Chapter 199-200

Chapter 199 – It Was A Mysterious Ritual!?

There was something eerie about the quiet atmosphere of the holy place.

Even Rulat, who lived here, was sweating down his neck as he saw that there was no one around.

No, perhaps this was what he had feared would happen.

Fule asked Rulat.

"…You really don't know? What are they doing?"

"I didn't say that I don't know. It is a ritual. I just don't know what kind of ritual."

"So you don't actually know…"

Fule muttered, but Rulat fired back.

"It's not my fault! In the first place, this ritual was only supposed to happen at the promised time!"

In other words, the ritual could only be done once.

"This promised day, is that different from the day of the prophecy you were talking about earlier? Something about the darkness swallowing up the world?"

I asked, and Rulat shook his head.

"The ritual is supposed to take place when the day of the prophecy is near. And then, along with the king of the underground, we will face the day of the prophecy…that was how it is supposed to be."

"I see. However, who is to say when the day of the prophecy is close?"

"The king of the underground will decide. And then the temple doors will open…is what they say."

They say…huh?

I suppose it was an old legend that was passed down through the royal family. And so no one actually knew who this king of the underground was.

Just then, Fule asked the question that had been on her mind.

"But, doesn't Arancia already have a king? And then there is this king of the underground? Which one has more authority?"

After thinking about this for a moment, Rulat replied.

"That's… Well, the king must be a friend to the Arancian King, and to us."

"Hmm… I think you may be fooled?"

"Shu-shut up! The story has been passed down through the royal family! That's impossible."

So it being passed down was the only reason he believed it.

But it could have just been passed down because it was advantageous to the royal family…that was definitely a possibility.

And like Fule said, it was also possible that they were being tricked.

Someone with malicious intentions could have created the story… No, maybe that was too much of a stretch.

"In any case, let's be careful and continue on our way. So, where are the doors to this temple?"

"Near the shore…there. Over there."

Rulat pointed to a great tree near the lake.

There was grass growing underneath the tree, but…I could also see some unnatural stonework.

And when we went closer, we found that there was a staircase that led underground.

Fule looked at it and grimaced.

"That looks ominous…"

"We-well, let's go in."

Said Rulat, but Fule told him to wait.

"It looks like this is the only way in or out. It's too dangerous to charge right in."

"Aye. I'll inspect it with magic energy first."

I said, and then concentrated on the ground below.

I could sense the magic energy of many humanoids standing in rows underground. There were nearly three thousand of them, so the place must be very big.

And most strangely, none of them were moving. But I didn't think that they were dead…

But when I looked closely, I saw that there was something off about the way that their magic energy moved.

The magic energy was moving from the people who stood, and it gathered towards a single point in the back.

"Rulat…I can detect magical energy. And there is clearly something wrong with everyone down below. They are all standing, but they are not moving at all."

"What?"

"My guess is that…they may be under some spell. I can sense a very powerful magic in the back."

Rulat looked very worried when I said this.

While I said powerful, it wasn't as powerful as someone like Elto. Just powerful for a human.

I doubted that it was powerful enough to detect my magic energy…but perhaps the machines in the holy place had already done that.

"…Leave this to me."

I said. And Rulat nodded silently.

And so I began to slowly and quietly descend from the staircase.

As there were torches on the walls, it wasn't particularly dark.

After going down for about thirty seconds, the end of the staircase came into view.

Without making a sound, I peered into the area that was at the end of the staircase…

The place was…

There was a vast chamber, and about three thousand humans were standing there in rows.

And in the far back, there was something that looked like an altar.

And on top of the altar, was what looked like a coffin.

That coffin was what was gathering the magic energy.

…Still, this really was eerie.

Everyone that was here was completely still, and did not make a sound.

It was then that Rulat called out to a young man who was standing nearby.

"He-hey. What happened to everyone…?!"

Expressionless, the man turned to face Rulat.

And then, the others also silently turned towards Rulat. Of course, not a word was uttered.

Even Rulat now understood that something was wrong.

…Was this some form of brainwashing?

There was something like a crystal that was glowing near the coffin. Perhaps that was the cause of this.

"Rulat, let's go! We're going to bring these people back to their senses."

"F-fine!"

And so we ran past the glaring humans and moved towards the altar.

However, just when we were about to reach the altar, the coffin suddenly opened.

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Chapter 200 – An Ominous Feeling!?

"It's…"

Inside of the opened coffin, there was a corpse that was now a skeleton. It wore a crown on its head, and carried a scepter.

Was it the corpse of a king…?

Without thinking, we moved into a fighting stance. As it had been gathering magic energy, there was a good chance that it was an Undead.

Upon seeing the body, Rulat shouted.

"Th-that scepter!?"

Apparently, he had detected something with the scepter that the skeleton was holding.

The scepter was a gleaming gold. In spite of resting within a coffin for so long, it had not rusted at all, and maintained its polish. And on the tip, there was something like a sculpture of a great tree.

The scepter looked very expensive… However, it was the thing that was gathering all of the magic energy.

So it wasn't the skeleton that was gathering the energy, it was the scepter. Perhaps it was made of something like Hihiirokane.

For some reason, Rulat began to prostrate in front of it.

"He-hey. What are you doing all of a sudden?"

Fule asked. The blood seemed to drain from Rulat's face as he replied.

"Th-that is His Royal Majesty, the founder of Arancia, King Aland! He will surely save us!"

So it was the bones of the first king and founder of Arancia. Indeed, the crown and scepter were worthy of such a person.

However, there was something odd about Rulat.

He hardly even noticed that Fule and I were there now, and he continued to prostrate himself on the floor.

Was it because of the crystal that was next to the coffin?

But strangely, it had no effect on Fule or me.

"No…he will resurrect! The king of the underground is the first king!"

It wasn't just Rulat. Now, the other people of the holy place who were around us were also falling to the ground. Among them, there was even a thin man who was wearing a crown. It must be the current king of Arancia.

Fule realized that there was no point in talking to Rulat, whose eyes shone as he gazed at the bones. And so she turned to me with a frantic look.

"King Ludis."

"Ah, this…"

Fule and I had recalled the same thing.

When Oren had resurrected Lopez.

That time, Oren had sacrificed his attendants in order to bring Lopez back.

If the Arancian royals and nobles here were just being used as a sacrifice…

I turned to Taran and nodded.

Taran immediately shot out her webs towards the scepter and pulled it towards her.

At the same time, I unleashed wind magic at the crystal in order to shatter it.

"What!? What have you done?!"

Not only Rulat, but the others glared at me angrily.

"Return it! Return it immediately!"

"Are you trying to get us all killed!?"

And then they all started to move towards us.

So even with the crystal destroyed, their minds were still not freed.

"Lord Heal. We should…"

"Aye, let's run!"

And so we quickly went back into the tunnel that I had dug.

At the same time, I took out boulders from my Inventory in order to block the way so that we could not be pursued.

As Taran was carrying us on her back, we were able to escape from the tunnels easily.

Once we were out, Fule asked,

"So, what should we do, Lord Heal?"

"Let's go back. Perhaps the brain washing will wear off with time. Or perhaps they can be cured with the leaves of the World Tree."

After hearing these words, Taran began to run towards the exit of the holy place.

However, a sound suddenly echoed from the entire area.

"Stop!! I cannot resurrect without that!"

"King Aland!? Do you mean to resurrect by killing all of your descendants!?"

"Those are not my descendants!! They are the descendants of the enemy who killed me!!"

"What?"

In any case, we had to get out of here.

Taran did not stop moving, and she tried to jump towards the entrance that I had dug.

"I won't let you escape!! If you get in my way, I will turn you into carcasses!!"

The same voice echoed again, and then tall fences grew out of the ground and blocked our path.

"Hahaha! Did you see that!? Now you cannot escape! While it seems like you are good at digging, you will not be able to do that while on the run… What?"

I raised my hands towards the fence and unleashed a giant ball of fire.

There was a loud boom as it exploded, and the fence turned into rubble.

"Wh-what!? What is that magic!?"

The voice was clearly frantic now.

The wind magic I had used earlier was nothing special. And so they had not expected me to use magic like this, which I had learned from Elto.

Well, maybe I should just destroy…

If the people of the holy place are sacrifices, then the speaker would not hurt them before it could use them. So no matter what I did to the holy place, the people should not be harmed.

I had feared that earlier, and so I had dug a hole. But there was no need to hold back now.

Taran slowly moved through the area that I had destroyed.

And then when we reached the last entrance to the holy place, I also destroyed it with fire magic.

"M-my iron defense mechanisms?!"

When the voice rang again, I answered.

"Unfortunately for you, we are leaving."

"W-wait! No, please wait!! I beg you!! I will reveal myself to you now."

Once we were outside of the holy place, I turned around.

And then a thin light appeared in front of us.

After a while, it started to take a human shape…

Fule's mouth dropped open.

"Lord Heal…that…"

"Aye, it's…"

What stood before us, was a hairy, short and stout old man.