“…Is this specific order really necessary? It should be fine if the men stick together or the women stick together, right?”
There was no disagreement that they needed to stay close, but whether it absolutely had to be in this order was questionable. In front was Yuna, and behind was Alterra, leaving him awkwardly sandwiched between the two women.
“Well, of course it has to be this way. I have to lead from the front, and Alterra insists on staying near the back but won’t stick with anyone other than you. What can we do about that?”
It wasn’t just standing close; the person behind had to place their hands on the shoulders of the person in front, making it incredibly awkward.
“Myungho, just remain quiet. I’m not doing this because I enjoy it either. Holding each other’s shoulders like this is even more unpleasant.”
That…yeah. To receive the Concealment Barrier, everyone had to make some form of physical contact, so someone suggested holding hands to see if that would work, but Akashi rejected the idea.
He explained that being too far apart would prevent the Concealment Barrier from functioning properly. Though it felt burdensome, there was no counterargument, so he silently followed whoever was leading at the front.
The corridor outside the Concealment Barrier appeared completely empty, yet why were they making such a fuss about not separating when there might be dangerous traps ahead? When asked, they explained:
Thin threads of unmanifested mana were spread across the floor, and if something triggered the detection mechanism above, the threads would manifest and slice whatever was there into thousands of pieces. If the detection mechanism broke, the threads would permanently manifest, rendering passage impossible.
“Alterra, sorry, but could you ease up on the grip a little? Your nails are really hurting…”
She softly exhaled, apologized, and loosened her grip. Moving as slowly as maggots wriggling, they wondered how long they’d have to stay this awkwardly attached.
Despite her applying force, it wasn’t so much the strength of her hand but her nails that caused pain. Honestly, it seemed strange that such soft-looking hands could produce that kind of pressure.
This is normal. While entertaining such unsettling thoughts, his gaze shifted away from reality. Yuna? One of Yuna’s hands was completely made of iron, and the other felt like metal when touched.
“Listen carefully. We’ve arrived. But don’t separate. More than half the threads are still ahead of us. Now it’s your turn, Hero. I’ll move sideways toward the door as closely as possible, and you write what I tell you on that door.”
Akashi said this and slowly turned the group sideways, sticking as close to the door as possible. Twisting his body, he cautiously pulled out a brush and asked Akashi,
“So, what exactly should I write?”
“To open by royal decree: Open sesame. The door has a quasi-soul embedded in it, so your brush will activate its power.”
Wait a second. He wasn’t royalty, nor did he have any means to verify such a claim. How exactly was this supposed to work? He asked Akashi, filled with doubt.
“…Akashi, I’m not royalty, you know. Will it really open if I write that?”
“I already told you I made it. Trust me. The soul embedded in the door doesn’t care who’s telling it to open. It wouldn’t understand anyway. That’s why I included the soul specifically for this purpose.”
Though skeptical, knowing Akashi wasn’t one to throw his life away, he decided to follow his instructions and carefully wrote the phrase. Surprisingly, the corridor trembled slightly, indicating some effect.
“It’s safe to move now. The detection mechanism is off. Well, do I need to shout ‘ding’ before we move?”
Worried that only Akashi might be safe, he hesitated, but Akashi gave Alterra back the core with a look of disdain.
Caught off guard, Alterra took the core and moved, but nothing happened to her, not even a shred of harm. Since the core was returned, the Concealment Barrier must have disappeared as well.
…It was unnecessary worry. He released the tension he’d been holding and stretched, letting go of the oppressive feeling. He thought they’d have to walk like this for hours, moving only their feet.
“Uh… Myungho, is it really open? It looks closed to me…”
After putting the core back in her quiver, Alterra questioned whether the door was truly open. From his perspective, it didn’t seem open either. The door remained firmly shut.
“It shouldn’t… be. Akashi, is it really open? It’s still closed.”
Even a slight creaking sound or movement would have been reassuring, but the door hadn’t budged a single millimeter.
“It should’ve opened wide by now. Why isn’t it opening…? Could it have rusted from the inside? It looks fine externally, but no. It received the Blessing of Preservation. Let me check…”
Akashi approached the door, tapping it lightly and inspecting it closely by ear.
“There doesn’t seem to be any problem externally. Maybe they cut corners during construction to save costs… Yuna, fire two arrows. If it doesn’t open, we’ll break through.”
Yuna complained about Akashi bossing people around but shot the arrows anyway, seemingly enticed by the prospect of treasure.
It looked less like a bow and more like a harpoon launcher. The arrow struck the door with a fiery explosion, scattering sparks everywhere. Spiderweb-like cracks formed where the arrow hit.
“If only I had the strength, I could’ve just shattered this wall.”
—
Being powerless irritated him. Thinking back to that day, he disliked the fact that he couldn’t accomplish anything. It was frustrating. Anyway, he didn’t like it.
The door looked extremely sturdy to him, but the walls probably weren’t. To console himself, he clenched and unclenched his fists.
“You don’t always have to handle everything yourself. You’ve probably spent your whole life solving things alone, so it might feel awkward to rely on others. Actually, being able to solve everything on your own is quite remarkable.”
Myungho noticed such days and occasionally advised him to let others take over while subtly boosting his confidence.
What’s so remarkable about it? He barely managed to get by, but receiving recognition from someone else felt good, so he didn’t bother being modest.
That’s right. Surviving in the wild as a girl is incredibly difficult, even if there’s a man involved.
The muscular elf drew her bow again and fired another arrow into the cracked spot. The iron door couldn’t withstand it and shattered with a terrible sound.
Then, red liquid flowed out of the broken hole.
“Aha. Now I understand why tying up all these souls wasn’t obvious before. So they were hidden here. Damn, I keep seeing unpleasant things. Hey, Myungho. If you were hoping for something, better prepare to be disappointed. Whatever’s inside doesn’t seem to be treasure.”
It almost smelled too strong to identify, but it was definitely blood.
“Blood isn’t something you expect to find in a treasure vault… Right? Alterra, Yuna, Akashi. Stay alert. We don’t know what might come out.”
“Haa, I expected treasure and wasted an arrow, only to find this. Expectations make fools of us. Initially, I shouldn’t have hoped for valuables in a place abandoned for hundreds of years…”
Yuna visibly showed her disappointment. Akashi floated his book like a moving light bulb after getting permission from Myungho.
Myungho drew his sword and entered the hole. He gripped his stone knife tightly, ready to strike whatever came out.
Inside, unlike the outside, the air was thick with the stench of blood and raw meat, as if animals had been butchered in a cave.
The ankle-deep blood squelched underfoot, slippery and oddly soft to the touch, making it the worst experience.
“Everyone, stop for a moment and listen. Can’t you hear the heartbeat? It’s massive… beating heavily…”
Akashi shone light on one wall, causing Myungho to pause mid-sentence.
It was understandable. There lay a fungus-covered giant vein pulsating. When scratched with a fingernail, blood spurted out violently.
“Ugh. This smell is awful…”
No exaggeration—it smelled like the concentrated fishiness extracted from animal blood, utterly repulsive.
It didn’t hurt or eat away at the skin, only leaving a disgusting feeling. Calming the worried Myungho, they walked toward where the vein connected.
“Altera. We’ll take the front. Considering the situation—”
“I can protect myself. You don’t need to protect me.”
Even if she was weakened, her tail could easily slice through someone’s head with a strong swipe. Still, since they were concerned, she slowed down a bit.
Originally, there should have been shelves or display cases stacked with items, but now they were all empty, replaced by veins and chunks of flesh.
“Nothing remains…”
“That’s true. There should have been at least one item left. It seems someone took everything. Or… these lumps of flesh… Regardless, it’s the same result.”
“Haa. I really don’t want to see this. Can we just turn back now? After coming this far, it’s embarrassing to say, but it’d be better for your sake.”
“Gweeeeeeeaaaaaak…”
?
Who made that noise just now?
A terrifying scream, akin to those from prisoners in hell, echoed from the ceiling.
When Akashi shone the light, it revealed a mashed face partially merged with a vein.
“What is that thing?”
Shining the light elsewhere revealed an enormous face embedded in the wall.
Instead of eyes, there were rotten purple hearts taking up 50% of the face—a grotesque sight.
Despite witnessing many disturbing things, this kind of revulsion was new, and all he could do was cover his mouth to suppress the rising nausea.
“So… I told you to just leave, didn’t I? Say hello. This is the king of this place and also the medium binding the souls of the citizens. Long time no see, King. I told you not to.”
Disgusting. Disgusting. Just looking at it gave the impression that it was wrong. He wanted to lash out with his tail and erase any trace of its existence from the world.
But he lacked the strength.
Myungho stared at the monstrous face with a stiff expression.
“The medium binding the souls… If this is destroyed, the souls trapped here will be freed, right?”
The face also stared at Myungho. At the Holy Sword.
“Don’t bother. Killing it won’t give you anything. This is their own doing.”
Akashi spoke unhappily to Myungho, but Myungho seemed unconcerned and approached the face with his sword.
He then slashed the heart with his sword. Contrary to expectations of countless spirits emerging, a lump fell with a thud.
It was a mass of condensed spirits.
“O Goddess. Grant mercy to these pitiful souls.”
Saying this, Myungho used his radiant brush to draw a line on the spirit mass.
