Chapter 102. Attack from the Underground (6)

I've never been an actor.

However, from an audience's perspective, I think one of the virtues of acting is quick thinking.

There must be a reason why ad-libs make up a large portion of the scenes people consider to be great performances.

It was the moment the giant stone gate behind the Legion Commander shattered.

A new field of vision lit up on the minimap in my head.

Along with the warrior from the north who was the source of that vision.

I immediately unsummoned all my troops.

[[Warrior’s Binding] is deployed.]

[Summoned troops are recalled.]

‘Quickly!’

‘O-okay!’

I urged Kkumteuli to change my appearance as well.

By the time the Legion Commander fell to the throwing axe, I was already fully prepared.

I naturally lowered my staff.

Like a spellcaster who was about to unleash a decisive magic spell but missed the opportunity.

From now on, I am Viscount Ash.

Not Tribus.

“Kihi… Ah, ahem. Ahem.”

‘…….’

I need to get a grip.

I raised my hand and slapped my cheeks a few times.

Around that time, I saw Randal walking leisurely through the hazy cloud of dust.

He saw me and raised his hand.

“Ah, Viscount Ash. You were alive.”

“Yes.”

“What is this thing?”

Randal asked, kicking the headless statue with his foot.

I explained it simply.

That this was a ruin of the Lumer civilization, and that thing was the Legion Commander of this ruin.

“So this big statue is a commander of an ancient empire?”

“That's right.”

“He was nothing special. I can see why that empire fell so long ago.”

“…….”

What should I say?

I'm not sure if I should say that's persuasive coming from someone who blew away the head of a named hero in one shot.

Although he's not a combat unit, he's by no means an easy opponent.

He is a type of 'Colossus' unit.

The Colossus, along with the legionnaires, are like the two pillars of the Lumer civilization.

If the legionnaires serve as a sturdy anvil, steadfastly enduring the enemy's attacks.

The Colossus takes on the role of a large hammer that tramples and crushes everything, like Indika's elephants.

For reference, the 19th Legion only has legionnaires, and the only Colossus unit is the Legion Commander.

The decision to force my way through the ruins was made because I knew this in advance.

If there had been Colossi in unit formations, I would have rather dug a tunnel to go up.

A frontal breakthrough would have been out of the question, no matter how many bound troops I had.

“By the way, how did you find the ruins?”

“Find them? I just followed the path.”

“Path?”

“I was debating whether to go up or down, and for some reason, I thought the Viscount would have fallen further down than me.”

Randal said, brushing the dust off his shoulder.

Is he saying he came to rescue me?

That's a little touching.

He picked up his axe and, looking at it in the torchlight, added.

“Ah, I also thought there might be a fight. I kept feeling a noisy vibration from under my feet.”

It must have been the vibrations I made breaking through the ruins.

Anyway, what path is he talking about?

I know it's a passage leading from outside the ruins, but didn't he fall with me?

“I saw a passage in the wall on the way down. I jumped over to it.”

“You jumped?”

“I jumped. By stepping on the debris.”

“While falling? How?”

“What do you mean, how? Isn't it just something you do?”

The man, who was fiddling with his axe as if the blade was damaged, replied as if he had heard something strange.

What is this.

Is he flexing on me?

Well, enduring a subordinate's flex is also one of a commander's virtues, I suppose.

While he was examining his axe, I also told him a suitably embellished version of my own journey up.

Actually, I had originally planned a story about getting lost and wandering in the ruins….

But seeing him talk about kicking off rocks in mid-air to enter a path in the cliff as if it were natural, I felt like I would seem like too incompetent of a superior if I stuck to that plan.

It's definitely not because my pride was hurt.

“You mean you came up from the bottom of the ruins, wiping out all the ancient soldiers?”

“No, not all of them. I looked for opportunities and dealt with them appropriately….”

“So there are still some left. Let's go back down now. I was expecting a fight with an army or monsters, not coming here to break some half-assed stone lump….”

“…On second thought, I think I took care of most of them.”

“Is that so? A pity.”

A pity, my ass.

I'm dead tired.

Even [Lord’s Unyielding Mind] doesn't get rid of physical fatigue.

My body is already near its limit.

Anyway, thanks to Randal, the Legion Commander boss fight was easily overcome.

Now that he has fallen, the legionnaires in the ruins will not awaken.

In the end, it turned out for the better.

It means I can excavate the ruins while developing the mine.

Although there's a high chance of getting into trouble if you touch them, if you have sufficient forces or can deactivate the ruins, Lumer ruins are another gold mine.

As befits a civilization that once conquered the continent in ancient times, countless ancient magical tools are buried here.

The luminescent stones I brought in large quantities from Berenburg are one of the representative artifacts.

“Let's go back quickly.”

Just as I thought that and took a step.

“Viscount, look over there.”

An uninvited guest arrived.

“Lumer! Haku!”

“Lumer! Haku!”

Legionnaires.

Two hundred of them.

Two centuries are entering the mausoleum entrance I broke through, in a Testudo Formation.

I reflexively raised my staff and sword, but then I felt a sudden chill.

“…….”

This is strange.

It doesn't make sense for them to come this far.

Because the Legion Commander is dead.

I haven't searched every corridor and room, so there might be some awakened ones left, but since they've lost their head, they can't perform any tactical actions.

If you get close and attack, they'll put up a minimal resistance, but that's it.

It means it's impossible for them to travel a long distance or for two units to cooperate like that.

For them to have come this far means….

“Viscount, get back.”

A rough hand grabbed me.

Fwoosh-

With an acceleration that reminded me of being hit by a motorcycle, Randal's body and mine were lifted into the air.

Fzzt-zzzt-zzzt-!!

As soon as I saw a laser strike the spot where we had just been, I deployed a shield.

Thud!

A rough landing.

I rolled once, reducing the impact with the shield.

I immediately turned around and formed a barrier.

The green beam that had chased us pounded against the barrier.

Crack!

The barrier shattered immediately, but it bought me a moment of time.

I rolled again in the opposite direction from Randal.

Two beams chased each of us separately.

After rolling on the floor a few more times, the beams stopped.

I quickly got up and saw the colossus with its red-hot palm facing this way.

- Hitting someone from behind during a conversation. How rude.

Legion Commander Fabius.

He's alive.

I don't know how he survived.

Could it be that was an illusion just now?

But for that to be true, the beam attack was real.

However, seeing that the remains of the headless statue had suddenly vanished as if evaporated, he might have acquired a trait I'm not aware of.

But the real surprise happened after that.

Kugugung….

Opposite the Legion Commander.

Something huge moved behind me and Randal.

“?!”

It's the Legion Commander.

There was another one.

Like a doppelgänger.

***

The two stone statues that appeared one after another were eerily similar.

No, let me correct myself.

They are completely identical statues.

I couldn't find any difference between the two, not with my five senses, nor with a mage's senses.

In short, it means it's a perfect duplicate.

- …….

It's a hair-trigger situation.

I thought he would continue the attack immediately, but surprisingly, he remained still.

The statue, which had been staring at us silently, opened its mouth.

- You northern barbarian, ignorant of the law.

Twirl.

I heard the sound of an axe spinning next to me.

This time, he looked at me.

- And you, guardian of the Sacred Relic.

Just in time, I discovered a difference between the two statues.

The neck of the one who had shot the beam barrage without warning.

In the middle of a necklace carved from stone and decorated with large gems, there was one out-of-place gem.

“…….”

It's not a gem.

It's a Sacred Relic.

Having encountered several Sacred Relics so far, I was able to recognize its unique feel, or rather, a certain ominous energy.

The Sacred Relic he possessed was a palm-sized sculpture shaped like a starfish with over ten arms.

- As I thought, you recognize it.

He laughed.

The face carved from stone did not move, but I could feel it in his voice.

That one is the real body.

The one with the Sacred Relic.

The duplicate is probably the ability of the Sacred Relic.

As far as I know, Legion Commander Fabius does not have the ability to create duplicates.

‘Hey.’

‘…….’

Seeing Kkumteuli's silence made it even more certain.

The target is set.

Take out the main body and retrieve the Sacred Relic.

However, there is a problem.

The second one that just appeared.

The one standing tall next to the legionnaires is also a colossus identical to the main body.

It may not have the Sacred Relic, but it has the same size and weight, and it will attack with the same destructive beams and various spells.

Just like the fake Legion Commander I first met.

“Lumer! Haku!”

“Lumer! Haku!”

To make matters worse, more legionnaires swarmed in.

They completely blocked the entrance and began to pour inside.

At least five hundred or more.

I can't see beyond them.

He must have gathered all the legionnaires that have awakened so far.

How should I deal with this?

If it were just one, I could somehow manage it alone, but two is difficult.

Then Randal changed his position.

He stood in a place where he could block both the legionnaires and the Legion Commander's duplicate at the same time and drew his sword.

Without turning his head, he said.

“Viscount, you've been watching the one in front of you for a while now. Is that the main body?”

“…Yes.”

“Can you handle it alone? I'll hold off the rest.”

As he uttered the last sentence, Randal slightly turned his head towards me.

I inadvertently studied his expression.

It's not a determined expression.

The same indifferent face as usual.

But his eyes hold a burning heat, a faint ecstasy, and a faint sense of debt that only I can recognize.

I nodded my head.

“I'll finish it quickly.”

“A few might slip through.”

“That's to be expected.”

- Is the strategy meeting over?

The statue, which had been still, opened its mouth again.

- Nameless Tentacle. Right?

“What are you talking about?”

- Ha. Ha. Is that so? Are you playing dumb?

He stretched out his hand.

- It doesn't matter. I will kill you. And take the Sacred Relic.

An ominous green light flashed.

My body is almost at its limit, but it's okay.

This is the final battle.

It's time to use the card I've been saving.

Fzzt-zzzt-zzzt-!

I threw my body to dodge the beam barrage and took a bottle out from my bosom.

A clear liquid sloshed inside the bottle.

As soon as the pursuing laser stopped, I tore off the cork with my teeth.

I chugged half of it and sprinkled the rest on my sword.

“Hoo…!”

A sensation that made my eyes snap open.

A burning sensation as if all the waste products in my body were being incinerated.

As the scrapes I got from rolling on the floor healed, my depleted stamina was also fully restored.

A faint haze was rising from the sword that had been doused with the liquid.

The effect won't last long.

I run immediately.

- Like a rat…!

Lumer 19th Legion Commander, Fabius.

He has two major strengths.

A destructive beam barrage with no delay.

And a physical defense that is practically immune to swords and spears.

To counter this, I need a spell that is fast and powerful enough to face the beam barrage head-on, or an attack powerful enough to ignore his physical defense.

I have a powerful spell, but I can't use it.

Because they are all types that cause area-of-effect damage, like [Purple Hellfire] or [Hebrun’s Crimson Bloodbird].

If I use it now, Randal will get caught in it.

I have to settle this with my sword.

[[Tuivat High Priest's Swift Sword] is deployed.]

The scenery rushes by as if compressed.

[[Wind Spirit's Aid] is deployed.]

The spirit's wind supporting my feet as I leap.

Fwoooosh…!

I twist my body in mid-air to avoid the sound of the wind that eerily strikes my ears.

The staff he swung narrowly grazed my body and struck a pillar.

[[Tuivat High Priest's Swift Sword] is deployed.]

I bring my sword down on the statue.

He raises his arm to block my sword, but it's a futile gesture.

Crack-!

The blade, without even an aura, crushed the arm of the rock that must have weighed tens of tons like tofu.

The statue clutched its severed arm and hastily retreated.

- This is, holy water…!

That's right.

A treasure of the Luark Church.

It is Al Tener's Holy Water.