Chapter 119-120

Chapter 119 – It talked to me!

"So what you're saying is, this underground king lives in a lake that is below the city?"

I asked. And the doll, who now sat on the other side of the round table and was called Borthion, nodded.

Apparently, Borthion was a name from the old empire, and it was the name of the person who originally owned this doll.

We felt that it would be more convenient for it to have a name, and it chose that one.

Once Shiel explained to it our purpose, it realized that we were not hostile at all. And then Borthion talked to us quite politely.

Borthion nodded and continued.

"The control device uses the magma underground in order to operate. The underground king was not very fond of this."

"Leaving that aside…you're saying by turning it back on, this king will be angry?"

"Yes, exactly. He gave us a warning. If we do not stop absorbing the magma, he will scorch the surface. As he will now see this as us breaking our word, it would be no surprise if he becomes angry."

"I see. Shiel, about the control device. Did you do it?"

I asked, and Shiel nodded.

I had told her about this as soon as possible.

And learned that Shiel knew nothing about this 'underground king.'

However, now that the people had been awakened, there was no need to keep the machine running. If it was provoking this unknown king so much, it would be best to turn it off.

Thinking this, Shiel had decided to shut it off for now.

"So it's already off… And it doesn't seem like anything has happened yet. Borthion, what do you think?"

"I do not know… Even if you are not using any more magma, the promise was still broken. However, since nothing seems to be happening…"

"Yes, who knows what it is thinking. By the way, judging by what you've said so far, this king can speak?"

"Yes, it can. I do not know what it looks like. But when you are present, you will hear a voice coming from somewhere.

"In that case, we might be able to do something about this misunderstanding. Borthion. Can you take me to him?"

"You, Lord Heal? Well, it is possible, but…"

Borthion looked worried. Perhaps it was because this underground king was supposed to hate humans.

Then Rienna opened her mouth.

"Lord Heal. We don't know what might happen down there. Let me go as a representative. And I will face this underground king."

"No, Princess. I will go down there. Besides, as you are now, he will likely assume you are a human. That will not happen if I go."

Baris said.

And then Shiel got up onto the round table and stretched as if pointing to herself.

"All of you… No, the cave is my responsibility. You must leave it to me. You have to take care of things up here."

Rienna and Baris were not convinced, but this was something we had already decided as a country. And so they nodded somberly.

Besides, if we were really worried about safety, it was best that I went.

As I was the best when it came to protection with magic.

Then Borthion said,

"Will you not let me go alone first? Then I can tell him about you, and ask for an audience."

"No, if this king is angry about the broken promise, then he might hurt you."

Borthion was so surprised by these words, that it froze for a second.

"Wh-what did you say? …But I am a doll? My death means nothing at all."

"No, on this island dolls and Golems are our friends. I won't let them die."

"Lord Heal… I understand."

Borthion said with a bow.

And like that, it was decided that I would go to the underground lake.

Aside from Borthion, Shiel and Number 15 would accompany me. I had chosen to go in a small group, as too many people might provoke it even further.

According to Shiel, there was a storage house in the city where Teleportation Stones were kept.

And so Fule and the others had been sent there.

"Alright, let's go then."

I said as I stood up from the round table and willed myself to be teleported.

And then my body was enveloped by light.

When the light faded, I was in the cave. But it had been a while since I was in an area that was this dark.

And while I could see in the dark, the rock walls were much more black here, and so it seemed extra dark.

Borthion teleported too, and stood in front of me.

"Lord Heal. The underground lake is a short distance from here. It is there that you should be able to hear the voice of the underground king."

"Good. Take me to him."

"Yes, leave it to me."

And so I followed Borthion.

There were a lot of branching paths here.

And I also saw lots of stones that shone in numerous colors. They were not Shining Stones. The itch to go digging became very strong…

"Now that I think about it, this area was also managed by Shiel's ancient empire, wasn't it? What was it used for?"

"This place was discovered right before the meteor fell. And so even Empress Shiel does not know much about it."

"Huh. In that case, there must be a lot of rocks lying here that I don't know about."

The pickaxe was practically an extension of my own body now, and I gripped it tightly without thinking.

No, calm down, Heal. Not now…

It had been a while since I had been able to dig, just for the enjoyment of digging…

And so I fought against the urge to dig as I followed after Borthion.

After a while, a blinding light appeared ahead of us. Apparently, we were coming out into an open area.

"…Where are we?"

We stepped out into a very mystical place.

Light was pouring down from the ceiling as if there was a real sun. Below, a vast field of grass sprawled out before us.

And in the center, was a lake.

This was very different from the underground lake I had been envisioning. This looked like the kind of lake you would find on the surface.

"It's very beautiful…"

"…Why are there humans here?"

A voice echoed from somewhere after I had muttered.

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Chapter 120 – I met the king of the underground!

"…Why is there a human here?"

Came the sudden low voice. I looked around to see who had said it.

However, there was no one in sight.

And so I introduced myself first.

"I am Heal. I have come to meet the king of the underground! Are you the king?"

And then the voice echoed again.

"Indeed, I am the king of the underground. What business do you have with me?"

"First, I would like to apologize. We needed the magma desperately, and so we took some in spite of the promise."

"Ah, that…"

The king of the underground said calmly.

It seemed as if he was uninterested.

"By the way, Heal. You are a human then?"

"Yes, I am."

"And did the others not tell you that I hate humans?"

"They did. But I am responsible for taking the magma. And so I came here myself."

It wasn't just the cave. I was responsible for everything that happened on this island.

I could leave negotiations to others if it wasn't dangerous.

However, something like this I had to do myself.

After a moment of silence, the king of the underground asked his next question.

"And what do you know of me?"

"That you have the power to burn everything."

"Hmm. And yet you came. That is very brave… Hmm. Just as I wanted."

He sounded very pleased. Then he continued.

"So, you want to make up for what you did?"

"If that is what you want. I will do my utmost in making it up to you."

"Hmm. Then that's what you shall do. I've been rather bored of late."

"Bored?"

"Mmm. After all, no one ever comes here. See?"

A ball of fire suddenly appeared right in front of me.

It slowly grew larger, and then eventually, the fire took on the shape of a dragon.

The dragon then spoke. It was the voice of the underground king.

"You will fight me, human. If you wish to return home, you must kill me."

So that's what it wanted…

This fire dragon was likely some kind of double. And I could sense immense magical energy from it.

"I refuse. I don't see what good fighting will do any of us."

"That is not true! I am very bored! …I've been sealed down here for tens of thousands of years. And then you appeared!"

"I'm sure there are plenty of other things you can do! Besides, if you don't like it down here, I can help you get out. We just need to use the Teleportation Stones and…"

However, the king of the underground shook his head.

"No, it's impossible. My real body is sealed deep within the rocks."

"Sealed? Can't it be broken?"

"No. No matter how much I attack it from within. I even created this double to attack it from the outside, but it was no use. It was all that I could do to send this dragon to the underground city."

"I see… That wall."

Without thinking, I had started walking towards it.

"He-hey! Fight me! Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to see if this rock is really that indestructible."

"Don't be foolish! Don't you know that I was once called the Demon King of Hellfire!? And my flames were not enough! There is no way that you can do it!"

"Well, you never know until you try, right? Besides, we're in a cave…"

I said as I headed to the wall in the far back.

The king and Borthion followed after me.

So here it was… It really did just look like an ordinary rock wall. I couldn't even sense any magic from it. Was there really anything inside of it?

However, there was one thing that I was certain about. I could dig. 'Cave King' was telling this to me.

But when I raised my pickaxe, the king of the underground laughed.

"Hmph! What can you possibly do with that stick…huh?"

The wall fell apart under my pickaxe, and I heard the same voice coming from ahead and from behind me.

And right in front of my eyes, mouth agape, stood a very surprised red dragon.