Episode 52
"W-wait, this place... why has it changed like this?"
"...I wonder."
"What do you mean, 'I wonder'! You're the one who said you knew the secrets of this place!"
Before me, Perroche, who had been leading the way, was trembling violently as she shouted.
She's a Saintess of the Sun God Order, and she should have experienced something even more terrifying in the previous cycle, yet she still seems afraid of the dark.
Of course, I also dislike dark places. But what can I do? Perroche's life is at stake here.
"B-but... do you know the way?"
"...I do, so just keep moving forward."
Of course, for someone whose life is supposedly at stake, I am making her walk in front.
Thanks to that, I look quite cowardly, but with my body in such a ruined state, I can't exactly take the lead myself.
It's actually safer for us if Perroche, who has the 'Sun God's Protection,' goes ahead rather than weakened me.
"Ah...! The path has split in two...!"
After walking for a while, the path divided into two. Looking at it, this maze seems to take a very typical form.
One side is the correct answer, the other is either wrong or a trap—that tired old cliché.
"F-Frey! Which way should we go?"
"Hmm..."
If I had even one less Stack, I would have turned my gaze away from Perroche and sent sword energy at both forks to check, but in my current condition, that's impossible.
So, I need to choose an alternative.
"...You, get behind me."
"What?"
"Watch our rear for a moment."
I pulled Perroche, who was puzzling at the fork, and sent her behind me. After confirming she had started watching the rear with sharp eyes, I began to circulate Star Mana.
"Hmm..."
As I extended Star Mana forward for a while, I started feeling an alien sensation from the left entrance.
"...It's the right side."
Just as I pointed to the right with sharp eyes because the sensation was unusual, a loud noise suddenly came from the left corridor.
Startled, I tried to quickly grab Perroche and run into the right corridor, but... she, who had been watching behind me with sharp eyes until a moment ago, had vanished into thin air.
"Perroche!?"
"Yes?"
When I shouted in panic, surprisingly, her answer came from the left corridor.
Terrified, I drew the sword at my waist and rushed into the left entrance, only to find Perroche, covered head to toe in stone dust, smiling triumphantly.
"With mazes like this, you just have to break everything and go through!"
"...Ha."
In front of her lay a stone, shattered to pieces, that must have been rolling toward them at high speed.
"...Just keep going forward."
Feeling like I wasted my mana for nothing, I resigned myself and began breaking through the maze at high speed, using Perroche as my strategic weapon.
- Crack!
"...By the way, when was such a huge space created in the Order's basement?"
Around the time we broke through the fifth fork, Perroche, who had snapped the neck of an undead orc that appeared out of nowhere, held the limp orc and asked me a question.
"They probably built it bit by bit over time."
"I see... the corruption of the Order has been going on for quite a long time then."
After hearing my answer, she nodded and began channeling holy power to purify the undead orc.
'...Is this also the work of the Second-in-Command?'
Of course, what I told Perroche isn't the answer. No matter how powerful the Sun God Order is, creating such a massive underground space would be impossible, and the risk of being discovered is very high.
So magic must have been involved, and if this qualifies as a 'Main Quest' level event, there's a high probability that the 'Second-in-Command's' 'Space Domination Magic' was used.
"...Ah, look at this!"
While I was making such conjectures, Perroche, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped and began looking around with curious eyes.
Wondering what was happening, I looked ahead and saw that instead of the cracked basement walls that had continued until now, smooth white marble walls decorated the surroundings, and warm light was seeping from sun-shaped ornaments attached here and there.
"Is this... sunlight?"
"Judging by the sunlight gathering around my body, it seems so. But why is sunlight flowing from the ornaments?"
Hearing her words, I felt an inexplicable sense of unease and was about to remove one of the ornaments, but then I realized that touching suspicious objects in a place like this was practically suicide, so I tried to hurry us along...
"Wow... it's amazing..."
Contrary to my judgment, Perroche was already detaching several ornaments and fiddling with them.
"Th-that...!"
- Click!!
"...Damn it."
I tried to urgently tell her to put the ornament back in its original place, but a strange mechanical sound came from somewhere.
"Eek!?"
Panicking, I wrapped myself around Perroche, drew my sword, and began vigilantly scanning the surroundings, but after some time passed, nothing happened.
"W-what are you doing...?"
Perroche, who had been staring blankly at me, started to look puzzled.
"Oh, you just looked particularly pretty today, that's all."
Thanks to that, I immediately changed my expression to a lecherous one and began groping Perroche.
"...Let go of me."
She then changed her expression to a cold one and pushed me away. Perhaps because she used the Sun God's Protection, even though she only pushed slightly, I would have flown away if I hadn't braced my legs in that instant.
"...Ugh."
But I didn't fly away—I was just pushed back quite far, and I hit the wall hard and started groaning.
- Creak...
"...Hmm?"
But something completely unexpected happened.
A hidden door where I had hit the wall began to open from the impact.
As I stared blankly at the scene, Perroche headed inside without hesitation.
"...This place, I think I've seen it somewhere before."
"What?"
I tried to urgently stop her, but hearing her say it seemed familiar, I frowned, got up, and looked inside.
".....!!!"
And moments later, I could only widen my eyes and freeze.
- In the beginning, there were the Sun God, the Moon God, and the Star God.
"Why is this... here...?"
Because on a cracked and faded stone tablet, the following text was written in 'Korean.'
"This should be a space created by the 'Second-in-Command'...? Why on earth is the ancestors' language here...?"
Looking at the meaningful phrases with a bewildered expression, I looked around, and then Perroche suddenly clapped her hands and muttered.
"Ah! Right! I saw it when I went to the Western Continent before!"
"...You went to the Western Continent?"
When I asked with a frown, Perroche, who had been hesitating, finally twisted her fingers and spoke.
"Yes, I went on a pilgrimage with the Order... The Sun God Order's Western Continent branch was managing spaces quite similar to this place."
"Hmm..."
"For some reason, I wanted to look around because it seemed fascinating, but they told me it was a Level 1 secret and I couldn't enter! If even a Saintess like me couldn't know the secret, it must be an important secret!"
Staring blankly at the Saintess who was speaking with sparkling eyes, I turned my gaze back to the stone tablet and began reading the rest.
- For a time, the world was filled with balance and peace under the protection of the three gods, but crisis came unexpectedly.
"...Crisis?"
- One day, the sun split in half...
The stone tablet's content ended there.
"What have you been looking at for a while now?"
"There are some strange characters here."
I was quite disappointed that there was no further content, but Perroche, who had come to my side without me noticing, held up the sun-light-seeping ornament she was holding and began illuminating the stone tablet.
"Hmm... What is this? I've never seen these characters before..."
- Rumble!!!
"Eek!?"
Perroche, who had been muttering while looking at the characters illuminated by sunlight, screamed as the entire room suddenly began to shake.
"...It's, it's collapsing!"
"Damn it."
The room then began to collapse, and I stared blankly at the stone tablet that was cracking apart for some reason, then threw myself toward the exit with Perroche.
'...I found a clue I never expected.'
Staring blankly at the room buried under rubble, I quietly fell into thought.
The Book of Prophecy made absolutely no mention of the 'Moon God' or 'Star God.' If such things existed, the Ancestor would surely have recorded them.
But the stone tablet I just saw clearly had 'Korean' written on it.
In other words, I found a new clue in a new place—not from the Book of Prophecy or the System.
'I'll definitely have to visit the Western Continent.'
Filled with hope that I might discover new possibilities, I resolved to visit the Western Continent as soon as possible, then stood up and began dusting myself off.
"Ugh... my butt hurts..."
"Give that to me."
"Ah, no!"
When I discovered Perroche sitting on the ground clutching her buttocks, I tried to take the ornament she was gripping tightly, but Perroche twisted her body to avoid my hand and said.
"I, I don't know why, but it feels warm... like a mother, I suppose?"
Hearing the orphan speak of a mother-like feeling, my heart softened, and I sighed deeply as I said:
"If you don't want to be trapped here forever living intimately with me, don't touch anything from now on."
"...Yes."
Perroche then nodded with a cold expression. It seems she really didn't like that idea.
"Then, let's move out."
Placing Perroche in front again, I urged us forward with a disinterested voice and muttered inwardly.
'...Someone's following us?'
I've been feeling gazes from somewhere for a while now.
.
"Wow... there are so many ornaments? With this many, taking a few more wouldn't make a difference..."
"Not a chance."
The sunlight coming from the ornaments packed tightly along the long corridor continued to illuminate us.
Given that they emitted light of consistent intensity at regular intervals, they weren't just simple decorations, but I decided to ignore that since resolving the 'Main Quest' was more urgent.
"Ah! Light is spilling out from over there!"
"...Yeah, looks like it."
After walking for a long time, light began to appear in the distance.
Not knowing what might pop out this time, I approached with full tension, and saw light seeping from a large door.
"...There's a magical seal."
When I approached and held my hand near it, a quite complex magic circle appeared.
Of course, I'm a swordsman, but Serena taught me some knowledge while playing house when I was young, and I myself have accumulated vast knowledge in previous cycles, so I could easily analyze this much.
'...A top-tier sealing magic circle.'
But that didn't mean I could dispel it. I was looking with a troubled expression at the sealing magic circle with various complex spells layered on it, when Perroche beside me asked with an impatient expression.
"Are you not going in? What are you doing?"
"...It's a sealing magic circle."
"A sealing magic circle?"
When I spoke in a low voice and pointed to the floating magic circle, Perroche, who had been tilting her head for a moment, looked straight at me and said.
"...If it's a sealing magic circle, can't you just undo it?"
Her expression was so pure and bright that I wanted to flick her forehead, but barely restraining myself by squeezing my eyes shut, I began to explain kindly.
"Even if ten Tower mages came, they couldn't undo it in a day."
"Why?"
"Different sealing magics and destruction prevention spells are layered together. Those mixed spells create a synergy effect protecting each other... A person with high magical sense would have to spend a long time dismantling them one by one."
".....???"
I explained diligently, but Perroche just propped her chin on her hand and tilted her head.
"...It means it's an incredibly sturdy and complicated lock. Even if you insert the key, it takes a long time and effort to turn it."
"Ah..."
Only after explaining it in the simplest terms possible for Perroche's level did she finally nod in understanding.
"Then, the solution is simple!"
"...What?"
Perroche, who had been nodding for a while, suddenly crossed her arms and spoke with a triumphant expression.
"If the key doesn't work... you just break the lock!"
"..........."
Staring at Perroche, who finished speaking and grinned, with a resigned expression, I suddenly had a thought and widened my eyes.
"Can you designate a 'magic circle' as the target of your 'Sun God's Protection'?"
"H-how did you know I have the Sun God's Protection!?"
"Never mind that. Can you or can't you?"
"I've never tried it..."
Perroche said with a troubled expression, so I grabbed her arms and stood her in front of the magic circle.
"Use the Sun God's Protection on the magic circle."
"...O-okay! Okay, so let go of me!"
She snapped, shaking off my hand, then took a deep breath and slammed her fist into the magic circle with all her might.
- Crash!!!
Then, the colorful sealing magic circle burning before our eyes shattered to pieces.
"...'Crash'? It's not like breaking glass or something."
Feeling the power of the 'Sun God's Protection' once again, I shook my head and entered the room with Perroche, who was smiling proudly.
"...This place is huge."
A vast space, large enough to put any stadium to shame, came into our view.
"You! Now is the time to tell the truth!"
Perroche, who had been gaping at the scene, suddenly frowned deeply and began speaking while glaring at me.
"Why does a place that looked like a small warehouse from the outside become such a vast space when you enter! What are all these complicated mazes and malicious traps! And what is this extremely wide plain for anyway..."
"...This is insane."
"W-what?"
But I ignored her and cursed while looking up at the ceiling.
"Why are you...!"
And the same was true for Perroche, who followed my gaze upward.
"A sacrificial... magic circle..."
Because on the extremely high ceiling, a sacrificial magic circle several times larger than the one used in the 'Commoner Dormitory Attack Incident' was drawn.
"W-why is that there? What is going on?"
"........."
"H-hurry up and tell the truth! Frey!"
Perroche, who witnessed the scene, turned pale and began shaking me violently.
"Well..."
"Grr...!"
Of course, I didn't know anything either, so I equivocated with a stiff expression, and she gritted her teeth, then suddenly clapped her hands and said.
"Aha! Just like before, we can destroy it with my 'Sun God's Protection'..."
Your Protection can only designate one entity as a target. And that magic circle is scattered all over the place like during the 'Commoner Dormitory Incident.'
"B-but...!"
"Besides, how are you going to destroy a magic circle drawn that high up? Unless your arms stretch or shoot out, it's impossible."
"Ugh..."
Perroche, frustrated by my words, suddenly widened her eyes and began looking around.
"...What is it now?"
"Something is strange."
Perroche, who had been looking around with a deep frown, began speaking with a serious expression.
"I can feel both evil energy and divine energy simultaneously..."
"From where...?"
"...From beneath us."
The moment I heard those words and unconsciously looked down, the ground suddenly began to vibrate.
- Rumble!!!
"Kyah!"
Perroche, who lost her balance and fell, bruising her bottom just like before, was about to cry, when a white spear rose from the ground right in front of her.
"Grr..."
"Ugh..."
"This is insane..."
Then, countless undead began rising from the ground, fully armed.
"The, the numbers are too many... Just like... back then..."
Fear began to settle on Perroche's face as she watched the scene.
The reason Perroche, who could wield overwhelming power thanks to the 'Sun God's Protection,' was so terrified was that her protection was quite weak against 'multiple opponents.'
The 'Sun God's Protection' is a technique specialized for 1-on-1 combat that can only demonstrate overwhelming power against 'one opponent,' so if several people attack at once, it's easily neutralized.
That was also why she was captured by the Demon King's army in the previous cycle.
"...What are you standing there for?"
"Th-that's because it's a crisis!"
"You call this a crisis?"
But right now, there's no need to worry at all. Because they are 'undead.'
"Just shut up and blast your holy power."
"...Ah."
Undead are extremely vulnerable to 'holy power' and 'fire.' Just a slight touch is enough to neutralize them, so that settles it.
"O Sun God in heaven, watch over... no, watch over me, and share your power..."
- Whoosh...!
As Perroche desperately chanted the prayer, intense holy power began shooting in all directions.
""Screeeech!""
The countless undead touched by her holy power began writhing in agony.
"Ah! There's an exit over there!"
Perroche discovered an exit far away while the undead were out of their minds and shouted with joy, starting to run toward it, but
- Thwip!!
"...Hah!"
An arrow flew at fierce speed and lodged in her leg, forcing her to tumble on the ground again.
"...Damn, she couldn't block that."
Meanwhile, I, who had already drawn my sword and deflected 6 arrows rushing toward her, frowned as I looked at the arrow buried in her leg.
"W-why...? Why are there still undead even though I used holy power?"
"Those guys were 'Paladins' buried in the Order's basement."
"What?"
I don't know who cast what spell, but Paladins with holy attributes were resurrected as undead.
And not just with residual holy power, but fully fused with dark energy.
Thanks to that, far from being neutralized by Perroche's holy power, they seemed to have been strengthened instead.
I don't know how such an illogical thing could happen... but it seems there's only one thing I need to do now.
"By the way, have you used enough holy power? Perroche?"
"Y-yes...?"
"That was the last of your remaining holy power you could use today, right? Thanks to that, you probably don't even have the strength to move now."
"H-how do you know..."
Of course, I deduced this from the intensity of the holy power I felt when she poured tremendous holy power on me in the orphanage warehouse earlier and when she released holy power just now.
But what I'm about to say to Perroche, who is now trembling with an apprehensive expression, is slightly different.
"...How do I know? Because I calculated it from the beginning."
".....!"
Perroche squeezed her eyes shut at my words. I slowly approached her and began raising the corner of my mouth.
"Ceasefire agreement this and that... you shouldn't carelessly trust someone from the Demon King's army like me."
"Y-you..."
"You should be grateful. I prepared a place like this just to deal with you, who recovers holy power when exposed to sunlight."
Perroche's expression grew increasingly dark at my words.
Seeing that, I'm quite worried about how to clean up the aftermath if we get out alive... but to save Perroche from those undead who will soon be fully active and running rampant, this is the only way.
"...Are you going to kill me?"
"Well... what should I do? Should I kill you quietly as ordered, so no one knows?"
Now standing right in front of Perroche, I whispered to her with a lecherous smile.
"Or, should we stay here and you can hold me..."
"Hah!!"
But at that moment, Perroche pulled the arrow from her leg, threw it at me, and began running toward the exit with all her might.
"Argh!!"
Thanks to that, I fell with a wound in my side, and watching her, who had reached the exit and was about to open the door but looked back for a moment, I muttered.
"...That thing coming from the ornaments, it really was sunlight."
If she keeps recovering with the sunlight from those ornaments, Perroche will be able to escape this place safely.
Thinking that, I smiled faintly and began fingering my sword as I looked at the undead who were now twitching and starting to look at me.
I don't know what on earth this damned place is for, and I don't know who the giant magic circle on the ceiling is targeting, but...
I will buy as much time as possible here, holding off these undead.
That way, Perroche, who is exhausted from using up all her holy power, can escape safely.
"Groaaa!!!"
"I wonder if there are more traps ahead? Will Perroche be able to get out safely?"
I straightened my sword as I watched the Paladin undead start roaring at me, and quietly muttered as I gathered mana from my body.
"...Ah, now isn't the time to worry about others."
Today, my chest seems to ache several times more than usual.