Chapter 52. The Monster’s Mouth

After seeing the rocky mountain in the distance, the party stopped by a nearby village to get groceries and leave the wagon.
“Give me plenty of hay. I’ll pay you when I get back.”
Perhaps the villagers could have grabbed their horses and wagons and shut their mouths, but Ivan was not worried. If that happens, the ax will work.
When I asked the villagers for information about the rocky mountain and the underground fortress, they answered grimly.
“Hundreds of years ago, it was said that the last descendants of the Ashkan Kingdom fought a decisive battle there. They endured for decades, but all died in the end.”
“Is there anyone who stayed there?”
“Are you talking about that place? There is no one there. The road is very rough, and it is infested with all kinds of monsters. There are a lot of rumors…”
When the villagers showed a shaky expression on their faces, Ivan rushed to ask.
“What kind of rumor?”
“Well, isn’t that the place where all the descendants of the exiled country died? There are rumors that their resentment remains, and they wander around as ghosts. There are those who say that they failed to borrow the power of the demon and became a den of monsters in the end. That kind of rumor.”
The power of the demon. As soon as the story came out, the group looked into each other’s eyes.
In fact, these rumors were so common that there was nothing special about them, but anyway, they’re not just old stories anymore.
The party did not delay and headed straight for the rocky mountain. And Ivan immediately realized why the villagers didn’t come this way.
The road to the underground fortress, which had been abandoned for a long time, was very difficult. There were no paved roads. All of them were cliffs and valleys. Sometimes thick bushes and trees blocked the way, and sharp rocks were waiting beyond that.
It was the place where people from exiles hid until the very end. They must have gone to a place famous for being rough on purpose to prevent external threats, but what is the difference now that hundreds of years have passed since then?
Looking down from the sky through Huginn and Muninn, Ivan, who was acting as a guide for the party, shook his head.
“It’s terribly complicated. It’s made so that people who don’t know the way will have to go round and round. It’s not just natural, it’s probably touched by a little human touch.”
It seems that they moved the rocks and planted trees to hide the road and twist it around.
There were probably many traps in the past, but fortunately, there were no traps left as hundreds of years passed.
“As time went on, the old road was blocked off, and a new passage was created. It’s a mess.”
However, just because the road was rough didn’t mean they could stop. Because they could easily jump over the hurdle and move.
Even Delfino, who had the weakest physical ability among the party, was very good compared to the general public. The life orb that Ivan had given him in the past made his body strong.
Kung Kung!
Ivan even summoned two wolf spirits. Like Huginn and Muninn, the wolves were named after the original Gary and Freki. They moved swiftly and escorted the party.
With Huginn, Muninn, Gary, and Freki, he transformed into a dwarf wizard, so Ivan was no different from Odin’s avatar.
Perhaps someone didn’t like it, so he occasionally spits sparks from Ivan’s body, stinging him.
Cheeky!
Thor liked to go first and smash enemies with his two hands. Ivan’s current appearance is far from the kind of warrior he wants, so he’s complaining like this.
Of course, that was the part that Ivan was also dissatisfied with.
‘Damn it, if you don’t like it, you should have stopped Odin when he stole my eyes. Damn Thor!’
The lack of one eye was a fatal weakness for the warrior. No matter how sharp his senses were reducing the blind spots, his ability as a warrior was bound to decline sharply.
Measuring the distance, grasping the surroundings, body sight, and reaction.
He filled in the gaps with other abilities and eventually became stronger, but it was impossible to fight like before until he finally regained his eyes.
‘So you should have stopped Odin when he took my eyes, and why are you acting like that to Odin?’
Ivan looked up at the sky with that thought in mind, and the spark that had been stinging his body slowly disappeared.
“Ivan?”
Delfino, who suddenly stopped walking, called for him and answered naturally.
“I think we’ve found the entrance to the underground fortress. It’s just a short walk away.”
The underground fortress of resistance was built by digging into a natural cave. Originally, the entrance was blocked from view with various things, but it seems to have been exposed over time.
The black hole looked like a monster with its mouth open. A cliché word indeed, but it was just the right word.
“Lord of radiant light, please grace us in the dark.”
As Delfino whispered softly, his vision changed. It was a divine art to make Ivan see clearly even in the darkness that Ivan had experienced one day.
The group entered the cave very carefully.
The slightest sound echoed loudly in the cave.
Even breathing out became careful.
The wolf and the crow had been sent back. They couldn’t work in such a narrow and dark place.
Tuk!
Ferocious Tooth tapped Ivan and pointed at his nose. He meant that it smells.
He added explanations using hand signals he had learned over the past few days.
‘Enemy, size, numerous.’
Ivan nodded his head, clearing his vigilance. So he went a little further and heard a very low sound.
Ssk!
The sound of something moving. At Ivan’s gesture, Delfino made a shield, and Irene summoned a wind spirit and blew a sharp wind.
Whiish!
The sound of a sharp wind ripping through the air resounded. The sound was amplified because it was in a cave, and it felt even scarier.
Boom boom!
Chijik, chik!
With low and high cries, they appeared and rushed in. Eyes that look blue in the dark. It was an attack by monster rats that had become monsters with magical powers.
Tak, tadak!
It was quite meticulous in seeing rats the size of a forearm rushing from all directions. They gnawed at anything alive.
bang!
“Freeze!”
As Ivan slammed the floor and shouted, the cold cave turned even colder.
Frost fell on the floor, and it caught the monster rats and turned them into ice statues.
As Ivan held her up like that, Irene waved her hand. The wind spirit moved and destroyed the frozen monster rats following her hand.
After killing about a dozen or so, the rest of them turned their backs and scattered. They were as quick as when they appeared.
“Damn, they’re annoying.”
Ivan frowned. Those weak and outnumbered ones gnawed at their nerves than the bigger and stronger ones. Because they attacked from time to time.
It was difficult to deal with sudden attacks in the dark.
As they went a little further, a fork in the road appeared.
“Which way is the right way to go?”
As Delfino asked in a low voice, Ivan looked closely at the floor and walls. And he pointed to the right.
“I think it’s this way. It’s been a while, but this one looks more like it. There was a lot of movement. There are traces of artificially made roads.”
Irene shook her head as Delfino and Ferocious Tooth nodded their head.
“It’s on the left. The wind doesn’t pass on the right, but the left side is open. They’ll have to hide in the underground fortress, so it’s probably better to follow the wind.”
If an elf who deals with spirits said that, there was no way it would be wrong. Ivan meekly admitted his mistake.
“Then the right path must have been a trap.”
After breaking through the fork a few times and passing the winding road, they finally saw the door of the underground fortress.
The stone door was half broken and was rolling on the floor. They crossed it and went inside. There was something painted on the wall, but it was destroyed, so only traces of it were recognizable.
Woo-.
Ivan, who made a simple barrier with magic, said to Delfino.
“Turn on the light for a second. I think I’ll have to go see what this is.”
A bead of soft light rose and the party looked around carefully.
“What kind of painting was it?”
“Well, the history of exile? Praying to God? Or resentment? Maybe the soldiers who got bored while on guard duty did something like graffiti.”
The painting was completely destroyed, but recognizable inscriptions were engraved on it. It was not the current script, but it was an ancient language of the western part of the continent.
“Blood to blood, death to death.”
Delfino spoke heavily as Ivan, who had been touching the letters with his hand, murmured lowly.
“It’s an old saying. It wasn’t originally meant that way, but they seem to have written it as a phrase promising revenge.”
It was originally an adage about noble sacrifice. To replace someone’s blood with blood, to protect it with death to prevent death.
However, in words engraved here, a desperate feeling of revenge was felt. It was full of deep resentment.
“If you can feel the bitterness in a single sentence, it may not have been a rumor that the villagers were talking about the demon at all.”
When Irene said so, Ivan answered with squinted eyes.
“Sometimes, there are people who claim to be demons. Even for noble purposes.”
However, the ending was not sublime. They usually don’t talk about dark truths.
Shh!
A sudden flow.
Irene stared inward and Ferocious Tooth shook his tail. Delfino lowered his prayer and Ivan stretched his back.
Whoops!
Ivan, who had transformed into a dwarf body, grew bigger. His bent shoulders widened and his muscles filled up again. He escaped from the appearance of a common wizard and returned to the form of a strong warrior.
He said in a voice that was heavier than before.
“It seems that the Prince of Exile is inviting us to a party.”
Kugugugung!
The ground trembles and the space shakes. Strong magical energy fluttered and spread in all directions. It moves away from its original place and into a new dimension.
It changes from the underground fortress of resistance, where the descendants of the old exiled countries vowed to be revived, into the bloody and tears underground fortress familiar to Ivan.
Dungeon.
It temporarily restores a certain ruin to its former appearance under the influence of deep thoughts and magical powers.
A ghost that had died and disappeared hundreds of years ago has awakened. Burning the same revenge as yesterday, he moved his newly acquired body.
The fact that the entrance to the cave looked like a monster’s mouth was also a warning sign. Now the monster that had been sleeping quietly revealed its teeth.
A huge shout echoed throughout the cave.
-Blood to blood! Death to death!