Arden rode deeper into the forest.
He did not forget to carve arrows into the trees so Dylan and Kane could find their way.
"Huh...?"
As he continued forward, he found a cave.
It looked as though someone had made it artificially.
It had been dug out conspicuously between the trees.
It seemed someone had tried to block the entrance with stones, but the effort was shoddy.
"Anyone could tell it's there."
Arden guided his horse closer.
"Hm."
Something sticky flowed out from inside the cave and wrapped around his entire body.
Mixed within it, however faintly, was the rotten stench that had come from the Chimera.
"......"
At this point, he was certain.
Arden nodded and dismounted.
"Go far away. I'll call you later."
NEIGH—!
As though it understood Arden's words, the horse lowered its head and ran into the distance.
Of course, it would not leave the forest.
If he called, it would come running immediately.
Arden followed the horse's retreating figure until it had become a dot, then shifted his gaze to the cave.
"Let's go."
GRRRAAATE—! After preparing himself, Arden pushed away the stones.
After lightly loosening his body, he entered through the now-exposed entrance.
Light entered at first, but it grew darker the farther he went.
When he could no longer see ahead, Arden closed and opened his eyes.
His pupils expanded, and the surroundings brightened.
"At least I can see now...."
There was another problem.
SQUELCH....
Something had been smeared across the floor, and it clung stickily to him with every step.
Under other circumstances, it would have been fine, but given the situation, it was more bothersome than expected.
Of course, if he drew upon the power in his heart, he could resolve it easily.
But that could not be called a good method.
The power in his heart was not limitless either.
He also did not know how strong the Black Mage was.
He needed to conserve it in case of the worst.
"...I'll try it like this first."
The moment Arden finished thinking that—
WHIZZ!
With a creaking sound, something flew from ahead.
It was an arrow with a black tip.
Arden easily avoided it by turning his head.
"Hm."
It seemed traps had been set throughout the cave.
That was probably why the floor was sticky as well.
However, whatever lay ahead would not be a great problem.
He could avoid this much easily.
"Still, just in case."
SHHNK—!
Arden drew his sword.
Then he exhaled and sharpened his senses.
He wanted to be able to react no matter what came from where.
Once he had finished preparing, he started walking again.
WHOOSH!
SWISH!
SKREEEE!
A pit of fire falling from the ceiling, a floor that suddenly sank, a pit filled with venomous snakes... The cave was full of minor traps.
Thanks to that, he was able to reach a door without much trouble.
"Huh...?"
Arden looked at the door engraved with a strange pattern.
Two snakes were wrapped around each other, and the design seemed familiar somehow.
Arden tilted his head and opened the door for now.
It would not be too late to figure it out later.
CREAAAAK....
A wide cavern was revealed.
A violet pentagram glowed in the center.
Behind it stood a desk and an experiment table. The desk was filled with all kinds of papers.
They all seemed to be research materials.
Various tools and flasks sat on the experiment table beside it.
Inside the flasks were fluorescent liquids that bubbled as they boiled.
'What is that?'
He felt something strange from the fluorescent liquid.
Demonic energy containing Divine Power....
That was the closest comparison.
Arden looked at the flask for a moment before surveying the rest of the cavern.
To the left of the experiment table was a bookshelf filled with ancient books.
On the other side stood a large iron cage filling an entire wall.
"Ugh...."
"Nngh...."
Gaunt people groaned inside the cage, seemingly having been used in experiments.
"......"
It was obviously a Black Mage's lair.
But its owner was nowhere in sight.
For now, Arden thought he should free the people trapped inside.
"I'll get you out soon."
Arden gripped his sword and walked toward the cage.
"Who are you? You have some nerve barging into another man's laboratory."
A cracked voice came from behind him.
"......"
Instead of answering, Arden turned toward where the voice had come from.
A man in a black robe stood before a half-open door.
"Alone... The number of slaves has dwindled, so you'll be useful."
He murmured in a hoarse voice.
"I will ask only one thing. Are you an adventurer? I cannot sense anything from you, so I do not think you are a Holy Knight."
"......"
"Well, perhaps you do not want to answer. Fine. I will see for myself. Let me show you what I look like first."
The man smiled faintly and slowly threw off his robe.
THUD.
He looked at Arden with cloudy eyes and asked,
"Do I look like the Black Mage you imagined?"
"......"
Arden gripped his sword tightly and quickly examined the Black Mage.
His limbs were skeletal, as though he had not eaten properly.
His lower stomach protruded beneath his thin clothes.
His appearance was grotesque as well....
His skin was uneven, as though something had torn pieces from it. His cheekbones protruded more than twice as far as an ordinary person's.
On top of that, deep, dark circles hung beneath his sunken eyes.
"I do not know. You look like a child... So you are not an adventurer either? Fine."
While Arden examined the man, the man examined Arden as well.
"Children have many uses. You have saved me some trouble. Now I do not have to go all the way to a village to kidnap someone."
The man took a step closer and continued.
"Before that, let us talk. I am Isaac, the man who will become a great Black Mage. Now... What is your name?"
Arden did not answer the question.
He only quietly stepped back to adjust the distance between them.
"No answer again? How boring. Fine. Let us begin. Struggle if you can. That will make you a high-quality slave."
"—!"
The moment he heard that, Arden kicked off the ground.
He had concluded that the man was insane.
"What—!"
As Arden closed the distance, the Black Mage's face, which had remained calm the entire time, stiffened. He could feel something similar to Divine Power from Arden.
"Now that you are close, I can feel it... Are you a Holy Knight? At that age?"
The Black Mage wrapped his body in magic, then ran around to avoid Arden as he asked,
"Or are you a Saint?"
At the same time, the Black Mage gestured, and something flew from the bookshelf.
A thick book swelled with black energy before exploding in front of Arden.
BOOOOOOM—!
Just before the explosion reached him, Arden awakened the power sleeping in his heart and wrapped it around his entire body.
Thanks to that, he was able to block it without suffering major damage.
Seeing this, the Black Mage widened the distance between them further and continued speaking.
No matter how strong a Holy Knight was, it would not be a problem.
This was his base.
Magic far stronger than anything installed in the passage was prepared here.
There were even dozens of Chimeras lying dormant.
The longer the fight lasted, the more disadvantaged Arden would become.
"A Saintess? It cannot be that. No matter how cloudy my eyes are, I can still tell someone's gender."
The Black Mage then clapped his hands.
WHOOOOOM—! A magic circle hidden in the ceiling activated.
RATTLE—!
Black chains surged forward to coil around Arden's neck.
Arden swung his sword sideways and knocked the chains away.
BOOM—! The floor broke apart, scattering stone fragments everywhere.
"Whew... An Avatar, perhaps? But there are too many unclear parts. It is difficult to predict."
Having reached the end of the cavern, the Black Mage whistled.
WHOOOOOM!
The magic circles lying dormant throughout the cavern awakened one after another.
Long hands wrapped around Arden's ankles, something like a curtain covered his eyes, and the sound of ghosts sobbing reached his ears.
"......"
It felt as though the sensations throughout his body were twisting.
He could not even tell whether he was properly looking ahead.
His body felt as though it were stretching and shrinking.
'It's all right.'
But he was not afraid.
He was confident he could shake it off at any time.
That was why Arden decided to wait a little longer.
Until the Black Mage came closer.
"......"
"So you have finally stopped."
Muttering to himself, the Black Mage approached Arden.
"Good. The time has finally come to test the research material I received from him."
The Black Mage grinned and tried to place something around Arden's neck.
Only then did Arden shake off every curse binding his body and reach out his hand.
The Black Mage noticed and threw himself backward with wide eyes.
"—!"
After retreating roughly one meter, he stared at Arden with an incredulous expression.
"You broke through Sixth Circle magic fueled by ground-up slaves... If that is the case, I have no choice but to revise my plan."
Clicking his tongue, the Black Mage immediately bit into his thumb.
Blood flowed down.
He pressed the blood-red liquid straight onto the floor.
WHOOOOOM—!
The dark cavern was dyed violet.
Arden frowned and immediately charged toward the Black Mage.
An unknown rotten stench was drifting out.
"—!"
Then it happened.
The walls shattered, and the floor split open.
THUD!
CRRRAAACK!
At the same time, dozens of humanoid Chimeras rose from throughout the cavern.
SKREEEE—!
KYAARGH!
GRAAAAR....
Arden stopped for a moment and examined each of them.
"......"
Most were rotted and decayed. Some had no arms or legs. Others were so distorted that their original forms could not be recognized.
But all of them had the same look in their eyes.
A look that said they did not want to live like this anymore.
"Kill him."
At last, the Black Mage gave the command.
GRAAAAAH!
RAAAAAARGH!
The creatures screamed and charged toward Arden.
Some had no fingers and could only swing their palms.
Others extended arms that had rotted away below the elbows and become blunt.
Even those with no legs crawled across the floor toward Arden, snapping their teeth.
"......"
As Arden looked at them, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
They had not lost parts of their bodies because they had been dead for a long time....
The Black Mage had cut them off while they were still alive.
But there was no way to know.
All Arden could do was grit his teeth and cut them down one by one.
SHHLICK!
CRUNCH!
One step, one sword.
He moved methodically and killed those who were suffering.
Along the way, he avoided the magic fired by the Black Mage....
Then moved again.
Wherever Arden passed, only corpses with peaceful faces and closed eyes remained.
Heads severed from their necks and rolling across the ground.
Chimeras lying facedown with their upper bodies split apart.
... In the end, all of them left this world with peaceful faces.
"Hoo."
When Arden had cut them all down—
Only the two of them remained standing in the cavern.
A dead silence filled the space.
The Black Mage was the first to break it.
"...I will ask one thing. Did the Emperor put a bounty on me, rather than the Arcane Temple?"
"......"
"Do you have no intention of sparing me?"
The Black Mage stared intently at Arden.
"It seems you do not. Well, I had expected as much... But disappointment cannot be helped. Things would have been different if I had just a little more time."
The Black Mage, who had stepped backward to avoid Arden covered in flesh, whistled once more.
Then the unknown magic circle in the center activated.
RUMMMMMBLE—!
The magic circle glowed violet before splitting cleanly in half.
A black space appeared within it.
"You are finished now as well. It is a summoned creature created by staking a Black Mage's lifespan. It is not complete, but after eating a few people, it will grow."
"......"
Arden frowned and looked back and forth between the Black Mage and the magic circle behind him.
It certainly seemed as though he had poured his lifespan into it.
The dark energy coming from there was far denser than the creature Arden had encountered outside.
"Then—"
The Black Mage grinned, took a dagger from his pocket, and stabbed it into his abdomen.
"KRAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
A sound more cracked than ever, like metal scraping, echoed through the cavern.
Even as he screamed in pain, the Black Mage forcibly split open the skin of his entire abdomen.
His blood-red organs spilled out. Sticky blood soaked the floor.
"Kugh... It hurts like hell."
WHOOOOOOOM!
The flowing blood was sucked into the black space.
The more blood it absorbed, the more the Black Mage's face stiffened.
He grew pale blue.
"To be perfected by death... Well, perhaps that is not entirely wrong. Come, struggle harder. Toward the end."
The Black Mage laughed while his body trembled violently, then went limp.
He was dead.
Then even his body was swallowed by the black space.
BOOM—!
At the same time, it shook violently.
RUMMMMMBLE—!
Bookshelves collapsed, and flasks fell to the floor and shattered.
Then it happened.
ROOOOOOOAR!
A monstrous cry pierced Arden's eardrums.
Then a black hand clawed against the floor and rose from the space.
"Hngh—!"
Of course, Arden would not simply stand by and watch.
He immediately kicked off the ground and cut off the hand of the creature that had begun climbing out.
SHHHRK—!
The fingers were severed, pouring out black blood, but they grew back immediately.
CRRRUNCH!
Even then, the creature continued forcing its way outside.
Arden hurriedly looked around.
It was dangerous to fight here.
If this space collapsed, Arden might be fine, but everyone trapped in the iron cage would die.
"It cannot be helped."
Arden ran past the creature and approached the cage.
SHHNK—!
After cutting the iron cage apart, Arden looked inside.
The interior was crawling with filth and insects.
There were only a few survivors.
Only two.
Even those two were in a critical state.
They were skeletal from not eating properly, and filth clung to their bodies.
Arden clicked his tongue and immediately tucked the two people under his arms.
"We're leaving. Please hold on a little longer."
After saying that, Arden glanced at the magic circle and immediately ran out.
***
When Arden emerged outside and reached the riverbank—
The ground shook violently.
Something could be heard collapsing.
After waiting a little longer, a muscular giant with a black bull's head, large enough to be four meters tall, came stomping toward him.
ROOOOOOAR!
The problem was that a familiar face was attached to the muscular giant's chest.
"So this is what it feels like. It is new. Good... I will kill you here."