Chapter 26

It took Nayala five days to finally form a proper exploration party. Half of the party were mages that could use Teleport, while the rest were heavily armed soldiers. Despite being ordered to scout the pathways, their team consisted of no scout at all. I didn’t see any, at least, as all of their equipment looked heavy and hard to move in. Maybe Nanawak’s scout simply had that kind of uniform. Who knows? She did order them to retreat at any sign of danger.

Us? We were busy grinding, raising our levels and fighting off demon-tempered monsters wherever they appeared. The mission was too dangerous for us, so she asked us to refrain from going. As a gamer, the mystery of the unknown invited me. I, too, wanted to go in and check out the new place for myself, but I understood the danger and risks of being the first.

So, like any other day, we headed into a dungeon to handle monsters.

Bang.

The sound of Maya’s musket filled the air. The shot landed straight at the monster’s eye. This time we were fighting a giant serpent. It pulled its head back as it reeled in from the attack, magic pouring out of the wound.

Maya rushed forward, punched the serpent three times, knocking it further, before landing on the ground and reloading her weapon. Solicea followed up with a spear attack, using the spell Torrent Strike to attack it then combining it with physical spear strikes. She moved quickly, stabbing at the enemy.

Solicea moved away just in time for Maya, who had finished reloading. Maya took aim and pulled the trigger, the projectile slamming into the serpent’s head. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, the serpent shattering and disappearing into thin air, leaving a magic stone and a lot of magical energy.

“It’s been a while since we last tested our levels. I wonder how high we are now…” Emori murmured, approaching the magic stone.

“Feeling confident, are we?” I teased. Emori quickly shook her head.

“It’s not that. Just curious, that’s all.”

“Same. I’m also curious.” Solicea approached.

“I’m probably a hundred already,” Maya said. We had her take her ring off. The large amount of demon-tempered monsters in Nanawak meant that we had a lot more magical energy to share, so she could afford to raise her levels some more. I was the only one wearing the Ring of Experience, prohibiting me from taking the magical energy.

“If you actually are, then you’ll need to put the ring back on.”

While it was true that your body continued to grow as you received magical energy, regardless of your level, the device that detects the level could only go up to a hundred. If Maya’s already at one hundred, then there’s not much benefit to leveling her up further compared to using the magical energy on Emori and Solicea.

“I wonder if Brother is already at a high level…” Emori murmured as we began our descent to the floors below.

“Oh, yeah…”

I had completely forgotten about him. We had been in Nanawak for quite a while. As promised, Prilus continued sending us notes about our school material. He didn’t tell me anything regarding his grinding plans, though. Considering how much he disliked me, I could only hope that the spite was strong enough for him to continue grinding. As much as I despise him, Emori and Nayala would be sad if something happened to him. Being high level meant keeping him alive is much easier.

Plus, we need his sacred sword as well.

While Emori had access to White Void, a sacred spell created by Amoriaz Keroz Syla himself, Prilus’ sacred sword also served as a vital part of our plan. That includes its wielder, of course, but let’s be honest, Prilus wouldn’t be nearly as good without that sword.

As we arrived at the next floor, I let the other three go wild, using all their spells and weapons to their hearts’ content. I, meanwhile, decided to practice a bit. I used my quad-casting on a nearby wall, attacking it a couple of times. The material of the wall, or maybe the way it was built boosted the sturdiness of the walls, proven by the little damage that my intense attacks created. I have to wonder if there’s some kind of magic applied to these dungeons that allowed them to stand for so long without any form of maintenance.

“Fortis, we’re proceeding,” Maya called. We continued our way downward, ending up at the bottom floor. For the first time in a long while, we witnessed a monster being formed. The mana flow was invisible, so you couldn’t see it originating from the door underneath the monster. You could see the monster taking form, though.

This one resembled a giant scorpion, but we destroyed it before it could turn into a threat.

“Alright, we’re done here.” I did a little stretch, loosening up my limbs. Since we defeated the scorpion before it could take a definite form, the fight went quick and easy. “Should we go back?”

“Sure.” Emori nodded. The others came closer, and I prepared us for teleportation when a streak of light appeared from underneath the flower symbol. Its petals began moving, the symbol glowing brighter, signaling that the door was opening.

“Emori, did you use White Void?”

“No, I didn’t.”

I turned to Solicea, realizing that her spear was glowing white as well.

“Solicea, your spear!”

Solicea looked at it, realizing that it indeed was glowing for whatever reason.

“I have a bad feeling about-”

“Emori, your eye!” Maya shouted, causing all of us to turn toward her. Her right eye was glowing a pale white.

“Wait, what’s going on?”

This… This couldn’t be the time, could it?

I held Emori’s shoulder, peering deep into her right eye. The white glow covered everything behind it. “Emori, can you still see?”

Emori closed her left eye. “Yes.”

“Are you feeling anything?”

“I… A surge of power… Is this… mana?”

I turned to Solicea. “How about you? What are you feeling?”

“It’s as if this spear had a will of its own. It’s not rebelling against me, but there’s a feeling of power coming from it.”

“No way…”

Only one scenario entered my mind. I quickly used Connect to try and contact Nayala.

“Nayala!”

“Fo- Fortisbel? Is something going on?”

“It’s happening!”

“What’s happening? Slow down!”

“The demon king! The symbol-”

The ground shook, almost breaking my concentration. The four of us ran toward the stairs, watching as the symbol opened.

“The symbol is opening, Emori’s right eye is glowing, and Solicea’s spear is also glowing!”

“Emori? Is she alright?”

“So far so good!”

“Bring her back, now. Can I meet you?”

“Meet us at the manor!”

I cut off the call and reached for the other three. I held their hands. “We’re heading back!”

“Ok- Okay!”

I painted my room in the manor then made the symbol for Teleport above it.

•••

After we returned, the glow in Emori’s eye and Solicea’s spear disappeared. We waited for Nayala’s arrival. The manor’s door swung open as she rushed in.

“We lost contact with the scout team,” she said, a sweat going down her cheeks.

“No way…”

I wasn't there for the briefing, but Nayala insists that the scouting team return at any signs of danger. I doubt they would go silent on purpose. They were either wiped out, or something interfered with their magic. Considering how heavily armed they were, the latter seemed more likely.

“Did not a single one return?” Emori asked.

Nayala groaned. “No, absolutely none.”

“How about news from Syla?” Solicea asked as she twiddled her thumbs.

“No news yet,” Emori replied. A symbol for Connect appeared on Nayala’s right eye. The four of us waited as she talked with whoever was on the other side.

“... It was Prilus. I asked him earlier if something like this was happening in Syla, the answer is yes.”

“So they're not attacking Nanawak first?” Maya tilted her head.

“We don't know yet. There hadn't been any monsters coming out from the dungeons yet.”

A hundred years ago, the monsters all came from the south of Syla. Back then, there were no notes of the lowest floors of the dungeons opening up. While the monsters did go haywire, no demon-tempered monsters appeared. It begged the question, just how much did the demons learn in these last hundred years?

“Will… will we be alright?” Emori murmured. Maya reached out and held Emori’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry. We trained for this,” she said with a reassuring smile.

“Right…”

“So, what are our plans?” I asked Nayala.

“I’ve put out the order for deployment. All I can ask is to stay here for a while.”

“Brother hasn't called us back, so…”

“You should stay home and rest. That way, you’ll be ready to deploy at a moments’ notice. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure some support will come with you.” Nayala stood up. “Please excuse me. I still have other things to attend to.” She did a little wave and walked to her escort, and they teleported away together.

“... How should we rest, exactly?” Emori turned to me. I could only shrug.

“Just sleep.” Maya kicked back and rested on the sofa, closing her eyes.

“Maya really is a different breed.” I sighed. Sitting there, I felt uneasy. A part of me wanted to do something. The demons were attacking, and we couldn’t do anything. I wanted to do something before it’s too late. At the same time, what Nayala said made sense. Since we were at the opening stages, it wasn’t yet clear how things would go. If we act rashly, we may end up exhausting our efforts at the wrong place.

We wouldn’t want to waste all our energy fighting small monsters or some random minions, especially since the others could do that for us. We needed to prepare ourselves to fight the big bad.

“Is there really nothing we can do?” Emori turned to me. I thought about a way to answer, but at the end of the day, we were simply children. High school kids.

“Emori…”

“How about you, Solicea? Has your family said anything?”

Solicea shook her head. “Silent. Maybe the monsters haven’t begun leaving the dungeons?”

It hadn’t even been an hour since we first encountered that light. Maybe the first phase involved transporting units to the dungeons, and the demon king currently waiting for them to arrive. The opening stages of the upcoming battle would be crucial in making sure we minimize the damage done to this land.

Hence why I could understand the girls’ restlessness. At the same time, there was no dedicated anti-demon king team other than us, not that I know of. If something happened to us during this time, there would be no counter.

That is, assuming there was no backup. Akareseki did prepare the country for war, so hopefully he thought about a way to fight him.

Actually…

“What if we talk to Akareseki?” I asked. The girls perked up at my suggestion.

Maya lazily got up. “Are you serious?”

“A lot of the information Nayala had came from him, so if we could talk to him directly, we may be able to learn something.”

“But Akaraseki-”

“I don’t oppose it,” Emori cut Solicea’s words.

“Are you sure, Emori? Didn’t you remember what he did to you?”

“Well, yeah. Yeah, I did, but at the same time, he’s our best lead right now.”

“Alright, then. Let’s go.”

Emori used Connect. She nodded several times, then went to the front door. We waited there for not so long. A mage appeared in front of us.

“I have been sent by Her Highness to bring you to where the former-bearer of Nanawak is currently being held. Please come with me.”

We held his hands and teleported away.

•••

We arrived inside a large prison complex, thick concrete walls on all sides. What little light we had came from the torches on the walls of the prison. I could sense intense anti-magic barriers in place all around us, the only area not affected being the main hallway.

“Please keep your guard up.” The mage went and spoke with one of the guards. “As ordered by Her Highness, I shall await your return. Please follow the instructions of the prison guard at all times.”

After filling our names in the guestbook, the guards did checks on us, making sure we didn’t carry anything dangerous. We left all our weapons at the entrance before proceeding deeper. We walked a long, empty hallway, arriving in a large shaft that led deeper underground. In the center of that shaft was a large elevator, pathways circling the edge with prison cells on them.

We went to the elevator and went down a few levels, so deep that I lost count at eight.

“I never knew Nanawak has a prison complex like this…” I murmured, looking out through the gaps in the elevator.

“This prison was built a long time ago. It was unclear what purpose it served before the founding of the Nanawak Empire, but it was already unused by the time we began using it,” the guard explained.

We eventually arrived at the bottom floor. I took a quick look, making sure there was no flower symbol. We followed the guard to the single door on this floor. Passing through a few guards, who did more checks on us, we walked through dark hallways, before eventually ending in front of a thick metal door.

The guard readied his flintlock pistol and pushed the door open.

“Prisoner 9887. You have visitors.”

Steps came from inside the room. Thick glass divided the room into two. Using a match, the guard lit up a torch on one side of the room, lighting up the place. A figure wearing black and white came to the window, facing us.

“... Your Highness, and friends, good day.” He bowed his head.

“Go- Good day.” Emori stepped up. “Sorry for what I did to you.”

“That? In a Duel Shield, everything goes. In any case, it’s an honor for me to be able to experience such a spell first hand. But, I assume you did not come here to apologize, did you?”

“No.” Emori shook her head. She pulled down a chair and sat on one side of the glass, Akareseki on the other. “It’s about the demon king.”

“I have told everything I know to the princess. But, if you want to hear it directly from me, I’m happy to oblige.”

“How did you know about the symbols being a door to the demon king’s castle? And why did you believe that the demons would go after Nanawak instead of Syla?”

Nayala hadn’t told me his reasoning, and considering his position, I doubt he would answer with a simple ‘intuition’.

“Did the princess say nothing about this?”

I shook my head. “She only stated that these are things you found out in your research.”

“... Are you sure you want to hear my answer?”

I gulped. “Yes.”

Akareseki took a deep breath. “... Fortisbel. You are not from this world.”

Everyone in that room audibly gasped.

“Wh- What?”

“Fortis, you…”

They all turned to me. Emori visibly panicked, but before she could say anything, Akareseki continued speaking.

“This had happened many years ago. Back then, my team and I were investigating a dungeon from the report of a ‘highly difficult to deal with monster’. That was when, by accident, I got sucked into the opened symbol. The magic flow underground was strange. You could still tell that it was mana flowing, but the flow was intense and dizzying.”

He paused, as if recalling his memories. “I managed to escape, but till this day, I still struggled to understand how and why. I decided to investigate it further, bringing several mages with me. I reached the conclusion that all the mana flowed two ways, some heading to the demon king’s castle in the South Sea, while others came from there. I tested this in multiple dungeons. No matter where I was, the flow all went straight there. That was how I came to understand the symbols’ link with the demon castle.”

“As to how you know about my past?” I urged him to continue.

“This has to do with the second question. In truth, the demon king targeting Nanawak has nothing to do with our empire itself. It has something to do with you being here. You, an outworlder, an unaccounted factor in the demon king’s calculations. You are the true target. Removing you means a step closer to the demon king’s goal. That is why I tried to send you back to Syla. Upon hearing that you have come back, I told the princess that the monster would be striking Nanawak first in hopes of scaring you away. I was not expecting to see you in front of me.”

“So you dared lie to Her Highness?” The guard gritted his teeth. Emori gave him a hand, asking him to calm down.

“He didn’t want Nanawak to suffer the incoming attack from the demon king’s forces, that’s why he lied. He simply didn’t expect Miss Nayala to try and hold us here instead.”

“So, if we return to Syla, the demon king will attack Syla instead… Still, how do you know all this?”

“After my time under that symbol, I was able to hear the demon king’s thoughts somewhat.”

It was a bit vague, and hard to prove. Still, if a bearer like Akareseki was willing to go so far for this, he must have pretty strong feelings.

“Other than that, your strengths are unconventional, Fortisbel. No one your age reached level 100. You didn’t even come from a warrior’s family. You are a regular person, yet you do irregular things. Meeting you pretty much confirmed my suspicions. Take of that what you will. You can decide not to trust me, that is fine. But, if you decide you do, please think carefully of what you will do next.”

“I… I will…”

“Is there anything else?”

Emori glanced at the others. She must have noticed the rather tense atmosphere the room was in. “That is all for now.”

“Feel free to come again if you have any more questions.”

“Thank you for your time.”

We made our way back to the entrance, where we met up with the mage and teleported back to the manor.