Despite using luminous stones and torches to create the brightest environment possible, the underground remained dark, inevitably dimmer than the outside world.
And darkness is the perfect stage for a stealthy assassin like me.
I quietly crawled through the shadows.
「Using Stealth lv10.」
Concealing myself with stealth at its peak, I slowly crept forward.
The dwarves followed quietly behind me.
“Oops!”
Dunkel tripped over a rock and fell.
That stupid fool!
Manjin and Tral crouched down in surprise.
Fortunately, we weren’t discovered.
As slow as the dwarves’ movements were, there weren’t many with keen senses either.
The words Tral spit out when he returned with a pale face were shocking.
Blue Beard had apparently burned a dying patient alive.
Somehow, I felt that fire wasn’t ordinary.
I came out to confirm it.
Indeed, that barbaric act was taking place.
Crackle, pop
I couldn’t tell if they were really burned alive or not.
However, dwarves who were once alive and moving were now being cremated.
A vivid orange flame blazed.
It was clearly the magical fire of Hwama that the Chimera Snake had devoured.
I had taken the bucket and chains, so could they have had some fire stored in advance?
If patients were burned alive, there should have been resistance even if it was by order of the mine lord.
But no one was denouncing Blue Beard.
The dwarves gathered in front of the fire that was burning people and stared at it as if entranced.
‘It’s definitely a devil’s fire.’
“It’s bewitching the dwarves. Even my mind was made dizzy by this flame… I don’t like it.”
Pelerian frowned.
He wasn’t bewitched by the fire like the other dwarves.
However, he said that when he first saw the fire, he found it strangely beautiful.
Now, he curses it as ugly every time he sees it.
“The mind of a mage who has reached enlightenment is like steel, very strong.”
That’s self-praise.
Suddenly, I became curious about something.
‘Come to think of it, dwarves like Blue Beard seem quite strong too. Aren’t they being bewitched too easily?’
“That’s because the dwarf race itself is particularly susceptible to fire.”
If it were Pokémon, it would be like grass-type Pokémon being weak against fire-type.
It could be a difference in compatibility.
“More than that, I’ve felt this before, but you’re completely fine.”
‘My mental strength is quite robust.’
I tapped my head with my tail.
I never imagined I could say such things directly in my previous life.
I glanced at the dwarves.
I thought they must have been shocked too, but…
They were staring at the flames with blank expressions.
“Evil!”
No!
I jumped up and slapped their cheeks one by one.
They held their faces and lowered their heads.
‘Snap out of it!’
Good heavens.
We almost got bewitched just from seeing it from quite far away.
“Huff, it’s really dangerous fire.”
Dunkel took a deep breath.
Seeing this, I could understand why the dwarves were so easily bewitched.
Fortunately, it seems that if you see it from afar or for a short time, you quickly come back to your senses.
“If you completely lose your soul like that Blue Beard guy, then it’s too late.”
The dwarves surrounding the flames now.
They might completely sell their souls if time passes.
The orange flames that had swallowed the dying dwarves grew larger and larger.
Just looking at that, it’s clearly not an ordinary fire.
It’s as if it’s growing by devouring the flesh and souls of the dwarves.
Even after there was nothing left to burn, the flames continued to flicker without dying down.
Blue Beard, who was standing by the fire, gave some instructions to his subordinates.
Then, several dwarves moved the flames to a brazier.
Ah, that looks like Celestium too.
Was there more Celestium besides the hammer?
They took part of the flames back towards the direction of the deep level.
As I observed this series of events, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘It seems they’ve been hiding that flame from other dwarves until now. But now they’re moving quite openly?’
That’s right.
Even Rozena didn’t know that Blue Beard, who was her lover, was doing suspicious things.
But now Blue Beard has brought up that devil’s fire, and moreover, he’s burning patients alive.
In the process, he’s made numerous dwarves bewitched by the fire as a bonus.
“This is a typical demonic method. It can be said to be the third stage of how they collapse a community.”
Pelerian spoke as if it wasn’t strange at all.
The way a demon destroys a group.
A demon that has been sleeping for a long time is weak in power.
So, like digging a trap and waiting, it waits for someone to discover it.
Encountering the first prey hidden behind coincidence.
That’s the first stage.
Probably Blue Beard himself or one of the dwarves digging the ground would be that first encounter.
“The second stage is quietly growing that influence.”
They blocked access to the deep level and secretly threw dwarves into the fire pit to feed the fire.
Meanwhile, the dwarves working in the deep level would have slowly become bewitched.
They probably won’t come to their senses with just a few tail slaps.
“The third is the stage of coming to the forefront.”
And when they lost the Celestium bucket because of me, Blue Beard came out boldly.
He’s trying to bewitch even other dwarves by bringing out the flames.
Maybe the will of the fire is embedded in that action.
The continuing will of fire…!
‘What’s the fourth stage?’
“What else? Total annihilation. In the end, everyone goes into the demon’s stomach and gets massacred.”
I see.
So that’s how the Red Anvil Mine will perish.
“What should we do?”
“What else? We need to pour water and extinguish that fire.”
Tral grumbled at Dunkel’s worry.
He was angry at Blue Beard’s actions now, as much as he had respected him before.
I told them that even if we extinguished that flame, there was actually a lava lake in the deep level.
“Still, if we just put out that fire, quite a few of our comrades will come to their senses, right?”
That seemed to be correct.
In fact, Tral was a quite capable dwarf, treated as a big brother among the young dwarves.
Although it seemed like a spontaneous idea, the plan he added was quite plausible.
“We’ll form a special attack team with fast-footed guys like me, then pour water to extinguish the fire. After that, we’ll help other dwarves come to their senses, and then ambush and surprise attack the mine lord.”
Ambush and surprise attacks are always right.
If everything goes according to plan, that is.
‘Can you do it?’
“Don’t worry, if we squint our eyes and try not to look at the fire as much as possible, we should be able to manage.”
Tral rolled up his sleeves and showed off his muscles.
This has nothing to do with muscles, Tral.
‘Alright.’
But I decided to trust him this time.
Tral nodded with a determined expression.
I quietly stroked the Chimera Snake.
The Chimera Snake preferred to be out rather than in subspace.
So I ended up carrying around a flowerpot as if I were Léon’s Mathilda.
The Chimera Snake shook its leaves.
It must be hungry.
But you shouldn’t carelessly eat such dirty fire.
It’s true that the Chimera Snake ate the devil’s fire, but because of that, several of its vine hands were burnt black.
Come to think of it, the Seedling Chimera’s level has already reached 9.
I wonder if it can evolve too?
Will it evolve at level 10? Given its higher potential than expected, it might need to reach level 20 to evolve.
It would be a bit troublesome if it grows bigger than me.
For now, let’s look forward to Tral’s performance.
We hid and observed Blue Beard for several days.
