Episode 19

“It seems this is the deepest point…”

Deep within the forest where sunlight never reached, Luke and the others had arrived at the dungeon’s deepest layer—filled with an abnormal amount of mana. Luke, Skinny, Nahal, and Yorn. Not one of them was missing; they had all made it this far.

“What the hell is that…?”

Skinny looked up at something with a baffled expression. A metallic object that did not belong in a forest—something shaped like a stake—had been driven deep into the ground.

“It’s huge. How did anyone even…”

Trees and vines had overgrown it, forming a gigantic spherical structure, like a massive orb-shaped object.

“It looks like a stake stabbed into a natural dome. Well, it’s probably the other way around.”

Even from the outside, it was clearly enormous. To get close to the stake that seemed to be the cause of the anomaly, they would have to enter the dome, but there was no sign of an entrance.

“Are we supposed to break that? And how do we even get in?”

“If we follow the theory, fire-element magic.”

Even if it was a dungeon, it had originally been forestland. Because careless magic could cause a wildfire, they had restricted fire magic along the way.

“We don’t have time, so we can’t be picky, right? With mana this dense, monsters could spill out at any moment…”

It felt like sinking into an ocean of overwhelming mana. As Yorn said, the risk of monsters was one thing, but lingering in an environment this mana-rich was also unwise. There was a limit to how much mana a person could contain.

“Alright, then—…I see.”

The moment Yorn gathered mana and tried to cast a spell, the trees and vines moved unnaturally, and an entrance appeared in the natural dome that had been tightly sealed.

“Oh! As expected of the Mage Corps regimental commander!”

“As if. I didn’t do anything.”

Luke and the others stayed on guard at the sudden change. But no matter how long they waited, nothing happened, and the area stayed dead silent.

“It feels like we’re being invited… like it’s telling us to come in.”

“Looks that way. So, what do we do?”

It was highly likely to be a trap, but to approach the stake, they had to go inside. Their options were limited.

“Let’s go. We should enter and confirm what’s inside.”

“Yeah… figured you’d say that. Alright, let’s go.”

Luke and the others advanced toward the anomaly’s center, the dungeon’s deepest point. —Toward the tragedy that awaited them.

A natural dome—depending on how you looked at it, a fortress-like space formed from wood and vines. The ceiling was covered by interwoven branches and leaves.

At the dungeon’s deepest layer, a gigantic stake was embedded in the earth, releasing an abnormal amount of mana. And as everyone’s eyes were drawn to a single young man watching that sight with apparent interest—

“A person in a place like this… so it’s settled, then.”

“Hey! You! You ready for this, huh!?”

“…Are you really a knight? You’d be better suited as a thug.”

As each of them reacted, Luke carefully observed the young man. From his bearing and clothing, he seemed like a scholar. But what caught Luke’s attention was something else.

“That embroidery on his clothes… I’m pretty sure…”

“Good catch. That’s the uniform of a national public organization—the Archaeological Survey Institute.”

The Archaeological Survey Institute. As the name suggested, it was an organization that conducted daily investigations and research centered on archaeology, with targets ranging widely—from dungeons and ancient magic to history and relics.

If someone had come here under the pretext of investigating the dungeon born from the anomaly, he would be a fitting person for it—yet.

“You’re noisy. That arrogance born of ignorance. Don’t you think monkeys would be better?”

“What’d you say!? Who’s below a monkey!?”

Without reacting to Skinny’s outrage, the man who had been facing away turned around. His sharply defined brows and narrow eyes gave him an intellectual impression.

“I thought I’d seen you somewhere before…”

“Is that so? I don’t remember you at all… except for the ‘key.’”

The young man spoke meaningfully while looking at Luke. In his narrow eyes, only Luke was reflected.

“Commander, who is this person…?”

“He’s Rovinz Kurtle. He’s the deputy director of the Archaeological Survey Institute… or at least, he should be.”

Ignoring the conversation between Yorn and Nahal, Rovinz continued observing Luke. He occasionally checked a notebook he had taken out, writing something down.

“What a weird guy…”

“There are lots of eccentrics. …Anyway, it’s protocol, so I’ll ask—what are you doing here?”

“Can’t you tell? Refining and maintaining an artificial dungeon, plus other experiments.”

“He admitted it just like that.”

Rovinz answered calmly, without the slightest guilt. Even in front of knights and mages, he showed no sign of panic.

“With your position, you should understand the illegality of what you’re doing. Interfering with ley lines to create a dungeon is a serious international crime.”

“By the rules humans made, perhaps. But the world will be reborn.”

“…See? An eccentric after all.”

Rovinz kept comparing his notebook with Luke as he spoke. After finishing his checks, he snapped the notebook shut.

“As the records say, it is indeed Luke Hartmann. But it’s hard to determine the ‘key’ holder by appearance alone.”

“…I don’t know what you mean, but why do this? There’s a town nearby.”

“Two reasons. To guide you—the inheritor of the ‘key’—to this place. And to dispose of unnecessary trash.”

Luke drew his sword. Skinny and Nahal followed.

“Creating a dungeon by human hands. It’s been a long-standing challenge, but the dungeon that appeared in the Lagias Domain became excellent research material.”

At the sudden mention of the Lagias Domain, Luke reacted. His grip tightened on his sword.

“An investigation led by the Archaeological Survey Institute. I felt something off when they pressed ahead despite the Sage’s warning, but it looks like they were doing plenty of dirty work behind the scenes.”

“The Sage… an old-era foreign contaminant. I should have disposed of it earlier. Thanks to that, execution of the ‘alternative plan’ is being hindered. The sword saint is only a matter of time.”

Rovinz held a hand over the stake embedded in the earth. A spell pattern surfaced on his palm, and the same pattern appeared on the stake. Then a heavy vibration struck, and even more mana overflowed.

“Damn it! What did you just do!?”

“That spell pattern resembles the one used by the terrorists stirring up the kingdom. …I figured there was a traitor among us, but still.”

“You mistake things on your own and play the victim? Humans lacking knowledge are foolish and ugly.”

The stake, glowing with an ominous light, changed.

A magic circle appeared around the stake, and a gigantic monster with multiple huge limbs crawled out.

“That’s… a giant spider!? It’s huge!”

“Ugh! That’s disgusting!”

Eight limbs, eight single eyes. Sharp fangs at its mouth dripped green fluid. And most striking of all was its size—more than twice the bulk of a normal one.

“What did it eat to get that big, I wonder?”

“If you seek knowledge, pay the price. —Luke Hartmann. I’ll be taking your ‘key’ here.”

“Key? What are you even talking about? —Battle positions! Handle it with ranged attacks first!”

“You know this already, but don’t touch the webbing. Watch out for the dissolving fluid too. You’ll turn into goo.”

“What is this bizarre mana…! Don’t tell me this is a dungeon?”

“If you have time to panic, move your feet.”

They were at the forest entrance.

Zeke and the others had come straight here without stopping by the provincial city of Westen along the way. They had originally planned to resupply in town, but sensing the abnormal mana, they changed the plan.

“This is clearly an emergency. We’ll need to hold Westen’s responsible party to account, but… we push forward first.”

“Hmph. So it won’t go that conveniently, huh.”

Two shadows moved toward Zeke’s group from within the forest.

One was a tall man in armor, and the other seemed to be a teen with blazing red hair. It was Dex and Feluart—faces that had once opposed Zeke.

“…This is the worst. You again?”

“No, this is a JACKPOT. …You really had the nerve to swing me around like a damn stick last time.”

Dex wore a bitter expression, while Feluart’s eyes burned with hatred. What they shared was that both saw Zeke as their natural enemy.

“Lagias, do you know them?”

“The ones you’ve been hunting down. These two are core members.”

At that one line, Brink and Strohk drew their swords. For the knight order, those incidents had left a bitter taste. The curse uproar in Apion and the attack on the royal capital—both had inflicted heavy damage on the kingdom.

“So you figured it out.”

“Who cares. Dex, don’t interfere… Lagias is mine.”

Spell patterns surfaced across Feluart’s body. The markings appearing on his face and arms gave off heat.

The heat gradually became flame, flaring up red-hot like his hair.

“Similar to the spell patterns on the suspects we captured in the royal capital…”

“That’s basically a confession. …Brink, we do this the usual way.”

“Two knight-order regimental commanders at once, huh. Might be doable… if it’s on our side!”

Dex changed as well. Spell patterns surfaced centered on his face and spread to cover the surface of his armor. The patterns woven in black lines expanded until they covered his entire body.

“Dex! We don’t have to hold back anymore, right?”

“Yeah. No need to give these guys extra time.”

“Strohk… I’ve confirmed the origin point of the spell pattern.”

“Same here. We convert depending on the situation.”

Tension cracked through the air, and the fuse of battle was lit. Just as everyone moved to act, a devil appeared on the battlefield.

“Hey. Who said you could move the conversation along on your own?”

A murderous intent so intense that everyone froze.

The spell pattern wrapped around Dex fractured, and Feluart was coughing blood. Even Brink and Strohk—who weren’t being directly targeted—had stiffened expressions.

“I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding, but you’re all equally trash.”

Cold air mixed into the killing intent. The flames coming off Feluart shrank before their eyes.

“Th-this bastard… something’s wrong with him. Is he a monster?”

“…You get it now, Feluart. We can’t let him inherit the ‘warden.’ No matter how many ‘keys’ we gather, it means nothing if we can’t break through.”

The cold spread, freezing the area. From the grass at their feet to the trees themselves, an icy world expanded outward from Zeke.

“What are you doing?”

“Zeke-sama…?”

“Did you come all this way just to deal with this trash?”

Brink’s eyes went wide.

“The thing you wanted badly enough to throw away your position. Are you going to throw it away with your own hands now?”

The position he had thrown away—Brink immediately understood Zeke meant the knight order he had resigned from five years ago.

“Choose, Brink. If you want to change this unreasonable reality.”

The same words as five years ago. Because he had followed them, there had been a future he’d wanted. And by the same token, there had also been a future he’d lost.

“If you want to waste time on this pathetic farce, I won’t stop you.”

“No… we’ll leave this to you. —Strohk, let’s go.”

Brink sheathed his sword. Without a word, Strohk followed.

“!? Like hell I’ll let you! We’re the ones taking the ‘key’!”

“Wait, Feluart!”

Feluart reignited the flames that had been dying. He detonated the fire he’d generated under his feet and rushed the two in a burst. But blocking his path was the villain standing there.

“So that’s your fighting style? You’re no different from a reckless kid. Start over from scratch.”

“…Huh? Gah—!”

The moment that insolent voice reached his ears, Feluart’s consciousness vanished. Zeke’s heel drop had appeared above him and slammed him into the ground.

Feluart’s flames were completely gone, and the spell patterns had vanished as well. Seeing that, Brink and Strohk sprinted deeper into the forest.

“Damn it… this card again!? That Pariaach bastard knew!”

“You’ll entertain me this time, right? Go on—dance your ugly little dance.”

Cold mana and black miasma smashed against each other.