mecha members’ of <Heroic Legends of Arhan>. Several mecha fans among the players loved the idea of summoning the Wickerman and the Junk Golem at the same time by using those two named characters.
Originally, those two powerful abilities were supposed to be acquired towards the end of their character scenarios but Korin had told them about it ahead of time. It was thus natural for both Yuel and Kranel to be inexperienced at handling their summons.
“Uhh. According to the formula… Yuel! Can you enhance the fists please!?”
“What are you trying to do?”
“I will explode five of the elemental golem cores at once to scatter a large amount of mana! Go, Luden Warrior!”
“You even gave it a name?”
The Junk Golem, Luden Warrior, drove an uppercut at the King Tyrant with its right arm. While the monster was befuddled by the sudden strike to its jaws, the Junk Golem pulled its left arm back like a bowstring.
In that instant, the joints cracked open around its left elbow. Inside was a portion of elemental golem cores that had been providing energy to the Junk Golem, overflowing with energy like it was about to explode very soon.
⟪Posture/Balance Control Formula — Check⟫⟪Magic Booster Formula — Check⟫
⟪Target Tracking Radar — On⟫
⟪Nature’s Weapon Wooden Fist Equipped⟫
⟪Forced Explosion of Elemental Core x 5⟫
⟪System All Green— You have Control⟫
“GOOOOOOOOO!!”
❰Master Form Junk Wooden Golem - Elbow Rocket❱
A heavy punch flew forward with the explosion of mana acting like a boost. Backed by that immense force and weight, the punch drove deeply into the King Tyrant’s face.
Go, Master Form Junk Wooden Golem!
You can do it! Master Form Junk Wooden Golem!
………
………
“W, wut is going on?”
Seeing the genre change in front of her eyes, Alicia couldn’t help but drop her chin.
But there was something Alicia wasn’t aware of.
Yuel the Druid with knowledge on how to create the Wickerman and Kranel Luden who knows how to create the Junk Golem - with the two in the party plus a certain hidden piece, it was possible to create Over Master Form Super Fusion Nature Golem Wicker Warrior!!
“N, now is not the time for this!”
Even aside from the King Tyrant, there were a lot of demonic beasts that were running in at her. While slashing through one of the roaring Fang Boars, Alicia witnessed the overwhelming fountain of mana that asserted Marie’s dominance even through the barrier of blood.
Marie’s magic was so powerful that it shook the building from its core. It was incredible that she could use such a mighty attack but what was even more incredible was the demon boar that was completely unscathed after receiving that attack from the front.
“Can I… really kill that monster?”
Korin had told her that she was the crucial key in defeating that demon boar. But let alone that boar, she had to worry about the large snake in front of her first.
- Hisss…!
The Melting Dragon charged in with a low hiss. This large yet fake dragon stubbornly chased after Alicia for interfering with its escape.
“Uahht…!”
Throwing her body, she barely escaped from the marching Melting Dragon. Even though she was a Grade 2 Knight, she would still have all of her bones crushed if she was to get hit by that tackle.
❰Singular Sword of Arden, Crushing Steel❱
A fierce stab with aura pierced at the exposed temples of the Melting Dragon.
- Kang!
“Uahh…”
But the resulting sound was that of clashing steel unlike the sound of a blade cutting through flesh. It seemed that Grade 1 demonic beasts, which were like raid bosses for guardians, had ridiculously tough skin.
‘Can I… really kill this without using Domain Severance?’
Korin chose Alicia as the key member of the subjugation of the King of Iron Mountain. The reason for that was naturally because of her ‘Domain Severance’, and that was why he had given an earnest request.
『‘Never! Never ever use Domain Severance,’ he said!』
Even though it was through the vampire-senior, Alicia could still tell how serious he must have been when saying that.
With her current stats, Alicia could only use Domain Severance once. Without using that powerful ability, she had to stop the demonic beasts from leaving the laboratory building.
‘Miss Yuel and Mr. Kranel are taking care of the King Tyrant. Professor Deina and Mr. Dorron are trying their best but…’
There were too many demonic beasts on this battlefield. There were so many of them that they couldn’t even spare the time to care about the remaining Grade 1 demonic beast, which was the biggest threat of them all.
Alicia was the only one that could fight against the Melting Dragon. Although she did become much stronger after being enlightened into the Domain, she still doubted if she could defeat the Grade 1 demonic beast, Melting Dragon, by herself without relying on Domain Severance.
- Kuraaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
It was then. A powerful roar bounced across the walls of the building and resonated sonorously, which momentarily gathered the eyes of everyone present.
“D, Doggo?”
A huge dog of blood that reached 2 meters in height jumped onto the Melting Dragon.
“Kukakakakakkk!!”
Doggo repeatedly smacked the Melting Dragon with a loud roar but its scales were inexplicably tough. As if trying to chase out an annoying bug, the snake tossed and turned in order to drop Doggo.
“Sieeee!”
The snake hissed while opening its mouth. The acid of a Melting Dragon was about to soar out of its throat. Even a magic organism like Doggo would melt immediately if he was to be hit by that acid head-first.
“Run away!”
❰Singular Sword of Arden, Soaring Heavens❱
Jumping into the air, Alicia attacked the head of the Melting Dragon as fast as a lightning bolt. The fake dragon’s head plummeted into the ground as the acid powerlessly flowed out of its mouth.
“Doggo! Now!”
Doggo kicked off the ground. Like a magic bullet, he started a destructive march that he once used when trying to crush Korin to pieces.
His form resembled a rampaging train with broken brakes. The moment he kicked off the stone floors of the laboratory and sped through the air, the Melting Dragon opened its mouth in an attempt to swallow Doggo as a whole.
“Haht! That’s dangero…?!”
- Kaduk!
They collided. In the blink of an eye, the venomous fangs of the Melting Dragon were crushed—
- Kaduk! Kadududuk?!
And it was followed by the sound of the inner flesh being torn to pieces.
- Rip! Chieeeek!
Soon, Doggo raced out of the snake’s tail along with the explosion of the snake’s inner organs.
“Awooooooooooooooo…!!”
Drenched in blood and organs of the Melting Dragon, Doggo raised a scream of victory.
“No-one… is normal.”
Honestly, Alicia even pondered if it was alright for her to be here or not.
- Jiiing!
That was when the dimensions opened in the middle of the laboratory - Alicia knew what this spell was.
“P, Professor Josephine?”
It seemed that the master of dimensional spells, Professor Josephine, had finally arrived at the laboratory. Lady Josephine soon showed herself from the portal, and the good news was she wasn’t the only reinforcement.
“Woah~. Looks like everyone’s doing fine.”
Korin Lork. He, who should be out of the city for the grade reassessment, arrived along with Josephine.
“M, Mr. K, Korin-?!”
Alicia knew he would be back before everything was over, but she definitely wasn’t expecting him to arrive like this so she widened her eyes in surprise.
“How did you meet Professor Josephine?”
“Tell me the situation before that. Where’s the boar?”
“Ah! Senior Marie is holding it back for now! We have to help but…!”
Alicia turned to Marie who was keeping the demon boar busy with Blood Realm in the middle of one of the rooms of the building. What she saw next were hundreds of demonic beasts camping outside the barrier.
They were waiting as if they would pounce at Marie immediately once the Realm was gone. It seemed nigh impossible to approach her through that horde of monsters.
“King Tyrant should be alright now. And Melting Dragon… what did you even do to that guy?”
- Woof!
Doggo gave a fierce bark and showed off his achievement.
“What’s your plan, Korin Lork? Should I throw you into the barrier with my magic?” asked Josephine.
Her idea was very reasonable. Even though she was a semi-Unique Grade mage and was immeasurably strong, even she couldn’t defeat hundreds of rampant demonic beasts in an instant in an underground setting.
“It’s okay. Miss, you can just help us defeat the demon boar.”
“What do you mean?”
Instead of replying to her question, Korin responded with his actions. Raising the Silver Spear, he tapped the ground once.
- Hwaaaaa, hwaaaaaaaaakk—---!!!!
In that instant, astonishing flames started to rise from everywhere. The hundreds of demonic beasts that were pushing the guardians back suddenly started being scorched with black smoke leaving their bodies.
“Are they being… scorched from the inside?”
- Hwaaak! Hwaaaaaaaa!
- Squeakkk! Quackkk! Kuwooooo!
Flames started rising from the ‘undigested stones’ that were inside the bodies of the demonic beasts. Like white phosphorus, they simultaneously began to burn.
The synchronized screams of countless monsters including Fang Boars were so noisy that even Professor Josephine turned dizzy from it.
“Resonant activation of the Silver Spear. With enough time and tenacity, you can even do things like this.”
Korin’s lips curled up as he gazed down at the burning demonic beasts.
Aɗvanceɗ chạpters ạvailable on our sítẹ