Chapter 63 : On Mission

Chapter 63: On Mission

That was how it was today.

Madness surged from the entrance of the ruins.

I even had to raise my shield right from the start.

There was a brief uproar over whether this was too dangerous, but in the end, the opinion that it was too much of a waste to give up here on the last expedition prevailed.

Lorraine offered the exploration team conditions of a 1,000% performance bonus and reinforced shield magic.

And yet, this was the result.

Even with shields reinforced and morale soaring from the promise of a 1,000% bonus, everything lost its meaning once we reached the lowest floor of the ruins.

‘This doesn’t feel good at all.’

Even I, who had achieved Transcendence, felt considerable discomfort from the subtle distortions and nausea. There was no need to mention how it was for the others.

“Uegh! Blegh!”

Throwing up once every five minutes was the least of it.

“Mo… monster! When did—!”

Some fell into such deep delirium they even swung their blades at their comrades.

We pushed forward, forming loose ranks, crawling as if dragging ourselves, each keeping watch on the others.

Cold sweat dripped down with every step.

At last,

I drew out Banroa.

The power of Starsilver, which eradicated all that was impure, spread a faint glow around us.

“Ah…”

“Huh?”

The comrades who had been grinding their teeth forward suddenly looked relieved.

They rolled their shoulders, stretched.

As if sensing it instinctively, even those who had been keeping their distance slowly drew closer to me.

But that lasted only for a while.

It was like being trapped in a pot that was slowly heating up.

The deeper we went, the harsher my comrades’ breathing grew, their cold sweat dripping onto the ground in heavy splatters.

As if that weren’t already enough of a torment…

Those damn leeches.

The monsters we had named ‘Abyss Leeches’ grew more numerous the deeper we went.

We had first discovered them three days ago.

Until now, they had not been a serious problem.

One or two would crawl out occasionally, but I had simply burned them away with Aura whenever I sensed them.

Today was different.

The leeches—

Thud!

Poured down from the ceiling.

Thunk! Thunk!

Kicked off the walls and shot at us like crossbow bolts.

Not only were they stealthy, but their numbers had swelled, and with senses dulled by the surging mana the deeper we went, I could no longer fend them all off.

That was what ultimately broke my comrades’ mental state.

Sluuurp!

“Urgh! When the hell—!”

Before the mouths of these leeches, Aura, shields, nothing worked.

Not even armor.

Defuan, the mercenary in his early thirties, shuddered as he tore a leech off the guard strapped to his forearm.

Crunch! Crunch!

He slammed it to the ground and hurriedly stomped it dead, but—

‘The real horror starts now.’

The Abyss Leeches seemed to transcend space itself, ripping flesh open and drinking blood.

Even when they bit onto the forearm guard, the actual wound appeared on the skin.

Defuan couldn’t calm down in the slightest.

Drip, drip.

Blood ran down his fingers.

But the real problem wasn’t the bleeding or the wound.

“Fuck! Damn it! Fuck!”

Even as his trembling hands tore off the forearm guard where the leech had latched and rolled up his sleeve, only curses poured from Defuan’s mouth.

“Fuck! Fucking hell!”

On Defuan’s arm—

Blink—

Blink, blink—

An eyeball had sprouted.

His arm’s flesh seemed torn, as though tears of blood were trickling down from the corner of the eye.

The eyeball rolled about on his arm, staring straight at him.

That was the final blow.

The bite of an Abyss Leech caused the bitten part to mutate.

Eyes sprouted from the flesh, or tiny hands protruded, or ears, or even noses that flared and twitched.

The already fragile minds of my comrades collapsed completely under the shock of having the purity of their bodies violated.

“Everyone stay calm! I’m analyzing this right now. Recovery magic should be enough to reverse it, so stay calm!”

Even with Cask shouting, my comrades couldn’t settle down. How could they, when an eyeball was twitching from a man’s arm right before their eyes? No wonder they struggled.

Prick—prick—

I was in a slightly better situation.

The leeches’ teeth couldn’t pierce my transcended skin.

Even so, some kind of curse seemed to linger, and the bitten spot kept itching and stinging.

‘Haa… I just want this over with.’

A straight fight would be preferable.

This slow gnawing at the nerves was unpleasant and revolting even for me.

Step, step, step, step.

Was everyone feeling the same? Our pace quickened, almost to a run.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.

And then, it began.

Suddenly.

A chill shot up my back.

Something.

Something so high-dimensional that even my transcended senses could barely detect it brushed past us.

Rumble!

A deluge of leeches poured down.

The Abyss Leeches were literally born from the air itself, raining down on us.

“Everyone, run!”

As if to drag us deeper,

the leeches spawned endlessly above our heads and behind us, showering down without end.

I reacted on instinct.

[Awakening of the Sword Spirit]

I drew Banroa, activated the skill, and unleashed Aura Threads at full power, slashing all around as I guarded our rear.

Ssshhhk!

Black blood splattered everywhere.

Whooosh!

The Abyss Leeches burned in the annihilating aura released by Banroa.

And yet, I couldn’t stop them all.

‘Damn it. They’re just ignoring me.’

The smaller leeches slipped neatly through the dense net of Aura Threads, and worse, whole clusters of new ones spawned directly behind my back.

“Eeek! Get away from me!”

“Not the face! Please, not my face!”

The mercenaries, overwhelmed by the leeches clinging all over them, fell into panic.

The one who got us through this hell wasn’t me, but Cask.

His clear, ringing voice echoed through the long, dark corridor.

[What is heavy becomes the earth, what is light becomes the sky, what is soft becomes the leaf, and what is hard becomes the stone…]

Cask drew his sword and began chanting.

I had seen his magic many times before, but this was the first time I saw him use incantations.

Even when using large-scale spells, he would usually finish instantly by drawing a magic circle in the air with his blade…

Now, ignoring the leeches clinging to his body, sweating profusely, he focused solely on chanting.

Perhaps because of that difficult process—

The magic he completed was astoundingly effective.

[All return to its original pure potential… Awaken!]

From the tip of his sword, a dazzling white light bloomed and rippled outward.

Though weightless, it carried a sacred resonance that left a deep echo in the chest, like the toll of a bronze bell.

The leeches writhing in that light melted away like snow, and the twisted bodies returned to normal.

The eyes that had been rolling from arms or cheeks dissolved, and fresh flesh grew where blood had been dripping.

I, too, felt it.

The madness burrowing into my head, the itching, the stinging—all of it vanished, leaving me at ease.

Cask raised his shining sword high and shouted.

“We’re almost there. Just hold on a little longer!”

I had to admit it—

That was kind of impressive.

Cask.

But his magic didn’t last long. Barely three minutes, maybe?

Even so, that alone was enough to boost the morale of the exploration team to its peak.

Having experienced firsthand that they could overcome the threat and restore their altered bodies, courage returned to them.

“Forget the minor relics! We’ll dash at full speed to the end!”

Following Cask’s command, we ran.

I took the rear guard, the others broke through the front.

We ran like that for ten minutes.

At last, we reached the end.

“There’s a barrier here! Once we break through this barrier, it’s over!”

Even as I fought off the swarm of leeches, I turned my head and called out to Cask.

“Cask! That magic again! I’ll handle the barrier!”

“Got it!”

Just as Cask and I were about to switch positions—

Thwump!

All of a sudden, something burst out from within the barrier. A colossal being, wreathed in dazzling light, radiating overwhelming power.

Fwoooosh—

Brighter than the sun, its brilliance illuminated the entire passage, erasing every shadow.

Ssshhhhh—

‘What the hell is this?’

The entire corridor rippled as the countless leeches we had been cursing dissolved instantly in that blinding light.

Like snowflakes falling onto a palm, like shadows vanishing under the sun.

Wherever the light touched, the leeches melted and scattered.

And then—

[This is a Special Isolation Zone. Intruders will be eradicated.]

The radiant being declared thus, and immediately swung its sword down at Cask.

Its momentum was immense.

I reflexively leapt forward, shielding him.

Claaang!

The shockwave shook the ruins with a deafening roar.

The force was tremendous.

Even though I had blocked hastily in a poor stance to protect Cask, my transcended body, reinforced further by peak-grade Magical Armor, was rattled.

My insides churned, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

With our blades locked, I looked past the clash at the being beyond.

‘A person?’

It looked human, but instinct told me it wasn’t.

A towering figure, 2.5 meters tall.

White armor covering its entire body.

Blinding radiance spilling from the seams of that armor.

And coursing through it, not mana, not aura, but some unknown power.

‘So… is this the secret lurking at the end of these ruins?’

At a glance, it was an adversary against whom even I, clad in Magical Armor after achieving Transcendence, couldn’t guarantee victory. Perhaps even beyond that.

But adversary or not…

I growled at it.

“You… how dare you go for our captain?”

That really ticked me off.

It made me deeply uncomfortable.

Who the hell did it think it was—touching our Cask?

The good, selfless Cask who let me take everything from him and still kept giving?

*         *         *

“H-he… called me captain…”

Cask’s voice trembled with emotion.

“Get back already, man!”

I brushed him off roughly, eyes locked on the figure before me.

Towering at 2.5 meters, the giant being stared silently down at me as our swords ground against each other.

The weight behind its blade steadily pressed harder, trying to force mine down, and it was heavy.

So heavy that I had to draw on everything—my transcended body’s strength, my aura, the power of my Magical Armor, even the Stage of Body-Sword’s added weight and the balance I had trained to perfection—just to hold my ground.

Groooan—!

After pressing down on me for some time, the unknown entity, finding brute force ineffective, spoke again.

[Stand down. This is a Special Isolation Zone. Any who attempt intrusion will be eradicated without warning.]

Its voice vibrated the air with menace, bypassing my ears to hammer straight into my head.

It was the first time I had heard such a language, yet all of us understood its meaning.

“Special Isolation Zone? What the hell is that? And what the hell are you supposed to be?”

It stared at me.

An alien being, radiance pouring even from its eye sockets.

It wore the form of a man, yet the longer I looked, the deeper the sense of wrongness grew.

Behind its back, streams of light—born from the fusion of aura and magic—fanned out like wings.

The mercenaries gasped.

“An… angel…?”

“Four pairs of wings made of light… blazing armor and sword…”

“It’s exactly like the legends…”

An angel?

One of those servants of the gods, or whatever they were supposed to be?

But god or angel, none of that mattered to me.

Right now, my fighting spirit burned hotter than ever—

because this bastard had tried to kill our Cask.

Even so, my head cooled sharply.

‘An angel… meaning a being of the Mythic Era? I don’t know how something from fifty thousand years ago is still alive, but… I need to be careful.’

The Mythic Era was always beyond imagination.

I had to assume it carried dozens of techniques I’d never even heard of, and fight with utmost caution.

I honed every nerve to a razor’s edge, drew my Sword Spirit close—so close that it was hard to tell whether I was the Sword Spirit or it was me. I stood at that very threshold.

I prepared for battle with everything I had… yet the so-called “angel” acted strangely.

[Hostile code not detected. Initiating scan.]

It muttered incomprehensible words, and then—

Wiiiiing—Wiiiiiing—

A strange radiance spread from its entire body, sweeping me slowly from head to toe.

And then, out of nowhere, it said:

[Superior code detected. Analyzing… 「Zero Code」 confirmed! All hostile actions are immediately withdrawn. Apologies. Delay in recognition was caused by an unknown error!]

The change was abrupt.

The oppressive wings of light folded away like mist, tucking humbly behind it.

The blinding brilliance of its armor dimmed to a soft glow, no brighter than ambient light.

It even withdrew the weight it had been pressing against my sword and stepped briskly back.

Then, like a well-drilled soldier, it stood at attention and delivered a report to me.

[Annihilation Angel A12 Omega. Currently executing mission!]

Even I couldn’t help but gape at the sudden turn.

What the hell was this situation? Just… all of a sudden?

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