We ran while dealing with the wounded monsters all the way to the Demon King’s Castle.
The mercenaries skillfully took care of the monsters, and I also handled some myself.
Because we had cleared out a good portion, no large monsters or dangerous Demons appeared.
After running for a while, we finally arrived at the Demon King’s Castle.
The first sight of the Demon King’s Castle was so eerie that it was hard to describe with just the word “creepy.”
It felt like encountering a strange miracle where a child had roughly molded something out of mud, and yet it somehow counted as complete.
Passing through the narrow entrance that resembled a small mansion or tower, there was a wide circular platform tilted to the left.
On that platform, large and small buildings grew parasitically.
Yes, “grew” was the right word.
Like weeds desperately growing toward the sunlight in a dark shadow, the grotesquely curved buildings seemed alive.
Buildings branched out from other buildings in a tangled mess.
The upper levels looked like a tower formed by buildings intertwined like heaps of garbage.
And at the very top.
There was a large purple egg that looked like an insect cocoon, sitting boldly.
Could the Demon King have been born there?
It was so large and massive, and the shell gave off an unpleasant feeling.
Who started calling this place the Demon King’s Castle?
This was less the Demon King’s Castle and more like his colony, or a makeshift Demon World?
It was a mass of disgust that didn’t belong in this world, and I didn’t even know what to call it.
“You’ve come.”
At the main gate, Duke Helpion was sitting with a relaxed expression, looking up at the Demon King’s Castle.
Could the word “calm” really suit this scene?
That chair the Duke was using — wasn’t it the corpse of the Demon Grand Duke we heard about earlier in the magic message?
The horns poking out and the ragged tattered cloth that looked like wings — no matter how I looked at it, it was definitely a pair of wings.
From the scenery of the Demon King’s Castle to the monster corpse, topped off with Duke Helpion — it was truly the epitome of a bizarre spectacle.
To shake off the mood, I jumped straight into the main topic.
“You said you found ruins underground?”
“Yes. And they’re ruins that don’t fit at all with that grotesque building above.”
I suppose it was ironic to find ruins beneath such a strange structure.
“It didn’t seem like a place with artifacts or relics. It felt more like… a sanctuary.”
“A sanctuary?”
“Exactly. That’s why I called you. Your original specialty was history, right? I figured you’d be interested in ancient buildings and such.”
“Thank you for considering me. I’ll proceed with the investigation.”
“Take a few mercenaries with you, and a mage as well, just in case.”
“There are mercenaries with me, so I’ll go with them.”
I walked toward the entrance of the Demon King’s Castle.
Inside, it was even stranger than it looked from outside.
The walls of the Demon King’s Castle looked as if someone had mixed dark-toned paints recklessly and then left them to dry, all in a chaotic mess.
Purple, gray, navy blue colors appeared sporadically, and some walls even glowed faintly.
Moreover, it was hard to distinguish depth or perspective.
It seemed to be infused with some magical effect — the interior wasn’t what I had imagined from outside.
It looked round, or like it was falling underground…
I suddenly thought how incredible Duke Helpion was.
He defeated the Demon King in such a place at such a young age.
Wasn’t he even younger than me when he did it?
Calling him a genius didn’t do justice to what he was — he was a monster.
“There’s a path going down over there.”
I felt like I might lose my mind if I stayed here any longer, but one of the mercenaries found a pit.
The pit stretched downward like a slide, and I couldn’t see the bottom at a glance.
“Fire.”
Viscountess Jamie threw a torch made with magic down into the pit.
A faint “plop” sound came a long moment later.
From the flickering light I could see, there was nothing dangerous or obstructing the passage.
It seemed to be about 30 meters deep.
“Just going down won’t be possible.”
“Let’s tie a rope and descend slowly with magic.”
The underground we reached was completely different from the Demon King’s Castle above.
From walls to floor, it was all neatly finished marble — just like Duke Helpion said, it felt like a sanctuary.
A grand temple you might find in a capital city.
The pillars and murals on the walls gave off an extraordinary vibe at first glance.
I approached a wall painted with murals.
In the center was a massive dragon, breathing fire and writhing in pain.
I moved my gaze to the periphery of the painting.
There, countless people were attacking the dragon.
Some wielded individual weapons, others had mobilized armies with siege weapons.
There was only one time in human history when such a large-scale war between humans and dragons happened.
About 150 years ago, the battle between the Light Dragon Volprion and the Human Alliance.
Was this mural depicting that event?
As I moved along the corridor, I examined other murals.
Though the events varied, most depicted historical events that took place roughly 120 to 150 years ago.
Seeing the similar dates, these ruins seemed to have been made around that period.
Moreover, the murals didn’t just show a chronological list of events — they shared one thing in common.
“Consultant General, over here!”
Jamie seemed to have found something.
Following her voice, we arrived at a massive cavern over 50 meters in diameter, with an enormous magic circle drawn inside.
“This is… incredible.”
She was entranced, her eyes fixed on the magic circle.
“What kind of magic circle is this?”
“At least an 8-circle? Maybe 9… I can’t even begin to guess what kind of magic it is. There are over twenty magic circles overlapping here.”
“Is that impressive?”
“Of course! A magic circle is a perfect geometric figure. If you randomly add shapes or lines on top, it’ll just explode.”
Jamie’s voice grew louder.
“But even with so many circles layered like this, there’s not a single wasted stroke or mana. Could this be a variation of shield magic? I see now — it’s not just a magic circle drawn normally; the mana flow is altered to minimize interference between strokes!”
Hey, Jamie?
I’ve been through a lot of situations like this, and you’re not about to have some kind of enlightenment right now, are you?
We’re in the Demon King’s Castle underground, after all.
“Huff.”
Jamie seemed to understand that, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head with a look full of regret.
“So you think this magic circle was made by at least an 8-circle mage?”
“Yeah. Maybe 8… or 9.”
It looks like it was created about 100 years ago by a mage of at least 8 circles.
One name immediately came to mind.
Albatron.
The infamous Albatron.
When the Empire was still a Kingdom, he was one of the most zealous people involved.
But at some point, he turned hostile to the Empire, killing its best talents.
He was the one who taught me about the Akashic Record.
These ruins were definitely related to Albatron.
Specifically, the loyal and young Albatron from the era when the Empire was still a Kingdom.
“Then, what kind of magic circle is this?”
“Give me some time. How about checking around some more? About thirty minutes? Maybe then I’ll have a rough idea. Damn, I should have had my mom here instead of me.”
Jamie grumbled about her lack of skill, but I was a bit surprised.
I already knew this was a magic circle made by Albatron.
Yet, Jamie, who was only a 5-circle mage, said she could interpret it in about 30 minutes.
Is she better than I thought?
Leaving Jamie with the magic circle in the cavern, I explored other parts of the ruins with the mercenaries.
The ruins were larger and more complex than expected, but also rather hollow.
The paths intersected in complicated ways, with various paintings and sculptures scattered about.
But that was it.
There was no useful or valuable item, not even a trivial relic.
I wasn’t expecting treasures or artifacts, but the absence of even the smallest relic was frustrating.
Why on earth were these ruins beneath the Demon King’s Castle?
Then.
“Are you crazy?!”
Jamie suddenly shouted sharply while examining the magic circle.
“Jamie?”
We quickly drew our weapons and rushed to the cavern where she was.
Fortunately, she hadn’t been attacked.
She had run out of the room with the magic circle and was looking around with a serious expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“Wait, wait a moment!”
Jamie suddenly started running around.
She ran down one corridor for a long time, came back, then ran down the opposite corridor.
Then, she created a light magical orb on her hand and sent it flying here and there.
At first glance, it seemed pointless, but her expression was so serious I couldn’t question her.
“Kal! Or anything, give me something to draw on the floor!”
“Here.”
Jamie took a dagger from a nearby mercenary and began drawing something on the floor.
They were small magic circles.
About six magic circles intricately intersecting around a central point.
“What is this?”
“A summoning circle.”
“Huh? What are you trying to summon here?”
“No, it’s already been summoned.”
Already summoned?
But there was no mana felt from any of the magic circles here.
Not even the large magic circle we saw earlier.
If a spell had been activated and something summoned, the alien mana of another world should have been felt in this cavern.
Jamie sighed deeply when she saw our faces.
“Damn, this is why ordinary people who don’t understand magic… Listen carefully. You saw the magic circle earlier, right?”
“Yes.”
“That magic circle is a key. It’s a catalyst that activates huge magic and a frame that protects this ruin when the magic is activated.”
“Huge magic?”
“The reason I ran around the ruins earlier was to confirm the layout of the place. This is what I found.”
Jamie tapped the floor sharply.
It was the magic circle she had drawn earlier.
“This ruin looks like a ruin, but it’s actually a massive magic circle.”
“The entire ruin is a magic circle?”
“Yes. A massive summoning magic.”
“Then what on earth did it summon? A monster? Or…”
Jamie’s expression stiffened at my question.
“I had an answer come to mind, but no matter how much I think about it, it can’t be right. It just can’t be. No matter what, a human can’t…”
What did it summon to provoke such a reaction from the usually confident Jamie?
Was it a dragon?
That thought sent a sharp chill through my mind, like a blade piercing my brain.
“No way…”
“You get it?”
“The Demon King’s Castle!”
“What?”
“Are you insane?!”
The mercenaries around me were horrified, but Jamie nodded as if confirming my answer.
“Damn it, aren’t you crazy?!”
I couldn’t help but curse roughly.
A cruel being who plunged the entire world into war and aimed to annihilate all humanity was summoned by humans?
It wasn’t a natural disaster?
“I don’t know who did this, but… they’re madmen.”
Jamie finished, but I knew.
The Empire, and Albatron.
Albatron, what exactly did you do 100 years ago?
“Besides, the magic circle in that cavern is still active.”
Jamie beckoned us to follow and led the way.
When we returned to the cavern, blue light was seeping from the magic circle.
It seemed Jamie had activated the magic circle while I was away.
As she said, the magic circle was absorbing the mana produced by the entire ruin and rotating it in a peculiar way.
“Do you think it’ll summon something like the Demon King’s Castle again?”
“No, there’s no longer enough energy in the magic circle for that. But I think it’s definitely helping maintain that strange building above.”
Listening to Jamie’s explanation, I slowly approached the magic circle.
“So what if we destroy this magic circle?”
“That’s not something I can do alone. It has defensive and restoration magic circles cast on it. Mom… no, an even stronger mage would have to come. At least an 8-circle.”
At least 8 circles.
So as Jamie said, there’s nothing we can do right now.
“Let’s head out and discuss this with the Duke.”
We left the ruins behind, the ominously glowing magic circle fading into the darkness.