part0009

The Scylla continued its rampage outside the treasure room. Lark started to feel the links binding him to the elven oaks vanish one after another. Judging by the powerful explosions and the rumbling of the ground, the Scylla had started using magic to destroy the colossal ancient trees surrounding the giant statue. The seven-headed monster had become desperate after Lark had managed to slip inside the treasure room.

“Human, come out!” the Scylla’s roar reverberated even inside the chamber. “If you don’t come out, I’ll destroy all of these toys, go out of this labyrinth and destroy your puny Empire!”

Another shockwave shook the giant statue. The Scylla continued firing several powerful spells, and it showed no signs of stopping until it had eradicated all of the elven oaks controlled by Lark.

“This is the safest place on this floor, huh?” mumbled Lark.

It was clear that the Scylla couldn’t do anything to him as long as he was inside the treasure room. It must have been utterly frustrated right now, knowing that the treasures it had been protecting all of its life were currently being ransacked by a human.

Lark still had a few days’ worth of rations with him. He decided to expand his mana pool where he was, safe from the fangs of that seven-headed monster.

Although there were several high-grade mana stones scattered around the room, Lark ignored them and went straight for the pinnacle-grade mana stones.

A high-grade mana stone was precious enough to be part of Lady Ropianna’s family heirloom. Lark could probably buy a small city using a single pinnacle-grade mana stone. And he could see at least eight of them half-buried in this mountain of gold.

Lark stared at the azure gemstone he held in his hand. It was a bit larger than his fist, with silver and crimson dust floating inside. Judging by the pattern, Lark was sure that this mana stone had been taken from the corpse of a Gryphon, an apex monster capable of annihilating an entire army on its own.

The magicians of this era normally pulverize these mana stones and use them to create a magic formation, before slowly absorbing the mana and essences flowing out of the magic circle. Although it was a far safer method than the one used in the Magic Empire, the amount of mana you were able to absorb from the ritual was a mere fraction of the total amount. It would be akin to throwing tens of thousands of gold coins away, considering the fact that he could probably buy a small city if he sold this pinnacle-grade mana stone.

Using the Sword of Morpheus, Lark cleanly cut the pinnacle-grade mana stone into eight pieces, then put one of them into his mouth.

The moment he swallowed the mana stone fragment, a torrent of mana immediately surged inside his body. His bones creaked and his muscles started tearing apart as the torrent of mana coming from the mana stone forcefully passed through his mana circuit and meridians.

It felt as though a raging river was trying to pass through a small pipe. His heart pounded loudly and his blood vessels bulged from the pressure, almost bursting. Had Lark done this a year ago, his body would have immediately exploded from the turbulent mana in mere seconds. Thankfully, relentlessly training his physical body had paid off.

As the massive amounts of mana inside the pinnacle-grade mana stone forced its way into his mana circuit, Lark’s mana pool slowly expanded. Lark skillfully guided the overflowing mana into the various parts of his mana circuits and meridians, preventing them from bursting at the very last moment, before moving to the next part.

This was a method that would usually be considered suicide in this current era. A single mistake would be fatal, and even if by luck the magician somehow managed to survive the ritual, there was a very high chance of irreversibly destroying one’s mana pool and meridians.

Seconds quickly turned into minutes, and several hours passed by without Lark realizing it. The moment Lark swallowed the pinnacle-grade mana stone, all unnecessary thoughts vanished in his mind as he guided the overflowing mana with a single-minded focus. He no longer noticed the curses and roars of the Scylla as it annihilated the elven oaks outside. He no longer noticed the trembling ground, the clanking of gold coins, and the deafening explosions.

After a full day, he finally managed to expand his mana pool and assimilate the mana contained in the pinnacle-grade mana stone fragment into his body.

Lark opened his eyes and stretched his body for a bit. His body ached and his stomach grumbled from hunger.

“The lizard’s quiet,” said Lark. He could no longer feel the link binding him to the elven oaks. All of them must have been destroyed by now.

How many hours did it take him to absorb that fragment? He’d lost track of time. Judging by his grumbling stomach, at least several hours must have passed by now.

Lark opened his bag, grabbed some meat jerkies and tossed them into his mouth. He drank some water, rested for a bit, and slept for a couple of hours.

He woke up after several roars were heard outside.

“Human, I know you’re still alive!” growled the Scylla. “Come out, you damn thief! You maggot! If you don’t come out, I’ll go outside this labyrinth and lay waste to the nearest city I can find!”

Lark scratched his ears and sighed.

Lark ignored the Scylla, who kept spouting curses at him one after another. Those were empty threats, Lark was sure. If the Scylla really did have that much freedom, it would have left the labyrinth by now.

“Insect! Pile of shit! Bastard! Thief! I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!”

“For a monster with seven heads, that lizard really has a foul mouth.” Lark chuckled.

Historians would have probably been struck speechless by now had they heard the words the Scylla was spouting in draconian language. It did not befit the image of this mythical monster.

Lark grabbed another piece of the pinnacle-grade mana stone and swallowed it. Just like before, a torrent of mana flowed into his body. For hours, Lark guided the overflowing mana and expanded his mana pool once again.

He repeated the same method for several more days, and by the time his body had reached its limit, he’d already consumed two pinnacle-grade mana stones.

In his current state, any more forceful expansion of his mana pool would be detrimental to his health. His body needed to be accustomed to the sudden increase in mana capacity first. Moreover, he’d run out of food a few days ago.

Lark finally decided stop. He decided to take the treasures and leave the labyrinth.

It was time go back to Blackstone Town.

The Scylla was trembling with rage as it waited for the intruder to come out of the statue. Although the human didn’t deserve a quick death after all the sacrilegious acts it had committed, all seven heads agreed to kill him immediately once given the chance. There was something eerie about that human, and the Scylla’s instinct was telling it that the human had the ability to escape the labyrinth alive.

It’d had been several days since the Scylla destroyed the elven oaks surrounding the statue, but the human still hadn’t come out regardless. If not for the trace of mana coming from inside the statue, the Scylla would have believed the human dead by now.

The Scylla could feel it.

The faint amount of mana that had started growing as days went by.

The Scylla didn’t know what kind of method the human was using inside the treasure room, but one thing was for sure: the human’s mana pool was growing exponentially by each passing day. The intruder’s growth was so absurd that, for a moment, the Scylla questioned whether that man was really human.

Was it really possible for a human to grow this much in mere days? As a creature proficient in magic, the Scylla could clearly see the flow of mana coming from inside the treasure room. From an almost dried-up well, the man’s mana pool had now become a small river.

After ten days, the statue’s mouth finally opened and the human came out.

He stood right in front of the statue’s entrance and said, “Hey, lizard. I have several questions for you.”

The human seemed like an entirely different person than before. When the human first appeared on this floor, the Scylla was absolutely certain that he did not have the power to kill it. But now, the Scylla felt the human threatening, as though it was currently facing a dragon.

All thoughts of immediately attacking the human vanished in an instant. The Scylla looked at the human standing on the statue’s mouth warily.

“Get off the statue first,” snarled the Scylla’s first head. “You’ve tainted this sacred ground enough. Have some shame, human.”

All seven heads snorted in agreement.

Lark shrugged. “Alright.”

Lark cast flight magic and slowly hovered closer to the Scylla. Even when some of the heads gave signs of trying to bite his head off his body, he didn’t stop until he was only a few meters away from the seven-headed monster.

“I’ve left the statue,” Lark said leisurely. “Now, let me ask my questions.”

The seven heads looked at each other. The third head, who wanted to initiate conversation with the human before, answered, “We always keep our promises. Ask, human.”

“Three questions,” said Lark. “First, how did Kubarkava convince a monster as strong as you to guard this statue for several generations?”

All of the Scylla’s heads were bewildered upon hearing the first question. After a thousand years, this was the first time they’d heard the name of their master come out of a human’s mouth.

The flesh-eating poison and the poisonous monsters guarding the ruins were dead giveaways that this place was created by the God of Poison—Qeurvanu himself. But people weren’t aware that creating this labyrinth wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the Dragon Devourer. They wouldn’t know this, unless they could perfectly decipher the murals drawn on the first floor of the labyrinth.

Now that they thought of it, this human could speak draconian language too. It wouldn’t be far-fetched if he was also proficient in the Magic Empire’s language.

But their astonishment didn’t stop there. The human’s next questions also stunned the Scylla.

“Second, what happened to those kids—Kubarkava and Qeurvanu? This labyrinth feels like a perfect place to conduct the Ritual of the Underworld. Did those two brats perform it here? Tell me what happened,” said Lark. “And lastly, do you know what kind of treasure is being stored in that statue?”

Lark snapped his fingers and the bracer he was wearing immediately transformed into a beautiful, translucent sword. Lark grabbed its hilt. “Are you familiar with this sword?”

There was momentary silence as the Scylla stared at the sword.

“T-The Sword of Morpheus!”

“But how did the human activate it?”

“A strong spell should have been protecting it from thieves!”

As a creature proficient in magic, the Scylla held no doubt that the sword Lark was holding was the real thing.

The Scylla couldn’t understand how the human managed to obtain it, moreover activate the sword. It’s master—the Dragon Devourer—had told the Scylla that in order to activate the sword, you needed to apply mana in an extremely complex, predetermined direction. Even their master wasn’t able to activate that sword.

But the human did it. In mere days too.

“G-Give it back!” snarled the fifth head, clearly flustered. “You dare steal the treasured sword of our master?”

Lark chuckled. “Give it back? Why should I? It was mine to begin with. Your master simply stored it in that giant statue for safekeeping.”

As though proving that his words were true, Lark activated the mana stored inside the sword’s blade and made a slash to his left. A colossal wind blade shot out of the sword and cleaved the ground, creating a hundred-meter long ravine.

After hearing Lark’s words and after seeing how he easily wielded the legendary sword, the Scylla shuddered. It remembered the words spoken by its master before his death.

Blackie, listen. I don’t believe that Master Evander is truly dead. He’ll come back to us once again, someday, definitely.

Although more than a thousand years had passed, the Scylla could still vividly remember the mischievous grin of the Dragon Devourer as he told the Scylla stories about his master.

And when that day finally comes, please tell my master this—‘Welcome back. I believed you would come back to us eventually, Master Evander.’

The first head, who’d wanted to kill Lark the most before, softly muttered, “Only one person should be able to wield that sword.”

The predetermined flow of mana carved in the sword was so complex and easily encompassed several dozens of layers of magic formation. Only the sword’s creator should know how to activate it.

The ability to exponentially expand his mana pool in mere days. The ability to wield the legendary sword. There was no longer any room for doubt.