New chapter of Nameless Hero is out! (2/3 chapters)
Red-Black Mana
(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)
“Alright! Let’s get our revenge!” (Alfred)
Excluding Tristan, the five members of Liberta once again arrived at the Gala Ruins. They had only attended the carnival for two days, during which Alfred was able to get his fill of watching Liz and Lindsey in their dancer outfits and was thoroughly satisfied. With funds secured, preparations for dungeon exploration complete, and everyone in perfect condition, they were now attempting a rematch.
They had also brought much better pickaxes for magic stone excavation. With such a large quantity of magic stones, they anticipated it would take a long time to extract them all.
However, I wasn’t feeling quite right. The words Arisa said to me during the night of the festival’s eve kept echoing in my mind.
—Does getting more people to fight really help others?
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed she might be right. I couldn’t shake the trauma of having driven Alan and Peter to their deaths.
—That desire for battle itself is the true evil.
Maybe that was true. The Goddess Kea hated fighting.
—Though Kea is the Goddess of Magic, it’s said that giving humans her power wasn’t her intention in the first place.
I also remembered what Dwayne told me. Today’s dungeon exploration could provoke the wrath of the Gods and lead to a disaster.
If something were to happen to the members of Liberta…
“Jack, what’s wrong? Your face looks pale.” (Alfred)
“No, it’s nothing…” (Jack)
Even Alfred seemed worried about me.
I must’ve looked really out of it.
—
We set up a base camp in the large cavern where we stayed last time. From there, we focused on finding the hole we’d opened previously.
“It’s been a week, so my memory’s a little fuzzy.” (Lindsey)
“Yeah. But the Gala Ruins aren’t the kind of place where the structure changes.” (Dwayne)
Lindsey and Dwayne exchanged comments. In a space with no clear landmarks, it’s easy to forget your way after some time.
After wandering through various passageways for about an hour, we finally rediscovered the spot. The unnaturally raised ground and anchor-point holes in the wall left no doubt. We immediately began digging up the area and removed the tent we’d used to seal the opening. Looking inside, it was dark and silent, making it hard to believe the Ushi-Oni had been swarming there just a week ago.
As we prepared to install anchor points and drop ropes, Alfred stopped me.
“Wait, Jack.” (Alfred)
“…We’re not going down yet?” (Jack)
“Didn’t you listen to the strategy meeting before we left?” (Alfred)
What was it again? My mind had been elsewhere, Arisa’s words looping endlessly in my head and drowning out everything else.
“I told you! Once we’re down there, we’ll get overwhelmed. That’s why we’re blasting them with magic from here first to thin them out.” (Alfred)
“Oh, right.” (Jack)
“Seriously, don’t zone out on me.” (Alfred)
I had to focus. I couldn’t let my carelessness cause problems.
I remembered. Before descending, Lindsey was going to use her advanced magic Blaze Gust to incinerate the Ushi-Oni below.
Blaze Gust was nothing like Fireball, which concentrated energy into a single projectile. Instead, it released a continuous firestorm. While Fireball had higher instantaneous power, Blaze Gust covered a wide area with sustained, high-energy flames. Being an advanced spell, it consumed a massive amount of mana and required precise control.
Though the Ushi-Oni were many, they were essentially just a herd of cows. There didn’t seem to be other types of monsters mixed in, so this strategy should work.
I stepped back as Lindsey took out her wand. A wand was a tool that assisted in magic control. Even Lindsey seemed to need one when using advanced magic.
“Alright, here I go.” (Lindsey)
She began chanting.
—From ancient times, the embers crawl across the land. Bundles of flame descend from Soel… Terra shall blaze and give life to all beings… The cradle of the earth is my mother, the heavens of Soel, my father…
Advanced spells required long incantations. As she chanted each word, red magical energy coiled around Lindsey and sweat ran down her cheeks.
—These embers, return to Soel and ignite! Blaze the burning earth!
As the chant ended, red magic concentrated at the tip of her wand.
“Everyone, stand back! Blaze Gust!” (Lindsey)
With Lindsey’s shout, an enormous stream of flames erupted from the wand. The firestorm filled the passage, surging toward the hole with a deafening roar. It was as if a massive red serpent was rampaging downward.
Even after the wand ceased emitting flames, the inferno continued raging below.
The vibrations reached our feet. Faint screams, likely from the Ushi-Oni, echoed upward. Though they were monsters, the cries sounded so much like cattle that I couldn’t help but feel pity.
Eventually, the noise died down, and the flames dissipated.
“Alright! That should’ve taken care of most of them! Nice work, Lindsey!” (Alfred)
“Yeah… I’ll… leave the rest to you…” (Lindsey)
She looked completely drained, likely having depleted most of her mana.
“Oh, thank you for all your hard work. Please rest in the tent.” (Alfred)
“…I’ll leave the rest to you…” (Lindsay)
With that, she returned to the large cavern where the tent was, but from the looks of things, I was very worried.
“Lindsay, are you okay by yourself?” (Jack)
“Yeah… It’s been a while since I last took the advanced level, so I’m more exhausted than I thought I would be. But it’s okay. There don’t seem to be any monsters around. I’ll drink some potions.” (Lindsay)
Lindsey walked unsteadily back toward the large cavern. She seemed not only drained of mana but physically exhausted too.
“Alright, let’s get down there and start mining!” (Alfred)
Alfred seems to be more interested in the treasure and doesn’t seem too worried about Lindsay.
But is it enough to just quickly excavate it and return it? It seems a bit sudden…
All I did was watch, but I wasn’t doing much at all.
—
We descended the rope and entered the lower level. Dwayne stayed back as an emergency measure. Alfred and Liz took the front, and I positioned myself in the middle.
The area was eerily quiet, with most of the Ushi-Oni already dealt with. Dwayne and Liz illuminated the surroundings with their flames. The smell of charred flesh lingered, evidence of Lindsey’s earlier attack. Burnt remains were scattered everywhere.
Ahead, rainbow-colored magic stones glittered, protruding from the rock walls.
“Alright, let’s get mining.” (Alfred)
Alfred, Dwayne, and I began chiseling at the stones with our pickaxes. Liz kept watch for any signs of danger. What we were doing felt a lot like theft.
If the Goddess really exists, this scene is just like a thief desecrating a sacred site. It was unavoidable because adventurers are inherently like that, but still, I was pretty scared. I was really anxious that I might anger the goddess Kea and get punished. Just like the last time, I couldn’t hear the voice of the Goddess or see her figure.
That’s what’s scary.
“…Hey, look at that.” (Alfred)
While we were digging for magic stones and progressing through the passage, we finally hit a dead end.
But it wasn’t just any dead end. A massive magic stone was blocking the passage. And it wasn’t just huge. Unlike the pretty rainbow-colored magic stones we had been collecting, this one was a sinister, red-black color, swirling with ominous energy, emitting a danger signal. And in front of the magic stone, there was a large hole.
From the traces of burned, charred Oshi-Oni corpses rolling around, it looked like the Blaze Gust had lost its way and opened a hole in the underground. There was barely any footing left in front of the huge magic stone.
“…Dwayne, do you have any idea what this is?” (Jack)
“Hmm, it looks like a gem that a monster’s horde would have, but there’s no magic language seal on it.” (Dwayne)
Now that I think about it, the color and the surrounding magical aura of this gem resembled the one I had seen half a year ago in the Melana Dungeon, the gargoyle’s gem. Could this be the ‘divine but dangerous mana’ Tristan mentioned?
“Could this be a ‘natural’ gem? It looks pretty high purity for a natural one.” (Alfred)
“Does that mean we’ve found some rare treasure?” (Liz)
“Probably… It might be a new kind of Mana Factor.” (Dwayne)
“Yesss!!” (Alfred)
Alfred shouted loudly with joy. Liz also jumped up in excitement.
Mana Factor. A material generated by mana, like magic stones. With the progress in magic research, new types are being discovered one after another. These are highly valuable and can be sold to research institutions for an enormous sum, and the discoverers are often awarded by such institutions. Of course, for adventurers, it also means a party rank-up. This could mean Liberta was finally going to become an A-rank party.
“But with a rock this massive, it’s impossible to carry it all out.” (Jack)
“How about we come back later and use a transfer magic spell to move it?” (Liz)
“The principle of the Transit Circle is based on wormhole theory applied to magic circles, so you can’t use it unless there’s a flat surface to deploy the circle.” (Dwayne)
“Right! How about we scrape it down a bit and divide it up to carry it?” (Alfred)
“That’d be wasteful. Excavating relics is more valuable when you don’t damage them.” (Jack)
Everyone was debating how to transport it to the surface. However, I had a strong feeling that this was going to be the beginning of a huge calamity. I was too scared to even touch it, let alone scrape it.
“We still don’t know if it’s a new type or not, so maybe we should just take a small sample and have it analyzed by the proper institutions.” (Dwayne)
“That’s it!” (Alfred)
“The problem now is how we’re going to scrape it though.” (Liz)
To reach the huge Mana Factor, the only way was to walk along the narrow footing against the wall. The hole in front was wide and deep, and if I fell in, I’d be sucked into the darkness below.
Small footing against the wall, which meant…
“Jack.” (Alfred)
As expected.
“You’re the only one who can do this. We can’t manage on that small footing.” (Alfred)
“I figured you’d say that.” (Jack)
I glanced at the large hole. If I fell by mistake, it would be the end.
“I know it’s dangerous, but please! This is for the whole party!” (Alfred)
For the whole party, huh? I had been just a bystander during our dungeon exploration until now. If I didn’t do this, my worth would be nothing.
“Please! An A-rank party with six members, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of that! If you contribute, your fame will skyrocket!” (Alfred)
“It might be a bit much for Jack, but please! If you use a rope for safety, it’ll be fine!” (Liz)
I want to respond to Alfred and Liz’s expectations, but the fear of falling into the hole is nothing compared to my fear of scraping that thing. However, I have no choice. It’s not like I am a child throwing a tantrum, scared and unwilling. As a comrade, I have no choice but to do it. I have the expectations of my party members on my shoulders. I am the only one who could do this.
—
I wrapped a rope around my waist, carried a pickaxe on my back, and set off toward the small footing. I placed both hands on the wall and carefully made my way forward. As I got closer to the red-black crystal, my fear grew stronger.
I looked at the object of my fear. Inside the crystal, red-black mana swirled. It felt like it would suck in my consciousness entirely.
———Groooan
I lost my footing.
“Watch out!” (Dwayne)
But just in time, I managed to regain my balance and barely avoided falling. My heart was pounding hard. The part of the footing I had scraped off fell into the hole below. The absence of sound meant it was probably an incredibly deep hole. I couldn’t even imagine what was down there.
“That was close.” (Lizbeth)
The people in the gallery were watching me with worried looks on their faces.
“———Stop it———” (Voice)
As I moved my feet a little further, I suddenly began hearing that voice.
“———Don’t violate me———” (Voice)
It was definitely the same voice as before.
Don’t violate me? Is that girl inside this crystal?
I stared at the crystal. The red-black mana still swirled, and inside that whirlpool, I felt like I saw the face of the girl.
“———But you came for me———” (Voice)
The girl in the whirlpool spoke. Right after that, the dungeon began to shake, the vibrations so strong I almost fell into the hole.
“Jack! It’s dangerous!” (Alfred)
“Hey! We should go back for now, right?” (Lizbeth)
A loud noise of something approaching filled the air. It was the same noise I had heard a week ago, the sound of the Oshi-oni horde marching.
“This is bad! Why are they suddenly showing up?” (Alfred)
“Jack! Hurry and get back here!” (Lizbeth)
“…Ugh… Ah…!” (Jack)
But the vibrations were so intense I couldn’t move. The footing was too narrow, and I was about to be shaken off!
“A horde is coming!” (Dwayne)
“Damn it, I’ll deal with them! Dwayne, pull Jack back with the rope! Liz, cover me!” (Alfred)
“Understood!” (Lizbeth)
The party members were in chaos at this sudden turn of events. With only three of them, we were also short on firepower. Dwayne was pulling on the rope to drag me back.
“Ugh!” (Jack)
I fell slightly toward the hole, experiencing a brief moment of weightlessness. Then, the rope caught me, and a shock ran through my waist.
“I’ll pull you back up, just hold on———” (Dwayne)
The moment Dwayne started pulling the rope, a flash of light suddenly shot from the bottom of the hole, targeting the rope. The flash hit the rope, severing the connection, and I lost my support.
“Ughhh!!!” (Jack)
The shadow of Dwayne rapidly faded as I fell deeper into the abyss. The hole’s depth was far more than I had expected. The endless feeling of floating, surrounded by pitch-black darkness, made me experience a deathly solitude, much like what I had felt when I was in Barwitch.
“———The magician of the imaginary dimension. I’ve been waiting for you———” (Voice)
At some point, my consciousness began to fade away.
(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)
Please consider supporting Bayabusco Translation @
bayabuscotranslation 