With each room they’ve visited, their ghoul-slaying proficiency continued to increase.
Cyril walked at the front, being the first to meet the attacks of the feral creatures.
On the way, he tore off a pipe sticking out of the wall, using it as a makeshift spear.
With it, he blocked the ghouls’ lunges and pierced their hearts.
Those who didn’t die immediately would be subjected to Rose.
She used fire, ice, and even lightning to attack their bodies with scientific cruelty.
At one point, she even asked for Cyril to stay his hand and let her get involved more.
Myra acted more subdued during this time, moving only when the ghouls were numerous.
She observed the movements of her classmates and nodded with satisfaction.
“The hell is she so happy with?” Rhamn walked with crossed arms, doing nothing.
“Hmph!”
The red butterfly fluttering near twitched her antennae, as if a human were shrugging her shoulders.
Morpho stayed in the air, afraid of being in the way.
So far, ghouls were the only demons they encountered.
There was not even a sign of the pale man, nor of help arriving.
“How much time has passed since we started it?” Rose asked as she walked.
The bag hanging at her waist was filled to the brim, appearing as a big pillow.
She would hug it with one hand at times, her expression blissful every time.
“About an hour maybe?” Myra answered, casually walking at the back of their formation.
“There’s still no rescue coming?
Surely they’ve noticed this mess already…”
“Maybe they didn’t.
The Tower is pretty big, after all.
It’s better for us anyway.”
At this moment, Cyril stopped.
He raised his hand, motioning for them to be quiet.
The two quickly quieted down, focusing on their surroundings.
The place ahead looked different from what they saw before.
In front of them were grand double doors made of stone.
They were almost six meters tall, with an exaggerated flower motif on their surface.
The luxurious architectural style of these doors seemed different from the minimalist white metal they’d seen so far.
Clearly, there was something more than a simple laboratory inside.
The doors were slightly ajar, letting Cyril hear a messy, gnarly munching, as if a dog were gnawing at a bone.
The sound was particularly loud, mixed in with occasional heavy breathing.
“That’s a big dog there.”
Myra carefully walked up to the door, staring at it with narrowed eyes.
She turned towards Cyril and gave a thumbs-up.
“We reached quite far.
I’ve heard these kinds of doors lead into the core rooms.
There should be an elevator and set of stairs there,” she whispered.
Knowledgeable as ever.
Cyril nodded.
He motioned towards the door with his spear.
“Something’s in there.
Bigger than a ghoul.”
Rose immediately tensed up.
Together, the three of them carefully approached the hefty stone doors and peeked inside.
Visible to them was an empty square room, made entirely of stone.
From the dust and marks on the floor, it obviously once held a lot of furniture.
However, now it was strangely absent.
In the very middle of the empty room sat a large humanoid creature, its back turned towards them.
It had a hulking body and blackish-blue skin.
A goat horn stood atop its head, along with other smaller horns placed wildly on its back.
A donkey’s tail stuck out from its rear, wagging in rhythm to the chewing sounds that got even louder.
“A cyclops?
They have one here?” Myra whispered solemnly.
It was another demon.
“What should we do now?” tensely added Rose.
“…It’s in the way,” Cyril simply said.
Ignoring the complaint on Rose’s face, he peered deeper into the room, at another set of stone doors just barely visible behind the cyclops.
In the gap between those doors flashed enchanting blue light.
His eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to it.
Morpho landed on his shoulder, her compound eyes locked on the door.
“Cyclopes are in some ways easier to deal with than ghouls,” Myra answered Rose’s worries at this moment.
“They have great strength, but that’s about it.
Just avoid their strikes and you’ll be fine.”
“‘Just’ avoid them…?” The corner of Rose’s mouth twitched at her optimistic words.
“Come on.
Aren’t you interested in what a ‘core’ room is?”
Rose’s worries froze on her face.
She peeked back inside the room and quietly swallowed.
“Alright…”
Myra nodded, then looked at Cyril and gave a thumbs-up.
Cyril gave her a nod in return.
“Morpho, stay as far away as you can.
Be very careful!” Rhamn wagged her finger at the butterfly on his shoulder.
Morpho twitched her antennae with excitement and flew up in the air.
With this, Cyril put his hand on the stone doors and pushed, easily opening them halfway.
The group, with Cyril in front, walked into the room.
The moment they did, the chewing stopped.
The hulking cyclops slowly turned its head, looking at them with its single bulging eye.
From its mouth stuck out a bloodied torso.
The cyclops let out a distorted laugh, the remains falling out of its mouth.
The demon’s loud voice echoed in the room, scratching at their ears.
In a moment the cyclops stood up on its deformed legs.
Its belly shook with each movement it made.
“Heh, it sure looks stupid.”
Cyril slowly walked toward it.
Rose circled the beast to the right.
Myra did the same but to the left.
The cyclops’ single eye alternated between the three of them before settling on Cyril in the middle.
The demon’s face gained a grimace.
There was an intoxicated expression on its face, somewhat resembling a human’s.
Suddenly, the cyclops charged forward with its hands outstretched to the sides.
This hulking creature rushed towards him in a deadly lunge.
It’s fast!
Cyril dodged in a hurry, just barely getting out of the way.
The cyclops charged forward, hitting the heavy stone doors instead.
The six-meter-tall stone easily collapsed under the creature’s strength, falling to the floor with a bang.
The cyclops almost fell, stumbling a few steps before regaining its footing.
It kicked a piece of rubble on the ground in frustration, then turned around to face them, its belly swaying back and forth.
What the…?
“It’s not as slow as it looks, alright!”
“I- I don’t think I can dodge this,” Rose shakily said, her hands hastily casting a spell.
“It’s a bit faster than I thought, true,” Myra tensely replied, her body lowered as if a coiled spring.
“But don’t worry.
We’ll take its attention.”
…Sure, I guess.
“Who’s ‘we?!’ Let her do it!”
The cyclops rushed again, this time aiming at Myra.
Cyril quickly hurled the makeshift spear in his hands.
The metal pipe flew like a cannonball.
It landed on the demon’s skin and snapped on impact.
It only managed to shake the fat on its body.
Flimsy metal!
Just before this hulking beast hit her, Myra sprang up.
She ran and slid between its legs while casting a spell with her arm.
In only two seconds a bolt of fire flew out, hitting the cyclops at the back of the head.
The beast’s head bounced forward, then back, the pupil in its bulging eye shaking around.
Clumsily, the cyclops stopped and shook its head to the sides.
Not even a burn mark was left on its blackish-blue skin.
“It’s a bit more durable than usual, too…” Myra whispered with a frown.
As the cyclops recovered, a brown-haired scholar ended up in its sight.
Making an angry yelp, the beast charged once again, this time at Rose.
With a pale face, Rose urgently released the prepared spell, and a sharp bolt of ice flew at the beast’s single eye.
However, be it due to Rose’s nervousness or inexperience, the bolt missed its mark, flying right past.
Tsk.
Cyril lunged forward.
He managed to step in between her and the charging demon.
The cyclops made a silly grin as it ran.
Just before reaching Cyril, its outstretched arms moved in on him, as if going for a hug.
With gritted teeth and a cold look in his eyes, Cyril met the demon’s hands with his own, their palms touching.
Cyril felt as if he were hit by a speeding carriage.
However, he endured it.
His hands locked with the demon’s, Cyril slid on the floor for several meters before stopping in front of Rose.
As if a child wrestling with a giant, Cyril held off the cyclops.
Not only that, the child seemed to be slowly winning.
Wide-eyed, Rose observed as Cyril gradually pushed the demon’s arms up and, slowly, its body along with it.
With a silent grunt, Cyril hurled the beast forward, throwing it on its back.
The cyclops’s bulging eye looked with confusion at the ceiling, reevaluating everything it knew about mantises and chariots.
Then, an auburn-haired girl jumped in its field of vision.
Myra landed on its fat torso.
She wound up her right arm, it shining with a faint blue light, and threw a punch right at the demon’s bulging eye, puncturing it.
A piercing, pitiful yelp erupted, deafening Cyril’s ears.
The cyclops’ body shook wildly, its hands reaching out towards the human on its torso.
With her hand still inside of the eye socket, Myra activated the spell on her hand.
Just before the hands could reach her, the cyclops’s head exploded like a smashed watermelon, sending blackened liquid in every direction.
The demon died after only three charges.
Myra dodged the Cyclops’ lifeless hands and jumped off its torso.
Making a flip in the air, she landed on the ground in a triumphant pose.
“Hah!
So what if it’s stronger than a normal one?” Myra proudly yelled out.
She dusted off her hands with a smile, then sent Rose a smug look.
“See?
Simple!”
She looked just like a friendly village girl showing her city friend how to deal with mice at home, if not for her completely bloodied face and body.
She looks good like this.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Nothing.
Rose supported herself with her hands on her knees and heaved a very long sigh, not answering at all.
After a few seconds of recovering her breath, she sent Cyril a cautious look.
“Are you okay?”
Cyril stood with his back straight, his hands at his sides.
His body didn’t have any sign of injury.
Only a bead of sweat still remained on his forehead.
“I am fine.”
Rose stared at him for a few seconds in silence, her face showing disbelief.
Truth be told, he was also surprised.
The beast’s charge was not as hard to stop as he anticipated.
With the fight over, Morpho landed back on Cyril’s shoulder and twitched her antennae in celebration.
“That’s right, Morpho!
We are strong!” Rhamn raised her fair hands, flexing the nonexistent muscles.
“The heart has muscles.
You know how much blood I am pumping?
And with my proper diet of magical stones, I am quite ripped, actually.”
…I see.
“Cyril is strong, right?” Myra smugly crossed her arms as if it were her own achievement.
“Yeah…” Rose helplessly uttered.
She sighed, then bowed to Cyril with an apologetic face.
“Thank you for saving me.
I was completely useless this fight.”
Cyril said nothing, only staring at her with his blue eyes.
Myra, however, casually strolled up to her.
“Come on.
It was your first time facing a cyclops.”
She was about to put her hand on Rose’s shoulder, but Rose moved out of the way with disgust on her face.
Myra froze, staring at the blood still dripping from her hand, then awkwardly smiled.
“Ehm, the fact that you did anything at all is already impressive.
Many let fear paralyze them completely.
You did good and will do better, I am sure.”
“…Thank you.”
“How very touching.”
Cyril moved past them, walking towards the mysterious door with flashes of light behind it.
Myra and Rose hurried after him.
“Now in there is the actual core room,” Myra whispered in a theatrical manner.
“That’s where the source of the Empire’s might is, the manavein itself.”
Cyril calmly opened the door, heading inside.
Rose immediately followed after, her face excited.
Myra took one last look at the corpse of the cyclops behind, her face briefly showing uncertainty, then walked after them.
…
They entered into a vast stone dome, its ancient walls decorated in a beautiful flowery pattern.
However, none who walked in here for the first time would notice these insignificant details.
Their eyes were drawn instead to the center of the dome.
There, a pulsating river of bright blue flowed vertically.
Its light emerged from the giant pit at the center of the dome and disappeared into the hole above.
The moment Cyril saw it, he could no longer get his eyes off it.
Each breath he took under this enchanting light was sweeter than the last.
It was a pillar of magic itself, supporting the Tower from within.
Cyril, Rhamn, Morpho, Rose, and Myra marveled silently at the mystical river, dwarfed by its presence.
Strangely, despite its brightness, the light never hurt the eye.
It felt comfortable to behold, compelling everyone to just enjoy its glow.
After a few minutes of basking in the river’s light, Cyril finally noticed something else.
Countless metal pipes, disharmonious with the stone of the dome, stuck into the river from all sides.
The pipes sucked in the light, all the way towards the walls of the dome and beyond.
Just a little to the side, he saw a spiraling metal staircase that led into a higher floor.
These additions looked out of place, greatly muddying the sight.
“It’s more than I imagined…” Rose whispered in awe, breaking the silence.
“I am glad you are enjoying it,” an unnaturally coarse voice replied.
Suddenly, a pale bony hand placed itself upon Cyril’s unoccupied shoulder.
“Hello again, everyone!” The voice spoke in a friendly manner.
Cyril immediately dashed forward, getting rid of the hand.
He sharply turned around, glancing warily at the being there.
Rose and Myra ran to his side, both keeping their hands ready to cast spells.
The owner of the voice was a familiar face.
The pale man in his peculiar disheveled attire stood there with his hand still stretched in mid-air.
He awkwardly took it back, cleared his throat, and smiled once more, trying to show his best face.
“Did you like fighting the ghouls?
What about the cyclops?
Don’t worry about killing them.
I consider that a mercy.
It was a good send-off for the cyclops too, before he deteriorated from old age.”
No one replied to him.
The pale man and the students from Ailanthus stared at each other in silence.
Somehow, despite knowing this man was dangerous, Cyril still felt cordial with him.
“I mean, he clearly doesn’t mean us harm… if you disregard his unkempt looks.
That is indeed offensive.”
“Who are you?” Cyril asked, breaking the silence.
The man straightened his back.
He remained still for a second, as if listening to something.
Suddenly, he grabbed at the disheveled white coat around his body and threw it off, revealing the black suit beneath.
It was an elegant tailcoat, coupled with clean black trousers.
“Let me properly introduce myself at long last.” The pale man slowly said.
He grabbed onto his messy dark hair and pulled it behind him.
Casually, he tied it into a ponytail, letting them have a clear view of his malnourished face.
He had unnatural, pitch black eyes that didn’t seem to carry any emotion within.
In a single move, he suddenly transformed from a disheveled mage into a refined majordomo of a noble family.
Even his sickly face gained a handsome quality to it.
He bowed to the students, his etiquette fittingly perfect.
“My name is Cosmas.
I am the esteemed Archon of Space, at your service.”
“Archon?” Rose muttered, confusion in her voice.
Myra’s eyes shook.
She stayed still, completely paralyzed from head to toe.
Gone was any of the previous confidence.
Cyril glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, feeling an ominous premonition.
He looked at the ‘man’ who called himself Cosmas.
Cosmas slowly answered their confusion with a smile.
“Perhaps you would be more familiar with the term ‘archdemon.'”
“Archdemon?!” Rose couldn’t help but yell out.
She stared at the man like she expected him to reveal an evil joke, yet his polite smile remained undiminished.
“But- but you look just like a human!
And- and you talk, and you don’t have any horns or a tail!”
The archdemons they knew were brutal beings of uncanny power.
They didn’t dress in a luxury suit or bow to people with perfect etiquette.
“Haha, I understand the confusion.
Most of my older siblings are indeed the silent type,” Cosmas said, caressing his black hair.
“But times are different, and you would do well to learn Archons are not mere ghouls.
Also, please pay attention.” He pointed at the top of his head.
With his hair straightened and out of the way, a single feature subtly stuck out.
Out of the pale man’s head grew a single, small horn.
“I do have a horn!
Fortunately, it’s easy enough to obscure.”
He moved his hands behind him and stood still, like an attentive butler ready for more questions.
Rose’s face paled, her hands starting to shake.
Myra’s eyes were sharp, though her inaction betrayed her turbulent state of mind.
Cosmas simply stared at them with a smile.
Judging by the girls’ reactions, he might’ve seemed intimidating at this moment and that smile dangerous.
However, Cyril felt that the smile on the archdemon’s face was forced.
It was the kind of awkward smile an uncle sends to a nephew he never saw before in his life but the one he still tries to get closer to, as they are family.
What?
Cyril stood frozen, his face flat.
He couldn’t quite grasp at the source of this bizarre impression, yet he had an idea.
Cyril felt close to Cosmas, if ever so slightly.
It was clearer now, in this room.
He could somehow tell without a doubt what the man felt, the authenticity of his every word and movement as clear as glass.
The feeling was vague, but he caught it nonetheless.
Perhaps because it was not the first time he encountered it.
Although infinitely less so with Cosmas, it was a similar feeling to the one he had with Morpho or Rhamn.
That… what does that mean?
“…Maybe it’s just a coincidence?” Rhamn sheepishly said, staring at the archdemon without any hatred in her red eyes.