Chapter 35: 3F Hidden (3)

One of the three holy knights was a wicked entity hiding in plain sight.

I couldn’t be certain yet.

But if that were true, then who was it?

‘Probably not Delrunt.’

He was the one who had activated the Holy Relic.

If Delrunt were the traitor, would he have had any reason to activate it then and there?

Of course, since the one who had fallen under suspicion wasn’t one of the holy knights but me, he could have activated it deliberately in order to get rid of me.

But that didn’t quite add up either.

They all knew I was considerably strong. Would he really choose to provoke me?

Besides, my help had been crucial in avoiding the traps inside the temple. If anything, they would want to make use of me, not eliminate me.

Most importantly, I had failed the clear by attacking Delrunt.

If there truly was a traitor among them, then identifying or dealing with that person was probably connected to the clear condition.

If Delrunt were the traitor, would attacking him really have caused me to fail?

Probably not.

That left the other two as the prime suspects.

Sloban and Philip.

One of them... though I couldn’t rule out the possibility that they were both involved.

‘What should I do?’

Search for the Holy Relics with the holy knights > Discover that one of them is a traitor > ?

That was roughly the situation so far.

Should I take some kind of active measure to expose the traitor?

I considered several possible approaches.

In the end, however, I decided it would be best to keep watching for now.

Nothing had been confirmed yet.

And I still had one attempt left after this one, so acting rashly wouldn’t be wise.

‘If there is a traitor, what are they trying to accomplish?’

Judging by what Delrunt had told me, it most likely had something to do with the heretical cult known as the Noktun and the Archdemon.

Somehow, in some way... perhaps the traitor intended to summon the Archdemon again from within this temple.

And perhaps my role was to stop them.

That was as far as my speculation went.

For now, I would remain on guard.

Especially around those two.

I had to be ready to intervene the moment either of them tried anything.

“I’ll take the lead. I have a good eye for traps.”

“Oh, is that because you’re a mage? Can you detect magical traps as well?”

“Something like that.”

I more or less remembered the route to the room where we had found the Holy Relic before.

“The path on the left looks dangerous. Let’s go right.”

This time, I deliberately chose a different route.

I had considered reaching the room with the Circlet first and secretly pocketing it...

But earlier, they had recognized it as a Holy Relic immediately, saying they could sense its Divine Power or something like that. If I tried to hide it, they might notice.

So, for now, the plan was simply to take another path.

After making our way through several traps, we arrived at another chamber.

A gargoyle statue stood in the center.

This time, an object rested in its hands.

“Sir Delrunt! Look over there!”

“This Divine Power... It’s a Holy Relic!”

The three knights retrieved the relic, visibly overwhelmed with emotion.

I asked as casually as I could,

“Is that a Holy Relic?”

“This is a Holy Relic known as the Celestial Music Box. It must be one of the treasures the Order lost long ago!”

“Oh... What does it do?”

“Watch. When Divine Power is channeled into it like this...”

♩ ♪

A melody began to flow from the music box.

“It is said to produce a beautiful melody that soothes both mind and body. And indeed, it truly is beautiful!”

“I can practically hear the revelation of the Goddess of Dawn!”

That was it?

Well, at least it wasn’t capable of detecting anything.

That was a relief.

We collected the relic and continued onward.

After that, we passed through more traps and managed to recover several additional Holy Relics.

“Ooh, this is the Ring of Dawnlight!”

“What does it do?”

“When Divine Power is channeled into it, the ring can create a powerful barrier.”

There was a bracelet capable of projecting a barrier, a ring that enhanced healing, and earrings that strengthened mental fortitude.

Would they let me choose one of the relics as my reward after the clear?

I just hoped they wouldn’t give me the music box.

“There are stairs here.”

As we continued exploring, we discovered a staircase.

It was a spiral staircase, and when I looked up, it seemed to stretch on forever.

“It’s tall. Perhaps it leads all the way to the summit.”

“Shall we go up?”

Come to think of it, I had noticed something unusual at the top of the pyramid earlier.

After climbing for what felt like an eternity, the staircase did indeed lead all the way to the summit.

Rumble...

The sky seemed even more overcast than before.

After being trapped inside that suffocating structure, stepping outside brought a small sense of freedom.

The pyramid itself was so enormous that even its summit was as wide as a sports field.

And the first thing that caught my attention was the structure I had been curious about from below.

“Is that... a cannon?”

Sloban murmured as he gazed up at the enormous structure.

A tall tower stood at the center of the summit like a lighthouse.

At its peak, a massive barrel protruded outward.

Just as Sloban had said, it was a cannon.

While the three knights, interested only in finding more relics, wandered around inspecting the area, I climbed a ladder to the top of the tower.

“Oh.”

One glance at the cannon’s design was enough to tell me that it was the product of magical engineering.

A massive gemstone resembling a Magic Stone had been embedded in the center of the barrel.

There was even a control lever that allowed the barrel’s direction to be adjusted...

“...?”

The moment I gripped the lever, information appeared before my eyes.

[Special Item: Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon]

[The ultimate weapon, representing the culmination of the ancient Rune Mage Empire’s magical engineering. Exercise caution when using it, as its power is tremendous.]

[Willpower Cost: 600]

[Cooldown: None]

“...Item information appeared?”

I could use this?

Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon.

The name alone sounded absurdly grandiose.

This was the first time an item meant to be used during a clear had appeared.

But if something like this existed...

Didn’t that mean there would eventually be a situation that required it?

“...Look at this!”

Just then, a commotion broke out below.

I climbed down from the tower and approached the three knights.

All of them were staring at an object with grave expressions.

It was a golden chalice, half of its surface corroded black.

“Could that be the Holy Grail of Dawn?”

I asked about the relic they had said was particularly important.

Delrunt nodded, his voice tight with restrained fury.

“...It appears Katerun intended to use the Holy Grail of Dawn itself as the vessel for summoning the Archdemon. The Holy Grail has been corrupted.”

The atmosphere was so solemn that I found myself staring at the chalice with equal seriousness.

I didn’t know much about it, but even I could feel the ominous energy emanating from the Grail.

Sloban spoke.

“The power of the Grail and the power of the Archdemon appear to be holding each other in a fragile balance. If that equilibrium is disturbed even slightly... there is no telling what may happen.”

Philip hurriedly added,

“E-Exactly. We must return the Grail to the Order immediately! The Saintess will surely be able to purify it.”

Both Delrunt and Sloban nodded in agreement.

“Let’s head back down for now.”

Rather than searching for more relics, the Grail had clearly become their highest priority.

Since the building was shaped like a pyramid, there was no need to retrace the tortuous route through its interior.

They simply climbed down the outer wall.

Once we reached the ground, the three knights resumed their discussion.

“What should we do about the investigation? There may still be more relics inside...”

“What could possibly be more urgent than the Holy Grail of Dawn?”

“I’m concerned that the Noktun heretics may discover this place. That is what troubles me.”

Philip then spoke up.

“One person should be enough to make the return journey, shouldn’t it? Sir Delrunt, allow me to take the relics back first.”

“You would do that?”

“Yes. The two of you can continue investigating the temple. The Grail is important, but the remaining relics are equally precious. And as you said, it is only a matter of time before others discover this place.”

Delrunt nodded.

“Then I’ll entrust them to you, Sir Philip.”

Philip, now carrying all the relics, including the Grail, nodded with a resolute expression.

“I will protect the Grail with my life and deliver it to the Saintess as swiftly as possible. I pray that the two of you return safely as well. Sir Kim Seo-hyeon, I am truly grateful for everything you have done.”

I nodded automatically.

The three of us, myself included, escorted Philip to the edge of the temple grounds.

‘...Is this really it?’

It would be nice if everything ended on such a peaceful note.

But was that really all there was to it?

Sure, we had overcome the traps and faced several difficulties along the way.

Still, something felt deeply wrong.

I stared at Philip’s back as he walked ahead of us.

The traitor.

Right.

The traitor.

The Holy Grail of Dawn, the relic that appeared to be the key to this entire clear, was currently in whose possession?

Philip’s.

And he was about to leave on his own.

‘What if Philip is the traitor?’

Then the clear had already failed.

The traitor would simply walk away with the most important object in the entire temple.

So what should I do?

If an outsider like me suddenly accused Philip of being a traitor, the other two would never believe me.

The fact that they had entrusted him with every relic and allowed him to leave alone showed how deeply they trusted him.

Should I simply let him go and see whether the clear failed?

If it did, that would confirm Philip was the traitor, and I could prepare accordingly for my final attempt.

But...

Did I really need to go that far?

I was already almost certain.

Philip was the traitor.

I made my decision and called out to him.

“Sir Philip, could you show me the Grail again for a moment?”

“...Pardon?”

“Something about it has been bothering me. There may be some kind of spell placed on the Grail.”

Delrunt looked alarmed.

“A spell? What do you mean?”

“I’m not certain yet. Let me take one more look.”

As the supposed mage who had detected every trap inside the temple, my words carried a great deal of credibility.

Delrunt and Sloban turned toward Philip.

For the briefest instant—so fleeting that I almost missed it—I saw the area around Philip’s eyes twist.

He concealed the reaction immediately and handed me the Grail.

“Here you are.”

I pretended to examine it carefully.

Then...

‘If I’m wrong, I’m truly sorry.’

CRACK!

Without warning, I swung my mace and smashed it into Philip’s head.

“...!”

Delrunt and Sloban recoiled in horror before lunging at me.

...See?

I was right.

I evaded their attacks, retreated, and shouted,

“Look! Look at him!”

Delrunt and Sloban froze.

They turned back toward Philip and went pale.

Grotesque tentacles writhed from the wound where Philip’s skull had split open.

“...A heretic! Noktun!”

“Get back!”

What the hell was that?

Disgusting.

He still appeared to be alive, so I immediately cast Flame Strike.

BOOM!

When the smoke cleared, an enormous figure stood where Philip had been.

Philip himself was gone.

In his place, a grotesque mass of flesh had swollen and expanded outward.

“How... did you... know?”

Philip’s voice squeezed out from somewhere within the creature, his vocal cords seemingly strangled by his own flesh.

Delrunt roared in fury.

“Philip! You were a Noktun spy all along!”

“But it is already... too late. The ritual... has already begun...”

Philip grinned darkly.

Then he suddenly screamed,

“O great Valuk! I offer everything to youuuu!”

Red energy erupted from the mass of flesh that had once been Philip.

Despite the distance between us, streams of crimson energy began flowing toward the Grail in my hands.

“...!”

Sixth Sense sounded the alarm.

I immediately hurled the Grail away.

Philip’s body shriveled like a deflating balloon.

The Grail absorbed every trace of the red energy and gradually began to change shape.

“V-Valuk... Valuk is being resurrected...!”

Sloban’s voice trembled uncontrollably.

The moment my cooldowns ended, I fired another Flame Strike and a Light Bullet.

BOOM!

The Grail continued taking on a more distinct form, completely unaffected by my attacks.

Damn...

Was everything falling apart?

Should I retry?

No, maybe I should summon Plligas one more time...

Then something flashed through my mind.

‘...The cannon!’

The terrifyingly named Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon!

I spun around and sprinted toward the pyramid, shouting to the other two knights,

“This way! Follow me!”

I scaled the pyramid’s outer wall, using Leap along the way, and raced toward the summit.

Once I reached the top, I climbed the tower and seized the cannon’s control lever.

[Special Item: Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon]

[The ultimate weapon, representing the culmination of the ancient Rune Mage Empire’s magical engineering. Exercise caution when using it, as its power is tremendous.]

[Willpower Cost: 600]

[Cooldown: None]

A special item.

Why would something like this even exist?

Because it had been placed here to kill that creature.

Wasn’t that obvious?

The Willpower cost was an enormous 600.

Considering the description, however, its firepower should be well worth the price.

The cannon was massive, but thanks to my strength, rotating the barrel wasn’t difficult.

I looked down toward the Grail.

The demonic body was almost fully formed.

I aimed the cannon directly at it.

“Move aside! I’m firing this thing!”

At my shout, the two knights, who had made it about halfway up the pyramid, scrambled out of the way.

BZZZZZT!

The moment I activated the item, a deafening roar tore through the air.

Sparks erupted from the tip of the barrel as a blinding mass of light condensed inside its mouth.

Here...

We...

GO!

The concentrated sphere of light, roughly the size of a bowling ball, shot toward the resurrecting Valuk.

It was only the size of a bowling ball, but its power—

...BOOOOOOM!!!

A blue mushroom cloud erupted amid an earth-shaking explosion.

The shockwave surged all the way to the tower, and for a moment, I nearly went flying.

I steadied myself and stared blankly at the devastation.

What the...

Was that a nuke?

The firepower far exceeded anything I had imagined.

Granted, it was nothing compared to an actual nuclear weapon, but visually, it looked like it could pass for maybe one-tenth of one.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The mushroom cloud seemed to take forever to dissipate.

Through the dust, I saw Delrunt and Sloban finally reaching the summit.

“S-Sir Kim Seo-hyeon...! What in the world did you just do?!”

I looked down at the two men gaping up at me and simply gave them a thumbs-up.

“This thing packs one hell of a punch.”

With that kind of firepower, surely not even an Archdemon could emerge unharmed.

‘Did I get him?’

Right.

This had only been a resurrection ritual, after all.

But no completion message appeared.

When the cloud finally dispersed, the demonic figure was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps because Valuk had not fully resurrected, he had been easier to destroy.

Just as I began to think it was over—

A chill ran down my spine.

Sixth Sense suddenly screamed a warning.

I looked around.

Far in the distance, across every horizon—

A black tide was approaching.

‘Undead?’

Tens of thousands...

Hundreds of thousands?

Maybe even millions.

An overwhelming horde of Undead, so vast that counting them was meaningless.

This had happened during the basic clear as well.

Here we went again.

I climbed down from the tower.

The other two had also noticed the approaching army and were staring blankly toward the horizon.

“Undead are swarming toward us.”

“...It appears Valuk’s brief resurrection has drawn them to his power.”

So that was what was happening?

The Undead were approaching from every direction, completely surrounding us.

There was nowhere to escape.

‘And there’s still no clear message...’

It seemed I had chosen the wrong path.

Should I have destroyed Valuk more quickly?

Or should I have dealt with Philip before he could begin the ritual?

Either way, I had already learned all the crucial information.

I would simply have to do better on the next attempt.

But then...

A thought occurred to me.

‘Do I really need to retry?’

I looked up at the Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon and then turned toward the two knights.

“Sir Delrunt, Sir Sloban. Do you like miracles?”

“...What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Let me show you one.”

I smiled.

“A miracle.”

I climbed the tower again and gripped the cannon’s control lever.

[Special Item: Annihilation Compressed Mana Cannon]

[The ultimate weapon, representing the culmination of the ancient Rune Mage Empire’s magical engineering. Exercise caution when using it, as its power is tremendous.]

[Willpower Cost: 600]

[Cooldown: None]

The peculiar thing about this item was that it had no cooldown.

Of course, the Willpower cost was staggering.

Under ordinary circumstances, the Tower had probably intended for the cannon to be fired only once, to destroy Valuk.

But ordinary circumstances didn’t apply to me.

My Willpower could be replenished without limit.

This definitely wasn’t part of the intended clear route.

...But what would happen if I wiped out every last one of those Undead?

I was curious.

And I was about to find out for myself.

***

Delrunt and Sloban had already prepared themselves to die before the advancing army of the dead.

But then—

“Let me show you one. A miracle.”

Kim Seo-hyeon uttered those cryptic words and climbed back up the tower.

Was he planning to fire the cannon again?

They had witnessed its monstrous firepower firsthand, but there was no conceivable way such a weapon could be fired repeatedly.

There couldn’t possibly be any mana left.

And yet—

...BOOOOOOM!!

Another blast erupted from the cannon, arcing westward before detonating in an enormous explosion in the distance.

Kim Seo-hyeon adjusted the barrel and fired again, this time toward the northwest.

Then north.

Northeast.

East.

Southeast.

South.

Southwest.

The cannon rotated through a full three hundred and sixty degrees, firing relentlessly every second without pause.

With every thunderous blast, catastrophe bloomed among the ranks of the Undead.

The vast numbers that had blanketed the earth were visibly and rapidly dwindling.

“Wh-What in the world...”

Neither Delrunt nor Sloban could believe what was unfolding before their eyes.

***

Fire once.

Replenish my Willpower.

Fire again.

This was no longer a battle against the Undead.

It was a battle of mental endurance.

My Willpower recovered at a rate of one percent per minute.

With a maximum of 1,000 Willpower, replenishing the 600 points required for a single shot took sixty minutes.

From my subjective perspective, I was firing the cannon once every hour.

In real time, however, I was unleashing a merciless omnidirectional bombardment every second, sweeping around the battlefield from one o’clock all the way to twelve.

Somewhere after the thirtieth shot, I became so bored that I seriously considered giving up.

But I had already come too far to stop.

Sheer stubbornness kept me firing.

More than anything, I wanted to go completely off the intended route at least once.

I wanted to mess with the Tower, so to speak.

Whether the Tower was even an entity capable of intelligence or emotion, I honestly had no idea.

By then, had I fired close to a hundred rounds?

At last, every single Undead had been vaporized.

“Hah...”

I released the time-stop and surveyed the wasteland I had created.

What had once been flat terrain was now completely scorched, transformed into something resembling the surface of the moon.

There.

I had actually done it.

No more Undead were coming.

So what now?

What were you going to do about the clear?

“...”

No message appeared.

I didn’t know why, but it almost felt as though the Tower itself had fallen silent.

What?

Had you never imagined anyone doing something like this either?

Then a message appeared.

[Magnificent Clear.]

“...Huh?”

It was a message I had never seen before.

[You have successfully cleared the Nightmare difficulty 3F Hidden route.]

[Fully absorbing the Power of the Floor.]

[Level up.]

[Level up.]

[Level up.]

[Level up.]

[Level up.]

[Reward tier has been significantly elevated.]

[Transferring to the Reward Room.]