novelraw Chapter 47 : The Shrine Maiden of the Wasteland (3)
Chapter 47 : The Shrine Maiden of the Wasteland (3)
Chapter 47: The Shrine Maiden of the Wasteland (3)
He couldn't help but let the curse slip out.
So if he was really one of Atala's warriors, he had to prove it? What, they couldn't just take the hint and step aside? If he said that to their faces, they'd probably spout some nonsense about trials and tribulations and the fruits of suffering or whatever.
Still, at least that announcement cleared a few things up.
The Shrine Maidens of the Wasteland definitely built this ruin. They built it specifically to test him. That's why he and the archaeologist were able to enter in the first place.
And it meant he'd have to smash every last one of these clay bastards to pieces.
Boom!
The drumbeat shifted. One of the warriors snapped its head up and charged straight at him.
—ATALAAAAAA!!!
Gone was that gloomy muttering from before; this thing came at him with raw ferocity. Kadim caught the descending blade with Mosquito, twisted the sword to deflect it, then drove the point deep into the warrior's gut. But the damn thing didn't even flinch. It swung its sword right back at him like nothing happened.
—Not a chance! Atala is with me—
CRACK—!
Kadim dodged the slash and hammered his fist into its jaw like a lightning strike. The clay face split apart with a sound like shattering pottery. As it dropped to one knee, he wrenched its arm back and slammed his pommel into the back of its skull with everything he had. Only when its head completely shattered did the warrior finally crumble back into dirt, spilling across the floor.
—ATALAAAAAA!!
—ATALAAAAAA!!
Two more warriors rushed him. Slashing and stabbing didn't seem to do much damage, so Kadim sheathed Mosquito and twisted his body to hurl Salmon.
BOOM!
The spinning blue-gray axe blade tore through one skull and kept obliterating several more heads behind it for good measure. When he pulled on that invisible thread, the axe spun even faster on its return trip, carving through the clay warriors like a buzzsaw before slapping back into his palm.
—ATALAAAAAA!!!
But the warrior standing before him kept charging even with a gaping hole torn through its chest from the returning axe.
A heavy mace swung down at Kadim's head. He gripped his axe backward like a club and blocked the descending mace-head.
CLANG!
The metallic ring echoed off the walls.
The throwing axe, forged from solid steel, was naturally fine. But the clay mace didn't seem too damaged either. Worse, the warrior's strength was no joke; even Kadim felt that jolt run up his arm.
‘...Damn good quality clay, apparently.’
He dropped low and swept the leg. As the warrior tipped and fell, he rose upward and drove the axe blade straight up into its head.
Crash!
Fragments exploded everywhere as the skull shattered, and the warrior finally dropped its mace. Kadim spat out the dust that got in his mouth. Indeed, smashing their heads in was the only real solution.
Clang! Crack! Crunch!
He deflected a blade, countered the attack, and caved in another skull. Grabbed that one's body and hurled it into three more, knocking them all down in a heap. He sent the axe spinning in a wide arc through the pile to pop heads one after another. The mangled clay puppets soon stacked up on the floor like broken dolls.
But even as their numbers visibly dwindled, the clay warriors' morale never wavered. Hell, even the ones with half their bodies smashed to pieces kept screaming and charging forward.
—ATALAAAAAA!!!
—Glory to the Eternal Arbiter of War!!
A suicidal tide that gave zero shits about self-preservation swarmed Kadim.
Even Kadim couldn't block every attack. A scratch across the cheek. Cuts on his forearm and thigh. The minor injuries kept piling up. Usually in chaotic brawls like this, he'd use Mosquito to heal himself with every kill, but these things didn't have any blood to drain.
He was seriously considering just chugging the Hydra's blood and sweeping the whole damn room when...
Boom. Boom. Boom!
Suddenly, Kadim realized that the drumbeat was getting on his nerves.
‘...Is that drum buffing them or something?’
Couldn't hurt to check.
He yanked the hellfire dagger from his belt and hurled it.
WHIIISH—!
And then, every single warrior's head snapped toward the drum at once.
—ATALAAAAAA!!!
Crash! FWOOOOSH—
One of them dove forward with shocking speed and blocked the dagger mid-flight.
Wreathed in flames, the warrior baked hard as it burned. The others immediately formed a defensive wall around the drum. Whether it was actually buffing them or not, one thing was crystal clear: that drum mattered to them.
Once he had a target, it didn't matter how many got in his way. Kadim gripped Salmon in one hand and a hellfire dagger in the other. He'd throw the axe to break through their defensive line, then follow up with the dagger.
But his effort was made futile.
A figure materialized out of nowhere and tore the drum to shreds before he could move.
RIIIIIP!
"I got it, mercenary! Don't worry about this side!"
Illenia waved the shredded drum around triumphantly.
Kadim narrowed his eyes. He'd definitely seen some kind of faint shimmer burst from her hand and then vanished just as quickly. Did she use some hidden artifact?
Questions for later.
Right now, he had warriors to finish off. Turns out the drum was buffing them, because the moment it was destroyed, the warriors lost all their fire and started stumbling around like sick puppets.
—Atalaaa...
—Atalaaa...
CRUNCH—!
The clay warriors of Atala were no match for a blood-and-sweat warrior anymore. Kadim swept through them like he was smashing a row of pottery jars. It took less than fifteen minutes to turn every last one back into dirt.
The fight was over. He took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Illenia approaching. She kept looking back and forth between the mountain of clay rubble and the dust-covered barbarian with disbelief.
"Incredible. These brave warriors, sculpted from clay... and the mercenary of Atala who crushed that mighty army single-handedly. It's like witnessing a myth come to life."
"..."
"Ah, sorry, I'm rambling again. Are you alright? You're not seriously hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine. But how did you tear that drum apart earlier?"
"Hehe, if you want to survive in dangerous places, you need at least one weapon your enemies don't know about. Let's just say I used a little 'rock' I'd been hiding, something I could throw in an enemy's face if needed."
"..."
Illenia said it with a sly smile.
Kadim's expression darkened.
How the hell did she overhear what he told Duncan? Then he glanced back toward the entrance where Illenia had initially been standing. Sure enough, there were three or four clay warrior corpses near that spot, ones he definitely hadn't killed.
‘So she's been hiding this much power while calmly requesting an escort...’
That was the last straw.
Whether she was friend or foe wasn't even the issue anymore. He couldn't keep someone next to him who kept hiding their abilities and spying on him. Kadim gripped his sword hilt tight. He'd demand answers about her true intentions and identity. And if she refused to talk? He'd get physical.
He failed to act on that thought by a hair's breadth.
[The trial is complete. Come here, Great Warrior of Atala.]
Not a voice, but pure will rippling through the air. Just like before, the scenery around him peeled away like wallpaper being stripped.
Crrrrrrrack...
"Wait, no, mercenary—!"
But this time, Illenia was included in the scenery. She folded up like a paper doll fluttering in the wind and vanished without a trace.
"..."
He alone was moved to yet another location.
The vast circular chamber disappeared. In its place was a cramped space.
Patterns carved into the walls glowed faintly like fireflies, and iron decorations climbed the walls and ceiling like vines. Following the irregular ritual circle drawn on the stone floor with his eyes, he found—
An old woman sitting with her back against the wall.
She sensed his presence and cracked her eyes open. A voice as dry and cracked as earth after a thousand-year drought rasped from her withered vocal cords.
"You have crossed the river of eternity and returned, Great Warrior. Life is but a single drop of water in the torrent of time. What cruel fate's tempest set you adrift, and what have you gained? Are your unending chains now stained with corrupted blood, or do they still shine with the glory of battle?"
"..."
Kadim stared at the old Shrine Maiden for a moment. Then he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.
And chucked his throwing axe straight at her head.
CRASH!!!
The axe embedded itself in the wall right next to the maiden's head. The wall cracked and the entire chamber shook with a heavy tremor. The maiden's eyes flew open. That wasn't just a threat; it was an attack loaded with genuine killing intent.
Kadim was sick of it. Sick of all of their mystic bullshit.
He recalled the axe and declared coldly.
"The trial's over, so I'm setting the rules for this conversation. From now on, only I ask questions. No more empty philosophical garbage. If you don't know something, say you don't know."
"..."
"Otherwise, the next thing this axe smashes won't be the wall. It'll be that shriveled head and the brain inside it."
The air thickened with savage intent. The maiden swallowed her shock and gave a bitter smile.
"My apologies. I failed to account for how much your long journey has exhausted you. I promise, no more unnecessary rhetoric."
"..."
As the old Shrine Maiden lowered her head, Kadim managed to rein in his emotions somewhat. He took a deep breath and sat cross-legged facing her.
"Why did you build this ruin? The one who guided me here said there are places like this scattered across the continent."
"We needed a space that could endure the ages and welcome you back. The Shrine Maidens of the Wasteland... were losing our power. Before we lost it completely, we used what Divine Power remained to seal ourselves away."
"Losing your power? Why? Did Atala withdraw the strength he gave you?"
"Who knows? No one knows the exact reason. Some said the maidens angered Atala. Some said it was a trial Atala imposed on us. Others said it was because the Great Warrior who connected Atala to us had disappeared. But only the master of that place where war and feasting never cease would know the truth... Have you seen any maidens in the outside world who've regained their power?"
"No. I haven't."
"...Then aside from us wraiths trapped in these cramped tombs, the Shrine Maidens of the Wasteland have vanished from the world forever."
A sharp gleam flickered in the eyes buried beneath her sagging eyelids. The look of a priestess who realized her god had abandoned her, and that her line had ended for eternity.
It was a premature conclusion. Kadim showed her Mosquito and Salmon.
"But Atala hasn't completely abandoned us. It's weak, but as you can see, I can still use his blessings."
"That... is welcome news indeed. If what you say is true, then perhaps our waiting wasn't entirely in vain."
"But why go this far? Did the Shrine Maidens really choose centuries of isolation based solely on the slim possibility that their power would return if Atala's Great Warrior came back? Who the hell came up with this insane plan in the first place?"
The maiden extended her neck like a sick turtle and slowly shook her head. From her parched lips came the name Kadim had both expected and desperately hoped wouldn't surface.
"Do you remember the 'Blind Maiden'?"
A heavy silence descended.
Kadim closed his eyes and bit down hard on his lower lip. Something that had been tightly bound inside him snapped loose, and a name he could never forget slipped out like air from a punctured lung.
"Cyril."
"...Yes, that was her name. It's been so long, I'd almost forgotten."
"Cyril planned all this?"
"Yes. She laid out the framework and carried out most of it herself. By that time, we'd already lost nearly all our Divine Power and could only offer the smallest assistance. If her sorcery hadn't been woven into this ruin, this old body would've crumbled to dust ages ago."
"Tell me the whole story. From beginning to end. Every single detail."
Kadim clenched his fist without realizing it. The maiden lifted her weary gaze high, as if looking past this moment toward the distant past, and finally parted her dry lips.
"After you vanished following the defeat of the Archdemon, she endured the agony of separation and wandered through endless lightless days and nights searching for you. Warriors and maidens pledged themselves as her staff, and she wandered from one end of the continent to the other until her feet were raw and bloody. But nowhere could she find a single trace of your footsteps."
"..."
"Yet she never gave up. She believed that even if she couldn't find you now, you would eventually leap across the chasm of time and return to us. So she decided to prepare what you would need for that day."
"..."
"She devoted herself entirely to crafting it. Praying without eating, drinking, or sleeping for a hundred days. Wandering through wild and treacherous lands to gather pure offerings for a thousand days. Conducting rituals in a trance, burning through her Divine Power for ten thousand days... By the time the work neared completion, her body was in tatters and her mind as fragile as a sandcastle. And after decades of consuming the essence of the greatest maiden, a certain 'artifact' was finally complete."
"..."
"Even then, she didn't rest. After finishing the work, she used the last of her strength to build ruins like this across the continent and stationed maidens like me as heralds. So that no matter where in the world you returned, no matter when you came back, you would receive this message and these gifts."
"..."
"Of course, we accepted the role of heralds because we believed her words that our lost power would return when the Great Warrior came back. And so began these hundreds of years of waiting without promise."
"..."
"That... is the full story of how this ruin came to be, and how I came to await you here."
The maiden's tale ended, leaving a stale aftertaste like dust accumulated over countless ages.
Kadim looked down at his fist. He'd clenched it so hard that his nails had dug into his palm, and blood was streaming down. But he felt no pain. Physical pain was nothing compared to this suffocating numbness, like sinking into a bottomless swamp.
The maiden exhaled softly and drew something from her robe. In her palm, a radiant gleam like a meteor streaking across the night sky shimmered brilliantly.
"The Needle of Inscription. This is the fruit of one maiden's suffering and devotion. A maiden who lost her light and fell while wandering through endless darkness. It can never be made again. It should never be made again. A tragic artifact."
Kadim wiped away the blood and forced down his emotions as he asked, "...And what does this artifact do?"
Beyond her sagging eyelids, sharp clarity returned to those clouded eyes. The Shrine Maiden of the Wasteland answered as if she'd endured those endless years for this very moment, enunciating each syllable with the utmost care.
"When you dip this in demon blood and inscribe a tattoo, you can draw upon that demon's power without ever having to drink their blood again."