Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 66

Infiltration Operation (1)

“Hahaha! I never thought I would meet a familiar face in this faraway land. Come on in! “For some reason, I wanted to bring plenty of coffee beans with me when I left the Magic Tower. It was all for this time!”

Felber smiles brightly and begins to make coffee on the table in the corner of the conference room.

Dalen smiled as he smelled the delicious scent that quickly began to spread.

‘I don’t think I was originally a person who exudes that much cheerfulness.’

Have you ever heard that a person’s personality changes when he or she goes to a place far away from home?

He stayed in the magic tower and did nothing but study, and then came all the way to the headquarters of the Holy Knights. Even an elderly senior magician in the magic tower could have done that.

“Hello, Dallan.”

While the teacher was making coffee, a blonde young wizard who brought a bowl of snacks and fruit greeted him.

Dallen smiled lowly and was greeted with a nod.

Tommy Valentino.

A disciple of an elder wizard who rescued someone from the sewers who had been captured by a silver-masked apostle through a horde of frogmen.

It seemed as if his slovenliness was now a thing of the past, and he was already giving off the air of a full-fledged wizard.

Dallen loosely loosened the straps of his armor and placed the holy sword and steel sword on the table. And then I buried myself deeply in the chair. It was a hard chair, but it supported my back well.

“What brings you here, old man? “What about the Magic Tower?”

“me? I went on a trip to do some research. I’m not the owner of the tower, and the magic tower runs just fine without me. All I have to do is hand over a few of the lectures I was teaching.”

Dallen scratched his chin. research? Is there a place for wizards to research in this land where the Holy Knights are settled?

In fact, sacred power and magical power were completely unrelated areas.

A world where divine power and magic clearly exist.

It wasn’t a world where priests and wizards couldn’t eat each other like in common fantasy novels.

But if you were to ask if there was a place where you could become friends, wouldn’t that be the case?

“Huh, I guess you didn’t know? This ‘Barrier Mountain Range’, which the Holy Knights use as a natural fortress, is actually a barrier created by a spell. “It is a masterpiece built twelve hundred years ago by Zengla Elgaia, the ancestor of today’s earth magicians.”

Dallen tilted his head as he put a few grapes in his mouth. That’s a setting I’ve never heard before.

He knew that the mountains surrounding this land were commonly called the Barrier Mountains because the owner of the territory, the Knights Templar, did not give it a separate name.

However, it is unknown for the first time that the mountain range is a terrain created by order.

Although I had a good knowledge of the future after playing the game for a long time, I was weak in history and common sense that had nothing to do with destruction.

Felber grinned and served two cups of coffee in front of Dallan, who had a slightly puzzled expression.

“As you may have guessed, he is also the first tower owner of our Elgaia Magic Tower.”

“Right. “I will drink it well.”

“Anyway, the orders have increased. It was like that the last time I went to the labyrinth. “Where on earth do you get a teacher?”

It was impossible to say that it was obtained by picking up a corpse. Dallen just sipped his coffee.

Felber, too, seemed to have been asking for an answer and continued speaking immediately.

“How can I not be stimulated by you doing this? Actually, you had a big influence on me going on this trip. “Seeing you grow so rapidly made me look back on the complacency of my past years.”

Facing Felber, who seemed to have a lot to say after seeing him for the first time in a long time, Dallen munched on the snacks he had brought along with his coffee with a calm expression on his face.

A baked confectionery made by mixing wheat flour with honey. It was the first sweet food I had in a while.

At that time, the conference room door opened and Knight Commander Edgar came in.

Next to him were two bearded paladins he had never seen before and Lucia.

“sorry. “I’m a little late to guide you through the new unit.”

Edgar said with his signature soft smile.

As Lucia promised, Parn was officially confirmed to join the Holy Knights.

However, now that the civil war is underway, sporadic raids and battles are taking place throughout the Knights’ territory.

Since it was impossible to attach all sorts of guards to take a trainee to the headquarters, Farn stayed at the Gateway Fortress for the time being.

“As you all know, there are some who have just joined, so I will tell you the current situation one more time.”

Edgar pulled out a chair and sat down.

“The vice-captain and his special forces who occupied the 3rd Sanctuary are still carrying out constant raids in various places to disrupt the transfer of supplies and training of the Knights. “Only the Third Sanctuary has been taken away, but the damage occurring in many areas is even greater.”

Unfocused but clear-willed eyes point out the six people in the room one by one.

“So since we don’t have much time, we will postpone introducing each other for a while. “Lord Woolston, Lord Heston.”

At Edgar’s call, two paladins stepped forward.

They each took out a few scrolls from their pockets, spread them out on the table, and put them together like a puzzle.

Before long, a large map was completed on the table.

A complex map filled with numerous rooms, hallways, walls, and pillars.

Felber quickly scanned the map with a magic glow unique to a wizard flashing in his eyes.

“This is… a map of the ruins of the ancient Sandwind Dynasty. The rumor that there were huge ruins in the Knights’ basement was true. “I thought it was just an exaggerated narrative by bards.”

“It is a secret that few people even within the Knights Templar know about. “It has been secretly passed down from generation to generation only to the director and a few ruins managers.”

Edgar smiled calmly and spoke.

Although he had blurry eyes and a smile that was no different from usual, a strange feeling of pressure settled on the table.

“I was a little excited. “I’m sorry.”

Felber cleared his throat loudly and calmed down his sparkling eyes. The atmosphere pressing down on the table was immediately lifted.

Edgar continued talking as if nothing had happened.

“We were lucky enough to capture one of the special forces who attacked the supply unit last night. It was an article that qualified him as an official of a special rental unit. Through the testimony I heard from him, I was able to identify the source of the curse that is still brainwashing the Special Forces and some Paladins.”

Lucia let out a silent sigh.

For someone who had just arrived, it seemed like it was still difficult for her to accept that one of the Knights’ main forces had fallen for such a trick.

Edgar pointed to a part of the map.

“The source is this, the deepest warehouse in the third sanctuary. “You can access it through the underground ruins without clashing with external defense forces.”

The gist of the ensuing operation was simple.

The number of people assigned to this position is six, excluding the leader.

They enter the hidden ruins entrance near the gateway and head to the third sanctuary through the underground ruins.

And the leader’s role was to attract attention by gathering troops and marching toward the sanctuary as if they were going to engage in a blitzkrieg siege.

As the commander himself led the army, most of the troops would gather towards the outer walls of the sanctuary for defense.

So, taking advantage of the time when internal security was neglected.

“We’re destroying the source of the curse behind them.”

“you’re right.”

Edgar nodded at Dallen’s words.

“If we can destroy the source of the curse, there will be no more needless casualties.”

“I’ll just finish maintenance and leave right away.”

Dallen stood up. There was no need to delay.

No matter how quickly we hurriedly walked through the underground ruins, it would take more than four days.

And as time passes, the damage to the Holy Knights will worsen.

From his perspective as he prepared for the imminent apocalypse, it would have been better for at least one more paladin to survive to protect the rift.

***

That evening.

Two wizards, three paladins, and a mercenary went down deep underground into the gateway fortress.

After passing through several locked doors and hidden passages, they were finally able to enter the entrance to the underground ruins.

‘It reminds me of the old days.’

Inside a passage full of cobwebs and dust.

As he walked through the darkness without a trace of light with a torch, Dallon remembered his visit to this place.

Out of hundreds of plays, it was only like two.

Even those episodes were buried in the back of my memory because neither of them were normal play.

‘I guess I’ll have to stop by there too to retrieve the body.’

In the underground ruins here, there was a place that could greatly increase the power of an immortal demon.

It would be a waste to use the devil that was caught only as a subspace pouch and portable burner like now.

However, it is not possible to catch a living sacrifice and throw it as food like the necromancers did.

I had to build up my strength when I had an opportunity like this.

‘I’ll have to look for an opportunity to leave for a while.’

Dallen changed his plan a little in his mind.

The group proceeded through the underground ruins like that.

Two paladins with long, stiff beards, Woolston and Heston, led the way.

The two people came from a family that had been the manager of the ruins for generations in the Knights Templar.

And as you can tell from their names, the two were brothers.

“Hmm. “Isn’t this the room connected to that passage?”

“I said no. “It’s right that this side and this side are connected.”

The two people are constantly debating whether this is the right path as they turn the map, which has been broken into dozens of pieces, back and forth.

Nevertheless, there was not even an inch of hesitation in his steps, and he seemed not much different from someone going for a walk in a neighborhood he knew well.

In fact, just looking at the map is dizzying, and even the text written on it is in an ancient language, so only two people can see the map.

Even though his attitude was a bit unsavory, I had no choice but to just trust him and move on.

“This is a broken road.”

“Then it would be better to take this passage here and go through the square. “This passageway used to transport important supplies, so it must have been built that solidly.”

The route was modified several times along the way.

This ruin was created thousands of years ago when the Sand Emperor ruled nearly half of the entire continent.

It was no wonder that many places could not withstand the winds and waves of time and collapsed and became blocked.

Even if it hadn’t collapsed yet, if it was shaking uneasily, I chose to turn back rather than take unnecessary risks.

As they moved for about a day, the group descended deeper and deeper into the ruins.

Dallen didn’t know how to see a map, but he could feel it just with his senses.

His amazing senses and intelligence were always automatically calculating the angle of the corridor beneath his feet and how deep he had descended since he started.

“The collapsed section has decreased significantly. “It was true that the deeper parts of the ruins were built more robustly than the lower levels, so they are in much better condition even after so many years.”

“My uncle said the same thing. “After bringing up that story, he went down to investigate the depths of the ruins and never came back.”

“that’s right. So, naturally, I assumed that the condition of the deeper parts would be worse.”

Dallon slowly scratched the back of his neck while listening to the low-pitched conversation between his brother Paladins.

It was definitely a good thing that there were no collapsed passageways or rooms.

But on the other hand, if you think about it, it also means that there is a high probability that other things will be fine as well.

‘If I had to give a good example, it would be a magical device such as a ventilation system.’

Dallen sniffed.

The stuffy air even in the lower floors became clearer as it descended deep underground.

There were many more bad examples, but Dallon decided not to think about them.

They say words can be valuable, but if you keep them in your head for no reason and something happens…

[I don’t understand. It is clearly a ruin from a deceased dynasty, so why are there no traps?]

“…….”

[For a ruin of this size, it is natural that the lower floors would have been used as living spaces and the deeper floors would have been used as military facilities and tombs for kings. ..Oh, that was just me talking to myself! Please save me, master…!]

‘Just shut up.’

The sound of the immortal demon begging rang in my head as if recognizing Dallen’s cold expression.

I felt like I needed to educate myself on demons one more time.

If you set aside a night like I did then and pound until you find God, you will develop the sense of knowing when to shut up.

Dallen moved his hand from scratching the back of his neck to rub his temple.

It was then.

Squeak – Clap.

A very subtle noise that tickles my ears.

The gestures around my temple stopped.

Clap. Grumble. Grrrrrrrrr –

the sound of gears meshing together. A vibration that causes the orbit of something to begin to move.

Dallen instinctively expanded his senses as he was immersed in the noise generated by the operation of some complex mechanism.

All five senses sense the tremors of the air and ground, and beyond that, the sixth sense reads the operation of the devices packed behind the wall.

The sparkling eyes capture the flow of magic power and even traces of the old mystery hidden within it.

His senses clearly recognized a device that filled the gap between the passage and the passage beyond the wall.

The purpose of the device is something that you naturally understand as you picture its movement and operation in your mind.

‘Rotten.’

That is, exterminating unauthorized intruders.

It was also filled with the intention of not leaving even a single piece of bone intact.

“Uh, uh….”

Ulston, one of the brother paladins who was ahead of him, slowly raised his foot.

Kiririk –

The cavernous floor beneath his feet is slowly rising.

After seeing that, the rest of the group realized something was wrong.

“…….”

“…….”

The silence came suddenly.

Dallon said.

“You’re screwed. Everyone run.”