Chapter 1295: Demonic Realm of the Uncanny (18)

The corrupted Mausoleum, located in the deepest part of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors.

The outer ramparts surrounding the vast estate, which leads to the central temple sustaining this Demonic Realm of the Uncanny.

Beyond the dark corridor of the ramparts, where black pollen scattered, stood a woman holding two short swords.

Absurdly, Lennok recognized her true identity at a glance.

“Maiya Lonsdale…”

In the outer rampart corridor of the Mausoleum, where ghostly wails echoed.

Maiya, her face bloomed with black flowers, looked this way without a word of response.

The flowers blooming around her eyes covered half her face, scattering black pollen.

“Surely, it’s… her?”

Whoooosh!!!

Even as she stood, her entire body devoid of apparent strength, an eerie, sharp aura of power could not be concealed.

Below the face covered in black flowers, a glimpse of her characteristic tense and firm mouth was visible.

Even as she reeled, devoid of reason, the martial arts ingrained in her body remained utterly undiminished.

The executioner, known as Machina’s greatest Enforcer of all time.

“Fuck, this wasn’t in the plan.”

Arthur, instinctively drawing a shotgun from his hip, muttered.

Without taking his eyes off Maiya, he pulled out a magazine, loaded it, and said.

“The only request I received was to retrieve the Enforcer’s corpse. There was no mention of her becoming a monster like that.”

“No, if you just thought about it a little, you would have known.”

“What?”

“If it was simply about retrieving the Enforcer’s corpse, there were plenty of other superhumans more skilled in search than you.”

Lennok glanced back.

“So why do you think they specifically paid a high price to entrust the job to you?”

“Fuck, what else… in this kind of hell, a superhuman like me is the most…”

At that moment, Arthur immediately understood what Lennok was implying and abruptly stopped speaking.

“If they specifically chose a superhuman specializing in one-on-one combat for the job, then the reason is clear.”

“…”

“Because the entity you have to face is also… an expert in one-on-one combat, isn’t that right?”

Maiya Lonsdale was an 8-level Enforcer and a member of Pandemonium.

But there was one more qualifier that always accompanied her name.

A specialist in one-on-one combat. One of the continent’s best technicians.

A formidable master, unrivalled in one-on-one duels and combat artistry.

While there were many technicians comparable to her, including Kiriya Yuberz, Evelyn Marcia, Sarin Tribiyer, and Arthur Mason.

Wasn’t that Enforcer the pinnacle of technique, always mentioned first among technicians?

If the entity that commissioned the mercenary had predicted Maiya’s demise and needed Arthur Mason to subdue her.

Arthur, upon seeing Maiya, had also abruptly realized this fact and fallen silent.

“She’s been… devoured by the Dead Fire.”

Aileen said, her expression pale, as she looked at Maiya.

“When revived by nurturing a seed within the Dead Fire, they take on that form. The flowers blooming on her face are proof that even her brain has been completely eroded.”

“…”

“It’s highly likely she’s no longer the same human we knew. She might have lost her linguistic abilities, or perhaps, communication is impossible from the start…”

Maiya Lonsdale, an ex-Enforcer, was a Transcendent with mental fortitude as formidable as her skill.

Could it mean that the Dead Fire’s death energy and Dead Thoughts were so powerful that even she was eroded and corrupted?

Before they could finish their thoughts, Maiya moved from the end of the corridor.

Thump.

With both short swords dangling, she slowly began to walk towards them.

A silent presence, without a single word or will-thought, her gaze unwavering.

“The mercenary will handle the Enforcer, and we’ll slip away.”

Lennok, watching Maiya’s form slowly advance from the far end of the dark corridor, immediately made a decision.

“This is the outer rampart surrounding the Mausoleum estate, so we need to find a way to enter the temple. Buy us some time until then.”

“No, you want me to face that thing alone? Are you crazy?”

“According to my information, your abilities are most effective when fighting one-on-one.”

Lennok stared at Arthur with a cold gaze.

“In a situation where we don’t know what the Enforcer has become, there’s no need to insist on killing her. Especially if a superhuman who becomes a hindrance when fighting together is on our side.”

“No, fuck, I’m not a hindrance!! It’s just that I have difficulty properly using my Miniature Universe if it’s not a one-on-one fight.”

“Then it’s even more fitting for you to face the Enforcer alone.”

Arthur Mason’s style was ultra-high-speed combat, combining extreme shotgun power with mobility and close-range bombardment.

It goes without saying that the foundation of his unique combat power was based on Arthur’s own Miniature Universe and Root Mindscape.

Therefore, if it wasn’t a one-on-one fight, he would find it difficult to use his Miniature Universe, meaning his combat capabilities would significantly decrease.

He didn’t usually prefer to push his allies into dangerous situations first, but given how things stood, he had no intention of hesitating.

While he wasn’t uninterested in Maiya Lonsdale’s circumstances or inner workings, he also had no intention of allowing her to impede their Mausoleum exploration.

“More importantly, an Enforcer who went missing in the Demonic Realm is guarding this place.”

Whoosh!!

In an instant, something like a light sigh brushed past Lennok’s cheek.

From the far end of the dark corridor, a sensation as if acrid floral scent was swirling. Immediately after, Lennok channeled his mana to full power and spun his body.

Swoosh!!!

A sharp flash of light grazed Lennok’s Jeongryun Barrier in the darkness and accelerated.

Maiya, gripping a short sword in a reverse grip, directed her gaze not at Lennok and Arthur, but at the one behind them—

“Ranger…!!”

CRASH!!!

One side of the rampart corridor crumbled, and black stone dust billowed out like smoke.

A mess of death energy, indelible like corpses that had decayed and melted into the rampart walls.

Between the gravestones situated within, Aileen and Maiya were precariously locking blades.

“Khh…!!”

Clang-clang-clang!!!

The short sword’s blade, pressed against the gunblade, writhed like a snake and spun violently.

In a fleeting moment, the deflected blade and short sword elegantly crisscrossed in the air, illuminating the darkness with dazzling sparks.

The forms of the Ranger and the Enforcer traversed between the gravestones inside the corridor, exchanging dozens of sword strikes in an instant.

Whoosh!!

A dry hand, instantly slipped around Aileen’s outstretched blade, peeling it away, and striking for her neck.

But instead of attempting to block Maiya’s sword energy, Aileen calmly leaned her body forward.

Click!!

At the same time as pushing her weight into the gunblade, she manipulated the trigger mechanism near the handle.

The blade snapped vertically downwards over Maiya’s head, and in the instant the Enforcer parried with a short sword, Aileen pulled the trigger.

Ultima Sword Art Zero Form: 6th Magic Bullet, Collapse Star Cannon

BANG!!!!

A shockwave, powered by mana as its bullet, exploded in all directions. It sent Maiya and Aileen flying in opposite directions.

Aileen, who had been thrown outside after breaking through the corridor wall, grasped her gunblade with both hands and lowered her head.

“Are you alright?”

“…I heard she was a retired Enforcer, but her skill is incredible.”

Aileen said, looking down at the hand gripping her blade, her complexion pale.

Her utterly pale fingers trembled faintly, unable to withstand the recoil.

“I only crossed swords with her for a moment, but I couldn’t seize the initiative even once. If I hadn’t forcibly twisted the engagement, I might have been crushed…”

“…”

Aileen, being a gunblade user, must have been a superhuman with considerable expertise in swordsmanship.

Yet even she could barely hold her own against the irrational Maiya for a brief moment.

If she hadn’t ingeniously applied Property Transformation to her blade at the last moment, she would have been killed without a chance to escape.

“It seems she was eroded by the Dead Fire and is targeting those from central cities like me first.”

Aileen, having finished maintaining her gunblade, instantly composed herself and stood up.

“I’ll try to lure the Enforcer away. If I can just properly draw her attention, even once—”

“No, here we stick to the original plan. Leave the opponent to the mercenary.”

Lennok knew that Aileen was a more formidable superhuman than he had initially thought.

Her unique ability to inflict damage on an Apostle at the seabed terminal, her judgment to find her role in the three-way struggle between the Order Alliance and the Guido Cult, and her knowledge and experience to freely explore the Demonic Realm.

Even her indomitable mental strength, which hadn’t wavered despite being pushed to the brink of death against Maiya.

Fitting her reputation as an Imperial Ranger, she was clearly a superhuman capable of performing her role in most situations, no matter what.

But precisely because of that, Lennok had no intention of wasting time using Aileen as bait in this situation.

“There’s something crucial we must confirm as we approach the Mausoleum. It’s a significant issue that might require revising our existing plan.”

Lennok said this, quietly watching Maiya, who was walking out from the far end of the corridor, black flowers blooming over her eyes.

“Especially since we encountered that Enforcer here, it’s an issue we absolutely must address. We need to move here.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. A problem that needs checking even if it means changing the original plan…”

Did it mean there was an obstacle to their exploration, even after successfully entering the Mausoleum’s outer estate?

CRASH!!

Before Aileen could even turn with a slightly bewildered expression, Maiya moved.

Gripping both short swords in a reverse grip, she lowered her stance slightly, and instantly accelerated.

As if riding the wind and piercing through space, she landed with incredible speed on Aileen’s knee, covering dozens of meters.

Whoosh—!

A landing that perfectly killed her weight, as if a feather had settled.

Aileen, recognizing that absurd movement a beat too late, flinched and retreated, just as Maiya swung her sword.

Pellets exploding beside her struck Maiya’s form with a tremendous roar, sending her flying.

BANG!!!!

“…!!!!”

An unbelievably intense impact that completely swept away a corner of the pollen-strewn corridor.

Maiya’s body, with short swords flipped to act as shields on her forearms, couldn’t withstand the force and was pushed back, leaving scratches.

“Whoa, she reacted even when shot at this close range?”

Arthur, aiming his smoking shotgun, spat out the words.

“She’s only holding two short swords, but her entire body is a weapon. She’s truly a human butcher.”

Click!!

Arthur, rotating one shotgun to reload it with one hand, raised his other shotgun and nodded towards Maiya.

“Cheonbeon, you’re right. That’s no monster we can deal with by spouting stupid nonsense among ourselves.”

“…”

“I’ll blow that woman’s head off, so get out of here. You know what to do, right?”

“It’s a relief that you’re finally making some sense.”

Lennok, signaling Aileen with his eyes, turned without hesitation.

“Try your best not to become a hindrance.”

“Bullshit. Once this job is over, I’ll never see you guys again… I said!!!”

CRASH!!!

As Maiya moved, Arthur simultaneously fired both shotguns, front and back, accelerating explosively.

He instantly caught up to the Enforcer’s form from behind in the narrow corridor and pressed her down vertically.

Maiya, scattering an eerie Killing Intent, spun her body and swung her short swords, while Arthur parried with his shotgun and thrust forward.

CRASH!!!

With a deafening roar, a shockwave rippled circularly through the Mausoleum’s outer ramparts.

Leaving behind the strange sensation of the surrounding area twisting and distorting as one-on-one combat specialists clashed, they ran.

They quickly traversed the rampart corridor leading to the Mausoleum’s outer estate with Aileen, putting distance between them.

“So, what exactly is this problem you need to confirm?!”

Aileen asked, speeding ahead alongside Lennok.

Even holding her gunblade, her speed didn’t diminish; instead, her breathing remained steady.

“Maiya Lonsdale’s disappearance in the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors wasn’t that long ago.”

Lennok answered, gazing at the temple visible at the far end of the corridor.

“If an Enforcer died in the Demonic Realm, nurtured a Dead Fire seed, and revived in that form, couldn’t there be any number of other cases?”

“Other cases, you say?”

Suddenly, Aileen’s expression froze as she understood Lennok’s words.

If corpses left behind after failed Demonic Realm conquest operations had successfully revived in the same way as Maiya.

“Eredis Zabelin failed in her Demonic Realm conquest and lost some of her superhumans here, didn’t she?”

Swoosh!!

Lennok, running directly behind Aileen, grabbed her collar and stopped.

Immediately after barely decelerating, an opaque light fell in front of Aileen, shattering the outer wall.

CRASH!!!!

Unknown gravestones lined up inside the corridor.

From behind them, two superhumans slowly emerged, black flowers blooming on their faces.

Lennok, facing them, lightly clenched and unclenched his hand, then spoke.

“That, in turn, means that the Annihilation Squad under Zabelin’s command could also be here.”

“…Hah.”

Whoooosh…!!

An older man holding a thin sword, and a young man carrying a massive axe.

Black flowers blooming between their eyes and noses, and tightly sealed lips.

The armaments they held vibrated strangely, scattering an opaque glow.

Aileen, seeing their forms, murmured with a pale expression.

“It’s indeed the Collapse Armament used by the Annihilation Squad. How can this be…”

“Collapse Armament?”

“It’s a weapon that manipulates mercury with mental power, vibrating it at a specific frequency to collapse material structures.”

Aileen replied, trying hard to maintain her composure.

“It’s an armament designed to mimic Zabelin’s ability in a somewhat similar way, and in the central regions, it’s known as an indefensible weapon that only superhumans can wield.”

“…”

“It’s also why the Annihilation Squad she leads is called one of the best vanguards on the Central Front, but I never imagined they could use that ability even as corpses…”

A weapon that collapses material structures. An armament mimicking Eredis Zabelin’s ability in a similar way.

Then, perhaps, it’s a type of power related to Zabelin’s innate ability, known as the strongest spear of the vanguard.

Lennok, too, had never imagined such a powerful concept could exist as an innate ability, so he couldn’t easily be sure.

“Each member of the Annihilation Squad is as skilled as the elite conquest team, and because of their equipment, it’s best not to fight them head-on.”

Click, click!

Aileen said, inserting a new magazine into her blade.

“Here, first, as you said, rather than entering the Mausoleum, we might need to confirm how many such cases exist—”

Rumble…!!!

Suddenly, the far end of the corridor violently shook, and the sound of something awakening echoed.

CRASH!!!

A knight in a black flower-bloomed helmet. A werewolf, with petals growing between its teeth, burst out.

A wizard, blooming a bouquet of flowers from his throat, flew high into the sky with hazy eyes, gazing upwards.

The corpse of an Iron Spirit Spell Master, its eye blood vessels burst and turned black, staggered out from a distance.

In an instant, over a dozen high-level Transcendent beings surrounded and roamed the estate.

And then…

Gulp, gulp…

Rustle, rustle…

Corpses that had once participated in the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors conquest, failed, died, and were discarded.

With faces devoid of reason, like wandering specters, and an eerie, inhuman life presence, eroded by flowers that had pierced and bloomed in their brains.

“How could this be…”

Only then did Aileen understand why Lennok had hurried before entering the Mausoleum.

Not to count the number of victims, but a necessary task to assess the risks before entering the Mausoleum.

If the superhumans guarding the outside of the Mausoleum possessed this level of power, then it was possible that even greater monsters resided within the Mausoleum.

Were they simply corrupted and wandering outside the Mausoleum in the order they entered the Demonic Realm, or did a greater rule exist—

“Martinez. Here, I’ll try to clear a path first.”

Clang!!

Aileen, drawing her gunblade with a determined expression, brought the blade to her wrist.

“If I use my blood as a bullet, I can buy us some time. In that interim, your goal will be to confirm the inside of the Mausoleum…”

“No, that will be difficult.”

“What?”

“The Mausoleum’s location is subtly different from how it appeared from the outside. I’ve vaguely felt it for a while, but it’s definite now.”

Lennok’s eyes narrowed as he gazed at the vast temple shimmering beyond the thick floral mist.

“The temple’s location shifts the closer we get. Is its spacetime coordinate being distorted every time we observe the Mausoleum from here…?”

Whoooosh…!!!

Taking one step, the Mausoleum’s scenery appeared from the west; taking another, it appeared from the south.

If he turned his head, the temple appeared beyond the estate; if he lowered his gaze, it vanished again.

It wasn’t an illusion or a barrier deceiving them; the Mausoleum’s position was actually shifting according to their observation coordinates.

With spacetime distortion generating around them and the Shadow of the Star also mixed in, even Lennok found it difficult to find the way.

Even if they broke through the estate using Aileen as bait, it was highly likely they’d get lost right there, let alone reach the Mausoleum.

[The-dead-Mausoleum’s-dead-internal-dead-environment-dead-is-dead-contaminated-dead-by-dead-Dead-Thoughts-dead-dead-dead—]

[The-dead-record-dead-here-dead-is-dead-not-dead-noted-dead-once-dead-but-dead-undergoes-dead-multiple-dead-updates-dead—]

Ethan’s journal, appearing in the Demonic Realm Travelogue, was also corrupted by the Mausoleum’s internal Dead Thoughts and going berserk.

If he managed to interpret the few legible phrases, it seemed the journal’s record needed time to stabilize through updates inside the Mausoleum.

‘Should I forcibly resummon the Sun Ship?’

The Sun Ship Megiddo was the core of a bio-battleship used by alien phantoms when they wandered the cosmos.

Since the entire Mausoleum had been distorted into an otherworldly realm, using the Sun Ship might allow him to interfere with the Mausoleum in some way.

Even with things as they were, a way to escape the Mausoleum still remained.

But the reason Lennok was still deliberating was—

“Ultimately, if we can’t find the way, no matter how many times we try, we’ll only face the same result.”

“…!!!”

A voice, not from Lennok or Aileen, but echoing as if whispered from somewhere.

It wasn’t a normal human. Someone among the approaching corpses from all sides of the estate had spoken.

Aileen immediately noticed this and sharply turned her head.

“Surely, among the corpses inside the Mausoleum, a survivor—”

“No, not one consumed by the Dead Fire.”

“What?”

“From the very beginning… it was watching us.”

Lennok’s gaze, as he spoke, was fixed precisely on the Iron Spirit Spell Master standing among the corpses.

The remains of the Apostle-Slayer, which Lennok had used as a battering ram to smash through the gate at the entrance to the Demonic Realm.

Had the Dead Fire devoured the Iron Spirit Spell Master and revived its corpse? Aileen, thinking this far, suddenly came to her senses.

“No, there are no flowers…! Could it be?”

Unlike the other corpses, no black flowers bloomed on the head of the staggering Iron Spirit Spell Master.

It was simply that all the capillaries in its head had burst, congealing black, making its skin appear utterly dark and similar to the surrounding corpses.

The moment Aileen instantly noticed that anomaly and channeled her mana to full power, glaring at the Iron Spirit Spell Master.

The Iron Spirit Spell Master, who had been staring blankly at them, gave an empty smile.

“You’re quick to notice.”

WHOOSH!!

As the Spell Master stretched out both hands, black flowers were torn out by their roots from the heads of the corpses standing nearby.

A grotesque sight: as the flowers rooted beneath the eyeballs were grasped, brain matter from inside the skulls was pulled out, tangled with them.

As the two corpses, brain matter scattered, collapsed, the Spell Master took a step forward, channeling mana.

A sharp mana light surged like a wave, simultaneously scattering the corpses that had surrounded the estate in all directions.

CRASH!!!!

A tremendous roar erupted, tearing away the encirclement that had been approaching Lennok and Aileen.

“I’ve heard much about Cheonbeon’s skill, but it was never really comparable to that of a Blaiver Magic Tower Lord from the start.”

The Iron Spirit Spell Master, staggering closer, raised its darkened eyes and looked at Lennok.

“You’ve already reached this point less than two days after arriving in the Demonic Realm. I nearly missed my chance to speak with you.”

“…You.”

“You’re looking for a Pathfinder, aren’t you?”

Staring at Lennok with inverted eyes, whose whites were stained pitch black from burst capillaries.

The hollow, inhuman presence Lennok had first felt when he met the Iron Spirit Spell Master now felt even stronger.

The traces of a non-human entity, even clearer and more grotesque after the Spell Master’s death.

Lennok, instantly realizing the nature of that anomaly, hardened his expression.

“It’s not the Iron Spirit Spell Master himself. Are you simply parasitizing his body to speak to me?”

“Ah, right… I thought getting out of here was the priority, but perhaps I should introduce myself first?”

The Spell Master said casually, its darkened eyes observing, touching its chin.

“I am Yaksha of the Order Alliance. By agreement with the Alliance Leader, I serve as a Pathfinder in the central regions.”

“…”

“According to an ancient pact, if you wish, I can help you meet the Grand General inside the Mausoleum. Do you… wish for me to reset the course?”

“…I don’t understand what you’re saying. You’re the Order Alliance’s Pathfinder?”

Lennok didn’t know much about Pathfinders, but he understood that their talent was extremely rare.

From the first time he heard about that talent at the First Gate, to hearing a detailed explanation of its value from Aileen.

Because everyone consistently acknowledged its rarity and highly valued it.

But precisely because of that, it was hard to simply accept the convenient appearance of a Pathfinder right now.

Moreover, if this entity, not a normal human, but one speaking to Lennok by borrowing the body of a dead Iron Spirit Spell Master, was on the Alliance’s side.

It was clear, at the very least, that it harbored some utterly suspicious purpose or intention.

“That talent isn’t something easily found anywhere. How can you even chart a course inside the Mausoleum, which has become an otherworldly realm?”

“…”

As he questioned Yaksha, he finished preparations to summon the Sun Ship.

Though the backlash from its prior unsummoning still lingered, summoning it wasn’t impossible if he pushed himself slightly.

Using the ship that alien phantoms supposedly rode across the Outer Sea, he could escape the Mausoleum immediately.

However.

“I don’t think there’s a need for me to explain at length why I’m serving as a Pathfinder and helping you.”

Yaksha, turning its darkened inverted eyes, chuckled lightly.

“Because if I were the one who had served as navigator for the Sun Ship you possess, that would be a reasonable explanation for all your questions.”

“…What?”