Ch.31The Ghoul’s Altar (4)

# Day 15

Fifteen days was enough time to gather information about the man. Through our conversations, I’d figured out who he was and what his purpose might be.

I was certain.

This man needed to be eliminated here and now. If I was going to strike first, this was the perfect moment.

“Urrrgh!”

So I did it.

The man staggered as the Piercing Stone impaled him.

“Cough! What are you suddenly doing…?!”

“Have you ever heard this saying?”

“What… what saying?”

“If you’re going to betray someone, do it at the most opportune moment.”

A beam of heat followed, piercing through the right side of the man’s head.

Blood splattered with a sizzling sound. The stench of burning flesh irritated my nostrils.

Plop.

The bandages covering the man’s face came undone, revealing a wrinkled bare face.

“…ugh, damn it.”

Bloodshot eyes, a sunken nose.

The unmistakable appearance of a monster.

His skin reddened and burned as it was exposed to sunlight. The man groaned softly. Before he could regain his senses, I shouted:

“Valkyrie! Help—!!”

The next moment, a woman with golden eyes sprang from the bushes. She charged at the man, her black hair flowing behind her.

Thunk!

The spear tip embedded itself in the man’s abdomen.

A heavy blow charged with holy power.

Purple liquid spurted from the mouth of the man, who had withered like an old tree.

“Back!”

The Valkyrie retreated. She came to my side and patted my shoulder.

“Explain later.”

“I got it.”

We kept our eyes on what was in front of us.

The man exhaled while dripping blood.

“You… you immoral brat.”

With his mask removed, his hostility was undisguised.

“From the beginning… you planned this… how dare you.”

The surprise attack had succeeded. The man was visibly flustered, clearly not expecting to be attacked here.

I was just as perplexed.

Wait, he’s not dead?

I had attacked him with a Piercing Stone. A 4th-level mana resonance body, an industrial material with the highest cutting power among existing magic stones.

One hit should have been enough to make his body explode.

And it did explode, in a way. His chest had been pierced through, and a third of his head had been blown off. Plus, he had a spear stuck in his abdomen and had been injected with a storm of holy power. He should have been more than dead.

“Damn it, a serious injury.”

Just a serious injury?

“Tsk.”

I couldn’t show my surprise. I maintained an expressionless face as I prepared for the next attack.

“Keheheh, so. How long have you known?”

“From the beginning.”

“You’re more thorough than I expected.”

“What, did you think I wouldn’t notice you sending ghost skeletons to monitor us every day?”

I had been responding passively to the man’s conversation all this time. I held back my words and let him talk as much as possible.

When people talk too much, they make mistakes. As intended, the man had leaked small but important information.

By piecing together biased clues, I was able to figure out that he had been secretly watching us.

“First you tell us to go to a lake where water ghosts live, then when we return alive, you try to turn us against each other. Do you think we’re fools?”

“Hmm? A mage defending Holy Spirit beggars. I don’t understand. Do you trust those women that much?”

“More than a demon.”

The demon revealed his white teeth.

“I see now that I was the one being cooked. Fine, I admit it. You got me this time, Mage. You look like you’ve figured everything out.”

Not really.

So how do we escape from this island?

“Yes, that’s right. You can never leave this island until you defeat me.”

He just told me. Thanks.

Now I knew everything I needed to know.

My magical power was running low, but I had to capture the demon in front of me, even if it meant pushing myself. This was the best opportunity, with him seriously injured.

Then the demon grinned.

“I know my capabilities well. I don’t have a habit of fighting recklessly in this condition.”

A hazy fog descended around the demon. I shot a Piercing Blue Stone with my remaining magic power. The light refracted. I didn’t feel like I hit anything at all.

Soon the fog dispersed. The man was nowhere to be found.

‘He escaped.’

The ominous presence had completely disappeared. All that remained were torn bandage pieces and flesh turning to ash.

My legs weakened.

“Tsk.”

My mouth tasted bitter. A symptom of mana depletion.

In the end, the assassination had failed.

I never expected him to escape so easily after being hit twice with a Piercing Stone. Not calculating this far was my mistake.

“Mage!”

A familiar voice reached my ears.

It was the Holy Maiden. She hopped over like a rabbit and thrust her face in front of mine. Red, orange, blue, purple—her eyes sparkled with various colors like an opal.

“Explain. Now.”

It was time to tell her everything.

***

It took time to understand with all the complicated words being exchanged.

So to summarize, the black monster had been monitoring them through ghosts and skeletons, which is why the mage hadn’t communicated with her. The monster had been trying to drive them apart, so the mage had used a counter-scheme.

Simply put.

“It was a trick within a trick?”

Tiria’s shoulders slumped.

“Why didn’t you give me a hint?”

“The essence of a counter-scheme is not telling even your allies. It was going to end quickly anyway. I wanted to show you with actions rather than words.”

The first emotion Tiria felt after hearing the mage’s explanation was dissatisfaction.

While she had been agonizing over it, he was sitting there talking about it so nonchalantly.

“Here’s a magic stone I got from defeating a skeleton monster. It has properties that allow it to send and receive signals. This was the decisive evidence.”

“Never mind that. Don’t you have anything else to say?”

“Uh, um. I’m sorry?”

“Good.”

Tiria, who had been looking down at the mage with murderous intent, nodded.

The mage wore an expression of partial confusion. We’re enemies, so why am I apologizing to this woman? That thought seemed to cross his mind.

“Do you have any idea how worried I was thinking you might betray us?”

“That would never happen.”

“I heard mages use concealment and deception as easily as eating.”

“I’m a Mage. I’m a person who’s nothing but loyalty and rocks.”

“Want to become a corpse?”

“If I could die by the Holy Maiden’s hand, that would be an honor in its own way.”

“Sigh, just stop talking.”

The man was suffering from mana depletion, but Tiria seemed more drained.

Nevertheless, once she collected her emotions, all that remained was relief.

She was truly glad the mage hadn’t betrayed them. She wasn’t sure why she was glad, but she was.

As Tiria searched for the reason, she thought: it must be because his tool-making abilities were excellent, as Major Brokenheart had said.

It helps with survival.

Yes, that must be it.

In fact, another part of her mind shouted that there were other reasons, but Tiria deliberately ignored it.

“Anyway, we need to prepare thoroughly from tonight.”

“For a night attack?”

“Now that we’ve openly confronted that demon, stronger monsters will come from tonight. It’s largely my responsibility. I’ll take the longest watch tonight.”

The mage stood up unsteadily.

He seemed to be pushing himself despite his poor condition from mana depletion.

Tiria felt a surge of petty annoyance.

She had suffered so much mental anguish because of him, yet he ended it with just a simple apology. It felt unfair.

“Hey.”

She wanted to see the mage’s flustered face at least once.

With that thought, she boldly spoke up.

“Since we’re preparing for a night attack, m-maybe you should s-sleep next to me in the l-lifeboat so you can w-wake me up right away if something h-happens…”

“Sure.”

And that’s how it happened.

“Huh?”

When she came to her senses, it was night.

The man entered the lifeboat where Tiria was lying. It was a historic moment, like the Magic Kingdom reclaiming territory that had been taken by the Holy Spirit Kingdom for a month.

“Uh, what?”

“You suggested it first?”

The mage smiled slyly.

Using palm leaves as a blanket, the mage placed a stone beside him. He and Tiria lay facing each other. Azaleas bloomed in Tiria’s eyes.

“W-why are you facing this way?”

“David says this is more comfortable.”

“Who’s David?!”

“This friend.”

The mage covered a star-shaped stone with leaves.

“Sleep well, our baby.”

“Are you insane?”

“Shh. You’ll wake him up.”

Tiria felt her blood pressure rising.

“Why are you treating a stone like a baby? Are you really sane? Or have you gone crazy from being on this deserted island too long?”

“Waaah.”

“…What was that sound just now?”

She felt goosebumps. She clearly heard an incantation from very close by, but the mage hadn’t moved his lips at all.

“Good night.”

The mage fell asleep immediately. He must have been quite tired.

Although she should sleep quickly too since a night attack could come at any time, for some reason, Tiria couldn’t close her eyes.

“Sigh, really!”

Tiria’s gaze turned to the stone.

A star-shaped decorative stone.

It was beautiful, with no bumpy parts and exquisite craftsmanship.

When she touched its smooth surface, it was indeed soft. She could somewhat understand why the mage cherished it.

“Oh, ooh, ooooooh.”

“Eek?!”

Startled, Tiria put down the stone as if throwing it.

She hadn’t misheard.

“D-did the stone just talk?”

Her heart pounded wildly.

“What on earth is this person carrying around…?!”