Chapter 83: Fate Convergence - VIII

There was more than a single foul scent.

"What..."

Nothing would have prepared Clementine for the sheer barrage of terror lingering in her nostrils.

Her lips went dry from the trenchant smell of pure, unadulterated fear. Her limbs turned ice-cold from the faint cries that began to echo throughout the varying, aged corridors.

Looking at the walls around her, the crumbling architecture reminded her of the elves. However, every design, organic as it was, had been carved into marble. As if a vast forest had been petrified, the corridors snaked around in erratic branches and dizzying curves.

Then it would suddenly drop down into a deep chute or require her to climb up a wall of chaotic, spiked carvings.

It felt as if Clementine had been jumping around the different branches of an ancient tree.

Moving deeper...

The smell of fear had grown so thick that the Snakespawn retched.

A deepening frown furrowed her features. Even the mana had turned malevolent, prickling her skin.

’Undead?’

No...

Such profane existences weren’t here. Clementine couldn’t sense their characteristic insipidity.

Instead, it was more akin to...

"It’s <Blasphemy>."

A voice suddenly echoed out from behind her.

—Whoosh!

Whirling around, her long, blue-green hair swirled like a cyclone, beautiful yet hiding the lethality that suddenly flashed.

—Shiiiiiiiing!

In one fluid motion, Clementine’s rapier flashed through the curtain of blue-green. A deathly metallic gleam emerged from a hidden spot.

"Oh?"

As if amused, the voice gasped. It was filled with mockery instead of surprise, as if the owner of the voice had seen her move from a mile away.

Clementine gritted her teeth.

—Clang!

A simple, unadorned, straight-tapered sword appeared in her vision. It looked like the most generic of swords, with the most common pommel and hilt designs, yet Clementine could feel a terrifying sharpness emanating from its silver-white blade.

"Good reflexes, but you’re quite lucky I’m a pacifist—I’m not here to fight you."

A young human with gleaming obsidian eyes and black hair stood behind the simple sword, speaking to her with a small smile.

The Snakespawn hesitated.

Another rare human appeared in front of her—and a really attractive one this time too. Was she fated to continue encountering this short-lived race?

’Unlike Taylor, this one seems a lot more knowledgeable about the world.’

The gleam of wisdom tinged this one’s eyes, a stark contrast to the innocent ignorance that her assistant bore.

"...State your objective then, human."

The human lowered his blade and sheathed it in a display of sincerity.

"I’m a D-Rank Adventurer, ’Info-Hunter’ Aventine Tidea. I would like to collaborate with you."

Clementine scoffed.

What was a D-Rank Adventurer doing so deep in the layers beneath Walvaskaz? With all of the difficult terrain and the sudden monster ambushes, D-Rank Adventurers had an extremely high fatality rate in these depths.

This Aventine Tidea would simply weigh her down.

Until she recalled the title he claimed to have.

’Info-Hunter?’

She tilted her head, trying to recall where she had seen it before.

"Are you one of those rising rookies? The guy who only takes commissions and quests related to searches, rescues, maps, and clues?"

Clementine watched as Aventine’s smile widened.

"Yes! That is indeed I! Though I’m here of my own volition this time. Something bothered me, you see, so I went to check it out."

"Something bothered you...?"

"Mm, my senses are quite special. That’s why I call myself an ’Info-Hunter.’ This is also why I was hoping to collaborate with you and get to the center of this Ritual of Blasphemy."

Clementine’s eyes narrowed further.

"Right. You mentioned that this was <Blasphemy> or something. What do you mean by this being some kind of ritual? You know what’s happening here?"

Aventine tilted his head as if listening to something.

"...I’ll explain later. Aren’t you friends with that brown-haired, blue-eyed mage—with the frailest build I’ve ever seen—that they just brought in? He has been strapped to a... Oh! He escaped the torture chamber with a blast of mana—"

"Enough! Come with me. Let’s go!"

Clementine then burst out at her fastest speed; a foul coldness blossomed in her stomach. It was the realization that she’d been distracted for a moment too long.

What was wrong with her?

To keep forgetting her purpose...

’I need to hurry!’

Before she could continue thinking about it, Clementine decided to focus on the scent of Taylor that still lingered on the walls. The trail was fresh, but the path was winding.

Hopefully, she could make it in time.

Cold sweat began to drip down her cheek.

"Stop here and destroy the floor."

Suddenly, Aventine spoke beside her, his voice laced with an absurd certainty.

Clementine’s eyes flashed. The fact that this human knew that she was acquainted with Taylor—and even described his general appearance right in front of her—was enough for her to trust in his abilities.

Either way, if she was lied to, she could easily kill a D-Rank Adventurer.

’But this guy... He’s way too fast to just be at D-Rank.’

It didn’t make sense that he could keep up with her maximum speed as a B-Rank Swordsman.

Shaking off any other thoughts, Clementine brandished her blade.

Mana surged through her body, absorbed from the surroundings as her muscles locked into a specific stance.

[Immovable Fortress].

Then she breathed, and with a yell, she stabbed down into the floor beneath her feet.

"[Break and Shatter]!"

—Crack!

The silver blade of her rapier pierced deep into the organically carved floor. Then, with a twist, a huge amount of force accompanied a chaotic outburst of mana.

—Boom!

With the full exertion of a B-Ranker, the floor crumbled. Clementine and Aventine beside her both fell.

Beneath them, a large cavern appeared, with the floor a deadly distance away. Soon, gravity embraced them as their downward velocity climbed higher and higher.

The wind buffeted their faces, creating a dance of blue-green and black hair above their heads.

"What now?" Clementine demanded, feeling her heart grow cold.

Aventine then pointed to a tunnel on the cavern wall, gleaming with an orange hue.

"There!"

Clementine nodded, grabbed the adventurer’s wrist, and then exploded with another burst of strength.

[Burst Step].

It was a simple Martial Art, but it was practiced widely. After all, with a B-Rank Physique or higher, it allowed one to move through the air—albeit with great effort.

Still, it was already good enough to serve as a second chance to jump. Instead, its derivatives and variations were better suited to walking on air.

—Whoosh!

Thus, Clementine and Aventine both made it to the tunnel. Had they been any slower, they would’ve fallen to their deaths.