Inheriting the Novel

Chapter 127 : Corridor of the Demonkin (1)

Corridor of the Demonkin (1)

The next day, we headed to the location where the corridor of the demonkin had been discovered, guided by Sehenz.

Naturally, Ian and I had altered our appearances using Mersaya's Polymorph magic. There was always a chance we might run into someone.

"This corridor was discovered three months ago."

Although it had already been quite some time since the discovery, Sehenz had only recently received permission to investigate.

Apparently, setram wasn't thrilled about Daidalua receiving help from the Seven Heroes.

"If that's the case, they should've helped from the start. Anyway, such a hassle."

Grumbling, Sehenz pointed upward with his finger.

The place we were currently in was a seaside cliff a little away from the city, where a relatively small cave stood out.

"At first, it was magically concealed, so you couldn't spot it with the naked eye. I heard Daidalua also just happened to discover it by chance."

"There weren't any monsters or anything around here?"

"None on the outside. But inside..."

"So there are monsters inside, like in a dungeon."

Kisea responded as if she got the idea, but Sehenz shook his head.

"Yeah. But it's a little different from a dungeon."

"Huh? From the outside, I can't really see much of a difference, though..."

Kisea seemed to have difficulty understanding.

It was understandable, since entering places like dungeons, demon realm corridors, or caves to hunt monsters was essentially the same task.

But there was a simple yet fatal difference between a demonkin's corridor and a dungeon.

"Do you know how to destroy a dungeon?"

"You have to destroy the core."

"That's right, you have to destroy the core. The dungeon core is always in the deepest part, right?"

"Yes."

"Then where is the core that maintains the demonkin's corridor?"

"Of course..."

Kisea, about to answer lightly, quietly closed her mouth.

While a dungeon had its core located at its deepest part, the demonkin's corridor did not have a "deepest part" at all.

Because if you made it to the end of the corridor, you would cross over to the demon realm.

"It's simple. It's somewhere inside the corridor. That's the answer."

"So, in other words..."

"It means you have to search the corridor from top to bottom, like combing through it, to reach the spot where the core is."

"That's why it's not easy to close, huh."

"Exactly. I thought you were a blockhead, but you actually catch on pretty quick."

At Sehenz's words, Kisea narrowed her eyes, her gaze becoming sharp.

They turned slightly red, as if she had taken considerable offense at Sehenz's words.

"... A blockhead?"

"Kukuku, considering what I saw of you at the Seven Heroes Convocation, isn't it obvious? You just solved everything by killing everyone. I figured you never did any actual thinking."

"That's simply the fastest way sometimes."

Of course, Kisea didn't seem the type who would flinch just because she was annoyed.

She answered with a sulky expression, a tad irritated, but not to the point of drawing her sword immediately.

"There was definitively nothing up to the second floor. As for the third floor, I've only surveyed about half."

"So, it's a tower structure. How many floors are there in total?"

"Seven. Beyond that lies the demon realm."

Hearing "demon realm", I sank into thought.

It was my first time seeing a corridor of the demonkin in person, and the fact that the place connecting to the demon realm was right before my eyes felt oddly fascinating.

[The demon realm is extremely cold. Of course, now that you've reached a certain level, you probably won't freeze to death, but you still need to prepare.]

'You've been to the demon realm, too?'

[I thought it was just a dungeon, but it turned out to be the demon realm as I kept going.]

Anyone else listening would have laughed and told me not to spout nonsense, but I couldn't. Knowing this guy, he really might have just gone to the demon realm without much thought.

'And when you came back, was it through the same corridor?'

[No. I just hung around for about a year, and the demonkin were kind enough to send me back.]

What on earth did he do for the demonkin to send him back without even thinking of troubling him?

I couldn't bring myself to ask for more details.

"So, even the Mercenary King's only cleared up to the third floor? Must be a pretty dangerous place, then?"

Maybe because Sehenz had teased her earlier, Kisea's words had an edge to them.

But Sehenz nodded lightly, clearly unfazed.

"Dangerous indeed. If there's another difference between a corridor to the demon realm and a dungeon, it's the nature of the monsters you encounter."

"By which you mean...?"

"The monsters you see in these corridors all originate from the demon realm. For instance, even if it's a goblin, one that's been raised on demon realm stuff is on a whole different level."

It sounded a bit exaggerated, but seeing his serious expression, I didn't sense any falsehood.

"Hmph. Instead of standing around, wouldn't it be better to just go have a look ourselves?"

"I agree! Let's go."

Kisea's answer suggested she wanted to see firsthand just how challenging this place was. Sehenz laughed as though finding it ridiculous.

"What's the rush. We have to wait for the others before we go."

"We're not going in by ourselves?"

I had assumed, of course, that it would be just us.

But Sehenz shook his head at my reply.

"No. My hyungs will help us. No matter how confident you are in your skills, the demonkin's corridor is somewhere you never know what could happen."

'How bothersome.'

If other people were coming, I'd have to keep up my disguise as someone else, and that was always tiring.

After a short while, we heard the sound of footsteps approaching. An armed band of mercenaries appeared.

They were likely Sehenz's personal mercenary corps, the "Whitehawk".

If you were to name the strongest mercenary band under Sehenz, it would obviously be Black Skull, but as for Whitehawk, they were directly under Sehenz and had worked with him the longest.

"Boss, can't we just take a break today? After busting our asses every day... huh?"

A man, sauntering over to Sehenz with a weary face, spotted us and gave a puzzled look.

"And who are these kids?"

"Hey, these are the folks helping us today. See to them."

"Excuse me?"

He eyed us with open suspicion.

Of course, that made sense.

Apart from myself, the others in our party were a boyish-looking Ian, the outwardly fragile Kisea, and Mersaya who looked like a young girl.

"With maybe one exception, you all look a bit problematic."

"Natal, didn't I tell you not to judge others just by appearances?"

"There has to be some limit, boss."

He wasn't the only one reacting this way.

The other mercenaries also looked at us, clearly unimpressed.

"Is Setram trying to screw us over by sticking us with these people?"

The man called Natal whispered to Sehenz quietly, thinking we couldn't hear.

Of course, there wasn't a person amongst us who couldn't.

"Quit mumbling and let's go in. I can't be bothered today, so I'm thinking we wrap things up at the third floor."

"Aye, understood."

He nodded to Sehenz, then approached me.

Apparently, I looked like the most reliable of the bunch.

"Listen, whatever your reasons for being here, just behave yourself."

He clearly thought we were some kind of observers sent by Setram or Daidalua.

I let out a short laugh and nodded.

"Don't worry."

"If you get in the boss's way, we won't stand for it."

"You...!"

At his sharp warning, mersaya, who was watching, growled and tried to rush him, but Kisea held her back and covered her mouth.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. Just go ahead."

"... Can't believe all the weirdos we have today."

Natal scowled at Mersaya's behavior, but at Kisea's pleasant smile, he turned his back and walked away.

Judging by the faint redness in Kisea's eyes, she still seemed a little annoyed.

"Alright, everyone's got their gear? Let's finish before sunset today!"

"Yes, sir!"

At Sehenz's shout, the mercenaries answered in unison and followed him toward the demonkin's corridor.

We watched them go for a moment, then quietly followed.

"But you can really feel the oppressive atmosphere. Is it because this is a demonkin's corridor?"

Ian, who had paid no attention to the proceedings until now, spoke to me.

"Oppressive, how?"

"It's not just the atmosphere. Even the monsters here are different. Normally, monsters roam freely and run into humans...but the ones here, most of them stay hidden. Like that one, for instance."

Even as Ian finished, a red streak shot toward us from the darkness.

It happened so quickly, but the mercenaries easily blocked it.

As expected of Sehenz's elite corps.

"If a monster launches surprise attacks like that among regular monsters, it's hard to ignore. Goes to show they're more intelligent than most."

Ian, with abilities specialized in "seeing", explained about the monsters inhabiting the demon realm.

It amazed me how much he was able to perceive.

'I should've reached the same level as him, so why can't I see what he does?'

[It's the nature of the technique Ian has mastered. If you completely release Only Mind, you can probably do something similar.]

'I've tried, but it didn't work.'

[It's not just about enhancing your senses or physique.]

'Then what is it?'

[You emit your magic power outward. Then, you reel it back and use Only Mind to read the information.]

'... You can do that?'

[Of course. Are you saying my Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art is inferior to some technique Ian learned?]

I wasn't sure I understood, but since it was Grancesia saying it, I decided to give it a try.

I emitted my magic power, then read its flow using Only Mind from the Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

'Hmmm.'

It didn't work perfectly the first time.

All I did was shoot out my magic power and reel it back in.

But after repeating it a couple more times, I finally saw something.

"... There's a hidden room in the dead-end corridor to the right."

"What?"

Natal, seeming to have overheard my muttered words, reacted.

"A hidden room? How could you possibly know?"

"I just saw it, that's all."

Natal looked at me like I was talking nonsense.

"This area was already completely investigated by us. There's no such room! Rather than stir us up for nothing and get in the way, how about keeping quiet?"

"Wait, natal."

Sehenz halted Natal and came over to me.

"A hidden room? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

If I were "Clay,"

I would have spoken with more deference, but as "Ray,"

I intentionally used informal speech to create distance. Fortunately, Sehenz seemed to get my intention and didn't question it, just nodded.

"Alright, show us the way."

"Boss?!"

"Hey, even if you don't like it, you're still the vice-captain, aren't you? And do you really think I'd let these guys tag along without a reason?"

"Tch... Understood."

Natal begrudgingly nodded at Sehenz's words.

"This way."

I led the group to the place I had just "seen."

It was, as I had said, a dead end, but to me, there was something more.

'Checking with my profile, there's no doubt now.'

With both Only Mind and the extra senses I had, there was no hiding from me.

I grabbed a protruding sharp rock on the wall and bent it downward. With a rough sound, the stone moved.

Then I touched a few other spots and infused magic power, and the massive stone wall split apart and opened.

"No way."

"That's impossible. How'd you even find that?"

There were murmurs of disbelief behind me, but that didn't matter.

As the wall opened, a corridor appeared on the other side, with a giant monster blocking the entrance, launching an immediate attack at me.

"Watch out!"

A frantic warning came from behind, but I grinned.

'I knew you'd be waiting there.'

A monster lying in wait to ambush whoever opened the door was no ordinary creature.

It was a giant ogre, tainted by the demon realm's magic power.

It was at least twice as strong as a normal ogre and, powered by the demon realm, possessed might befitting the name monster.

Splat!

"... Huh?"

There was a sound like a leather drum bursting, and the ogre's upper body disappeared.

Everyone standing behind me seemed unable to process what had just happened.

Even Sehenz looked astonished, stammering.

"A-Are you joking? Even for you, wasn't that just... impossible?"

It was true I was a Swordmaster and among the stronger of the Seven Heroes, but it shouldn't have been possible to kill an ogre corrupted by the demon realm in one blow.

But the explanation was simple.

'Just as I thought.'

The gauntlet on my hand had changed to crimson, unlike just a moment ago.

It wasn't because of the ogre's blood.

It was because I had used my blood magic, Crimson Blade, on the gauntlet.

The monsters in the demonkin's corridor weren't much different from the demonkin themselves.

'This is completely my domain.'

In short, if I struck with a hand wrapped in Divine Blood, the monsters would simply die.