Corruption Mage: A LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Harem Adventure by Hankyu Hikaru

Author:Hankyu Hikaru [Hikaru, Hankyu]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2024-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

The final corridor slanted downward, made a sharp turn, and ended abruptly in an arched stone door. The room itself was covered in dust and rubble, but the door gleamed intact. The borders were inscribed with runes I could not understand. When I brushed my fingers against them, they pulsed with energy.

“Solon?”

[MYTHIC ARTIFACT – Magic-sealed Bonesteel Door: A location-tethered and reinforced door created from bonesteel. Cannot be unsealed by ordinary means.]

I rubbed my chin.

“What does it mean by ‘ordinary means?’”

[It means the door cannot be opened by means that are ordinary.]

“Thanks for nothing,” I muttered.

The door’s description was intentionally vague, as if to hint at a loophole. I took a few steps back.

“Vicious Slash!”

Energy erupted from my hand, slashing out at the Bonesteel Door. A horrid screech filled my ears, like a thousand nails running down a chalkboard. But the slash left only a small scratch. Several additional casts had no added effect; I only drained my mana.

“That didn’t work,” I said sourly. “But maybe this will.”

I cast [End Grimoire]. The black book emerged from the void rift. When I flipped it open, I was surprised to find a third skill beneath [Zaphkiel].

[Primal Decay: An ancient magic that brings decay to the objects it touches. Tear apart an inanimate object’s structure and form.]

As with my other Grimoire spells, it had no casting cost. Or was there a hidden casting cost I didn’t yet understand? And where had I gotten the skill from anyway? From Izanami? Or for experience gained by defeating the sabertooth? I shrugged. What mattered was going forward. With the End Grimoire in hand and my palm facing the metal door, I murmured:

“Primal Decay.”

The steel door shuddered. The Bonesteel Door began to turn gray and crumble. It became pockmarked and then, after a time, transformed into fine powder and fell apart, coating the ground—and my clothes—with dust.

I stepped through, expecting to find a stairway down to the next floor. Instead I found myself staring into a wall of a prison cell. Iron bars ran from cave wall to cave wall, blocking my way through. The cage itself was tiny: less than half the size my bedroom had been as a student. The floor was dust-ridden and smelled of old, damp straw. I wrinkled my nose.

The bars were cold to the touch. Curious, I had Solon appraise the cell’s bars. The bars were made from Anti-Magic Metal. This was no ordinary cage. And neither—I suspected—was whatever lay inside.

I could just make out some kind of shape lying at the far end of the cage. It shifted slightly. I brought my luminous crystal closer.

A girl lay on the floor, eyes closed, chest rising and falling to the gentle rhythm of her breaths. She wore only a scant woven sack that barely covered her hips and the mounds of her breasts. Her skin glowed smooth and pale, as if drinking in the light of my crystal. Silver hair flowed around her head like a silken veil. Two horns jutted from her head, curving outwards and tapering into sharp points.

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