Kays Translations

Chapter 43: In a Certain Underground Space

Ren ran with Fiona unconscious on his back.

Her breathing grew more strained with every passing minute. He had managed to give her a small amount of potion, but it had produced no visible improvement.

He wanted to stop and examine her properly. The pursuing flames and lava made that impossible.

They moved as though deliberately targeting Ren and Fiona, just as the fire on the suspension bridge had.

“Damn it… haa… haa…”

Ren’s legs threatened to buckle. He gritted his teeth and forced them onward for more than ten minutes.

There was nowhere else to flee. Every ordinary route had been swallowed by fire or blocked by lava.

(That leaves only one place.)

The thought had troubled him from the moment the route began closing around them. Their sole remaining refuge was a hidden area from the game—one Ren would never have chosen under normal circumstances.

But flames now advanced from both front and rear.

(No. We have to go. There is no other choice.)

The entrance was not far. Ren searched the transformed landscape for the landmarks he remembered and drove his exhausted body forward.

“A… Adventurer…”

Fiona’s faint voice reached him.

“We’ll be out of the mountains soon,” Ren said, though his own breath was ragged. “Hold on.”

“I’m sorry…”

She repeated the apology in a hoarse whisper until her voice faded and she lost consciousness again.

(I will save her.)

Ren summoned the Iron Magic Sword and continued running with the lava almost at his heels.

Then a violent pain pierced his head.

“—!”

A voice echoed directly through his mind. He could not tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman, nor could he understand the words.

At the same instant, the Demon-Destroying Necklace around Fiona’s neck shattered.

“That voice…!”

Another incomprehensible murmur sounded.

This time the headache was so severe that Ren dropped to his knees in the snow.

A crimson wind swept over him.

It lifted Fiona from his back and carried her into the air. Flames curled around her body without burning her, and the wind bore her rapidly forward.

“What the hell—!”

Ren forced himself upright. As Fiona moved farther away, the agony in his head gradually subsided.

He began running again a heartbeat before the lava reached him.

The crimson wind was carrying Fiona along the same route Ren had intended to take.

(Coincidence…?)

A massive boulder that should have concealed the entrance had already been shattered. Beyond it, the hidden stairway lay exposed.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

In the game, examining the boulder had produced a system prompt:

“There appears to be something beyond this rock. Destroy it? Yes/No.”

Players generally responded in one of two ways—either laughing at the sudden, conspicuous message or celebrating the discovery of a hidden area. Ren remembered doing both.

A narrow stone staircase descended into darkness. Light from somewhere below faintly illuminated the steps.

Ren entered without hesitation. Abandoning Fiona never crossed his mind, and the lava behind him had already eliminated any chance of retreat.

He hurried down until a breathtaking sight opened before him.

The passage glittered with mineral light. Every footstep sent reflections rippling across the walls like disturbed water, and motes of azure, violet, and crimson light occasionally streaked away like falling stars.

This was the Star Agate Underground Passage.

Bands of agate covered its floor, walls, and ceiling. Star agate possessed no special magical property; its value came solely from its extraordinary beauty and rarity. Scholars still debated how deposits of such scale could form.

Ren did not slow to admire it.

At the end of the passage, the cave opened into an immense subterranean chamber—large enough to contain Ashton Village. From the ledge where Ren stood to the floor below, the distance seemed twice the width of the fissure in the eastern forest.

Star agate coated the chamber as well, creating the illusion of a night sky extending in every direction.

Then Ren saw something that had never existed in the game.

At the center of the lowest level stood a colossal cluster of crystals, several times taller than Ren and Fiona combined.

Fiona floated inside it.

She remained unconscious, but neither the crimson wind nor the flames had burned her. Beneath the glassy floor, a red glow moved like light beneath a frozen lake. The crystal cluster absorbed that glow and grew steadily brighter.

Ren immediately used Nature Magic. Vines carried him down to the chamber floor, and he rushed toward Fiona.

A weak cry stopped him.

“Krr… ru…”

A young Steel-Eating Gargoyle lay nearby. It was much smaller than the adults Ren had fought, and its metallic hide had partially melted beneath terrible burns.

It was dying.

“Krr… rru…”

The creature tried to threaten him, but each sound broke into a pained rasp. Fluid leaked from its body and wet the stone beneath it.

Ren’s chest tightened.

He had no magic capable of healing such wounds. Leaving it to suffer would be crueler than anything else he could do.

“I’m sorry.”

He placed the point of the Iron Magic Sword against its chest.

For a moment, the gargoyle looked at the blade and cried out. Then it lowered its eyes. Its final expression seemed almost relieved.

Ren thrust once.

Its breathing stopped.

A familiar display appeared before him.

Ren Ashton
[Occupation] Eldest Son of House Ashton

[Skills]
Magic Sword Summoning — Level 1 (0/0)
Magic Sword Summoning Art — Level 3 (1899/2000)
Level 1: Summon one magic sword.
Level 2: While a magic sword is summoned, Physical Ability increases slightly.
Level 3: Summon two magic swords.
Level 4: While a magic sword is summoned, Physical Ability increases moderately.
Level 5: **********

[Acquired Magic Swords]
Wooden Magic Sword — Level 2 (1000/1000)
Allows attacks comparable to low-level Nature Magic. Effective range increases with level.

Iron Magic Sword — Level 2 (1652/2500)
Sharpness increases with level.

Thief’s Magic Sword — Level 1 (0/3)
Has a fixed probability of stealing a random item from the target.

Shield Magic Sword — Level 2 (0/2)
Creates a mana barrier around the user. Strength and effective range increase with level.

The proficiency drawn from the young gargoyle’s magic stone had raised the Shield Magic Sword to Level 2.

Ren felt no joy at the gain.

“I’m coming, Fiona.”

He forced his heavy legs toward the crystal cluster.

“I have been waiting for you.”

A voice filled the chamber.

The crystal cluster pulsed red. Pressure unlike anything Ren had ever experienced descended upon him, pinning his feet to the ground. His entire body trembled, and sweat poured from his skin.

Every instinct screamed that he was about to die.

“I called again and again to the black-haired girl who awakened my power.”

Ren recognized the presence behind the voice. The fire on the suspension bridge, the deaths of Kai and Meidas, and the unnatural awakening of the mountain all pointed to the same legendary being.

The massive crystal cluster had to be Asval’s magic stone.

It must have lain here from the beginning. In the game’s timeline, Marquis Ignat had presumably discovered the Star Agate Underground Passage, learned of the dormant volcano, and removed the magic stone for his own purposes.

Now Fiona’s power had awakened it before that could occur.

Asval’s mana had stirred the Baldor Mountains, awakened the volcano, and caused Fiona’s repeated attacks of pain. Her unique ability had also ruined every part of Kai and Meidas’s scheme.

Ren gathered what courage he could.

“You are Asval, the Red Dragon,” he said, though his voice trembled. “The proud leader of the fire dragons.”

“Yes… I am Asval. Leader of the fire dragons… a warrior who lived for battle.”

Each word shook the chamber and Ren’s body with it.

“I must fight… I must destroy the evil Demon King and await warriors of greater strength…”

The Star Agate Underground Passage began to quake.

Red light blazed through the magic stone, and the crystal cluster rose from the ground.

“Wait! The Demon King is already dead. Loren—the hero who defeated you—defeated him as well!”

“Do not speak nonsense. I am not dead. My existence here proves it.”

Asval’s mind had deteriorated along with his undead body. Facts that should have been obvious could no longer reach him.

(At this rate, he’ll manifest through Fiona.)

Ren forced his fear-locked feet to move. He lunged toward the magic stone, intending to shatter it before the resurrection completed.

A crimson wind hurled him away.

He struck the wall and used the Iron Magic Sword to keep himself upright.

Too many impossible events had unfolded since he entered the Baldor Mountains. Kai and Meidas had tried to kill Fiona to undermine Marquis Ignat and Ren to damage House Clausel. Their entire plan had failed because of Fiona’s irregular power.

Now that same power was resurrecting a legendary dragon without any ritual at all.

“I must go and kill the Demon King.”

The impossible was becoming real before Ren’s eyes.

“Weak one,” Asval said. “Stand in my way, and you will not escape.”

A four-legged silhouette moved within the crimson light. Its long neck and tail swayed with the exhilaration of rebirth.

Fire poured from its mouth and struck the agate walls and floor, melting them instantly. The cavern expanded until it resembled an arena built inside a vast volcano. Holes opened throughout the ground, spilling endless lava across the newly formed battlefield.

When the red glare finally faded, Asval stood before Ren.

“The king of flame is before you. Know that this body cannot be consumed by any fire inferior to my own.”

Even as an undead creature, the Red Dragon possessed a majesty greater than a lion standing alone upon an open plain.

Crimson scales covered his enormous four-legged body, but many had peeled away to expose rotting flesh. One eye had lost its color and was nearly destroyed. Half his tail was missing, and countless holes riddled the membranes of his spread wings.

Fiona floated inside the exposed magic stone embedded in his chest, curled around herself in pain.

Ren had to take her back.

“Please listen to me.”

He knew the plea was unlikely to work, but surrender was impossible.

“I am Ren Ashton, son of a knight who serves the lord of this land. Hear what I have to say!”

Asval’s wings stopped.

“Ashton…?”

Flame leaked from the dragon’s jaws as he repeated the name.

“Why does it sound… strangely familiar?”

“You know my family name?”

“Nothing returns to me… and yet…”

Confusion twisted into rage.

Asval arched his long neck. Of the two horns upon his head, one was broken; the other began glowing with intense red light.

“I dislike it. I dislike hearing that name from a weakling such as you!”

He exhaled.

A fan of flame hotter than the surrounding volcano rushed toward Ren.

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