Chapter 212 - <19>
"Ugh…"
Franz groaned. He seemed to be lying face down, but it was pitch black in front of him and he couldn't see anything. Something heavy was on top of him, and he was struggling, unable to move, when the weight suddenly lifted.
"You okay?"
The weight spoke. As he slowly sat up, he saw that the weight had been Ritz. He had no idea what had happened, but he answered anyway.
"I think so."
As he groaned, Ritz tossed something to him. He hastily caught it; it was Sara-chan's lamp. The glass was cracked, but Sara-chan herself was unharmed. She chirped happily upon seeing Franz. It seemed Ritz had saved Sara-chan as well.
He shuddered to think what might have happened to Sara-chan's lamp if he hadn't handed it to Ritz when they got off the flying ship.
"What a terrible experience…"
He heard a mutter right beside him. He looked over to see Edward shaking his head with a sigh. He hadn't noticed, but it seemed Edward had been lying next to him.
"You can say that again. What incredible power. No wonder it burned down a whole forest."
Ritz, who had stood up while brushing the dirt off his body, looked in a certain direction. Franz followed his gaze and saw the entrance, now completely collapsed and buried. The explosion was meant to hold off the enemy temporarily, but the wall had collapsed, completely blocking entry from the outside.
"…It certainly was tremendous."
Edward, who had stood up beside him, agreed. It seemed the explosion had been so incredible that there were no other words to describe it.
He moved his bruised and scratched body, confirming that he had no major injuries despite being in that explosion. He wondered what on earth had happened.
"What happened?"
Franz, who had no memory of the moment of the explosion, looked up at Ritz from his seated position. Ritz shrugged.
"If you ask me that, I can only say I don't know either. It was just that incredible…"
Edward nudged the shoulder of Ritz, who had said this casually.
"My apologies. It seems you saved us."
"Nah. Don't worry about it."
From their exchange, Franz understood that Ritz had shielded both him and Edward from the blast. At the same time, he noticed blood flowing from Ritz's back.
"Your back…"
He asked, flustered. Ritz gave a wry smile.
"A bunch of shrapnel from the ship came flying in that explosion. It's just a scratch, don't worry about it."
"But…"
As Franz fumbled for words, Ritz shrugged.
"For now, once we've secured a safe spot, check and see if anything's stuck in there."
"How can you be so casual…"
At a loss for words, Edward took Franz's place and rolled up Ritz's shirt to check the injury.
"It's not fatal, but it's deep enough to require treatment."
"You think so?"
"For now, I'll just give you first aid."
As Ritz grumbled about being in a hurry, Edward unceremoniously made him sit down and applied first aid with bandages and medicinal herbs.
At times like these, Anna's absence was keenly felt. If Anna were here, a wound like this would be healed in an instant. And if Anna were here, Ritz wouldn't try to hide his injury and would just leave it to her.
Franz and Edward, on the other hand, couldn't do much in a situation like this.
But such worries were unfounded. Edward treated the wound with a skill so surprising it was hard to believe he had ever been a king.
"You're quite skilled."
"Well, yes. I used to treat livestock like this often in the old days."
"Huh?"
"Am I the same as a horse or a pig?"
"Don't worry, I'm somewhat used to treating humans as well."
Whether he was joking or not, Edward finished the treatment in a matter of minutes and gave Ritz's wound a hard slap.
"Ow!"
"Good, you endured the pain well."
"Stop talking like that…"
Ritz pouted resentfully, but then, perhaps feeling Franz's gaze, he laughed it off. I see, Franz thought, so this is what Edward meant when he said Ritz used to be very honest and noisy. The thought was strangely convincing.
Perhaps conscious of Franz's gaze, Ritz cleared his throat and stood up.
"Alright, this is no time to be lazing around."
He muttered, and Franz followed his gaze. There stood the beautiful, transparent staircase.
"For now, let's just try climbing those stairs."
Even Franz could see that it was the shortest route. With a small grunt, he stood up and followed the backs of Ritz and Edward, who had already started walking ahead.
Due to the recent explosion, the corridor, paved with pure white stone, was littered with fragments of wood and stone. They proceeded carefully, trying not to trip, and soon, a straight staircase appeared in front of the corridor.
But it was unbelievably huge.
Not wide—it was probably just wide enough for three or four people to stand side by side. But it was terrifyingly long, stretching far, far up. Looking up, he felt the illusion of being swallowed by some enormous snake.
"…We're climbing this?"
Franz couldn't help but murmur.
"We have no choice but to climb."
Ritz answered quietly.
Looking at it again, he began to understand the structure of this tower. It was hollow, with a central atrium that seemed to continue to the top, and in that atrium hung the transparent staircase. From below, the staircase appeared to extend straight to the summit.
Perhaps there was a switchback somewhere along the way, but from directly below, it was too high to tell.
He glanced up at Ritz standing next to him, but Ritz was also staring, mouth agape, so he probably saw the same thing.
And at intervals of several floors, two corridors extended from the staircase toward the circular hallway that surrounded the atrium. They weren't always in the same direction, but were slightly offset.
From below, it looked like a spider's web.
"Shall we go?"
Prompted by Edward, Ritz shrugged and declared.
"Of course."
As Ritz stepped onto the transparent staircase, Franz braced himself for a moment, thinking it might crack. But contrary to his imagination, Ritz's footsteps echoed loudly.
"I'm surprised. This is pretty sturdy. It's not glass or crystal."
After climbing a few steps, Ritz stomped his feet and even jumped, but the staircase didn't even budge.
"Alright, let's go before a swarm of enemies shows up."
Having confirmed the safety of his footing, Ritz quickly started up the stairs. Edward followed behind him. As Franz was about to follow Edward, Sara-chan let out a small cry from inside the lamp.
"Sara-chan?"
It was a cry he had never heard before.
"Wait a minute."
He called out. Ritz and Edward stopped and turned back.
"What's wrong?"
"Sara-chan's acting strange."
He peered inside to see Sara-chan trembling. Her cries sounded fearful.
"Is she okay?"
"…I don't know. She seems scared."
Perhaps she had taken some damage earlier. Or maybe there was something wrong with this place. But Franz, though a spirit user, lacked Anna's power to sense barriers and couldn't feel anything.
But he couldn't just leave Sara-chan here.
"Sara-chan, are you scared?"
"Fra-kii."
"If we don't go together, I'll have to leave you here."
At his words, Sara-chan stared at Franz, her flames flickering.
"What do you want to do?"
When he asked, Sara-chan looked straight at Franz and let out a short cry. It might have been his own wishful thinking, but to him, it sounded like she was saying she would go.
"Franz?"
Called by Ritz, he looked up at Ritz and Edward. Not being spirit users, they couldn't understand Sara-chan's condition.
"She seems fine."
Ritz nodded at his words.
"I see. Then let's go."
"Yeah."
This time, he followed the two of them as they ascended the stairs.
They climbed, keeping an eye out for pursuers, but the white, shining tower was frighteningly silent, with no sign of the enemy.
"Isn't it too quiet?"
After climbing for a while, he asked in a low voice. Ritz, in front of him, answered without turning around.
"Quiet is good. I'm in a hurry, you know."
His tone was joking, but Franz, who had been witnessing Ritz's feelings for Anna since Tashkur, knew that these were Ritz's heartfelt words.
Come to think of it, more than two weeks had passed since they had been separated from Anna.
Looking back to when they started their journey together from Saradio, there had never been a time when the three of them were not together for more than two weeks. The strange emptiness of Anna's absence had been filled by life-threatening situations and busyness until now, but for Ritz, it must be a deep and unfillable void.
For some reason, the three of them climbed the stairs in silence.
They counted the floors as they went and realized that a corridor extended from the staircase once every five floors. Every five floors, there was a circular landing from which corridors extended. They probably used these corridors, which extended to both sides, to move up and down.
But every five floors was incredibly inconvenient. Perhaps there were stairs scattered around in the rooms surrounding the atrium that they couldn't see from here.
He found himself counting each floor as he climbed. If he didn't, he felt like he was just treading water, and it was unsettling. The sight of the scenery always being the same was indescribably unnerving.
Perhaps because his body had been considerably strengthened by his journey so far, he was able to keep up with Ritz and Edward until they passed the twentieth floor. He didn't complain as much as before, but it was still tough. The monotony, with nothing to distract him, made it even more difficult.
"Thirty…"
Franz had been naturally counting the floors aloud through his labored breaths when he finally noticed that Ritz, walking a few steps ahead of him, had stopped.
"What is it?"
He stopped, catching his breath, and looked at Ritz, and then at Edward, who was a step or two behind him. Both of them were looking further up. He followed their gaze and his blood ran cold. The Clan of Darkness stood on the landing a few floors above, looking down at them.
And it wasn't just one or two of them. There had to be at least twenty.
"…An ambush."
Ritz looked up at the man who had muttered with a wry smile.
"What are we going to do?"
"Well, you know… we have no choice but to fight our way through. Otherwise, they'll knock us off."
As he said this, Ritz casually glanced behind him. Following his gaze, Franz felt a wave of dizziness. At the end of the considerable distance they had climbed, an empty space yawned open like a bottomless swamp, a pit of unfathomable darkness.
He had been looking only forward and hadn't noticed, but he now shivered at the realization of how terrifyingly high up they were. If he were to misstep and stumble, he felt he would tumble down these stairs.
Unconsciously, his legs, which had been standing there, tensed up.
He absolutely did not want to fall. If he were kicked off these stairs, he would surely die.
While breaking out in a cold sweat, Franz looked at the enemy in front of him. A silent staredown continued between the two sides. Eventually, Ritz muttered.
"Isn't this strange?"
"What's strange?"
Ritz turned to Edward, who had responded to his mutter.
"Why aren't they using spirits? Most of the Clan of Darkness are spirit users, right?"
"That's true."
As the two men's whispers reached his ears, it dawned on Franz. The reason Sara-chan had been scared to climb these stairs earlier. He concentrated, trying to sense the presence of spirits, but he couldn't feel anything.
Normally, even inside a building, if he just concentrated, he should be able to sense some kind of spirit presence.
"…There's no spirit presence."
He muttered, and Ritz tilted his head.
"No spirit presence?"
"Yes. I thought it was strange. It's too quiet."
That was it. The strange silence he had felt since he saw these stairs… There were no spirits here. This building, or perhaps these stairs, might have some mechanism that repelled spirits.
That's why Sara-chan was scared.
"Ritz!"
Edward called Ritz's name sharply. Ritz turned and cursed. Following his gaze, he saw that the Clan of Darkness was gathering on the landing behind them as well.
"A pincer attack…"
"What are we going to do?!"
He blurted out. Ritz gave a wry smile.
"…This is bad. We're in trouble if they're all assassin-level. After all, they can't use spirit magic. So they must have gathered guys who are confident in their skills."
"No way…"
The color drained from his face with an audible whoosh. He had seen assassin-level skill during the fight between Raven and Ritz on the way to the royal capital, Sears. If they were all at that level, it would be impossible.
"But well… we have no choice but to do it."
Ritz said, drawing his greatsword.
"Exactly."
Edward also drew his sword with a wry smile.
Caught between Ritz, facing the enemy above, and Edward, facing the enemy below, Franz slapped his own face. He had to calm down.
Wasn't there some good way? He desperately searched his limited experience.
Then, inside the lamp in his hand, Sara-chan, who had been curled up small, slowly woke up and let out a high-pitched cry.
"Sara-chan?"
He looked at Sara-chan, and she stared straight back at him. She had been frightened until just a moment ago, but now there was no fear in her eyes. As he stared back, he could sense what she was trying to say.
"…You want me to use you?"
"Kii!"
Sara-chan's confident cry echoed through the space. The Clan of Darkness stirred at the presence of Sara-chan, a spirit that should not have been in this place.
"Franz."
Edward called out without taking his eyes off the enemy.
"Yes."
"You said there was no spirit presence?"
"Yes."
"Then what about Sara-chan? Has she lost her power?"
"Eh…?"
As asked, he gazed at Sara-chan inside the lamp. Her flames were as strong and crimson as ever.
"She hasn't lost it."
He answered, and Edward slowly nodded.
"Then does that not mean that this space is not sealing spirits?"
"Not sealing them…?"
"That's right. In other words, perhaps the spirits are merely being driven away from here."
Edward's words sent his mind racing.
A situation where spirits are driven away, but not sealed.
And Sara-chan is here.
"…I see…"
A single ray of light shone before him.
Sara-chan had been frightened until a moment ago, but now she was looking up at Franz as strong as ever. When she was on the verge of death before, even her flames had almost gone out, so this was not a sealing.
That means… if he borrowed Sara-chan's power, wouldn't Franz, a fire spirit user, be the only one here who could manipulate spirits?
"Ritz, Your Majesty, I'm going to try to summon the Fire Dragon."
He told the two of them and looked ahead. He now realized that the end of the staircase, which he had thought was far away, was closer than he had expected.
"Can you do it?"
Ritz asked without taking his eyes off the enemy. Franz was about to say his usual "I don't know, but I'll try," but he bit his lip.
The power to handle spirits is the strength of the heart.
That's what his master had told him when he couldn't control the fire spirits at all.
"I will do it."
He declared firmly. Ritz glanced back and smiled.
"Counting on you."
"Yeah."
But the enemy would not wait. Especially since they knew Franz had a spirit with him.
"You shall go no further! We will not allow you to defile the domain of the god!"
The man in robes and armor, who appeared to be the commander, shouted with force. The enemy let out a collective cry.
"Franz, how long will it take?"
Ritz asked in a low voice.
"If I have a minute…"
He had meant to say a shorter time, but Ritz immediately dismissed it.
"Too long. Thirty seconds."
This was the stronghold of the Clan of Darkness, the Great Temple of Darkness. If they were all assassin-level warriors, that was probably all the time they had.
Probably more for Edward than for Ritz.
"…Understood."
"Counting on you."
With those parting words, Ritz, with the speed of a gale, let out a spirited cry and charged up the stairs in one go. The enemy, not expecting an attack, was thrown into disarray.
"What an impatient fellow."
Edward, who had smiled wryly, did not move. He was guarding Franz's rear.
For a moment, he was worried about the two of them, but he couldn't just stand there watching. He had something to do for his companions who had put their trust in him.
He let Sara-chan out of the lamp and crouched down.
"Sara-chan, can you raise a large flame towards the ceiling?"
When he asked, Sara-chan cried out happily. He could feel her voice as her will within him.
Sara-chan was telling him, 'Of course I can.'
There was no need to communicate with Sara-chan in words like Anna did.
If he focused his mind, he could feel it. Because Sara-chan could speak, he had treated her strangely like a human when he interacted with her, but she was a spirit. As a fire spirit user, Franz just had to clear his mind and read her heart.
He realized such an obvious thing for the first time.
A pillar of blazing fire rose from Sara-chan's body. The flames, exuding a life force alien to the faint white light emanating from the staircase, brightly illuminated the space.
Before the warm flames that protected him, he closed his eyes and cleared his mind.
His mind's eye felt the powerful flame in the quiet space, and eventually, he felt the power of the flame condense towards him. Power was overflowing.
"O spirit of fire, who governs power and courage."
When he slowly opened his eyes, Sara-chan's flame was shining even brighter.
He spoke with the conviction that he could do it.
"Become my guardian, and become my power. Come forth to me, Fire Dragon!"
An explosion of gas unlike any before, a flame wrapped in a dazzling light, blazed up. The flame burned fiercely, and the brilliantly shining, heat-radiating flame swallowed even Sara-chan.
There, a massive Fire Dragon, clad in all the flames, appeared.
The heat of its blazing red flames was incomparable to anything before. Its great roar was filled with joy. This emotion that flowed into Franz was a sense of liberation. The Fire Dragon, after slowly circling the staircase once, brought its face close to Franz's.
He was almost overwhelmed by the majesty of the spirit that governed power, but he realized that the Fire Dragon had a familiar presence.
"Sara-chan?"
When he called out, the Fire Dragon roared towards the heavens. He remembered how Sara-chan had been swallowed earlier. Sara-chan and the Fire Dragon were likely merging and fusing now. Originally, spirits were individuals, but they were also the same thing.
If Sara-chan's consciousness was present, it was a blessing for Franz. To Sara-chan, Franz was her master.
Looking around, he saw that Ritz was in the middle of a chaotic battle, and though he was struggling, he was not being pushed back. But Edward, not descending from the stairs and facing one opponent at a time, was being pushed back in an unfamiliar battle with assassins.
Without a moment's hesitation, Franz commanded Sara-chan.
"Sara-chan! Repel His Majesty's enemies!"
Almost simultaneously with Franz's words, the Fire Dragon flew down the stairs as if sliding, naturally leaping over Edward and charging into the enemy.
"Made it in time…!"
He confirmed that Edward had muttered with clear relief and sheathed his sword.
In contrast to Edward, the Clan of Darkness was thrown into confusion and disarray by the appearance of a spirit that should not have been there, and a dragon, the highest rank, at that.
After mowing down the disorganized and bewildered enemies, the Fire Dragon let out a great roar. For some reason, he felt that the usual triumphant 'kii!' was mixed in with that roar.
"Well done, Franz."
Edward, who had run up the stairs panting, clapped him on the shoulder.
"Yes, sir."
"Is that Sara-chan?"
"Yes."
"I see. No wonder she's so friendly."
Apparently, she had given him a little greeting as she flew over him. Edward, with a small sigh, smiled and urged Franz on.
"Shall we go, then?"
"Yes. Sara-chan!"
When he called, the Fire Dragon rushed up towards them. The Clan of Darkness on the lower floor was in a state of near annihilation. From across the empty space, many members of the Clan of Darkness and Goblins were peeking out, but their faces were contorted in astonishment and fear, and they showed no signs of pursuit.
Then all that was left was to scatter the enemies fighting Ritz.
"Defeat Ritz's enemies too!"
In response, the Fire Dragon let out a high-pitched cry, circled around Franz and Edward once, and rushed up to the upper floor. Franz and Edward also followed the Fire Dragon, running up the stairs.
"Ritz!"
He yelled as he ran. Ritz, who was in the middle of a chaotic battle, glanced back, confirmed the Fire Dragon, and with a faint smile, leaped backward. The Fire Dragon then charged in.
The landing was once again plunged into a state of panic. The Clan of Darkness, spirit users who could not use their own spirits, had no way to resist the massive Fire Dragon.
The three of them, including the now-joined Ritz, ran up the path cleared by the Fire Dragon as it eliminated the enemy.
The Fire Dragon was still scattering the Clan of Darkness on the landing. But a few of them, noticing the three's escape, pursued them, taking advantage of a gap in the Fire Dragon's movements.
The men, with scorched clothes and burns, ran up with desperate expressions. But there was no room for mercy here.
"Sara-chan!"
When he called, the Fire Dragon let out a roar and chased the enemies up the stairs from behind.
The three of them ran up without looking back, hearing the voices of the Clan of Darkness, who had either fallen or been knocked off the stairs, gradually fading away with cries of resentment. For a moment, he wanted to cover his ears, but he didn't want to hesitate and die here.
To reach their goal, they had no choice but to press on.
At the end of the transparent staircase, a huge door appeared. Made of a pure white material and adorned with equally beautiful white decorations and carvings, the heavy-looking door stood there as if to block their path.
"Is that the end point?!"
Ritz yelled. It seemed they had to go through the door to proceed.
"Let's go!"
Casting aside any worries about the door being locked, Ritz threw his body against the heavy-looking door. Following his lead, Franz and Edward also slammed their shoulders into the heavy door.
But contrary to its appearance, the heavy-looking door opened inward easily.
Silently, they leaped inside and quickly summoned the Fire Dragon.
Once the Fire Dragon had entered, Ritz hastily closed the door and tied the doorknob with a rope, wrapping it around and around.
After confirming that there were no enemies in the space, the three of them sat down, panting.
Compared to the terrifyingly wide atrium just before, this place was cozy. The ceiling was high and the room was quite spacious, but even though there seemed to be no lights, it was filled with a white light.
It was a strange space enclosed by pure white walls, with nothing but the door they had just entered and a normal-looking door in front of them. Compared to the door they had entered, the door that seemed to be the exit was so ordinary that it was strange.
While trying to catch his breath, Franz looked up at the huge Fire Dragon in front of him. The Fire Dragon was looking down at Franz intently.
He hadn't noticed until now, but his limbs felt slightly heavy. Come to think of it, Franz had lost consciousness every time he had summoned the Fire Dragon. It was dangerous for Franz, who was weaker than Anna, to keep this Fire Dragon summoned for a long time.
Perhaps he had managed to stay conscious this time because the source was Sara-chan.
"Sara-chan, thank you. Can you change back?"
When he asked, the Fire Dragon let out a great roar. The next moment, with a large cloud of smoke, the flames vanished. He thought they had all disappeared, but in their place was the usual Sara-chan.
"So it was Sara-chan."
Ritz's eyes widened.
"It's Sara-chan, but it's also the Fire Dragon."
"…I don't really get it."
Ritz, not being a spirit user, said this and stretched大きく.
"You can tell me about that when we reach our destination. We're still in the middle of enemy territory, after all."
Ritz's words made him pull himself together. The dangerous situation had passed, but he couldn't let his guard down yet.
He offered the lamp, which he had somehow managed to hold onto, and Sara-chan willingly entered, curled up, and fell asleep as if her job was done. Sara-chan seemed tired too.
She had used a weak spirit like a Salamander to summon the Fire Dragon, so it was possible she could have disappeared, but she had endured well.
He lay down flat on his back, trying to catch his breath. All three of them took a break without saying a word for a while.
"Kuchiba wasn't there."
After a while, Ritz said this quietly. With all this commotion, where on earth could Kuchiba be?
"There is no need to rush. We are at the summit. If it is as we saw from the flying ship, this floor should be very small. We will meet Kuchiba soon enough."
Edward, having caught his breath, said with a laugh and stood up. Franz followed suit.
"Well, I hope this is the High Priest's special seat."
Ritz, who had been the first to stand up, said this, opened the door, and left the room. But for some reason, he stopped in his tracks, stood there, and groaned in disbelief.
"What the hell is this…?"
Franz and Edward, who had rushed out of the room, saw a long, pure white corridor and a door that seemed to continue endlessly.
"…It's different from how it looked from the outside."
He nodded at Edward's mutter.
"Why is the top floor so spacious…?"
"…Who knows."
And what was even stranger were the numerous hemispherical objects placed all over the place.
"Boiled eggs?"
Ritz muttered. They were certainly smooth, like freshly peeled boiled eggs. The objects were clustered around the outside of the door.
While they were confused, the hemispherical object in front of them began to flash red and green lights.
『ELIMINATING INTRUDERS.』
"What?"
A high-pitched, emotionless voice came from somewhere. At the same time, the hemispherical object began to move slowly.
"What is this…"
Even Ritz couldn't help but take a step back. As he searched for the source of the voice in confusion, he heard it again.
『ELIMINATING INTRUDERS.』
He finally realized where the voice was coming from. At the same time, Edward and Ritz seemed to have realized as well.
"It's this thing!"
Ritz prodded the hemispherical object with his greatsword. The source of the voice was that strange object. But the next moment, a light shot out from the object.
The light, which Ritz dodged at the last second, left a scorched mark on the white wall with a sizzling sound.
As the smell of burning rose, the three of them were at a loss for words. Whether it knew of their astonishment or not, the hemispherical object repeated the same words in an emotionless voice.
『ELIMINATING INTRUDERS.』
"This thing's an enemy!"
Ritz reflexively swung his greatsword at the enemy in front of him, but the sword only dented the hemispherical object with a dull thud.
"Wha… It's hard…"
As Ritz's eyes widened in a groan, the crushed object once again flashed red and green lights.
『ELIMINATING INTRUDERS.』
The light that was emitted again was directed at the three of them.
"Crap, let's run!"
Ritz, who had come to his senses, knocked over the hemispherical object. It couldn't be crushed, but it seemed it could be knocked over. However, it quickly got back up by extending an iron arm from its lower part.
"Hurry up!"
Dodging the hemispherical object that Ritz had overturned with brute force, the three of them desperately fled down the corridor. Without even knowing where to run.