Only My Magic Levels Up - Chapter 193



Only Noblemtl

Episode 193 The King’s Tomb (4)

Leaving their doubts aside for the moment, Galen and Lilia continued forward along the passage.

There was surprisingly little blockage.

The structure was so bad that the passage kept turning at right angles like a maze, but it didn’t actually branch out like a maze. After all, it was a single path, so no matter how many times you turned, there was no way you’d get lost.

But I didn’t think that it was too smooth.

Now I know why things were going smoothly.

The suspicious parts that Lilia had pointed out, whether they were traces of traps or traces of battle, but in any case, the subtle evidence that there was something was discovered several more times after that.

“At this point, I guess we should just assume that the traces will continue until the end of the passage.”

Lilia, whose seriousness had been increasing since a while ago, muttered.

“If you say that it’s an easy route because it was previously cleared by a previous exploration team, how can I understand that? But if we continue like this, won’t we reach the deep end by the time the passage ends?”

“That’s right. It’s going down little by little, so it’s not going to be the way out.”

“So, does that mean the previous exploration team was annihilated or retreated… … .”

When the ruins’ core is destroyed, the ancient magic disappears and the place becomes an ordinary place.

This ruin has not been conquered yet, as skeletons are still running around.

However, there is evidence that someone has passed through the passage leading to the abyss before, and although we will have to see it to find out, it is assumed that they have probably reached the abyss.

If you arrive but don’t conquer the area, it means you failed, and then there are only two possible outcomes.

They either died after challenging until the end, or gave up because they thought it wasn’t possible.

“The problem is that both of them are caught somewhere.”

Galen listened to Lilia’s words. Lilia nodded.

“It would be difficult to break through thousands of bronze-grade skeletons with just the silver. In other words, the previous expedition was at least equipped with the basics, including gold.”

“When you reach the golden age, no matter how blinded by greed you are, you still have instinctive judgment. If you realized that the attack was difficult, you would have been able to withdraw.”

“But if a celebrity of such high status as Gold managed to escape the ruins safely, isn’t it strange that the ruins’ existence has been kept so thoroughly hidden until now?”

“But it’s strangely clean to say that they were wiped out without any response… Even if they erased it while escaping in a hurry, it’s strange, but if they were wiped out, there shouldn’t be anyone left to clean up. Physically.”

Both of them had the intelligence to reason logically, and as they spent a long time together, their way of thinking began to resemble each other without them realizing it, so the conversation flowed very smoothly.

Unfortunately, the conversation wasn’t positive.

“Did the jewelers notice this fact?”

“Surely you wouldn’t not recognize it, since it’s called a jewel. You might not think it’s anything special and just keep going.”

“I really hope it’s not a big deal… … .”

Lilia, whose words had been trailing off, suddenly stopped walking. Her ears perked up.

“…sound.”

“yes?”

“It’s a loud noise. It’s quite far away… No, I guess we shouldn’t make any judgments here? Anyway, it seems like someone is fighting up ahead.”

“It looks like we’ve finally met the expedition team.”

Of course, it’s not good if we meet, but that’s okay if we just look at the situation before meeting and go back.

The two walked without rushing, paying close attention in case there was a trap left at the last moment.

As they drew near, the noise grew louder and louder until even Galen could hear it clearly. The thumping sound was like someone was hurling rocks at the walls with a catapult.

“Huh?”

However, the passage ended before the exact source of the noise could be identified.

The space that suddenly appeared was a large room.

It wasn’t as huge as the sandy beach, but it was about the size of a fairly large auditorium.

There were three more similar-looking holes in the wall where the passage they had escaped from was located. Could it be that the passage that had split into four before was now converging into one again?

Boom! BANG! BANG!

A heavy shockwave was heard coming from the middle of the room.

A monster whose entire body seemed to be burning with ashen flames was swinging a longsword that was also burning ashen as if possessed.

The opponent he was up against was a monster with muscles so terrifying that it seemed like something out of a dream… I felt a little sorry to say that, because he was someone I knew.

“Sir Theodore?”

The ash monster’s longsword was much longer than a normal sword, and Theodore’s greatsword was of course of the same size. Every time the unusual weapons clashed, a loud noise was heard.

“You came really quickly. Huh?”

Theodore, who had been grumbling, looked around at the two people and opened his eyes wide.

Although he looked like a typical thief, wearing black clothes and a black mask, the senses of a warrior like Theodore did not depend solely on eyesight.

Since they had been together for several days and had even been asked to do something for him, Theodore recognized them right away.

“What, it was you guys? Did you come in right after me?”

“Hey, can you please not focus?”

“What’s the point of focusing against this guy?”

Theodore snorted at Galen’s question. He spoke while swinging his greatsword without even looking at the monster.

“Even though he can somewhat imitate a jewel in terms of strength and speed, he can’t use his ultimate. After all, he’s weaker than me, slower, and even has inferior skills, so what could be difficult about him?”

“I know it might be difficult for other people.”

The treasure keeper of the ruins and the gray monster that looked like a nuclear weapon were obviously not human.

Galen, who had already mastered the magic of the relics and evolved the magic of the void, was able to figure out its identity.

If the thousands of skeletons on the upper sandy beach were manipulated wide and shallow, then the result of pushing them narrowly and deeply toward one guy would be the ash-colored monster.

‘The base is either a skeleton or a mummy. It seems to have inflated its size as if it were wearing armor by putting a lot of magic power into it. If it’s that strong, it must have been strong even when it was alive.’

It is difficult to evaluate Galen’s swordsmanship since it is not his specialty, but judging by his strength and speed, he certainly appears to be capable of fighting off even the most powerful of jewels, just as Theodore had said.

That alone made it clear that it was a higher level than the ruins of Oklanne.

It was just unfortunate that the opponent wasn’t a ‘regular’ gem.

Theodore himself said so, and Galen also seemed to be very relaxed, so the outcome of the fight would not be an issue.

The problem was on the other side.

Theodore was alone in the room.

“Where are the others?”

Lilia asked cautiously. Theodore answered nonchalantly.

“Did you see the fork in the road earlier?”

“I saw it.”

“It split up there.”

From what I heard, they were just guys who didn’t get along well and had come together against their will, so when they came to a fork in the road, they decided to go their separate ways.

One group is made up of the Alaba family and Deckard’s group, another group is made up of Davia and Ivan’s group, and the third group is just Theodore.

Even though they were split into three, each team had a jewel, so no one was scared. Theodore, who was now moving alone, was also happy and relieved.

“But I was the first one to get there, right? There must have been something bothering me. I just ended up walking.”

“Umm… … .”

“As soon as I got here, this guy suddenly attacked me. Since I couldn’t just kill him as I was in the middle of it, I just played around with him for a bit. And then you guys arrived.”

“Is that so… … .”

“You didn’t run into anyone else? Which fork in the road did you come to?”

“I chose the one on the far right.”

“It was a place none of the three chose. Even if I wanted to meet you, I wouldn’t have been able to.”

“We should have met here, if things were normal.”

Galen’s eyes narrowed as he muttered.

If the entire expedition team had gathered here, it would have been a bit suspicious, but they would have just gotten away without worrying about it. Since they had learned the magic of the ruins, their goal had been achieved.

But the ominous feeling doubled when I saw Theodore alone.

Of the four forks in the road, two were clear passages without any obstacles.

Then, isn’t it more likely that the remaining two will be clean rather than dirty?

If it’s a path that can be reached simply by walking, why did we arrive later than Galen and Lilia, who arrived thirty minutes later?

“Which passage did Sir Theodore come out of? Among them?”

“It was the second from the left based on that wall.”

“I see. Tenebrae.”

Galen quietly called out to the spirit of darkness. A rapid exchange of thoughts took place in his head.

Soon, Tenebrae melted into the shadows of the ground and moved away in an instant. It was not a leisurely movement that was done to moderately scout out the area ahead.

If we number the holes in the wall from the left, the passage that Theodore used is number 2, and the passage that Galen and Lilia used is number 4.

Tenebrae, who had disappeared into passage 1, popped out from passage 3 a while later.

Lilia, who had been watching quietly, asked softly.

“The two passages aren’t connected, are they?”

“Yes. I went to the beginning of the fork in the road and then came back down another passage. Unfortunately, both passages were clear.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that the rest of the expedition, except for Sir Theodore, has peacefully disappeared somewhere.”

“What?”

Theodore, who had thought it was just a bit of a hassle and had not taken it seriously, only then realized that something was wrong.

“Is there some kind of secret passage in the middle? No, even if there was, how could both sides disappear at the same time?”

“I think it would be best to step aside at this point.”

Galen said blandly.

“It’s not our place to say this, as we’re just here to watch, but it doesn’t seem like the time has come for you to be enjoying the toys in front of you.”

“I guess so.”

The slackness disappeared from Theodore’s eyes, which had taken on a sullen expression.

Kwaaaaang!

As soon as he decided not to play with it any longer, the ashen monster was immediately cornered.

Theodore, who had forcefully changed the trajectory of the longsword by brute force using his greatsword, delivered a front kick to the monster’s empty chest.

Kwaaaaang!

I wondered how someone could make such a sound by kicking it. The monster flew as fast as a cannonball and crashed into the opposite wall.

“I guess I won’t die at this point.”

“Did you keep him alive on purpose?”

“If by any chance we misunderstood the expedition, shouldn’t we leave them their share? If not, we can come back later and sort things out.”

It was a rather thoughtful decision that did not match his appearance.

Galen, who had agreed, was about to open his mouth again.

Kugugugugugugugu―

I felt a vibration, as if something extremely heavy was moving.

The source was neither the floor nor the wall. It was the ceiling.

Just after realizing that point.

Swaaaaaaah!

The stone ceiling began to collapse here and there.

No, rather than collapse, I should say it burst open. The point where the ceiling collapsed was not concentrated in one place, but rather there were regular intervals as if it had been intentional.

From the hole, sand poured down like a torrential downpour. It wasn’t just a small leak, it was so strong that it piled up on the floor in an instant.

“oh?!”

“this.”

Lilia screamed briefly. Theodore’s expression hardened as he turned his greatsword behind his back.

Could this also be the ruins’ defense system? Burying intruders alive?

True or not, there was no benefit to staying here too long. Galen shouted urgently.

“By the passage! By the way we came!”

“The far right aisle, Brother Theodore!”

“Okay!”

With his mouth he gives directions, and with his head he controls the magic of life.

[Life: Spirit: Grant]

[Spirit Creation]

The temporary wind spirit quickly lifted Galen’s body up.

As soon as she did so, Lilia grabbed Galen’s hand and held it tightly before running forward.

If I had done that on the bare ground, I would have been dragged along the ground and torn apart, but since I was floating like a balloon, I was dragged along without resistance as she led me. All the spirit had to do was help me change direction a little.

Fortunately, the passageway did not collapse, although it felt like it was vibrating.

It was fortunate that it was a clean road at this point. The Jewel Warrior and Archbishop, who had properly set their minds to it and were speeding along the unobstructed passage, were incredibly fast.

But their rapid advance did not last long.

By calculation, we’re only halfway through the passage.

“Stop!”

“yes?”

Theodore, who was running ahead as if he would push away any obstacles that came his way like a bulldozer, suddenly stopped. Lilia also stopped.

I could tell why without even asking.

Because on the other side of the straight section of the passage, sand was rushing in like a flood.

It was only in the depths that the ceiling collapsed and sand poured down, so that must have been the case.

Not here. Even if it was a downward passage, the slope wasn’t even dozens of degrees, so the sand wouldn’t have been pushed up like that. Naturally.

Shhhhhh!

Galen immediately fired a spiral vortex. A strong wind filled the passage and rushed forward, colliding with the flood of sand.

[Territorial Advance Lv.??]

[Progress to next level ???%]

The magic that was hit was Spiral Flow, but what appears in the status window is Territory Advance.

It’s not an absurd result.

Because the sand flood is not a natural phenomenon, but someone’s magic. It has the same roots as the territorial advance.

“I hope it’s not the work of the only land wizard we know of.”

“Is that Davia?”

“Yes. If I had directly encountered it, I could have judged its magical power, but I have only seen it once from a distance.”

“Can the Golden Wizard do that? The sand is endless… … .”

“I don’t think it has anything to do with skill. It’s not like it was some kind of great magic, it’s just like someone stupidly pouring a lot of sand into a slightly sloping passage. The magic only helps a little.”

“Isn’t that a bigger problem? It means you can bury us without using much force. It seems like your wind magic is being pushed back as well.”

“Because there’s so much sand. It might be okay outside, but inside the passageway, there’s not enough space to push it out… … .”

But backing down was an even worse choice. If I continued to back down, what awaited me at the end would be a deep-rooted state where I would be completely buried in sand by now.

You need to get a little closer to the exit. It won’t work if you get farther away.

“Okay.”

Theodore groaned. Even he, the greatest of men, could not come up with a sharp plan. It was impossible to get through the sand that filled the passage and reach the surface, unless there was room to breathe.

But suddenly, I noticed that Galen and Lilia didn’t seem particularly anxious. Their faces were still covered by masks, but the atmosphere was…

“Is there any way?”

“I don’t think I ever said there weren’t any.”

Galen answered Theodore’s question with a smile.

[Life: Spirit: Grant]

[Spirit Creation]

As the spiral flow was withdrawn, life force poured into the sand flood that was picking up speed again.

Don’t use it sparingly, but generously. In times like these, you shouldn’t be stingy.

Unica, who was already on Lilia’s shoulders, followed Galen’s example.

Instead of the wind spirits that I had summoned countless times before.

This time, a spirit made of sand appeared.

And not just one, but two.

“Go.”

Galen spoke calmly and walked forward with the two spirits ahead of him.

The flood of sand that had come within a stone’s throw split left and right and was pushed back.