I Ended My Engagement With The Woman Who Despised Me

✦  Chapter 12 — Siren (3)  ✦

「Translator — Creator」

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

A Low-rank Sword Expert — the stage where a swordsman is officially acknowledged as a true force. At this level, not only can they wield their blade with supernatural precision, but they also possess the strength to cut down things that defy logic and reason.

According to Loraine, reaching this rank means more than just mastering combat. It’s a symbol of recognition, a sign that one has become a reliable and formidable warrior.

... In other words, once this level is attained, most threats cease to be significant problems.

"Ugh... urk. Kuh."

A protective spell must have activated before my hammer struck, as his head was severely damaged but not fatally so. I stepped on the fallen dark mage while surveying the surroundings.

'The security formation has activated.'

A magical formation that triggers when its master sustains critical damage or forcibly loses consciousness.

Though this was my first time seeing it, I knew what it was thanks to Loraine's detailed explanation.

"D-die. Di..."

"H-how dare? How, how dare?"

"Hu-human... e-eat. Hu-man."

It was magic that activated all protective measures accumulated by a mage or dark mage. I observed the monsters emerging from various directions, carrying human corpses in their grotesque forms.

They were crude amalgamations of humans and monsters; too twisted to be called human, yet too humanoid to be called monsters.

After observing them, I brought my hammer down on the dark mage's head once more before moving forward.

'At least ten enemies.'

That was just the visible count.

If the chimeras still locked in cages were released, the number could grow significantly.

Gripping the mace at my waist, I prepared for the battle ahead.

Unlike the one-handed hammer, a mace's length and weight were drastically different, requiring a different approach. While the hammer enabled light and quick strikes, the mace was a power-focused weapon that carried risks.

Though failure would leave me vulnerable... success would yield destructive power unattainable with a one-handed hammer.

I smashed the nearest chimera's head with the mace. This was literal—the moment a dull but loud sound rang out, the chimera's flesh and blue blood splattered everywhere, defiling the surroundings.

Thus, smashed was a more appropriate description than crushed as I turned my gaze.

"D-die... die."

"S-save me..."

Even these crudely assembled chimeras seemed to possess instincts.

Just as one chimera instantly died, the others revealed their fear by stepping backward.

As I was about to slowly advance and eliminate them all—

"Grrrr."

A monster in a large cage nearby let out a deep breath, threatening me by striking the bars forcefully with its foreleg.

KWANG, KWAANG, KWANG!

Perhaps due to being in the sewers, the vibrations from its strikes traveled up through my feet. Judging that the purification facility might collapse at this rate, I decided to eliminate it first.

'Should I break the cage and charge in? Or choose another method?'

Just as I was thinking I needed to decide quickly due to limited time, the sun spirit perched on my shoulder absorbed all the surrounding mana and began pouring immense flames into the massive cage.

Pure flames that melted everything.

While ordinary flames would struggle to melt even the cage, let alone the monster, the sun spirit's flames operated on a different level, quickly reducing everything to nothing.

Not even acrid smoke remained — everything simply vanished.

Looking at the great cage and chimera that had disappeared without leaving even a trace of their existence, I awkwardly smiled and patted the spirit.

"... Well done."

"Myung!"

While I had only been receiving help with creating warmth until now, the sun spirit was actually a powerful being — described in the original work as rivaling the ancient dragons called the strongest.

Though I didn't know how such a being ended up trapped in the northern glacier, what mattered was that this spirit was now completely helping me.

Feeling satisfied, I nodded to myself and surveyed my surroundings.

The laboratory bore signs of prolonged use. The equipment and structures were worn, evidence that experiments had been conducted here for a long time.

If this has been going on for so long, there could be more…

Deciding it would be safer to bring Loraine inside for backup, I headed toward the entrance.

But what I saw as I arrived stopped me in my tracks.

A literal mountain of chimera corpses, their grotesque forms piled high, greeted me. There had to be over a hundred of them.

At the center of it all stood Loraine, her expression calm and composed as she cleaned the blue blood off her sword.

Loraine spotted me and gave a small smile, waving her hand.

"Ah, young master. I've been waiting."

She slowly approached me while surveying the surroundings.

“Not long after you went inside, the enemies started swarming this area. Judging by their strength—or lack thereof—they seemed more like ‘tails.’”

“Tails?” I echoed, curious about her meaning.

Loraine tilted her head, searching for the right words.

"Hmm, how should I explain this... You know how lizards cut off their tails and escape when they sense danger? Similarly, dark mages create disposable pawns they can abandon at any time. Considering that, I suspect this place was designed to be expendable."

Her explanation triggered a realization in my mind.

What if this place is more than just a disposable outpost?

And a new theory began to form; this sewer wasn’t just a base — it was a layered trap.

To be more specific, since ordinary people rarely investigate thoroughly before entering, they would be drawn in. Meanwhile, those who came to 'investigate' would be warned off by the obvious signs of a trap.

'And when those who lingered to investigate finally left...'

They had apparently planned to seal off this place and flee.

However, due to my immediate charge in without hesitation, they missed their chance to escape.

'So that self-proclaimed friend tried to separate Loraine and me to somehow survive and escape, but...'

All his plans were thwarted when I brought my hammer down on his head; this also meant there was a high probability of finding useful information still inside, so I decided to explore further.

"Loraine, we'll search deeper into the sewers. Follow me."

"Yes."

After wiping all the blood from her sword, Loraine approached me with a question.

“By the way, young master, how did the fight go? Were you handling things comfortably?”

The way she phrased it — directly referencing the battle — made it clear that she had been keeping an eye on my condition.

As I recalled the considerable distance between where I fought and here, once again reminded that Loraine was a monster herself.

While I was still processing her question, we came across something peculiar – a staircase leading downward.

The air around it carried an eerie stillness.

"Hmm, this is too obvious. Considering dark mages' nature, this is likely a trap... The real passage is probably hidden elsewhere."

Nevertheless, in case this was the genuine path...

When I threw the dark mage's body down the stairs, the sound of flesh bursting echoed from below.

"It is a trap."

"Yes. Given that dark mages live in the shadows by nature, they would never create such an obvious entrance. This staircase is likely false."

So where should we go?

As I surveyed the surroundings, the sun spirit on my shoulder suddenly perked up.

“Myung! Myung!”

It began barking — or something close to it — at a section of the wall. Its behavior made it clear; something was hidden there.

Smiling faintly, I gave the spirit an affectionate pat on the head. “Good work.”

Raising the mace, I wasted no time. With a single swing, the heavy weapon slammed into the wall.

CRACK—!

The sound was sharp, like shattering glass. A moment later, the illusion dissolved, revealing a hidden entrance behind the wall.

I exchanged a glance with Loraine, and we both understood immediately; this was what the dark mage had been trying to protect.

Without hesitation, I stepped inside.

𓇗

Walking down the filthy corridor strewn with bloodstains.

Below, the lower parts of the walls bore countless scratch marks, as though victims had desperately clawed at them in a futile attempt to escape; it didn’t take much imagination to piece together what had happened here — the dark mage had dragged their living sacrifices down this path.

Following this revolting path that couldn't even charitably be called acceptable, what came into view was an enormous mass of flesh built from piled human and monster corpses.

'... Just how long have they been creating this?'

It was beyond bizarre—it was nauseating.

As I frowned at the sight of their flesh pile being preserved by what might be black  magic, a weak rustling sound came from within an iron cage.

"Young master."

If the usually composed Loraine was drawing her sword in caution, something truly dangerous must exist here. I nodded to her, mapped out an escape route, and headed toward the sound.

"............"

A faint breathing sound, almost like crying, echoed across the blood-soaked walls. Following this eerily chilling sound deeper inside, we found a pale, delicate girl bound in shackles.

The girl stared vacantly into space like a marionette, her face devoid of all hope as if she had abandoned everything; this alone was disturbing enough, but realizing she was connected to the massive flesh pile by the shackles made it even more unsettling.

'... I've seen this somewhere before.'

I narrowed my eyes in thought, feeling I might remember if I pondered a bit more, but nothing connected.

Unable to understand why, I placed the sun spirit on my palm and approached her.

A strange sense of déjà vu flashed through my mind.

[I recently discovered quite an interesting research topic. It's about converting human negative emotions into curses, and it's quite fascinating.]

Negative emotions... and curses.

The moment these words surfaced in my mind, I felt my blood run cold as I realized her identity.

...The worst curse of all, born from the despair of thousands.

The Archmage Siren.

END of CHAPTER

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