Infiltration Mission (1)
“Hahaha! Who would’ve thought I’d run into a familiar face in this far-off land? Come on in! I had a feeling I should pack extra coffee beans when I left the tower, and now I know why!”
Felber beamed as he started brewing coffee at a table in the corner of the meeting room.
As the rich aroma began to fill the air, Dalen couldn’t help but smile.
“He wasn’t always this cheerful, was he?”
They say being far from home can change a person.
Having spent most of his life cooped up in the magic tower, now here he was at the headquarters of the Holy Knights. Even a seasoned elder mage might find such a change invigorating.
“Hello, Mr. Dalen.”
While his mentor prepared the coffee, a young blond mage brought over a tray of snacks and fruit, greeting him politely.
Dalen nodded in acknowledgment, chuckling softly.
Tommy Valentino.
Once captured by the Silver Mask Apostle in the sewers, he was rescued by Dalen and his team of frogmen. The awkwardness of his youth seemed to have faded, replaced by the aura of a competent mage.
Dalen loosened the straps of his armor, resting his holy sword and steel blade against the table, and sank into a chair. It was hard, but it supported his back well.
“What brings you here, old man? What about the magic tower?”
“Me? I decided to travel for some research. I’m not the tower master, after all. The tower runs just fine without me. I just offloaded a few lectures.”
Dalen scratched his chin. Research? What could a mage possibly study in the land of the Holy Knights?
In truth, divine power and magic were entirely separate realms.
In a world where both existed distinctly, it wasn’t like the fantasy novels where priests and mages were at each other’s throats. But they weren’t exactly best friends either.
“Didn’t you know? The ‘Barrier Mountains,’ which the Holy Knights use as a natural fortress, are actually a magical construct. They were crafted 1,200 years ago by Zengla Elgaia, the ancestor of today’s earth mages.”
Dalen popped a few grapes into his mouth, tilting his head. That was news to him.
He knew the knights called the surrounding mountains the Barrier Mountains, but he had no idea they were magically created.
His extensive gaming experience gave him foresight, but he was less knowledgeable about history or trivia unrelated to impending doom.
As Dalen pondered this new information, Felber chuckled and brought over two cups of coffee.
“As you might guess, he was also the first tower master of our Elgaia Magic Tower.”
“I see. Thank you.”
“By the way, your spells have increased again. Just like when you returned from the labyrinth. Where do you find your mentors?”
Dalen couldn’t exactly say he learned from corpses, so he just sipped his coffee.
Felber didn’t seem to expect an answer and continued speaking.
“Seeing you grow so rapidly, I couldn’t help but feel inspired. Your progress made me reflect on my complacency over the years.”
Dalen munched on the honey-infused cookies, listening to Felber, who seemed to have become quite the chatterbox since they last met.
Just then, the meeting room door opened, and Commander Edgar entered with two bearded knights and Lucia.
“Apologies for the delay. I was showing the new recruits around,” Edgar said with his characteristic gentle smile.
As Lucia had promised, Parn had officially joined the Holy Knights.
However, with the ongoing civil war, the knights’ territory was under constant threat of skirmishes and attacks. They couldn’t afford to escort a trainee to the headquarters, so Parn would remain at the gateway fortress for now.
“As you all know, some of you have just joined us, so I’ll go over the current situation once more.”
Edgar pulled up a chair and sat down.
“The deputy commander and his special task force, who have taken over the Third Sanctuary, continue to disrupt our supply lines and training efforts with relentless attacks. Although we’ve only lost the Third Sanctuary, the damage is widespread.”
His eyes, unfocused yet filled with determination, scanned the six people in the room.
“Given the limited time, we’ll postpone introductions. Sir Wulston, Sir Heston.”
At Edgar’s call, the two knights stepped forward.
They pulled out several scrolls from their pockets, laying them out on the table like puzzle pieces.
Soon, a large map was assembled on the table, filled with countless rooms, corridors, walls, and pillars.
Felber’s eyes gleamed with magical energy as he quickly scanned the map.
“This is… a map of the ancient Sandstorm Dynasty ruins. So the rumors of a massive ruin beneath the knights’ headquarters were true. I thought it was just bardic exaggeration.”
“Very few within the knights know of this. It’s a secret passed down only to the commander and a select few ruin custodians.”
Edgar spoke with a calm smile, but a subtle pressure settled over the table.
“Forgive my excitement,” Felber said, clearing his throat and calming his glowing eyes. The tension in the room dissipated immediately.
Edgar continued as if nothing had happened.
“Last night, we were fortunate to capture one of the special task force members who attacked our supply convoy. He was a senior officer. From his testimony, we’ve identified the source of the curse still controlling some of our knights.”
Lucia let out a silent sigh.
Having just arrived, she still struggled to accept that one of their key forces had fallen to such trickery.
Edgar pointed to a section of the map.
“The source is in the deepest vault of the Third Sanctuary. By using the underground ruins, we can bypass the external defenses and reach it.”
The plan was straightforward.
The team, excluding the commander, would consist of the six present.
They would enter through a hidden entrance near the gateway, traverse the underground ruins, and head to the Third Sanctuary.
Meanwhile, the commander’s role was to gather forces and march towards the sanctuary as if launching a full-scale siege, drawing attention.
With the commander leading the charge, most of the enemy forces would gather at the outer walls for defense.
Taking advantage of the reduced internal security…
“We’ll destroy the source of the curse from behind enemy lines.”
“Exactly.”
Edgar nodded at Dalen’s words.
“If we can destroy the curse’s source, we can prevent further unnecessary casualties.”
“We’ll set off as soon as we’re ready.”
Dalen stood up. There was no time to waste.
Even with the shortcut through the ruins, it would take at least four days.
And the longer they delayed, the more the Holy Knights would suffer.
From his perspective, preparing for the impending end, it was better to have as many knights as possible survive to guard the rift.
That evening.
Two mages, three knights, and a mercenary descended into the depths of the gateway fortress.
After passing through several locked doors and hidden passages, they finally reached the entrance to the underground ruins.
“Brings back memories.”
In the cobweb-filled, dusty corridors, Dalen recalled his previous visits here.
Out of hundreds of playthroughs, he’d only been here twice.
And neither time was a normal playthrough, so those memories were buried deep.
“I should stop by to retrieve the body.”
In these ruins, there was a place that could significantly enhance the power of the demon he had captured.
It seemed a waste to use the demon merely as a portable burner and pocket dimension.
And he couldn’t exactly feed it live sacrifices like the necromancers did.
He needed to seize this opportunity to strengthen it.
“I’ll have to find a chance to slip away.”
Dalen subtly adjusted his plans.
The group continued through the underground ruins.
Leading the way were the two knights with long, stiff beards, Wulston and Heston.
They hailed from a family that had managed the ruins for generations within the knights.
And as their names suggested, they were brothers.
“Hmm. Isn’t this the room connected to that passage?”
“No, it’s this one that connects here.”
Despite their constant debate over the map, their steps were sure and confident, as if they were merely taking a stroll through a familiar neighborhood.
The ancient map was so intricate and dizzying that only two people could decipher it, especially since the writing was in an archaic language. Despite some doubts about their guide’s confidence, they had no choice but to trust and follow.
“This path’s collapsed,” one of them noted.
“Then we should take this passage through the plaza. It was used for transporting important supplies, so it should be sturdily built.”
Their route was adjusted several times along the way. This ruin was constructed thousands of years ago, during the reign of the Sand Emperor, who ruled nearly half the continent. It was no surprise that parts of it had succumbed to the ravages of time and collapsed.
Even if a section hadn’t yet fallen, if it seemed unstable, they opted to take a detour rather than risk it. As they traveled for about a day, the group found themselves descending deeper into the ruins.
Dalen couldn’t read the map, but he could sense their progress. His extraordinary intuition and intelligence allowed him to automatically calculate the angle of the corridors beneath their feet and gauge how deep they had descended since they started.
“The collapsed sections are fewer now. It seems the deeper parts of the ruins were built more robustly, and they’re in better condition even after all these years.”
“Uncle said the same. He went down to investigate the deeper sections after mentioning it, but he never returned.”
“Right. We assumed the deeper parts would be in worse shape.”
Listening to the murmured conversation of the knight brothers, Dalen scratched the back of his neck. It was certainly a relief that there were no collapsed tunnels or rooms. However, it also meant that other things might still be intact.
‘Like, say, magical ventilation systems,’ he thought, sniffing the air. The air, which had been stale in the upper levels, was surprisingly fresh as they descended deeper. There were far worse possibilities, but Dalen chose not to dwell on them. After all, even thoughts could become reality if you weren’t careful.
[It’s baffling. This is supposed to be the tomb of a dead dynasty, so why aren’t there any traps?]
”······.”
[For ruins of this scale, the upper levels would have been living quarters, and the deeper levels military facilities and royal tombs… Ah, I was just talking to myself! Please spare me, master!]
‘Shut up.’
Sensing Dalen’s icy expression, the immortal demon in his mind began to plead. It seemed the demon needed another lesson. Perhaps a night of relentless questioning until it learned when to keep quiet.
Dalen moved his hand from the back of his neck to rub his temples. Just then, he heard it.
A faint, almost imperceptible noise tickled his ears.
Creak. Clank. Grind.
The sound of gears interlocking, the vibration of something beginning to move. In the symphony of mechanical noise, Dalen instinctively expanded his senses. His heightened perception picked up the vibrations in the air and ground, and his sixth sense detected the operation of densely packed mechanisms beyond the walls.
His sharp eyes caught the flow of magic and the traces of ancient mysteries hidden within. Beyond the wall, he clearly sensed a device filling the space between corridors. As its movements and functions became clear in his mind, so did its purpose.
‘Damn it.’
It was designed to annihilate unauthorized intruders, leaving not even a bone fragment behind.
“Uh, uh…”
One of the knight brothers, Ulston, who had been leading, slowly lifted his foot.
Creak—
The floor beneath him, which had been slightly depressed, began to rise. The rest of the group finally realized something was amiss.
”······.”
”······.”
A sudden, tense silence fell over them.
Dalen spoke.
“We’re screwed. Run for it, everyone.”