Chapter 126: Morgue of the Headless Prince (part five)

“Hi-hieeee……why is there a minotaur in such a place……?”

I heard a frustrated voice coming from Lièvre who was behind me.

Two more shadows could be seen behind the two minotaurs that destroyed the stone wall.

There were four of them altogether.

One minotaur, which was in the front, raised its fist high and swung it down on Chloe.

It was a blow as heavy as that of a huge hammer.

However, the minotaur’s attack only hit empty air.

When I thought that Chloe, who was supposed to be at the minotaur’s feet, had disappeared from sight, a silver trail flashed in the dark.

Almost at the same time, the first minotaur fell over onto the floor with a heavy sound.

The minotaur was bisected from under its jaw to the top of its head and was killed in one blow.

Just like that, Chloe headed for the second minotaur.

(I think it’s okay to leave the first row to Chloe. If so, I will—)

While being protected by Tirnanog, I rearranged the spell inside the wand of Crystal Cluster.

Incorporating a spear-like shape, enhancing the penetration ability and speed, and consuming 100 charges.

I created a heavier strike than the one I shot at the orthros before.

I decided the fate of the other two minotaurs waiting at the rear by shooting at them downwards from above, aiming to pierce their hearts from behind.

The moment I waved the wand, a short agonizing cry echoed, signaling their deaths.

The minotaurs were killed by a log-wide crystal spear through the chest.

At the same time, Chloe seemed to have finished off the rest of the front row, as the minotaur’s body dropped with a heavy sound.

Chloe’s breathing was not disturbed at all, even after defeating two large phantom beasts.

“Erica-san, are there any other monstro on this layer?”

She asked me while wiping her sword with a cloth she pulled out of nowhere.

“Yes, there are still many large creatures throughout several layers, including this one, and—”

My voice trailed off when I heard the sound of crystal breaking and falling.

Looking at it, the only thing left was the remains of the crystal spear.

“Also……the carcasses seem to have disappeared.”

Chloe looked bewildered, looking alternatingly at the empty floor and the white cloth she had in hand.

The carcasses of the four minotaurs that were supposed to have been killed have disappeared from our sight again.

Although the carcasses that have disappeared couldn’t be seen around the crystal clusters, upon a closer look, I felt like I could find the pieces of white meat from before.

“T-that’s not the only thing that disappeared……the staircase where we came from……”

Lièvre pointed behind us with a faint voice.

When I turned around, the place where the door to the staircase was supposed to be had become a stone wall.

Did the staircase move again while we were fighting?

“So, we have been left behind in the ruins, huh.”

“No……no way, I just came here to warn you……to think that I would get left behind in the Corpse City……”

Hearing Chloe’s words, Lièvre fell into further despair.

Certainly, the situation is quite unusual, but that doesn’t mean nothing can be done either.

I can’t tell whether it’s fortunate or not, but I have plenty of provision.

“Please don’t feel discouraged. Lièvre-san. There are plenty of ways to get out of here. Besides, I have brought a lot of food and other supplies, so it would be fine even if the three of us get stuck here for two weeks in the worst case scenario, so let’s do our best without giving up, alright?”

I pointed at the leather bag that Tirnanog had put on the ground.

Well, space-expanded bags are useful, huh.

“Stuck!? In the Corpse City!? For two weeks!? You’re kidding me, right~~~~~?”

“Two weeks’ worth of food……amazing! You’re so reliable, Erica-san……!”

Two different kinds of response came back from Lièvre and Chloe.

However, I cannot afford to skip classes for two weeks, so I would like to return as quickly as possible.

Then we decided to discuss and decide on the policy.

First of all, about the escape method.

“Tools that can be used to escape include wand of Digging and Passwall scrolls. However, it may be better to hold back on using them until we reach the uppermost layer. When I looked over the ruins using the demonic eye magic, there were also parts distorted by spatial magic.”

“Well then, there seems to be no way but to do our best going on foot.”

When Lièvre furrowed her eyebrows while giving an interjection, Chloe nodded silently.

It would be a very slow method of escaping, but it can’t be helped.

Next is deciding what to do with the other monstro that still exist around here.

After I told them the information I obtained using the Eyes of Overworld, Chloe asked.

“That’s that, but the minotaurs killed here are different from the museum’s stuffed ones, like their horns, right?”

“Speaking of which……there was no decoration that shows their class on their horns……so that means they were not individuals that were born and raised in the minotaur society……?” (Erica)

“Perhaps, the reason why the killed monstro disappeared and left behind pieces of meat, isn’t it because of summoning magic—because they are monstro summoned by mutation magic using artificial spirits?” (Chloe)

There is the possibility that they were beings summoned using mutation type magic, huh.

I wonder if it’s really possible to use artificial spirits and mutate them into phantom beast figures like that.

“So, you say those pieces of meat were used as catalysts to summon artificial spirits and mutate them into minotaur or orthros?”

“Yeah. I thought that is the reason why they disappeared like that.”

As far as the lesson goes, I had gotten the feeling that summoning by mutation magic is limited to small creatures.

It is also concerning that even when they got into contact with snowsilver sword, the mutation was not dispelled.

However, this explanation certainly seem to be the most fitting for the current situation.

“Supposing that it’s a summoning magic, then it would go on forever even if we kill them, right?”

Chloe’s conclusion feels right.

At present, it can be said that we were lucky enough to be able to kill those monstro, but that doesn’t mean we have time to get rid every monstro as we had earlier.

Above all, our resources are limited.

“Let’s escape to the upper layer while avoiding battle as much as possible to preserve our physical strength and supplies.”

“Yeah, I also think that’s a good idea. Let’s just defeat the minimum required enemies.”

After Chloe agreed with me, Lièvre raised her hand and said.

“But, um……about those white worms, are you sure you want to leave them alone? It seems they have increased in number explosively, I’m worried.”

“If there is a chance, shall we deactivate them using Grease?”

“Aah~ that would be great. It would be scary if the worms overflow from the basement of the museum!”

It’s unlikely that this place is beneath the museum, but I didn’t interject Lièvre.

It’s guaranteed that this place connects to some underground space of the academy, so it wouldn’t make a difference anyway.

“Chloe-san, would that also be okay with you?”

“Yeah……if that’s the case, we should deal with them.”

So we decided roughly the escape method.

First, deactivate the worms in the upper layer.

After that, we decided to avoid encounters with monstro as much as possible.

We decided to start moving based on the information obtained by the Eyes of Overworld.

☆

The ascending staircase to the layer where the worms were located could be found quickly.

As soon as we moved up a layer, I used Magic Mapping to ascertain the locations of the worms and the staircase.

The information obtained was shared with Chloe and Lièvre, and after discussing the route to the room where the worms are and the emergency escape route, we continued moving.

Along the way, we encountered one minotaur and two giant spiders.

The moment Chloe met the minotaur, she cut its neck and knocked it down, while I pierced the giant spiders, which were hiding on the dark ceiling, with Crystal Cluster.

As with the previous monstro, they turned into small chunks of meat and disappeared.

“How weird, even though these are not the kind of spider that can be found on Ichthyes……”

After the giant spiders were defeated, Lièvre murmured.

Speaking of which, the phantom beasts that we met in this ruins are only monstro that have their specimens kept in the museum.

“Erica-san……have you also noticed that?”

“Yes.”

Come to think of it, a thievery case also occurred at the museum.

When combined with the previous conversation with Chloe, it seems they used museum specimens as summoning materials.

As I thought about that, we came to the desired place.

I first examined the door using Glam Sight.

Chloe opened the door after I told her that no magical traps have been set.

“……this is—”

I heard the sound of someone’s sharp intake of breath at the sight that spread before our eyes.

This is something I remember seeing before.

In front of the altar, there was a glowing red magic circle about five meters in diameter.

An old golden candle holder with seven branches with its seven candles lit.

Next to it was a silver handbell with leather belt handle attached and an old codex.

What spread before our eyes was the sight of a corrupted altar.