Chapter 481: The Scene of the Ritual (1)
‘This is... unexpected.’
Oliver thought as he arrived at the lowest level of the abandoned mine, at the very end of the tunnel. According to the map of the mine's interior, this was supposed to be the final area, yet here, an unusual passage had been carved out, unmarked on any map.
It was a massive passage, seemingly dug by hand through solid rock. The sheer size of it indicated that movement through it would be effortless.
"How in the world...?"
Someone voiced their confusion. It was a natural reaction, considering that such a large passage had been secretly carved through the dense rock deep underground without the governor's knowledge.
‘Bubbling must have done this.’
Oliver speculated as he examined the dug-out parts of the rock. The twisted handprints suggested that the creature known as "Bubbling," a fleshy entity, had carved out the passage bit by bit. Given the creature's strength, this seemed plausible.
"It was probably dug by a creature. The one we faced earlier... If you look at these handprints, there’s no other explanation."
Ricky, the leader of the Pinkman team, pointed to the carved rock while resting a magical firearm on his shoulder. Although he wasn’t a warlock, his keen observation allowed him to see the truth at a glance. And that wasn’t all.
"The real question isn’t how this passage was dug, but rather, in which direction it leads."
A paladin responded.
"Direction?"
"Yes... This passage heads south, toward First Step."
Upon Ricky's words, the other Pinkman members and the paladin checked the map, compass, and markings within the mine to confirm if Ricky was correct. It turned out that he was right.
"It could be a coincidence, but personally, I don’t believe in coincidences when it comes to matters like these. This enormous, seemingly endless passage is leading straight to First Step."
Oliver silently nodded in agreement with Ricky’s assessment. There was indeed a reason why Ricky had become a team leader at such a young age.
However, there was no time for admiration. While Ricky’s insight was impressive, the situation was rapidly deteriorating.
The Red-Skinned Warlock and Pan were conducting a ritual, the water had turned crimson, and this massive, secret tunnel was leading toward the city, suggesting that the ritual was taking place directly beneath it.
The purpose could be to offer sacrifices for the ritual, summon a demon in the heart of the city, or perhaps both. In any case, the outcome would be a catastrophic disaster.
"Hmm... This is bad. If the tunnel stretches all the way to the city, the distance must be considerable."
Anselm said, clutching his wounded side. As he noted, the distance between the abandoned mine and First Step was indeed significant. Everyone here had arrived by vehicle.
Of course, it wasn’t an impossible distance to cover on foot, but time and stamina were the problems.
Even if they possessed superhuman physical capabilities, it was doubtful whether they could reach their destination in time, and even more uncertain if they could confront Pan and the Red-Skinned Warlock in their current state.
Most of all, the intense aura of black magic emanating from the darkness within the tunnel made them hesitant to enter recklessly.
Just as everyone was hesitating, Oliver raised his hand slightly.
"I think I can handle this. Could you let me try?"
All eyes turned toward Oliver.
"What do you have in mind?"
"It’s not certain, but..."
Although his answer was not particularly reassuring, Anselm gave him the go-ahead.
Options were limited, and more importantly, they had witnessed Oliver's skills.
Having received permission, Oliver tapped his quarterstaff on the ground as he advanced and then abruptly reached his hand into the tunnel.
As soon as his hand entered, the darkness inside the tunnel wrapped around it, as if trying to swallow him like paint.
He could faintly sense a pulling force. It was Pan’s shadow. It was quite impressive.
Despite having been slashed and stabbed six times by a blood-colored dagger infused with disease-enhancement-type black magic, the shadow still maintained this level of power. But even more remarkable was the shadow's sheer loyalty.
Although creatures were unstable and artificial beings, often behaving unpredictably or even attacking their own masters, Pan's shadow remained loyal to him despite his weakened condition.
This was something Oliver could sense indirectly through the darkness.
According to the books, there were only two possible explanations for such a case:
Either the master's power was overwhelmingly stronger than the creature's, making resistance impossible, or the creature was exceptionally well-trained.
Whatever the case, it spoke volumes about the warlock's skills.
Oliver found himself growing increasingly curious about Pan, the person orchestrating all of this, including the demon summoning ritual.
Who exactly was he to possess such skills, to successfully conduct an unstable demon summoning ritual, and why was he attempting to summon a demon? It was all very intriguing.
Driven by his curiosity, Oliver tightened his grip.
"Did he... just catch the darkness?"
One of the Pinkman members remarked in astonishment as he observed Oliver. Just as he said, Oliver had grasped the intangible darkness as though seizing a collar.
Furthermore, he exerted his will over it, imposing his control through the darkness influenced by the shadow, probing to locate the farthest point and marking it as a coordinate.
Pan’s shadow, which governed the darkness, tried desperately to resist, but Oliver ignored its efforts and, with a sudden yank, tore open a space within the darkness using his characteristic grip.
Riiip...
The darkness tore apart, creating a gap in the air, and from within the gap, a different kind of darkness, distinct from that in the tunnel, emerged.
Without hesitation, Oliver stepped into the newly opened darkness.
"...Everyone can come in now."
Oliver poked his head back out and called to the others, who quickly followed him inside.
...
“What is this place...?”
“It’s the innermost part of the tunnel.”
Oliver answered, creating a black luminary by mixing his mana and emotions. The black light paradoxically dispelled the darkness, illuminating the surrounding area.
However, the visibility was limited to about 10 meters. Beyond that, the view was obstructed by a shroud of darkness, which was so dense that even Oliver’s eyes, attuned with the use of souls, struggled to see through it.
“It’s pitch black everywhere. Where do we go?”
The Pinkman members, disoriented by the thick darkness, grumbled. A few of them took out compasses to determine the direction, but for some reason, all the compasses malfunctioned, spinning erratically like dogs chasing their tails.
And that wasn’t the only strange occurrence.
Something knocked on the inside of Oliver’s canteen.
Reacting with curiosity, Oliver opened the canteen, only for frogs to leap out.
Ribbit. Ribbit. Ribbit.
The sudden appearance of frogs from a sealed canteen startled the others, but Oliver merely watched them in silence.
‘The second sign. A plague of frogs.’
Oliver recalled the content from a demonic tome as he locked eyes with a frog that had climbed up and was now grasping the canteen's rim.
Dogs, cats, horses, even chimeras would tremble at the sight of Oliver, but this frog merely tilted its head and placed a foreleg on its chest as if bowing.
Snap!
The moment Oliver saw this, he swiftly closed the canteen, preventing the frog from escaping. It would be worth studying later.
“We need to hurry.”
Oliver said as he gathered his canteen, addressing the paladins.
The paladins seemed to understand the severity of the situation as well, and just as they were about to use holy magic to fully illuminate the area and find their bearings, a section of the surrounding darkness parted like a curtain, revealing a path.
At the end of the path, a faint light could be seen.
Though they couldn’t be sure what the light was, Oliver and his companions instinctively knew it was their destination and proceeded forward without a word.
“Oh, my God...”
One of them gasped in horror when they reached the light.
The sight before them was that ghastly and profane.
Hundreds of people appeared to be burning like firewood in a massive bonfire, while others, who seemed neither alive nor dead, danced in circles and beat drums around the fire.
Their movements were disturbingly mechanical and synchronized, almost as if they weren’t human at all.
In fact, that was exactly the case.
Above the heads of the dancers, blurry entities were gripping their hair and limbs, forcing them to move.
The Pinkman members and paladins couldn’t see these entities, but Oliver could faintly make them out.
Normally, he would have been curious about what they were, but there was something even more attention-grabbing in the center of the ritual.
It was the girl.
A red-skinned girl, with a gaunt face and limbs but a grotesquely swollen belly.
“Isn’t she beautiful?”
Amidst the nightmarish scene, a child’s voice was heard.
Oliver turned to see a boy with orange hair sitting on a large, ornate throne that didn’t seem to fit him, wearing a warbonnet.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
“Congratulations on making it this far. I thought you’d get here much later, but I’ll commend you.”
...
The boy clapped as he spoke, like an adult praising a child, or a haughty child praising an adult.
The sudden appearance of the boy caused a stir among the group, and Ricky, the leader of the Pinkman team, mumbled as he looked at the throne the boy was sitting on.
“That’s... the throne of the Fragan Kingdom?”
“Do you know something about it?”
“A small kingdom in the central continent that fell about forty years ago. When the kingdom collapsed, the throne vanished, and there were rumors it had been circulating on the black market...”
“Oh, as expected from Pinkman! Since your line of work is shady, you’re well-versed in shady things. I’ll clap for you again.”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The boy’s tone was overly arrogant as he clapped, almost to a ridiculous degree.
When he clapped, toy monkey dolls wielding cymbals emerged from the surrounding darkness, following Pan and clashing the cymbals together.
Chaaaang. Chachang. Chaaaang...
The cymbals, despite their size, weren’t particularly loud.
“Are you Pan?”
Anselm, the paladin, aimed his sword at the boy and asked.
“Yes, old man. I’m Pan. The Eternal Child, Pan. Also, the finger of the Black Hand, the ruler of Neverland, and most importantly, a prince. Bow to me if you wish.”
“Stop the ritual immediately.”
Ignoring Pan’s grandiose introduction, Anselm got straight to the point. Pan merely grumbled.
“That’s why I hate old people... They don’t listen, just say what they want, and even then, it’s unreasonable. Think with that old brain of yours. If I intended to stop, would I have gone through all this?”
It was a valid point. However, what he said next was harder to agree with.
“Instead of wasting time on useless talk, why not just watch the ritual? I’ll let you witness the demon’s summoning as a reward for coming this far. It’s a sight too beautiful to behold alone.”
Oliver looked over the massive bonfire, the dancing, and the emaciated girl in the center of the ritual again.
It was indeed a fascinating scene, but beautiful? That seemed debatable.
Well, value was relative, after all.
‘Did they use the Red-skinned as sacrifices?’
Oliver thought calmly. If they were planning to summon a demon, they should have anticipated this kind of risk.
Still, it was puzzling. Demon summoning wasn’t something that succeeded just by meeting certain conditions.
“Liam!”
Anselm suddenly called out to his comrade, prompting a red-haired paladin to draw his axe and charge toward the ritual.
The idea was to physically disrupt the ritual by destroying it with the axe. It wasn’t a bad approach, but Pan didn’t react at all. There was no need.
Shhhh...
As the holy-imbued axe aimed to disrupt the ritual, the air twisted, and black smoke emerged with a gust, stopping the axe in its tracks.
The paladin tried to resist using holy magic, but the smoke ignored his efforts, effortlessly deflecting him as if swatting away an annoying fly.
Everyone immediately realized that the ritual couldn’t be stopped by force.
The paladins quickly moved to attack Pan, but at that moment, the toy monkeys behind him screeched and clashed their cymbals loudly.
Chaaaang...
The resounding cymbals created an echo, and the paladins and Pinkman members simultaneously stopped and covered their ears.
Chaaaang...
When the second cymbal sounded, some lost their sense of balance and stumbled.
Chaaaang...
With the third cymbal, their bones, flesh, and veins vibrated, and just before the fourth cymbal was about to sound, Oliver manipulated the shadows to create a giant mouth and let out a monstrous roar.
He did so in perfect timing with the cymbals clashing.
...
Invisible sound waves reverberated through the air, canceling out the cymbal noise.
Seizing the opportunity, Oliver manipulated the shadows to engulf the toy monkey behind Pan with the giant shadow mouth.
“Heh... Why didn’t you attack me directly? Is it because you’re a fixer who doesn’t kill children?”
“No, not really. It was just a reflex... Besides, it wouldn’t have worked anyway.”
“Oh, you know?”
Pan replied with a tilted head as a massive gorilla emerged from within the torn shadow mouth, wearing a furious expression and a string of monkey heads around its neck, with eight arms attached.
The cymbal-wielding monkeys had merged into one.
“What, did you think you could take me down with a creature made on the spot?”
“No.”
Oliver responded, entirely unperturbed by Pan’s taunting.
Pan tilted his head in amusement. "Then what’s your plan? You don’t seem to have any grand strategies."
"I don’t need one," Oliver replied calmly. "I’m simply reacting to what’s in front of me."
Pan chuckled at Oliver’s response. "Is that so? Then come at me with everything you’ve got."
Without waiting for a reply, Pan raised his hand, and the gorilla-like creature, formed from the merged cymbal-wielding monkeys, charged at Oliver with incredible speed. Its eight massive arms swung with enough force to pulverize anyone in its path.
But Oliver remained calm.
With precise timing, he extended his quarterstaff, and the shadows at his feet coiled around the creature’s limbs, halting its movement. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the shadows constricted, pulling the creature's arms back as though yanking on reins.
“Grraaargh!”
The gorilla roared in frustration, its arms immobilized, as it struggled to break free. Yet, despite its immense strength, it couldn’t overpower Oliver’s mastery over the shadows.
Pan, watching from his throne, raised an eyebrow. "Not bad... but it’s not enough."
Suddenly, the gorilla’s body began to swell, its muscles expanding grotesquely, as it broke free from the shadow bindings with brute force. Its roar echoed through the chamber as it lunged at Oliver once again, its eight arms smashing down with unstoppable momentum.
At that moment, Oliver made his move.
He didn’t attempt to dodge. Instead, he raised his quarterstaff and, with a swift motion, directed the shadows to surge upward like a wave. The dark tendrils intercepted the gorilla mid-attack, enveloping its entire body.
With a swift motion, Oliver twisted his staff, and the shadows constricted again, this time slicing through the creature's limbs with precision.
The gorilla’s arms fell to the ground, severed cleanly by the sharp shadows.
Pan blinked in surprise. "Interesting... You really are something, aren’t you?"
The now armless gorilla staggered, its body dissolving into black mist. The creature had been completely neutralized, and the battle had shifted back to a tense standoff.
Oliver lowered his staff, his gaze never leaving Pan.
Pan, still seated on his oversized throne, clapped slowly. "You’re quite the fixer, I’ll give you that. But this is far from over."
Just as Pan finished speaking, the ground beneath Oliver began to tremble. Black tendrils of magic erupted from the earth, writhing and lashing out like serpents, threatening to entangle him.
Without missing a beat, Oliver raised his staff again, summoning his own shadows to meet the attack. The two forces clashed violently, sparks of dark energy flying as the tendrils tangled and fought for dominance.
But Oliver wasn’t just defending.
With a deft twist of his wrist, he redirected the flow of his shadows, weaving through the black magic and pushing it back toward Pan.
Pan smirked as he watched Oliver's counterattack. "You’re persistent, I’ll give you that... but you’re still playing by my rules."
Pan snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the tendrils of black magic doubled in size and intensity, overwhelming Oliver's defenses.
For a moment, it seemed as though Oliver would be engulfed entirely by the surge of dark energy.
But then, Oliver did something unexpected.
He let go of his quarterstaff, allowing it to fall to the ground. The shadows around him faltered, and Pan's black magic surged forward, ready to consume him.
Yet, just before the magic could strike, Oliver raised his hands and clapped them together.
A pulse of energy erupted from his body, and the surrounding shadows exploded outward, dispelling Pan's magic in an instant.
Pan’s eyes widened in disbelief as Oliver stood tall, unharmed and composed.
"Impossible..." Pan muttered. "You... You’re not just using shadows, are you?"
Oliver didn’t answer. Instead, he calmly reached down and picked up his quarterstaff, dusting it off as if nothing had happened.
Pan clenched his fists, his calm demeanor starting to crack. "You... What are you?"
Oliver looked up at him, his expression unreadable. "I’m just a fixer."
Before Pan could respond, the room suddenly darkened. The shadows that had been swirling around them began to recede, and a heavy silence filled the air.
Oliver straightened up, his eyes focused on Pan. "It’s time to end this."
Pan’s smirk returned, though it was now tinged with uncertainty. "End this? You think you’ve won?"
Without answering, Oliver raised his staff, and the darkness around him condensed into a single point.
Pan, sensing the shift in the atmosphere, leapt off his throne. "Wait—"
But it was too late.
With a swift motion, Oliver released the condensed shadows, sending a wave of dark energy crashing toward Pan.
Pan raised his arms in a futile attempt to defend himself, but the force of the attack was overwhelming. The wave struck him head-on, engulfing him in a torrent of shadows.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then, the shadows dissipated, revealing Pan lying on the ground, unconscious and defeated.
Oliver lowered his staff, letting out a slow breath. The battle was over.
He turned to the others, who had been watching the fight in stunned silence.
"It’s done," Oliver said simply.