Chapter 243

I am Marcus, and I descended into the mine with Sererassie and a mechanical knight.

One of us was left at the entrance to buy us a minimal amount of time, just in case.

The tunnel was wide enough for three people to walk side by side, but the deeper we went, the more crystal formations began to appear.

Originally, the pale sky-blue light was only bright enough to distinguish the shapes of objects, but now it was gradually becoming blinding.

At some point, a humming sound began to resonate in my ears.

Noticing my discomfort, Sererassie furrowed her brows, and Marcus clenched his teeth.

“Valenciaunos. Are you okay?”

“Huh? I’m fine, just a little apprehensive.”

“You mean, there’s a monster here.”

Sererassie muttered and raised her staff to strike a crystal formation that jutted out from the wall.

A sound like a bang echoed, causing all the surrounding crystals to resonate in unison.

Wuuuu!

The sight of the crystals vibrating from the ceiling to the floor and walls was both mysterious and terrifying.

Kiiiiiing!

A noise like mental waves rang out, and Marcus cursed under his breath.

“Lord Sorelazie! What are you doing?!”

Sererassie let out a soft sigh.

“Don’t you really know?”

“Explain before you act! Explain first!”

“The crystals are slowly emitting mental waves. The miners who worked here must have been the first to be corrupted. Little by little, it would have built up until one day they suddenly transformed.”

“Ah.”

I nodded while quickening my steps.

“I thought it was strange for such an expensive reagent mine to suddenly close down because a nearby village disappeared; it seems there was a deciding factor they couldn’t ignore. It must have become quite powerful as it was slowly and deeply corrupted.”

“And considering the stability of this crystalline corruption… it’s highly likely the miners are still moving.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a peculiar echo began to emerge.

Kkan, kkan, kkan, kkan.

It sounded like something was being struck with a pickaxe.

Just then, we reached the end of the descending passage and came upon a vast cavern.

Marcus opened his notebook and pointed to the map he had copied from the entrance.

“We should head down the directly opposite path here. That will lead us straight to the lowest level. It seems there might be something in the cavern, so we should thoroughly check it out before proceeding.”

Siiing!

The crystals cried out faintly.

I peeked my head around the corridor to assess the situation.

“Goodness.”

It was a sight that made me want to curse.

* * *

“Hey, Christian! Slow down a bit.”

“What are you talking about? I need to cover my son’s school fees. He just got into Devotion Academy.”

“I don’t know how that clever son of yours came from that guy.”

“Haha. Our son is impressive, right? I can’t make that kid into a miner, though.”

The crystalline infiltrators we fought over the past few days weren’t too threatening, aside from their mental waves.

Their movements weren’t particularly fast, they didn’t use any magical powers, and there was almost no intelligence to be sensed.

However, the infiltrators in this mine all seemed to perfectly mimic their former actions and tones.

“There’s no water left.”

“When is the rescue team coming?”

The two men pulled a cart filled with crystal formations down the underground road, their disfigured faces glowing with the blue light of the crystals.

From between the withered ribs, the light of the corrupted crystals shone brilliantly.

Sererassie forced a smile.

“Valenciaunos. They seem unaware that they are dead.”

Marcus flashed his mechanical arm.

“Lord Valenciaunos. There is, however, one difference compared to their living selves.”

I nodded in a disheartened manner.

“Right. They were not going up; they were going down. To the lowest level.”

I detached one of the crystals that jutted out from the surrounding walls.

“Most ancient beings are a combination of power, body, and soul. If this is growing, it means it is slowly corrupting this world, and if we collect this, it signifies recovery.”

Marcus smiled grimly.

“It seems even the ancients suffered injuries commensurate with their fall. Are you starting to grasp the situation?”

It was no longer sufficient just to stop Ensis from obtaining this.

With a deep sigh, I drew my sword.

“I’ll inject heat directly like when I killed the aberration in the capital. Can you cover me?”

* * *

Valenciaunos immediately kicked the ground and dashed out.

The Solletarass bloodline royalty was born of warriors, and both he and Jeilliris inherited the traits of the royal family so deeply that they were spoken of as the reincarnation of the first emperor.

“How dare you block my path with creatures that cannot live or die!”

Empire swordsmanship, First Stage, Total Override.

Swelling mana assisted his muscle fibers, and Valenciaunos’s blade pierced the scalp of an infiltrator, exiting through its groin.

Waziz!

He effortlessly cut down a miner with one strike and sprinted down the opposite corridor.

Following closely were Sererassie, Marcus, and the mechanical knight.

Swish!

To prove the unity of one and all, hundreds of miners who traversed the cavern and passage turned in unison to gaze at the four of them.

The sight of hundreds of blue-glowing eyes rotating in unison within the cavern was intimidating beyond terror.

Yet, the adversary was the most dangerous Great Lord known as the Mage Engineer from the West.

Wuuuu!

A purple aura unique to destruction flickered from Marcus’s estoc.

Bang!

A flash-like thrust shot forward in a straight line like a heat ray, piercing through three rushing miners, causing them to collapse.

“How dare you lowly beings reveal yourselves to me? I am your master!”

Sererassie infused mana into the pearl earrings gifted by Cariosa and soared into the air, demonstrating a magnificent display of lightning as she flew backward.

“Valencia! Move aside!”

Valenciaunos dashed without hesitation toward the lowest level.

The path was exceedingly clear, with only miners pulling empty carts trying to ascend as obstacles.

“Hand it over!”

Without hesitation, Valenciaunos charged, kicking a miner’s face while leaping onto the cart.

He cleverly maintained his balance so that the supports hovered in mid-air, and the cart wheels rolled madly down the slope.

“Hahahaha!”

He flew past a miner attempting to block him with a pickaxe, dispersing him like a spear of fire, while informing the mine boss wielding a whip adorned with crystals just how sharp the Blade of Black Tear could be.

Kwaaaazzz!

As the cart shattered, he lightly jumped off and stepped into another cavern.

In that high-ceilinged place was the largest crystal formation he had ever witnessed.

“Goodness.”

It was roughly spherical, with spiky crystal protrusions resembling a sea urchin, and its majestic and beautiful turquoise color evoked images of tropical seas.

It was large enough to fill a decent-sized room, and an unknown black metal wrapped around the exterior of the blue crystal. In the center of the crystal was a massive eye-like pattern.

Wuuuu!

The crystal vibrated and echoed eerily.

“Don’t be afraid, come here.”

Valenciaunos instinctively felt a surge of panic.

“I will grant you everything you desire.”

Even when the aberration 1km away smashed the capital like a snack, or when its mental waves corrupted twenty-three thousand people, he had not felt this chill before.

“Just accept me.”

His mental strength was that of a bandit duke who had lived through numerous trials, not that of a twelve-year-old boy, and with the current development, he could devour most mental waves that came his way.

“This is bad.”

However, the temptation he felt now was more lethal than any mental wave he had experienced before his return.

Valenciaunos approached the crystal with a dazed gait.

Jeilliris’s melodious laughter echoed in his ears.

Crack!

Cracks formed on the surface of the crystal, and a tiny blue gem began to protrude.

It was beautiful in its own right, but not as impressive as the giant crystal.

The crystal extended its gem like a mysterious beauty offering a solo.

“Just, just accept me.”

Valenciaunos’s yellow eyes lost focus as he dropped his grasp on Black Tear.

Clang, the northern longsword rolled on the ground, and he extended his gloved hand.

Translucent from the infusion of spirit essence, his fingers now bore dark-red scales in several places.

Had it not been for the infusion, the scales would have already spread up to his shoulder.

“Okay.”

Valenciaunos placed his hand on the enormous eye-like crystal formation, not on the small blue gem.

Wuuuu!

The crystal trembled violently as if startled, and Valenciaunos’s hand grew intense with heat.

Chiiiii!

Steam and smoke rose from the beautifully blue crystal, and a cruel smile crept onto the lips of the Bandit Duke.

“You truly are terrifying. I’m completely done for. No matter how I try to muster my will, I can’t break you. It felt like pointing a sword at the last family member I have left.”

Eiiing!

“So what do we do? We burn you to purify you and swallow you whole. I don’t know if it will work, but you have high stability, and since you’re the main body, there shouldn’t be a need to keep consuming.”

Smiling wryly, the Bandit Duke’s eyes glimmered with the vertical split of his iconic yellow pupils.

“Either we die together, or I live.”

Horns twisted like a goat’s sprouted from his temples.

The crystal formation unleashed malevolent mental waves, and Valenciaunos muttered.

“Just accept me.”

* * *

Tenitia swung her sword down like thunder.

“Step over my corpse, or meet your end on my blade!”

Chak!

With every step she took, the crystal formations embedded in her mechanical armor resonated, amplifying her power.

Wuuuu!

The red Mana Blade surged like a wave of blood.

“……”

However, Ensis calmly lifted his sword, reminiscent of a prophet parting the sea.

Swick!

Compared to Tenitia, his strike was neither flashy nor grand, merely clean.

Yet that cool blue line rose above the red waves, denting the solid plate armor of the mechanical knight and crushing the steel fibers and chains, completely altering the trajectory of the gigantic sword.

Chiiiii!

The mechanical armor screamed, and Tenitia staggered back.

“Cough!”

Blood streamed through the gaps in her helmet.

Mana flowed within her body, and the Mana Blade was a technique that redirected that flow outward.

Meaning, having the Mana Blade forcibly bend was akin to experiencing an impact strong enough to burst organs and blood vessels.

Huff!

However, Tenitia quickly regained her balance and struck with a flurry, reclaiming the distance.

The fact that her body hadn’t been torn to shreds while facing the Aura Blade proved both her skill and her armor’s quality.

“You still haven’t given up.”

Swick!

Ensis’s single strike shattered her left gauntlet.

Solid metal and spikes were sliced away like cheese.

With the intent to harm, he had the power to sever Tenitia’s arm as well.

Yet, he had no intentions of killing this reckless knight gently.

What was even more unpleasant was the fact that this knight seemed to sense that thought of his.

“I am iron that hardens the more you strike it, and water that cannot be cut!”

Tenitia once again enveloped her already cracked extra-large sword with a Mana Blade.

The red wave surged once more.

Philius observed the scene, suddenly feeling goosebumps all over his body.

‘…Have I ever clung desperately to Father His Majesty even once?’

Surely, he would have defeated Tenitia, yet before her, Philius found himself feeling small and feeble.

In Doroysen, the land exalted for its swords and knights, the embodiment of virtues was right there.

Tenitia focused intently on Ensis.

‘The world and people can be evaluated from various perspectives and deserve to be judged. However, ultimately we must choose one perspective to follow. We cannot progress just by observing.’

Suddenly, the classic phrase from the swordsmanship textbook floated in his mind.

What mattered was that she had chosen one of the countless options herself.

No matter how many reasons she had to flee, she had chosen to fight.

In that moment, Tenitia stepped into a new world.

“Hah.”

Imperial Swordsmanship, Eighth Stage, Salkaya Vision.

It was akin to the Fifth Stage Asaha, yet a few stages above.

The Fifth Stage Asaha felt constricting, as many realizations flooded Tenitia’s mind from all the things she had seen and heard.

At this moment, she felt she could understand anything in this world.

Shiiing!

The Sword King Ensis slashed down with his blue-flaming sword, and Tenitia deeply bent her knees to evade.

It was as if she had foreseen the moment she would evade.

Ensis’s expression flickered with surprise, and Tenitia immediately leapt out, bringing her extra-large sword up.

With a motion from her shoulder, she executed a sweeping blow aimed at his neck.

This was one of the banner techniques of the imperial knights.

The red sword traced a grand arc.

Chaaah!

The red Mana Blade surged like a tidal wave.

At the same moment.

“Uplift, sever.”

The technique of Doroysen swordsmen unfolded from Tenitia’s hands.

It was a mystical art that cut directly through flesh while passing through armor.

Mana Blast!

“Now!”

The wave slicing upward and the ocean crashing down from above enveloped Ensis.

Tsuccccccc!

A grand clash echoed, and both Ensis and Tenitia crossed paths.

“Hoo, hoo.”

Tenitia gasped for breath, turning her body while Ensis brushed the deep crack in his helmet with his gauntlet.

As a king of a great nation, his armor was fortified with more magical circuits than the imperial royal knights’ armors.

“You’ve only managed to draw a single drop of blood from me.”

He cast aside his helmet.

A line of blood marked his neck.

No matter how new the domain he had pioneered, the wall of the Sword Master remained high.

“Are you satisfied now?”

It was a suggestion that perhaps it was time to relax.

Tenitia, as a knight, kicked that proposal away and raised her sword.

“I am iron that hardens the more you strike it, and water that cannot be cut. …If I bleed, I might be able to kill you.”

Ensis smirked lightly.

“Do you trust your lord that much? By now, he has probably been corrupted into a monster by the crystal.”

Tenitia shrugged, as if hearing the trivial talk of commoners.

“If a knight doesn’t trust their lord, who else would trust whom?”

“Hm.”

“That gentleman does not enjoy lying. He will definitely tear apart the ancient one sleeping down below, and I will stand here until he returns.”

Ensis grinned menacingly.

“I wish you were my knight.”

The blue Aura Blade surged multiples higher.

Tenitia felt a chilling sensation run down her spine and held her head high confidently in the face of death approaching.

Whaack!

Suddenly, a spear of fire zipped through the air.

Flames burst forth, and Ensis staggered back.

He frowned at the uniquely chilling sensation emanating from those flames.

“Who dares to cast scornful words towards my knight?”

From behind that conflagration, a voice even colder echoed.