chapter_0061

Chapter 60 : Underworld, Underground City

“Oh, this is definitely convenient.

There’s no sweating like with the Infi-mask, and it doesn’t stand out because air gets inside.”

“Still, there’s a time limit, so you should be careful. Even with my mana, I can’t hold out for more than six hours if I also use detection magic.”

On the way down after finishing all the preparations.

Feeling the vivid effect of the disguise magic that even mimics the sensation of her own face, Asili let out a small gasp of admiration.

Nella said that to instill a sense of caution in Asili, but instead, Asili just showed more confidence at the specific mention of time.

“Six hours is more than enough. There are only six places where necromancers could be in the underworld anyway. If we check them all and still find nothing, then it just means the necromancer isn’t in the underworld right now.”

When she was first dragged into this, she looked like she would rather die than go along with it.

But once she made up her mind, Asili had become strangely proactive.

It might be because it had been a while since she returned to the underworld, which was practically her own backyard.

And she seemed to feel a quiet sense of responsibility toward the three who had helped find the corpse this time.

And so, following the very motivated Asili, we arrived at the entrance to the underworld—

The ruined city of Rahman.

I had only seen Rahman as a background setting in the game, and this was my first time seeing it in real life.

As if to prove its nickname as a city of criminals, Rahman gave off a grim atmosphere even in broad daylight.

At the same time, I tilted my head slightly at the entrance to Rahman’s wall, which was completely empty without even a single gatekeeper.

“What the heck, why is no one here? Shouldn’t there at least be someone checking or inspecting people coming through the entrance?”

Even in the game, Rahman was just a background location.

You never actually entered it, so I couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

And the one who answered my question was Asili, walking ahead with a sly attitude.

“This place isn’t like a normal city.

Rahman isn’t just what you see above ground.

The real ones are all in the underground cities below this place.”

“…Ah, right. I think I’ve heard of Rahman’s underground cities before.”

“I think I heard that as a rumor too, Master.”

What Asili said was also something I had heard about since arriving in this world.

There wasn’t much information released about Rahman, so I only knew it through fleeting rumors.

But those rumors said that criminals had built underground cities with magic over the past few decades.

And not just one, but a dozen or more underground cities.

Judging by Asili’s words, it wasn’t just a rumor—it was the truth.

To prove that, Asili passed through the entrance of Rahman’s wall,

Walked casually through the scattered criminals on the streets, and started heading somewhere inside Rahman with relaxed steps.

And as we followed, the eyes of criminals poured in from all directions.

Their gazes swept over our bodies, as if scanning us.

I couldn’t help but feel chills down my spine.

And at the same time, a wave of disgust followed.

Criminals who committed unspeakable crimes were watching us like they were the ones in control.

But thanks to Asili’s earlier warning, Nella and I kept calm expressions and naturally followed behind her.

Then, as if continuing from our earlier conversation, Asili spoke again.

“Anyway, that’s why there’s no one guarding Rahman’s city entrance. Even the thugs roaming around the streets here act as a filter. Anyone trying to sneak in gets stabbed and left to rot. The only guarded areas are the entrances to the underground cities.”

“…Yikes, that’s pretty terrifying.”

“Yeah, so just keep acting natural and follow along. Once you start getting suspicious, there’s no end to it.”

With that, Asili turned off the main road and stepped into an alleyway that twisted like a maze.

Without hesitation, she walked deeper into the alley.

And a few minutes later, after walking further and further inside—

The place Asili finally reached was a dead end, with a wall blocking the path.

“..?”

I wondered if she had taken a wrong turn,

But there was no sign of confusion or tension on Asili’s face.

Which meant this wasn’t a mistake.

And the one who explained the situation to me was Nella, who was standing beside me.

“It’s illusion magic, Master. That wall—it’s an elaborate fake made with illusion magic.”

“Aha, I see.”

After hearing Nella whisper that to me, I finally noticed it.

A strange wall between the ordinary ones, laced with mana.

Because of the ominous mana floating around and the presence of so many criminals,

I’d been too distracted to notice it until now.

Realizing it late, I gave a small nod,

And Asili, leaving us behind, knocked on a black-painted window next to the dead end.

Knock knock!

“Hey! Got customers!”

At her shout and knock, the window slowly began to open.

With a clunk, the window opened halfway, and I saw the silhouette of a huge man beyond it.

“…Money and citizen ID.”

“Here.”

Without exaggeration or theatrics, Asili calmly placed the three silver coins and our citizen IDs on the window ledge—

The ones she had taken from us earlier.

After briefly taking them inside, the man returned only the IDs.

“You may enter.”

“Thanks, good work.”

With the man’s permission, Asili stepped forward and passed through the illusionary wall without hesitation.

Following her, we also stepped through the wall, quickly but not hurriedly.

Ssssshh

Just like illusion magic should be, there was no physical sensation as we passed through the wall.

What unfolded before me was a long staircase leading downward.

“Let’s go quickly. The air here isn’t very good. I wouldn’t want to stay long anyway.”

A long underground staircase reminiscent of a coal mine entrance.

The main difference, however, was that the staircase was wide enough for three or four people to descend side by side.

As before, we began to follow Asili, who had started descending first, her face flickering in the torchlight beside us.

Step, step—

With footsteps echoing like in a cave.

We had finally entered the underworld.

All around, there was nothing to see but stone structures carved out of the underground.

In this gloomy underground city, the sights were nothing short of revolting.

Creak, creak—

Corpses of humans and monsters hanging like merchandise on enormous fishhooks.

Inside cages were humans or other races who seemed to have been captured as slaves, and on display outside were organs that were too dirty and bloody to even consider using.

“…As expected, the underworld is the underworld. I never thought I’d see something like this with my own eyes while alive.”

“I thought I’d seen a lot of corpses… but this is just too disgusting.”

At the sight, both Nella and I instinctively covered our mouths as nausea began to rise.

But even such a small action could draw suspicion from the people here, so we quickly lowered our hands and forced ourselves to look away to suppress the nausea.

Then Asili glanced at Nella and asked.

“How is it? Is there any reaction from the core?”

At Asili’s question, Nella pulled out the glass vial containing the chimera core fragment from her pocket.

However, the core inside remained completely still.

“…No, nothing at all. How big is this underground city, exactly?”

“From the entrance we just came through to the opposite side, it’s about 10 km? And there are about… thirteen more areas like this, accessible through teleportation gates.”

“That’s insanely huge… Just how many people did they have to sacrifice to build something of this scale?”

This underground city wasn’t just tunnel-shaped; it was formed like a dome.

How many mages had spent their strength over the decades to build this place?

Amazed by the criminals’ sheer persistence, Nella quickly swallowed her awe and gripped the glass vial with the core fragment.

“Master, I’ll start using the detection magic now. Including this entrance, how many areas are there where necromancers are known to roam?”

“All together, six places. All the necromancers and underworld mages only move within those areas, so if they’re not in any of those, it’s safe to say they’re not in the underworld right now.”

“Alright, then let’s search this place thoroughly before moving on.”

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you, Nella.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Nella’s magic spread out from the core fragment and radiated outward.

Others may not have seen it, but I could see it clearly.

Once that wave had fully dispersed, Nella opened her eyes again and resumed walking.

“Nothing here. Let’s move on.”

“Alright, follow me.”

At Nella’s words, Asili began walking ahead again, just like before.

I followed them both and muttered softly to myself.

…Please, I hope we find them.

If possible, I hoped we’d be lucky enough to find that necromancer.

With a heartfelt wish, I took my next step.