Magician in Type-Moon

Page 540

Whether they were fantastical creatures that had undergone mysterious modifications, or evolutionary products born independently from this underground world, none of the three could determine.

It is certain that—

These creatures will not appear in cities on the ground.

This is the "daily routine" of Albion, the tomb.

Matouchi's gaze shifted, as if silently noting down all the unusual phenomena he observed.

Yvette gently bit her fingertip, as if she wanted to ask a question, but ultimately chose to remain silent.

Furu, who was walking at the very front, did not hesitate at all.

"...Is this what a city is like?" Yvette finally couldn't help but ask, her gaze following the shelled behemoth slowly moving down the street. "Those creatures are just a given here?"

“It depends on the zone,” Furu replied casually, his eyes still scanning warily. “If we enter the central zone, even with some disguise, you and Lord Ike will most likely attract attention. But in this outer area, we can barely get away with it.”

They were currently passing through an open-air market beside the main road. The stalls were simple but neatly arranged, and amidst the flow of humans and strange beasts, they appeared both crowded and incongruously vibrant.

The air was filled with countless smells—

It has the smell of overcooked oil, the pungent aroma of pepper and some unknown spice, and a sweet scent that resembles a mixture of fruit peel and moss.

The scent of damp fur and earth emanating from several giant beasts that had just passed by mingled with the aromas of various foods in the market, making it difficult to distinguish whether it was foul or tempting.

Several stalls were filled with strangely shaped herbs and bones.

Some leaves still have dew-like sap remaining, which shines with a white glow under the light.

Those fruit pits and branches that look like they've been dried mostly have some kind of medicinal effect that's hard to imagine on the ground.

"…………!"

Suddenly, a commotion came from not far away, interrupting Yvette's observation.

It was a stall on the edge of the market, where several tall men seemed to be arguing. It was unclear who made the first move, but a surge of magical energy instantly exploded from the scene, and thin, spiderweb-like purple light streaked through the dust in the air, flashing and disappearing like lightning.

It could be an enhancement, or it could just be a low-level intimidation spell.

Regardless of the reason, the atmosphere instantly became more tense.

But—

No one panicked.

The vendors continued to hawk their wares, but passersby continued to walk by without even glancing at them.

That small-scale conflict seemed like nothing more than background noise in life.

"Don't look around," Furu whispered a warning, his voice low but carrying the seasoned experience of someone who had been through many battles. "New faces always attract attention. That burst of magical energy just now was probably your first lesson."

He paused, then clicked his tongue:

“From the very beginning, three pairs of eyes were watching us. One of them had already approached, probably waiting for its chance. The pickpockets here aren’t satisfied with a few coins. If you can get rid of them with money, you’re lucky. More often than not, they prefer… blood and organs.”

The tone was neither amused nor tense, but rather a calm to the point of being cold—like recounting some everyday custom or etiquette.

"A magician's blood is a form of hard currency anywhere."

Matou Ike replied with a half-smile, as if he were only interested in the market prices, "But even internal organs can be sold, is it for medicinal purposes, or some other... use?"

“Because this place is both rich and barren.” Furu shrugged, as if quoting a proverb that circulates underground.

Just then, Yvette suddenly stared at a house on the side of the street, pointed at it, and asked:

"The houses in that area... look like they're made of piled-up mud. Could it be...?"

"Oh? You noticed?" Furu raised an eyebrow, as if praising some kind of commendable intuition. "As expected of a girl with a high sensitivity to spells. Well then, let me show you a simple and clear example."

As he spoke, he reached out and lightly touched the nearest wall, closing one eye. His fingertips slid slightly, as if checking the temperature of the skin.

Immediately afterwards, he raised his fist and banged it twice.

Without warning, the hand suddenly flipped over, reached to the waist, and pulled out a divination knife from the leather sheath on the belt.

A flash of cold light, and the blade pierced straight into the wall.

"Whoosh—"

The blade pierced cleanly, as if cutting through a taut membrane.

However, what was truly shocking was not Furu's actions, but what happened next:

After the knife was pulled out, the crack seemed to have never existed. At a speed visible to the naked eye, tiny wriggling movements surged inside the gap, and it quickly returned to its original smooth appearance, without even a trace of dust remaining.

"Huh...!" Yvette gasped.

"Pretty impressive, right?" Furu shrugged casually, as if introducing an old household item.

"Like the so-called 'visual flesh' in Chinese mythology, as long as the damage is not devastating, the injured parts will automatically repair themselves. In a sense, this is a kind of 'immortal' structure."

Yvette was speechless, as if trying to reassemble the worldview before her back into her own cognitive system.

"Of course, this is only the surface." Furu added, as if afraid she would misunderstand.

"This is Albion, the Tomb of the Dead—our current location is equivalent to the tail area of ​​the deceased dragon. Even the outermost layer, basic units like clods of earth, have been mixed with the attributes and essence of the ancient dragon's remains, resulting in their alteration."

As he spoke, he gently patted the wall, as if communicating with a sleeping behemoth.

“The buildings are not constructed from inanimate objects, but from ‘growing’ materials. Magic is used to set their form and limitations, allowing them to grow steadily. This is especially common in this area.”

"........."

Yvette's shock was undisguised. It wasn't that she didn't understand magic; on the contrary, it was precisely because she understood it so deeply that she found this almost heretical logic even more unacceptable.

“Magic…shouldn’t be so common,” she murmured. “It’s not suited for mass production; it must be developed within extremely precise circuits and theories—”

“That’s the theory on the ground,” Matou Ike continued, her tone calm but patient. “In this enclosed space, the situation is completely different.”

He glanced at the "living" wall, as if checking the boundary conditions of some formula:

“There are no physical restrictions on construction here. Materials, craftsmanship, and energy are the three major elements on the surface, but in the Spirit Tomb Albion… Mana is in excess and has become the only raw material.”

"You mean, even the buildings are 'fed' and then allowed to grow on their own?" Yvette barely understood, but she still couldn't believe it.

“That’s right.” Furu chuckled.

“As long as we understand the ‘physiological response’ of these soil blocks and then regulate it, we can build a house like planting a tree. Although this method sacrifices a lot in terms of strength, it is obviously unrealistic to transport steel bars and cement from the ground.”

“Magic doesn’t have to be on a scale like that of the mythological era, involving the orbit of the celestial sphere, to be meaningful,” Matou Ike said again.

"As long as there is enough mana, plus a sufficient number of practitioners, even a structure that could only be maintained for a few minutes can be normalized and scaled up."

"...In other words, the instability was compensated for by 'human resources' and 'density'," Yvette slowly stated her conclusion.

“Very clever.” Furu nodded. “After all, you’re here to do serious business. You can’t get away with just being surprised.”

As he spoke, he put the knife back into the leather sheath at his waist, as if he had just pierced not a wall, but a piece of insignificant cloth.

But all three of them knew the truth.

What I'm standing on right now isn't the desolate ruins of a city, but rather—a corpse that's still slowly writhing.

Chapter 590 Let's See It (4k)

"In any case, the economic sphere of each region is ultimately built on the great labyrinth of Albion—that is, on the corpse of that nameless dead dragon."

Furu spoke slowly, his tone devoid of emotion, as if stating a bloody but unavoidable common sense.

“This city doesn’t rely on trade or creation.” He paused, then looked up at the winding, skeletal passageway in the distance.

"Instead, they gnawed at body parts, tore apart scales, emptied bone cavities, and scavenged bodily fluids. Maggots and germs became their food, and even shed hair and dead skin were reused."

"oops……"

Yvette gave a subtle smile after hearing this. "It sounds...to my liking."

"Your reaction is the hardest to accept." Furu glanced at her, a bitter smile tinged with complexity.

“So,” Matou Ike interjected at the opportune moment, “where does Mr. Furyu plan to go before officially infiltrating Albion?”

Upon hearing this, the burly man's brows furrowed noticeably, as if he had been gently pricked by an invisible thorn.

Then──

"Go to my teacher's place."

His tone was calm, yet it was like a nail, unexpectedly driven into the air.

Furi, the magician known as the "Master Killer," announced his first destination.

Yvette glanced up at him, as if trying to gauge his expression as he spoke. Unfortunately, Fru simply turned away silently and led the way into the sparsely populated neighborhood.

Their destination was located on one of the city's outermost levels, a place where narrow alleyways and winding staircases were scattered like anthills, and damp air dripped from exposed pipes, just like the city itself breathing.

The three walked silently through the gradually cooling crowd, passing buildings that seemed abandoned yet still exuded a sense of habitation.

"But... I heard you're a teacher-killer."

Yvette finally couldn't resist, her tone tinged with curiosity.

"Shhh."

Furu didn't turn his head, but simply raised a finger and pressed it to his lips.

The movements were gentle, yet full of warning.

Immediately afterwards, he pointed downwards, his index finger and thumb firmly pinching together—pulling out the small knife that was always tucked into his belt, a magical tool used for divination, its cold light gleaming.

“Lead me.”

He chanted the incantation in an almost whispered tone, a short verse of One Count.

It was only five syllables, yet it seemed to strike a vulnerable spot in the surrounding space, causing the air to tighten suddenly.

He tossed the knife into the air. It traced a subtle arc and remained motionless in the void—as if held by some invisible force of gravity.

The next instant, the knife suddenly accelerated, as if responding to some command, and shot out into the air!

It didn't pierce the wall, but rather "penetrated" it directly.

There was no cracking sound, nor any dust flying—the blade disappeared behind the wall as if it had pierced through a thin membrane.

With a soft "click," the wall, which should have been solid, slowly blurred at the edges, peeling away like a piece of dehydrated paper.

Another passageway came into view.