She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

THE ILLUSORY CORRIDOR existed within the mountain ruins beyond the gate. It was constructed of over a hundred corridors layered upon each other like floors of a skyscraper, making it wide, tall, and deep. It was an open construction that looked as if it had been dug straight down from the peak of a mountain.

Mira currently rode Pegasus directly through the middle of the corridor. They rose almost as high as the mountain’s peak as seen from the outside.

Is there nobody here? I haven’t even seen any monsters…

As she searched her surroundings for a certain landmark, Mira realized she had seen neither human nor monster about. The lack of monsters could be explained by Chimera’s elites exterminating them. But Mira hadn’t even seen a corpse.

Have they been disposing of them? Or else… Hrmm. Either way, I have to assume this is the enemy’s doing.

From her impression of Chimera, Mira assumed that they would not dispose of monster corpses. Another reason came to mind: overkill. Chimera had used extreme force and destroyed them without a trace. She renewed her focus—if that was the case, she couldn’t let her guard down here. 

It was then that she found the landmark she was searching for: a rectangular pillar surrounded by countless circular ones.

“There, Pegasus. Take me to the passage beyond that pillar.” Mira pressed herself against Pegasus’s neck as she pointed at the rectangular pillar. The horse neighed in assent and galloped nimbly through the air toward the passage.

The corridors were as rocky as the mountain itself, but all of the hundreds of meters of walls were covered in beautiful reliefs. The passages themselves weren’t especially wide, just barely allowing Pegasus’s wingspan. But her mount displayed its excellent aerial mobility, flying through without slowing down a mote.

***

Before long, they had gotten through the passage and arrived at the same corridor as before. Or rather, it seemed to be the same corridor as before. Mira knew how the Illusory Corridor worked and showed no surprise as she ordered Pegasus to descend.

Like the Citadel of Scales, one had to traverse the Illusory Corridor via a particular route in order to reach its depths. But this dungeon was easier than the Citadel, since it offered visible landmarks in the form of the pillars.

Pegasus flew lower while Mira kept her eyes on the surrounding pillars. She still saw no signs of life. The second corridor was almost exactly the same as the first; it was a loop that continued endlessly until one fulfilled a certain condition.

“Hrm?” Mira spotted a black stain on the stone and ordered Pegasus to approach. “…A burn mark.”

The scorch mark had been left in the center of the corridor. Upon closer inspection, it looked to be the result of extremely high temperatures. Mira had an inkling as to whom the victim might be, too.

An enormous, spider-like monster lurked in this dungeon—a sort of mid-boss. Mira had a feeling that this burn had come from a battle with that monster.

“Hrmm… Chimera must have immense firepower to cause this sort of damage.”

We’ve got some big enemies on our hands. Mira gazed up above, at the black circle far beyond the corridor, and thought of the foes that lay in wait for her.

She lowered her gaze and continued downward. Her eyes swept across the stone, searching for the correct pillar, until she spotted the next landmark.

“Pegasus, go that way next.” Mira pointed at a triangular pillar. Pegasus promptly flew into the dim passage behind the pillar. The pair traveled hundreds of meters before they emerged at another corridor like the one before.

This time, Mira had Pegasus go up. They saw the same scenery over and over, but Pegasus forged ahead without hesitation. Before long, Mira spotted a place where the pillars abruptly stopped. Her faithful mount flew straight toward it.

The third passage was quite long. After some time, it suddenly grew wider, and the elegantly decorated walls became rough and craggy. It was as if they’d suddenly wandered into a natural cavern. They continued ever onward. At length, a bright light came into view ahead—sunlight flowing in through the exit.

Finally…

Mira would probably encounter strong enemies ahead. Faced with the light of the exit, she dismounted from Pegasus and used her Biometric Scan to ascertain enemy locations.

Only one?

Mira had imagined Chimera’s elites working in tandem, so this only put her further on guard. That one person plainly had the strength to clear the Illusory Corridor all alone.

She steeled her resolve as Pegasus leapt out into the sunlight.

The deepest depths of the Illusory Corridor, called the Ancient Ring Gate, were like the bottom of a crater surrounded by boulders and stone pillars. Across from the entrance was a collapsed stone staircase, and in front of it were two figures: a knight with a Viking-like helmet and gaudy armor, and an ashen warrior clad in black mist.

Wait, what? Two of them? No, this is… Things weren’t quite as she’d expected from the scan. More importantly… She looked down at what lay at their feet: a casket, and around it, the guardians of the Spirit Palace they must have defeated. 

“What in the world…?”

Mira had come knowing that she might not find Chimera Clausen here at all…but upon seeing the situation, it was clear that these people were her enemies. She had to take the initiative.

“We fight!” Mira commanded Pegasus.

Sensing her presence, the knight in front of the stairs whipped around. “Who’s there?!” His reaction speed was unnaturally fast.

But he was too late; Mira had already slipped into point-blank range. As she activated [Immortal Arts Heaven: Refined Thrust] to attack the knight, Pegasus’s lightning struck the ashen warrior with a crack. The impact and subsequent boom shook the air, reverberating through the cavern.

“Oho. You’re a tough one.” Amid the echoes, Mira’s voice was as clear as a bell as she looked the man up and down.

The knight had withstood Mira’s signature strike without injury; he had only been forced back a few meters. His armor was more powerful than that of demons she’d fought before. Trying to check his status yielded nothing.

Hrmm… Is the helmet the key?

Former players alone had the ability to check a target’s basic stats. But Mira had learned from Solomon that there were several conditions attached to this ability. One could not investigate other former players, and according to him, one could not investigate someone whose face was concealed. It seemed a mouth alone would not suffice.

“Isuzu, huh? Guess they’ve got some cuties there. You’re here earlier than expected, too. I’m surprised,” the knight said with a cocky smirk. He shot a glance at the burned warrior and grinned, obviously unruffled. The man glared at Mira through the openings in his helmet, his eyes as sharp as daggers.

Under the deep blue sky, Mira stared at the man dead-on and curved her delicate lips into a smile. “Given your words, I suppose you’re a dog of Chimera?”

“Hardly a dog. I’ll have you know I’m one of the three heads.” He shrugged and smirked again as he pulled out his sword.

“Oh, I see. You’re Chimera, three animals in one. Would you be the goat, then?”

Chimera Clausen was named after the mythical creature with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a serpent. Mira looked at the horns on his helmet and grinned.

“More like the serpent.” The man readied his sword.

“Hmph. I already know a Snake, thanks.”

As Mira spoke, another of Pegasus’s lightning strikes cracked through the air and boomed as it struck the man. Despite the incandescent bolt, he was fine—not a scratch on his armor. He looked up to see no clouds in the sky, but Pegasus circling overhead.

“Gotta say, that startled me.”

Even Pegasus’s lightning couldn’t make him budge. Is he naturally this powerful, or is he being powered up by his armor? This is more trouble than I expected…

“You’ve got pretty hefty defenses. Is that the Spirit King’s power that you stole?” Mira probed.

 “I wish,” he laughed. “Unfortunately, he’s stubborn. It’s only a matter of time, though.” He turned his eyes to the destroyed staircase. Nearby sat a jar with mysterious symbols etched into it.

So, there’s still time. I just can’t believe it’s already begun…

Above the jar, far up in the sky, hung a gate. Particles of light fell from it like snow, creating shining smears in the sky.

“Wonder how much more we’ll need?” The man pointed up, and the balls of light suddenly rained down and were sucked into the jar.

“Hrmm. Is that how it works…?”

It seemed they’d already begun draining the Spirit King of his power. That meant the sketches of the pillars in the control room back in the Citadel of Scales weren’t necessary for this purpose. But the Spirit King’s power was enormous; this alone would not be enough to fully drain his power, and since he was so strong, the power they did drain could not be easily controlled.

The collection method was inefficient—that was why they needed the sketches from the Citadel of Scales. As understanding dawned, Mira became certain: she could still make it in time.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to thwart your schemes!” After a slight smirk, Mira glowered at the man. As if in response, Pegasus unleashed its fighting spirit with a powerful neigh.

“Try me!” The man laughed and lifted his sword. The arc of its swing gleamed red before spewing a tidal wave of fire.

It was a fire-attuned spirit blade, and its attack shot toward Mira like dragon’s breath.

Now this is getting ridiculous.

It struck the Holy Knight’s tower shield that Mira had summoned in a blink, sending its remnants flying wildly in all directions. Hot air from the blast blew past and brushed Mira’s cheeks with searing fingers.

The crackles of the fire washing over Mira were full of anguished cries. Hearing that, Mira put a finger to her chin and stepped out from behind the warped and melting Holy Knight shield.

“This fire… That’s a yin spirit blade. Why do I feel like I’ve seen another of these recently? That’s one more for the interrogation.”

Mira resummoned her Holy Knight and stared at the man’s sword.

Yin spirit equipment was rare even within the market for already-rare spirit equipment. Caerus, the man who had attacked Mira before this all started, had yin equipment in his possession as well. She’d had a feeling back then…and seeing two examples in so little time, it was clear that this was no coincidence.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not answering a damn thing.”

“Figures.”

The Holy Knight leapt forth at Mira’s call. In the blink of an eye, it swung its sword at the Chimera member.

It may have specialized in defense, but the Holy Knight’s attacks were by no means weak. Its offense was nearly equal to the Dark Knight's, and its slashes were wickedly sharp, drawing perfect half-moon arcs.

“I had a feeling this would happen.” The man laughed as he effortlessly deflected the attack. When the Holy Knight tried another strike, he parried with his sword. Mira’s knight tried swinging down upon him once more, but the enemy caught it with his own blade, simply holding his sword up before him.

The Holy Knight’s powerful blow made a loud, metallic clank as the weight crashed down on the man’s arms.

“Strong blows for a lesser summons. You’re a tricky little thing. But…” Having grasped the power of Mira’s lesser summon—the one that used the least power in her arsenal—he grimaced. But his lips curled upward once again as he took one hand off of his sword and held it to the side.

The man’s hand glowed faintly, and the ashen warrior felled by Pegasus’s lightning stood up and immediately charged forward. The warrior lifted his sword and cleaved the Holy Knight’s tower shield into two clean halves.

Or rather…it looked as if the middle of the shield had simply disappeared.

Is this phenomenon similar to what happened with Sanctia?

The warrior was enveloped in black fog—a fog much like the one Mira had seen in the lake chapel just the day before. She could assume that this warrior’s fog was the same.

This will be a pain to deal with.

Just as the defensive Holy Knight had been easily destroyed by the fog in the lake, weapon spirits could do nothing here. The ashen warrior stepped forward to protect the knight. But Mira showed no sign of surprise, instead flashing a knowing smirk. The facts were falling into place—the ashen warrior wasn’t a person, but rather a golem made through necromancy. That’s why it hadn’t appeared on her Biometric Scan.

“So, you’re a necromancer. You know, I happened to meet another mage wearing knight’s armor recently.”

She kept an eye on the fog’s uncanny swirling as she stroked Pegasus’s mane.

“I’ll leave that thing to you,” she said, prompting a valiant neigh from Pegasus as it kicked off the ground and leapt forward.

Pegasus accelerated to top speed as it closed in on the fogged warrior. It kicked its powerful hooves and launched the golem into the air, then galloped through the air in swift pursuit.

In battle, Pegasus was ferocious and ran as fast as any horse in midair. It was a far cry from the carousel horse it impersonated when Mira rode it. The man glanced over to see the warrior standing back up some distance away, and chuckled at the incongruity of Pegasus’s beautiful appearance and violent actions.

“That thing’s a real beast.”

“How dare you? Pegasus is a sweet animal who gets lonely so easily,” Mira retorted.

The man laughed. “Suit yourself.”

Mira glanced around, braced herself, and glared daggers at the man. “Now it’s finally a one-on-one fight.”

“Hell of a thing for a summoner to say.” With his lips still pinned in that vicious grin, he held the sword out with one arm and pointed it, along with a glare, at Mira.

“Don’t be a jerk.” Mira stuck her lip out, sulking. But beneath that willful expression, she watched the man closely—gaze sharp, as if honing her aim.