Chapter 35: 3F Hidden (3) |
Among the three holy knights, there is someone wicked hiding in plain sight.
I couldn’t be certain yet.
But if it were true, then who?
‘Probably not Delrunt.’
He was the one who had activated the Holy Relic.
If Delrunt were the traitor, would he have had any reason to activate it right then and there?
Of course, since the one who’d fall under suspicion wasn’t any of the holy knights but me, he could have activated it with the intention of dealing with me.
But that doesn’t quite add up either.
They all knew I was considerably strong, so would he really pick a fight?
Most importantly, I had failed the clear by attacking Delrunt.
If there really was a traitor among them, finding or dealing with that person likely had something to do with the clear.
If Delrunt were the traitor, would attacking the traitor have caused me to fail? Probably not.
That made the remaining two the prime suspects. Sloban and Philip.
One of the two… though I couldn’t rule out the possibility that it was both of them.
‘What do I do?’
Search for the Holy Relics together with the holy knights > But there’s a traitor? > ?
That was roughly the situation so far.
Should I take some kind of active measure to root out the traitor?
I mulled over various approaches.
But for now, I concluded it was best to keep watching.
Nothing was confirmed yet.
I had one more chance after this anyway, so acting rashly wouldn’t be wise.
‘If there is a traitor, what’s their objective?’
Thinking back to what Delrunt had said, it most likely had something to do with the heretical cult called the Noktun and the Archdemon.
Somehow, some way… maybe the traitor was trying to resummon the Archdemon from within this temple? And my role was to stop it.
That was as far as my speculation went.
For now, I’d stay on guard. Especially around those two.
Ready to intervene the moment either of them tried anything.
“I’ll take the lead. I have a good eye for traps.”
“Oh, is it because you’re a mage? Can you spot magical traps as well?”
“Something like that.”
I roughly remembered the path to the room where the Holy Relic had been earlier.
“The left side looks dangerous. Let’s go right.”
So this time, I headed down a different route.
I’d considered whether I should somehow reach the room with the Circlet first and pocket it secretly…
But earlier, they’d immediately recognized it as a Holy Relic, going on about sensing divine energy or whatever. If I tried to hide it, they might notice. So for now, the plan was to take another path.
After navigating through several traps, we arrived at yet another room.
A gargoyle statue stood in the center. This time, something was resting in the gargoyle’s hands.
“Sir Delrunt! Look over there!”
“This divine energy… a Holy Relic!”
The three of them collected the relic with immense emotion.
I asked casually.
“Is that a Holy Relic?”
“This is a Holy Relic called the Celestial Music Box. It must be one of the relics the Order lost long ago!”
“Oh… What does it do?”
“Watch. When you channel Divine Power into it like this…”
♩ ♪
A melody began flowing from the music box.
“It is said to produce a beautiful melody that soothes the mind and body. And indeed, it truly is beautiful!”
“I can practically hear the revelation of the Goddess of Dawn!”
That’s it?
Well, at least it wasn’t something that could detect anything. That was a relief.
We collected the relic and moved on.
After that, we passed through more traps and managed to find several additional Holy Relics.
“Ooh, this is the Ring of Dawnlight!”
“What does it do?”
“When you channel Divine Power into it, it can project a sturdy barrier.”
A bracelet that could project a barrier, a ring that enhanced healing, and earrings that boosted mental fortitude.
Were they going to let me pick from the relics as a reward after clearing?
I just hoped they wouldn’t give me the music box.
“There are stairs here.”
Exploring further, we discovered a staircase.
It was a spiral staircase, and looking up, it stretched on endlessly.
“It’s tall. Perhaps it leads all the way to the summit.”
“Shall we head up?”
Come to think of it, I had noticed something unusual at the top of the pyramid earlier.
After climbing for what felt like an eternity, the staircase did indeed lead to the very top.
Rumble…
The sky seemed even more overcast than before.
Having been stuck in that suffocating space, stepping outside brought a small sense of liberation.
The building itself was so massive that even the summit of the pyramid was as wide as a sports field.
And the first thing that caught my eye was the structure I’d been curious about from below.
“Is that… a cannon?”
Sloban murmured, gazing up at the enormous structure.
A tower standing tall in the center of the summit, like a lighthouse.
Looking up at its peak, a huge barrel jutted out. Just as he’d said, it was a cannon barrel.
While the three of them, interested in nothing but finding relics, wandered around examining the area, I climbed a ladder up to the top of the tower.
“Oh.”
A cannon barrel whose design screamed “magical engineering” at first glance.
A massive gemstone resembling a Magic Stone was embedded in the center of the barrel.
There was even a control lever attached so the barrel’s direction could be adjusted…
“…?”
The moment I gripped the lever, information suddenly appeared.
[Special Item: Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon]
The ultimate weapon, virtually the culmination of the ancient Rune Mage Empire’s magical engineering. Exercise caution when using, as its power is tremendous.
Willpower Cost: 600
Cooldown: None
“…Item info is popping up?”
I could use this?
Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon. The name alone was grandiose.
This was the first time an item like this, usable during a clear, had ever appeared.
But the fact that something like this existed… didn’t that mean there’d be a situation that called for it?
“…Look at this!”
Just then, commotion broke out below.
I climbed back down from the tower and approached the three of them.
All three were staring at an object with grave expressions.
A golden chalice. Half corroded to black.
“Could this be the Holy Grail of Dawn?”
I asked. The relic they’d said was especially important.
Delrunt nodded, his voice tight with restrained fury.
“…It seems Katerun intended to use the Holy Grail of Dawn itself as a vessel to summon the Archdemon. The Holy Grail has been corrupted.”
The atmosphere was so grave that I found myself staring at the chalice with equal seriousness.
I didn’t know much about it, but even to my eyes, the energy emanating from the Grail felt ominous.
Sloban spoke.
“The power of the Grail and the power of the Archdemon seem to be barely holding each other in balance. If the equilibrium inside is disrupted even slightly… there’s no telling what might happen.”
Philip added urgently.
“E-Exactly. We need to take the Grail back to the Order immediately! The Saintess can surely purify it.”
Both Delrunt and Sloban nodded in agreement.
“Let’s head down for now.”
Rather than searching for more relics, the Grail seemed to be the three’s top priority.
Since the building was pyramid-shaped, there was no need to painstakingly retrace the route inside. They simply scaled down the outer wall.
Once they were back on the ground, the three began discussing again.
“So what shall we do about the investigation? There might still be more relics inside…”
“What could possibly be more urgent than the Holy Grail of Dawn right now?”
“I’m worried that Noktun heretics might discover this place. That’s what concerns me.”
Then Philip spoke up.
“One person should be enough to make the trip back, shouldn’t it? Sir Delrunt, allow me to return with the relics first.”
“You would do that?”
“Yes. The two of you can continue the investigation here. The Grail is important, but the remaining relics are just as critical. And as you said, others will likely discover this place soon enough.”
Delrunt nodded.
“Then I’ll leave it to you, Sir Philip.”
Philip, now entrusted with the relics including the Grail, nodded with a look of resolve.
“I will guard the Grail with my life and deliver it to the Saintess as quickly as possible. I hope the two of you return safely as well. Sir Kim Seo-hyeon, I am truly grateful.”
I nodded reflexively.
The three of us, myself included, escorted Philip to the edge of the temple grounds.
‘…Is this really it?’
If it ended this warmly, that would be nice.
But was this really all there was to it?
Sure, we’d gotten through the traps, and there had been various hardships along the way.
But something felt deeply off.
I stared at Philip’s back as he walked ahead.
The traitor. Right, the traitor.
The Holy Grail of Dawn, the item that seemed to be the linchpin of this entire clear, was currently in whose hands?
Philip’s.
The very person about to leave on his own.
‘If Philip is the traitor?’
Then this clear was already a failure.
Because the traitor would be waltzing off with the most critical item.
So what should I do?
Obviously, if an outsider like me accused Philip of being a traitor, the other two wouldn’t listen.
The fact that they’d handed over all the relics and were letting him go alone was proof enough of how deep the trust between them ran.
Then should I just let him go and see if the clear fails?
If it did, that would confirm Philip as the traitor, and I could plan for the final attempt.
But… did I really need to do that?
I was already almost certain. That he was the traitor.
I made my decision and called out to Philip.
“Sir Philip, could you show me the Grail again for a moment?”
“…Pardon?”
“Something’s been nagging at me. There might be some kind of spell cast on the Grail.”
Delrunt looked alarmed.
“A spell? What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure yet, so let me just take another quick look.”
As the self-styled mage who had detected every trap in the temple, my word carried plenty of credibility.
Delrunt and Sloban turned their gaze to Philip.
For a split second, so brief it was nearly imperceptible, I saw Philip’s expression twist around his eyes.
He masked it just as quickly and handed me the Grail.
“Here you are.”
I made a show of examining the Grail, then…
‘If I’m wrong, I’m truly sorry.’
CRACK!
I swung my mace in a surprise strike and smashed it into Philip’s head.
“…!”
Delrunt and Sloban recoiled in horror and lunged at me.
…See? I was right.
I dodged their attacks and backed away, shouting.
“Look! Look at that!”
Delrunt and Sloban froze and turned back to Philip, then went pale with shock.
Where Philip’s head had split open, grotesque tentacles were writhing.
“…Heretic! Noktun!”
“Get back!”
What the hell is that? Disgusting.
He still seemed to be alive, so I fired off a Flame Strike.
BOOM!
The smoke cleared, revealing an enormous form.
Philip was nowhere to be seen. In his place, a grotesque mass of flesh had swollen and bloated outward.
“How… did you… know?”
A voice squeezed out of Philip, his vocal cords strangled by his own flesh.
Delrunt roared with fury.
“Philip! You were a Noktun spy all along!”
“But it’s already… too late. The ritual… has already begun…”
Philip grinned darkly, then suddenly screamed.
“O great Valuk! I offer everything to youuuu!”
Red energy erupted from Philip’s mass of flesh.
Despite the distance, that crimson energy began streaming toward the Grail in my hands.
“…!”
Sixth Sense alarm.
I threw the Grail away immediately.
Philip’s body shriveled like a deflating balloon.
Soon, the Grail, having absorbed all the red energy, began taking on a shape.
“V-Valuk… Valuk is being resurrected…!”
Sloban couldn’t keep his voice from trembling as he spoke.
I fired off another Flame Strike and Light Bullet the moment the cooldowns were up.
BOOM!
The Grail, steadily taking on a more defined form, was completely unaffected.
Damn… is this going south?
Should I retry? No, maybe summon Plligas one more time…
Then something flashed through my mind.
‘…The cannon!’
That terrifyingly named Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon!
I spun around and sprinted toward the pyramid. I shouted to the other two.
“This way! Follow me!”
I scaled the pyramid’s outer wall, using Leap along the way, and raced toward the summit.
I reached the top. Climbed up the tower and grabbed the cannon’s control lever.
[Special Item: Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon]
The ultimate weapon, virtually the culmination of the ancient Rune Mage Empire’s magical engineering. Exercise caution when using, as its power is tremendous.
Willpower Cost: 600
Cooldown: None
A special item. Why would something like this even exist?
Because it was put here to kill that thing. Wasn’t it?
The Willpower cost was a whopping 600.
Given what the description said, the firepower was worth looking forward to.
The cannon was enormous, but with my strength, rotating the barrel wasn’t difficult.
I looked down toward where the Grail was. The demonic form was nearly complete.
I aimed the cannon at it.
“Move to the side! I’m firing this thing!”
At my shout, the two who had climbed about halfway up the pyramid scrambled out of the way.
BZZZZZT!
The moment I activated the item, a deafening roar tore through the air as sparks erupted from the barrel’s tip, a blinding flash of light condensing at its mouth.
Here… we… GO!
The concentrated flash, roughly the size of a bowling ball, launched toward the resurrecting Valuk.
It was only the size of a bowling ball, but its power…
…BOOOOOOM!!!
A blue mushroom cloud blossomed amid an earth-shaking explosion.
The shockwave surged all the way to where I stood, and for a moment I nearly went flying.
I steadied myself and stared blankly at the spectacle.
What the… is that a nuke?
The firepower far exceeded expectations.
Granted, it was nothing compared to an actual nuke, but it looked like it could pass for about 0.1 nukes.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
It took an eternity for the mushroom cloud to dissipate.
I could see Delrunt and Sloban, covered in dust, finally making it to the summit.
“S-Sir Kim Seo-hyeon…! What in the world did you do?!”
I looked down at the two of them, gaping up at me in disbelief, and simply gave them a thumbs up.
“Thing packs one hell of a punch.”
With firepower like that, surely not even an Archdemon could walk away unscathed?
‘Did I get him?’
Right, this was a resurrection spell, after all.
But no flag triggered.
When the cloud cleared, the demonic form was truly nowhere to be found.
Maybe it was because he hadn’t fully resurrected, making him easy to take out.
Just when I thought it was over…
A chill!
A sudden shiver ran through me as Sixth Sense blared a warning.
I looked around.
Far away, in every direction, the horizon.
From the horizon, a black tide was rolling in.
‘Undead?’
Tens of thousands… hundreds of thousands? Maybe millions.
An overwhelming undead horde, so vast that counting was meaningless.
This had happened during the basic clear too. Here we go again.
I climbed down from the tower.
The other two had also spotted the undead army and were staring blankly at the horizon.
“Undead are swarming in.”
“…It seems Valuk’s momentary resurrection is drawing them to his power.”
Is that what’s happening?
The undead were closing in from literally every direction, a full encirclement. There was nowhere to run.
‘No clear message either…’
It looked like I’d gone down the wrong route.
Should I have taken Valuk down faster?
Or dealt with Philip earlier so he couldn’t pull any of that off?
Either way, I’d already gotten all the key information, so I just had to do better on the next try.
But then… a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘Do I really need to retry?’
I looked up at the Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon, then spoke to the other two.
“Sir Delrunt, Sir Sloban. Do you like miracles?”
“…What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Let me show you one. A miracle.”
I climbed back up the tower and gripped the cannon’s control lever.
[Special Item: Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon]
The ultimate weapon, virtually the culmination of the ancient Rune Mage Empire’s magical engineering. Exercise caution when using, as its power is tremendous.
Willpower Cost: 600
Cooldown: None
The one peculiar thing about this item was its lack of cooldown.
Of course, the Willpower cost was staggering, so under normal circumstances, the Tower had probably intended it to be fired only once to kill Valuk.
But not for me.
Because my Willpower had unlimited refills.
This definitely wasn’t part of the intended clear route.
…But what would happen if I wiped out every last one of those undead?
I was curious too.
And I was about to find out firsthand.
*
Delrunt and Sloban had steeled themselves for death before the advancing army of the dead. But then…
“Let me show you one. A miracle.”
Kim Seo-hyeon said something cryptic and climbed back up the tower.
Was he going to use the cannon again?
They had witnessed its monstrous firepower firsthand, but there was no way a weapon like that could be fired continuously. There couldn’t possibly be any mana left.
And yet…
…BOOOOOOM!!
Another blast fired, arcing westward and detonating in a massive explosion in the distance.
Kim Seo-hyeon adjusted the barrel slightly and fired again, this time to the northwest.
Then north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest…
The cannon rotates a full 360 degrees, firing relentlessly every second without pause.
With each thunderclap, catastrophe blooms among the undead ranks.
The sheer numbers that had blanketed the earth are visibly, rapidly dwindling.
“Wh-What in the world…”
Neither Delrunt nor Sloban can believe what is unfolding before their eyes.
*
Fire a shot, refill Willpower, fire another shot.
This was not a battle against the undead. It was a battle against mental endurance.
One percent per minute. My Willpower was 1,000, so filling 600 Willpower took sixty minutes.
In my subjective time, I was firing one cannon blast per hour.
Of course, in real time, I was raining merciless omnidirectional bombardment every second, sweeping from one o’clock to twelve o’clock.
Somewhere past thirty shots, I got so bored I almost thought about giving up…
But I’d come too far to quit. The stubbornness to see it through kept me firing.
More than anything, I wanted to try going off the rails at least once. I wanted to mess with the Tower, if that makes sense.
Whether the Tower was even the kind of entity that had intelligence or emotions, I honestly didn’t know.
Had I fired close to a hundred rounds by then?
The undead had finally all been vaporized.
“Hah…”
I released the time-stop and surveyed the wasteland I’d created.
What had been flat ground was now completely scorched, transformed into something resembling the surface of the moon.
There. I actually did it.
No more undead were coming.
So what now? What are you going to do about the clear?
“…”
No message appeared.
I didn’t know why, but it felt as if the Tower was sitting in silence.
What? You never imagined something like this either?
Then a message appeared.
[Magnificent Clear.]
“…Huh?”
A message I had never seen before.
[You have successfully cleared the Nightmare difficulty 3F Hidden route.]
[Fully absorbing the Power of the Floor.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Reward tier has been significantly elevated.]
[Transferring to the Reward Room.]
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