Chapter 574 – The Mountain of Waiting and Masks

000

It is early in the morning of the Dark Dragon Chamber.

With tons of employees carrying goods and checking inventory, what needs to go out and what needs to come in today.

The thorough inspection process, while checking the number of gold coins and oriental currencies piled up in the safe, required a large number of manpower to be performed accurately.

And it is Calia, the secretary of the superintendent, who is in charge of it.

She was the most powerful person in this company after Hertie, and at the same time, she was the person who supported Hertie more powerfully than anyone else.

Herty, who is blind by nature, was able to grow up to this point and lead the company because of her help her.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Herty can’t do anything about Sanghoe.

Although she cannot use witchcraft, she has excellent other senses as well as her blindness.

Thanks to this, not only can you walk around even if you can’t see, but you can also pick up and read a document using special ink used within the store.

As her sensitive fingertips moved along the lines of her ink, they produced the same letters in her head.

Just- if Herti has a little problem-

“Bahamut-“

Along with the sound of walking slowly on the squeaking and squeaking wooden floor, Herti’s beautiful voice her resounded.

Even though she couldn’t see her eyes her, the way she walked avoiding the traffic lines of people coming and going was a feat close to her miracle, but at the same time she left her office at this time and walked down the hallway of her business. It was rare to go there.

Thanks to that, one of her employees her passing by stopped what they were doing and stood there to talk to Herti.

‘What’s going on?’ They ask, and Herti puts on a troubled face and lets out her sigh.

“Bahamut is…”

If Herti answered like that, her staff couldn’t help but respond with her wry smile her and ‘Oh again.’

Bahamut is Herti’s friend and her cat’s other half.

She has been with her since she was a baby, and lives here with her now as an adult.

As such, Bahamut, a special cat, has a unique personality as much as he has lived for a long time.

Even though she stays by Herti’s side most of the time, when she needs to concentrate on her work or have an important consultation, she leaves her place her and wanders the streets of Asteris like her own yard.

There is no accident, and there is even a bell attached to her neck by Herti himself.

Among the people of the East who recognize her Bahamut on her way her, there is even a case of calling her ‘spiritual creature’and raising her prayers her as a joke on her half her.

Such is her her Bahamut her, but sometimes her walks her get too long, and when Herti, who notices that she has disappeared from her side her, starts looking for her, the people above her will calm her down. It’s a thing.

A relationship that is in stark contrast to a pet that relies on its owner and cannot live without the owner.

Conversely, if Bahamut is not with her, Herti slowly begins to feel the symptoms of her insecurities.

It must be because it is a partner that has been together since childhood, a relationship that is like a soul mate.

Furthermore, when Herti was a child, when she had difficulty walking on her own her, Bahamut would walk by her side her and direct her with the sound of her bell her.

To her, Bahamut was not just a pet cat, but her eyes and light his.

“Herti-sama.”

And, as you walk through the building of the shop, Calia appears as if blocking Hertie’s way.

“Oh, Calia. Sorry, Bahamut…”

“Yes. I’ve heard from the staff. It’s gone as usual.”

Calia was well aware of Hertie’s dependence on her on Bahamut, having been with her since childhood.

I couldn’t help but be a little worried that Sanghoju’s work was paralyzed by the cat.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back. I’ve never been back until lunchtime. Now, come with me to the office. They say there seems to be a problem with the mine’s papers.”

“In the mine… Yeah, I see.”

When Calia utters the word ‘mine’, Herti takes the worry a little off her worried face of her, and soon regains her full-fledged upper-class look.

To some extent, Calia had also induced it, so she let out a sigh of relief without much reaction.

As she accompanied her to her office her, she turned her head slightly, hoping that Bahamut, who was somewhere, would return by time.

001

“Ah~ This is an out~ It’s a perfect out~”

The hallway of the Oberti family ruins mansion where Tokoyo walks muttering while wearing a mask.

Every time I peeked at the decorations that could be seen through the open paper doors or inside her room, she just clicked her tongue and let out a sigh.

“Can you explain it so I can understand?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s right. I don’t know about Cleon. All of the things I saw while passing by are symbols of the objects of worship that are forbidden in temples and royal palaces.”

“A superstitious cult… Was that a cult?”

Certainly, on the way here, I passed by beads, broken ropes, and other things that looked meaningful.

After hearing that they were all objects used in such rites of worship, it makes sense that this family was cursed.

“Ah- Cultist? Rather. I think it’s a kind of fashion…? I think it’s a kind of fashion… Do you serve?”

“That’s right. Well, for now, it seems that there is a concept that personified that concept in the Order of Protection of Saints, but…”

There is a little doubt that that might be the embodiment of Adam.

“A plant is, after all, a symbol that is difficult to express emotions. Even though it has a presence, it is a bit difficult to show the dignity as a ‘god’. So, believers are allowed to worship other symbols, such as incarnations or alter egos of divine trees. Are doing.”

For example, rats. For example, cows. Worshiping by endowing a divinity on a simple animal has continued in the past and even now, and even if there is an existence to worship separately, it is not a matter of covering the divinity and worshiping it this time.

“Symbols that gather faith really do have some kind of power. So, in the temple, most of the objects of worship are not interfered with, but a few symbols are banned.”

“Hmm. Interesting.”

The stories about the various circumstances of the place he heard from the locals were information that came easily to Cleon, the adventurer, in many ways.

Besides, there is a high possibility that hints for tracking down an incident are scattered throughout these stories.

“Oh. Yeah? Then, shall we talk more without hesitation~! The forbidden symbols I just talked about include those that cause damage to people, such as ‘monsters’, and those that seem crazy, such as ‘ghosts’ and ‘devils ‘..And-“

Having said that, she said, sigh! And she vigorously opened the door that blocked her eyes.

Inside, more powerful organs than before were spread out, making it hard to see inside.

“Huh.”

Upon seeing such a whirlwind of organs, Tokoyo took out a bundle of amulets from her bosom her and, chuck! And scattered it toward the sky.

Then, as if attracted by a magnet, the amulets spread out and adhered to the ceiling, walls, and floor of the room, and began to purify the surrounding organs while emitting light themselves.

“Wait, Toko.”

“I know. It’s hard to find the cause if everything is purified, right?

As she nodded as if she understood all of Cleon’s concerns of her, as her organs weakened, the swirling black fog slowly dissipated as she said.

“Now, what kind of room is this and what kind of things are stored in it, shall we take a closer look?”

Perhaps because of the mood of her, when Tokoyo looks around her while feeling as if the fox mask she is wearing is flying off her tongue of her, what is revealed is-

“Ugh…”

Cleon groaned.

There was nothing gruesome or grotesque about it.

Even so, it wasn’t that it was dirty enough to turn inside out.

Clean, tidy, and a place where nothing has changed since probably 100 years ago.

Countless ‘masks’ were stored there.

In a place that fills a room slightly larger than Cleon’s bedroom, from the floor to the walls. And in the decoration, one after another.

Masks that seemed to represent people, masks that looked like ghosts, and masks that looked like demons were erected and decorated.

“Wow…”

As if Tokoyo was a little overwhelmed by the sight, she shrank her body a little, killing her confident attitude.

Those masks – of course, the eyes would have been empty, but some of them are so realistic that it gives the illusion that the facial skin of the motif depicted has been ripped off.

“Are these also items used for worship?”

“The mask is the most basic yet powerful vessel. It is an object with the intention of taking on what it depicts… Concealing itself and becoming it.”

Tokoyo answered by tapping the fox mask she was wearing on her face her with her fingers.

Then he grabs the nearest mask, a hideous mask like a melted face, and brings his finger to the surface.

“Wow. What is this? A ghoul? Is it the mask of the same undead? What did you intend to do by making such a monster mask…”

“…”

As Cleon listens to her words, he moves slowly through the room where the amulets are attached.

“Is this the cause of the curse on the Oberti family…?”

It was clear that the masks that caught my eye looked like they were made to worship monsters and demons, not gods.

If her words that power resides in masks are true, there must be some power in these masks.

Why did the aristocratic family of Oberti make this type of mask?

The reason was that I had a hunch that it might be strongly related to the downfall of this family.

“Cleon!”

Cleon, who has been wandering around the room looking for the source of her fullest organs her, approaches the place where Tokoyo is at her voice her calling her.

She seemed to be checking something on her, as she knelt down on her floor and pounded her hand on her floor on her.

“What’s the matter?”

“When I was walking on the floor, I felt something strange.

“It’s like a basement, finally a decent guy came out.”

Listening to Cleon’s answer, Tokoyo shouted that he had found it, and found a small groove on the floor and put his finger in it.

And, if you turn your wrist cleverly, you will hear a ‘click’ and the door will open underneath.

“You’re good.”

“Isn’t it? It’s not a big deal, but it’s because I’m flexible~ I can’t do it with just being flexible~ Ahaha~”

Tokoyo looked down with a smile, the mask was on, but the darkness beneath it.

And-

“…Ugh…”

The thick organs that flowed out inevitably were a guy that couldn’t be compared with the upper ones.

“Do I have to go down here…”

“If I have to go, I will come and go.

Originally, she only came along to help her get in and out. It would make sense to go alone into a dangerous place.

“No, that’s…”

But, of course, as Tokoyodo’s great priestess, she is the one who has to fight all the evil things in this eastern country.

In other words, she said it is the Saint Princess of the East.

If she backs down with her shogi in front of her, she thinks that she might get ridiculed by everyone, so she tries to stand up herself.

Cleon put his hand her on her shoulder her.

“If this door is closed from the outside, I can’t get out. You are my lifeline.”

“Ugh…”

Having said that, even Tokoyo couldn’t answer.

Letting out a helpless sigh, she pulled another amulet from her bosom and pressed it against Cleon’s chest her.

“You really can’t help but be a good person, Cleon.”

“…This?”

The amulet he received had a lot of magic compared to other amulets, and the writing seemed to be written in blood, not ordinary food.

“It’s literally a talisman. The organs inside might cause cracks in the protection barrier of Bishamuncheon that I put on it. So, if something happens, you have to use that talisman and get out right away, okay?”

“…Okay.”

Nodding her head at her advice her, Cleon carefully folded her talisman, put it in her pocket her, and went down the stairs of the basement, which had been closed for 100 years.

002

“…It’s a mysterious space.”

As seen from the outside, the inside is a pitch-black space.

Counting how long it took her to get down the ladder, she didn’t seem to have come down that deep, but looking up, she could only vaguely see the hole through which she was supposed to have entered.

That much means that the organs that fill this place are overflowing, but perhaps it was the power of the barrier that was placed on the body, so there was no difficulty in breathing yet.

What you have to rely on here is a sense other than your eyes. That is, it is the magic perception ability that has been sharpened and polished through experience so far.

There will be an object that is the source of organs spread around.

Fortunately, there wasn’t that much stuff in the basement, and things didn’t seem to be placed in the way.

After Cleon grasped that fact, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the flow of magic power passing through the nerves of his whole body her.

It’s like finding the direction of the wind with water on your finger in a dark cave, even when you don’t know where the exit is.

Carefully, slowly. Move your legs and head in that direction.

Step by step. An organ that thickens with each step.

Then, Cleon felt that the barrier covering his body was slowly being eroded by that organ.

A little more though. Thinking that if I go a little further, I will be able to get my hands on something, I do not stop or turn around.

Furthermore-

“… This feeling, somewhere-“

Feeling a familiar sensation somewhere, and when Cleon slowly opens his eyes-

When he looked down in the completely dark landscape, he felt that he could see his body her properly.

“This…”

It was the same phenomenon as when entering the small realm of black magic.

‘…The organs were piled up too much, so they created a small area as it is.’

And the fact that he had entered that realm at some point.

Round and round, he wondered if he could get out of this realm if he turned around and returned to the direction he had walked, but Cleon thought it would be better to find the person who created the organs that were so terrible that he created the realm. Moment to move.

‘Dalgrak’.

I heard the sound of something wooden falling to the ground.

“Yes?”

When I looked back again while raising my voice, I saw that the mask had fallen to the ground.

“…Is it the same as the one up there?”

When Cleon moved closer to the mask and lifted it up, he could see that the material was made of wood.

And- if you look at the face, the white mask was a hideous object with pierced eyes and grotesquely sharp teeth in the form of a skull.

“…This is also a monster… Or is it a representation of a ghost?”

If there’s anything that catches your eye, it’s probably the black patterns of several stems descending from the head toward the eyes, and the huge horns that look like they’re also made of wood, located at the top of both eye sockets.

‘Are the stripes a representation of hair? It’s unusual.’

For some reason, if Cleon stared at the thing that bothered him for a while—

That mask is less! Then, Cleon’s hand his moved again with a sound.

“What!? Kuk…!”

In a situation that might have been expected to some extent, Cleon tried to throw away the mask immediately, but it was rather a handshake.

The mask, which had been released from Cleon’s hand, bounced back with the rebound from being thrown to the ground, and then flew through the sky and floated in front of Cleon’s face.

Then he met Cleon’s eyes with the eyes of the empty hole.

Whirik, he flipped himself over and flew towards Cleon’s face her.

As if he wanted that body.

“This guy…!”

At the same time, it starts releasing powerful organs as if it had been hidden from the mask until recently.

No- it was a mixture of black magic along with organs.

Cleon raised both hands and grabbed the mask that was about to be placed on his face, but it was about to cling to Cleon’s face as if an invisible hand was pressing the mask.

The shock caused the glasses that sealed the enchanting demon eyes to come off and fall to the ground, but there was no time to catch them.

He wanted to pull out his sword and swing it right away, but he couldn’t stop the mask if he put his hand away from his face.

And—she notices that Galatea, who had been on her waist her a while ago, is now gone.

“Did it get divided as it entered the realm…!!”

While Cleon’s arms are gradually losing strength, the mysterious power that holds down the mask that is trying to cling to him is growing.

At that time, Cleon remembers what he had put in his arms his and takes a deep breath.

And-

It was to release the strength from the hands and arms that were blocking the mask.

Then, at the same time as Cleon’s hand bounced off, the mask vigorously clung to Cleon’s face his.

“Keugh…! Wooooo!!!”

Although it ended up wearing a mask, Cleon let out a roar like a spirit in that state.

However, what comes to his mind is-

Burning torch.

A mountain of countless dead bodies.

Meanwhile, a man holding a sword.

With her long black hair fluttering, she turned her body and looked away—

The next moment, Cleon took out the talisman he had received from Tokoyo from his chest her, and tucked it into his mask his! And attached

Then, intense sparks fly from the surface of the mask, causing a magical rejection reaction.

“Kwaaaaagh!!”

The pain was transmitted to Cleon as it was, and it seemed that his mind would be blown away, but he felt the mask fall off his face his and fell to the ground.

“This mask…Was the cause…”

Originally, it would be better to go out of the realm with it.

However, the mask that fell to the ground was still rattling on the floor, and the amulet attached to the forehead was slowly burning.

Cleon took a deep breath as soon as he saw it, then lifted his foot and lowered it towards it.

Then, Kwajik! There is a sound, and the mask shatters on the spot and scatters away.

At the same time, the surrounding organs disappeared in an instant, and the spread area also disappeared.

“Haha…!”

“Cleon!”

And, when entering the realm, he sees Galatea, who was divided, approaching him as it is.

“It’s okay?”

“Ah… It’s okay.”

With her help her, Cleon picks up the glasses that have fallen to the ground.

But the next moment-

“K, Cleon…? This… Sounds dangerous…?”

When Galatea raises her hand as she speaks in a trembling voice—

At the tips of her fingers her, the black magic that flowed from the broken mask was gathering and swelling.

“…! We have to get out of here right now! At least, in the basement…!”

“Ha, but the direction…”

At Galatea’s words her, Cleon bites her lip.

As the area disappeared, the surroundings became dark again, and when the organs faded, the road would be visible again, but before that, this black magic would explode.

‘What should I do? To just move around-‘

She summons Caliburn, who can jump through space, and if her magical energy she explodes on the way, the damage will go beyond the connected space.

The moment when you are literally in a quandary.

At that time-

‘With my daughter…’

She thought she heard bells, which she did.

“… The sound of bells?”

When Galatea turned her head in surprise, Cleon raised her head momentarily and stepped her foot in the direction from which the bell sounded.

“Let’s go, Galatea! This way!”

Cleon returns Galatea to the form of a sword and runs away from the mass of black magic that has become a time bomb.

As the torrent of magical energy he felt from behind gradually intensified, as he sprinted at full speed, he could faintly see the light from the ceiling.

[That way!]

“Ah, I see!”

When it reaches right under the hole, bends and straightens its legs, it jumps out of the hole in an instant with the strengthened leg strength, and puts its hands on it.

“Hey, Cleon!?”

Tokoyo, who was waiting outside, is surprised to see Cleon suddenly jump out.

Cleon quickly climbs to the ground and calls out to Tokoyo.

“Close the door! Now!”

“Ah? Uh, ah! Yes!”

At Cleon’s cry, the moment after I closed the door even though I was flustered-

Bang!!!

I felt an explosion coming from the basement, creating a huge vibration that resonated throughout the mansion.

“Ehh!?”

When Tokoyo covers his ears and screams at the sudden sound of an explosion, Cleon breaks into a cold sweat, worrying that the mansion will collapse together.

And-

If you think that the sound of the trees screaming with vibration echoed…

“…Muh, it’s collapsing!?”

At the same time as Tokoyo uttered such a story as if she was screaming, Cleon wrapped her around her.

“Hey, wait!”

“Sorry! But for now, we have to get out of here first!”

At the same time as Cleon shouted those words, a thick wooden pole fell from the roof of the mask storage and collapsed.

003

“Ha ha… Ha… I thought I was going to die…”

Somehow, Cleon and Tokoyo managed to escape before the whole mansion collapsed.

Sat down on the ground, forgetting to put on a mask, Tokoyo scratches his head in bewilderment as he sees most of the mansion collapse.

“I never thought it would turn out like this… What on earth was there that made it like this?”

“The source of the organ… It was a strange, mask. It tried to cling to my face…”

The mask was broken and the mansion collapsed, so it was difficult to use it as a hint.

“What kind of mask was it…”

“Ah- a black stripe was drawn on the forehead. It was a mask with sharp teeth… And two horns growing out of it.”

As much as possible, he managed to convey the scene in his head as much as possible, but Tokoyo, who heard it, had a hard expression on his face when he heard that.

“…That’s it. The symbol is…”

“… What’s the matter?”

It was the first time I had seen Tokoyo like that, so when Cleon got flustered, she would slowly put on the fox mask and talk.

“…Rakshasa… A swordsman by the name of Rachal.”

Cleon looks at her as he shakes her head saying he has never heard her name her like that.

Then her enchanted eyes looked at Cleon and spoke.

“—Hundreds of years ago, they tried to burn the sacred tree, and drove countless people to death in the East, a clan of dark demons who were the worst criminals in the East.”