Chapter 48
Translator: Kell Editor: Weasalopes
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Underground City of the Ancient Gods 7
As soon as he spotted the giant, Hikaru quickly closed the window . He had a hunch that staring at it for any longer would be bad .
The mysterious light that illuminated the whole castle vanished and it was dark once more . Hikaru’s Mana Detection saw the undead monsters confused for a bit, but now they were back to being stationary .
In the room lit up only by a lamp, Hikaru and Lavia sat down on plain chairs that were still sturdy even after six hundred years .
「Did you see that?」Hikaru asked .
「Yes . Was that a giant?」
「Did you read about one in novels?」
「There are no books about giants . Ah, but they appear in myths . Giants are the gods’ soldiers . 」
「Oh . Soldiers of the gods, huh?」
They exchanged glances .
「I think I know the reason why the capital sank underground with its citizens turned into undead monsters…」
「They incurred the wrath of the gods?」
「………」
「………」
They were both silent .
It’s horrifying how I can’t deny that possibility . Gods exist in this world, after all .
In Hikaru’s pocket was a guild card in which he received the gods’ blessings .
「Let’s forget about that giant for now and check this place . 」
The trembling stopped . As he had suspected, the tremor was a response to the light . First Hikaru checked the parchments on the table . He couldn’t keep holding Lavia’s hand so he had her touch his nape instead . Group Obfuscation only worked if their skin touched .
『Year XXX, Month X, Day X . Minutes of the Imperial Council Meeting . Two days after the capital’s transportation underground . 』
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「Oh, I hit the jackpot right away . It’s about the transfer underground . 」
Hikaru read it out loud so Lavia could hear it .
『Meeting to discuss how to deal with the giant attacking our holy city . His Majesty’s intentions are unknown . The Minister of Military Affairs and the generals want the city to be returned to the surface and fight the giant . The Minister of Finance says the nation’s financial status is dire after all the expansions to the city . The holy mana supply facility’s operation is not going well .
The Minister of Internal Affairs has a status report on the citizens . Many express deep gratitude to His Majesty’s imperial decision . While the supply of holy mana is frequently interrupted, it doesn’t affect their daily lives .
Meeting suspended . A thunderous roar was heard, like the sky itself was torn asunder . The Minister of Magic says something is trying to break into the holy city, but repelled by the barrier . The Minister of Military Affairs orders the knights to be on alert .
A deafening roar rang out once again . This time much louder than before . 』
The text ended there .
「Does the “something” that’s trying to break into the city refer to the giant?」Lavia asked .
「If that’s the case, a lot of things make more sense . The reason there’s not a lot of knights and soldiers around is because they were sent to fight the giant then got killed . 」
「It sounds like they think too highly of themselves using the word “holy” a lot . 」
「They had the technology to transport a whole city underground . They thought they were superior beings . 」
The text mentioned returning the city to the surface . It was safe to assume that transporting the city underground was their own doing .
I gotta say, it’s incredible how they used magic to transport a whole city . Unfortunately that technology was now lost .
「Why did that giant attack the city? I don’t know what “holy mana supply” means either . Why did citizens turn into undead monsters? Is it really because of the gods’ wrath?」Lavia asked .
「I have no idea . We might find the answers if we look some more…」
The earth trembled once more . Dust fell from the ceiling .
「I thought that giant stopped . It might’ve noticed us . 」
「Wait, Hikaru . What’s this?」Lavia said, pointing at a scroll on the table .
「Holy dynasty’s family tree . What about it?」
「What’s it doing here? I think it’s because they were in a state of emergency . 」
「That’s a great point, Lavia . 」
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Hikaru unraveled the scroll . A family tree diagram was indeed written on it . Names, who they were married to, those who left the family…
What’s this? I feel some sort of magic in this scroll . Is it important? Plus…
Normally the name of any royal family member would end with G . Poelnxinia, but there were also those that left the family then returned, or nobles that married into royalty . Their full names were written clearly as well . The father of the last king came from a different noble family and his name was written everywhere .
『Valves . 』
The historian, Gafrasti N . Valves was clearly related to the man .
「Hikaru!」
A rumbling sound echoed . They peeked slightly through the window and saw the purple giant slowly turning itself towards their direction .
「It doesn’t look like it’s exercising . 」
「Is it headed here?」
「Probably . Lavia, I want you to be prepared . 」
「Of what?」
「Prepared to kill the king . Oh wait, I guess he’s already dead . 」
Killing the undead king was what he wanted to say . Lavia’s expression stiffened .
「…Okay . If you say so, I’ll take him down . 」
「Thanks . To be more precise, I’ll kill the king, while you deal with the undead . 」
「Okay . 」
Hikaru rolled the scroll and stuffed it into his bag . He had no idea what it was doing here, but Gafrasti most likely wanted it . There was no harm in taking it, and they had no time to check other things anyway . Holding hands, they left the archives .
A detector that sensed humans, light that used something like electricity – those were things Hikaru had not seen in this world before . People used magic lamps, but they used batteries, just like flashlights; not electricity from some wall sockets .
Electricity supply… holy mana supply…
The floor shook, a sign that the giant was moving . They both returned to the audience chamber .
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「So we’re going to kill the king then head to the treasure room?」
「Exactly . We can’t fight that giant . Our best option is to run . 」
Hikaru was almost sure the giant was what created the undead . There was no way a kingdom who called themselves holy would commit group suicide, turning all of them into undead monsters . The giant destroyed a wide area . It was no doubt extremely powerful, beyond human comprehension .
Soldiers of the gods…
A huge foe like that was out of Hikaru’s hands . He knew he couldn’t defeat it .
「Lavia, we’re here . 」
They stopped right before the audience chamber . Hikaru could hear the faint voices coming from the Dead Nobles having a discussion .
They didn’t move from here even though a giant had appeared nearby, counting on their army to do the job . Perhaps it was arrogance from having obtained too much technology . And before they knew it, some sort of force kicked in, turning them all into undead .
「I’ll kill the king alone . You’ll stay here as you chant your spell . They’ll see you once I let go of your hand, but you can just use your magic then . 」
「O-Okay . 」
「Don’t hold back . I’ll be fine . 」
「Really?」
「I promise . I’m extremely cautious, after all . 」
Hikaru’s grip loosened .
「…You’re such a liar . 」
「I don’t have any intention of dying, and I’ve calculated the risks . Your spell has a wide area of effect, but I can hide behind the walls . 」
「I see . 」
「I’ll be fine no matter what kind of spell you use . 」
She recalled the aftermath of her fire magic usage last time . Lavia looked worried .
「I’ll trust you . 」Lavia smiled .
She looks fine, Hikaru thought . Lavia started chanting her spell .
「O’ Spirit, heed my call . A raging fire is what I desire . Fire to burn down all living things, all creation, even the laws of the universe…」
A magic circle formed with Lavia at the center . With Group Obfuscation still active, the undead were not aware of what was going on .
Now! Hikaru bolted .
「Dance, Spirit!」
Every last one of the monsters turned to Lavia . Hikaru clicked his tongue . He didn’t expect a fast reaction from them . But he didn’t want to stop now .
「I offer you my mana, so sing, Spirit!」
Hidden with Stealth, Hikaru made it in front of the king . With his Dagger of Strength, he stabbed the man through his chest . Strength left the king’s body . Alone, even the king could not sense Hikaru . He felt his rank go up . The Dead Nobles were going straight for Lavia, but stopped when they noticed the king was dead . Quickly, Hikaru removed the ring and deactivated his Stealth .
「It’s nice to meet you, everyone . And farewell . 」Hikaru said, grinning, before turning around .
「Take back our once pure world and burn everything down to ashes . 」
The Dead Nobles rushed towards Hikaru, but he was much faster than them and quickly made it back to Lavia’s side . His two points on Power Burst was doing wonders .
A huge ball of fire formed overhead from the magic circle .
「Flame Gospel!」
The circle shattered to pieces like glass, casting flashes of light everywhere . The flame serpent swallowed the Dead Nobles whole . As soon as it landed, a gust of hot wind swept over the place .
Hikaru carried Lavia, who was exhausted from the mana consumption, to the hallway . The audience chamber turned bright as midday . The splendid carving on the ceiling — a battle between angels and demons — had seen light for the first time in six hundred years . But it didn’t last long . The flame that burned the undead, the king included, had been extinguished .
The wind carried with it the smell of something burnt . It wasn’t the scent of roasted meat . More than that, it was the smell of carbonized corpses .
「Can you walk?」
「Yes . I feel a lot better than before . Perhaps it was a good thing that I set my job class to Challenger of Magic Principles . 」
While the power of her spell decreased, it consumed less mana . The Flame Magus class was too strong .
「I feel like my rank went up a lot . 」
A mass slaughter of Dead Nobles . Then again, they were already dead, so the term “slaughter” didn’t really fit .
「Probably . We’ll check afterwards . But first we have to get out of here . He’s coming . 」
The tremors were getting closer . Hikaru grasped the ring he took from the king tightly .