Chapter 59 Interlude Seventeen – The Prison Of Hot Sand, IX
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
In front of us stood a towering pyramid, constructed with massive stones stacked seamlessly like stairs, taller than my own height, its surface worn by sand, evoking the passage of time. It had a width of about 200 meters (656 feet) and a height of at least 150 meters (492 feet).
Standing before it, one could feel its solid, imposing presence.
”It’s huge…”
The words slipped out involuntarily. Everyone stood speechless, simply gazing up at the colossal structure.
”It’s said to be a replica created with magic, but it’s still surprising that people from an era without magic could build the same thing.”
So, the people in this world also constructed pyramids like those in Egypt. I wonder if there’s any significance to this shape.
”It seems they’ve obtained the fourth key item. Let’s hurry.”
”Yeah.”
At the center of the bottom, there’s a stone staircase leading up to a square hole that opens up on the third step. We go up the stone steps and walk a bit down the dark passage; the air becomes cooler, and the ceiling starts to glow. It’s dimly lit but provides enough light.
Checking the auto-map, there are monster reactions scattered throughout the vast floor like a maze.
Just when I thought this was going to be tough, suddenly, the wall in front of us silently lifted to the ceiling, revealing a staircase.
”Here we are.”
Maekawa-san extended her left hand towards the staircase, guided by Valeria. This space isn’t even shown on the auto-map.
”What’s this?”
”It’s a hidden passage I made for shortcuts. It’s highly concealed, so I doubt they’ll find it. Players might stumble upon it during exploration, so I’ll cast a Concealment Magic on you as well.”
’From the latter part of the beginner level, scouts and Support Magicians start learning exploration skills and magic, so they have means to detect us too.’
I see, so they can use something like my auto-map. It means that soon, the speed of the students’ exploration in the academy will increase.
We climb the stairs and proceed down a straight corridor. Checking the auto-map, we’re moving through the walls. Then, climbing another set of stairs and advancing for a while, we reach a dead end. The wall at the dead end silently lifts to the ceiling, revealing a small room facing a long corridor.
”We’ll continue on the normal floor for a while until the next shortcut. Be wary of monsters. They’ve infiltrated the base now. Let’s hurry ahead.”
”They’ve caught up already? Have they reached the depths once before?”
”Gathering key items probably means they’ve reached the front of the administrative area.”
”If it’s their second time, their progress speed will be considerably faster.”
”But since the maze structure changes every time people enter, we can buy some time.”
But we can’t let our guard down because the other side is high-level. We need to be careful not to fall behind while dealing with monsters. Just as I’m thinking that, as soon as we enter a large room, sand spouts out like a fountain from the floor ahead.
”What’s this!?”
There are three pillars of spouting sand. Holding the Kondou Spear, I step forward, and the piled-up sand towering high forms into a chubby humanoid figure over 2m (6’56ft) tall, and it starts moving.
”Ice Spear!”
Nishina-san quickly casts magic. The ice spear pierces the chest of the lead figure, but the sand golem shows no sign of flinching and closes the distance.
”This is a Sand Golem! It won’t stop until you destroy the core somewhere in its body!”
Valeria’s voice echoes. I also step forward and thrust at the abdomen of the lead figure, but the Sand Golem’s movement doesn’t cease.
’Master! It’s around the upper right chest!’
At the same time as the Sand Golem raises its huge fist about the size of a head, I shoot through the upper right chest with “Blast.” Sand scatters like an explosion, and the Sand Golem staggers back. Just around the collarbone, a green-glowing softball-sized round stone is exposed.
”It’s this thing!”
I thrust the Kondou Spear, and with a firm resistance, the core splits in two. Instantly, the Sand Golem loses its form and collapses.
’The one on the right side is in the head!’
When I hit it with a Blast, half of its flat face blows off, exposing the core.
”Ice Arrow!”
Without delay, Nishina-san casts magic to shatter the core.
’The last one is in the right ankle!’
”Is it really that extreme?”
When I shot through the ankle with “Blast,” the core became visible, but the Sand Golem knelt down with a thud, its large body blocking the way so the spear couldn’t reach. However, the Sand Golem collapsed into a pile of sand. Satou-san, who had somehow slipped behind it, was standing there with a clean, round core in her hand.
”Is it defeated with this?”
Satou-san cautiously distances herself from the pile of sand.
”Yes. As long as we destroy or remove the core, it should be fine. It’ll start moving again if it turns back into sand.”
’The cores of golems sell for a higher price than magic stones. Especially the intact ones fetch a premium.’
”How did you know where the core was?”
’By using Appraisal precisely, I can pinpoint it. With my processing speed, it’s just a moment.’
”I see. That saved us.”
While the Sand Golem’s movements were slow, it would have taken quite some time to deal with it properly.
There was an entrance to a shortcut at the back wall of this room.
Sometimes, as we move through the regular floors, we encounter undead mummies and giant bats. The combat is mainly handled by Nishina-san and me, and along the way, Nishina-san leveled up. Maekawa-san left her spear in the temple where we ran into those guys, so she’s now using a Longsword +1 for self-defense. It’s a better weapon, but she’s not used to swords, so hopefully, she won’t need to use it.
”The entrance to the control area is on the floor above. Beyond that, there’s a Spirit Sword and a Magic Circle.”
Valeria said when we reached the 8th floor. I have an auto-map that shows where the other party is, and right now, they’re on the 6th floor. As I’ve been watching, the enemies stay still for a while and then head straight to the stairs. Fujisaki, a female assassin, is probably scouting ahead and finding the right path. Even though we’re using shortcuts, we can’t get too far ahead of them. High-level players are impressive, I guess.
We defeated a large scorpion monster we encountered and continued down the corridor. Right now, Maekawa-san and Hano-san are leading the way, with me guarding the rear.
As we walked down the corridor, I glanced into a room without a door and stopped abruptly when I saw the door directly opposite open. Coming out of the door was Fujisaki, a female assassin wearing armor so revealing it made me worry about its defensive capabilities.
Fujisaki seemed just as surprised as I was and froze in place, trembling slightly when she noticed me. Her eyes and mouth wide open in shock, she remained motionless.
It was an unexpected encounter at close range. I had already decided to kill her if I met her, so I felt no guilt about it. But this was a perfect opportunity while she was alone and flustered. But the problem was, I didn’t have any murderous intent. Maybe it’s because she’s a woman. If it were anyone else, I would have attacked already.
I know that if I don’t finish things here, it’ll just be trouble later. I try to recall if there was anything said or done to provoke murderous intent, but this one’s a gray area. All they did was try to sneak up behind us quietly and demand I let them violate me.
Honestly, talking about murderous intent at this point is already off. I should’ve acted before even considering such things. Maybe I just don’t have enough resolve.
My thoughts are wandering. Several seconds have passed already, yet for some reason, Fujisaki remains frozen in place, not moving a muscle.
Can’t be helped. It’s a risky move, but let’s see if I can provoke her into acting on her own. If I get her to say something, it’s guaranteed to tick me off with her trashy behavior. Now, I address her in a low voice, trying not to let the tension ease.
”Fu… ji… sa… ki…”
”Eek!?”
Fujisaki widened her eyes even further and jumped back as if she were being repelled. Strange. There shouldn’t be any reason for her to be this wary of me, considering she recognize me as low-level.
”You…!”
”Aaaahhh!!!”
Just by addressing her, Fujisaki let out a scream and bolted out of the room like a scared rabbit.
”Tsuchimiya-kun, what’s wrong!?”
”What, that scream just now!?”
Maekawa-san and the others who were ahead of me heard Fujisaki’s scream and hurriedly came back.
”Hey, that girl Fujisaki was just there.”
”Huh!?”
”Sorry. It was a perfect opportunity, but I hesitated just because she’s a girl.”
”It’s okay. That’s just like you, Tsuchimiya-kun. Don’t worry about it.”
”Yeah, you’re right. It’s kind of reassuring in a Tsucchi sort of way.”
Everyone encourages mw, but it’s clear that keeping that guy alive will only bring us disadvantages. I missed a chance to eliminate one danger. It’s too late to regret now, but we need to be prepared mentally from now on.
* * *
Sendou, Sagara, and Shimaki, who were waiting on the passage after climbing the stairs, were approached by Fujisaki, who had been on reconnaissance.
But something’s off. Fujisaki rushes in with an uncharacteristic commotion and loud footsteps for a scout, looking pale and with a frantic expression.
”Hey, what’s wrong, Fujisaki?”
Sagara (the blond hair) asks with a puzzled expression.
”It’s here! It’s here!”
”What? What’s here?”
”I’m telling you! It’s here!”
With teary eyes and a pale face, Fujisaki keeps repeating incomprehensible words. There shouldn’t be any monsters on this floor that would trouble Fujisaki like this. Could it be an unforeseen situation?
”Calm down. Tell us what happened step by step.”
Sendou (the blue magician), sensing something serious, hands Fujisaki a can of coffee to calm her down.
Fujisaki opens the can and drinks it all in one gulp, then takes a breath.
”He… he was there. On the upper floor… that guy Tsuchimiya, covered in blood, standing there with a torn bag, cursing and threatening to kill me…”
”What!?”
Facing such a situation with Sacred Artifacts involved, it’s something that can’t be ignored.
”Those guys managed to come this far! How did those beginners do it!?”
”But they had teleportation items with them. It’s not strange that they could make it here.”
”Didn’t you guys kill that Tsuchimiya person in the first place?”
”…Yeah, that should’ve been a fatal blow. Even with a Hi-Potion, he wouldn’t survive.”
Shimaki (the black hair) mutters, recalling the sensation of his attack.
”But it was strange indeed. Despite receiving wounds that could have been fatal, he attacked aiming for a mutual kill and stood up as if nothing happened. Then they disappeared right after, so we don’t know what happened next…”
”Fujisaki, you were using your exploration skills, right? Was his marker blue or red?”
Sendou (the blue magician) asks Fujisaki, who looks pale and shaken.
”It wasn’t blue or red. It didn’t trigger my exploration skills at all…”
”That’s odd… Concealment magic should be learned from level 20 onwards, and it’s fast.”
”That’s why! It’s a ghost! We’re cursed!”
Fujisaki screams hysterically.
”Calm down. Whether it’s a ghost or a specter, you can defeat them with magic swords. If it’s a curse, you can remove it with dispelling magic.”
”That’s not it! It’s not a monster, it’s a ghost! You guys are too immersed in this world!”
Fujisaki shouts and then sits down, rummaging through her belt pouch and leather bag.
”Geez! This ain’t making any sense. But those guys, they definitely don’t seem like mere beginners. What’s the deal?”
Sagara (the blond hair), looking down at Fujisaki as she rummages through her belongings, voices his doubt with a hint of amazement.
”Hmm…”
”Huh? What’s up?”
Shimaki (the black hair) reacts to Sendou (the blue magician)’s mutter.
”The characters ‘Tsuchimiya’ written on the forehead… My friends also called them ‘Tsuchimiya (つちみや),’ so I assumed that was how it’s pronounced, but it might have some kind of occult meaning.”
”I see! Like a curse mark that necromancers use to control corpses! If it’s a gift, it wouldn’t be strange to have abilities beyond normal levels.”
”First off, it’s weird enough wearing a bag like that and writing your name on your forehead. There’s no way that guy is normal humans. Did he deliberately call himself ‘Tsuchimiya’ to hide something? I’ve heard that high-level onmyoji and spirit guides use talismans to manipulate spirits and corpses. If that torn bag is the talisman itself or something to conceal the talisman, it makes sense. His class seemed ordinary, but he might have skills equivalent to that.”
”I see. I’m starting to get the gist of it. If the controller into corpses or spirits, then holy water would be their weakness. Well, even if they have rare skills, they’re still just beginners. They’re not our enemies.”
Sagara (the blond hair) grinned crookedly.
”Ah… Grandma, I’m sorry. Kaede… Kaede was a bad kid…”
”Hey, Fujisaki! Are you listening? That’s just a skill. One of those girls probably has a gift related to sorcery or something. There’s no need to freak out.”
”Huh… really?”
Fujisaki was shaking as she clutched the good luck charm for finding a good relationship that her grandmother had given her. He looked up.
”That Tsuchimiya guy was a corpse from the start. If you can tear off the talisman that’s either the burlap bag itself or attached underneath, he’ll stop moving. But even without that, he’s just a beginner’s reanimated corpse. As long as we watch out for a suicide attack, he’s not much of a threat.”
”………”
While listening to Shimaki’s words, Sagara (the blond hair) silently recalled the battle with Tsuchimiya.
(That guy managed to deflect all my serious attacks. I could have pushed through with more power, but he even had some magic skills. Is he really at beginner level?)
”N-No big deal? I guess it’s just a gift. I-I kinda thought it might be something like that.”
Fujisaki regained her composure, picked up the scattered items, and stood up.
”Those beginner types really think they can take us lightly, huh? I’ll make them regret underestimating me.”
Fujisaki grinned menacingly.
”As long as we have the key items in our hands, there’s no need to rush. First, let’s take care of them and then retrieve the sacred artifacts. Fujisaki, go find them and confirm their location. And if you happen to take care of them along the way, that’s fine too.”
”N-No way! Going alone is like being the first to die in a horror movie!”
”………”
It seems like Fujisaki hasn’t fully recovered yet. She tightly gripped the good luck charm in her hand.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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