Chapter 253
The 4th basement floor of the ruin looked just like a chapel. Long chairs were placed at regular intervals, and a large platform sat in front of them.
The presence of a chapel meant there must be a god being worshipped, but just what kind of god was this place built to worship?
Franz took a slow step forward, with such questions in mind. His footsteps echoed unusually loudly in the silent space.
“Is it blocked here as well…”
Just like on the 2nd basement floor, the entrance leading down was blocked here.
There must be some kind of mechanism this time too, just as he had with hundreds of skeletons.
Sure enough, he suddenly began to feel an immense amount of magic power. The power was like that of the black goat he had seen in the labyrinth of the underground city, no, perhaps even more than that.
Thud-.
Something fell in front of Franz. A priest’s robes were covered in dust, and what was inside them was, naturally, a skeleton.
As if fixing its broken joints, the guy creaked as he raised his body and stared blankly at Franz. Though it was unknown if he could even see ahead since he had no eyeballs.
Snap-.
Franz watched its actions with his protection magic deployed. Taking care of it wouldn’t be that difficult, but doing so would prevent him from conducting proper research.
That was when the guy clutched its chest as if in agony, even though it shouldn’t have any organs capable of feeling pain.
After a brief moment, flames bloomed in the guy’s two eyes that had been filled only with emptiness. It was as if a will could be felt from those flames, containing an endless resentment toward the world.
Following that, the priest’s robes the guy was wearing bulged unevenly, and eventually, elongated bones pierced through the fabric and emerged outside.
It was hard to see the guy’s appearance as human anymore.
No, it wasn’t human from the start.
To Franz, the guy was just one of the incredibly common monsters.
BOOM-!
Throwing his body nimbly, the guy lunged at Franz. The sharply honed ends of the bones rushed in at a terrifying speed like spears.
Of course, mere bones couldn’t possibly pierce the protective shield.
Franz simply stood tall in his spot, watching the dozens of bones that looked ready to tear apart the protective shield at any moment.
“Can it freely adjust the length of its bones according to its will?”
The sight of the bones repeatedly extending and retracting at will was truly bizarre, but his interest was piqued even more. If he used that as a material, he would be able to create truly endless things.
Meanwhile, the guy moved his body nimbly and retreated. He seemed to have judged that piercing the protective shield was impossible.
The fact that it voluntarily backed off even though he hadn’t made any particular counterattack meant there was definitely a reason for it.
Franz’s prediction proved true. The blazing flame in the guy’s left eye grew hotter, and soon, it fired a single beam of light.
KABOOM-!
The beam turned the entire chapel area into a wasteland. The wooden chairs shattered, sending fragments flying, and they caught fire, causing flames to blaze all around.
Was that all? Metal objects like candlesticks and ornaments melted without a trace the moment the beam touched them.
Of course, even in such a situation, Franz didn’t move a single step. More accurately, he had no reason to move.
Anyway, just what material were the floor and walls made of? It was quite interesting that they were perfectly fine even after being hit by a beam that melted metal.
Well, he could take his time examining that later.
Snap-.
As Franz snapped his fingers, a massive magic circle was drawn on the ceiling of the chapel.
Drops of water began to fall one by one from the magic circle, and soon, a heavy downpour poured out. The thick smoke slowly settled, and the momentum of the blazing flames gradually died down.
Did that stimulate the guy’s pride? The guy charged through the pouring rain.
BOOM-!
A massive, highly raised fist struck the protective shield forcefully. In an instant, the air was pushed away as if exploding, and the pouring streams of water were pushed away along with it.
As it repeated its previous action, it seemed it had run out of all available means.
Then it would be best to slowly bring this to an end. Compared to the amount of magic power it possessed, it was pathetic…
That was when it happened. Suddenly, another hand popped out from inside the guy’s clothes.
The hand, made entirely of bone, was holding a golden sword. It was a sword that still exuded brilliance despite the traces of time on it.
But wasn’t something strange? Weren’t the magic particles disappearing around the sword?
“Does it have the ability to erase magic power…!”
Realizing the sword’s secret, Franz immediately used Spatial Movement Magic. No matter how sturdy the protective shield was, it would be meaningless if the magic power itself was erased.
Sure enough, the sword pierced through the protective shield and entered. Franz was no longer in that spot, but if he had been, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid a great disaster.
To think it would have such an item…
While Franz marveled, greed also welled up within him. Since it didn’t seem to be an ordinary item, the desire arose to investigate it in detail.
To do that, it would be best to take care of the guy first.
Even though it was holding an item like a mage’s nightmare, that didn’t mean it was unbeatable.
The point was that the magic just shouldn’t touch the sword, was it not?
Snap-.
As Franz snapped his fingers, a massive rock was fired toward the flank of the charging guy.
The guy immediately swung his sword and slashed the magic itself. The rapidly advancing rock disappeared without a trace.
However, that wasn’t the only magic; a fireball fired from the opposite direction of where the rock had flown touched the guy’s body.
BOOM-!
Along with a massive explosion, the air in the area was pushed away. At the same time, a giant block of ice fell from above, and rock spikes surged up from the ground.
In this world, deploying two types of magic simultaneously was called brilliant, and three types genius.
Furthermore, Franz hadn’t even brought out ten percent of his true skills, so his abilities could truly be called unprecedented.
As Franz gestured in the air, the thick smoke gathered in one place and vanished.
The guy that was thus revealed was smashed into the floor, somehow trying to raise his half-broken body.
To think it wouldn’t die even after taking an attack of that level. It was a level of skill that made him retract his earlier dismissal.
But this is the end of it now.
It was the moment Franz was about to finish it off. The guy suddenly plunged the sword into his own chest, more accurately, toward the power source inside his chest - the magic stone.
The sword’s ability was to erase magic power itself. Naturally, the moment the sword touched it, the magic stone lost all the power it possessed.
For Franz, who had lost a precious material, it could truly be called a painful moment, but there was something more important right now.
An immense amount of divine power was being felt from the guy’s body that had lost its magic power. Like the final flame blazing fiercely before turning to ash.
“Just what is about to happen…?”
It was embarrassing as a saint, but he didn’t know much about divine power. So, full of tension, all he could do was deploy his protective shield.
That was when.
“Ugh…?”
In an instant, an intense headache flared up, and his consciousness blurred.
He could instinctively realize it. The guy in front of his eyes was trying to invade his mind right now.
Franz slowly drew up the divine power from within his body. Just as magic power was the counter to magic power, divine power would be the counter to divine power.
He felt his consciousness, which had sunk into a dark place, gradually rising to the surface.
Soon fully regaining his senses, Franz let out a long sigh, Phew-.
The guy in front of him was already not even twitching, and the intensely felt divine power had also already disappeared. It seemed that this had been the guy’s hidden trump card.
If only those who didn’t know how to handle divine power had come here, the result would be obvious.
Their minds would have been eroded by the guy, leading them to kill each other, or the control of their bodies completely stolen. It was certain that either way would be a terrible result.
Gathering the useful things from the guy, Franz soon turned his head slowly. At the end of his gaze was a door that had opened wide at some point.
Having cleared the 4th basement floor, only two floors remained.
Thinking about the guy he had just faced, it seemed it would be a slightly different battle from before.
At the very least, he shouldn’t let his guard down.
Franz took a step toward the 5th basement floor.
The 5th basement floor he eventually arrived at was not an easy place, just as he had expected. It was because the black-armored knight he had met on the 3rd floor appeared, having formed a party with a cleric, an archer, and a mage.
Not only were the abilities possessed by each individual top-notch, but their coordination was also high-level. It was to the point where he thought they were even stronger than the Seven Great Evils of the cult he had met once before.
He arrived at the entrance to the 6th basement floor after quite some time had passed. Franz narrowed his brow at the eerie atmosphere felt from the bottom of the stairs.
What lay beyond this was a being of a different caliber. To the point where it couldn’t even be compared to the monsters he had met so far. He probably wouldn’t be able to act leisurely anymore.
Of course, even so, he had no choice but to move forward. He hadn’t entered the ruin just to stop here, after all.
Letting out a sigh and steeling his resolve, Franz slowly took a step forward.
And soon, he faced the boss of the ruin on the 6th basement floor.
The guy wearing armor dyed entirely in red was holding a sword with a familiar appearance.
The Holy Sword, Jupiter. It was the holy sword that would save the world from ruin, and the sword used by the Hero Yuna.
It was the holy sword that would save the world from ruin, and the sword used by the Hero Yuna.