With Zelyse’s frustrated cries at their backs, Fran and Urus.h.i.+ ran through the lake.
『From this point forward, we’ll use Dimension s.h.i.+ft to proceed』
「Nn」
『We don’t have that much magic to spare, so we’ll move quickly. And Urus.h.i.+, follow me as I moved with your shadow transfer』
「Woof!」
I activate the Dimension s.h.i.+ft after feeling the Vivian Guardian’s attention towards me.
Urus.h.i.+ was moving through the shadows of the rocks and other objects on the bottom of the lake, as he couldn’t get together with us. But apparently, Urus.h.i.+ who was moving in the shadows was noticed by them.
The place where Urus.h.i.+ was hiding was then surrounded by the Guardians.
『Urus.h.i.+! Get back!』
(Woof…)
If we forced the Guardian to follow him any further, they would get agitated and go out of control. So, we would have him wait here to intercept Zelyse.
Fran and I then made our way through the water without any problems. After a while, we caught a strange object in front of us.
『What’s that…?』
「A pillar?」
As Fran said, it did look like a pillar.
A white column, about five meters in diameter, rose from the water to the sky. And it was not just one there.
『Let’s take a look at it from above』
「Nn」
Looking down from above, we saw that there were twelve white pillars. They were evenly s.p.a.ced in a circle. No matter how I looked at it, this must be the center of the lake.
『And I’m feeling some kind of magic power from it』
「It felt gross」
I felt a strange magical power coming from the center of the circle. It was not evil, but it was not normal magic power either. As Fran said, it was a weird and unpleasant magical power.
「Master, let’s get closer」
『We don’t have a choice』
I really wanted to act cautiously, but I didn’t have much magic power left to spare. But we couldn’t just leave it there, so we would check the source of this magic first.
Fran then plunged into the water with the momentum of her descent.
The water depth seemed to be quite shallow in this area. It was less than ten meters deep. And at the bottom of the lake, there seemed to be a mysterious structure.
At first glance, it looked like a temple. It was paved with the same white stone material as the stone pillars, and there was an altar-like structure in the center.
I think it was quite old, but it was still very clean for such an old thing. No moss, no debris, no dirt, just a pure white structure.
And in the center of the temple, there was a strange source of magic.
In this beautiful white temple, it was clearly a foreign and hideous-looking object. It seemed to be an artifact and was made up of a purple crystal.
「What is that thing?」
『That must be a magic stone weapon!』
Moreover, it seemed to be absorbing the magic power of its surroundings and pouring it into the temple. The creepiness we felt was probably the sickening feeling of having our magic power sucked out of us.
「You’ve gone so far, haven’t you?」
「!! Rhyn!」
Suddenly, the spirit, Rhyn, appeared.
「This place is special. It’s safe to cancel your s.p.a.ce-Time Magic now. The guardians won’t be able to get into this place」
I followed Rhyn’s words and canceled our Dimension s.h.i.+ft. There seemed to be no sign of the Vivian Guardians making any noise outside the temple. So, it seemed they really couldn’t get in this place.
I then put up a wind barrier and continued talking with Rhyn.
「Have you guys seen that huge magic stone?」
「Nn」
Rhyn stared at the magic stone weapon with sorrowful eyes.
『Is that nasty device gonna resurrect the great magic beast?』
「Yes. It’s using the magic around it to devour the magic beast’s seal little by little」
「So if we destroy it, the magic beast won’t be resurrected?」
Rhyn shook her head sadly at Fran’s question.
「The seal on the magic beast has already loosened considerably. If we don’t perform the resealing ritual, the seal will break by itself in a few weeks」
「Then, should we do the ritual?」
「We need to prepare for the resealing ritual. If we hurry, we might make it in time」
「How do we perform that ritual?」
「I know Weena Rhyn knows about it, but I’m not sure if she’ll perform the ritual or not…?」
「What do you mean?」
「Ask her yourself」
Rhyn still didn’t want to speak about the most important thing as usual, did she?
「Then, let’s destroy that thing first for now」
「That’s impossible. Zelyse has reinforced it with multiple layers of protection. I tried it myself, but I couldn’t get a scratch on it. That’s gonna be impossible unless we have the power of a High Elf」
Rhyn herself was a high-ranking spirit, but that spirit can’t even get a scratch on it… That thing certainly was amazing.
But that would be the case for anyone else.
「Rhyn. Just answer me one question. Is it okay to destroy that thing?」
「If you could. But you probably can’t, so get out of here, out of this country, before you get caught in this」
「”If you could”. That’s fine with me. Master」
『Ou!』
「…I don’t know what will happen to you, you know?」
With Rhyn’s pitying words behind her, Fran slashed at the magic stone weapon.
「Brilliant Lightning Rush―――Heaven Judgement!」
While being clad in black lightning, she unleashed a slash at a G.o.dspeed.
Clank!
However, the result was a little different from what I had imagined. It felt dull as if she had struck a hard rock with a blunt sword.
「Huh?」
There was no change in the magic stone weapon in front of us. Fran tilted her head, but I knew the cause.
『We can’t even get a scratch on it, huh…』
My magic stone absorption is the ability to eat the magic stones that I cut. In other words, if it doesn’t get even a scratch, the ability won’t be activated.
「Muh…」
『We have no other choice… Let’s use the Sword G.o.d Transformation』
This was probably the situation where I had to push myself. But Fran shook her head, looking like she was about to cry.
「Noo!」
It seems that Fran has been a little worried about me ever since she heard that I was going to turn into a mere sword.
『But otherwise, it’s gonna be hard to scratch that thing, right?』
Even after she used Heaven Judgement before, it was still unscathed.
It’s certainly quite dangerous for me to use the Sword G.o.d Transformation now, but I must withstand it for just a moment. However, Fran didn’t give me a yes.
「I won’t let you」
『Then, what should we do?』
「I’ll take care of it」
Fran gave me a determined look and readied me again.
「I’ll definitely cut this thing. So, Master doesn’t have to push himself too hard」