The troops Osten had called headed toward the fourth entrance, far from where Shane was fighting at the sixth entrance.
The Lampert adventurers raised their shields and remained on high alert at the lead of Anastasia, while Klein and the rest of the White Tree adventurers advanced cautiously, preparing for any surprise attacks from the enemy.
How far down had they descended?
As they approached an area littered with abandoned mining equipment, Al Ross quietly alerted the group.
“Hey, over there! There are non-human slaves!”
Dozens of non-human slaves were huddled together in a corner, and at a glance, they didn’t look to be in good condition.
Even so, the group couldn’t let their guard down.
They knew all too well that these slaves had rampaged without warning before.
“We shouldn’t approach recklessly, Your Highness.”
At Eleksa’s concern, Anastasia nodded her head and turned to Klein.
“Klein, what do you think? Can you do it?”
“…I’ll check first.”
Like when dealing with the crocodile beastman, Klein’s magical power began to fill the air.
However, there was one difference this time; he was far more cautious in how he released his energy.
The aftermath of that incident still lingered. Dilaila hadn’t yet recovered from the mental trauma, Alex had barely survived and was still healing his wounds, and Artia had declared she had no intention of joining any battles for the time being.
Moreover, Klein had been deeply shaken by the deaths of the non-humans back then, so he extended his golden magical power with extreme caution.
Carefully, very carefully.
The non-humans had already endured so much hardship, so they didn’t shy away from Klein’s magical power. They simply closed their eyes tightly, as if bracing for the pain to come.
Klein’s nerves were on edge as he watched their every movement, each figure seemingly preparing for more suffering. He didn’t want to witness, once again, the despair of those who had held onto hope, only to see the light of life snuffed out before his eyes.
After focusing for a long time, Klein finally sensed something stirring within their bodies.
It was an unpleasant, sticky sensation.
Yet, there was a strong vitality coursing through it.
This is…
The familiar presence of blood magic writhed inside the non-humans’ bodies.
But the problem wasn’t simply that the blood magic had accumulated.
Is this the bug my brother mentioned?
Before coming here, Shane had left a message for Olicia.
Unlike before, the reason the non-humans had suddenly gone berserk might be due to a change in the blood magic implanted by the enemies.
The black mages of the School of Life had exclaimed in horror after hearing Shane’s theory.
[Come to think of it, I’ve seen mages from other schools use a similar method before. But back then, it was still in the experimental stages, and I thought it was completely lost after the subjugation incident…]
It seems the organization called Nameless continued that work.
According to the black mage from the School of Life, it was a bug called the Necro Bug.
This insect, which primarily feeds on corpses, is one of the few that easily absorbs black magic or blood magic.
They said it was specialized in concentrating energy as well.
Klein recalled the black mage’s explanation.
[Originally, black magic using the Necro Bug involved feeding it to the subject beforehand, and when that subject died, they sent a specific magical signal to immediately turn them into an undead.]
[They probably modified that into blood magic. If they are using these Necro Bugs, the same methods as before won’t work.]
The Necro Bug absorbed black magic or blood magic and converted it into its own energy, much like how the dark spirit consumed the emotions of others and used them as a power source.
In other words, it was not free energy like before.
[If something goes wrong, they might go berserk or die in excruciating pain.]
So when asked about a solution, even the black mages showed troubled expressions.
[It’s not that there isn’t a way. If you slowly neutralize the magical power from their bodies, it can be done. However, the problem is that the process is extremely painful for the host. Depending on the host, they might not survive the pain and could die.]
[If not, there is another method of precisely designating the coordinates to freeze the non-human. They go into hibernation when the cold sets in. However, there is a problem with this method as well. You would need a mage capable of casting magic so delicate and precise that it wouldn’t harm the host’s body. Neither of these solutions can be resolved as easily as before.]
The black mages added that if they had more time to research, they might have found a solution, but for now, there was no clear method.
In the end…
Is there truly no solution?
Klein looked at the shaking non-humans, who were still gripped by fear, and closed his eyes.
At this rate, they would only suffer more fear and pain.
Would it not be more humane to spare them the pain entirely?
As Klein’s expression gradually hardened, Anastasia spoke up.
“It seems difficult to resolve.”
“…Yes.”
“That’s enough. You only need to assess the situation. The decision is mine as the commander.”
Though Anastasia was just as displeased with the situation, someone had to make the difficult choice.
Just as she was about to speak again—
Was this a miracle brought by the gods?
Or could it be a single chance given to those who refused to give up?
Klein sensed a massive wave of magical power from above.
“Huh…?”
For a very brief moment.
Klein, who was extremely sensitive to magic, experienced an odd phenomenon where it felt as if the world had stopped, even if just for a fleeting instant.
It was so brief that he couldn’t quite put it into words, but Klein could feel it.
Something had just happened up above.
What was that? No, wait.
At that moment, Klein noticed something unusual about the non-humans he had been watching.
The Necro Bugs, which had been emitting a dense blood magic aura, had suddenly ceased all activity.
Why?
What could have caused those non-humans to stop all their movements?
Suspecting something, Klein hurriedly checked the other non-humans.
Sure enough, all the other bugs had also stopped moving altogether.
Although Klein wasn’t well-versed in magic, he thought that the strange behavior of the bugs might be related to the massive wave of magical power he had just sensed from above.
Right, doing something is better than nothing…
At the very least, considering what the black mages had said, this was a good sign.
The Necro Bugs were known to remain active unless they entered a state of hibernation.
“Your Highness, the bugs in the bodies of the non-humans have stopped moving.”
“Hmm? Why is that?”
“I’m not entirely sure of the reason myself… but right now, we might be able to safely extract them.”
“Hmm…”
At that, Anastasia fell into deep thought.
Should she really gamble to save these dangerous non-humans, who could go berserk at any moment?
Then Marcellus, the leader of the White Tree Adventurer Party who had been standing nearby spoke up.
“Your Highness, why don’t we try what this young man suggests? We’ll handle security with utmost caution.”
“…Alright, understood.”
After a brief moment of consideration, Anastasia gave her approval.
“Everyone, we’ve come from the coalition. We’ve come to rescue you, so could you cooperate with us for a while?”
“C-Coalition?”
“Rescue us…?”
At Klein’s words, the non-humans showed signs of unrest, though they didn’t seem ready to trust the group easily.
It was understandable. They had all been kidnapped by humans and ended up in this situation.
Klein tried to calm them down with a gentle smile, but Anastasia spoke up instead.
“There are currently bugs in your bodies that forcibly trigger the blood of the beastkin to go berserk. We need to remove them now, so form a line.”
“Bugs?”
“Is that what they fed us back then?”
“F-Forcing us into a berserk state…”
“Ah…”
The unrest among the non-humans grew, but Anastasia didn’t have time to let it continue.
“Hurry! If the bugs inside you awaken, there’s no telling when you’ll go berserk. If that happens, we’ll have no choice but to kill all of you!”
“……!”
At Anastasia’s forceful words, several non-humans flinched and their shoulders trembled.
They had seen with their own eyes how a berserk non-human met their end.
Gradually, they began lining up in front of the group one by one.
The most robust-looking beastman took the lead.
“…Are you really going to save us?”
“If you’ve got time for questions, start preparing. If we’re too late, we might lose even those we can save.”
“Ah… understood.”
The beastman finally stood in front of Klein, and Klein carefully let his magic flow into the beastman’s body.
He had to be cautious not to kill the Necro Bug.
It was merely dormant, and the blood magic embedded within it hadn’t disappeared.
“To extract the bug inside, I’ll need to strike your abdomen. However, the bug might die in the process, which could put you in danger. To prevent that, I’ll now channel my magical power into your body. My magical power will envelop the bug, but you’ll feel some discomfort during the process. You must not reject my magic. Do you understand?”
“Oh, yes, I understand.”
He didn’t fully understand what Klein was saying, but he mentioned something about needing to remove the bug from his abdomen.
The beastman nodded his head in confusion at Klein’s explanation.
Meanwhile, Marcellus, who was unsure when the situation might escalate, kept his hand on the hilt of his sword and watched closely.
Impressive.
Though Klein made it sound simple, it was far from easy.
Most people spend years struggling with the basics of imbuing magical power into a sword, yet here he was, wrapping magical power around a bug inside someone else’s body?
This was not something achievable without exceptional magical control.
“…Ugh.”
“Hold on. I’m about to apply force to your abdomen. If you feel nauseous, don’t hold back; just let it out.”
“Ah, got it… Ugh, urgh!”
“…! It’s out!”
“Guhhh…”
The bug that had come out of the beastman’s mouth woke up from the impact of falling to the floor and began to wriggle.
The beastman looked at the Necro Bug in horror. His eyes widened with fear.
“Th-This was inside me…?”
“Eeeek…”
The other non-humans who were watching from behind were also gripped with fear. They instinctively clutched their own stomachs.
“Everyone, stop. The creature has stopped moving for now, so don’t provoke it unnecessarily. Just quietly come over here and wait. Understood?”
“Y-Yes, understood.”
At that, the non-humans hurriedly lined up.
As soon as safety was confirmed, they brought the youngest of the beastkin forward and quickly began lining up in an orderly fashion.
Seeing this, the expressions of the party brightened.
They had thought they would have no choice but to kill the infected, but unexpectedly, a solution had been found.
After repeating the same procedure several times, Klein began using both hands to handle the process.
“Is that really possible?”
“I heard he had monstrous talent…”
“He didn’t gain his reputation for nothing. Incredible.”
Members of the White Tree and Lampert parties looked on in awe at Klein.
It was clear that what he was doing required an immense level of precision, yet he was working on both sides simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Al Ross couldn’t help but feel proud of his remarkable friend and his shoulders rose with satisfaction.
He carefully collected the squirming bugs from the ground into a leather pouch.
If they took these back, they might be able to find another solution for future incidents beyond what Klein had discovered.
At the same time, Anastasia was scanning the area; she was searching for the presence Osten had mentioned when her eyes landed on a child.
A child with a gender-neutral appearance that made it hard to tell if it was male or female, and a unique appearance with no body hair except for pure white eyebrows.
The child seemed to be about seven or eight years old and, unlike the others, was watching them from a far corner.
“…….”
At that moment, Anastasia instinctively knew.
This was the being Osten had spoken of.
“Klein, do you sense blood magic from that child too?”
“Ah, that child? Hmm… strangely, I don’t feel anything. To be precise, I can’t sense anything inside.”
“As I thought.”
Anastasia nodded heavily as her eyes met the child’s rainbow-colored gaze.
Having once encountered the mountain king when her soul overlapped with Shane’s, Anastasia was able to sense the other being’s level to some extent.
And from that small child, the presence she felt was immense.
Anastasia slowly approached the child. She ordered the Lampart Adventurer Party, who had been about to follow her, to stay back then extended her hand to the child.
“Can you understand human speech?”
“…Yes.”
“Come here. It’s dangerous here, follow us.”
“…I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Then it’ll become dangerous.”
“We are not dangerous people, though.”
“No, you all will be in danger.”
“…? What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure either, but it will become dangerous.”
“..…?”
Danger? What could that mean?
Anastasia didn’t take the words of this unusual child lightly.
However, she couldn’t just leave the child here either.
Didn’t she hear from Olicia that Shane was also in this mine right now?
He had come precisely to save this child.
“It’s alright. We came prepared for danger.”
“……”
The child’s rainbow-colored eyes stared at Anastasia.
She couldn’t read what the child was thinking, but soon enough, the child nodded and took Anastasia’s hand.
“Ah…!”
“……?!”
In that instant.
At the same time as the child let out a faint groan, a massive surge of magical power was felt from above.
Anastasia felt the overwhelming and rough power. She immediately activated her Origin to protect herself and the child while shouting at the same time.
“Everyone! Brace for impact!”
As soon as her words rang out, a deafening roar erupted and the mine began to collapse.
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