Chapter 287
'That symbol?'
It was the same crest that was engraved on Agamemnon's Mask.
Zeke approached the door and examined the engraved symbol closely.
'It's the same crest that was on the Ark and the mask.'
Zeke had surmised that both the Ark and Agamemnon's Mask were created before the era of the Hero-King, during the time of a hyper-ancient civilization known as the Age of Constellations.
If it had the same crest, there was a high probability that these ancient ruins were also related to that hyper-ancient civilization.
As Zeke was inspecting the door, Michel and Zeroth came up from behind.
Zeroth was also surprised to see the extraordinary door.
"Huh? So there really is something here?"
Michel snorted proudly and said, "See, I was right. It took me over two years just to find this place."
Zeke looked at Michel and said, "So, how do we open this door?"
At Zeke's question, Michel blinked his eyes and replied, "Well, I brought you and the mage here because I don't know how."
He had a shameless expression on his face as he gestured for them to hurry up and open it.
Zeke gave Michel a look of disbelief. "So you're saying that for the last two years, all you did was find this door?"
"Isn't it amazing? The fact that I made it this far all on my own."
Zeroth frowned at the proud Michel, then stepped toward the door and released his magical power.
VWOOOONG!
After reading the door's structure with his magic, Zeroth tilted his head. "Sir Zeke, there's something strange about this door."
"What about it?"
"There's no magic cast on it."
Hearing this, Michel, who was standing beside them, beat his chest and said,
"That's the problem! I brought other mages here to do something, but all they said was that there's no magic on it. And no matter how much I push or pull, the door won't open!"
Hearing Zeroth say there was no magic, Zeke approached the door.
'If there's no magic, it's highly likely that it's managed by the System.'
He reached out his hand toward the door.
'Connect to the administrator system.'
The System determined whether it could connect to the ruins' administrator system.
[Verifying System]
[Access Code Mismatch]
[Force Connection?]
The moment Zeke commanded a forced connection, the ruins began to shake.
[Forcing connection with the authority of a high-level administrator of the Kabbalah System.]
[Acquiring temporary authority.]
[Failed to acquire security system management authority.]
[Switching entrance to manual operation.]
At the message that the System had switched the door to manual, Zeke grabbed the handle, unfolded his Golden Force Field, and began to push.
KRRRRR-CRACK!
After he became an SS-Class, the power of his Golden Force Field had grown so strong that even though Zeke wasn't pushing very hard, the door handle looked like it was about to break.
'I need to control my strength.'
Zeke eased up on the power and gave the door a steady push.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
The tightly sealed door opened.
Michel stared in disbelief as Zeke opened the door with brute force. "B-but, it definitely didn't open when I pushed it..."
Zeke ignored Michel's comment and stepped inside. A dungeon with floors, a ceiling, and walls made of old bricks appeared.
However, there was one thing that made it different from a normal dungeon.
'What is this chill?'
A cold draft, completely out of place in Aten's warm climate, was flowing out from inside the dungeon.
It didn't matter to Michel, who was wearing thick leather clothes, but Zeroth's attire was quite thin.
Zeke took a thick set of clothes from his inventory and handed them to Zeroth. "Here, put this on for now."
"It's alright. I can block the cold with my magical power."
Zeke shook his head. "You should conserve your magic. You never know what might happen inside a dungeon."
At Zeke's firm words, Zeroth nodded, took the clothes, and put them on.
Zeke entered the dungeon with Zeroth and Michel. The deeper they went, the colder it became.
Michel shivered and said,
"Hooo. Sir Knight, do you happen to have any more clothes? It's too cold."
"What are you talking about? You're already dressed warmly. Besides, aren't you from the north?"
"Ugh. My constitution is a bit weak, so I'm very sensitive to the cold."
This was Michel, full of complaints and full of trouble.
Just then.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
A sound of something moving could be heard from up ahead.
Hearing it, Zeke gave a hand signal to stop.
But Michel didn't recognize Zeke's signal and, complaining about the cold, recklessly walked quickly ahead.
When a flustered Zeroth tried to follow, Zeke stopped him.
'Let's just use him as bait.'
Having no expectations for Michel whatsoever, this was the best use for him Zeke could think of.
"Ugh, it's so cold."
Shivering, Michel kept his head down and walked forward until he felt something was wrong.
He looked back to see that Zeke and Zeroth weren't following him. "Huh? Where did everyone..."
Just then, the thudding sound from ahead grew louder. When Michel looked forward again, he saw a long-limbed ice statue approaching him.
"Kuaaaaargh!"
Michel screamed in terror and ran away. For a man his size, he was surprisingly fast.
Zeke hid and observed the statue chasing Michel.
'What is that? An ice statue is moving on its own.'
Just then, Zeroth, who was behind him, said in surprise, "S-Sir Zeke. That's an Ice Golem."
"An Ice Golem? It looks very different from a normal golem."
"This is my first time seeing one in person, too. I've read in records that, unlike normal golems, their attacks are imbued with a cold attribute, giving them both physical and magical power simultaneously."
If every attack came with additional cold-attribute magic, it would be a very tricky opponent. But that was only true for ordinary knights.
Zeke raised Bahamut and charged toward the Ice Golem.
GROOOOAR!
The Ice Golem made a strange noise and stretched out its hand.
SHWAAAAAK!
Ice awls shot out from the golem's body and flew toward Zeke.
SWOOSH!
Zeke swung his sword, shattering the ice awls.
Then, a long ice spear emerged from the golem's abdomen.
GROOOOAR!
The golem detached the ice spear that had formed on its body and threw it at Zeke.
SWOOSH!
When Zeke parried the incoming spear with his sword, the point of impact froze over.
KRRRRACK!
Zeke casually brushed off the frozen spot. If it had been an ordinary knight, the affected area would have frozen and become necrotic.
Just then, Zeroth, who was behind him, took out his staff and used magic.
FWOOOOSH!
He had created and launched a giant fireball to counter the cold-attribute Ice Golem.
KABOOOOM!
The fireball created by Zeroth struck the Ice Golem's body.
TSSSSSSSS!
Its body vaporizing, the Ice Golem staggered back.
GROOOOAR!
The retreating Ice Golem screamed, then suddenly opened its mouth and sucked in the vaporized steam.
TSSSSSSSSS—
Its melted body began to rapidly regenerate.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
In an instant, sharp ice blades formed all over the Ice Golem's body.
Zeke shouted to Zeroth, "Shield!"
Zeroth quickly cast a shield spell. At the same time, the Ice Golem launched the ice blades that had sprouted all over its body.
SHWAAAAAK!
Dozens of ice blades spun as they flew toward Zeke and Zeroth.
TING! TING!
Most of them were deflected by Zeroth's shield and embedded themselves in the walls.
The spots on the wall where the ice blades hit were covered in frost, quickly freezing solid.
The instant Zeroth deflected the ice blades with his shield, Zeke seized the opening and shot forward.
VWOOOONG!
An Aura Blade erupted from his sword.
Zeke's sword swiftly pierced the Ice Golem's heart area.
KRRRR-CRACK!
When its body had melted from Zeroth's fireball, the location of its core had been briefly exposed, allowing Zeke to thrust his sword straight into it.
KRRREEEEEK!
Taking a direct hit to its core, the Ice Golem staggered backward.
Zeke swung his sword, cutting off its arms and legs.
The limbless Ice Golem fell backward, and Zeke approached, stabbing its heart area with his sword.
CRACK!
The golem's hidden core was revealed.
Zeke reached out and tore out the Ice Golem's core.
Tsssssss—
As soon as he tore out the core, the golem's body vaporized, turning into white steam.
Zeke stored the Ice Golem's core in his inventory.
Then he walked over to Zeroth. "Are you alright?"
It was Zeroth's first real combat experience, and he was covered in a cold sweat, seemingly drained by the tension.
"Phew, I'm fine."
Zeke took a potion from his inventory and handed it to Zeroth. "This should help you relax a bit."
Just then, Michel, who had been hiding in the back, cautiously emerged. "Phew, I'm fine, too."
It was Michel, wiping away sweat for no reason when he hadn't done a single thing.
After drinking the potion and composing himself, Zeroth caught his breath and said,
"I never knew that Ice Golems could use attacks similar to ice magic, not just simple cold-attribute attacks. I'll have to update my information."
"Given the appearance of an Ice Golem, this seems to be a high-level dungeon. We should be careful."
Zeroth nodded, and Zeke looked at Michel. "By the way, Michel, don't you have any skills you can use? You're a druid, after all."
At Zeke's words, Zeroth was utterly shocked. "S-Sir Zeke, what did you just say? That man is a druid?"
Zeroth looked at Michel with disbelief. It was only natural for him to be surprised, as druids were a mysterious race that hadn't been seen for hundreds of years. Zeroth's eyes widened as he scanned Michel from head to toe. No matter how he looked at him, he couldn't find any of the mystical aura of the druids from the legends.
Michel then said with an awkward expression,
"Uhm, the spells I can use require animals to be present."
"Can't you use spirit magic?"
"Ah, that's not really my field..."
In other words, he was completely useless at the moment.
'I'll have to keep using him as bait.'
Zeke led Zeroth and Michel deeper into the dungeon. The further they went, the more intense the cold became, and the darker their surroundings grew.
'It seems like the structure is designed to lead us continuously downward.'
Although it looked like a flat path, it was actually a gentle spiral, and they were constantly descending.
As they were descending for a while, Zeke's senses picked something up.
'This is... a monster?'
The presence felt different from the Ice Golem.
When Zeke stopped, this time Michel was quick to notice, stopping and hiding behind him.
Zeroth whispered to Zeke, "Sir Zeke, just give the word, and I'll cast a spell immediately."
Although he lacked combat experience, Zeroth was a very reliable companion. His spell-casting speed was fast, and he was an all-round mage capable of using any type of elemental magic.
'With a little bit of polishing, he'll be incredibly useful.'
For Zeke, who was in need of a skilled mage, he was a very coveted talent.
Just then, something shot out from ahead.
Grrrrr!
He could feel it crawling rapidly across the floor, as well as the walls and ceiling.
Zeke shouted to Zeroth, "Flash!"
Zeroth instantly cast the Flash spell. A brilliant, eye-piercing light exploded outward.
"Kuaaaargh!"
The spell was meant to disorient the monsters, but it was Michel in the back who cried out, clutching his eyes and collapsing.
The forms of the monsters revealed in the flash were utterly bizarre. They looked like mummies with transparent skin and bones made of ice.
"Sir Zeke! I've never seen monsters like these before!"
Unlike Zeroth, Zeke knew what these monsters were.
'Why are these here?'
The monsters clinging to the ceiling were none other than Ice Bones, a type of undead with the ice attribute.
These were the same creatures Zeke had fought when he went to the ice mountains to retrieve the Elder Dragon's relic.
'They're undead imbued with the ice attribute, which makes them very tricky to deal with.'
Furthermore, the presence of Ice Bones meant there was something else controlling them.
Kieeeek!
One of the Ice Bones charged at Zeke.
Zeke sheathed his sword and took out the God Hunter from his inventory.
Since Ice Bones had to be completely shattered, a blunt weapon was more suitable than a sword.
SWOOSH!
Zeke swung the God Hunter at the charging Ice Bone.
BANG!
The Ice Bone, struck by the God Hunter, slammed into the wall and shattered into pieces.
Zeroth's jaw dropped at the sight.
Just then, a biting, blade-like wind began to blow. Zeke's eyes sharpened.
Riding a powerful chill and a cutting wind, something revealed itself.