84

Time passed, and night came.

Having rested enough, the group began to move again.

Those who had moved earlier, just in case, arrived in front of the spire before sunset.

The city’s long shadows lengthened, and as evening fell the sun slipped completely behind the ruined buildings.

The sky still held a reddish hue.

Dim, dark-blue dusk pushed away the last heat and stained the sky black.

There was a brief moment of tension.

Rupert spoke in a small voice.

“Nothing… is happening.”

“……”

Was it their imagination?

Hamel tilted his head.

‘If it was exactly as the inscription said, a path should open with this.’

He was wondering whether they should look for another route when it happened.

A breeze brushed their cheeks, and the thin clouds that had covered the sky shifted.

Then the starlight hiding behind them began to show itself, one by one.

And in the next moment.

─Sss

A dead-end alley stood a short distance from the spire.

A softly glowing path appeared in the space between buildings.

Stretching through the air and connecting to the top of the spire, it was clearly a staircase.

“What is that… ugh!”

Just as Ono was about to speak, Hamel covered his mouth.

It was night now.

They must not forget the inscription’s warning to be careful of sound.

When Hamel put a finger to his lips, Ono finally understood the situation.

He had simply been startled and slipped up.

A path had formed in empty air.

The others had similar reactions; they simply kept quiet.

After a short while.

When nothing happened, Hamel spoke quietly.

“It seems we should go up that bridge.”

“No, you…! The sound! …Huh?”

“This level of sound seems acceptable. Or perhaps we need to be wary of other kinds of sounds.”

Come to think of it, movement inevitably makes some noise.

Speaking softly like this didn’t seem to be a problem.

Hamel approached the path calmly.

“I’ll go up first alone.”

Hamel inspected the transparent path, which was narrower than he expected.

It didn’t look like it would collapse, but it wasn’t wise for everyone to rush up together.

They needed to scout.

Having someone secure their retreat made Hamel feel more at ease.

Everyone nodded in agreement at Hamel’s explanation.

“How about taking the little one? We needed magic earlier today, after all.”

Ono glanced at Rena as he said it.

“……”

Everyone turned to Ono in surprise.

It was a reasonable suggestion.

They hadn’t expected him to acknowledge someone else’s necessity, much less Rena’s.

When the awkward silence stretched, Ono furrowed his brow irritably.

“What are you staring at? Did I say something I shouldn’t?”

“…No.”

As the group turned away and cleared their throats,

Rena, who met Hamel’s eyes, spoke.

“May I follow?”

“Very well.”

Hamel nodded briefly and stepped onto the stairs.

It was made of some unusual material, neither stone nor iron.

He waved his hand just in case, but there was nothing to hold onto at the side.

There were no railings.

‘I must be careful.’

The bridge glimmered faintly with starlight but was essentially translucent.

With the darkness, one wrong step could easily lead to a misstep.

Hamel moved slowly and cautiously.

The path had a rather complex shape.

It twisted left and right, and in some sections they had to descend or leap over gaps.

How long had they climbed like that?

By that time, the group waiting below looked like tiny specks.

─Thud

Hamel was able to step down onto the spire’s railing.

After that, Rena stepped down behind him, and Hamel slowly led the way into the spire’s interior.

The interior was empty, with only stairs leading upward.

“It seems we have to go up again.”

Rena nodded calmly at Hamel’s words.

The two climbed the stairs carefully.

After climbing for quite a while, they finally reached an open space.

“This place…”

“It looks like a beacon platform.”

Hamel looked around.

There was an open view beyond a waist-high railing.

In the center stood a huge beacon fire.

Looking around, he saw oil cans and a tinderstone.

It was at that moment Hamel reached out for them.

“Wait a moment.”

Rena stopped Hamel’s hand.

Then she lowered her voice and spoke softly.

“Sound.”

“…!”

Only then did Hamel halt his hand that had been reaching for the tinderstone.

Striking the tinderstone would inevitably make noise.

It would certainly be louder than a soft whisper.

He didn’t know exactly what kind of sound the inscription warned about, but caution was necessary.

Hamel nodded and stepped back.

Rena closed her eyes slowly and began to chant.

“Ignite.”

─Whoosh

A flame the size of a candle flared from the logs.

That was enough.

The oil-soaked logs quickly burst into a roaring, massive blaze.

At that moment.

─Woooooom

A strange sound came from the distant mountain slopes.

It sounded like wind passing through a canyon or the roar of a beast.

And then it…

“Priest. Over there.”

Rena reached out and told Hamel.

Her fingertip pointed at the mountain covered in a snowstorm.

It was the strange snowstorm that stretched down to the mountain’s foothills.

It began to thin and slowly creep upward.

When it reached the mountain’s waist, the snowstorm held steady.

“Just as you said, priest.”

Hamel nodded slightly at Rena’s calm murmur.

As expected, lighting the spire’s fire was a step toward their next destination, the mountain peak.

They had lit one of the spire’s three beacons.

Two spires remained.

If they moved quickly, they might finish them all today.

“We have time then.”

Contrary to his words, Hamel quickened his pace.

David was just ahead.

The thought of meeting him made Hamel unconsciously hurry.

It was while he descended the stairs and stepped onto the transparent path.

─Clang!

A sharp metallic sound rang from below, and battle noises began to rise.

The silhouettes below looked like dots, and they were fighting something much larger.

Hamel swiftly scooped up Rena, who was following behind.

“…!”

Rena blinked in surprise, but Hamel had no time to explain.

All he could do was give a warning.

“I’m running. Hold on tight.”

The next moment.

─Whoosh

Hamel took off at full speed down the steep transparent path.

He wasn’t running by sight.

The path only faintly reflected starlight and wasn’t easily visible to the naked eye.

To go down by sight they’d have to move slowly.

But there was no time for that now.

‘Recall it.’

Hamel replayed the path he had just climbed in his mind.

He replayed the steps he had taken up, in reverse.

If he had turned left going up, he’d turn right going down.

The parts with ledges.

The parts with stairs.

The corners and the sections that required jumps.

Hamel ran as if rewinding all of it.

“…Huff.”

Rena’s face, clinging to Hamel, grew paler and paler.

It was a feat in itself that she hadn’t fainted.

Hamel was running at nearly a falling speed.

And finally.

─Thud

Hamel and Rena were able to set foot on the ground.

Hamel approached the comrades who were brushing blood off their swords and asked.

“What’s going on?”

The group turned in surprise at the sudden voice.

“Hamel? When did you come down? Why is Rena like that?”

“We just arrived. First, someone explain the situation.”

At Hamel’s words, Daniel shrugged and gestured back.

There was a beast with a wolf’s head, a leopard’s body, and eagle’s wings.

“A chimera has appeared.”

“Chimera…”

Hamel muttered softly with a troubled expression.

Daniel, not noticing Hamel’s look, continued.

“When the spire was lit, it suddenly showed itself.”

“…Fire? Not sound?”

Hamel murmured under his breath.

Then he flinched and urgently grabbed the group’s hands to pull them along.

“We must move right now. Quickly!”

“Hm? Why? Aren’t chimeras already dead?”

“That’s not all. If they reacted to light, more of them will keep coming. That’s merely…!”

It was just as Hamel was about to say something.

─Cock-a-doodle-doo!

A rooster’s crow came from somewhere.

“…Are we too late?”

Hamel frowned.

On top of a ruined building.

A gigantic rooster let out a booming crow.

Snakes hung from its tail in many strands.

“…A cockatrice?”

Ono murmured at the sight of its form, and Hamel shook his head.

“No, a cockatrice has a lower body closer to a reptile. It also has a single snake head.”

“Then could that also be…”

“Yes, it’s a chimera.”

Hamel nodded.

At first, he suspected the chimera might be part of the dungeon.

But the chimeras were flocking to ‘light’, not ‘sound’.

In other words, they were a trap prepared by someone else.

“David said he researched chimeras at the Mage Tower, didn’t he? Perhaps…”

As his words trailed off, a loud noise came from afar.

“This won’t be the end of it.”

Countless chimeras were swarming toward the spire’s light like moths to a flame.

This added yet another rule that hadn’t been in the inscription.

If they were to put it into words…

[Do not light a flame in the darkness.]

Growls and barks.

They were the exultant roars of hungry predators hunting prey.

The ground trembled and the vibrations drew nearer.

“They’re coming.”

Hamel drew his sword.

The group prepared for combat and drew their weapons.

‘The position is bad.’

They were exposed on all sides and didn’t know the enemy’s numbers.

They had to move and open a path.

‘First…’

Although felling that fake cockatrice that had come very close should be the first priority.

“Kok-kok-gogogog!”

The creature, running across the roof, shook its red crest and charged swiftly.

Just as it fluttered like it would fly and lunged toward them.

─Whiiiiiish

A faint whistle-like sound came from somewhere.

‘Whistle… a sound?’

Hamel’s eyes widened as the whistling grew louder.

It wasn’t the sound growing. This was…

The sound of something approaching.

“Everyone, get down!”

At Hamel’s shout, a sharp object whizzed overhead.

─Boom!

A massive blast followed, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“……”

Hamel took the chance to quickly check his companions.

Fortunately, it seemed everyone had reacted promptly to his command.

The prone group slowly raised themselves and looked to see what had fallen from the sky that had produced the whistling.

Hamel finally realized what it was.

It was the watcher described in the inscription.

“…What is that?”

Daniel muttered with a horrified expression.

A gigantic form stood motionless in the dust.

It held the broken neck of the faux cockatrice, its lower body reduced to only half for some reason.

As the dust settled a little more, the shape at last revealed itself.

A gray body with enormous wings.

A head and horns modeled after a dragon’s.

And a massive axe-spear gripped in its hand.

Hamel knew what it was called.

“…Mid-level demon gargoyle.”

Hamel repeated the word he’d just uttered.

He couldn’t help but be incredulous at his own words.

“That’s mid-level…?”

Daniel, hearing that, muttered in disbelief beside him.

It was understandable.

It exuded far more overwhelming danger than any high-level demon they’d encountered.

They could tell by the feeling.

It was more dangerous than a high-level demon.

If anything, it should be called a quasi super-class.

─Rrrr

The gargoyle spread its wings wide and turned.

It hoisted its axe-spear as if to bring it down upon them.

─Thud!

The next moment, something crashed heavily into the gargoyle from behind.

It was…

One had a lion’s head and a snake’s tail.

Another was a chimera with a goat’s head.

“Maaaaa!”

The goat-headed chimera fearlessly rammed the gargoyle and cried out.

The gargoyle taught the chimera a lesson with its axe-spear.

─Crack

“Kergh!”

When the goat’s neck was severed, the chimera thrashed in pain and clawed the gargoyle with its forelegs.

But the gargoyle struck down with a fist and easily crushed its skull.

The snake in the chimera’s tail flinched in fear, but the gargoyle simply trampled it to death.

An overwhelming difference in power.

However…

─Woof-woof!

─Grrrrr

Dozens of chimeras poured out of the alleys.

There was only one decision Hamel’s party could make.

“Now.”

All eyes turned to Hamel.

Hamel stepped back calmly and stealthily and said.

“Let’s fall back.”