Staring at the huge hole smashed through by the stone pillar, Hulim slowly flew down.

  When she reached the bottommost level.

  "No one?"

  Before her lay only a pile of gravel from the dissipated magic and a massive crater—but Morgar was nowhere to be seen inside it.

  Hulim checked carefully and soon spotted a trail of blood on the ground.

  Droplets of blood dotted the floor, stretching in a certain direction.

  "Escaping? Or could it be......"

  Either way, Hulim couldn’t let Morgar get away. She immediately chased after the blood trail.

  ......

  "Hah! Hah! Hah...... Hey, Arthur, can you still fight?"

  Miko panted heavily, her weapon stained with blood and even slightly damaged.

  "Y-Yeah......"

  Arthur, standing back-to-back with Miko behind her, replied equally exhausted.

  Around them, many men lay scattered all around—but even more still stood, their eyes blazing with almost explosive anger.

  "Say...... That non-stop earthquake from earlier seems to have stopped."

  "Isn’t that a good thing? At least we don’t have to worry about this underground place collapsing."

  The armed men, who had paused their attack at the sudden stop of the tremors, grew even angrier when they saw the two chatting casually.

  "Bastards! These two bastards!""They took down so many of us and still have the nerve to talk!""We’re definitely killing them today!""Charge! Don’t give them a chance to catch their breath—finish them off!"

  A large group of armed men charged forward again.

  "Hey, Arthur, let’s go!""Aaaaah——! Come at me! Flame Sword——!!!"

  The chaotic battle, which had paused briefly, resumed once more.

  ......

  In a hidden room on the bottommost floor of the underground structure.

  Morgar, covered in wounds, limped into the space.

  "Bastard! Bastard! That damned fool dared to humiliate me like this!"

  Boom!

  In the empty hidden room, Morgar pressed a certain stone brick. The ground rumbled, and a passage opened up—revealing a dark, winding path leading downward......

  The spot where Morgar had been hit by the stone pillar was indeed the bottommost floor of the known underground structure, but it was not the deepest point.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Although various organizations had operated here over the years, almost no one knew that another space lay hidden beneath the bottom floor. Even fewer knew that the original purpose of building this underground structure was to create the hidden space below—the rest was merely a smokescreen.

  Thus, even though many officials were aware of the underground structure’s existence, they deemed it harmless and took no action......

  Hum! Hum! Hum......

  Morgar leaned against the wall, continuing down the passage. Magic lamps along the walls sensed his presence and lit up with faint glows.

  "Almost there...... Just you wait. I’ll show you what true power is!"

  ......

  "It ends here......"

  Hulim, who had tracked the blood trail all the way, found that the blood stopped in front of a wall.

  "No— it’s not ending. It’s on the other side."

  Hulim raised her wand and aimed at the wall.

  Boom——!

  In the next moment, the wall in front of her shattered, revealing a hidden room.

  Hulim stepped inside, but the room was empty.

  ......Or not entirely empty—for there were still traces of blood on the ground.

  Following the blood, Hulim approached the hidden passage.

  "Not an escape route— but downward?"

  Staring at the hidden passage, an ominous premonition crept into Hulim’s heart.

  Boom——!

  The stone slab covering the passage entrance was blown open.

  Before the rising dust could obscure the view, Hulim dodged and rushed directly into the passage.

  ......

  Downward, continuously downward.

  The winding passage seemed endless.

  When the light ahead suddenly brightened, Hulim finally reached the end.

  It was an extremely spacious space—empty except for a massive magic circle carved into the ground. The circle’s patterns were incredibly complex, emitting an ominous red glow.

  "Yo~! You really chased me here!"

  In the center of the magic circle stood Morgar, a mad smile on his face.

  "But you’re too late~! The Sacrifice Ritual is already complete——!"

  Sacrifice Ritual......

  Those four words only brought bad thoughts to mind. Moreover——

  She hadn’t noticed it when she first arrived, but now Hulim detected a thick stench of blood lingering in the air. It was unimaginable how many innocent lives would be needed to produce such a strong smell.

  "Count yourself lucky! Just before you burst in, I finished preparing the ritual. I originally planned to wait a year or two before using it, but now I’ll test its power on you first!"

  Just finished? That explained why he’d taken so long to appear during her earlier rampage—he’d been here the entire time.

  "Could it be...... you used the Manacos students for the sacrifice!"

  Recalling Morgar’s constant talk of "sacrifices," it was hard not to imagine the fate of the Manacos students.

  Could Miko also be......

  No, it couldn’t be that fast. Otherwise, there would have been no need for the prison cells.

  "Huh~?"

  Morgar waved his hand maniacally.

  "That’s impossible?! Premium sacrifices like you are meant for far more important things. This one was completed with nothing but cheap goods!"

  "Is that so? Anode Ray——!!!"

  Hulim suddenly pointed her wand at Morgar and launched a surprise attack.

  A dazzling white light beam blazed forth instantly, but a dark red barrier suddenly appeared above the magic circle—successfully blocking the beam.

  Morgar burst into laughter.

  "Hahaha! Didn’t you wonder why I dared to stand here talking to you like this?"

  "......"

  Hulim didn’t reply—she simply raised her wand again.

  "It’s useless! Do you have any idea how much effort went into this magic circle? You can’t break it with your strength!"

  The dazzling light beam struck the dark red barrier once more, but as Morgar had said, the barrier only trembled slightly—far from being broken.

  "Hehe! But if you think I’m just hiding inside, you’re sorely mistaken!"

  Morgar tore off the sleeve of his right arm, revealing the demon tattoo beneath.

  "Let me show you the true power of this Demonization Array——!!!"

  He clenched his right hand into a blade and stabbed fiercely toward his own heart.

  As blood gushed from his chest and dripped onto the ground, Morgar’s entire body was instantly engulfed in a surge of red light. The demon tattoo on his right arm began to emit black light, writhing and spreading dark lines that snaked up his arm toward his entire body.

  Crack! Crack!

  Two crisp sounds rang out—the magic tools on his hands shattered into pieces.

  Thump! Thump! Thump......

  A rapid, heavy heartbeat echoed throughout the entire underground space.

  "Demonization...... I see. So that’s what it means......"