Chapter 30: Abandoned Temple (Magic Castle Bonus)

Chapter 30. Abandoned Temple (Magic Castle Bonus)

Half an hour later, after several stops caused by the girls and several more caused by me because apparently I had absolutely no right to criticize anyone’s shopping habits, we finally arrived at our destination.

I had bought materials.

Important materials.

Research materials.

Completely different.

Ariel bought jewelry and sweets because they were pretty.

I bought three bundles of two pieces of raw mithril ore, an intact salamander gland, several blank formation plates, and a suspicious black crystal the merchant insisted was worthless.

Professional acquisition.

Not shopping.

There was a distinction.

Probably.

Then we stepped beyond the town’s western exit, followed an overgrown stone road for another ten minutes, and the trees finally opened.

The girls stopped.

All three stared.

I smiled. "Here we are."

In front of us stood a ruined Light Temple.

Well.

Ruined might have been slightly dramatic.

The building hadn’t been flattened.

Most of it was still standing.

The central structure remained intact, its pale stone walls swallowed by moss and creeping vines. Several stained-glass windows had shattered. One tower had partially collapsed, leaving chunks of white stone scattered across the courtyard. The golden Light Temple insignia above the entrance had faded so badly that one half looked more gray than gold.

Nobody had maintained this place for years.

Apparently, the Light Temple had decided the old building was too small and inconveniently positioned outside town, so they’d built a newer, larger, significantly more obnoxious temple somewhere else.

Then abandoned this one.

Which was excellent for me.

The surrounding forest had reclaimed most of the grounds.

It was also why I hadn’t flown directly here.

The canopy was ridiculously dense.

Could I maneuver through it? Probably.

Could I do so while carrying Ariel? Also probably.

Could I descend elegantly without getting my cloak caught on a branch and dangling upside down in front of my wife like the legendary Royal Magus had been defeated by a tree?

...

Not risking it.

Villain dignity had limits.

Unfortunately, abandonment came with another consequence.

Monsters.

I could already sense several mana signatures inside.

Small ones.

Nothing interesting.

The old temple had apparently become a nest.

Ariel slowly turned toward me. "Uh... I thought you said this was a date."

"It is."

She looked at the ruined temple.

Then at me.

Then at the ruined temple again.

Behind her, Seris covered her mouth.

Lily wasn’t even pretending. She giggled.

Ariel pointed. "This is an abandoned Light Temple full of monsters. You brought me here for our first date."

"Yes."

Ariel stared at me.

I could practically see her reevaluating every romantic expectation she’d developed since breakfast.

I raised one finger. "There is a natural restoration pool beneath the temple."

That stopped her.

Her expression changed immediately.

"A restoration pool?"

I nodded. "One of the reasons they originally built the temple here. Natural mana currents converge underground. The water absorbs Light and Water elemental mana from the surrounding leylines."

I looked toward her chest.

More specifically, the mana core beneath it.

"It should be perfect for your Mana Mantle Burn."

Ariel went still. Then her eyes slowly returned to mine.

"Wait. So the date is..."

"To cure you."

Silence.

Then Ariel’s eyes suddenly glistened.

I blinked.

Wait. Why was she crying?

Before I could ask, she stepped forward and wrapped both arms tightly around me.

"Thank you, Rey."

I froze for half a second.

Her face pressed against my chest.

"I never thought..." Her voice trembled slightly. "I never thought you really thought about me this much."

Ah. That hurt more than it should have.

Because to me, finding a way to treat her Mana Mantle Burn was obvious.

To Ariel?

Apparently having Rey notice she was hurting, remember it, research a solution, and bring her somewhere specifically to heal her was enough to make her cry.

My hand slowly settled against the back of her head.

"You’re my wife," I murmured. "Of course I think about you."

She hugged me tighter.

Damn.

Rey, your husband performance really had fallen catastrophically low.

I stroked Ariel’s hair once before gently pulling back. "Come on. Save the tears until after I actually cure you."

She laughed softly and wiped her eyes.

Before entering, I crouched and placed my palm against the ground.

[Abyssal Formation Creation.]

Black-violet lines spread outward.

The surrounding mana trembled.

Several formation circles appeared beneath fallen leaves, then vanished.

[Perimeter Detection Formation established.]

[Spatial Interference Ward established.]

[Hostile Entry Detection established.]

[Formation Residue Suppression: Active.]

I added two more.

One around the entrance.

Another covering the route toward the underground restoration chamber.

Just in case.

I didn’t trust the Light Temple.

I didn’t trust abandoned magical structures.

And after yesterday, I definitely didn’t trust convenient coincidences. "Done."

We entered.

Seris moved slightly ahead.

Fire gathered around her fingertips.

Lily’s expression sharpened as several tiny vines crawled from beneath her sleeves.

Both had automatically positioned themselves to protect Ariel and me.

Cute.

Also unnecessary.

"Relax."

Seris glanced over her shoulder. "There are monsters. We can handle them."

I stepped past her. "I’m handling them."

Seris stopped.

Ariel looked at me.

I flexed my fingers.

This wasn’t merely arrogance.

I needed them to see it.

I wanted my wives to see that I could cast.

Repeatedly.

Without collapsing, screaming, black veins swallowing my face or turning on them.

For years, every spell Rey cast had probably made them wonder when the next one would be the spell that finally broke him.

That ended now.

Something growled ahead.

Perfect timing.

Four shapes emerged from the darkness.

Wolf-like monsters.

Too large to be ordinary wolves, with gray armored hides and exposed crystal growths running along their spines.

[Stonehide Dire Wolf]

[Rank: D]

...

D?

My disappointment was immediate.

One charged.

I raised one finger.

[Corruption Bolt.]

The wolf ceased being a meaningful participant in this conversation.

The bolt punched through its chest and exploded out its back.

Blood splattered across the wall.

The other three wolves attacked simultaneously.

One from the left.

Two straight ahead.

I didn’t move.

Three black-violet spheres appeared beside my shoulders.

[Corruption Bolt.]

The corridor became extremely unpleasant.

One wolf slammed sideways into a pillar hard enough to crack stone.

Another flipped backward, blood spraying across the floor.

The third took the bolt through its neck.

Messy.

Very messy.

I lowered my hand.

Silence.

Drops of blood slid from the wall.

I stared.

Rey normally killed more cleanly than this.

Normal mana obeyed tightly structured spell formulas.

Forbidden Energy...

Not so much.

It was denser.

More aggressive.

Chaotic.

Corruption Bolt didn’t merely penetrate.

It destabilized whatever it struck and released excess energy through the damaged structure.

Essentially...

Magical overpressure.

"Rey." Ariel’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I turned.

All three were staring at me.

"What?"

Seris pointed toward what remained of the nearest wolf.

"You usually don’t..." She paused. "Do that."

I looked at the corpse. "Too much power."

Another growl echoed deeper inside.

My smile returned.

Five more mana signatures.

One larger than the others.

Still weak.

But enough for another test.

A larger beast burst through a rotten side door.

[Ironjaw Boar]

[Rank: C]

Better.

Behind it came several smaller creatures.

I raised my hand.

Ariel caught my sleeve.

I glanced back.

For half a heartbeat, there was worry in her eyes.

Not fear of the monsters.

Fear for me.

I understood immediately.

So I deliberately opened my other hand.

Clean skin.

No black veins.

No trembling.

My breathing was perfectly steady. "Watch."

Her fingers loosened.

I faced the monsters.

[Corruption Bolt.]

One.

The first creature dropped.

[Corruption Bolt.]

Two.

Another exploded backward.

[Corruption Bolt.]

Three.

Four.

Five.

Black-violet flashes illuminated the ruined temple like some deeply blasphemous festival.

The Ironjaw Boar roared and charged.

I waited.

Twenty meters.

Fifteen.

Ten.

Five.

I pointed directly between its eyes. "Bang!"

[Corruption Bolt.]

The beast’s head snapped backward.

Its enormous body continued forward from momentum, slid several meters across the stone, and stopped directly in front of my boots.

Blood spread slowly beneath it.

Behind me...

Silence.

I turned.

Ariel’s eyes were wide.

Seris looked stunned.

Lily was staring between me and the corpses.

Ariel swallowed. "You’re okay."

There it was.

Not horror.

Not concern about the monsters.

Relief.

I smiled. "I’m okay."

Her shoulders dropped.

Seris slowly released the flame she’d been holding.

Lily’s vines retreated.

For the first time, neither of them needed to rush forward because Rey had cast too much magic.

That mattered more than the experiment.

I looked around at the dead monsters and casually swept my hand through the air.

One by one, their corpses disappeared into my dimensional storage.

Why?

Money.

And research.