Lexuror’s gaze sharpened. Ludger understood why he was reacting like this.
Judging from the fact that he had detected the intruders above, it seemed he was capable of overseeing and monitoring this ancient ruin as a whole.
And then, within that surveillance network, a group with openly hostile intent had entered. It was only natural for him to suspect collusion with this side.
“I’ll say this in advance—we have nothing to do with them. No... if there is any relation, it’s on the bad side.”
Lexuror stared intently at Ludger, as if trying to verify whether that was true.
[...Well, fine. A mage of your level wouldn’t bother with such a meaningless lie.]
Lexuror chose to trust Ludger’s realm.
If Ludger truly put his mind to it, dismantling a place like this would be entirely possible. There would have been no need to drag a whole group of people along.
“Who came?”
[The numbers are quite large. And from what I can vaguely make out... hah, well I’ll be damned.]
Recognizing the intruders, Lexuror clicked his tongue.
[They’re Lumenis Church bastards, aren’t they? How did they even get here? No—wait, some of the ones with them are black mages? Is the world ending or something? Those two sides joining hands?]
The Lumenis Church that Lexuror remembered had been the single most powerful authority on the continent.
And with that power came no small amount of tyranny. As an adventurer who pursued freedom, he had frequently clashed with the Lumenis Church.
There was no way their relationship could ever have been good.
“Black mages too? How can you tell?”
[They’re openly flaunting black robes like they’re proud of being black mages. Unless my eyes are busted, how could I not know? More importantly, what the hell happened to the world while I was dead? I never thought I’d see the day when the Lumenis Church and black mages worked together.]
“The Lumenis Church has fallen.”
The one who answered that question was Casey.
[What? Who fell?]
“The Lumenis Church. Their home country, the Bretus Theocracy, was completely smashed. The Church’s power collapsed, and the ones you see there are just the remnants.”
Lexuror’s eyes went wide. Then his mouth fell open, and laughter burst out.
[Puahahaha! That’s the most satisfying news I’ve heard in my entire life!]
“Sounds like you didn’t get along with them?”
[Didn’t get along? That’s putting it mildly. Those bastards interfered with me at every turn and nitpicked everything I did. Said my exploration of ancient ruins violated their doctrines and all that nonsense.]
Ludger nodded, recalling the doctrines of the Lumenis Church.
Ancient ruins were relics of the distant past.
The Bretus Theocracy did not want such ruins or artifacts to become known to the world.
‘Above all, Lexuror loved freedom. The very actions he pursued must have been an eyesore to them.’
If he had been just some ordinary adventurer, they could have ignored him. But Lexuror, at the time, was in the golden age of his life—restructuring 6th-circle magic itself.
Every word he spoke, every action he took, sent significant ripples through society.
From the Church’s perspective, they had to control him somehow. And if that failed, they were even willing to resort to the extreme measure of eliminating him.
[Those damn bastards would secretly tail me whenever I went on an expedition and try to kill me. At first they tried persuasion, but when that didn’t work, they came at me in earnest. Thanks to that, I fought them an obscene number of times. Can’t even count how many times I nearly died.]
He spoke lightly, but thinking about how his journey all the way to Hyperborea had ultimately succeeded made it all the more impressive.
[Anyway, the Lumenis Church? To me, they’re nothing less than mortal enemies. No—worse. Irreconcilable enemies. How could I not be happy when people like that collapse?]
“I... I see.”
Casey nodded, realizing something unexpected.
There had been no mention, in Lexuror’s biographies, of him clashing with the Church.
Most likely, the Church had intervened with publishers at the time and censored every story that involved them.
[Well, I’ll hear the details of how they fell later. So the ones up there are just remnants, is that it?]
Lexuror grinned.
Seeing that smile, Veronica felt an inexplicable sense of unease and spoke up.
“Um. Aren’t you already dead? Even if your consciousness remains, they’re not opponents to be taken lightly.”
[Oh, mademoiselle. Are you worried about me? I gratefully accept that fiery concern.]
“M-mademoiselle?”
A word that had nothing to do with her made Veronica’s eyes go wide.
[Worry not. I wasn’t bound to this ancient ruin for so long for no reason.]
Lexuror, in the form of a hologram, raised his palm.
Light fanned out, drawing countless shapes in midair.
It was a map of the ancient ruin. Within the three-dimensionally rendered map, red dots—presumably the enemies’ positions—could be seen moving.
[I invested long years to take control of this ruin’s systems. I still haven’t fully grasped every function, but...]
Lexuror extended his holographic hand and tightly grasped the area where the red dots clustered.
[Erasing the intruders is no trouble at all.]
* * *
Kuurrrrumble!
Arius, who had been walking at the front, lifted his head and stared at the ceiling.
When he stopped, everyone following behind him halted at once.
“Commander. What is it?”
“Can’t you hear that sound?”
“Pardon? A sound...?”
The holy knights strained their ears as Arius suggested. But they couldn’t hear anything in particular.
It was a sound subtle enough that only Arius, the commander, could perceive it.
Arius rolled his eyes around for a moment. Then his complexion abruptly changed.
“Everyone, fall back!”
The holy knights didn’t ask why. With the commander’s order given, they quickly retreated.
Boooom!
The ceiling where they had been standing just moments before collapsed, smashing into the ground.
Had they remained there, they would have been turned into a bloody mess along with their armor.
“What the hell is going on?!”
Arius shouted as he turned toward the black mages.
“This isn’t something we know about either!”
Rufus was just as shaken.
Once they got inside, he had planned to look for an opportunity to ditch the holy knights. But he swore this wasn’t their doing.
There was no time for Arius and Rufus to argue about the situation.
Ruuuumble!
The faint tremors grew massive. The entire ruin roared like a beast.
Ceilings descended, walls opened, and floors split apart.
Like pieces of a three-dimensional puzzle being removed and reinserted, the internal structure rapidly transformed.
“Aaah! S-save me!”
As the ground shook, a priest lost his balance and fell. A ceiling slammed down toward him like a hammer.
Crack!
With a gruesome sound, the priest vanished beneath the enormous mass.
From the gap where the ceiling met the floor, red blood poured out in pools.
No matter how much defensive holy magic one layered, it was impossible to stop tens of tons of mass from falling.
“Aaaah! How dare you!”
Arius erupted in fury.
Holy power burst from his body like a storm.
Roooar!
A storm of holy power raged outward with Arius at its center. The pure white light felt less sacred than savage.
Crack! Booom!
The holy power he released compressed thinly, becoming blades. Kiiiiiing—those blades spun, beginning to shred every structure inside the ruin.
Each blade of compressed holy power carried immense energy. Even solid walls were sliced apart as easily as butter under a heated knife.
Under normal circumstances, the ruin would not have been destroyed so easily.
But now, its interior was being organically reshaped by Lexuror.
At the moment when fluid structural reconfiguration was possible, it was inevitably vulnerable to external impacts.
Craaaash!
Walls collapsed and ceilings poured down. But Arius did not stop.
If someone was trying to eliminate them with traps, then all he had to do was smash the traps along with everything else.
When the commander charged forward, the other holy knights found their courage as well.
Gripping their heavy blunt weapons, they poured holy power into them.
Weapons reinforced by holy rites shattered shifting walls and erupting pillars.
When it was over, nothing remained around them except the broken remnants of the ruin.
“What about the black mages?”
Arius immediately looked for Rufus. But they were nowhere to be seen, having vanished somewhere.
“Ah... it seems they fled while we were fighting.”
“Cunning black mage bastards.”
“Shall we pursue?”
“No. We don’t have time to waste on those rat bastards. We head straight for the deepest core of the ruin.”
A defense system wouldn’t suddenly activate on its own—unless someone deliberately triggered it.
Arius’s eyes burned with murderous intent.
* * *
[This is troublesome.]
Seeing that the red dots were still intact, Lexuror was more than a little flustered.
[What kind of monsters are these...?]
“I told you not to underestimate them. They may be remnants, but they’re driven to desperation. Treating them like ordinary holy knights would be a mistake.”
At Ludger’s words, Lexuror pressed his lips shut.
“So, are you activating other defense systems?”
[I am, but they’re not something I can use recklessly. It’s not like I have complete control over every system. And besides...]
“The defense systems here aren’t particularly strong.”
Lexuror nodded.
“I’d vaguely felt it too. For an ancient ruin, there are strangely few countermeasures against intruders.”
[It can’t be helped. This ruin was built an unimaginably long time ago. No matter how well it’s been maintained, some systems have aged and degraded.]
“That’s part of it, but it also feels like most of the safety mechanisms were essentially entrusted to the forest spirits.”
[That is...]
Lexuror paused for a moment.
[I was going to explain after repelling the intruders in spectacular fashion, but I suppose I should say this first. This ruin is a kind of laboratory. A facility ancient people built to verify the results of their experiments.]
“What kind of experiments?”
[Bioengineering.]
Ludger thought of the forest outside.
The strangely oversaturated mana, the geothermal heat and tropical rainforest that made no sense for the Arctic, and the forest spirits living in divided territories.
“Then the forest spirits outside...”
[Yes. They were entities born through experiments conducted in this facility.]
It was astonishing.
To think that there had been a facility dedicated to artificially cultivating forest spirits.
[But too much time has passed. The forest spirits outside are practically no different from wild beasts now. They weren’t raised by human hands.]
“Even so, it’s incredible. To think that the entire massive forest itself was a single experimental ground.”
[We’ll leave the detailed explanation for later. It seems the Lumenis Church holy knights are properly fired up.]
On the holographic map Lexuror had projected, the red dots were moving at high speed.
Some of them were fleeing in different directions—presumably the black mages.
[Because this is a laboratory that protects important experimental subjects, the internal security was never particularly thorough. Bringing something dangerous inside could damage the laboratory itself.]
“So, with the current security system, you can’t stop them.”
[...If I had to put it bluntly, yes.]
Ludger turned away, as if it couldn’t be helped.
“Then can you shut down all security systems?”
[Shut them down?]
“Yes. Make sure they don’t activate, no matter what happens.”
[That is possible, but...]
“Then I’d appreciate it if you did so. I’ll handle them myself. Leaving it to a half-baked ruin security system is messier than taking care of it with my own hands.”
“I’ll help too!”
When Veronica stepped forward, Ludger shook his head.
“Please stay here. It won’t take long anyway.”
“But Sir Ludger, alone...”
Veronica trailed off.
Alone—would that really be impossible?
Considering what Ludger had shown on the way here, his sheer force had been overwhelming. He had crushed forest spirits one after another without hesitation.
Thinking it through carefully, it did seem possible.
“...All right, then.”
[Just in case, I’ll say this out of an old man’s concern—don’t go too wild.]
Lexuror also issued a warning. Given Ludger’s realm, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to blow the entire ruin apart.
“I’m confident in my control. No need to worry.”
Well, there was the handicap of an elephant having to fight inside an ant’s nest.
Even so, an elephant doesn’t lose to ants.
* * *
“Here!”
Boooom!
Arius kicked apart a massive stone gate.
As it shattered, a cloud of gray dust rose. Arius advanced without hesitation.
Lexuror had blocked passages to buy time, but it wasn’t enough to stop the holy knights of Bretus.
Descending deeper underground, Arius soon came face to face with a single man.
He felt the hair all over his body stand on end.
“Who are you?”
A man stood in the corridor, faint blue light clinging to the walls, gazing at them.
His eyes were unfathomably deep, impossible to read.
Facing the poisonously enraged holy knights alone, he was as calm as if he were observing a tranquil landscape.
“Is this all?”
Ludger asked in a disappointed voice.
“What?”
“I thought there might at least be a cardinal-class among the remnants. In the end, I suppose this is the best you can do—puppets with their strings cut. Honestly, it’s just disappointing.”
“D-disappointing? You call this disappointing?”
Crack!
A vein bulged on Arius’s forehead.
Holy power flared from his entire body like flames. A pure white halo formed above his head, and his cloak billowed even without wind.
“How dare you spew such blasphemy before me? I’ll make you regret those words. I’ll identify who you are after I grind your limbs to dust.”
Regret?
Ludger snorted at Arius’s threat.
“Stop talking and come at me already. I want this over quickly too.”
Snap.
Arius’s patience finally broke.
