Apostle of the Void

Chapter 46: In the Red Mountain Range (10)

The depth was gradually increasing.

All three were skilled, so their progress was smooth.

As the depth increased, the frequency and number of kobolds appearing significantly rose.

While there were no dangerous variants like the Lavabold, the majority were Stonybolds and kobolds… but it was the sheer number that posed a problem.

"To disturb the area beneath the Red Mountain Range this much... how many are there?" Svena remarked as she descended along the slope of the tunnel.

Even Arzen, who had been continuously deploying his Void Bug squadron, was starting to feel fatigued.

For Ronnie, the situation was worse; her ammunition, unlike typical thrown weapons, couldn’t be reused, making it particularly consumable.

"Let\'s call it a day for the investigation!"

"Huh? Why?"

"I\'ve used up almost 80% of my rounds. If even one Lavabold appears now, we’re finished! We could end up in a dangerous situation."

"What do you think, Arzen?"

From Arzen’s standpoint, maintaining just 15 Void Bugs was a welcome proposal.

"Absolutely! I’m also worried that I can’t hear the sounds of those incompetent adventurers at all. It feels risky!"

Since entering the deeper sections, they hadn’t encountered a single party in the past few hours.

"That\'s true… what time is it? I can’t keep track of time down here. Arzen, could you shine the light over here?"

As Arzen shifted the light, Svena pulled out a pocket watch from her cloak.

The watch was a pinnacle of mechanical engineering produced by the Ain.

In this era, such portable timepieces were considered an extraordinary luxury.

The fact that most witches owned one hinted that they might have received some under-the-table payments.

That\'s just how the world works.

"Oh my, it\'s already 8 PM."

"If we go back up, it’ll be around 10 or 11, assuming we hardly run into any kobolds."

"Well, we did have the discovery of the Lavabold, so… right, pushing too hard wouldn’t be good."

Svena was someone with whom he could at least share a breath of relief, but the prospect of leaving was already out of the question.

‘Damn it, another chicken coop…’

Arzen truly felt saddened by that reality.

Having marked the path carefully with phosphorescent stones, finding the exit wouldn’t be difficult.

According to Arzen\'s calculations, when they returned to the surface, it was nearly 11 PM.

"Svena-senpai!"

A novice witch guarding the entrance of the tunnel greeted them enthusiastically.

"How was it inside?"

"All kinds of variants popped up, but they all knelt before me, Svena."

"Phew, it was complete chaos up top. The Ratspiders went on a rampage, and the witches had to bring in the novice witches to suppress them. A few got injured."

It matched the information provided by the Special Operations Division.

Leaving Svena to chat with the novice witch, Arzen trudged away with heavy steps.

‘Ugh, I’m so tired that I could just take a deep sleep in that chicken coop…’

Just endure today.

He had managed to survive in places worse than that chicken coop before.

At that moment, Ronnie asked, “Where will you rest today, Arzen?”

"Is there any option other than the chicken coop?"

“Anyway, since the reward for this job is only one gold coin before tax, there\'s no need to sleep in a place like that, right?”

“Then should we just sleep outside?”

“No. The chicken coop has 8-person and 16-person rooms, but it also has 2-person rooms.”

Arzen swiftly reached over and grabbed Ronnie’s hand.

“A 2-person room? A 2-person room?”

“Don’t look at me like that! It’s not some shady place!”

“I wouldn’t! Who would want to share with a Tall-Half?”

“Oh my, making comments like that about a race in this day and age! I’m remembering this! I’ll report you later!”

“Shut up! Just tell me about that 2-person room. That’s all I care about.”

“Well, the beds are far apart from each other. If you pull the curtains between the beds, it’s almost completely private. There’s also a washing area inside the tent. We have to fetch water from outside, though.”

This kind of information was something Arzen had never encountered during his days as a slave. The Divine Guillotine had shoved him into places worse than a chicken coop during long expeditions.

“But aren’t the women’s chicken coops tolerable?”

“What are you talking about! It’s the same for both men and women. In the chicken coop, I swear, it’s a stench explosion.”

“What do you mean? In the men’s chicken coop, it just smells like rotting squid.”

They decided to use the 2-person chicken coop that Ronnie frequented. A place with reviews was more reliable.

“There it is. I’ve already paid, so I’ll go change first. But the person who was originally here should have left by now.”

A grumpy-looking old man was sitting in a makeshift chair in front of the tent, lighting a fire to chase away the bugs.

“Old man.”

“Hmm?”

“How much?”

“5 silver coins.”

“What the hell! Even the best inns in the city charge just a little over 1 silver coin.”

“Hey, you punk! Don’t you think about the cost of bringing those expensive beds and tents all the way here and managing them? This is a seasonal business; if I don’t charge like this, I’ll be at a loss. If you don’t like it, go sleep in that real chicken coop and get covered in foot odor.”

“Here are your 5 coins.”

5 silver coins per person was truly outrageous.

But he didn’t want to sleep again in that stinking chicken coop.

The old man looked satisfied.

“Okay. Normally, mixed-gender usage isn’t allowed, but I’ll let it slide since you clearly look like a kid. Just don’t do anything weird inside. If the witches catch you, I’ll lose my license.”

Arzen paid the fee and entered.

Inside, the beds were arranged with considerable distance from each other at both ends of a truly massive tent.

A large curtain hung between the two beds, respecting their privacy, which he appreciated.

‘Though I have to fetch water myself, there’s a drainage system so I can easily wash my face and hands!’

If he used a towel, he could wash his whole body.

Even the towels seemed to be overpriced, showing how the old man was desperate for money, but there was no choice.

After fetching water, Arzen soaked the towel and cleaned himself from head to toe.

His entire body was drenched in sweat.

The Red Mountain Range was ablaze inside.

‘Maybe because of that background, the underground space is not cool at all; it’s unbelievably hot!’

While he was washing up, Ronnie’s voice came from beyond the curtain.

“Why did you become an adventurer, Arzen?”

Why had he become an adventurer?

His current goal was simply to make a lot of money.

“Money.”

“I have a dream. I want to become a Gold-ranked adventurer.”

“Me too.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it pays the most.”

“For me, it’s because of my mother.”

“Hm.”

“My mother practically gave up her position as the top artisan for me. So I have to become a Gold-ranked adventurer to prove that her decision wasn’t in vain. If I can become the best using my mother’s equipment, everyone will recognize her again.”

Listening to Ronnie speak with such a clear goal and ambition made Arzen feel a twinge of jealousy.

“I’m not someone who had it easy like you.”

He had no other choice but this.

The only life he had known was this one.

So perhaps that was why he had chosen this path.

‘No, there were many times I genuinely admired adventure…’

He envied how bravely Ronnie could express her goals.

She must have lived a life of high self-esteem under a great mother.

‘Unlike me…’

Not thinking too deeply had become his life motto, but that day, an uncomfortable thought kept nagging at him.

‘What do I even know about my parents?’

Now that he thought about it, he didn’t even know what his father had done to incur such a huge debt to the Guillotine of the Gods.

‘I don’t know… right now… I’m just… so… sleepy…’

---

The next morning, the investigation resumed.

Thanks to the glowstone markers, they didn’t get lost, and the path that had taken them half a day yesterday was covered in just two hours.

Every time they reached a new area, Svena diligently recorded the current depth and temperature in her notebook.

‘Even detailing the number of kobolds encountered! It’s clear that an elite is indeed an elite.’

This kind of investigation had been ongoing for nearly three weeks.

Svena didn’t want a harsh investigation either, so they worked for about five days and then took two days off.

Every two days, Arzen would return to the city, stay at the inn, and have breakfast.

On days when he missed the last train back, he would swallow his tears and sleep in the 2-person chicken coop.

After a month of steadily expanding their investigation range by taking out kobolds, they prepared to venture deeper and packed food for a fortnight.

---

The Red Mountain Range was vast.

It was no surprise that the tunnels carved through the mountains wouldn’t be finished in just a day or two.

After three days of defeating kobolds and pushing further into the unexplored depths, an unsettling chill suddenly enveloped him.

‘What is this?’

Is it cold? Chilly?

‘This feels strange… Am I imagining things?’

No, this wasn’t an illusion.

The heat that usually burned in the mountains was now different.

“Has the power of fire weakened…?”

As Arzen muttered blankly, Ronnie scanned the temperature of the tunnel with her Alpha vision.

“It’s true. The temperature is dropping. It’s nice after sweating buckets, but it’s unsettling that it changed so suddenly…”

Just then, a strange sound echoed from deeper within the tunnel.

From deep within the tunnel, the sound of frantic footsteps echoed.

It could be an enemy.

Arzen and Ronnie focused their attention, ready with their Void Bugs and firearms.

“Who’s there?!”

Arzen shouted.

Kobolds didn’t understand human speech.

If it were a human, they would answer.

If no reply came, they would attack as soon as they sensed movement.

“P-please, help me!”

Soon, illuminated by the light of the Lamp of Prayer, a bloodied adventurer stumbled into view.

He was missing one of his arms, having apparently left it behind somewhere.

A heavy vibration followed behind the adventurer, the sound of multiple footsteps.

“Damn it, damn it! How far are they chasing me?!”

The adventurer tripped over a rock and fell.

With wide eyes filled with terror, he kept glancing back, crawling like a madman.

Then, the source of his fear emerged.

At first, it appeared human, but it was anything but.

It looked like a statue that suddenly came to life.

Svena’s face went pale.

“Those… Could they be Stonians?”

The stone figures were remarkably distinct, with male and female forms, each armed differently. Ronnie shouted in alarm.

“What are those things?!”

“All three of them used to be part of my party! Not anymore! They’ve gone crazy!”

“What do you mean?!”

“They’ve turned into stone people!”

Arzen reached out his hand.

At his command, the Void Bugs that had been scouting ahead surrounded the Stonians, but…

“They’re stone; we can’t eat them!”

That’s right.

With their entire bodies turned to stone, there was no weak point to penetrate.

Void Bugs were extremely weak against inorganic materials.

“Can’t you use your summoning magic, Arzen? Blow them away, Ronnie!”

“But… doesn’t that mean they were once people?”

“Not anymore! They’re already dead! During the process of becoming Stonians, their hearts were replaced with stone! What we see now is just moving stone! They’re the ghosts of their former selves!”

Ronnie let out a hesitant sigh.

But she was an elite.

In the next moment, she pulled a clip of explosive rounds from her black belt and loaded it into her pistol.

Tat-tat-tat-tat…!

The explosive rounds proved effective against the thick-skinned monsters.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

A total of twelve explosive rounds fired.

The shots pushed back the approaching Stonians, stripping away their stone skin and exposing what lay beneath.

Arzen’s eyes widened.

‘So they’re not completely petrified! They must need some form of organic movement! Anyway, I’ve figured out how to deal with you!’

The Void Bugs, while weak against solid forms, became an easy target once the weaknesses were exposed.

“Go, my little ones! Devour them!”

The Void Bugs surged into the gaps created by the explosive rounds.

Soon, the Stonians trembled violently and began to fall, one by one, powerless against the onslaught.

The Void Bugs feasted on the organic matter inside, leaving only fragments of stone skin behind.

Shattered stone limbs lay scattered about, no blood flowing from the wreckage.

“Hey, what the hell is going on?”

Svena was casting healing spells on the adventurer.

Unfortunately, modern spells and miracles lacked the power to restore lost limbs.

Such feats had only been possible by beings known as the Arrived Ones and the legendary hero from a century ago, The Dragon Sage.

“I don’t know! Damn it, I went deeper than anyone else… and then… then those stone people, they just… ugh!”

The adventurer, overcome with terror, began banging his head against the ground.

Ronnie swiftly struck him on the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious.

Next, she checked the identification tag hanging from the adventurer’s neck.

“Bronze rank… that’s quite impressive. He’s among the top ranks.”

Arzen was also rummaging through the remains of the Stonians, collecting identification tags.

Bringing the tags of the deceased or missing to the guild would earn them contribution rewards.

In fact, there were those who specialized in collecting such tags while hunting.

“This one’s the same, but wait, here’s one that’s Silver rank?”

This discovery was more chilling than the crazed adventurer.

A heavy silence fell over the group.

After completing the healing spell, Svena stood up abruptly.

“Something’s happening down below… If we leave it alone, there will surely be greater casualties. Arzen, can you leave a few of your summons here?”

“Yeah, I can do that…”

“Good. We’ve stabilized this adventurer for now, so let’s leave him with your summons and head down. We might be able to confront the source of this phenomenon.”