BXBX NOVEL Chapter 306: Dwarf Cave Mantamia (8)
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Chapter 306: Dwarf Cave Mantamia (8)
"Ketal, what was that just now...?"
The phenomenon that had just occurred was unlike anything Ketal had controlled before.
It wasn’t something Ketal suppressed or controlled; it felt as if the mysterious force itself extended with its own will.
It was a striking difference from the restraint he had always shown.
Ketal replied,
"I had a conversation. It went well."
"...A conversation?"
Ignisia looked bewildered.
She couldn’t imagine it was something that could be described as a conversation with one\'s own power.
"Anyway, it\'s done."
Mantamia\'s mine.
That place was now completely bound by dragon words.
But that alone held no meaning.
After all, it was still within Raphael\'s domain.
What mattered was what came next.
"Are you sure you can do it?"
Ignisia asked, looking half-doubtful.
Instead of replying, Ketal placed his hand on the bound earth of the mine.
He infused the palm of his hand with the mystery, blending it so it wouldn\'t spill, then applied his strength.
But it didn’t budge.
It felt like he was trying to lift an entire continent.
Even with Ketal\'s power, it wasn’t easy.
"As expected, it\'s heavy. The previous me could have pushed it, but lifting and moving it was beyond me."
But now, he was different.
Ketal bared his teeth in a grin.
The mystery flowed through his body, strengthening and assisting his physical form.
And then, he poured all his energy into that body.
Energy and mystery.
The two forces merged.
Ketal exerted his full strength.
At that moment, Raphael calmed himself and assessed the situation.
"...So they\'ve bound the mine. Why?"
Raphael couldn’t understand.
Binding the mine would change nothing.
Regaining his composure, he wielded his power to tear apart the shroud of dragon words encasing the mine.
"...It\'s solid,"
Raphael muttered, slightly astonished.
The shroud was incredibly solid.
It would take him hours to break it with his strength.
It was hard to believe that something so simple as a binding could be this durable.
\'Why did he create something like this?\'
Raphael raised his power.
Whatever Ketal was aiming for, there was no reason to leave it alone.
Just as he was about to strike to rip through the shroud—
Boom!
"What?!"
The mine trembled—a tremendous shake.
Raphael withheld his power, regaining his balance.
"What is this?"
An attack?
Raphael extended his senses, reaching beyond the shroud.
And then a piece of information reached him.
Raphael\'s face twisted bizarrely.
"Wait."
Raphael realized.
Ketal was trying to lift and move the entire mine.
"That\'s fucking insane!"
Raphael, the Demon of Jewels, despised vulgarity, believing it unbecoming.
But now, for the first time, he let out a curse.
It was that shocking.
* * *
Boom!
Ketal held tightly to the shroud, pouring all his strength into it.
The ground shook.
Vibrations rumbled, shaking everything as if the earth itself was trembling.
But the shroud showed no sign of moving.
‘As expected... it won’t work.’
Ignisia let out a sigh, but she didn’t look too disappointed.
She had secretly thought it impossible.
Just as she was about to suggest abandoning the mine and dealing with Raphael—
Boom!
The tremors grew stronger.
Without using mystery to stabilize herself, she could barely stand.
The vibration wasn’t confined to their immediate surroundings.
It spread across the entire mountain range.
Birds scattered, animals fled in haste.
"...What?"
Ignisia\'s expression began to change.
She saw it.
The earth rising.
"Wait."
Now, the mine bound in the shroud was slowly rising.
With no one else’s power, by Ketal’s strength alone.
"No, this is…"
Mantamia\'s mine was merely the size of a small hill.
Ignisia could easily move something of that size.
But Mantamia\'s mine was an assembly of minerals compressed to the extreme.
It couldn’t be described merely by weight.
It was no exaggeration to say it was a compressed mountain range.
Even for her, even for a hero of renown, lifting and moving an entire mountain range was impossible.
But now...
Ketal was lifting a mountain range.
She was genuinely horrified, and the Holy Sword felt the same.
[Ah, ah? Ah?]
She muttered as if in a trance.
Something.
This was...
Beyond comprehension.
It was impossible to accept.
This had transcended the realm of mere strength.
This was a monster.
In the past, when told Ketal was called the Avatar of the God of Strength, Holy Sword had shown some skepticism.
Knowing the powers of the God of Strength, she hadn’t thought Ketal could reach that level.
But the strength Ketal was displaying now was undeniable, even for her.
‘Who… what kind of person are you?’
The words lingered in her mind, too overwhelming to say aloud.
And even as she watched, the mine was slowly appearing above ground.
Ketal raised his arm, pouring all his strength into it.
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Boom!
And finally—
The mine fully surfaced above ground.
It was in Ketal\'s hand.
Compared to its size, it was as if he held a mere speck, an ant.
But the mine was unmistakably defying gravity, floating in midair.
"My god."
"What is that...?"
The dwarves who had been watching at Mantamia\'s entrance, just in case, gaped with jaws dropped.
Even Grombir, the dwarf king, was stunned, abandoning his usual decorum.
"...He lifted it."
Ignisia’s face collapsed, forming an expression she had never once shown in her life.
"It\'s... heavy, indeed."
Ketal, the one who had performed this unbelievable feat, muttered calmly.
His tone suggested he was bearing a slightly heavy burden.
“So, I just need to move this now?”
“Y-yeah…”
Ketal took a step forward.
Boom!
The ground trembled.
Thankfully, Ketal had reinforced his body with mystery, defying the laws of physics.
If not, his mere steps would have caused calamity.
Boom! Boom!
With a compressed mountain in his grip, Ketal walked ten paces forward.
“Is this far enough?”
“Y-yes, that’s... enough…”
Ketal set the mine down gently.
The mine, which had been lifted to the height of an anthill, was lowered back onto the earth.
And then—
BOOOOM!
The ground rippled, waves spreading outward from the impact.
The shockwave rolled forth, shaking the huts that creaked and toppled over.
Rumble!
The tremor spread beyond the surface, reaching even the dwarven caves within Mantamia.
Mantamia was an impenetrable fortress, a testament to perfection built by dwarven ancestors, having never shaken in millennia.
Even during the demon invasions, not a single pillar had been destroyed.
But now, the fortress that had once prided itself on its flawless structure bore fractures, large and small.
The near-perfect Mantamia was thrown into disarray.
“Oh, dear. I probably should have set it down more gently.”
Ketal murmured as if admitting to a mistake.
Neither the Holy Sword nor Ignitia could say a word.
* * *
While Ketal carried the mine, Raphael inside was rendered helpless.
With the overwhelming force shaking everything around, he held his breath, curling up like a child.
Only when the violent movement subsided did he cautiously lift himself up.
“What... in the world just happened?”
As he anxiously tried to expand his senses, he realized something alarming.
“...Wait!”
He had lost control over the absolute minerals he once commanded.
He realized he was no longer within his own domain.
“How is this possible?”
It was incomprehensible.
His domain was absolute, merged with the sanctuary of the gods, indestructible even if a deity descended directly.
So how?
For a moment, Raphael was bewildered, but he soon noticed something else—his domain was intact and maintaining its position.
Yet this realization only made Raphael more unnerved.
\'...Then where exactly am I now?\'
But he had no time to unravel that mystery.
The cloth over the mine’s entrance tore open, and someone stepped in.
“We meet again.”
Ketal, with a slight smile, brandished his axe.
“Shall we begin again?”
“U-Uaaargh!”
With a scream, Raphael unleashed his power.
Mithril, holding a profound and pure mystery strong enough to power a mage tower for a week with just a fragment, shot toward Ketal and exploded.
Even Ketal had to shield himself, his body enveloped in mystery to ward off the force of the blast.
As the explosion settled, Ketal charged forward, swinging his axe.
Raphael shielded himself with adamantium.
The metal, harder than any other, withstood Ketal’s strike.
Orichalcum, known for amplifying all forms of energy, surged in unison with Raphael’s magic, preventing Ketal from advancing.
He dodged by leaping away.
“You’re strong, indeed.”
Raphael was a powerful foe.
Even for Ketal, defeating him was no simple task.
The mine itself prevented him from blending his mystical powers fully, adding to the difficulty.
“But now, you have limits.”
Unlike before, Raphael could no longer use the minerals freely.
Clear limitations had emerged.
With that, Ketal found it less difficult to break through.
Boom!
As the battle continued, Raphael began to be pushed back.
The reserves of minerals he had saved for an emergency were dwindling rapidly.
“Hah, hah…”
Leaning against the wall, drenched in sweat, Raphael prepared himself to counter Ketal, who was cautiously approaching.
The situation was dire.
He no longer held his absolute control, and before him stood an immensely formidable foe.
But Raphael did not lose his resolve.
He was a demon—a count-ranked entity.
He would not break in the face of a powerful opponent.
Determined to defeat Ketal, Raphael racked his brain, envisioning hundreds of ways Ketal might attack, devising possible countermeasures.
But Ketal did not approach.
He merely gazed at his axe.
With a scowl, Raphael finally spoke.
“...What are you doing?”
A ripple.
In that moment, an aura shimmered over Ketal\'s axe.
Raphael’s eyes widened, and Ketal’s face lit up with excitement.
“Oh-ho! I finally got it! I thought I\'d need to be of superhuman rank to reach this point, but I was pleasantly mistaken!”
With immense joy, Ketal swung his axe, laughing.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Now, let’s begin again.”
A faint aura surrounded Ketal’s axe.
Though it flickered like a candle about to go out, the aura was unmistakably present.
“...What?”
Seeing the faintly flickering aura, Raphael’s face froze.
Until now, he had shown only bewilderment and confusion, desperately blocking Ketal’s attacks.
But even then, his gaze was unyielding, dignified, showing no fear.
As a demon with the rank of count, he bore strength with poise and dignity.
But now, that was no longer the case.
“Ah... ahh…”
Upon witnessing the aura, terror slowly crept across Raphael’s face.
It was the fear of death.
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