Ch.72The Hill Path Leading to Hell

After discovering a large cave while climbing the mountain, we took a brief rest before beginning our exploration of its interior.

The cave, which appeared to be over 5 meters in both width and height, curved gently to the left, with stalactites sprouting sporadically from the ceiling and floor creating a subtly threatening atmosphere.

As we ventured deeper into the cave, we occasionally encountered bats hanging from the ceiling, but—

‘Bang!’

‘Thud’

Before the bats that spotted us could take action, Phyllis shot them down with her rifle. Unlike when we were being chased by the undead horde, we could leisurely collect magic stones as we progressed.

“Including the one we took down at the entrance, that makes five… I think we’ve dealt with about 40 creatures if we count the zombies too.”

“Don’t worry about the magic stones from zombies or skeletons. They’re too small to be worth much, and they form in inconsistent locations.”

“That’s right. I heard that in skeletons, they can even be embedded inside the bones.”

“So to find magic stones, we’d have to search through rotting corpses and inside bones? The mere thought makes me shudder.”

While we were fighting, I hadn’t had time to think about it, but zombies are essentially walking rotting corpses, and skeletons are corpses where only bones remain after complete decay.

The idea of cutting open such things to find magic stones would be unthinkable for anyone with ordinary mental fortitude and stomach strength.

“Something just occurred to me—what are the weaknesses of undead monsters?”

“Hmm, let’s see? It’s known that ice-based spells don’t work well against skeleton-type monsters, but I’m not sure about their weaknesses.”

“Considering the physical characteristics of zombies and skeletons, close-combat weapons would be more effective than guns, especially blunt weapons.”

“Isn’t there anything about defeating undead with holy power, or undead being unable to approach someone holding a symbol of faith?”

“Hahaha, that’s ridiculous. There’s no way such convenient things would exist.”

In games and movies, clerics often appear as natural enemies of undead monsters, but it seems this is an unfamiliar concept in Grantis.

“Besides, Will, you know that when crossing over to Grantis, you can’t bring customs or powers from your original world. Religion is precisely what that rule aims to exclude above all else.”

“To prevent conflicts between pioneers due to religious differences?”

“That’s important, of course, but also because conflicts with indigenous people’s folk beliefs could lead to war in the worst case.”

“Religious war… that would certainly be the worst.”

Religion was created to protect ancient humans from fear and establish moral standards, but as civilization developed and encounters with unfamiliar beings became more frequent, religion gradually transformed into “an excuse to hate those who are different.”

If a war in the name of religion were to break out in Grantis, where magic and mysteries actually exist, the hell that would follow would be incomparably more terrible than anything on Earth.

“Well, after actually meeting them, we confirmed that the indigenous people don’t really have folk beliefs that could be called religions.”

“Really? That’s surprising.”

“The Dwarf race has been pragmatic since ancient times~”

“The Beast-folk have animals that each tribe considers auspicious, but they don’t worship them. They’re more objects of fear and admiration.”

“The Elves, if I had to say, might have what you’d call a Spirit Tree faith. However, since the first Elder of the Elves cultivated that Spirit Tree, it’s somewhat different from what we typically call religious worship.”

Pioneers don’t bring their homeland religions to Grantis.

Among the indigenous people, no folk beliefs have established enough influence to be called religions.

Is it just because I’m from Earth that this thorough exclusion of religion feels somewhat artificial?

Or perhaps in Grantis, where magic and undead actually exist, there was never room for religion as an “unproven mystery.”

“Hmm… what about the Human race that lived in Grantis long ago?”

“There are almost no records or traditions left about them, so I can’t say.”

“Even if they had a religion, it wouldn’t regain prominence now.”

“Why do you think that?”

“To be blunt, while other races were finding ways to survive the black magic, they were the only ones who couldn’t save themselves and perished. Could anyone find hope in a religion worshipped by such a race?”

“Ah, indeed…”

The Elves protected themselves from black magic with the Spirit Tree, the Dwarves with black magic ore, and the Beast-folk with shamanism, but the ancient Humans went extinct, unable to find a way to survive.

If the fundamental purpose of religion is to offer salvation through faith, then a religion of those who uniquely failed to receive salvation while everyone else survived has essentially lost its value.

It’s been proven once that neither salvation nor hope comes at the end of that faith.

“Hmm? I can see outside. It seems this cave connects to the other side.”

“Great! That will shorten our time to the ruins.”

As we discussed religion while traversing the cave, we eventually saw an exit opening to the opposite side of the rock face.

Beyond that exit, unlike before, there was a flat, wide mountain path suitable for people and horses.

Whether this path leads to the ancient ruins remains to be seen, but it would certainly save us time compared to climbing over the mountain while ignoring the cave.

With that thought, just before exiting the cave, the warning voice of the Arcane Word that we had heard earlier echoed again.

{This is the final warning. Those who seek to proceed, abandon all purpose and turn back now.}

“Hey, Mr. Announcement, is dialogue possible?”

I attempted to communicate with the voice demanding our retreat, but after the “final warning,” no further Arcane Words were heard.

It seems this warning is not from someone watching us but rather a kind of recorded voice guidance message.

“Did you hear another Arcane Word? What did it say?”

“It says it’s the final warning. Just asking, but does anyone want to go back?”

“……”

“OK, unanimous decision to push forward. Let’s be prepared for whatever might jump out.”

With those words as our signal, we exited the cave and began climbing the uphill path on the back side of the mountain.

Before we had taken even ten steps, zombies began emerging from the ground at various points along the path stretching ahead.

“Looks like we’re approaching the climax. Phyllis, Jessica. Don’t try to kill each one—just blow off their heads or knock them down the hill to neutralize them as we go.”

“Got it.”

“What about using magic?”

“I’ll leave that to your judgment. Seti, don’t overexert yourself trying to handle multiple opponents at once. Mina, watch our rear and prioritize maintaining Phyllis’s rifle when she uses magic.”

“Okay.”

“Leave it to me!”

As soon as our roles were decided, we organized our formation and began firing guns and magic at the approaching zombies while climbing the mountain path.

It was Seti’s job to finish off zombies that got too close, but this time he had reliable support.

“Let’s go, Ancestor!”

“Neigh~!!”

Until now, Ancestor had been positioned at the very back to ensure Mina’s safety and maintain the lantern’s height, but now he was carrying me, his master, and attacking zombies alongside Seti at the front of the party.

Even zombies with strength that seemed impossible for rotting corpses were still only about the weight of a single human.

Before Ancestor’s back kick, powered by 8 horsepower, they were nothing but fallen leaves in the wind.

‘Crack!’

“Hiyah~!!”

Each time Ancestor raised his hind legs, a zombie would fly far down the hillside.

The strategy was simple: if fighting zombies became physically taxing, let the tireless automaton with infinite power handle it.

Seti, realizing the effectiveness of this strategy, focused on guiding zombies toward Ancestor rather than taking them down himself.

‘Bang!’

Though relatively wide and flat, the hiking trail to the ancient ruins continued uphill.

For Phyllis, an Elf, hitting zombies emerging from a distance while avoiding me and Seti rampaging in front was not difficult.

Without rushing, she steadily fired one shot after another.

With each shot and reload, the zombies’ ranks were disrupted, causing them to fall and rise repeatedly, creating time delays as they descended the hill.

“Stone Bullet… Break Enchant!”

As an earth attribute enchantment was cast over the flaming spear, Seti’s blade began to glow softly as if made of gold.

This was the first use of an earth attribute Break Enchant, the specific effect of which I had briefly learned about at Zemest.

“Haaah!”

‘Thwack!’

A zombie hit in the side by the widely swung spear was pushed back several meters and tumbled down the hillside.

The effect of the earth attribute enchantment was “increased impact weight.”

The weapon itself didn’t become heavier, but the impact felt by the opponent increased several times—a truly formidable magic.

Unlike the mass coefficient of kinetic energy increasing, there seemed to be some discrepancy between the magical effect and actual attack power, but understanding that was somewhat beyond me as someone from Earth.

‘Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!’

The drifter gunman from Earth was simply satisfied watching zombies get hit by pistol bullets and fall down one after another.

Is this revolver really world-class? My heart swells with pride.

As the revolver demonstrated shotgun-level stopping power, pushing back zombies, newly emerged zombies and those whose advance had been halted began to tangle and fall over each other.

“Phyllis! Blast that spot!”

“Fireball {Incendiary Grenade}!!”

‘Boom-‘

With a heavy sound, the fireball flew toward the chaotic mass of entangled zombies, and after a large explosion subsided, what had been zombies were reduced to piles of black ash.

“Now’s our chance, let’s go!”

‘Neigh~!’

After knocking away a zombie that hadn’t been caught in the fireball with Ancestor, I kept pace with my companions as we charged up the hill.

When we climbed to a certain point and zombies began blocking our path again, Seti and I would knock them away while Jessica provided magical cover. Until Phyllis’s rifle function recovered, she guarded our rear and occasionally provided supporting fire with Mina’s pistol when possible.

One fortunate thing was that large numbers of zombies didn’t emerge again from the paths we had already traversed. Perhaps it was impossible to create zombies consecutively in the same place, or maybe the locations where zombies were buried were predetermined.

After about 20 minutes of fighting and advancing up the hill, we finally reached the entrance to the ancient ruins.

The ruins turned out to be a large stone building, half-buried in the rock face.

Unlike the tofu-shaped ancient ruins we had seen before, this was about three stories high with two pointed towers, and its walls were decorated with geometric patterns that evoked the refined aesthetic sense of a museum or cathedral.

However, it seemed we had one more obstacle to overcome before entering these mysterious ruins.

A skeleton in tattered robes, emitting blue flames from its eye sockets, floating half-suspended in the air—an extraordinary sight.

Upon seeing it, Jessica murmured in a trembling voice:

“A lich…!”

The immortal mage, which had appeared as one of the strongest undead in countless fantasy media, was blocking our path.