The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: I Suppose the Ruins Weren’t Abandoned After All

The Ruins Beneath the Moonlight

The ruins were located several hours from the nearest town, hidden deep within an old forest that had long since been abandoned by ordinary travelers.

According to the records I had read, the place had once been an important settlement, but after several unexplained incidents, it was gradually abandoned until nothing remained except broken walls and a few scattered structures.

Naturally, that only made me more curious.

If something was important enough to be abandoned without anyone properly explaining why, then there was probably something worth investigating.

And so, I came here tonight.

The moment I stepped through the broken entrance, however, something moved behind me.

A man wearing a black robe lunged out from the darkness, his face almost completely concealed beneath his hood. A sword flashed toward my neck with enough speed to kill an ordinary person before they even realized they were under attack.

I didn’t bother turning around.

Shing.

Something passed through the darkness.

The man froze.

A moment later, several pieces of his body fell silently onto the stone floor.

I continued walking without looking back.

"Well, that was unexpected."

I adjusted my gloves as I walked deeper into the ruins.

"As expected, there’s really something strange about this place."

There was no reason for someone to be waiting near the entrance unless they had something to protect.

And judging from that man’s equipment, he wasn’t some random bandit who had wandered into the ruins.

Someone had stationed him there.

The deeper I went, the more obvious it became that this place had not been abandoned at all.

There were faint traces of magic in the air, footprints beneath the dust, and several passages that had clearly been used recently.

Interesting.

I followed the traces until I eventually reached a massive underground chamber.

The room was far larger than I expected.

Its ceiling had partially collapsed, leaving a wide opening through which the night sky could be seen. Moonlight poured through the broken stone and illuminated the center of the chamber, where several men dressed in black robes were gathered around a large magical formation.

Some were chanting.

Others were carrying strange containers filled with dark liquid, while several more stood around the formation as if guarding it.

At the center of the room was something that looked like an altar.

And standing beside it was a man whose magic was considerably stronger than the others.

A dark magician?

How rare.

I remained hidden for a moment, observing them from above.

So this was what they were doing here.

I still didn’t know what the purpose of the ritual was, but whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t something ordinary people should be doing beneath an abandoned ruin.

I quietly climbed onto the remains of a large stone structure overlooking the chamber and sat down.

The moonlight fell directly behind me.

The cool night air passed through the ruins as I rested one arm against my knee, my black Eclipse attire blending naturally into the darkness. The hood covered part of my face, while the silver details of the outfit reflected the moonlight whenever I moved.

The people below continued with their work.

None of them had noticed me.

I watched them for a while.

Then, for no particular reason, I found myself looking toward the moon.

"It really is beautiful tonight."

My voice echoed through the chamber.

The chanting stopped immediately.

Every head turned upward.

Several men stared at me as though they had suddenly discovered that the ruins had grown another wall.

I smiled beneath my hood.

"Though I suppose the scenery would be considerably more pleasant if you weren’t performing suspicious rituals beneath it."

"Who are you?!"

Several swords were drawn at once.

The men surrounded the formation while pointing their weapons toward me.

The dark magician stared at me carefully.

"How did you get in here?"

"That’s a rather difficult question."

I stood up slowly.

"I walked."

The man’s expression tightened.

"You’re alone?"

I glanced around the chamber.

"At the moment."

One of the men stepped forward.

"There’s only one enemy. Hurry and kill him before anyone else learns about this place."

"Understood!"

Several men rushed toward me.

I didn’t move.

Instead, I raised one hand.

Thin threads of magic suddenly appeared throughout the chamber.

Fwish.

The attackers stopped.

The threads had wrapped around their bodies before they could even reach me, binding their arms and legs so tightly that their swords slipped from their hands.

"What—?!"

"Impossible!"

Before they could recover, I stepped from the stone platform and descended directly in front of them.

Their expressions changed immediately.

"Who... who are you?"

I tilted my head.

"That’s a rather interesting question coming from people who attacked me without introducing themselves first."

The dark magician stepped forward.

"Release them."

"Oh?"

I looked toward him.

"So you’re the one giving orders."

Dark magic began gathering around his hands.

"You’ll regret coming here."

"A dark magician, huh?"

I looked at the dark aura gathering around him.

"How rare."

The man grinned.

"You won’t be laughing for long."

He began chanting.

I waited.

The spell grew larger, gathering enough magical energy to crush an ordinary adventurer.

Then I flicked my finger.

Shing.

The dark magician’s hands fell from his wrists.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then—

"AAAAAAARGH!"

He collapsed onto his knees, screaming as blood spilled across the stone floor.

The others stared at him in horror.

I looked at the severed hands lying nearby.

"That spell was taking rather long to cast."

I glanced back at the magician.

"You should probably work on your speed."

"You... monster..."

"Hmm?"

I crouched slightly so that I could look at him more closely.

"That’s a little rude."

The magician gritted his teeth while desperately trying to control the bleeding.

"I was going to ask you some questions, but now I’m thinking it might be more convenient to bring all of you back with me."

I stood again.

"Some of the girls should be interested in what you’ve been doing here."

The moment I mentioned that, several of the men exchanged glances.

Then one of them began muttering something.

It wasn’t a language I recognized.

"Hmm?"

Another man repeated the same strange words.

Then another.

One after another, they began speaking in the same unfamiliar language.

Their bodies suddenly stiffened.

"What are you—"

The nearest man collapsed.

Then another.

Within moments, every restrained man had stopped moving.

I stared at them.

"Did they poison themselves?"

That would have been inconvenient.

I had wanted to question them.

But then something strange happened.

The bodies began to change.

Their skin darkened and softened, almost as though they were melting from within. Their forms collapsed together, their bodies merging into one another as the magical energy in the chamber began to surge violently.

The floor trembled.

The remaining magical formation cracked.

I took a step back.

"Ah."

So they hadn’t poisoned themselves.

They had done something considerably more interesting.

The mass of bodies continued to merge until a single enormous figure emerged from it.

Nearly 6 meters tall, the creature possessed a vaguely humanoid shape, but its proportions were completely unnatural. Its limbs were too long, its body was covered in dark, hardened flesh, and several faintly glowing marks moved across its chest like veins of magic.

It let out a distorted roar.

"Interesting."

The creature swung one enormous arm toward me.

I flicked my finger.

Fwish!

Countless threads wrapped around its body.

The creature stopped in mid-motion.

It struggled violently, causing the stone beneath its feet to crack.

"Rrrrghhh...!"

The sound it produced was barely recognizable as a voice.

I watched the threads tighten around its limbs.

"So those people became one."

The creature continued struggling.

"That strange language must have been part of the process."

I looked around the ruined chamber.

"This has to be connected to the organization we’ve been trying to find."

That was enough of a reason to keep it alive.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem particularly interested in cooperating.

The creature pulled against the threads again.

The entire chamber shook.

"Impressive."

I smiled.

"You’re stronger than you look."

I raised my hand.

"Unfortunately, that’s about as far as this little experiment goes."

I flicked my finger.

BOOM!

The explosion tore through the underground chamber.

Stone erupted into the air as the creature disappeared beneath the blast, leaving behind a massive crater where it had been standing.

Dust and fragments of stone filled the room.

I stood at the edge of the crater, looking down.

Nothing remained.

"Well, that settles that."

I turned away.

"Zyra."

A moment later, several figures appeared from the darkness.

Zyra stepped forward, accompanied by 3 elite members of the organization.

All 4 immediately knelt before me.

"Yes."

"Investigate this place."

I glanced toward the ruined chamber.

"Search every room and every passage. Look for hidden chambers, records, magical artifacts, or anything else that seems unusual."

I paused.

"And if you happen to find some treasure, take it with you."

Zyra lowered her head.

"Understood."

The 4 disappeared into the ruins almost as quickly as they had arrived.

I looked toward the opening above the chamber.

The moon was still shining through the broken ceiling.

"Well, I suppose everything is settled here."

I pulled my hood slightly forward.

"They should be able to handle the rest."

With that, I left the ruins behind, while the members of the Eclipse Order began their investigation beneath the quiet moonlit sky.

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