25 Why are you not loli?!

The majestic double doors in front of Rob and Caerbannog were three meters tall. On each side of the door was a statue of a cyclops sunk deep into the recesses of the wall.

Rob knew that the two cyclops were petrified monsters, and they would be free when he triggered the safety in the doors. Even so, it wasn't a problem for him.

"When the two cyclops are free from their petrification, immediately kick the left one's head until it turns into pulp. Just focus on the left one. The right one is mine."

Rob ordered Caerbannog without turning to look at it.

"Kyuu!"

Rob was satisfied when he heard rabbit companion's reply.

He approached the doors. Upon taking a closer look at them, he found a magic circle carved into a tiny hollow on each of the two doors.

"I knew it, and even expected it, but this languages ​​and the style of magic circle is no longer being used in this day and age, huh?"

Rob muttered under his breath. Back when he stayed in the Heiligh Kingdom, he had devoured as much knowledge as he could get. One of them was knowledge of magic circles and the magic words generally used in them.

He was familiar with the words and styles of the magic circles used in this era in general, but what was carved in the hollow of the door was something that he didn't know. He didn't know which was better between the language and style of the magic circle used in this era and the one from 300 years ago where the magic circle in the hollow of the door was made. In the end, it doesn't matter.

He examined the structure of the magic circle for a few moments. Thanks to Language Comprehension, he could understand the words that were part of the magic circle.

"So it's still the same as what I remember from the original story. It needs two magic crystals to open these doors, and those magic crystals are inside these two cyclops. Alright, time to slay another monsters."

He took a step back, then gave a signal to Caerbannog to get ready. Caerbannog had been waiting for a signal from him this whole time, and after receiving a signal from him, it gave a reply in its usual adorable sound, "Kyuu."

On another note, Caerbannog never took its attention away from its master, so it didn't lose his presence.

"Let's do this!" Rob poured his magic power into the magic circle engraved on the hollow part of the left door to trigger its security.

Zap! A bolt of red lightning ran down the door, blasting his hand away. He immediately backpedaled away from the doors.

His hand, damaged by the bolt of red lightning, let out tendrils of smoke but soon glowed and quickly recovered from the severe burn it had suffered. He didn't divert his attention from the petrified cyclops as that occurred.

"Uoooooooooooooooh!!!"

The cyclops, freed from their petrification, let out overlapping roars that reverberated throughout the entire room. Once freed from their petrification, they immediately destroyed the wall that held them. Their petrified skin rapidly regained its color, going from gray to dark green.

Those cyclopes fit the fantasy description for them to a T. They each wielded swords nearly four meters long that they had pulled from god knows where. They were struggling to free their still–entombed lower halves, determined to eliminate the unwelcome intruder.

Caerbannog went first. It targeted the cyclops on the left as its master had ordered it, and kicked the cyclops in the head. Its right foot, covered in red sparks of magic power, pulverized the cyclops' head. The concussive force that came from its foot also cracked the wall behind the cyclops' head.

The cyclops on the right stared blankly at its now deceased companion. On the other hand, the dead one twitched for a few seconds before collapsing forward, which made the entire room shake as its huge frame crashed into the ground, raising a massive cloud of dust.

The surviving Cyclops did not understand what had happened. It tried to comprehend what had occurred, but it was unable to reach a conclusion because right after a loud *bang!*, bullet went through its head, killing it immediately.

Just like its companion, the cyclops on the right collapsed forward and made the entire room shake as its huge frame crashed into the ground, raising another massive cloud of dust.

Rob relaxed after sensing no sign of lives from the two cyclops. He then waited for the cloud of dust to settle.

"Foo! Kyuu!"

"I'm here, and fine! Let's wait for the dust to settle first before regrouping!"

Rob heard Caerbannog's cry and gave a reply. His rabbit companion was searching for him after losing his presence. He'd become capable of understanding his rabbit companion after entering Abyss Break for many times.

After hearing the reply, "Kyuui!", from his companion, Rob waited for the dust to settle. Once the dust settled, he went to regroup with Caerbannog before heading to the dead cyclops on the right.

Rob immediately cut the cyclops' thick hides and take out its Magic Crystal, which was around the size of his fist. He repeated it with the other cyclops.

Ignoring the fact that they were dripping with blood, he carried the two fist-sized magic crystals over to the double doors and placed them in the two indents. They fit perfectly.

After a brief delay, they began pouring gouts of dark red magical energy into the magic circles. The sound of something snapping echoed in the distance and the light began to fade.

Magical energy started diffusing through the room at the same time, making the surrounding walls glow with a bright light. The room was suddenly filled with more light than Rob had seen in ages, and he blinked at the sudden brightness, then pushed open the door, clearly on the lookout for any traps.

The room on the other side of the door was pitch black, with not a single light source to be found. However, a combination of his Night Vision and the light spilling in from the room outside was enough for him to dimly make out his surroundings.

The interior of the room was composed of the same marble-like substance that Rob had first seen in the church cathedral. Two rows of thick pillars, spaced out at regular intervals, extended all the way to the end of the room.

In the very center of the room stood a huge cubical slab of rock. Its surface was glossy, and it shone from the reflected light coming in from the room behind.

Rob took a closer look at the cube, noticing there was something that glowed faintly jutting out from the center of its front face. It looked almost as if it was sprouting out of the rock.

Of course, Rob knew what, no, who it was.

Speaking of her, Rob planned to get her as his companion because of her abilities as a powerful spellcaster who doesn't need to chant and draw a magic circle to cast her magic. He didn't plan to do anything lewd to her because of her child-like appearance. However, it would be a different matter after she got an older body, probably after conquering the Frost Caverns of the Schnee Snow Field and getting the Metamorphosis Magic.

Rob threw the doors open wide, and looked for something to hold them in place. He didn't want to make the classic horror movie mistake and enter only to find the door shut behind him. However, before he could fix them in place, the girl stuck in the center of the cube stirred.

"...Who goes there?"

Rob paused after hearing Aletia's faint, hoarse voice. He looked at the square box in the room for a moment, then turned to look at Caerbannog who peered into the darkness of the room in curiosity and confusion.

Sensing his look, Caerbannog turned its head to look at him. Rob jerked his chin at the box. With a soft "Kyuui," Caerbannog nodded in understanding. It then hopped into the room.

"A... rabbit?" Rob heard Aeltia's perplexed voice after seeing Caerbannog. In return, his rabbit companion released an adorable "kyuu?" cry in confrontational attitude as if it wanted to say, "Got a problem with a rabbit?"

Rob finally finished jamming the door. He transmuted the floor to create a mound blocking the door. Then, he stepped into the dark room.

After a few steps, Rob finally saw Aletia's appearance. She was buried in the rock from the neck down, and her golden-blonde hair dangled limply in front of her face, much like the ghost from a certain famous horror movie. Eyes as red as the blood moon peeked out from between gaps in her hair. Still, despite her haggard appearance and her hair covering the better part of her face, it was still clear she was quite beautiful.

However, something surprised Rob. Instead of looking like a preteen girl, Aletia looked like a teenager in her late teens. Therefore, he couldn't help but blurt out.

"Why are you not loli?!"

His voice attracted Aletia's attention. She moved her crimson eyes in the direction of his voice and blinked in surprise after finally noticing his presence.

"You... Since when... you're here?"

Rob blinked and sighed in exasperation. "I've always been here," he deadpanned at her.

"...I see."

After Aletia answered curtly, awkward silence fell between them. Aletia observed Rob with squinted eyes and noticed that Rob's presence was so thin that he looked blurry.

On the other hand, Rob was confused. He slowly but surely panicked. He didn't expect that Aletia had a more mature body than he expected.

'Shit. What the hell does this mean? So far I've never found a deviation from my knowledge, but now I found this! Am I in an alternate timeline?'