“You’re saying we should push through head-on? Are you out of your mind or something?”

Rimle thought he must have misheard.

There was no way Ludger would suddenly suggest charging straight through.

He was about to argue further, but the moment he saw Ludger’s expression, he gave up.

“...You’re serious, aren’t you.”

Ludger hadn’t just blurted out those words on a whim.

“Do you have a plan?”

“I’ve thought it through. The shadow knights that were chasing us—they’re not appearing in the direction we’re currently fleeing. Normally, in situations like this, they’d show up randomly wherever survivors are.”

“Now that you mention it...”

“They must have fixed spawn points. From there, they spread throughout the mansion to eliminate intruders.”

“So you’re saying if we charge back the way they came, we can reach the system’s source?”

“That’s my thought. At the very least, we can find where they’re being summoned.”

It sounded like pure conjecture.

That’s what everyone thought—but at the same time, Ludger’s reasoning was oddly convincing.

“So what? You want us to turn around and smash through all those shadow monsters?”

“Yes.”

“You want all of us to risk our lives on something that isn’t even certain?”

“I can do it alone.”

“But the mansion has rules—”

“Those no longer apply.”

Ludger gestured toward Samuel.

“When Samuel was attacked by the shadow knights and fled to where we were, he was alone. Don’t you remember?”

“That’s...”

“Before the shadow knights appeared, the entire mansion trembled. That was likely the system activating. And in doing so, it also disabled the previous ‘rules’ of the mansion.”

In other words, from this point on, individual action was possible in this secret mansion.

“You don’t have to come. You can regroup with the other mages. But no matter what anyone says, I have to go.”

“You crazy bastard.”

“You can sit this one out, Sage. This is entirely my decision. I don’t intend to force anyone.”

“You think I’ll move just because you push my buttons like that? Think I’ll get caught up in emotion?”

Rimle grumbled as if refusing to join, stepping back.

Ludger didn’t blame him.

He hadn’t expected anything from him in the first place, so there was no disappointment.

But Loina and Sempas were different.

“I-I’ll go with you!”

“I’m coming too.”

That, Ludger hadn’t expected—he looked at the two of them with surprise.

“Well, I can’t exactly back out when a friend’s charging ahead, can I?”

“After coming all this way, running would just bruise my pride. And I’m also curious about your plan.”

Not the noblest reasons to risk their lives.

But that made them feel all the more sincere.

Rimle clicked his tongue.

“You’re all insane.”

“Says the old man.”

“So I’m just an old man now, not even the Sage? Is that how it is now that we’re parting ways?”

Grumbling, Rimle pulled something out of his cloak and tossed it to Ludger.

Ludger caught the object in midair and inspected it, his eyes gleaming.

“What is this?”

“An artifact. It’ll help once, when your life is in danger.”

The brooch glimmered with an embedded gemstone, and Ludger could feel mana flowing within it—there was no doubt it was a genuine artifact.

But it was odd that Rimle had something like this.

It didn’t suit him.

If anything, it looked like something meant for a woman.

“I don’t need it anymore. Think of it as compensation for not going with you.”

“...I see.”

But Ludger didn’t ask further.

He tucked the brooch into his coat and walked off without saying goodbye.

Arfa, Sempas, and Loina followed closely behind.

Rimle silently watched Ludger’s retreating figure.

“U-Um, aren’t you going?” Samuel asked timidly.

“...Yeah. I should.”

Right. That guy’s still here.

Pulled back to reality by Samuel’s voice, Rimle turned and walked in the opposite direction.

* * *

Loina had said she’d go with confidence, but now she was starting to second-guess herself.

“S-So, I mean... it’s great that we made that big, bold exit, but... are we really going to be okay?”

She tried to keep her hope alive, speaking with a hopeful tone toward Ludger.

“You do have an actual plan, right? Something more than just that?”

“I’ve already told you the plan. A direct breakthrough.”

“What? But...”

She tried to say more, but couldn’t.

Black shadows began to emerge at the end of the hallway.

“Prepare for battle.”

Shing.

Ludger gripped the handle of his staff and drew his swordstick.

Loina’s eyes widened.

“A—A sword? That’s not just a staff?! Why do you even have something that dangerous...?!”

“Everyone has a hidden ace up their sleeve. That includes me, and I’m sure it applies to you and Sempas as well.”

“...”

He wasn’t wrong.

No one reveals everything they’re capable of.

Even Loina had never shown her full strength before.

“But this time is different.”

From Ludger’s feet, shadows began to rise.

They quickly crept up his legs and engulfed his body, covering his clothes in darkness.

“Just this once, bring out everything you have.”

At last, the shadows cloaked his face, forming a mask.

Flash!

A blue glow lit up from the eyes of the plague doctor mask.

“If you don’t want to die, that is.”

Magibeast: [Ater Nocturnus]

Now fully shrouded in shadow, Ludger charged at the shadow knights.

Arfa followed right behind.

“I’m going too.”

Sempas trailed without hesitation.

Left behind, Loina watched in disbelief, her shoulders drooping.

“Ughhh. I really didn’t want to use this...”

She bit her lip hard and summoned her mana.

“Just hold them off for a bit!”

As her voice echoed behind them, Ludger collided with the foremost shadow knight.

It held twin spears in its hands—clearly the same one that had fought Arfa earlier.

SKREEEEE!

Recognizing Ludger, the knight immediately thrust both spears forward.

“How amusing.”

As Ludger murmured, two massive arms shot out from the shoulders of his outfit.

[Ater Nocturnus] extended its shadow arms and seized the twin spears mid-thrust.

Grnnnnk.

Shadow clashed against shadow in a raw test of strength.

In that moment, Ludger’s swordstick became a flash of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) light.

Slice.

The knight’s head split cleanly in two.

Its upper body tilted back—but didn’t fall.

“Leader!” Arfa shouted.

“I know.”

Shadow knights didn’t go down from something like that.

Even incinerating them with powerful magic didn’t stop them—they always regenerated.

They were practically immortal.

But if they were constructs of the mansion’s system, then there had to be a weak point.

If this works...

It was theoretically possible. But theory and reality weren’t always the same.

Still, there was no turning back now.

Ludger stabbed his swordstick into the floor beneath the knight’s feet.

Arfa and Sempas stared in confusion as he jabbed the ground rather than the enemy.

“...This is it.”

Ludger infused his swordstick with mana and unleashed it in a burst like flame.

Boom!

A muted impact echoed from beneath the mansion’s floor.

And then—

The knight, its split head slowly beginning to regenerate, crumbled into dust and scattered.

“Whoa!”

“Did you just destroy a shadow knight?”

As Arfa and Sempas stared in awe, Ludger gave a sharp command.

“They’re receiving mana from the mansion. A hidden path connects the knight’s feet to the mansion beneath us. Sever it.”

Arfa and Sempas immediately acted on the instruction.

“In that case, this is right up my alley.”

Sempas raised his leg and brought it down hard on the floor with a thunderous thud.

The same spell he had once shown during his duel with Ludger activated once more.

Mana surged through his leg, spread beneath the carpet, and erupted in a chain of blasts.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The power wasn’t overwhelming, but it was more than enough to sever the hidden paths.

The once-indomitable shadow knights staggered violently, their forms flickering and destabilizing.

With their mana supply from the mansion disrupted, the knights faltered.

“Arfa! Cut the path, then strike the body!”

“Got it!”

At Ludger’s command, Arfa darted into the disoriented ranks of shadow knights, kicking and punching as he moved.

Bam! Boom!

Despite his small build, his strikes tore through the knights like fireworks exploding.

The knights he destroyed this time did not regenerate.

Just as expected.

This wasn’t mere speculation—it was all based on what Ludger had read in the hidden records inside the library.

Shadow knights are part of the mansion’s defense system, drawing mana endlessly from the leyline to remain indestructible. But the mansion supplies that mana through paths drawn from the leyline itself.

To defeat the knights, one didn’t need to touch the leyline itself.

Just sever the mana paths supplying them.

Though of course... this isn’t permanent.

Even if the paths were destroyed, as long as the leyline and mansion remained intact, they would regenerate and summon new knights again.

Still, it was enough to buy them time.

“Push through!”

Ludger charged, cutting through the wave of approaching shadow knights.

Sempas and Arfa were close behind.

They coordinated seamlessly.

Sempas disrupted the mana paths, and Arfa dealt the finishing blows.

Together, they steadily reduced the number of knights.

However—

“Leader! They’re not stopping!”

“They just keep coming.”

The farther they pushed through, the more knights emerged from deeper in the corridor.

It meant they were getting closer to the summoning circle—but the knights’ resistance was intensifying as well.

If only I had anti-magic right now, this would be easy.

Screech!

A knight shrieked and swung its halberd.

Ludger moved to block it with the twin arms of [Ater Nocturnus], but the sheer force made him redirect the blow to the side instead.

Crash!

The halberd slammed into the floor, sending shards flying.

That strength... it increased?

Ludger instantly realized:

These new shadow knights were much stronger than the ones from before.

The earlier ones only had faint glows in their eyes.

Now, these knights radiated green light from every seam in their armor.

If they stalled any longer, even stronger ones would come. That was certain.

They’re manageable now... but how long can I keep this up?

Five minutes?

Ten?

Comparing the current knights to the originals, even ten minutes might be pushing it.

Should I just cast a massive spell and wipe them all out?

But he had to consider the fight that would follow.

The summoning circle would likely be guarded by the Black Dawn.

Perhaps even Lesley herself.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Ludger felt an enormous surge of mana behind him.

A vast, pulsating force riding the currents of the air.

A faint smile crept onto his lips.

Right. They’d been preparing something, hadn’t they?

Ludger glanced over his shoulder.

So did Arfa and Sempas.

“Everyone, duck your heads!”

Loina’s unusually sharp voice rang out, and all three of them obeyed without hesitation.

Fsshk-shhk!

A wave of bluish mana tentacles swept past above them.

The tendrils pierced straight through the shadow knights without mercy.

SKREEEEE!

The knights screamed.

It was bizarre—beings that hadn’t reacted to any attack before were now writhing in agony.

Ludger instantly understood why.

The knights weren’t just being pierced—they were being absorbed.

The tendrils sucked in the mana that made up their forms like straws draining liquid.

At the root of the tendrils was a strange, amorphous mass of magic.

“Ugh. That’s disgusting,” Arfa muttered, eyeing the mass.

Even as he spoke, the blob continued to swell, drawing in more and more knights through its tendrils.

“Loina... what is that thing?”

“That’s my magic beast.”

“...”

“W-Why are you looking at me like that?! I know! It’s weird, okay?! You think it’s gross, don’t you?!”

Honestly, yes.

But Ludger only shook his head.

“I was just wondering why you didn’t summon such a useful creature earlier.”

“I-It’s just... look at it! My familiar looks like that! I-I’m supposed to be an intellectual type, you know?!”

“...Intellectual?”

She had never seemed particularly intellectual, not even once.

Ludger barely stopped himself from saying that aloud.

Still, he could understand her embarrassment.

Even to someone with a strong stomach like Ludger, her magic beast was... a lot.

Frankly, the cryptid from Jévaudan was easier to look at.

And now that I’m seeing it clearly... that’s a giant slug, isn’t it?

What he’d taken for a lump of flesh was actually a colossal slug.

Hideous though it was, its effect was undeniable.

Even the newly strengthened shadow knights were helpless against it, sucked dry one after another.

“At this rate, we’ll make it to the summoning circle. Can you maintain it?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Then we’ll rely on your support.”

“...Fine, I guess.”

Having come this far, Loina didn’t bother hiding it anymore and gave her beast a command with a half-defeated tone.

“Charge ahead, Nngnng!”

“...Seriously? That’s the name? That’s so awful—mmph.”

“Quiet.”

Ludger clamped a shadow-covered hand over Arfa’s mouth.