When Zich saw the object called the One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations, the first thing that came to his mind was, ‘What’s that? It looks like a cheap copy of the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.’
Even Zich had never seen that item before. However, based on its shape and name, he could tell that this item was somehow connected to the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. ‘Besides, what the hell is up with its name? A ‘One-Sided Pyramid’?’
Most objects called ‘pyramids’ had a square or triangular base; of course, no pyramid with a single side for its foundation existed.
‘The name-giver must have hardly given any thought when naming this thing or they might have wanted to describe its connection with another item that has a similar function.’ Zich thought the latter was more likely and continued contemplating. ‘No matter how much I look at it, this item definitely has a connection with the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. Is it like a second-rate version of it?’
The feeling Zich got from the item was definitely like the one he got from that fish-head god, Bellu.
“What is this item, sir?” someone finally asked. It was unclear as to what the item was just by its appearance.
“I’m sure you all know of the Bellid religion,” Glen responded. There was no way anyone didn’t know the Bellids. The religious organization terrorized and made their existence known all over the world. Some people among this group even clashed head-on with Bellid’s filthy followers, and a majority of the listeners scowled at just the mention of the organization’s name.
“Their organization made this item.”
Upon hearing this, those curiously reaching their hands toward the One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations hastily pulled their hands back.
“What are those damn scoundrels doing here out of all places?”
“They were summoning monsters with this item,” Glen answered.
People murmured amongst themselves. Their eyes looked full of loathing, shock, and fear as they stared at the pyramid.
“Summoning monsters? Then, are you saying that the monster invasions in Pialu happened because of those guys?”
“Yes.”
“Then what are you doing, sir! Shouldn’t you break that thing immediately!” one of the mercenaries yelled. He balled his fists up as if he was ready to pound on the pyramid at any given chance.
“It’s fine like this. This item’s reach only covers the city. If there’s no monster within its perimeters, it would be nothing more than a strange-looking decoration. Furthermore, its activation has already stopped.’
This was good news, but after hearing Glen’s words, people couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t you say those guys brought the monsters from the Denest Mountain Range? How were they able to call upon such a great number of monsters with such a limited scope?”
“Of course, it would be impossible with just this one,” Glen said and pulled out another One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations from a box. People were surprised to see another one, but they weren’t mindblown. They just felt a slightly greater sense of danger.
Yet, that wasn’t the end. Glen continued to pull out magic boxes and the pile of One-sided Pyramids on the table grew bigger and bigger. Some time later, there was a whole pile of them on the table, and the sight of them brought people to speechlessness.
“If this many are scattered in one area, their strength and influence increases exponentially. This was all I found, but I expect there to be considerably more One-sided Pyramids inside the mountain range.”
“A-Are you saying that this isn’t all of them?”
“There was a limit to finding so many at once, and I failed to find all of them.”
“No, I don’t mean to blame you. However, does this mean that monsters are still gathering in groups in the Denest Mountain Range as we speak?”
“Yes, sir,” Glen answered, and people’s faces stiffened at his horrifying confirmation.
“I’m sure that I was able to slow down the speed at which the monsters gather by bringing a significant number of these goods, as we are experiencing that first-hand right now. However, this peace won’t last long.”
“Then, let’s go to find these items immediately!”
“No, there’s a better method than that,” Glen said. Zich noticed that Glen appeared as if he had been waiting for someone to declare to go search for the One-sided Pyramid of Lamentations. What Glen said from then on was probably what he had been preparing to say.
“Usually, the Bellids use this One-sided Pyramid with the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.”
“What is this thing called the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls?”
“It’s a similar item called the the One-Sided Pyramid that the Bellids use and they use it to control monsters.”
“What an astonishingly simple but bothersome ability.”
“Yes. After gathering many monsters with the One-sided Pyramid of Lamentations, the user of these items could use the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls to control monsters. That’s how these items are connected to one another.”
“So, to summarize what you said, sir, some bastard is using two types of items to control monsters and attack Pialu?”
“Exactly.”
“Hm.”
“Who is this bastard!”
“If I catch this guy, I’m going to twist their head off!”
Everyone responded to Glen’s words in their individual ways, but each one of them felt rage.
“I’m sure it’s those Bellid guys. Didn’t you say that the items belonged to the Bellids?”
“I think there’s a high possibility. After all, they regard these items as their sacred objects.”
“Damn it! Those guys are the abominations of this world! They’re fucking cockroaches that crawl around everywhere. We should catch all of them and crush them into pieces!”
Soon, the city hall turned into a place for people to denounce the Bellids. People cursed the Bellids with all the swear words they knew and spat. If a Bellid follower had been in the group, they would’ve struggled to keep their composure and responded with at least fear or anger.
“Quiet down, everyone! Mr. Glen hasn’t finished speaking!” the commander yelled and people began to quiet down. The meeting room soon grew quiet again and the commander told Glen to please continue.
Glen nodded slightly in appreciation to the commander for preparing his stage to talk again and parted his lips once more. “We don’t know for sure if the ones behind all this are the Bellids as we expect, but it’s certain that there’s someone who is trying to invade Pialu using the One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations. Thus, if we just get rid of this figure, we can put an end to this situation.”
“Why are you saying such an obvious…!” One person began to shout in annoyance, but a low voice cut them off.
“You have a way to find them.” It was Zich. He looked at Glen with calm eyes.
“Yes, I have a way,” Glen also calmly replied without avoiding his gaze. There was a way to find the root cause of the monster ambushes. The room started heating up—everyone was eager to hang the person responsible for this mess. Even the mercenaries felt this way. Even though they made money by fighting, it was only meaningful if they survived.
Zich held an One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations in his hand. “I think your method is probably related to this object here.”
“As expected of Mr. Zich, you’re quick to catch on.”
“I’m basically a corpse without my wits.”
Glen smirked at Zich’s joke. “As Mr. Zich said, we can find out the location of the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls with the One-sided Pyramid of Lamentations.” Glen took out another item from the magic box, which was a thin metal plate. However, its sparkling surface and the glowing mana coming off it made it seem different from an ordinary metal plate.
“It’s an artifact.”
“Yes, Mr. Zich.” Glen grabbed a One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations and put it on the metal plate. Complicated drawings were already etched on top of the metal plate, and Glen infused some mana into the metal plate.
Ziing! The metal plate slightly vibrated. The mana flowed into the magic circles and activated it.
Swoosh! The One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations slightly floated up, and people exclaimed in admiration. The object slowly spun in the air and pointed at the pile of One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations on the table.
“It reminds me of a compass.”
“Yes, Mr. Zich. It performs a similar function as a compass.”
“Its ability is to probably point towards other One-Sided Pyramids of Lamentations. Mr. Glen, you must have found the other One-Sided Pyramids of Lamentations using this artifact. Does this artifact also point towards the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls?”
“Mr. Zich, your insight is astounding. You’re correct about everything. We can find the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls with this object.”
People expressed their acclamations. However, Zich narrowed his eyes instead. “But there must be a condition or limit since you would have found the root cause immediately by yourself.”
Glen let down the artifact on the table and said, “The problem lies with its range.” The artifact stopped. “I can only find it if the One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations or Pyramid of Vengeful Souls is within a specific range. That’s why I had to run around the Denest Mountain Range like crazy to find this much.” Glen’s voice sounded a bit fatigued to express the struggle he went through as he continued, “I’ll mass produce this object and share it with all of you. I predict that the culprit with the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls is near here. Perhaps, they might even be hidden inside the city. However, if we use this artifact near that person, we’ll be able to easily find them.”
“What happens if there are multiple targets within a specific range?”
“It’ll point towards the closest one.” Glen activated the artifact again and distributed the One-Sided Pyramids around the room. Then, he put one right next to the artifact, and the artifact’s direction was fixed to the nearest One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations.
A method to successfully find the root cause of this dire situation had finally been suggested. People felt encouraged and hopeful, but some expressed different opinions.
“What’ll happen if we don’t find the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls?”
“Why don’t we just search the entire Denest Mountain Range with the people here? It seems better to just find all the One-Sided Pyramids of Lamentations instead.”
Glen shook his head; his expression was extremely serious. “It’s impossible to enter the Denest Mountain Range right now. Why do you think I came down the mountain range?”
“Isn’t it because it’s difficult to find all the One-Sided Pyramids of Lamentations by yourself?”
“It’s because I couldn’t go around looking for them anymore.” Glen’s tone was serious. “After retrieving numerous One-Sided Pyramids of Lamentations, the speed at which monsters gathered together slowed down, but the monsters are still gathering together.”
“The number of monsters that gathered must be so great that it’d become impossible to retrieve the One-Sided Pyramids of Lamentations.”
“Yes.”
“Then, even if there’s a bit of damage, it might not be a bad idea to block one more monster raid and begin moving. After culling some of the monsters, we can go around looking for the One-Sided Pyramids of Lame…”
“I’m sorry to intervene, but there probably won’t be a next time.”
What was he saying? People waited for Glen’s next lines. It didn’t seem like he was going to share any good news.
“While I was coming down the Denest Mountain Range, I saw monsters such as the basilisk and behemoth that we fought and, of course, new high-level monsters we haven’t fought yet like the titan and hydra. There were around 40 of them.”
The atmosphere of the meeting froze. 40 high-level monsters. Everyone knew how overwhelmingly powerful they were by fighting the basilisk and behemoth. Yet, according to Glen, there were 40 of these terrible monsters.
“A-are you really sure?” the commander asked in surprise. It seemed as if he hadn’t heard this part either.
However, Glen wasn’t finished yet. “Moreover, those are just numbers I confirmed before I left the mountain range. There might be more of them now.”
People’s mouths opened wide—everyone fell into shock.
“We don’t have a next time since Pialu will certainly be annihilated if there is another monster ambush,” Glen spoke seriously, and Zich quietly stared at him.