Chapter 24

The fog became incredibly thick the moment they stepped into the maze.

“Huff… huff….”

There was no trace of ease on Philip's face as he led the way.

With his sword and shield raised high, he spoke without turning his head.

“Sir, am I going the right way…?”

“Yes.”

Ian replied with a hint of annoyance.

Miguel glanced at him sideways.

“How do you find your way here? Even I, a hunter, can't tell the direction.”

“Good.”

“…Is that it?”

“Yeah. Got a problem with it?”

Ian's gaze made Miguel quickly turn back to the front.

“No way. Learning such a secret technique by ear is a thief's heart. Yeah….”

‘You wouldn’t be able to do it even if you learned it.’

Muttering to himself, Ian turned his gaze back to the thick fog.

What he was looking at was the polluted mana mixed with the fog.

The flow of mana swirling with the fog shimmered like a mirage.

This was a kind of landmark.

The tomb would be at the center of this.

If he followed the flow of mana, he would arrive.

‘How does he maintain all this? Just because he’s fallen doesn’t mean his mana will gush out infinitely.’

A question he had never considered before naturally followed.

He was so relaxed that he could indulge in such idle thoughts because, in fact, there were no dangerous monsters in this forest.

A dead forest without even an ant.

Of course, the forest itself was a maze, and the polluted mana would eventually lead to the death of intruders.

But if you knew how to find your way, it wasn't much of a problem.

After a while, the view suddenly brightened.

“Eh…?”

Philip, who had stopped in confusion, finally spoke.

“Could it be… we’ve arrived?”

“Probably.”

Ian answered, turning around.

The fog had abruptly ended, forming a gray curtain.

Philip and Miguel almost simultaneously collapsed.

“I never thought I could make it. Lu Solara… thank you….”

“I didn’t think you could either. I’m hearing the sound of a short life, damn it….”

They’re just spouting nonsense. This is just the beginning.

Ian snorted and looked forward again.

An ancient elf ruin was spread out in the open clearing.

Right in the center, a partially destroyed building with stairs leading underground was the entrance to the underground tomb.

“Is this it…?”

Maeve, who had been looking at the same place with her face mask up, muttered.

Exchanging a glance with Ian, she stepped forward.

Following her leisurely, Ian recalled his memories from the game.

The underground tomb was the first proper dungeon to appear in the game.

As such, it was also quite typical.

A vast maze like an anthill.

There were two routes to clear it.

The orthodox route, which involved circling around to face the mid-boss and then the dark mage.

And the shortcut, often referred to as the hidden path, which could be accessed with a basic trick.

In the game, he only learned about the shortcut after defeating the boss, but this time, he intended to take it from the start.

‘There’s no reason not to.’

He wouldn’t miss any loot, and there were no additional quests.

Maeve stopped in front of the stairs.

Ian, standing beside her, looked down into the darkness and spoke.

“Are you ready for battle?”

“Of course. No matter what happens, I will not retreat.”

Maeve said resolutely.

Ian chuckled.

“There’s nowhere to retreat to anyway.”

“Oh, Lu Solara….”

At that moment, a sigh came from behind.

“Hermi, Shibureul. Mountains beyond mountains.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking….”

It was Philip and Miguel, who had followed behind.

Their expressions were utterly bewildered.

Ignoring them, Ian stepped forward.

“Then, I’ll take the lead now.”

Miguel’s eyes widened.

“Eh? Going in just like that? Wait, I need to prepare my mind—”

Sitting there talking about preparation.

Ian snorted and stepped onto the stairs, showing them.

Philip and Miguel, looking like they were being led to the slaughter, and Maeve with a stern expression, followed in order.

Soon, the darkness of the underground swallowed the group.

***

Thud, thud—

The sound of footsteps descending the stairs echoed loudly.

The surroundings became pitch black in just a few minutes.

Even when Miguel lit a torch, it didn’t make much of a difference.

The light barely illuminated a few steps ahead.

This was no longer surprising.

The darkness in this world was not just the absence of light.

Moreover, the stairs were deeper than they appeared, evidence that some permanent ancient magic was embedded in the tomb.

It bent and twisted space, making the inside different from what was seen from the outside.

To Ian, it was a convenient setting, but in this world, such unbelievable things existed.

The silence that had lasted for a while was broken unexpectedly by Maeve.

“When we reach the underground, I need to pray for a moment.”

Ian’s steady steps slowed down.

“Is there a problem?”

Maeve placed her hand on her breastplate.

“The resonance of the holy mark has been weakening since we entered here.”

“Holy mark…?”

Ian tilted his head.

Maeve, who had been staring at him, finally realized he was serious and explained.

“It’s a brand imprinted on the soul when chosen as an apostle. Through this, one can sense the divine and receive divine power.”

‘That’s how it works…?’

Ian’s eyebrows shot up.

The image of Lu Solara’s holy statue flashed in his mind.

The times he had almost prayed.

Without realizing it, his soul had almost been mortgaged twice.

‘This damn world even deceives the gods.’

It was a moment when even the slightest lingering attachment to being an apostle fell away.

It might be a glorious thing for the people of this world, but to him, it was no different from a slave contract.

Maeve continued.

“But now, I can’t feel the divine power clearly. …Perhaps, this is also the influence of the maze.”

“I understand.”

Ian nodded calmly.

It meant they might not receive the support of divine power.

But compared to what he had just heard, it wasn’t a particularly surprising story.

After all, divine power was the natural enemy of black magic.

It wouldn’t be strange if the dark mage had prepared for it.

‘It won’t affect the clearing of minions anyway. That’s enough, really.’

It would be better if he could cleverly avoid the boss fight, but that was unlikely.

Just as Ian was about to shrug, Maeve’s deep voice continued.

“Even if the goddess does not answer, it won’t be a burden. Don’t worry, Ian.”

Ian chuckled and said without turning back.

“I’ve never been worried about that.”

The stairs ended when the musty air filled his mouth.

Philip and Miguel looked like they were about to have a panic attack.

The space had widened, but the darkness was still so thick it seemed ready to swallow them.

Of course, not everyone was overwhelmed by the darkness.

“You can start your prayer now.”

Ian, who had been scanning the surroundings, said.

His eyes, which flickered like those of a predator, clearly perceived beyond the darkness.

A wide stone chamber with broken statues scattered everywhere.

“I understand.”

Maeve drew her sword in reverse and knelt on one knee. She planted the tip of her sword on the ground and closed her eyes.

As she silently prayed,

“There’s nothing here at all….”

Miguel, who had been shining the torch around, muttered.

Philip tilted his head and whispered.

“Why is that strange?”

“There are hundreds of bodies buried here, according to what I’ve heard.”

“So?”

“There’s not a single bone. If you were in such a sinister place, would you carry the bodies deep inside?”

“Eh… that’s true…?”

Philip’s gaze naturally turned to Ian.

Ian’s brows eventually furrowed.

“Are you really asking this?”

“What do you mean?”

Seeing Philip’s counter-question, Ian realized he had never explained the dark mage in detail.

He clicked his tongue and said.

“This spellcaster called himself a necromancer.”

“A necromancer?”

“Necromancers deal with corpses and spirits.”

“……”

Philip’s mouth opened wide.

A face that had never considered the various types of black magic.

He had only vaguely thought of it as evil and terrifying spells.

Miguel, almost pale, finally managed to speak.

“So, you mean he can revive corpses and command spirits?”

“Probably. But that’s not all.”

“Unbelievable… Why would someone with such immense power hide? He could have overturned the kingdom several times.”

“There’s a reason he can’t.”

Ian shrugged.

He had some idea, but it didn’t really matter.

The bastard’s ambitions would come to an end today.

“So, stop thinking about useless things….”

Ian, who was adding this, suddenly paused.

His brows slightly furrowed for a moment.

“Right. What’s coming is here.”

He turned to the darkness with a strangely relieved smile.

“What, what’s coming…?”

Philip, who sensed something ominous from his expression, asked.

“Actually, the spellcaster has known we were coming for a while.”

“Eh?!”

“But it was getting annoyingly quiet.”

Ian’s smile deepened.

“Of course. It doesn’t make sense for it to be this defenseless.”

Before he finished speaking, a faint light bloomed from the darkness.

Philip and Miguel’s eyes widened simultaneously as they turned their heads.

Like blood flowing through veins, purple lines were densely etched on the ceiling and walls.

Philip, realizing it was a collection of endless characters and symbols, muttered in a daze.

“Ancient language…?”

“It’s a spell circuit. The tomb’s magic mechanism is starting to activate.”

“It looks too… ominous to be an ancient elf spell…?”

“Would a spell in the hands of a dark mage be normal?”

“…Ah.”

In the game, the magic mechanism activated when they were halfway through the dungeon.

It was also the point where the true nature of the underground tomb was revealed.

If it was the same as in the game, what would start first….

Rumble—

A loud noise echoed from behind, making Miguel jump.

“Ah?! No, this is crazy…?”

His eyes were bloodshot when he turned around.

A massive stone wall was rising in front of the stairs.

Soon, in the center of the wall that completely blocked the entrance, ancient language suddenly appeared, glowing with a dark red light, proving the corruption of the ruins.

“What… is this…?”

Miguel, who was muttering, looked at Ian.

Ian wasn’t looking at the stone wall.

He was just staring into the darkness with eyes that had turned pitch black.

Creak, creak— creak—

A faint noise continued.

Miguel finally turned in the same direction as Ian.

Beyond the spell circuit, a passage still shrouded in darkness.

Creak— creak—

A strange sound was getting closer.

The darkness swirled like maggots.

With dozens of purple eyes, living skeletons appeared.

Undead resurrected by necromancy.

“……”

Miguel’s mouth hung open, and Philip froze.

Creak, creak, creak—

Like a dam breaking, the skeletons began to surge into the passage.

“Stay back and guard.”

Ian, who had spoken, leaped forward.

“Eh? Wait! Mister! Are you going to fight alone again?!”

Miguel’s voice followed him as he ran.

‘Are you going to fight?’

Muttering to himself, Ian crossed the hall and leaped, stepping on fragments of statues.

Whoosh—

As the wind enveloped his body,

His eyes, shimmering with mana, swept over the passage filled with skeletons, extending endlessly beyond.

‘There are a lot of them.’

By sheer numbers, it was the most he had faced since coming to this world.

And this wasn’t even all of them.

With the mechanism activated, almost all the undead in the tomb would be converging.

But Ian’s eyes didn’t show much sense of crisis.

‘Their equipment is shoddy, and they clearly lack self-awareness. If I fall to these, I don’t deserve to survive.’

Of course, the dangers of the underground tomb weren’t limited to this.

But for now, blocking the path was the only concern.

Ian, who had landed, crushing a rolling skull, knelt on one knee and raised his mace.

Crack! Crack!

The skulls rolling around exploded on impact.

The haphazard strikes, which would have broken a sword’s edge several times, did not even dent the mace.

“Huff….”

Ian, who had crushed all the nearby skulls, finally stood up.

The undead, which had been flung away, were already approaching again.

A faint mana flickered in Ian’s eyes as he watched them.

Whoosh—

The wind spread instantly, swirling around the mace handle.

Ian, following the flow, gripped the handle with both hands and swung it widely.

Crack!—

The charging undead were slammed into the wall as if hit by cannonballs.

Shattered bone fragments and the mangled flesh of ghouls oozed out.

Ian, adjusting his grip, waited for the undead to approach and swung his arm in the opposite direction.

Crash!—

The undead were slammed into the wall again.

A scene as if hit by a giant hammer.

It was exactly that.

The wind blades, which were sharp lines when wielded with a sword, now swirled violently as a sphere at the end of the mace.

With this confirmed to be effective, the response became much simpler.

Crack! Crash!—

Repeating the process of waiting and swinging.

After stopping the advance of the undead a few times,

“……?”

The undead suddenly stopped.

Ian, who had slightly furrowed his brows, soon curled one lip.

He felt a piercing gaze from among them.

A mix of hatred and anger.

There was no need to guess whose gaze it was.

“Why didn’t you think I’d bring the artifact too?”

Ian lied calmly.

It didn’t matter if the bastard believed him.

“Watch from there like a rat. I’ll blow your toy head to pieces with this.”

The purpose was to anger the bastard.

The more the bastard pursued rational and efficient decisions, the higher the chance that someone in the group would die.

Just as Ian was about to flick his mace, the light of the spell circuit rippled.

The eyes of the skeletons flared up.

“Seems like he’s really pissed. Thanks.”

Ian smiled, baring his fangs.

The undead, roaring silently, charged at him like wild beasts.