STM 189

“Lord Lu, can you break the shield?”

“I don’t know.”

I answered the question from behind and looked around the interior thoroughly. With the anxiety gone, my mind was as quiet as the dawn, and I was working as fast as a robot. Though, the one actually doing the hard work was a real robot.

‘Mo, is there anything special among the black magic stones?’

Finding the core among these black magic stones might be like finding a needle in a haystack, but I could see the dark energy emanating from it. However, there were too many of them.

[There were many dark areas, making it difficult to find the core.]

Damn it. I needed to find the core to break the shield with the club. If I touch it while it was not there, everything would be blown away in an explosion. Then how am I supposed to find it…

Suddenly, something caught my eye. The starfish curled up and trembling behind Nuchir. However, it wasn’t simply hiding; it appeared to be facing away in a specific direction.

“Is there anything you are afraid of here?”

The starfish was quite frightened, but I waited patiently. It was a huge help that it kept watch out of our sights on the way here. And it was adorable.

“Or is there at least a direction that feels especially unpleasant?”

The starfish, still curled up, spread out a single trembling arm. Its blunt tip pointed at a spot. I turned in that direction and started running. Strangely, I was convinced that I could find the core.

“Haas! Light it up so I can see this way.”

Soon, a shimmering ball of light rose into the air, illuminating the path ahead of me. The wall, studded with small black magic stones, looked even more gruesome up close, but I attentively examined it.

‘Mo! Are you looking for it?’

For a moment, I heard no answer. Was this not the right place? It was just as I was about to move.

[lower section at the 4 o’clock position.]

As soon as I heard the answer, I raised the club.

“It might be dangerous, so everyone back off to the far end.”

I warned them, but heard no sound of movement. However, there was no time to be impressed by their loyalty right now. One of the black magic stones in the wall that Mo had found was emitting a black aura. Yes, it is you. The one I will eliminate immediately…

“Lord Lu! There may be multiple cores of this spell.”

What? I turned around in surprise, and Haas explained in a trembling voice.

“It just occurred to me that, although very rare, I heard that a certain dark mage cast a complex spell to create multiple core simultaneously to increase the destructive power of their magic.”

“Really?”

“Yes, so if Grand Duke Montaine had used this method as well…”

“No.”

“Yes?”

“Grand Duke Montaine wouldn’t do such a thing.”

She was holed up in this place filled with black magic stones, spending all her time accumulating power. She might even believe she had become a god, going so far as to blindly trust her own power. There was no way such a person would use complex magic. Convinced of this, I pressed the tip of my club against the black magic stone without hesitation.

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Tap. Tap.

Grand Duke Montaine’s steps as she approached Tairok looked leisurely, as if she were out for a stroll. Her voice was also dry.

“I’ve never heard of such movements by monsters. Grand Duke Kun, are you there?”

As Tairok only stared at the other person without answering, Grand Duke Montaine, who had asked the question, twisted the corner of his mouth.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“I was wondering where you had been all this time, only crawling out now.”

“Then why are you loitering around on someone else’s land?”

Grand Duke Montaine replied coldly, but did not draw her sword toward Tairok.

“But I suppose I’ll have to postpone your disposition. There are things that need to be dealt with first right now.……”

Her gaze turned back toward the monsters, as if they were enemies to defeat together. Tairok agreed with this point and turned his body.

But before he could even turn his head, a strong gust of wind and intense heat enveloped him. As soon as Tairok hurriedly swung his sword, a huge explosion occurred.

Boom!

Before the heat from the explosion had even cooled, another barrage of attacks rained down on both sides of Tairok. In an instant, a shockwave stirred up dust and a strong wind. On top of that, a blindingly white light flashed, obscuring the view.

However, Grand Duke Montaine paid no heed and unleashed the final blow. A black, smoke-like aura coalesced at her fingertips and shot out in an instant.

Bang-!!

The ground shook, scattering dust and broken gravel in all directions. At the same time, Grand Duke Montaine suddenly jumped up like a coiled spring and stepped back. A lightning-like aura struck the spot where she had been.

Crack!

With the sound of burning air, the shockwave stirred up a strong wind again. Grand Duke Montaine, having barely managed to step back, glared at the settling dust but soon smirked. As the dust settled, the figure of Tairok was revealed.

He gripped his sword, but his side was slit open and bleeding. The blood dripping from it soaked the ground, creating small puddles. Yet, Tairok’s expression didn’t change as he glared at Grand Duke Montaine.

“You use dark magic.”

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Whoosh! Whoosh!

I struck the shield countless times, but this damn shield wouldn’t budge. Eventually, my arm started trembling so much that I had no choice but to stop.

“Ha, ha…… Fuck.”

I begrudged even the time it took to bend over and catch my breath, but it didn’t look like it would break even if I hit harder. Right, just because I was lucky to get here doesn’t mean things will stay good forever. Is there anything easy in life?

I gritted my teeth again and lifted my head. This shield had no holes, just like the one that had imprisoned the Borhumi divine beast. Then what am I supposed to do?

I lifted my eyes and gazed at the mummified corpse. Then, suddenly, the question I had thought of the moment I first arrived here resurfaced. Had the divine beast perished?

But if even the slightest bit of strength remained, it would have tried to reveal itself like the Borhumi divine beast. Even if it couldn’t come out, at least from inside there… …Huh?

As I peered inside, something caught my eye. It was the brazier illuminating the interior. The strange thing was the flame burning atop it. There wasn’t even any wind, so how was it swaying like that?

“The power of the Montaine divine beast is the power of fire, right?”

“You’re right.”

“Yes. It is the power of fire.”

“Montaine is fire.”

I asked without looking back, but answers came from all directions simultaneously. The voices were so enthusiastic that I turned around, only to meet even more passionate gazes. Leaving aside Haas and Nuchir, even Enya, who had been wary of me, was looking at me with an intense stare.

What’s wrong with you? That is a lot of pressure. I almost confessed that I might not be able to break the shield. I had to check that flame first.

‘Mo, does the movement of the flames look a bit strange?’

[Yes, it is different from the irregular movement of a typical flame. That flame is continuously swinging in one direction.]

Direction? I ran toward where the tip of the flame was pointing and hurriedly checked the shield.

‘Mo! Hurry up and find something…’

Mo gave the answer before I could even finish giving my command.

[A crack is visible at the 6 o’clock position, around waist height.]

As soon as I saw it with my own eyes, my hand moved on its own.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The club struck the shield again with a whistling sound. And it was when it hit for the third time.

Riip.

I heard the sound of a taut piece of cloth tearing. It was the same tearing sound I had heard before the Borhumi divine beast’s shield shattered. As soon as I stepped back, the entire shield began to split open like cracked glass.

“Get down!”

Haas, having once experienced the collapse of a shield, shouted, and the others quickly ducked. But I did not. Unlike before, there was no strong light to blind us.

As the shield shattered, a fierce wind arose, but instead of retreating, I ran forward. The flames in the furnace were rapidly diminishing.

No, you shouldn’t fade away like the ‘Last Leaf’! Likely an allusion to O. Henry’s short story “The Last Leaf.” In that story, a sick woman believes she will die when the last leaf falls from a vine outside her window. Someone paints a fake leaf that never falls, giving her hope to recover.

I thrust my hand into the brazier without thinking twice. I didn’t know why I did it, either. It was an action I took while completely forgetting the common sense that I might burn my hand.

It was not like I could catch a flame. But by the time I reached it, even the smallest ember had already vanished from the brazier. What? It ends like this? Just as I pulled my hand out of the brazier in a daze… a bright red flame burst from my hand clutching the ashes and soared to the ceiling of the cave in an instant. It was a flame shaped like a giant deer antler.

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The exact opposite of the power of the divine beast is black magic. Therefore, asking a divine beast contractor if they are a dark mage was not something to be said even as a joke.

However, neither Tairok, who asked, nor Grand Duke Montaine, who was questioned, laughed. She tilted her head to the side and spoke calmly.

“It doesn’t matter whether I use black magic or not. Shouldn’t we verify how much power I possess?”

A relaxed mockery followed, but Tairok paid no heed to her words and asked only the necessary questions.

“Are you the ‘us’ Dorgo was talking about?”

“Tairok, what do you want to know? Do you want to ask if I was the one who cast the curse on Kun?”

Grand Duke Montaine’s gaze briefly fell on Tairok’s wound.

“But do you think you’ll even be able to get an answer? You’re about to collapse.”

“That’s a long load of nonsense.”

Tairok replied briefly and jumped up with his sword raised.