episode_0126

What on earth did you write this?

Is it an ancient language? Of course, it was my first time seeing it.

At least I could recognize that it was written by two people.

The shapes of the letters were different, and there were subtle differences in the angle and depth of the scars where the walls were carved out.

I couldn’t understand anything more than that.

Still, it must be important enough to be engraved in a place like this.

I guess I’ll have to look into it later.

After removing one of the bandages that had relatively less bleeding, I copied the message on the wall with the flowing blood.

It was a poor writing instrument, but it was the best. Because I didn’t bring a pen or paper.

Other than that, there was no significant income.

There was no visible road leading outside.

All there was was wreckage, wreckage, damned wreckage.

That can’t be possible.

In any dungeon, there is a way out. Especially in an isolated space like this.

At least that was the case in the game.

Even though this is reality, there probably won’t be much of a difference in that regard.

Dungeons are also areas where someone originally lived.

Because if there is no way out, all we can say is that we should all starve to death.

So there must be an exit somewhere… .

It can’t be at the bottom of a lake or something, right?

I prayed that it wouldn’t happen.

Let alone getting down to the lake safely, I didn’t think I could survive submerging myself in that huge lump of magic energy.

Resistant horsepower also has its limits.

My anxious heart searches for something to soothe my mind.

He took out a cigarette and lit it.

As my senses became more sensitive, the pain sensation would also get a little worse, but my desire to appease my desires was stronger than that.

Take a deep breath. The smoke spread deep into my body.

It still hurts a bit… .

Instead of clearing my head, I felt intense pain coming from my wound.

The end of the cigarette in my mouth was crushed by my teeth and distorted.

The exhaled smoke headed towards the ground.

surface?

I quickly looked at the floor where the smoke was seeping through.

Very minor dents.

It looked like something had been carved and then the top was carved away to erase as much of the trace as possible.

I put my hands on the floor.

The finely carved engravings slowly shine and reveal themselves.

Just like when I unconsciously touched the door and was transferred into this cavity, magical energy flowed along the floor.

– Rumbling… !

The floor of the temple shakes as if an earthquake has occurred.

Spatial transfer did not occur.

Well, it was on a different level from here in terms of the size of the engraving and the scale of magical power.

The sight that unfolded before my eyes was like a child’s play magic compared to spatial transfer.

Slowly, the floor opens.

A wave that started from where the hand was touched. The floor is pushed down, revealing its interior.

Yes, I created a secret passage.

When the vibration that had been ringing for a while stopped, there was a hole in front of me wide open, wide enough for three people to pass through at once.

Basement stairs.

Inside, a dull blue light comes out as if a magic light is on.

I don’t know where the end of the stairs leads, but I think it might lead to the exit… .

In the end, you never know until you go.

The exhaled smoke spreads forward.

A slight breeze blew from behind and swept across my back.

Doesn’t the fact that air flows as soon as it is opened mean that there is a space connected to the outside on the other side?

I headed toward the inside of the stairs with a cigarette in my mouth.

See, this is so useful.

If it weren’t for this guy, how would I have discovered the magic-concealed passage?

I waved my cigarette up and down and went down the temple’s basement stairs.

Soon after, familiar noises and vibrations came from above.

Perhaps the secret door is closing again.

Even if the ghost knight who was climbing out of the lake returns to the temple, I hope he doesn’t notice that I headed this way… What will it be like?

—-

The passage was longer than I thought.

No, I should say it’s deep.

The stairs continue endlessly.

If it feels like a dead end, it goes in the opposite direction and digs down, down.

If I go all the way to the bottom, I don’t know if I’ll come across a flooded area in the lake.

Fortunately, the door appeared before the water.

Unlike existing doors that had engravings on them, it was an ordinary door with a lock on it.

I smashed the lock and swung the door wide open.

This… .

Inside the door was a space that looked like a kind of ceremony hall.

Up two flights of stairs. A wide platform took up more than half of the room.

The wall beyond the podium was full of never-before-seen letters and intricately shaped engravings arranged as if to surround the letters.

I moved my gaze to the floor. A circular engraving that fills the bottom of the podium.

The outline drew two concentric circles, with five small circles surrounding them.

Geometric shapes and letters filled the inside of the circle.

Anyone can see that this is a magic circle.

One circle in the front, four circles in the back.

Each of the circles at the back had four glass columns.

The glass column seen up close was filled with red liquid. Just three of the pillars, to be exact.

The other one was broken from the inside.

The stains on the floor had a faint metallic smell.

… The smell of blood. It had already dried and turned into a black stain, but it was unmistakable.

That would mean that all this red liquid is blood.

Was it like a human sacrifice?

When I looked closely, I saw something floating among the blood filling the glass column.

human head. To be exact, it was a skeleton that was a human head.

Each white skull had a letter engraved on its forehead.

The same form as the text engraved on the magic circle just below the glass pillar.

The same was probably true of the broken pillar. I read the text on the page.

[ᛏ ] [ᚲ] [ᚨ] [ᚻ]

Although these three letters were new to me, the letters under the broken pillar looked familiar.

Because it was the text engraved on the ghost knight’s sword.

What did he say… .

Hagalaz?

I guess it was roughly pronounced like that.

Other than that, there was nothing special… I had a rough idea of what I should do.

I headed to the empty circle opposite the glass pillar.

That’s right, anyone can see that it looks like they’re asking you to come up here, right?

Step on the cigarette and extinguish it and take a deep breath.

Maybe it was because I was feeling a little nervous, but my breathing was rough.

It was difficult to suppress the rising anxiety.

An unknown magic circle created through human sacrifice. I had no idea what effect it would have on me.

In the worst case, he might end up like that ghost knight from before.

Of course, the sight of only a shattered glass pillar like the text engraved on that guy’s sword gave off the feeling that there was an obvious connection between the two.

Are you okay? ?

If I hesitated, there was no other way. There was nothing in this room that seemed plausible other than this.

I stood on top of the magic circle, praying that it wouldn’t be the worst.

A storm of magical power blows in with a sound like “Uuuu”.

The magical power that passes through my body flows into the magic circle on the floor.

A magic circle filled with magical power glows red. A bright red color spread to fill the entire room.

I swallowed dry saliva. It’ll be okay, right? This is okay, right?

The magic power flowing along the engraving was eventually concentrated in one place.

Inside the second glass pillar. The filled blood quickly boiled and the skull with the letter “ᚲ” engraved on it melted away.

And the magic rushes towards me again.

Filled with strange heat.

A clear flow of magical power surrounds my body and surges.

The magical power that rose up and wrapped around my legs like dozens of snakes was concentrated in my right hand – more precisely, on the inside of my wrist.

Perhaps because they judged this to be some kind of attack magic, the anti-magic power didn’t even resist.

“Keuuut… !”

My wrist feels hot, like it’s on fire.

No, it wasn’t like it was on fire, it felt like a burning blade was digging into my wrist. And very slowly.

A moan escapes me. I gritted my teeth and endured the pain.

Damn it, I don’t know what it is, but it hurts so bad… !

One minute felt like an hour. The light finally subsided.

When I looked down at my wrist, which was still hot and throbbing, I saw that the word “ᚲ” was engraved on it as clearly as a seal.

Considering the sight the ghost knight showed us earlier, this may also have some magical meaning… So what are you reading?

If you’re going to give something like this, shouldn’t you also tell them how to use it?

Do wizards know about this text?

Even so, you can’t go to the Magic Tower and ask.

High-ranking wizards who are crazy about magic research are truly madmen.

If this is a magic letter they don’t know much about, maybe… .

He would erase everything from his mind about the opponent’s status and the possible repercussions, and start thinking about overpowering him somehow and cutting off his wrists.

Even if Damian’s party who obtained the holy sword goes to visit him, if Damian’s level is low, they are full of crazy people who trap him, neutralize him, steal the holy sword, and then disappear into hiding to study it.

Thanks to my experience as a player, I made the decision easily. Also, let’s not ask the wizards.

If they had already known about this type of magic in the first place, they would have created something like permanent magic a long time ago.

Just in case, I guess I’ll have to cover my wrists from now on.

Well then, I guess I should go out now.

The blowing wind cools my burning wrists.

Before I knew it, one side of the wall was wide open.

Before leaving, I looked toward the magic circle again.

One more pillar is broken.

The second pillar was also shattered like the fourth pillar. As if this had served its purpose.

The other two pillars… Seeing that it looks fine without any reaction, I guess I can say that this is all I can get.

I would like to place Friede and Damian on that magic circle, but that would still be too dangerous.

Let’s say you somehow managed to get through the entrance and get here, even though you can’t even get in due to the entry level.

What if that ghost knight from earlier appears in front of us as if he had been waiting for us?

It is completely annihilated.

It’s a pity, but I guess I’ll have to give up.

I went inside the open wall.

At the end of the short passage, a door with a familiar shape stood erect.

Finally… !

Feeling happy, I walked towards the door. It was definitely the front door.

Because the surface of the door was covered with engravings that looked exactly like the door that threw me here.

I put my hand on the transfer door. Magical power swirls and shines.

Along with the dazzling brilliance, I could see the surrounding space slowly becoming distorted.

Like an oil painting that hasn’t dried yet melts.

The next moment – I was already back in the clearing where I had parted ways with my companions.

The wide eyes looked at me blankly.

“Ha, Hashal?!”

Millia, who made eye contact with me, shouted in surprise.

… Why are they still here? It’s been a while since I was transferred.

Could it be that you just sat there resting instead of coming to look for me?