It was a ritual that had been passed down from generations in the Iron Tribe. It needed at least 58 lives from elves in the Iron Tribe and mana from the Iron Tribe King. Most of all, it required the blood of the descendant of the Lake Tribe’s shaman who had sealed its power. Royals from the Iron Tribe treasured this ritual more than any other piece of knowledge they had, not even sharing it to their closest vassal and keeping it hidden.
The kings of the Iron Tribe used all their resources to make a ritual that would allow them to grasp the power underneath the castle. For that reason, once the ritual was activated, the barrier that protected it was just as resilient and strong. It was a barrier that used the power of those participating in the ritual and even the power of the seal that they were trying to break. Of course, it was not indestructible. After all, this ritual was created to break the seal, not to protect it.
However, it remained a fact that this barrier was extremely difficult to break. It was unimaginable that someone could rip the barrier apart in one attack.
Right before their eyes, they witnessed such an unimaginable event. At that moment, the seal broke and made a sharp dent on their glorious pursuit for greatness. Including Renu and the soldiers whose life force was mostly taken away from the ritual, nobody could stop his movements. In an instant, Zich was in front of Renu.
Zich had originally planned to take Romanne and escape, but he had to change his mind when he took a closer look at her.
‘She’s in a worse state than I thought.’ Romanne almost had no color on her face, and her hands felt cold. If she lost any more blood, even an elf with a strong life force would die. Thus, Zich decided to heal her injuries before taking her out of the altar.
“…You are…” Even the great Romanne struggled to speak when her physical condition was in such a state.
Instead of answering, Zich took out a potion and poured it into her mouth. She had multiple injuries, and when Zich looked closer, he saw that there were thorns all over the surface of the altar. These thorns had probably pierced holes into her body and extracted her blood; the blood that soaked the altar followed the groove at the bottom of the structure and dripped down to one place. It was a truly gruesome altar.
Romanne’s injuries healed at a fast pace. However, it didn’t seem like her blood loss had been replaced as her complexion was the same as before. Considering the strong vitality of elves, this much was probably enough.
Although all of this took a short time, it delayed their escape time; and it wasn’t like the people of the Iron Tribe were all fools who would simply watch the commotion happening right before them.
“Caaaaatch them!” Renu shouted. His subordinates began to move. The soldiers who participated in the ritual still couldn’t move, and they began to die one by one from the aftereffects.
However, there were troops that Renu had prepared for emergencies. The four elves standing by Renu’s side stretched out their hands toward Zich.
Craaaash!
Four kinds of magic whirled and came closer to him. Two of them were wind magic, one was fire, and one was earth. The fire and stones mixed inside the crying whirlwind looked like they could kill a couple of people easily just by touching them. Yet, Zich didn’t even budge at the sight of them. The attacks were formidable considering that they were cast by silent incantation, and while their magic combination was alright, Zich had an incomparably more skilled magician behind him.
Craaaash!
Lightning shot out from behind them and easily erased the magic attacks. The elves who attacked Zich were actually frantically moving to avoid Lyla’s attack, and Zich used that moment to back away. This time, Zich dropped some potion into Romanne’s mouth. She regained a bit of color back, but she was still unable to move.
‘It’s not that she had no stamina. It seems some kind of drug paralyzed her body beforehand.’ Otherwise, it didn’t seem like she would lay so calmly on top of that altar, which looked like it would terribly hurt, especially if he considered her personality.
This seemed clearer as Romanne gained her strength and she began to shout, “It’s a pity that you won’t be able to see all the shit you did even as you die! Didn’t I tell you that everything you do is useless!”
“You are right, lady,” Zich responded. “Idiots think that if they make a plan, everything will run exactly according to it.”
“Oh my, you do know. When things don't go according to their plan, they always blame their surroundings for it.”
“Yes, I know that well. If such guys are in a high position, they blame their subordinates; and if they have a family, they blame their family members. They really are a specific type of trash who waste the air they breathe.”
“One thing is true for his case because that guy doesn’t have a family. Even though he is the king, he still can’t get a wife. Can’t you just see what kind of personality or character he has?”
“Hahaha, isn’t that his praiseworthy attempt to not leave any of his inferior blood behind? Ah, actually, he isn’t capable of having such a thought. Ah, I was mistaken. How foolish I was.”
“I know it’s rude for me to say this upon our first meeting, but you really were mistaken. It didn’t settle right with me when you suggested that a poop-eating maggot would be able to hold a thought.”
“Yes, I suppose it was too much.”
“Yes, it was.”
It didn’t seem like it was their first time conversing at all. They insulted Renu and exchanged words to each other so familiarly that Lyla, who had been warily staring at the elves, almost dropped the grip on her staff. Thus, Renu, the center of their conversation, couldn’t have been more furious.
“What are you doing! Killlllllll those guys immediately!” Renu rolled his eyes as he shouted.
The elves felt chills run down their backs at Renu’s rage and hastily pulled their swords and prepared magic attacks.
‘Hm, should I back off first?’
Since he had saved the final captive, there was no need for him to overdo it. He thought about taking Renu hostage and escaping, but there didn’t seem to be a need for that. Zich thought, ‘From now on, the other tribes can unite to overpower the Iron Tribe, and that would be enough.’
He looked forward to this war.
Thud!
The whole castle shook again. The elves that were standing upright began to stumble. Zich easily stayed balanced and watched the destruction happen in front of him.
Crash! Crassh! Crasssssh!
The wall was crumbling down. All the stones that made up the wall began to slowly crumble from the top as if they were mocking its builder. Then the back of the wall began to appear.
Since such a sophisticated and flashy-looking seal broke, Zich and Lyla were very curious about what was behind the wall. However, what appeared in front of them was very disappointing. As if to make fun of Renu who worked so hard in undoing the seal, there was another wall. Moreover, the new wall looked exactly the same as the previous one.
However, no one thought lightly of the new wall in front of them. Renu and Romanne knew what the wall was, and Zich and Lyla had also seen that type of wall before. To be more precise, they had seen the wall’s structure and the gap between the wall before.
“Hey, Lyla. That…”
“Yeah, I have the same thought.”
They both instantly thought of Violuwin’s ruin. The wall that appeared looked exactly like the wall of the secret passageway that Windur opened and led them to the tomb of the ancient empire’s emperors.
“Ha-hahahahhaha!”
Renu let out a burst of laughter when he saw the new wall in front of him; finally, he was able to get what he wanted. At this moment, all the insults, humiliation, and mockery became nothing to him. The hatred he felt towards Zich and Romanne also began to melt. Now that the seal was undone, their mocking words were nothing but cries from losers. Victory was now in his grasp.
Even though he was a coward like Romanne said, he could now spout out these bold words: “Heheh! You pieces of trash are lucky. I thought about capturing you guys and torturing the hell out of you, but my thoughts have changed. You guys can just go back.”
“Woah? You became so kind?” Zich said this with surprise in his voice.
“Tell this to the rest. I will give them the last chance to choose—to obey or go to war. Ah, but your tribe doesn’t have a choice, shaman.” Renu raised his chin and looked down at them. “It’s the price of insulting me. Go out and bring everyone in your tribe and try resisting. I will bestow my grace upon your tribe and personally rip apart their pathetic attempt at resistance.”
“…Do you even have the key?” Romanne murmured in a low voice.
Even though Romanne kept on humiliating Renu, she also felt threatened by the power sealed behind the wall.
While feeling very pleased about Romanne’s new attitude, Renu said, “Do you think I don’t have it? If you want to believe that, I will leave you be. This will only make you fall more into despair in the future.”
At that moment, soldiers began rushing down. The soldiers nearby were quickly coming down from the commotion. The soldiers instantly surrounded Zich and his companions and pointed their swords at them.
However, Renu blocked their movements. “Just let them go.”
“What? But Your Majesty, they are intruders!”
“It’s fine. I promised to let them go. Yeah, why don’t you guide them to the bridge so that other guys don’t attack them?”
The elf who received the order looked as if they couldn’t understand what was happening, but an order was an order. The elf gestured towards the other soldiers, and all the soldiers withdrew their weapons and moved away from Zich and his companions.
“What are you doing? Why don’t you get going? Or did you suddenly change your mind and want to surrender to us now?” Renu continued to ridicule them.
Lyla pulled Zich’s sleeve. “Zich, I think we should get out for now.”
“Wait. I have one more thing I want to ask.”
“What is it?” Renu folded his arms as if he was willing to answer most questions and waited for Zich to ask.
“If the power inside that wall is so amazing, why don’t you open it and show it to us right now? Honestly, I was curious about the power from the very beginning.”
“That probably won’t be possible.” The answer came from Romanne. “We don’t know what shape or structure that power is in. They’ll probably need to open that door by using another ritual while controlling the power inside.”
Zich replied, “I’m surprised he has enough of a brain for that.”
“Bugs are desperate to protect their lives. Isn’t that why they work so hard in hiding themselves?”
Renu muttered in a low voice, “…Don’t test how far my patience will go.”
“Look at him. He acted like a generous king after saying he had some kind of amazing power, but after receiving a few insults, he went back to trembling in fury.”
Zich added, “Pathetic. So pathetic. He really is so pathetic. How can anyone be so pathetic? He’s the most pathetic being I’ve ever seen.”
“You fucking bastards…!” Veins appeared on Renu’s forehead again, and he glared at Zich and his companions with murderous eyes. “Fine! If you want to die here so desperately—!”
“Haaaat!”
It all happened suddenly. Zich grabbed Lyla, who was standing behind him and jumped towards Renu. Even while holding Lyla and Romanne on both sides, Zich was as fast as the speed of light. Since Zich had no hands to carry a weapon, he put out his legs toward Renu. Even though it was just a simple kick, the force and speed of Zich’s movements were strong enough to easily crush a person’s head.
The soldiers and even Renu, who stood at the opposite end of where Zich and his companions were, could not properly react to Zich’s sudden attack. However, the distance between them allowed Renu to barely escape Zich’s ambush.
Crash! Zich’s foot hit the wall. There was a loud sound, but the wall was completely fine. Renu almost died, gasped for breath, and ran towards where Zich and his companions used to be. The soldiers rushed to surround and protect him. Now, the position between Zich and his companions and Renu were completely reversed.
“Y-you bastard…!”
Renu was so shocked that the hand he used to point at Zich trembled feverishly. However, Zich merely shrugged his shoulders as if he felt regretful that Renu didn’t die.
“You bastard! I was trying to show you mercy and you returned my favor with an ambush!”
“But you didn’t die,” Zich calmly replied as if he really thought this was a reasonable answer.