It wasn’t that; I couldn’t upload because the internet was down. Megapass, which had been fine for a while, just had to start acting up yesterday. Honestly, aside from being able to use Hitel for free, Megapass doesn’t have much merit. It’s not cheap, and it’s not fast either. If I hadn’t signed a three-year contract, I would have switched long ago, but there’s nothing I can do.^^
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The deeper they went, the stronger the magical power contained within the barrier became. Even so, at first, at least the companions in the same group still appeared in their true forms, but even that was now a thing of the past. The comrades who had been human just a moment ago had all turned into Death Knights and Dullahans. It was fortunate they had known the secret of the barrier in advance; otherwise, they might have swung their swords first and asked questions later.
“H-hey! A-are you D-Damon?”
At the bizarre words from beside him, Damon turned his head, and his eyes suddenly widened. Until just a moment ago, Helbertron had definitely been walking there, but his figure had vanished without a trace, and in his place walked a Death Knight with an eerie light wavering in the sockets of its eyes. Even the armor on its body had changed into that of a Death Knight, emblazoned clearly with the Demon King’s crest.
“Could you be Helbertron?”
“L-looks like it is you. Damn it, your form turned into a ghoul all of a sudden, and I almost threw my sword at you.”
The Death Knight who seemed to be Helbertron shook his head and grumbled. Damon grew curious about what he had changed into. Of course, he had never once seen a ghoul before.
“What does a ghoul look like…?”
“A man-eating monster that digs up corpses in graveyards and feeds on them. Blood-red eyes, a mouth split all the way to the ears, even a long, flicking tongue—you look exactly like a ghoul. Amazing.”
It seemed the claim that one’s appearance differed depending on one’s ability was probably correct. Among the party, Damon alone appeared as a ghoul because he was the weakest. Helbertron had the form of a considerably powerful-looking Death Knight. The black energy wavering from his armor was thicker than that of the other Death Knights, and the sword he had drawn was so completely covered in a dark aura blade that it could not even be seen.
Turning his head, Helbertron realized that almost all of the heroes’ appearances had changed into Death Knights and Dullahans. Not a single one retained their original form. At that revealed truth, each of the heroes felt a chill run down their spines.
There was no one bold enough to keep their eyes open and calmly watch a situation where Death Knights and Dullahans surrounded them on every side. Only Damon was looking around with amusement.
“How interesting, that they appear in different forms depending on their ability.”
Sergei’s appearance had already changed into that of a Dullahan. The head, glaring with bloodshot eyes, was tucked under his arm instead of resting on his neck. Judging by that, Sergei’s swordsmanship did not seem particularly powerful. After watching him for a moment, Damon turned his head.
“What about Shrekheimer?”
The figure of the white-haired Shrekheimer had already vanished, and in his place stood a lich that looked terribly sinister. What set him somewhat apart from other liches was the crown on his head and the long-grown fangs, like those of a vampire.
Intrigued, Damon kept looking around at the knights nearby. First, at the outer perimeter, where the relatively strong knights had been positioned, there were without fail Death Knights walking silently with their swords gripped upright. Seeing Dullahans walking in between them, he guessed they were probably the noble knights. Suddenly, a curious gleam appeared in Damon’s eyes.
“I wonder how this scene looks to Daphne?”
But Daphne was already deeply asleep. Shrekheimer had put her to sleep with magic so that she would not be shocked.
“She has the mind’s eye, so she must be seeing it properly. Well.”
Damon and Daphne continued walking silently through the barrier while receiving the ironclad escort(?) of Death Knights and Dullahans.
It was truly a tremendous loss. The strongest knight order of Truvenia, which had been saved and conserved for the promised final counterattack, had ultimately been forced to bury most of its strength in the fog. And through mutual slaughter among allies, at that. Carrying that pain with them, the heroes were finally able to break through the barrier zone. Aside from their companions’ appearances changing into undead, no further attacks were launched.
After emerging from the center of the barrier zone covered in pale fog, the knights each said a word or two as they looked back. In their eyes lingered expressions that said they had truly had enough.
“Phew! Is it over?”
“It really was a cursed place. Somewhere I never want to think about again…”
The moment they passed through the barrier zone, a flesh-cutting cold assaulted them. But the knights instead wore expressions of relief. The fog of the barrier zone, which had swallowed 330 of their comrades, was dreadful just to think about. So much so that the cold wind piercing into their very bones felt welcome by comparison…
As the fog lifted, the magical power dwelling in the barrier weakened. Accordingly, the heroes who had taken on the dreadful forms of undead began returning one by one to their true appearances. The temple was still not in sight, but visibility was gradually improving, so before long, the temple would come into view.
“Do you happen to know what the temple looks like, High Pontiff?”
At Sergei’s question, Shrekheimer shook his head.
“I have never seen it. But according to ancient texts, the temple is surrounded by enormous fortifications.”
He now appeared in his true form to all the heroes. Though, here and there, a few heroes still remained in the forms of Death Knights or Dullahans. At Shrekheimer’s words, Sergei tilted his head as if he could not understand.
“How peculiar. To think that a temple visited by many people would be surrounded by walls…”
“They say there were originally no walls. Later, the ancient monarchs built them for the purpose of monopolizing Lord Verhazel’s glory. It was during the period when Lord Verhazel’s will began to be undermined.”
“Is that so?”
As Sergei nodded perfunctorily, a sudden light wavered in his eyes. Far in the distance, a majestic silhouette had revealed itself. It was hard to see clearly because of the fog, but it was a truly gigantic structure. So much so that it could be compared to the walls surrounding Feldrian.
“Is that it?”
“It’s enormous.”
Tension appeared plainly in the heroes’ eyes. The goal they had waited and waited for had finally revealed itself. Sergei called everyone’s attention in his characteristic cold voice.
“Do not rush. From this point on, keep your minds sharp and stay alert to your surroundings.”
Because they had no idea what dangers might be lurking, the heroes reorganized their formation tensely. It took the shape of thoroughly protecting Damon and Daphne, who were positioned at the center. From now on, they would be entering the domain of a god. For that reason, their hearts could not help trembling on their own.
Maintaining their formation, the heroes moved forward cautiously. As time passed, the shape of the structure became clearer and clearer. Also, the closer they drew to the walls, the thinner the fog became. At last, the majestic outer wall of the temple came clearly into the heroes’ view.
“Have we finally arrived?”
It was an exceedingly antique structure. The style of the walls and watchtowers was vastly different from that of the present day. Because it was so magnificent, the collapsed portions did not easily catch the eye. But as the distance grew closer, the walls gradually revealed their true state to the heroes. Sergei, who was carefully observing them, frowned.
“These walls are terribly old.”
Indeed, the weathering of the walls was truly severe. It seemed it might be because of the wind that blew without pause. The place where the gate should have been was simply wide open, and the walls themselves were so worn down that it was difficult to distinguish the seams. Sergei first sent out scouts.
“Go and thoroughly scout the interior of the walls…”
“Understood.”
After two knights departed as scouts, the party stopped there and waited for their report. In a situation like this, it was important to act only after clearly grasping the state of their surroundings. With their current strength, they could not face more than one dragon. Numbering one short of seventy in total, the hero corps waited anxiously for the scouts’ report to arrive.
The scouts who returned a little later informed them that there were no abnormal signs whatsoever.
“At least as far as we could see with the naked eye, there were no moving objects at all. The interior of the walls formed an extremely vast open space, and a building that appeared to be the temple was located about one kilometer from the walls.”
“Huh! One kilometer… That must be an incredibly wide open space. The temple must be quite ruined as well, no?”
A strange expression appeared on the face of the knight who had gone scouting. Depending on how one looked at it, it could be called a look of bewilderment.
“That is… Strangely enough, the temple building showed no traces of weathering at all on the outside. It looked as though it had just been built.”
“Is that so?”
Sergei reacted as if there was nothing especially strange about it. The walls, of course, had been built arbitrarily by humans, so it would make sense for them to crumble, but the temple was a building that symbolized the authority of a god. It did not seem likely that Verhazel would leave the temple to collapse.
Nodding silently, Sergei looked at Benitez. He intended to have him use magic to check whether any monsters were hiding.
But suddenly, his eyes narrowed. Benitez seemed lost in thought, as though something had seized his attention. Come to think of it, Benitez’s attitude had been somewhat strange lately. There had been many times when he sat blankly, as if his mind had gone elsewhere.
‘To be thinking about something else at such an important time…’
Sergei let out an irritated word.
“Benitez.”
Startled by the words, Benitez turned his head. His face was full of a dazed expression. Seeing that, Sergei’s anger rose to the top of his head.
“Where is your mind wandering? Is this such a leisurely time?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Sorry, my foot. Cast a detection spell. Check whether there are any monsters or the like around the temple.”
“Understood.”
Benitez hurriedly began casting. As if he did not trust him, Sergei ordered the remaining mages to cast detection spells as well.
“We must thoroughly avoid any possible danger. Do not miss even a lowly monster like a slime. Search carefully.”
The mages silently began casting around the temple. Of course, because the flow of mana was extremely unstable, the casting could not help taking a long time. In the end, an hour of searching passed, and nothing abnormal was discovered. Only then did Sergei look satisfied.
“It seems the bastards still haven’t noticed. They must have trusted that barrier zone absolutely, no?”
As if there was nothing more to think about, he advanced the troops. The seventy-odd heroes moved toward the walls step by step, tense to the utmost. Naturally, the long swords they had drawn were surging with aura blades. Though the mages’ search had revealed nothing, this was the sanctuary of a god, so it was impossible not to feel tense.
As they walked in, the walls gradually revealed their form. Seen from a distance where they could be clearly identified, the walls were, quite literally, ruins themselves. Not a single place was intact. They simply had not looked particularly damaged from afar because they were so majestic.
“It can hardly even be called a castle.”
Sergei shook his head with a bitter smile.
Before long, the vanguard arrived at the entrance of the castle. Rather than an entrance, it seemed more accurate to call it simply a gap. The heroes walked in with every nerve on edge. When they saw the temple standing far away, their eyes widened.
“What?”
“G-good heavens…”
Exclamations burst simultaneously from the heroes’ mouths. The temple’s appearance was that grand and magnificent. Its form was incomparably different from the walls, which had collapsed so completely that they could hardly be called a structure. Though built in an ancient architectural style, it was beautiful enough, and not a single collapsed section could be seen anywhere. Despite having been abandoned for so long, the temple had been preserved, quite literally, in perfect condition.
Each of the heroes was busy gaping and admiring the beauty of the temple. Until Sergei, unable to endure it any longer, burst out in anger.
“We must hurry. We do not have time for this.”
When the heroes came to their senses and adjusted their grips on their swords, Sergei looked back. Daphne was still unconscious, carried on Damon’s back. After gazing at Daphne’s face for a moment, Sergei turned his head toward Shrekheimer.
“You know the procedure, do you not?”
“Yes. They say that once we enter the temple, there is a vast hall inside. There, we must present our petition to Lord Verhazel. Of course, the only one who can offer the petition is the saintess. At present, that is the only place where communication with Lord Verhazel is possible.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. If what is written in the ancient texts is correct.”
Sergei nodded silently, then looked at the heroes.
“That is our destination. Take heart. Truvenia’s fate depends on us. We must complete this mission without fail.”
The heroes nodded with firm expressions and began moving forward once more. Thinking that the fate of every human in Truvenia rested in their hands, they could not help feeling the weight on their shoulders.