Salvation Through Delusion C84

Chapter 84

“Your Grace!”

Haas rushed forward, catching Tyroc just as he staggered. Somehow, the Grand Duke managed to brace himself on his sword and force his trembling body upright. He looked toward the spot where Dorgo had vanished, his voice low and fierce.

“I can still catch him.”

“Yes, of course. He must have gone to the lake.”

Tyroc gave a short nod, agreeing, before glancing at Haas. The mage swallowed hard, understanding his unspoken command.

“T-The lake, meaning the Crystal Lake, right? But Your Grace, in that condition? You can barely use your strength!”

“Open it.”

“But… understood.”

Though visibly unsettled, Haas bit his lip and began tracing a portal. As the air shimmered, Tyroc started toward it—then paused and turned to me.

“And you?”

“I need to destroy this damn shield.”

He studied me for a moment, saying nothing. Then, instead of arguing, he looked at Haas.

“You’ll stay and follow Rue’s orders.”

“Wha—follow Adeye Rue’s orders?”

Haas pointed at me, disbelief written all over his face, but one glance at Tyroc’s expressionless stare silenced him immediately.

“Y-Yes, understood.”

Tyroc’s grip on his sword tightened as he gave me one last look, then stepped into the portal. The light flickered—and he was gone.

As the portal closed, I turned to the task at hand. Behind me, Haas finally gave in to the questions he’d been holding back, but I didn’t have the patience to answer.

‘Mo, mark the point Dorgo was staring at.’

At my command, a red dot appeared beneath one of the glowing stones embedded in the wall. I tightened my hold on my club and stepped toward it, warning Haas without turning around.

“Step back. If this isn’t the first black stone, we could die.”

“What? The first black stone? Wait—are you trying to destroy the shield?! No! Don’t—!”

His speech slipped between formal and frantic as he shouted, voice pitching higher.

“You can’t! The first black stone can’t be found! Only Dorgo—or that lunatic black mage—knew where it was… wait, don’t—”

I ignored him and lightly tapped the wall with my club.

Thunk.

The sound was deceptively soft, but deep cracks instantly spidered across the stone. I kicked the fractured wall, and a cascade of small black stones tumbled out, clattering onto the floor in a dark, glittering flood. There had to be over a hundred of them.

A curse rose unbidden to my lips.

That sly bastard, Dorgo.

“Ugh! Those are all black stones! Don’t touch them—don’t you dare! If we mess with black magic stones, we’ll die on the spot! Not just us—the whole castle will blow up!”

Haas’s shriek echoed around the chamber, and for once, I didn’t doubt him.

So black stones really were that dangerous.

Good to know. I stepped closer anyway.

I didn’t exactly have a plan—just a hunch. If Dorgo meant to return here later, he might have marked the one that mattered.

Then I saw it.

Among the heap, one stone leaked faint wisps of shadow like smoke. Instinct prickled through me.

You’re the one.

I picked it up and set it on the ground. Without looking back, I warned, “Stand back.”

“What—wait, are you trying to—”

Before he could finish, my club came down.

Crack.

The black stone shattered with a faint spark. I froze, counting the seconds. Nothing happened.

Did it work?

I turned toward the shield—it still pulsed with that sickly, oily light. Then Haas gasped.

“Wh—what is that?!”

His horror was directed at the barrier itself. The dark shimmer that only I had seen before was now visible to others.

Guess I owed Bichon a thank-you next time I saw them.

“Once the first black stone breaks, there shouldn’t be any more risk, right?” I asked.

“W-Well, theoretically… yes, but—”

“That’s good enough.”

I lifted my club again.

“Wait—where are you—!”

Haas trailed off, watching in helpless disbelief as I swung the club straight at the black shield.

No sound came from the impact—only the sharp whistle of displaced air.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Each strike echoed, but the barrier remained intact. An unbreakable wall—no wonder it had contained a Divine Beast.

Still, giving up wasn’t in my nature.

‘Mo.’

[Zab often touched one section of the shield when verifying its presence. There’s a high chance of a weak point there.]

Ah. Of course.

I sprinted to the spot where Zab had fallen. Mo marked the area with a red light, but I hardly needed it—the shimmer there was noticeably thinner.

Whoosh!

My club swung down, again and again. One strike, two, three—each blow heavier than the last, until my breath came ragged.

Behind me, Haas groaned in exasperation.

“Why are you even doing this?! What is this shield, and why are you trying to break it? I’m risking my life helping you; the least you can do is—”

“There’s a Divine Beast trapped inside it.”

“A—what?!”

His voice thundered through the cavern, but I barely heard him.

Please. Just break.

Then, at last—

Zzzt.

A faint tearing sound, like fabric splitting under tension.

I froze and looked up. A thin crack ran across the surface of the shield. Haas saw it too.

“Wh-What is that club made of?! You could kill a monster with that thing!”

Could I really? Maybe I should try it later.

But before the thought could settle, another sound followed.

Riiip.

The crack spread, multiplying like veins through glass. Slow but unstoppable, it crawled across the entire barrier, spreading toward the lake below.

I could only watch, breath held.

“Get back!” Haas shouted, grabbing my arm and yanking me backward.

Before I could respond, the shield shuddered violently. A blinding light burst through the cracks, flooding the cavern like an explosion of dawn.

The entire chamber was swallowed in radiant blue.

I threw an arm over my eyes, squinting against the brilliance that cut like ice. For a few heartbeats, it felt endless. Then, as suddenly as it had come, the light receded. The catacombs fell back into shadow.

Panting, I lowered my arm—and froze.

The underground lake rippled.

But it wasn’t water.

A massive coil shifted, glimmering blue beneath the surface. Then, slowly, the head of a serpent rose from the depths.

It rose higher, and higher still, until its body brushed the ceiling, five long tails fanning out behind it like a peacock’s display. The sheer scale filled the chamber and then some.

My heart pounded—not from fear, but awe. The air itself trembled with divine pressure. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, only stare as the creature’s ancient eyes met mine.

It was like plunging into the deepest part of the sea, swallowed by endless blue. Terrifying—and breathtaking.

When the serpent’s form began to fade, disappointment stirred in my chest. Leaving already?

And then, inside my mind, a voice spoke.

“I shall return, my child.”

It was the voice of my grandmother—gentle, familiar, and impossibly tender. She used to call me “child” long after I’d grown up, and hearing it again struck something deep.

So even after the Divine Beast vanished, I stood frozen for a long time.

A light touch on my arm broke the trance. Haas looked at me, his expression grim.

“What’s wrong?”

That was when I realized—I was the only one who had seen it.

“…Nothing,” I murmured.

He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he bent down and began gathering black stones from the floor.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, uh… they’re valuable. Expensive. Very, actually.”

“….”

“…Want to help?”

“…Sure.”

We shoveled as many as we could into our pouches. A quest wasn’t truly over until you looted the rewards, after all. Once my bag was satisfyingly heavy, I stood.

“Let’s go. We need to help the Grand Duke.”

Haas’s face hardened, and a new portal shimmered into being.

The moment we stepped through, the sound that greeted us froze my blood.

“Kki-ri-hiit.”

The unmistakable cry of a monster.