Salvation Through Delusion C56

Chapter 56

“No. Not that the Duke has someone in mind, but rather someone who would be advantageous for the House—so we thought…”

“We? Your cousin Rick? The Duke’s chief aide? Then that’s fairly reliable information, isn’t it?”

Every time she opened her mouth, something leaked out.

“N—no, it’s not certain. The other party harbors a grave secret, and if that’s true…”

“What secret? Wait—there haven’t been many people the Duke met personally recently, so if we enumerate them…”

Haas glanced around in alarm, afraid Enya’s mouth would blurt the answer.

“Shh. He might actually come here.”

“That’s ridiculous. You’d have to shatter the orb to open the portal—and you’re the one holding the orb.”

Enya’s remark made Haas lower the little sphere in his hand with solemn care. The artifact was costly and unwieldy; they rarely used such magic. Its presence alone signaled the gravity of the situation.

“Should we have detonated it ages ago?” he murmured.

“Why?”

“Borhumi’s men are swarming the place. They seem to intend something tonight.”

“Then go in and confirm.”

Enya sprang up as if she had been waiting only for permission. Watching from outside had become unbearable. Haas started to follow, then halted when she grabbed his arm.

“Where are you going? We were told only to observe.”

“Technically, we were ordered to verify whether Adeye Rue is in there. But we can’t from out here—so we need to get inside…”

At that moment a thunderous rumble shook the earth.

A deep, subterranean vibration traveled up from beneath the manor, shuddering beneath their feet.

“What in the world—?”

“Look!”

Haas pointed toward the mansion. Both their eyes widened. The house itself trembled, as if heat haze had softened its edges into wavering ripples.

“Silian.”

At Kim’s single utterance, the Barony’s steward collapsed to the floor like a criminal at judgment.

“I’m sorry. I’m—so sorry.”

“No—Silian is not to blame. Those who abducted Rue and dragged him into the Ewik estate are the culprits. Your partner merely happened to be among their number.”

“S-sorry, s-sorry…”

Silian’s forehead lay pressed to the ground, murmuring apologies. It was difficult to know how much useful testimony could be coaxed from someone so shaken, yet Kim’s gaze remained resolute. Right now, she was the only practical source of aid.

“Don’t apologize yet. We don’t know what’s happening inside the Ewik house, but the ground trembled and a ward has been erected. My men cannot get in.”

A shriek escaped Silian. She began to quake like a leaf in a storm.

“Oh no… If the spirit’s protection activates… it will be catastrophic…”

“What catastrophic outcome?”

“…d…d—”

Her words dissolved into unintelligible fragments, but Kim’s quick mind grasped the meaning.

“D—die?” Kim supplied.

Kim seized Silian’s shoulder, urging her to meet his eyes.

“How do you escape from inside?” he demanded.

Silian shook her head.

“…everyone…must…die…then the ward…breaks…”

“Everyone must die to undo the barrier?”

Silian shook her head again, eyes rolling with panic, but Kim tightened his grip on her chin until she focused on him.

“Silian, Rue lured the monsters to himself as bait to save you. Would you want Rue—who saved you—to die?”

Silian’s pupils contracted in recognition.

“Think. You must remember something. You surely heard of that damned ward.”

“If you find the secret room—” she whispered.

“The secret room?”

“If you find it, can you escape?”

Silian nodded, then convulsed as if she might break into sobs.

“B—but… the manor… the space…is twisted…”

“The space is warped so the secret room can’t be located? Even if we cannot entirely dispel the ward, can we not smash through, room by room? The ward should not be infinite.”

Silian considered it and offered a faint nod.

“Perhaps…”

“But the problem is what power permeates it. Solongo reached out: the shield blocks magic.”

“A force that even magic cannot pierce… only a transcendent force that can slay monstrous beings might work.”

“The power of a Divine Beast?”

Silian nodded. The knowledge was frustratingly sterile: usable in theory, but not at our disposal. Only two people could presently wield Divine-Beast power. One was Borhumi Zab—the mastermind behind this affair—so he would never lift a hand to help. The other, the Grand Duke of Montaine, was proud and vain; he would never answer a desperate plea without exacting the price of the duchy.

“I’d give all my wealth to save Rue,” Kim said, jaw clenched.

They needed an immediate, practical option, not lofty titles. Then an idea flashed through Kim’s mind.

“There is another force capable of slaying monsters: a Swordmaster.”

Silian’s eyes rose. Kim ground his teeth and asked, “Could Koon Tyroc manage it?”

—

Clang. The wall again. I had just started to move in earnest when the whole building shuddered and rewove itself into impossible angles—space contorting much like the maze at Sir Gumber’s summer villa. Then, instead of wandering blindly as before, I raised the staff in my hand and struck the wall without hesitation.

Crash.

A hole opened where the wall had been, and I found myself facing those inside.

“Who—?”

Two soldiers slumped, startled. They were clearly Borhumi’s men. Every encounter along the way had been the same bewildered expression: how on earth had I gotten through?

“You broke through the wall? How?”

One of them’s eyes fixed on the staff in my hands and glinted.

“You expect that to fell a wall?”

It was true—the trapped folk had not been able to breach the walls by any means. Yet I had.

“Impossible. That wall couldn’t be toppled even with explosives.”

Explosives? I remembered the room filled with charred corpses and blackened scorch marks—evidence of detonations. Ah. They’d tried to blast their way in and failed.

“Hand over that staff.”

The soldier drew his sword, a motion repeated with uncanny consistency in everyone I met: they didn’t come to offer help, only to seize what I had. I reciprocated in kind.

Whoosh—!

“Krek!”

“Urk!”

Crash! Bang!

A mere sweep of the bone-like staff sent two men flying. One smashed into a wall; the other tore through the ceiling and vanished. Clearly, this was no ordinary weapon.

Why did Borhumi have so many soldiers here? From his temperament, it was obvious: arrogant and indiscriminate. Occupying another’s manor and hauling out explosives to blast it down—his hubris knew no bounds.

“Shameless brutes,” I muttered, cursing the name Zab as I surveyed the ruined wall and gaping ceiling. I intended no theatrics; I simply had to proceed.

“Mo, have you gleaned anything from the collected data?” I asked.

[The rooms appearing from the spatial distortion show no consistent pattern.]

Of course: brute force. The only reliable method seemed to be smashing through.

[However, an anomaly was detected in the staff. Targets struck by the staff are propelled along trajectories incongruent with the applied force.]

Really? Intrigued, I plucked a fragment of brick from the rubble and tossed it into the air, then struck it with the staff.

Whine—

Crack!

The brick flew and embedded in the far wall like a dagger. As Mo had said, its flight path was odd. After a few such tests, a pattern emerged.

“Seems the chaos shielding the house protects certain vectors. Mo, can you pinpoint the exact spot?”

Mo marked a corner between two walls with a red dot. Excellent. I stepped to that juncture and brought the staff down hard. The wall gave way, revealing another chamber. I strode inside confidently, lifting several bricks and repeating the cycle of breach and entry.