“Exactly, it’s you, Detective.”
“But...”
“One minute and forty seconds left,” the Doctor reminded him.
Shad pursed his lips and asked rapidly
“Are you sure that after I pull out that sword, you’ll still be able to handle that Balrog? I have no desire to release another Balrog into the Sicar Mountains just for the sake of a relic. God only knows how many problems Midhill Castle at the foot of the mountain is facing right now; we don't need demons adding to the 'interest' of the story.”
“Rest assured, the damage that sword deals to demons is beyond my imagination. Although I haven't identified the sword's origin yet, I can be certain that a Balrog sealed for several hundred years is absolutely in a weakened state.”
Despite having been forced to flee by the sword moments ago, the Doctor still appeared confident.
“A bit over a minute left, then fine. I’ll pull the sword, you take care of swallowing the Balrog, and then we jump into the portal immediately.”
“No problem.”
Thus, Shad cautiously approached. Because Shad himself possessed no demonic power, the longsword remained unresponsive until he reached out his hand before the sparking bonfire.
“Doctor, I’m doing it!”
Shad shouted, then quickly gripped the hilt and pulled upward with force, but the sword didn't budge an inch.
“I can't seem to pull it out!”
“Put on the Demon Hunter's Seal!” the Doctor reminded him. Judging by the sound, he was slowly drawing closer.
Shad slid the seal ring onto the finger of his right hand, stood with his legs slightly apart before the bonfire, and gripped the warm hilt with both hands. Perhaps because he was wearing the ring, blurred images flashed rapidly before his eyes.
He saw the scene of the rope bridge before it had broken; he saw a human Ring-caster holding a longsword within the mountain's belly, which was glowing red from the flames of the Balrog, facing the massive evil spirit demon head-on.
Simply seeing the true form of the Pyromaniac, Socphis, in these blurred images made Shad feel as if his skin were being scorched. The ancient evil spirits were indeed no joke.
*Are these memories left behind by the sword's previous owner? He wanted to tell successors what was sealed here. Unfortunately, I still have to pull the sword,* he thought.
He took a deep breath and shifted his center of gravity downward. He exerted force with both hands, his shoulders driving his arms, his arms driving his wrists, and his wrists driving his palms, increasing the pressure bit by bit. It was incredibly heavy—heavier than anything Shad had ever attempted to lift. But as he held his breath and heaved the sword upward, he clearly felt it move.
More blurred images flashed before him, overlapping with the great cavern of the mountain belly. Only, back then, the place was very bright, and the broken bridge was still intact.
A beautiful woman in a fire-red gown—Shad was almost certain she was a Witch—stood by the bridge, gazing at the scene
“I am the Thirteenth-Tier Witch, Ruler of Wilton, Violet Marshall. This sword was discovered in the mountains, a legacy of a hero of the past. It is the key to solving the problem of the Interstice in the future. I leave it here for successors to use, but it must be returned promptly when problems arise in the Interstice.”
The language of the Fifth Epoch entered his ears, and the image vanished. This seemed to be a message from the Witch Empress of the Fifth Epoch, which also meant that the sword in his hand had other uses and that Shad could not possess it permanently.
“But could the passage on the mountainside of the Interstice be right here?”
Before Shad could figure it out, as the blade gradually rose from the bonfire ashes, more and more sparks rapidly appeared within the previously sparse fire, linking together into flames that licked at the hems of Shad's trousers.
The temperature here grew higher and higher, though Shad wasn't sure if this was an illusion born of his own anxiety.
He only knew that his face was flushed red, and he didn't dare exhale the breath he was holding; otherwise, the sword, which felt as if it were wrestling with him, would undoubtedly drop instantly.
The sound of a bell abruptly rang out in the cavern. It was the ritual Shad had set up in advance—ineffective against Doctor Schneider but effective against other demons—taking effect. This meant that the Balrog, sealed centuries ago by a high-ring caster with a relic-grade longsword, was about to fully break free from its seal.
“Doctor, hurry, forty seconds left!”
As he spoke, another series of images flashed before his eyes. These images were more chaotic—scenes of the sword's previous wielders slaying enemies. He even saw the old man he had met at the party; that man had also once held this sword. However, as an ordinary person, he likely hadn't utilized much of the sword's power.
“Detective, while I may not be some ancient hero, today, let me demonstrate how to kill a Balrog in thirty seconds! Get back!”
“Got it!”
The sword, forced out by Shad's brute strength, was only a fingernail's width away from completely leaving the ashes that had begun to reignite. The bonfire, which was about to fully ignite Shad's clothes, became increasingly ferocious.
Holding his breath, he used the last of his strength to pull the longsword completely out. Bizarrely, the moment the blade fully cleared the ashes of the bonfire, the sword's weight suddenly returned to a normal level, causing Shad—unable to retract his force in time—to tumble backward.
But as he fell back, Shad's figure vanished from before the bonfire, leaving the obsidian-like giant hand, burning with flames and rolling with magma, to grasp at empty air.
“Doctor, it's your turn. 36 seconds left,” shouted Shad, who had retreated to the entrance of the passage using [Ragley's Leap]. The blade of the sword in his hand no longer glowed, but the runes meaning *“My heart is clear, the sword slays demons”* still emitted a bright yellow light in the dim firelight.
Before the Doctor could give any response, the thick arm that had tried to grab Shad retracted into the reignited ashes. In the blink of an eye, the entire bonfire transformed into a ferocious torrent of fire, leaping from the broken bridge at the edge of the stone platform and finally landing on the platform in the center of the great cavern.
“ROAR—”
The staggering roar made Shad feel as if the ground itself were shaking. Simultaneously, fierce flames splashed in all directions, painting the entire mountain cavern fire-red.
Amidst the roar, the flames on the central platform gradually took shape. A humanoid creature with two arms, approximately 20 feet (6.1m) tall, slowly emerged from the fire. Shad's ears immediately began to ring, and the temperature of his entire body rose. An ancient evil spirit had truly appeared before his eyes.
“Doctor, 29 seconds. Can you handle it?”
“No problem. This thing's original height exceeded 100 feet; it's currently so weak it can barely maintain its form.”
The demon, whose features were obscured by flames, swung its right arm amidst the terrifying roar. A brilliant whip of fire lashed through the air, leaving trails of flame that illuminated the surroundings. With a sonic boom, the fire whip struck Doctor Schneider, who had arrived at the edge of the broken bridge where the bonfire had been.
Shad could not see the Doctor's expression from behind; he could only see the Doctor's height seemingly surge upward. A right arm that had become thick and heavy at some unknown point reached forward and actually gripped the end of the fire whip.
Sparks flew everywhere, some even splashing in front of Shad. The light and heat waves made it nearly impossible for him to keep his eyes open, and the roaring from the distant platform was even more terrifying.
Facing the ancient evil spirit, the Doctor merely wrapped the fire whip around his own arm, his voice incredibly calm
“Detective, in the winter of 1850, I devoured an evil spirit known for its strength—the Brain-Eater, Baingulens.”
Wrestling with a demon using a human body, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the stone platform beneath his feet, but the Doctor remained motionless.
“Then, in the late summer of 1853, I devoured the Human Pus.”
The brilliant torrent of fire flowed along the fire whip and surged into the Doctor's right hand. The Doctor seemed to expand by another size, and streams of flame wrapped around his body, making him look incredibly supernatural at this moment.
“And finally, in the early spring of 1847, while attending an academic conference in Carsonrick, I encountered the Terror-Insect, Joulwent, in the city of Nimnes.”
Invisible currents of air swept outward from the Doctor. Within the Balrog's angry roar, a hint of fear actually emerged.
A longsword molded from fire appeared in its left hand. The length of the sword alone exceeded the Doctor's current height. The demon threw the sword, hurling it at the Doctor who was absorbing its power.
Seeing this, Shad swung a brilliant arc of light toward the longsword. The flight speed of the Silver Moon Slash was far faster than that of the fire sword, and the two collided in front of the Doctor. As fragments of the silver moon and sparks of fire splashed in all directions, the two nearly annihilated each other. However, while the silver moon fragments scattered, the sparks of fire all surged into the Doctor's body.
The ability to repel this strike, of course, did not mean that Shad's strength was enough to clash with a Balrog; rather, it was because the evil spirit demon, already weakened by years of sealing, was now nearly sucked dry by the Doctor. That a peak Fifth-Ring Doctor could confront a Balrog head-on was not only due to the elemental advantage but also because the opponent was truly frail.
In just a few short seconds, due to the Doctor's absorption, the flames on the Balrog's body dimmed to the point of nearly extinguishing. Simultaneously, its size continued to shrink, and its roaring voice finally echoed through the great cavern in unwilling frustration.
(End of Chapter)