Chapter 416: Archmage (2)
"My guard will escort you. So long as you do not kill it."
Hearing that made me hesitate.
Just moments ago, this thing had been trying to keep me away from the tomb. Now, it was inviting me inside.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Why the sudden change?"
I kept my hand raised, the golden chains still binding the undead knight.
"I thought you wanted me as far away from this place as possible."
The answer came without hesitation
"I did. But now that I know what you are..."
Its voice lowered slightly.
"...I believe speaking to you in person would be more beneficial."
I frowned.
"What I am?"
The words immediately caught my attention.
"What exactly do you mean by that?"
The undead offered no explanation. Instead, it simply said,
"I’m sure you have many questions."
It gestured toward the tomb with the bound knight.
"I can answer them."
Then, after a brief pause, it added,
"Over a cup of tea."
I stared at it. For some reason, hearing an undead invite me for tea felt far stranger than anything else that had happened today. It was... oddly surreal.
"What do you say?" Modred continued calmly. "Release my knight and come inside."
His tone remained composed.
"We’ll sit down, have some tea, and talk."
I raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds like a trap."
"It isn’t."
"You do realize someone trying to trap me would say exactly the same thing."
The undead let out what almost sounded like a sigh.
"I’m sure you have questions about the world you’ve found yourself in."
Its gaze remained fixed on me.
"The system, Lord Drugar, this prison. I have answers."
It paused once more.
"And now that I know what you are...I am willing to share them."
I exhaled slowly.
Once again, I wanted to ask what he meant by what I am. But I already knew how that conversation would go.
He wasn’t going to answer here. Not while speaking through an undead knight.
If I wanted that answer, I’d have to meet him.
I looked toward the entrance of the tomb. Then back at the knight bound by my chains.
Then at Ariel.
Modred undoubtedly knew far more about this world than I did.
If even half of what he claimed was true, then speaking with him could answer questions that had been bothering me since the day I arrived.
Questions about the System. About Lord Drugar. About why we had all been brought here.
But there was another side to it.
How could I know he was telling the truth?
He claimed to be Lord Drugar’s enemy. That didn’t automatically make him my ally.
For all I knew, everything he said could be carefully crafted lies designed to manipulate me into doing exactly what he wanted.
I barely knew anything about this world. I had no point of reference. No way of verifying whether what Modred said was true or whether he was feeding me a carefully crafted lie.
If I chose to believe him, I’d essentially be placing my trust in the words of a powerful being who claimed to rival someone revered as the god of this world.
That wasn’t exactly a comforting thought.
I let out a slow breath before shaking my head.
I still couldn’t decide.
Turning away from the undead, I looked at Ariel.
"What do you think?"
The fox stared at me as though she’d misheard.
"...Wow."
She blinked once.
"To think I’d live long enough to see you ask me for advice."
I sighed.
"Can you answer the question instead of making a big deal out of it?"
Ariel smirked. "I’d go if I were you."
I raised a brow.
"That’s it?"
"How else are you going to get the answers you’re looking for?"
She shrugged.
"You’ve been asking questions ever since you came to this world. Now someone is offering to answer them."
I looked back toward the tomb.
"But we’d be walking into the territory of a powerful Archmage."
Ariel blinked. "We?"
I frowned.
"Of course, we. We’re going in together."
For a moment, Ariel looked like she wanted to argue. Then she simply sighed.
"...Fine."
She flicked her tail lazily.
"I understand why you’re worried. But think about it."
"If this Archmage were truly as powerful as he claims, wouldn’t he have escaped Lord Drugar’s prison by now?"
I remained silent.
"And you’re still standing here."
She gestured toward me.
"If he could’ve killed you whenever he wanted, don’t you think he would’ve done it already instead of wasting time talking?"
I rubbed my chin.
She had a point. At the very least, Modred hadn’t displayed the overwhelming power I’d expect from someone capable of killing me effortlessly. Everything he’d done so far had been through the undead knights. Nothing more.
But...
"That isn’t very reassuring," I admitted.
Ariel tilted her head.
"Why?"
"Because there’s another possibility."
I looked back at the motionless knight.
"What if this is exactly what he wanted?"
Ariel’s expression became more serious.
"What if he deliberately kept talking because he wanted me to lower my guard?"
I folded my arms.
"What if he’s simply trying to lure me into an environment where he holds every advantage?"
The tomb was his domain. And I’d be stepping into a place where every variable favored him.
That alone made me hesitate.
"That’s possible," Ariel admitted. "But I doubt his intentions are entirely malicious."
She looked toward the tomb before continuing.
"And that’s enough reason to have a conversation, isn’t it?"
She tilted her head.
"I mean, what do you really have to lose?"
"My life."
"Our lives," she corrected. "And I’m fine with that if it means we finally get some answers."
"You mean I get some answers."
She waved a paw dismissively.
"Same thing."
I frowned.
There was something suspicious about how readily she agreed.
Was she simply curious? Or did she have questions of her own that she wanted answered?
The more I thought about it, the stranger her attitude became.
Ariel had always been cautious. She never rushed headfirst into danger without weighing the risks first. If anything, she usually complained whenever I did something reckless.
Yet now, she was encouraging me to walk into the lair of an Archmage of Death. That didn’t sound like her.
"So..."
Modred’s voice echoed from the undead knight once more.
"What have you decided?"
The question pulled me from my thoughts.
I remained silent for a few moments, weighing everything one last time.
If this was a trap, then walking inside would be the dumbest decision I’d made since arriving in this world. But if it wasn’t, then this might be the only opportunity I’d ever get to learn the truth about the System, Lord Drugar, and this world.
Eventually, I let out a long sigh.
Golden light faded from my hand as I dismissed [Divine Bindings], the chains unraveling from the undead knight before dissolving into countless particles of light.
I looked toward the dark entrance of the tomb. Then at the undead knight.
"Put the kettle on," I said.
"We’d be with you shortly."