Lyla shot a couple of spells at the stone statues closest to her. Of course, the statues which even repelled strong, complicated magic weren't affected by small magic attacks. However, Lyla also didn’t mean to make an impact by using magic.
“I’m certain of it. Magic doesn’t work on them!” Lyla also added that the statues probably had special incantations surrounding them that nullified all magic. Zich agreed. The situation might have been different if Lyla’s powers were more developed, but as of right now, she was at a clear disadvantage.
“Hans!”
“Yes, sir!”
“You take the lead!”
As if he had been waiting for Zich’s command, Hans immediately ran to the front of the group. Shadows quickly rushed towards him.
The shadows’ arms changed to knives, spears, axes, and all kinds of weapons. Yet, with a stunning display of movements, Hans pushed those things away and arrived at the front of the group.
“Lyla, get behind Hans! You don’t need to perform mass-scale magic. Just get rid of the guys in front of you with silent incantations.”
“Okay!” Different types of magic unfolded from her hands.
“Snoc, you are the rearguard! Surround yourself with armor and destroy the guys chasing after us!”
“Yes, sir!” Lumps of mithril that had been floating around his surroundings stuck to Snoc’s body-like armor. Although it wasn’t comparable to the statues, Snoc made an armor giant bigger than a person.
“Leona, stay behind Lyla and help when it gets dangerous!”
“Yup!” Leona nocked an arrow on her bow and searched her surroundings.
“I will block the attacks from the stone statues! Run to the entrance!”
The group began to run forward. From the front, Hans quickly sliced the shadows. Thanks to the magic arrows that supported him from behind, Hans could just focus on going straight. It was a difficult task to penetrate through all the shadows with their overwhelming numbers and deadly attacks. However, Hans was fine until this point; for better or worse, Hans had gone through all kinds of sufferings and experiences as Zich dragged him to places, and this much trouble was only on the rough side. What really surprised him was the gigantic sword that fell from the sky.
Whooosh!
Before the sword even landed, they heard it falling, and goosebumps rose all over their bodies. The statue’s sword was threatening enough to make Hans lose the confidence he had gained from possessing Estellade and his accumulation of many experiences in a short period of time.
However, the sword didn’t harm any of the group members.
Baaam!
It was a laughably small body compared to the statue, and a sword that didn’t even look like a tree branch managed to compete by repelling the statue’s sword.
Craaaash!
The statue’s sword fell next to the group again. A bunch of shadows that got caught up in the attack burst and disappeared.
“Don’t look up! Just pay attention to your surroundings and advance forward at all costs!”
Including Hans, everyone clenched their teeth.
“Don’t look up. Don’t look up.” Hans heard someone murmur behind him. It was Snoc’s voice. It seemed like Snoc was trying to hypnotize himself, and nobody reprimanded him. They all shared the same feelings.
Crash! Crash!
Zich’s sword waved over the groups’ heads and made a thunderous sound every time it crashed against a statue’s sword.
“Tch!” Zich clicked his tongue. As the sword continued to clash, the statue raised its feet. Zich penetrated the shadows in his surroundings and ran towards the statue’s leg that still had its feet on the ground.
Whoosh!
Zich turned his body and spun. His sword sped up and flowed with mana.
Craaash!
Windur smashed the statue’s ankles, and Zich’s hands trembled in response to the strong collision. As expected, it had an incredible defense ability, and Zich failed to slice its ankle or even make a scratch. However, he had expected this to happen ever since they realized that Lyla’s magic didn’t work on the statues. His aim wasn’t to cut off an ankle.
The statue tilted its head in confusion. As if it received a shock in its other leg while it had one leg lifted, it lost its balance. It flung its hand and feet to quickly get into position but failed to regain its balance.
‘Thank goodness it doesn’t completely nullify physical attacks like it does to magic.’
Although it was hard, physical attacks definitely worked on the statue.
Bam!
The falling statue collided with another one. Unfortunately, the statues didn’t topple over each other like dominos. However, the surrounding statues got intertwined, and their movements became dull. Zich and his companions used that chance to pass through the statue’s legs.
Even after that, there were more statues, and these statues approached them more quickly than the previous ones. The statues that lost their balance repositioned themselves and began chasing them. They were also the shadows that had gathered around them like cockroaches.
The dangerous situation continued to unfold. The group became inflicted with more and more wounds. Hans, who was at the front, had it the worst as the blood flowing down his body connected and dripped. Zich wasn’t in great condition either. His arms hurt as if they would break at any moment, and the skin on his palms was ripped so blood dripped from Windur’s handle and down to the floor.
In contrast to his anxious companions, however, Zich’s expression was calm. There was even a sense of nostalgia on his face.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve experienced a crisis like this.’
After regressing, Zich had gone through some small dangers, but it was incomparable to now. Yet, Zich felt comfortable in his current situation.
‘Before I was called the Demon Lord, crises like this were my day-to-day routine.’
And Zich overcame all these crises. Blood boiled in his body, his muscles pulsed, and mana flowed roughly through his body. Zich grabbed Windur and placed more pressure on it.
‘It’s a crisis after a long time. I should enjoy it.’
Wiiiing!
Windur trembled. It wasn’t resonating with the tree this time but vibrating from Zich’s powerful mana flow.
Crasssh!
Once again, Zich’s sword and the statue’s sword clashed. Before he knew it, Zick was smiling from ear to ear. After continuous exchanges like this, they were able to reach the stairs and escape to the entrance of the passage.
* * *
Glen was somewhat satisfied. In a timeline where things kept going amiss, he was finally able to get what he wanted. Even though he got his first choice, Estellade, stolen from him, he was happy that he was able to at least take Tornium before anyone else could take it.
Browning asked, “Are you really alright?”
With a wary expression, she stared at the Tornium on Glen’s waist. The black sword looked so ominous that she felt uncomfortable around it ever since she laid eyes on it.
“I’m really alright. Look at me right now—is there anything strange about me?” Glen opened his arms wide to show that there was nothing wrong with him.
“Well, that’s good. Judging by how it looks, that sword looks like a Demon Sword.”
“Haha, just because a sword is black doesn’t mean it’s a Demon Sword.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Well, I think it really is a Demon Sword though.” Browning opened her eyes wide.
“Don’t worry. It’s not a type of Demon Sword that controls and corrupts people. It’s probably a Demon Sword that harms its user only if the user doesn’t have enough power.”
“…Really?”
“As you know, I’m very interested in these types of topics.”
Browning nodded. Glen had a lot of knowledge about various topics. “You’re confident that you can wield that sword, right?”
“Of course.”
Browning felt relieved after hearing Glen’s confident reply. Even though Glen was less skilled than her right now, in terms of talent, Browning was sure that he was a genius.
“Where the hell are those guys?” Browning complained; they were still looking around for Zich and his companions.
No, Browning was the only one who was sincerely looking for them, and Glen was merely pretending. In order to find Tornium, Glen made an excuse about how he needed to go back to find Zich and his companions. Even though Glen was not very interested in finding them, he had to keep pretending.
‘Well, it would be good to find out where they are staying in Violuwin though.’
Then it would be easier for him to send a spy on them. Glen wondered if he could even find them; the ruin was big, and it had been a lucky coincidence to meet them.
“Zenard, you remember the direction, right?”
“Yes, I definitely remember it.”
Glen didn’t know how many times he came to this ruin; it was pointless to even count the number of times he had come here. He knew where each passage was in his memory. However, in order to not make Browning suspicious, he made up an excuse that he was very good at remembering directions.
Browning had suggested looking for them in this secret passageway, and she murmured to herself, “Hmm, are they not here in this secret passageway? I thought they might have known about this secret area and came here.”
“I thought so too, but I guess they’re not here.”
Browning stared at Glen and made a small smile. “I’m glad that you are calmer than before. You seemed so unlike yourself, I was a bit surprised.”
“Ah, I’ve shown you an embarrassing side of me. It was difficult for me, as a Karuwiman Honorary Knight to see another Honorary Knight break the rules set up by the city.”
“Are you all right now?”
“I feel much better now. Since I found this, all my troubled feelings have gone away.” Glen tapped Tornium’s hilt a few times.
“I’m glad that you are all right now. Then let’s quickly find those rule-breakers.”
“Yes, but I don’t think we have to look so hard for them like before.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
The two of them began wandering all over the ruins again.
Rumble!
Glen and Browning stopped; their expressions became deathly serious. Their gazes moved towards the ground.
“Glen!”
“I felt it.”
It felt as if a giant explosion of mana was passing through the entire ruin.
‘What is this?’ From all his experience in this ruin, Glen had never experienced a vibration like this. However, there was not much time for him to search through his memories.
Whiiish!
Shadows came out from everywhere. They soon changed into the shape of monsters that attacked Zich and his companions. Browning quickly took out her sword and shield while Glen also took out Tornium. His eyes darted around to quickly assess the situation.
‘Did this relic have such a function?’ Or did a completely different power intervene with this ruin? ‘I need to research this more.’
After getting out of this ruin, he needed to thoroughly investigate this place. But before that, he needed to defeat the ‘shadows’ attacking them. His power wasn’t fully developed yet, and compared to his ultimate goal, his current power was extremely feeble. However, he thought he had at least enough power to not die here.
‘Even though I still have a long way until I reach my goal, I’m still strong!’
Moreover, he had the Demon Sword in his hand. Glen slowly infused mana into Tornium, and Tornium greedily swallowed his power. Then it spat it back out with some of its own power mixed in.
‘Ugh!’ Glen almost scrunched up his face; he felt as if his body was turning into shambles inside. ‘As expected, I’m not strong enough to wield this sword yet.’
However, that was fine. He still had the ability to wield this sword without destroying his body.
Whish!
The bracelet he wore made a small vibration. Instantly, his insides became more comfortable. Tornium, which bared its fangs at its weak master, became calm again. The only thing left was for Glen to use Tornium’s enormous power.
‘Good!’
Glen began wielding Tornium at the shadows rushing towards him.
