༺ To Children, Parties Are Like War! (5) ༻
Boom— Baaang—!
Loud shocks kept erupting from outside the mansion.
Every time such a sound was heard, the children hiding inside screamed in terror; even the adults were panicked and frightened by the current situation.
“What’s happening!”
“Looks like it’s true that you get kidnapped if you come to Naru’s party!”
“Hiiiikk…! I only came because they said they’d give pictures of Molumolu!”
Even though the mansion was large and spacious, it was chaotic with over a hundred guests and children filling it up.
The female cleric Arthe, a gold-ranked veteran mercenary, twirled her short bob-cut hair with her finger, lost in thought.
“There are too many people inside the mansion. It seems to be quite sturdily built but if an intruder were to get in…”
If an evildoer were to breach into the mansion filled with civilians, a horrifying disaster might unfold.
The thought raised doubts about whether it was right to have brought everyone inside.
Of course, there was no other choice, and so Cleric Arthe devoted herself to using ‘blessings’ to heal those who were hurt or trampled during the evacuation.
“Come here if you’re injured!”
Ruuuumble—!
Just then, a huge impact shook the building as something struck the walls.
As Cleric Arthe felt puzzled about what was happening outside, her partner, Ranger Pacman, explained the situation with a tense expression.
“That shock, it wasn’t felt from the outside. It was an explosion from within this mansion. Did we let an intruder enter?”
Could it be that ‘Mara’, had finally breached the mansion despite the stand-off with veteran adventurers and skilled mercenaries outside?
The ranger had been sensitive enough to realize from the moment he entered the party that the mansion was full of platinum-ranked powerhouses.
Because of that, it wasn’t strange to describe this mansion as an impregnable fortress.
However, the strength of the man called ‘Mara’, who had broken in and wreaked havoc, was not ordinary.
After all, he had blown away the strongest martial artist Enkidus, known from the Demon King’s Subjugation Party, in one hit, slamming him against the wall.
Yet, Cleric Arthe shook her head.
“No, I don’t think that apostate monk has broken into the mansion. He was in a standoff with Judas. It’s unlikely Judas would handle things so carelessly.”
“That’s true.”
Cleric Arthe and Ranger Pacman had been on the same battlefield with Judas during the war a few times.
Back then, the exploits of the King of Thieves were enough to confuse which side were the Demon King’s forces.
When they heard the man had had a child and even bought a mansion and invited people to a party─they suspected an imposter.
But the Judas they had met in person had become much more benign compared to when they had met him on the battlefield.
Though they considered the possibility of it being an act, they weren’t certain.
Whoosh—!
Crackle—!
Then, a fierce current burst from the ceiling.
At the shock, the lanterns hanging in the corridor and on the ceiling shattered with a bang—, Ranger Pacman quickly discerned the origin of the impact.
“Upstairs? This looks like a clash of magical powers! It seems witches are fighting right above us! Could the apostate monk have comrades?”
It meant that the inside of the mansion was not safe either.
Swoosh-.
Pacman loaded his arrow and shouted.
“Kids! It’s okay! The adults will protect you!”
Pacman’s primary concern was the children inside.
If the children panicked and started running around, the problem could get much bigger.
But the children were calmer than Pacman had thought.
“As expected, Cesar, you’ve had a bad omen around you. You ruined the party atmosphere. Take responsibility.”
“M-My fault? It did seem like those strangers were targeting me…”
Cesar recalled the formidable villain who had disposed of Enkidus.
He himself seemed to be the target, celebrating his seventh birthday today.
If it had been his birthday party held at the villa on 3rd street rather than this mansion full of various heroes and strong figures, he might have managed to escape inside the mansion, but…
‘No matter how many guards there were, I would have been kidnapped! That villain even disposed of Enkidus!’
Thinking so, Cesar couldn’t help but feel a chill.
If he hadn’t made a bet with Naru, if he had not admitted defeat and acted arrogantly, things would have gone terribly wrong.
Whoosh—
Then, the impact came again from upstairs.
Crack—
Due to that shock, cracks appeared on the wall of the corridor where the children were huddled.
Was the mansion collapsing?
“Hiiik…! The ‘Junk Mansion’ is being destroyed…! This Sifnoi’s newly secured job is crumbling…! Sifnoi’s plan to enjoy a sweet life as the mansion’s steward is crumbling with it…!”
Sifnoi was making a fuss.
At her commotion, even the children began to tremble. However, Cecily, with her noble aesthetic sense, noticed that the crack in the corridor was not ordinary.
“This part, it seems more like the wallpaper is torn rather than the wall crumbling, right? There’s a draft coming through the torn wallpaper. A secret passage…? It seems to lead underground…”
A secret passage.
Cecily had some experience with secret passages leading underground.
After all, she had recently escaped from the bandit hideout using one.
Soon, the veteran cleric Arthe shouted with hope.
“I’ve heard that thieves’ bases and fortresses have secret escape routes! Judas’ house must have had one too! Let’s go underground! There might be an escape route! Pacman, scout ahead first!”
“Got it. There might be traps, though.”
Whoosh—
Pacman further tore the ripped wallpaper after loading his bow.
The door to the passage was now fully exposed.
Pacman returned about five minutes after entering it.
“Everyone, come inside. It is indeed a path leading underground. But… it’s not an escape route; still, there’s definitely a large and safe space. It’s just a bit peculiar… Anyway, everyone come down! Underground will probably be the safest!”
At Pacman’s words, everyone hurriedly descended underground.
Below was a place, much larger and deeper than the mansion seen from the outside.
Constructed of solid stone, cold stone walls and pillars supported the high ceiling.
It seemed a space long neglected, dust-laden, spacious enough for hundreds.
Odd were the inscriptions on the walls and stone, and in the center, a massive statue.
Approximately 5 meters tall.
A skull in one hand, and a dagger in the other. But what was the most sinister about the statue was its lack of a head, as if it was sliced by something very sharp.
“This is… like a deity statue often seen in sanctuaries…”
Cleric Arthe, from her experiences visiting various churches and sanctuaries, deduced this place to be a sanctuary of some god or demigod.
Why such a thing was under the mansion was unclear, but the real question was whose sanctuary it was.
Though recognizing the god was tough with the head severed, top student Tywin quickly discerned whose place it was.
“Nocturne, the demigod of thieves, deceivers, and murderers. This is a statue of Nocturne. I heard all statues of Nocturne were destroyed during the Iconoclastic Wars five centuries ago.”
As a priestess of Epar, Tywin felt intrigued, gazing at the dead god’s statue.
What caught Tywin’s interest most was the very real dagger in the statue’s grip.
It was not stone but actual metal.
Adorned with jewels in a gold sheath and engraved with a raptor on its broad side.
The blade curved like a crescent moon.
Clearly a valuable artifact.
Perhaps a ceremonial knife used in rituals or offerings to the gods.
It might even be an object known as a 「Demiurge’s Artifact」.
Then Naru shouted.
“Ah, that’s just like Hina’s crescent moon blade!”
* * *
“Lightning. Manipulation. Transformation. Arrow. Tracking.”
Elle Cladeco chanted her magic.
Then four lightning arrows seemed to appear out of nowhere, striking Brigitte.
“Defense!”
Boom— Crackle—
Brigitte quickly cast a defensive spell to block the arrows.
Brigitte was unharmed, but the mansion’s interior was gradually being destroyed.
‘Elle Cladeco, a scientist mage, seems not accustomed to combat. In a simple duel, I’d have the upper hand seven out of ten times…’
The problem was the location.
The Mansion.
Had they been in the middle of a plain, Brigitte would’ve unleashed her full firepower to subdue Elle Cladeco, but it was tricky to project her destructive magic inside a mansion filled with guests.
“Cladeco, does your sudden attack mean that everything I said was right? You were indeed plotting something nefarious with the demons!”
“It’s not nefarious. I’m working for a greater cause. Professor Brigitte, as a wizard who seeks the truth, you should understand my words.”
“Really? Then why start with an attack?”
“Because, Professor Brigitte, I knew you wouldn’t simply listen to me. Honestly, I don’t want to fight. Combat isn’t my specialty.”
Bluffing?
Lying?
Brigitte quickly assessed the situation.
The fact that Elle Cladeco, who had attacked first, didn’t want to fight.
If she fell for this and dropped her guard, the chances were high that Cladeco would strike her from behind.
Brigitte suffered from the ‘Curse of Devastation,’ which made her unkillable, but not invincible.
The golden wizard Cladeco would likely have developed a spell to temporarily seal the undying Brigitte.
While they faced off with such thoughts, Cladeco lowered her small wand to the ground.
“It’s true I’m conducting ethically dubious research. But I don’t understand what you mean by working with the demons.”
“Don’t play dumb.”
“I’m not lying. I’ve just been collaborating with the members of Tenebris based on mutual interests. Professor Brigitte, you who studied homunculi, we might be able to cooperate.”
“Cooperate?”
“We might even be able to save Judas. Judas, who killed the Demon King and stole his vessel. You should be well aware of what happens when such a person reaches level 50 and transcends, Professor Brigitte.”
“……”
“The vessel that inhabits the worst of villains. It was passed down from the Mad Demon King Sabrnack to Judas. If one with such a vessel reaches level 50 and transcends─”
Elle Cladeco deliberately did not finish her sentence.
She intended for Brigitte to come to the conclusion herself.
And Brigitte was indeed someone who could easily reach that conclusion.
“…Judas’ soul and personality will be annihilated, leaving only his transcendent body with Nocturne, the god of thieves inhabiting it. 「Nocturne’s Vessel」…quite literally a vessel for Nocturne.”
“Professor Brigitte, if Demiurge Nocturne is resurrected in Pangaea, everything will be destroyed. You also know that Judas reaching level 50 is inevitable. It’s just a matter of time.”
“…Time.”
A matter of time.
Six years since Naru’s arrival.
The forbidden magic of time and space.
Brigitte realized she was at a crossroads of choice.
A critical moment to decide the fate of many things.
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