—My Liege…
Deep within the ruins in a pocket dimension unknown. The Death Spirit, as if bored, crossed his legs, chin leaning on the backside of his hand.
"Speak."
Hilos spoke, but those crimson eyes did not leave torn open rifts. The kneeling Ignol dared not look up. Its grip on the dark longsword firmed.
—There is a strange occurrence in the endless void hall. Your troops, My Liege… Me… senses Your Highness's blood.
At those unexpected words. Hilos's intense eyes finally turned away from the rifts. He'd been watching a certain short woman with dark purple hair and golden eyes.
"Blood?"
Hilos scoffed as he leapt onto his feet.
—Brrrrr!
The throne room shook—rather, space itself tore. And the pocket dimension was about to collapse. Each step he took shattered reality as if walking on ice with red light shining through the cracks.
"Do you wish for oblivion?"
Hilos clasped Ignol by the neck. For a being that could not feel, it was hardly anything to be threatened by. But… The divine doesn't play by the rules.
—Gasp… Ugh… Ah… My… Liege…
Feeling his soul slowly burn to cinders, Ignol desperately pleaded. The agony was immeasurable compared to anything he'd encountered as a mortal.
"I. Am. The last one in my bloodline. Or do you have an explanation?"
—L… Lady Hycin…
"…"
At the mention of Hycin, Hilos released his grip.
—Haaah… ugh… hah… hah…
Ignol continued to writhe on the ground, trying to regain composure.
—Lady Hycin… was pregnant with Your Highness's child…
Hilos's eyes widened.
"What?"
..
…
After some good rest, Citrine and Aurora took over. Alum sent Soliette and Ottah on patrol.
"Ah… Why is it always you?"
"It's like I'm back at the academy…" Ottah sighed.
They're a good team, Alum thought as he heard the bickering from a distance.
Viona and the members of Aurora lightly chuckled at the sight.
"Are they always like that, Sir?" Von asked.
"So it seems. They go way back, apparently."
"They were the aces of their class," Viona added, deadpan.
Lisirus, Churin, and Liana nodded at her words. "That's usually how it goes, huh? You're all graduates from Howlshock Academy, right?"
"Yeah."
"Aw, how envious. Joining HQ right after graduation," Liana said. "You lot must be really exceptional then?"
Viona's eyes darted towards Alum.
"They are," Alum stated calmly. "But compared to you, they far lack in experience."
Churin grinned. "Oh? And you aren't, Sir?" she teased.
"Does it bother you?" Alum sent her a sharp glance.
"…"
Alum knew better than anyone that he wasn't exactly favored by the members of Aurora. Naturally so. Their commander had ordered them to keep an eye on him and follow his orders.
However, the youth didn't seem to care whether they were wary of his competence. As long as they were compliant, their snarky remarks seemed almost cute.
Haah… Young people… he sighed inwardly as if he were an aged veteran.
..
A few hours then passed.
"—I see, this translates to that, huh?"
Inside the temple, Alum helped the researchers study the engravings. And because he'd refused to read sentences aloud, the research team did the same, as they'd kept everything written while working in silence.
He'd roughly translate the words. There was a total of 5 alphabets and one in hieroglyphs. But Alum himself couldn't be sure if it was complete or not. He'd just seen what was written, recognized patterns, and organized them in his head.
Other than the language, there were scattered automatons left behind by the advance team. Of course, that was why Emerine and Ethym were here. They'd been scanning the different defeated automatons.
"Aah, too bad we can't leave the ruins—oh, the joints appear to have pretty complex mechanics. Too bad the Advance Team heavily damaged their processors, I would love to see how they operate—Guh…"
"Don't say, Papathym." Emerine pinched his cheek. "They went to great lengths not to severely damage a few for us; we can't ask for too much."
"I know I know~ but you sure love that nickname, Mamarine," he chuckled in response.
"Hmph." Emerine mock-sulked. "I struggled to come up with a good nickname for you for years, and Noel just brightly graced me with it, so I can't help it!"
Ethym shrugged. "I guess so."
"…"
Although it was already a widely known fact among the researchers, the Ilis par really did get along, they all thought.
—Thrrrmmm!
Suddenly, while exploring the temple, tremors like an earthquake shook the whole ruin.
"W-What's going on?" one of the researchers yelped.
"Stay calm," Roswall reassured his colleagues. He then turned toward Alum. "Do you perhaps know what happened, Mr. Alum, Ms. Sarah?"
Sarah didn't have a good expression on her face. Knowing her normally childish and obnoxious personality, Alum could only take it as a bad sign. And her party members and Night Ouen seemed to think so as well.
Trusting her judgment on the situation, Alum stayed quiet. He turned to Ottah and Solliete, gesturing to them to check outside the temple.
"It usually isn't a good sign whenever a dungeon shakes. Well, in this case, it's an unknown ruin, so I can't be for certain…" Sarah murmured with a frown.
"S-So… it might be that… huh…" Roswall tried to stay calm.
Emerine and Ethym, and the other magitech researchers who were unfamiliar with this field, began to look concerned.
Ethym took his wife's hand, clasping them firm to reassure her. "It's okay. Our son-in-law is here, after all."
"O-Okay…"
Emerine squeezed back. But the concern in her eyes did not disappear. Rather, they seemed to have grown more intense.
But unlike before, Ethym wasn't acting like a father meeting his daughter's fiancée for the first time.
Did something out of the ordinary happen? From the earlier reports, tremors hadn't been recorded. Or could the data have been obscured by the battles of the Advanced Team? Is there a large-scale battle happening? Or… has the structure moved?
While Ethym was mid in thought, something shone and seeped through the air. It was an arrow that Alum caught with his hand. On it was a piece of paper. Sarah, upon meeting his eyes, dashed out.
"The light trail to the exit has vanished."
"…"
At the youth's calm explanation. Color drained from the researcher's faces. Some clasped their heads and were about to panic, but before they could, Alum drenched them in cold water with a quick snap of his fingers.
They looked at him with utter shock before cowering away at the sight of his cold look.
"Panicking won't help anyone. The outside and advance team will notice if a supply line has been cut. All we should do is wait."
"Mr. Alum," Roswall said in a low tone. "Won't that at least take two days?"
"Perhaps. I won't say we're not looking into it. Stay put for now."
"Got it…"
Everyone went back to their own research, but the atmosphere was noticeably more tense, and research was the only thing that could distract them from the strange situation.
"Here."
Alum approached one of the researchers. She and her team looked bewildered for a moment before taking the pouch he'd handed her.
"Treats…?"
"Yes. Share them with your colleagues. Saint Amethely made them herself. From my experience, they help soothe the nerves."
"…" The researchers looked at one another. "So it is true. You are her fiancée," she murmured, her complexion relaxed.
"…"
Alum really did not give a damn about appearances. But…
I have to live up to her name.
He then approached Ethym and Emerine.
"You should take a break too."
"Mh? Yeah…"
Ethym put away his tools as did Emerine. He handed them a pouch each. But they shook their heads.
"It's fine, Al," Emerine giggled. "We've received some too!"
"I see… that's only natural."
"Haha," Ethym softly chuckled. "Well… I am a little surprised that Ame bakes."
"Really?" Alum subtly tilted his head.
"Yes. In fact, she's always been attending her plants, studies, or swordsmanship since she was a child. She could cook, but never showed any strong interest in sweets making."
"And she'd been dedicated to her saintly duties for the last two years, too. I can't imagine her having a lot of free time," Emerine added. She then poked her cheek. "So I wonder what happened~."
"I see. Thank you for the valuable insight."
"…"
Valuable insight, huh? Ethym and Emerine glanced at one another with smiles on their faces.
..
About an hour had passed. Phantom Dusk and Night Ouen returned with Ottah and Soliette. Their faces were grim.
"It's not looking good…" Turen bluntly told Alum and the members of Aurora. "We'd hoped that the light arrows, for some odd reason, turned off. But… according to the map, they aren't in the right location anymore; rather, they're gone."
"…"
"We've checked hundreds of pillars around us and couldn't find a trace of them."
"So… we really are in a different location?" Ethym interjected.
"It appears to be the case, yeah," Sarah sighed.
"Got a plan?" Alum inquired.
Sarah paused. "Honestly. Waiting around here might be our best bet. From the looks of it, we should still be on the first layer."
"I suppose. This place is easy to spot from a distance—"
—THOMB!
A massive explosion could suddenly be heard from the outside.
Alum turned to Aurora. "Stay." Then looked at Citrine, Phantom Dusk, and finally at Night Ouen and Roswall. "We'll inspect the commotion, get everyone ready to descend to the second layer."
""Understood!"" Turen and the others replied.
Sarah drew her sword, grinning. A battle freak's nature never changes, after all.
..
The moment they arrived outside, they were surrounded by insect-like creatures. Or rather, automatons rained down from the sky, detonating on impact. The golem that had been holding up the barrier until now had cracks from the strain.
"E-eek!? They weren't here before!" Lyn yelped.
Dalen and Keelen turned to their party leader.
"Sarah?"
"Alright," Sarah said.
Mana rushed down her sword, coating it in blue flames. "Big Bro~, take care of the supply situation. I'll deal with these pests."
"Got it."
Alum didn't spare a second before commanding his team to gather as much of the camp as possible and toss a bunch of stuff onto the golem.
"You did well." Alum touched the golem, filling the cracks with crystallized mana as he reinforced it. "I need you to get inside the temple. Hold on just a little longer."
—Thud… Thud…
The instant the golem moved, the barrier cracked. But Lyn instantly erected a new one.
"Why do you keep looking into the distance? Go!" she exclaimed.
And like a wave, the automaton swarm crashed through her barrier like a wave. But like a maniac, Sarah rushed the insect-like machines. Her sword cleaved through their ceramic-like armor with ease.
Dalen took as many as possible into the shadows, crushing them while Keelen protected Lyn.
Sarah was out doing her own thing. Jumping from bug to bug, slicing them in half, dissecting and bisecting them. But no matter how many she seemed to kill, there was a never-ending swarm.
"Tsk…"
Her mana spiked, and the sword in her hand began to disintegrate.
Feeling Sarah's mana spike, Dalen returned to Keelen and Lyn's side. Lyn increased her output and—KAABOOOM!
A blue light flashed in their whole field of view. Blue fire pulsed in all directions, cindering all automatons in the vicinity. And yet…
—Buzz… buzz…
"Really…"
Sarah frowned as she noticed there were more coming from a distance away beyond the fake blue sky—THOMB.
Lightning cracked as a mage came out of the temple.
"It's no use. We don't know how many of them there are. And based on the report, the Advance Team took 5 whole days to clear the ones around the temple."
"Hmph." Sarah glared into the distance. "Well, I don't like fighting weaklings anyways!" She dashed toward the entrance and snagged Lyn on the way.
"H-huh?!"
Keelen and Dalen soon followed and passed Alum. "What are you doing? Let's hurry before they arrive," Dalen said.
"Yeah. But there's a big one in the far back. A swarm mother?"
"Huh? Where?"
"You're a shadowmancer, right? It's better to take it out; who knows what hindrance it'll cause the rescue team later on."
"I see… I didn't consider that." Dalen clenched his fist. "So? What do you want me to do?"
"I need all the time I can get. Keelen. You should group up with the others," Alum said. The air around him was covered in blue static electricity.
"Got it."
Keelen met Dalen's eyes, and he seemed to understand what Alum was about to do—artillery mage? So Sarah wasn't the only insane one here… he sighed inwardly.
"Thank you for using Shadow Express…" he said half mockingly to himself.
Alum affirmed with a nod at the statement. He reached an arm out, palms straight, as he clasped his wrist with the other hand. As his mana enveloped the whole temple, Dalen shuddered.
It wasn't just a massive amount, but it was dense to the point his ears got stuffed from the increased pressure.
"You're insane, Ailz…"
At those words, Alum exhaled. In an instant, all the mana coursed through Alum's hand. As it reached the tip of his fingers, [Precision Beam: Ultraviolet.] A laser beam illuminated the vicinity in purple light, instantly disintegrating anything in its path.
Dalen couldn't look and covered his eyes. Even his mana armor was getting scorched from this distance. Then suddenly, Alum moved and chopped his hand vertically. The beam instantly disappeared afterwards.
"Mm… haah… done…" he murmured as he fell to his knees.
Dalen caught the youth in his shadow. To be frank, he had no idea what Alum had just done. But seeing him exert himself that much meant that it was worth his effort.
With just a glance, Alum had burn marks everywhere on his skin. The smell of burnt flesh was abhorrent. He was even missing his fingertips.
But he didn't mind it too much. They had skilled healers in this world. But before he completely sank into Dalen's shadow, the molten bug-like mechanical beast the size of an airship cleaved in half, leaving him relieved.
He looked at his right hand—Tch… This is why lightning spells are so… inefficient yet efficient.