Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

Chapter 94




Despite two Gold-grade Swordsmen stepping up, the situation did not improve. Rather, the combined assault of the three Death Knights began to push us back.

The three Death Knights moved as if they were one body. The rapidly swinging three swords served both offensive and defensive roles simultaneously.

The great sword Terah used was enormous. When she swung it with all her might, the narrow corridor felt like it was about to burst at the seams, and every time she stretched her arms, she often scraped the pitch-black walls and floor.

In other words, it meant that we couldn’t swing our swords together with Terah. Unlike the three Death Knights, who swung their swords as a single entity, Terah and I had to carefully judge the timing to strike and retreat repeatedly.

Kaaang-!

As the swords clashed, a strong wind pressure erupted. Dust rose in a huge cloud as a result, but I had to pull back immediately.

Skaak-!

The sword strikes slicing through empty air resembled a snake flicking its tongue. Filling my empty space was Terah, who swung her great sword, pushing the three Death Knights back.

Kwaaaang!

On top of that, from the end of the corridor, new enemies were approaching. An army of the undead made of pure white bones—the Skeletons were making their entrance.

I shouted at the sight.

“Terah! Hold on for a moment!”

“Kugh!”

Immediately, I pulled back significantly and accelerated the rotation of the circle. With a sound of kiiiing-! the nature of the Mana covering my body began to change.

This was no time for hesitation. This place was not the artificial dungeon created by the Raoum royal family for the Third Prince.

I felt responsible. It was all because of me. My mistake had led everyone into a mysterious dungeon.

The three Death Knights, cloaked in Evil Mana, were foes that could not be defeated with mere swordsmanship. If we could fight in a wider space instead of this narrow corridor, things might have been a bit different, but right now, that was just a futile assumption.

“Seris! How long do we have to hold out!”

Terah, single-handedly facing the three Death Knights, shouted urgently with a pale face. Just a little longer. I had to concentrate the Mana inside me until it fully transformed my body.

“Se, Seris…? What is that on your head…”

Ignoring Alfonso’s voice trailing in from behind, a change finally took place that caught the attention of others. Sharp fangs brushed against my tongue, and the horns sprouting from my head reflected the light of the lamp, casting a long shadow.

My hidden secret was being revealed. The gazes of the adventurers I had been fighting alongside began to shift strangely. People often instinctively feel repulsion towards things that are different from them. They would be no exception.

The Mana, having completed its transformation in my body, concentrated at one spot. As the hot Mana began to gather near my solar plexus, a small flame burst forth in my exhale.

Hwarrrk-

“I can’t hold on much longer!”

Alright. All preparations were complete. I stepped closer to Terah, who was bravely fighting alone. No special signal was necessary. As a Gold-grade Swordsman, she would have noticed my approach.

In fact, Terah seemed to have sensed me approaching, retracting her sword and stepping back.

“What, what’s with those horns…?”

Terah’s gaze fell on my head before quickly shifting away. I had no strength left to answer her question. The moment I opened my mouth, it felt like a hot flame was about to burst out.

Hwarrrk-!

As the breath I exhaled turned into a blazing flame, I unleashed everything I had been holding inside.

At that moment, the flames of destruction engulfed everything in a straight line.

Kwaaaah-!

The red flames transformed into a bright orange, and the orange flames shifted once more to blue. The intense heat began to melt the corridor, but the three Death Knights were still moving.

I furrowed my brow and increased the heat.

Kwaaaah-!

As the temperature of my Breath soared higher, the blue flames that had been covering everything began to lose their color. The shining white light soon became a line, completely incinerating the Evil Mana that enveloped the Death Knights.

As the protective Mana fled, the ancient full-plate knights began to melt away. Their insides became visible through the melted armor.

They were ancient knights who had never been granted the peace of death. When the glimmering gaze in their eyes disappeared, their white bones vanished along with a white light, leaving no ash behind.

As the corridor, once brightly illuminated by the Breath, began to descend back into darkness, the flames that had been pouring forth gradually dwindled.

“Whew…”

I exhaled the remaining heat along with a sigh. The area around the breath, heated by the flames, shimmered as if in mirage.

Even after defeating the three Death Knights, no one spoke. Silence descended over the corridor, where the overpowering heat had yet to dissipate.

I brushed my hand over my head, where the horns prominently displayed my presence.

Curiosity, awe, astonishment, and repulsion—there were complex emotions mixed in their gazes. I did not shy away from their stares, accepting them calmly.

“Huh, ahem…”

The silence was broken by Alfonso’s cough as he approached, brushing off the black ash clinging to his body.

“Th-thank you, Seris.”

I looked up at his dazed face. What was he trying to say by coming this close? His gaze was more on me as a whole rather than focusing on my horns or eyes.

Alfonso’s eyes darted quickly, reading the atmosphere flowing among the adventurers in a very short time.

“I never expected you to be a wizard.”

“A wizard…?”

“Are you a wizard?”

“Indeed, that powerful flame cannot be explained without magic…”

The adventurers whispered at Alfonso’s words. The sense of rejection in their gazes began to simmer down like dying flames.

“Your transformation in appearance is probably related to your magic as well, right?”

“Well…”

I trailed off, nodding. I had wielded Mana to invoke a mystery. Broadly speaking, my Breath also belonged to the realm of magic. Hence, I did not deny it.

Ordinary adventurers could hardly have extensive knowledge about magic. The Mage Tower monopolized all knowledge regarding magic and had not released it to the outside world. Thus, they were unaware that my magic was different from that of regular wizards.

Alfonso had set the stage perfectly. As the party’s leader, he would have acted accordingly, but everyone knew of his identity as the Third Prince. The significance of accepting what he said would naturally be different.

The party members began to accept me as a wizard.

The scorching heat that filled the corridor was hot enough to melt the soles of our shoes. We couldn’t move until the heat subsided. Naturally, the party had to take a break.

Everyone found reasonable spots to sit and relax their bodies, but they didn’t let go of their weapons, ready to respond to any threats at any moment. When the subtle tension enveloped the corridor, Terah quietly moved closer to me.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Can I touch that horn?”

“Horn…?”

I stroked the horn sprouting from my head. Since I had not stopped manipulating Mana, the horn remained in place. The sharp fangs and elongated pupils, like those of a monster, were still unchanged.

“Hmm. Cool.”

There was no problem at all. The horns felt no sensitivity. I slightly lowered my head, offering my horn.

“Wow…”

Terah smiled, amazed by my horn. Her little fingers toyed with it, gently probing the horn.

*

About an hour later.

It took that long for the intensely heated temperature to decrease enough for us to walk again.

Just as we were about to set out to explore the dungeon again, an adventurer behind me posed a question.

“Hey, wizard.”

“Yes?”

“Is there any spell that can help us escape this dungeon?”

“Escape the dungeon?”

At my counter-question, the adventurer gulped nervously and nodded. I frowned at his question. The spells I could use were limited. I couldn’t even begin to fathom space-related magic like Blink or Teleport, so I didn’t have the courage to attempt them.

There was a spell called Guiding Star that could at least show us the direction we needed to go, but that only indicated the shortest path to our destination. In a maze-like tangled dungeon, that meant it wouldn’t be particularly useful.

“I’m not sure.”

“Oh, uh, I see…”

He might have tried not to show it outwardly, but feelings of disappointment spread among the adventurers. They were wildly expecting and wildly disappointed. Given their lack of knowledge about magic, that was a natural reaction.

“Well, we should set off then.”

The party slowly began to move deeper into the dungeon. There was no need to worry about traps, as every trap in a straight line had melted away along with the corridor.

After walking for a while on the melted corridor, we finally revealed a stretch of unscathed corridor that had not been melted by the flames. The party’s gazes began to focus on me. It was time to rise to the expectations of those gazes.

It was a ridiculously careless method, but now that the Gold-grade Ranger was dead, we had no choice but to use this method if the whole party wanted to safely escape the dungeon.

Kiiing-!

My heart’s Mana circle spun rapidly, igniting flames. As the flames gathered near my solar plexus once again, I expelled another massive wave of fire.

Kwaaaaah-!

The white-hot rays melted everything in a straight line. The black walls dripped away, revealing the new wall behind it, only for it to be melted again. This scene kept repeating until the white rays faded.

“Cough cough…”

Having unleashed the flames, I coughed as I slumped down. A tingling pain arose in my throat as if I had caught a cold. Using Breath in succession had pushed me to my limits; twice was all I could manage. The Mana that had once been abundant was nearly depleted.

“Impressive… truly impressive…!”

Alfonso clapped joyfully. The party needed to take another break until the heat subsided.

While lying on the melted corridor, concentrating on recovering my Mana, I sensed massive Mana movement from deep underground. A tremendous Mana was rising towards us, accompanied by countless deaths.


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