Originally, mercenaries were, to put it somewhat unkindly, no different from robbers with swords.
In a world where most people were powerless commoners, they lived by taking up the blade and making it their trade.
Wolves lurking among a flock of sheep.
If one strayed even a little from a well-policed city, it was not uncommon to see mercenaries making a mess of things.
But that, too, had become a thing of the past.
It was thanks to the Adventurer Guild finally getting its act together, establishing a proper system, and making rewards and punishments clear.
The guild had been ambitiously founded under the banner of representing adventurers and mercenaries, but in truth it had been little more than an empty name. Yet that very guild had become a single massive organization exerting influence across the entire continent.
It had all begun when the head of the Adventurer Guild changed.
“The world’s gotten better, I tell you. Back in my day, people fought like mad over who got to clear Abyss Dungeons.”
Criton was a mercenary of the Adventurer Guild headquarters.
A highest-ranking mercenary of the “Gold” grade.
His true identity was that of a possessor.
“Back then, I thought that was the content. Limited rewards, limited time. Content meant for people to bite, tear, and fight each other to get their hands on it.”
Franco, walking beside him, was also a Gold-grade mercenary like him.
Of course, he too was a possessor.
“Now there isn’t even a rat in sight, let alone anyone trying to clear it.”
“Well, who’d want to come? To a horrible place like this.”
The two were halfway up an unnamed mountain. They stopped on the slope of a small hill that was not particularly large and looked ahead.
A bizarre space where the air had split open vertically, and thick darkness writhed between the gap.
This was the entrance to the Abyss.
“Exactly. Those horrible monsters are swarming inside there, so anyone who values their life would stay away. That’s only normal.”
“Still, it’s early stages for now, so it’s easy.”
The hill itself was being strictly controlled by people dispatched from the guild headquarters.
“From what I hear, Black Fang’s about to collapse soon too.”
“What was it again? They say the Supreme Heavenly Demon himself made a move. Don’t know if it’s just a rumor, but in any case, since the Empire declared war, even if total collapse is difficult, they’ll take a major blow.”
“Then things around here should be quiet for a while. Those bastards who latched onto Black Fang were annoying as hell.”
“They were. Crazy bastards, all of them.”
While having that conversation, the two strode into the darkness of the Abyss.
Because to them, this had become a fairly familiar routine.
Whoosh— Their vision went dark in an instant. The air grew heavy. Their chests felt tight, as though they had stepped underwater.
They had entered the Abyss.
“Tsk… I hate how nasty this feels. Let’s clear it quickly and go.”
The floor they currently needed to clear was the tenth underground floor. It was still the early stage.
On the other hand, the possessors had entered three years ago and grown stronger since then. As if that were not enough, a strategy guide had already been created based on the memories of many possessors.
So for the tenth underground floor, Criton and Franco were more than enough.
“But did the Supreme Heavenly Demon really appear this time?”
“Seems like it… but I’m not sure.”
“After staying quiet all this time, is he finally starting to act?”
“Even if he’s the Supreme Heavenly Demon, Black Fang must have been an eyesore. Just getting rid of Black Fang will make things much easier from now on.”
“That’s true.”
When he placed his hand on the statue before them, a message appeared.
「There are a total of ten areas you can go to.」
「List」
「Abyss Underground - 1st Floor」
「Abyss Underground - 2nd Floor」
「Abyss Underground - 3rd Floor」
…….
「Abyss Underground - 10th Floor」
They chose the tenth underground floor without hesitation.
「You have selected Abyss Underground - 10th Floor.」
「Portal activating.」
Their consciousness sank as if being sucked in. After losing their senses for a brief instant and coming to, they had arrived on the tenth underground floor of the Abyss.
“It’s a single monster, so let’s finish this quickly and go.”
The one in charge of the tenth underground floor was a single Abyss monster. A creature commonly called a boss monster.
Compared to ordinary Abyss monsters, it was certainly strong, but in the end, it was still an early-stage monster.
There was nothing to worry about.
After all, Criton and Franco had come while taking even its traits and skills into account.
“…Was it always this long?”
They felt something was strange not long after arriving on the tenth floor and walking for a while.
“On a single-monster floor, didn’t it show up right away?”
A single-monster floor, where the clear was complete once one monster was defeated. Since there was only one monster standing alone in a wide space, it was a floor that could be cleared quickly as long as one’s combat strength was sufficient, which was why Criton had said they should finish it quickly.
However, even after walking for quite some time, they could not sense even a hint of the monster.
Despite the fact that one of the characteristics of lower-floor monsters was that they flaunted their presence as if showing off.
“Let’s go back.”
Criton and Franco did not act recklessly.
The moment they noticed even the slightest anomaly, they chose to go back rather than proceed any farther.
It was partly policy, but also an ominous feeling they sensed instinctively.
“Yeah. Let’s go back and report it. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
And so, the two immediately turned around.
“The entrance……”
“…We’re screwed.”
The entrance had already vanished as cleanly as if it had been washed away.
Although they had not walked that far, it was nowhere to be found, swallowed up by darkness as though devoured by the abyss.
“Could this be… that?”
“That?”
Franco murmured quietly as he looked toward where the entrance had been, as if he could hardly believe it.
“The labyrinth.”
“…Does that make any sense?”
Criton whipped his head around and stared at Franco.
His face was twisted in a deep frown. His tone insisted far too strongly that it could not be true.
But unease slowly began to creep up.
“That’s an Abyss pattern that only appears above the fiftieth floor.”
A pattern of the Abyss that should not have appeared for at least another year had emerged.
The difficulty of the Abyss, which should have still been in its early stage, had twisted strangely.
The future that had been planned had gone awry once again.
* * *
「Achievement Accomplished! - Rest of Baal Forest.」
「You have obtained 47 points for accomplishing the achievement.」
The leadership of the imperial army swiftly decided to withdraw. They would leave behind only the troops needed for cleanup and return quickly through Ios.
The first reason was that Vitalianus’s condition was critical.
The second was that as the battle within the fog had dragged on, the soldiers’ mental and physical fatigue had accumulated beyond imagination.
“I still have something to do, so I’ll return later.”
The one who nodded at Hio’s words was Damon of the Royal Knights.
“I will relay that.”
Damon bowed his head and moved away.
After even the search of the Gray Castle had been completed, the wealth and artifacts that had filled the castle’s storeroom were, of course, confiscated.
In addition, they had thoroughly investigated every corner of the castle and were now preparing to withdraw from the Gray Castle.
Of course, no one had discovered the mage’s house that should exist beneath it.
“I didn’t manage to get as many artifacts as I thought.”
Hio, now left alone again in the Gray Castle, muttered.
Before the imperial army could recover the artifacts, Hio had already taken action.
- In a way, it is only natural. Most of them were artifacts left unattended without maintenance for long years… And artifacts that would be useful to someone at your level are not so common.
“That’s true too.”
Leaving aside his magical realm, he possessed as many as three top-tier skills.
Unless he used such skills lavishly, he was not severely lacking in mana either.
He had been steadily investing the fame points he gained into mana, after all.
In other words, there were not many artifacts that would satisfy Hio’s standards.
“So that means these are artifacts that are impressive enough.”
That also meant the artifacts Hio had pocketed before they fell into the imperial army’s hands were truly remarkable.
- But if you asked, would the emperor not gladly hand them over anyway…? Was there really a need to secretly swipe them like this?
“…You really are a ghost with no romance.”
After dismissing Purnel’s reasonable opinion, he put on the first artifact.
「Bracelet of the Flame Guardian (Unique)」
「A bracelet belonging to the clan that guarded the Flame Orb. With their annihilation, the power of the Flame Orb was engraved into the bracelet.」
「Fire-attribute magic casting speed +10%」
「Fire-attribute magic power +7%」
「It judges danger to the wearer on its own and protects them.」
Heat began from his wrist and wrapped around his entire body. A warm sensation, as though something were protecting him, filled him, and the energy of flame roamed around him as a faint red aura glimmered.
- The Flame Orb. I have heard there was a tribe that regarded it as sacred and guarded it, but it seems they were wiped out. Since it was an object they held sacred, its effects should be certain.
“That’s why I chose it. I’m lacking in defensive skills, after all.”
- That is true. Compared to your offensive means, your defensive means are practically nonexistent. It is almost a wonder you have survived until now.
“Well… one thing led to another……”
This was reality, not a game.
If one valued one’s life, one would naturally prepare defensive measures first.
And yet, somehow, only his offensive methods had evolved in abundance.
“For my next evolution, I should evolve a support method.”
His endurance had almost reached the target value.
Rather than increasing his offensive skills now, he would have to evolve some other support magic.
“At any rate, the main one is this……”
As he rummaged through his pocket, his hand found the second artifact.
The Bracelet of the Flame Guardian from before was certainly an excellent artifact, but it could not compare to this.
- I did not expect… that to be here.
The artifact that appeared along with Purnel’s admiration was an amber lantern.
「Lantern of the Soul Harvester (Epic)」
「An object beyond human hands.」
「Soul Absorption: Absorb souls to permanently increase stats. The increase varies depending on the soul’s rank.」
「Soul Storage: Store souls without damage. Souls stored in the lantern for a long time can be controlled by the user.」
「Soul Recovery: Consume stored souls to recover spiritual power or vitality.」
「Soul Extraction: Extract the purest darkness from a soul and convert it into dark-attribute mana. This is the energy at the root of all black magic.」
It was an item of the Epic grade, no less.
Its effects were impressive, but even more surprising was Purnel’s explanation.
- It is an object that existed far before even my era. The symbol of the archmage called the progenitor of all necromancers and black magic. It was called Kreutzwald’s Lantern. To think such an object was in a small castle like this……
The Lantern of the Soul Harvester. According to Purnel, it was one of the divine relics of Kreutzwald, the progenitor of all necromancers and black magic.
There was something Hio had suspected ever since discovering it.
- Perhaps this place is not the mage’s house.
Even if Black Fang was a symbol of terror that shook the entire continent, how was it that artifacts like these had gathered only here?
From the artifact of fog that covered all of Baal Forest, confusing cognition and senses, to the Lantern of the Soul Harvester.
Perhaps this place was—
- It may be the dungeon of a black mage.
A hidden dungeon that no one knew about, not in the present, and not even within the game.
- And not just any dungeon, but that of Kreutzwald, the great black mage, necromancer, and archmage who has no equal in the past, present, or future.
Whatever the case, he could confirm it himself.
“Soul Harvester, huh……”
When he raised the amber lantern to eye level and peered inside, a single tiny soul appeared only to Hio’s eyes.
Soul Storage, one of the lantern’s abilities.
Using it, a soul had been carefully stored inside.
“I hope there’s an answer to what I should do with this fellow.”
A soul asleep as if exhausted from crying.
It had been so full of lingering attachment that it had refused to budge. It was Airaits’s soul.
- I told you we should leave it behind. It was a soul that would have naturally disappeared with time anyway. Even if you made it into an undead, its limit would have been some ambiguous specter or banshee.
Just as he said, Airaits’s soul had begun hovering around Hio as soon as it escaped the confusion of its memories.
Yet he could not turn it into an undead either. It was not noble like Teordo’s soul, nor was its rank exceptionally high like Ataolf’s, so it could not become any particularly remarkable undead.
Of course, Airaits’s soul was not exactly low-ranking, but this had happened because Hio’s necromancy realm was low.
In any case, since there had been no method, he had intended to leave the soul alone until it naturally ascended. Then, in the midst of that, he discovered the Lantern of the Soul Harvester and stored the soul with Airaits’s consent.
Well, he was not certain whether it had consented, but that was how it felt. How it felt.
- Tsk, tsk… You are needlessly sentimental, you know.
“Well… I’m sure it’ll be useful someday. For now, let’s head down to the castle’s underground.”
The underground of the Gray Castle.
Whether this place was merely one of the many mage’s houses.
Or whether, as Purnel said, it was the dungeon of an extraordinary black mage.
To confirm the answer, he moved toward the entrance.