Ch.3434. The Industrial City of Vulcanus (1)

The Next Day—Dawn, to be precise.

The sun was just about to rise, with a reddish hue gradually spreading across the sky. It was that dreaded time when standing guard duty was most difficult.

Along the path leading to the main gate of this industrial fortress city—surrounded by stone walls reinforced with metal and easily reaching heights of nearly 10 meters—someone was slowly approaching.

This figure wore a red robe with a hood pulled low, the robe itself so long that it concealed even their body shape. They carried an ornate staff that appeared extraordinary at first glance.

A suspicious individual who looked like a priest with a notably small stature, but beyond that, there were no visible clues to their identity.

Naturally, the standard procedure would be for the watchtowers on either side of the entrance to aim crossbows and question the stranger’s identity, but…

“Kuuuuuu……. Kuuuuuu……”

“Zzzzzzzzz…………”

Unfortunately, given the early hour, all the garrison soldiers in the watchtowers were sprawled out sleeping, allowing the suspicious person to approach the walls without any resistance.

[BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!]

Of course, it would be stranger if such an important location didn’t have at least one security spell.

“Huh!”

“Wake up! Wake up! Someone without a pass is approaching!”

As the alarm triggered by the approach of someone without proper authorization sounded, the drowsy guards in the watchtowers and along the walls jolted awake. Simultaneously, various security measures began to activate.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A section of the wall opened, and dozens of steel golems resembling full plate mail poured out from inside, carrying shields and riot batons. In an instant, lights throughout the entire city illuminated, and the previously dozing garrison soldiers appeared on the watchtowers with crossbows in hand.

“Aim!”

Their target was that woman.

Presuming her to be a mage or priest, they loaded special crossbow bolts designed to penetrate magical defenses and aimed for what appeared to be her arms and legs.

Due to recent unusual incidents, orders had come from above to capture suspects if possible for investigation. However…

Whoosh!

Without any warning, dozens of corpses appeared, surrounding her like a shield.

These were clearly undead summoned as meat shields, causing the alarmed soldiers to identify the figure as:

“A necromancer!”

“A summoner of the dead has appeared!”

Necromancer, or summoner of the dead.

Either a priest of Plutos, the god of death and one of the twelve major deities of the pantheon, or an evil mage who controls humans by trapping them in a state between life and death.

“Call for the priests!”

Since it was common knowledge that undead were vulnerable to holy power, the garrison soldiers on the wall moved urgently while continuously firing.

However, with the wall of corpses physically blocking the space between the two groups, the crossbow bolts couldn’t reach the apparent necromancer…

Meanwhile, the figure swung their staff toward the approaching suppression golems.

Crack. Crunch. Grind.

As the staff moved, a red, blood-colored smoke-like substance seeped into the golems.

Suddenly, the golems began to move in bizarre, jerky motions, like humans or dolls possessed by spirits—

[AWOOOOOO—!!]

Starting with the first golem affected by the red smoke, a howling sound erupted and spread to all the others.

Soon, fur began growing between their metal parts, and one by one, they started transforming into grotesque forms.

Inside the golems’ external armor plating, metal turned to leather, fur sprouted, and their very shapes changed to resemble muscular beasts.

They gradually transformed into werewolf-like creatures wearing metal armor.

The difference was that the metal seemed to be attached directly to their bodies, making them look more like cyborg werewolves to modern eyes.

Naturally, these golems, transformed into this hybrid of life and metal, no longer attacked the robed necromancer.

These golems, mutated to appear as if red-furred werewolves had grown from within, turned their backs on the robed human they were supposed to attack.

Instead, controlled by that person, they climbed the watchtowers and walls, causing chaos.

[GROWL!]

—Slash!

With the defensive power of steel armor forged with Vulcanus’s blessing, beast-like agility and feral movements,

and powerful physical abilities granted in place of the special capabilities typical of golems.

These creatures, several times stronger than ordinary Revenge Hounds, leapt onto the walls and watchtowers, easily slaughtering about a hundred heavily armed garrison soldiers.

Afterward, the robed figure—who called herself Lisa Raeldotir, humble servant of the noble god of vengeance and blood, Ma-duk—unexpectedly ordered the hounds to bring the corpses to her rather than sending them into the city.

The number of prepared corpses was exactly 100.

She had prepared the bodies according to the sacred number of her god—10 multiplied by 10—following the ritual procedures from a book bestowed by the vengeful angels themselves, direct servants of her deity.

“…Extract!”

As she struck her staff forcefully on the ground with that command,

blood extracted from the corpses separated according to the number of bodies and formed spheres floating in the air.

“S-stop her!!!!”

The city defense garrison soldiers fighting the Revenge Hounds on the walls tried to intervene…

But the tenacious Revenge Hounds refused to retreat even as their bodies were torn to shreds.

[———————.]

Thus, given enough time, she opened her mouth and began praying in the divine language, praising Ma-duk and yearning for his power—

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH—!!!!”

“No no no no no no no no no no no no…”

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry…!!!”

The sky was instantly covered by clouds emitting an eerie red light,

and the garrison soldiers who had been in combat began to go mad from the moment they directly heard the prayer.

Originally, the city defense garrison protecting this industrial city received Vulcanus’s blessing—the god of blacksmiths, crafts, and creation—granting them sturdy bodies, iron-like minds, and strong resistance while serving.

However, this blessing only applied when the direct connection to the god was maintained.

During the ritual, the red mist formed blocked all direct divine intervention.

And so, it came to this.

Ordinary humans who heard and understood the divine language—with an information density incomprehensible to the human brain—went mad because they lacked the blessing or had not reached an intermediate level of enlightenment.

They stabbed comrades with their spears, laughed maniacally while cutting open their own stomachs and clawing out their intestines…

But the most common symptom of madness was self-harm to their bursting heads.

This wasn’t even an effect of the ritual itself, but merely a side effect from hearing the prayer during the casting process.

[———————.]

Even as the maddened garrison soldiers rampaged, the prayer continued.

As the prayer progressed, the blood droplets floating above the corpses gradually disappeared,

while high in the sky, something like a glowing red magic circle began to form.

The magnificent magic circle, formed by the intersection and movement of dozens or hundreds of geometric circles, emitted an ominous light that woke the city’s people,

creating enough commotion for everyone to realize something terrible was happening.

As a result, the city’s main forces—the priests of Vulcanus’s temple and the commanders of the city defense garrison—urgently gathered at the temple.

“W-what can we do about this…”

“The connection to Lord Vulcanus isn’t responding!”

“A ritual is being performed at the entrance. Anyone below intermediate level will go mad from the mental attack!”

They frantically shared information about the current situation and tried to formulate a response…

But their attempts became meaningless in the face of ‘that being’ who appeared when the magic circle fully illuminated.