Three days passed.
“Boss, we got some great manastones thanks to you,” a prisoner said.
“Boss, we got a ton of food. Help yourself!” another added.
“Um, I’m not your boss,” Zenos protested, bewildered, surrounded by prisoners.
The White Tiger let out a loud, cheerful laugh. “You squeezed out a win against me and turned the whole place around in a few days. No one’s gonna argue you’re the real boss now.”
“Ehh...”
Zenos had healed the prisoners, whose backs and legs had been ravaged by years spent underground. Not only that, but also he’d wiped out the undead lurking in the tunnels. Manastone mining efficiency had soared, and the once-hardened expressions of the prisoners had noticeably eased as they sat together in circles to eat.
“Hey, Zenos, look at what you did,” Aston grumbled as he sat next to the healer. “Whole place’s gone soft. Some people want to stay here forever.”
“That’s not ideal...”
Just then, a strange sound echoed through the mine. The whole tunnel system vibrated subtly, and small fragments of stone began to fall from above.
“What was that?” Zenos asked, bringing a hand to his head.
The White Tiger slowly pushed himself to his feet and replied, “The magic circle’s activated. We have a new arrival.”
“Really?”
Though the people here were used to new arrivals, it was nevertheless rare for prisoners to be sent down in such quick succession. The White Tiger ordered everyone to stay put, then proceeded through the tunnels with Zenos and Aston.
“Some people have been ambushing newcomers these days,” the beastman explained. “Ganging up on them, wrestling them into submission, and making them into slaves.”
“Yeah, they tried to do that to me,” Zenos commented.
“They did? Sorry about that. I haven’t been able to do much lately, so I couldn’t stop it from happening.”
The gentle tremors continued as the group wound their way through the branching pathways until they finally reached a familiar space. A massive magic circle was etched on the ground within a wide chamber, its lines glowing with a rising, pulsating blue light. The glow gradually intensified, rotating and converging at the center of the circle. A blinding light then enveloped their surroundings, and a silhouette appeared just above the circle—likely the newly sent prisoner.
Small and slender, with blonde hair tied in pigtails and pointed ears, the newcomer was clearly an elf.
“Wait,” Zenos said, shocked. “Lily?!”
The small figure dashed toward him and threw her arms around his chest. “Zenos! I’m here to get you!”
“Wh-Why are you in an underground prison?!”
Lily chuckled smugly. “Not just me!”
She raised her right arm, and a translucent woman slid out of the silver bracelet she wore.
“Carmilla, you’re here too?”
“Hee hee hee... I go where I please.”
The floating woman’s lips curled into a smirk before her expression turned uncharacteristically serious.
“Zenos, the resurrection of the king of fell dragons is nigh. We must leave this place as soon as possible.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Roughly a hundred kilometers north of the rocky region at the southern edge of the kingdom—where the mine was located—was the radiant capital of the Kingdom of Herzeth. On its eastern side was a heavily guarded area known as the Sacred Garden.
At a glance, it appeared to be little more than a small hill housing a lone shrine—though mysteriously, the place was filled with lush greenery year-round. It was said to be holy ground, where the nation’s first-ever king had received divine revelation from the heavens. Only the royal family was permitted to enter.
And now, deep beneath the Sacred Garden, the earth shook with a rumble. The guards, however, couldn’t pinpoint its origin. The whooshing of wind—or, perhaps, the rumbling of thunder high in the sky—echoed in the distance.
From the depths of the earth rose a guttural groan.
“At last. At long last, the demon lord’s curse has lifted.”