Episode 116: Trial of Iron (2)
“How did you…?”
Mira’s voice was as dry as the desert wind as she finally spoke.
“How did you get in here? How did you manage to activate the mechanism? Even if you did, there should have been no way to break the seal.”
Her eyes fell on the tattoo of Erebus on Damian’s wrist, and they widened in shock.
“You…!”
Her gaunt face twisted with disbelief.
“How do you possess that? Only she knew the location of the original!”
Damian tried to pull his arm free, but Mira’s grip was surprisingly strong.
“I see! She betrayed us! I knew this day would come! We should never have trusted her!”
Mira glared at Damian, her voice rising in anger.
“You fool! Do you even know what that is? You mustn’t use it recklessly! It should never see the light of day! It must remain hidden in darkness forever!”
Damian furrowed his brow, unable to comprehend her words. One thing was clear: Mira was not an ally.
“Soon, destruction will be upon us! The whole world will be engulfed in darkness!”
Her eyes glowed a fierce red.
“Since it’s come to this, I will take it! I will use its power to prevent the end!”
Muscles erupted from Mira’s chest, enveloping the shard of Erebus. A massive surge of dark energy exploded from her, sending Damian flying backward. He quickly regained his footing.
“What on earth is happening?”
Damian looked ahead, bewildered. Mira was rising to her feet, her joints creaking with every movement.
“Hey, I’m a bit lost here. How about we start with introductions?”
“Hand it over now!”
“Not exactly a conversation starter, is it?”
As Damian prepared to draw his sword from the void, black particles began to gather around Mira, forming sleek spheres. Dozens of them orbited her, corroding the stone walls and floor wherever they touched.
“So, you’re planning to use the shard as a power source?”
The shard of Erebus was a formidable source of power. Those who possessed it gained immense strength and could wield Erebus’s abilities. Even a simple farmer had once used a shard to inflict a grievous wound on a high-class warrior. But the cost was steep. Anyone who used a shard lost their sanity and didn’t survive a day.
“My sword won’t stand a chance.”
Damian was safe from the corrosive power due to Erebus’s protection, but his sword was not. Infusing it with magic would grant some resistance, but not enough. A mere touch from those spheres would ruin it.
He closed the void and summoned Erebus instead. Mira’s face contorted further at the sight.
“So you won’t give it up willingly!”
She reached out, and the black spheres shot toward Damian. His eyes darted, tracking their paths to find the best way to block them. Just as he was about to swing his spear, the spheres dissipated like smoke—all of them, at once.
“What?”
Mira looked down at her chest in shock. The area around the shard was turning gray.
“No, this can’t be… I have a mission…!”
Her entire body turned gray in an instant and then vanished without a trace, leaving only the shard behind.
“It was just a remnant, not a true soul.”
Damian muttered, watching the scene unfold. A remnant was the lingering will left behind by a sentient being upon death. The stronger the will and the greater the abilities in life, the stronger the remnant.
“A remnant so powerful I mistook it for a soul…”
In life, Mira must have been a master-class warrior or higher. But a remnant was still just a remnant. The shard’s power was too much for it to handle, leading to its swift demise.
“Why would someone so formidable die here?”
Reflecting on Mira’s words, Damian recalled her warning.
“She said using Erebus would bring about destruction.”
He had never heard such a claim in his past life. Even Dorgo, who sought the shards, never mentioned destruction.
“There’s no need to take a remnant’s words seriously.”
Remnants were mere fragments of their original selves, lacking true intelligence. Taking their words at face value would be foolish. Besides, Damian had never noticed anything amiss when he used Erebus in the past.
“Keeping Erebus with me is safer than hiding it.”
Damian wasn’t the only one collecting the shards. Dorgo was also gathering them through his followers. Damian had even found the hilt of Erebus in a group of dark mages serving Dorgo. If hidden, Dorgo would surely find it. Better for Damian to keep it than let it fall into Dorgo’s hands.
“Still, I should remain cautious.”
The lesson Damian learned from his past life was to always be prepared. A moment’s carelessness could lead to a fatal mistake, ruining everything.
“If there’s even a hint of danger, I’ll step in.”
If Mira’s words were true, Erebus could both bring and prevent destruction. With Damian’s talent and Erebus’s power, he could preemptively stop any threat.
“Erebus, absorb it.”
Damian extended the hilt toward the shard. It liquefied and melded with the broken blade, restoring its form. The shards didn’t need to be collected in order; they naturally reassembled.
“Now it looks more like a weapon.”
The blade had only grown slightly, but it appeared much more menacing. It finally resembled a proper weapon. Damian transformed Erebus back into a tattoo.
“What’s this?”
A ring lay where the shard had been. It seemed to be carved from some creature’s bone, with an unknown symbol etched into it. Its survival in the corrosive environment suggested it was no ordinary item.
As Damian reached for the ring, the entire space began to tremble. He quickly grabbed it and dashed outside. As soon as he exited, the stone walls and floor surged up, sealing the space completely.
Damian was taken aback by the sight.
“It wasn’t a cave, but a magically expanded space.”
The area where Mira had been was akin to a pocket dimension, created by expanding the space between dimensions. It was an incredibly advanced magic, beyond even the capabilities of a grand mage.
“A priest couldn’t have cast such a spell. Someone else must have.”
As Damian pondered, the iron walls surrounding the trial chamber began to rotate, sealing the entrance. The ceiling opened, flooding the space with light, revealing Cheongyeom and the Holy Queen’s faces.
“Sir Damian!”
Cheongyeom called out, relief evident in his voice.
“What should we do…?”
Moltar was at a loss as the iron door refused to open.
“Normally, this would allow us to intervene with the mechanism…”
By adjusting the force with which he knocked on the door, he could usually activate the mechanism. But now, it wasn’t working.
“Did I mess something up during the last maintenance? Or have the parts just worn out over time?”
Moltar circled the door, deep in thought. Just then, something fell from the sky—a man cradling an elderly woman. It was Cheongyeom and the Holy Queen.
“Moltar! You said Sir Damian is trapped in the trial chamber! What do you mean by that?”
As soon as she was set down, the Holy Queen demanded an explanation from Moltar. The two had been enjoying a rare moment of conversation when they heard the news of Damian’s predicament. With time of the essence, Cheongyeom had carried the Holy Queen here.
“Well, you see…”
Moltar’s face hardened. As the one who had first proposed the Trial of Iron, he couldn’t escape responsibility for this situation.
“I’m not sure what’s wrong with the mechanism… No matter how I try, it won’t open…”
“Is that so… Step aside. I’ll break it down!”
The trial chamber was crafted by dwarves using their secret techniques. It was so sturdy that even a mid-class aura user would have to attack it all day to make a dent.
However, the aura blade wielded by the master was different.
“No, you can’t! This mechanism is a treasure crafted by our ancestors!”
“Is that really what you should be saying when someone’s trapped inside? If you don’t step aside, I won’t be so forgiving!”
It was at that moment that Cheongyeom’s stern voice echoed.
With the sound of gears interlocking, the iron door began to slowly open.
The three of them quickly headed to the entrance. Looking down, they saw Damian Haxen standing there.
“Sir Damian!”
The Holy Sovereign called out with a bright smile.
Damian lightly pushed off the ground, leaping up and dusting off his clothes.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Fortunately, I’m fine.”
At Damian’s words, the Holy Sovereign let out a sigh of relief.
“What on earth happened?”
“I have no idea. I inserted a rare metal dagger into the slot as per the Trial of Iron, and then this happened.”
Damian feigned ignorance.
Explaining the situation was too complicated. Sometimes, playing dumb was the best strategy.
Besides, the chamber where the mummy had been was already destroyed, so any investigation would be futile.
“This kind of accident has never happened before…”
The Holy Sovereign turned to Malta.
“Malta, let’s suspend the use of the Trial of Iron for now. We need to send in the craftsmen to thoroughly investigate the cause of this incident.”
“Yes, understood! I’ll summon the craftsmen immediately!”
Malta shouted, ready to dash off, but the Holy Sovereign stopped him.
“Malta, why are you going? Don’t you have something else to do?”
“Uh, what do you mean…?”
“As promised, you need to present Sir Damian with the sacred sword of the highest rank, don’t you?”
At those words, Malta’s face turned rigid.
“Despite the minor mishap, Sir Damian did pass the Trial of Iron on his own.”
“Well, that’s…”
“Leave the investigation to another craftsman and go fulfill your promise.”
Malta hesitated, then spoke to the Holy Sovereign.
“Your Holiness, but the sacred sword of the highest rank is…”
The Holy Sovereign silently stared at Malta. Under the intense gaze, Malta began to sweat profusely.
Slowly, Malta turned to Damian, speaking with a desperate look.
“Could we perhaps substitute it with a high-grade sacred sword instead?”
Damian scoffed at the suggestion.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”