Chapter 151: Sandstorm Hills Part 5

The golems created directly by the ancient elves were far faster and stronger than any they had seen before.

Seven of them moved as if they were one, connected by invisible threads of magic, and the slightest opening would be met with a chilling attack.

“You wish!”

But the party fighting them was no pushover either.

They were all seasoned players of the fifth level, and, above all, with Jun and Eleanor’s support, their fighting power had reached its peak.

In the end, the battle ended with a clean victory for the party.

“Phew. Without everyone’s help, these would have been quite troublesome.”

Aiden said as he sheathed his sword and approached, to which Jun nodded in agreement.

“Right. I didn’t think we’d finish this quickly either. At this pace, we could wrap up the exploration in two or three days.”

While the others rested, Jun carefully examined the ancient elf-made golem.

It’s different from how Teia’s Tears worked. Like in the Black Forest, this golem is powered by a spirit, but the spirit’s consciousness is the main driver? And it’s lingering quite strongly. How strange.

There were no traps, and the only real threats were the golems acting in groups. Just as Jun predicted, the exploration was nearing its conclusion by the third day.

***

“This must be the final gate.”

They had finally arrived at their destination.

The scholars of the Issus Society, gazing up at a huge stone door so tall they had to crane their necks, could not hold back their exclamations.

“Oh… look here! There are sockets carved to fit jewels, each matching a different color.”

“A magic engineering device powerful enough to open this huge door?”

“I’ve seen plenty of mechanisms like this, but never one so perfectly preserved!”

While the scholars were abuzz with excitement, the adventurers and treasure hunters wore more serious expressions.

“What size is this…”

“What in the world is behind there that it needs a door this big?”

“It could be dangerous. Let’s make sure we have an escape route ready.”

The stone chambers they had seen so far had been large, but none as enormous as this.

Which meant there could be an equally formidable foe inside.

“I was starting to think it was convenient that there hadn’t been any traps so far…”

“It could just be confidence. If they’ve set up something strong enough that traps aren’t even necessary, that’s entirely possible.”

In contrast to the others, Jun’s expression remained calm.

Looks impressive on the outside, but there’s nothing much inside.

What he had seen in the game’s version of this stone chamber was only a half-collapsed altar and the World Tree sapling curled into a sphere, as if it had once enclosed something.

That was all.

After a short while—

Grrrrrrrrr…

The huge stone door opened, revealing the interior.

“Oh…! A relic preserved this well!”

“Remarkable, truly remarkable!”

“Look there! That lustrous blue glow! I can feel an immense magical power!”

The curious scholars were the first to rush toward the altar.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party stayed on guard, ready to fight at any moment.

“Jun?”

The expression on Jun’s face, which had been calm until now, was suddenly twisted as if he’d just been betrayed.

Seeing this, Aiden instinctively drew his sword.

By now, he could tell from Jun’s face alone when things were about to take a bad turn.

***

Unlike the scene he’d seen in the game, the altar before him was neither damaged nor empty. Instead, the World Tree sapling enclosed a massive bluish gem that hadn’t been there before.

“Incredible… so this is the—”

“Step away!”

Jun’s voice cracked through the room like thunder, halting the scholars in their tracks.

“Wh-What’s wrong?”

“We haven’t touched anything yet.”

Fortunately, the scholars weren’t reckless; they had no intention of grabbing it without thought. They were also wearing monocle artifacts that detected magic, so they believed the room to be safe…

“It’s already activated.”

“…What?”

Possessing the [Mana Body], Jun could not only see magic but also sense it on a much broader scale.

The moment they had stepped into this chamber, something had already been triggered.

And then—

Gggggrrrrrrr—

“Damn it. Too late after all.”

Feeling the faint tremor, Jun clicked his tongue.

“Mentrus! Grab the World Tree sapling now!”

“Wh-What is going on?!”

“A trap in the ruins has been activated!”

By now, everyone realized something was seriously wrong.

The faint vibration was growing stronger, and dust was beginning to drift down from all directions.

They had to get out immediately.

Following that instinct, the treasure hunters bolted toward the escape route they had scouted earlier.

“We’ll take the lead and light the way. Just follow us!”

“Damn it! Meidan, grab the sapling!”

“What about the jewel?!”

The moment someone, eyes glinting with greed, reached for the jewel encased by the World Tree sapling—

[Shield]

Jun’s barrier cut them off.

“The amount of magic inside that jewel is beyond what any human can withstand. Touch it, and your body will burst apart!”

“……!”

Tick, tick!

As if to prove his point, clumps of dust falling from the ceiling touched the jewel and instantly vaporized.

The adventurer who had reached for it quickly abandoned the idea.

“I’ve got the sapling!”

“Good. Move! We’re getting out!”

The adventurer party departed first, while the White Whale Mercenary Corps stayed back to escort the slower-moving Issus Society scholars.

“B-But how long are we supposed to keep running?! If the ruins collapse completely, we won’t make it out alive!”

“Better than standing still and waiting for it to happen!”

And sure enough, the ceiling of the stone chamber they had just left caved in.

Was this trap triggered whenever an unauthorized person opened the door?

Of course, the adventurers weren’t concerned with the “how” of it.

What mattered was that the ruins were collapsing right now.

But Jun’s expression was grim.

What if this collapse itself is just part of another process?

Instinctively, Jun recalled the jewel the sapling had encased.

That familiar-looking gem… he had seen it before in the game.

And he remembered the monster that used it as its power source…

“Scholars.”

“What is it?”

Even while running hard, the scholars answered his question.

“Do you happen to know the field boss of Sandstorm Hills?”

On the fifth level, there was only one truly famous field boss unlike the earlier levels, this was a monster that could only be faced by a properly assembled raid party.

However—

“The ‘Windspike Scorpion’ isn’t it? Hah… hah!”.

No.

The Windspike Scorpion might have been the only monster in this desert, but it wasn’t the field boss.

With that, Jun grew increasingly certain of his prediction.

Around that time, he shouted toward the figure seated at the head of the treasure hunters running far ahead.

“Maxwell! Not that way!”

“What do you mean, mage?!”

“If we head straight for the entrance, it’ll be too late! Come this way!”

“Where to?!”

“The passage with the massive pillar over there!”

“Got it!”

At Jun’s words, the treasure hunters immediately veered off course and gathered under the towering pillar.

“Damn it, the passages are already starting to collapse. So why did we come here? We don’t have a second to waste!”

In response to one of the treasure hunters, Jun pointed at the massive pillar.

“Even if we’ve been wandering around looking for stone chambers and the like, it took us four days to get here. There’s no way we can make it out in time.”

“Then what?”

“Sir Veden. Could you come here?”

At Jun’s call, a scholar wearing an artifact monocle stepped forward.

Jun brushed away the dust from a recessed spot in the pillar and pointed.

“What is it?”

“If you look closely here, you’ll see a magic circuit.”

“…! H-How can a magic circuit be on an object?”

Magic circuits normally resided within living beings. They weren’t something you’d expect to find embedded in a pillar.

“That’s not what’s important right now. We need to activate this magic circuit.”

“And you know what it is?”

“When I checked last time, the direction of the circuit’s flow was upward, toward the surface. And the inside of this pillar is hollow.”

Jun suspected this might be something like an elevator used by the ancient elves.

“Ah, that device!”

“It’s been found even on the seventh floor!”

“We’re out of time. This place could collapse at any moment, so we need to activate this first. Sir Veden, match your magic to mine and reconnect the broken circuits here.”

It was a chance they’d gained not by blindly trusting the place just because it resembled a game setting, but by carefully searching the surroundings.

The scholar called Veden nodded, and Jun quickly began channeling magic into the circuits carved into the pillar.

Good, it’s not rejecting my magic.

The lines of the magic circuit, which could almost be mistaken for cracks, glowed blue, while the scholars beside him threw all their knowledge into assisting him.

And before long—

“I-It worked!”

“It’s opening!”

With a grating grrk-grrk sound, the center of the pillar split open like a door.

One of the treasure hunters muttered,

“But… what if it collapses while we’re going up?”

“Then we’re all dead. But either way, running for it won’t get us out of these ruins in time.”

“Fair point…”

Even with a level 5 fighter’s body, no one could sprint at full speed for twenty-four hours straight.

In the end, everyone climbed into the pillar, and before long, with strange mechanical noises, they began ascending toward the surface.

***

“It’s collapsing!”

“Hurry, get out!”

They made it out by the slimmest of margins.

Just before the pillar came crashing down, the party managed to burst safely out of the ruins.

Jumping down from the huge pillar and landing on the sand, they finally had a moment to glance back.

“I-It’s really caving in from the inside…”

“And I think it’s speeding up.”

“If it weren’t for that pillar, we’d be…”

They were on the verge of some horrific speculation when—

“What’s the nearest level stairs to here?”

At Jun’s question, the scholars tilted their heads but answered.

“About half a month’s travel. But why?”

“Because we need to run there at full speed starting now.”

“Why? Sure, the ruins collapsed, but there’s no immediate danger—”

C-C-Creaaaaaak—!

The scholar didn’t even get to finish his sentence.

From deep inside the collapsing ruins came a sound like some vast machine roaring to life.

Jun spoke without a second to spare.

“The ancient elves’ guardian…. a golem giant has awakened.”

It would later become the new field boss of Sandstorm Hills.