Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

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Chapter 304: Dwarf Cave Mantamia (6)

“What’s this?”

While wandering through the snowy white plains, Ketal found a pitch-black axe buried in the snow.

He stared at it for a moment before reaching out and grabbing the handle.

As he lifted it, something within the axe awoke.

A slumbering presence lunged at the life that had seized it, attempting to consume his soul and body.

It was a monster.

Even a strong being would be unable to resist and would be devoured in an instant.

However...

“Why is this axe buried in the ground?”

Nothing happened.

Ketal tilted his head and inspected the axe.

Its blade was flawless, incredibly sharp.

After a few swings, he found the weight and grip satisfying.

“Looks useful.”

With that, he tucked the axe away and continued walking.

That was all.

There was no effect, no change.

The axe simply stayed in his hands.

* * *

Ketal fell silent.

Where did he come from?

It wasn’t a question about the snowy plains.

It was a far more fundamental question.

Where did he, as an entity, come from?

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that question.

‘Or is it... not the first?’

He remembered hearing it from someone, deep inside.

Ketal’s gaze grew distant.

‘Where did I come from...’

He came from a place devoid of illusions and mysteries.

A world without gods, demons, or monsters—just a colorless existence.

He came from that hell to this place.

After a long silence, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Is that an important question?”

A chill ran through the air.

At that moment, Hephaestus felt a shiver down his spine.

The powerful god instinctively sensed danger.

Hephaestus realized that this was a very bad idea.

He quickly spoke up.

[No, forget it. It’s not important. No need to disturb a snake by lifting the vines. Best to leave it alone.]

This was a boundary not to be crossed.

There was no gain in pushing further.

Hephaestus decided.

“Well then, thank you.”

Ketal gave a soft smile.

The peculiar tension from earlier had vanished without a trace.

But Hephaestus had sensed it clearly.

An indescribable, eerie sensation.

He quickly added,

[The deal is settled. When you deal with the demon, your wish shall be granted.]

“That sounds good. I’ll do my best.”

[Then, good luck.]

With that, Hephaestus departed from the mortal realm.

As the divine presence left, Grombir staggered and sat down with a groan.

“Was the conversation settled?”

“Yes. I made the deal. Thank you.”

“…I see.”

A mortal making a deal with a god—it was a strange sight for a believer of gods.

But considering their current situation, it was understandable.

Grombir stood up.

“Well then, let’s work together moving forward.”

“Of course.”

Ketal smiled and shook his hand.

Grombir decided to take a short rest.

The presence of a god had shaken his spirit.

[Huff... phew... Thank goodness. I thought he would take one look at me and decide to reclaim me…]

“If he had said that, I would have refused. You don’t need to worry.”

[Oh... oh... you…]

The Holy Sword’s voice was filled with gratitude.

Ketal then went to meet Ignisia.

“Ignisia, are you feeling better?”

“I’ve recovered somewhat. If you hadn’t come, things would have been pretty dangerous. You came at just the right time.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“It’s been a while, Ketal.”

“It has.”

Ketal gave a wide grin, and Ignisia smiled back and asked,

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been doing various things. Following your advice, I’ve also trained in mysticism. I can handle it somewhat now.”

“It seems so.”

When Ketal fought Raphael, he had strengthened his body with mystery.

“It’s quite useful, isn’t it?”

“Very much so.”

Ketal looked pleased.

“But I still lack full mastery. That’s why I came here.”

“Seems like you need the help of the dwarves.”

“That’s right. There’s some forging to be done. I’ve also done a lot of other things. Even drew the Holy Sword.”

Ketal showed her the broken Holy Sword.

Ignisia paused.

“…I had a feeling, but it’s really the Holy Sword, huh? How did it end up broken like this?”

“I forced it out, so it broke in the process. It’s unfortunate.”

“The Holy Sword could even be drawn by force…?”

“That’s why it’s a bit troublesome. I can’t just throw it away, and it acknowledged me as its owner, so here I am.”

“R-right.”

Ignisia mumbled with a bewildered expression, gazing at Ketal.

Here stood a figure from the white snowy plains, holding a divine sword—even if broken—a most peculiar sight.

Ketal continued,

“I’ve also visited the holy lands, ventured north, dealt with demons, and caught the things that escaped.”

“Escaped things? What are those? Anyway, seems like you’ve been busy.”

“Indeed. I’ve also kept the promise I made to you.”

“Promise? What promise?”

Ignisia tilted her head, a look of confusion on her face.

“The promise to show kindness to beings of the mortal world.”

It was due to this promise that Ketal hadn’t destroyed Federica’s church.

“…Ah.”

Ignisia finally recalled making such a request.

“Oh… right.”

“What? Did you forget? That’s disappointing.”

“No, honestly, I didn’t have high expectations.”

Though she had asked, she hadn’t actually expected him to take it seriously.

It was only a small hope—that he might act as a slight restraint, nothing more.

She never imagined he would truly hold it in his heart.

Ketal replied calmly,

“I keep my promises.”

“…Thank you.”

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Ignisia sincerely expressed her gratitude.

"You look quite busy yourself. How long have you been here?"

"Over two weeks. Ugh. He's an insufferable guy. Everything he says just grates on my nerves. And on top of that, he's ridiculously strong, so he's hard to deal with. I can't ask for help either, because I came here by stretching my own limits. Honestly, I've felt at a loss."

As Ignisia lamented, her eyes sparkled.

"But... now that you're here, things should change. I'll be counting on you."

"Likewise."

Ketal smiled.

A few hours later, Grombir, having recovered, called Ketal and Ignisia.

The three gathered in a hut to talk.

"Allow me to introduce myself formally. I have made a pact with Hephaestus. I will do my utmost to reclaim Mantamia. I'll be relying on you both from now on."

"Looking forward to working with you."

"Same here. Honestly, I was feeling overwhelmed, so this is a huge relief."

With that, Grombir explained the situation in detail.

"As you may have seen, there is only one demon occupying Mantamia. The Demon of Gems—Raphael."

A powerful demon holding the rank of a count.

Even Ignisia had trouble against him.

She grumbled.

"If it were in another location, I wouldn't be struggling this much. But unfortunately, it's in the Mantamia mines, which is the problem. The only ones who might be able to gain a definitive advantage against Raphael in the mines... well, I can only think of someone like the Tower Master or the Saintess of the Sun God."

Only those in the upper echelons of hero-class beings could contend with such a demon.

Grombir quietly asked Ketal,

"…Do you really think we can win against someone like that?"

"It's possible."

Ketal answered casually,

"We can win."

"...I see."

Grombir let out a gasp of admiration.

To be so confident against a being even Ignisia struggled with—just how powerful was this barbarian?

A sense of awe arose in him.

"But there's a problem."

"A problem?"

"We can win, but it will likely take a considerable amount of time. The demon will undoubtedly resist with everything it has."

Raphael had defended against Ketal's attacks, utilizing mystery without suffering any serious damage.

Even if Ketal could draw on the minerals, he wouldn’t be able to bring Raphael down easily.

"In the process, the minerals in the mine will rapidly deplete. The mine might even be completely exhausted."

That was an outcome Ketal did not desire either.

To achieve his goal, the mine needed to remain somewhat intact.

Ignisia muttered in wonder.

"So, even you can't take him down quickly. Well, he is strong."

"No, that's not it."

"Huh?"

"I probably could kill him. And within a short time, too."

"...Then there's no issue, right? We can handle it quickly before the mine gets ruined."

"There's still a problem."

Ketal spoke up.

"The mine wouldn't be able to withstand it and would collapse."

"That's not something to worry about. This is the Mantamia mine."

Minerals like mithril, adamantadium, and orichalcum were inherently durable.

Even during the intense battles between Ignisia and Raphael, the mine hadn’t shown any sign of collapse.

Regardless of how powerful the force was, there was no fear of the mine crumbling.

But Ketal shook his head.

"No. It will collapse."

His voice held a strong certainty.

Both Grombir and Ignisia fell silent.

"...Really?"

"Regrettably, I can't control my power well enough to prevent that. If collapse isn't an issue, I can go ahead with it."

"No, no. Let's think this over a bit more."

They pondered how to defeat Raphael with minimal damage to the mine.

But no easy solution came to mind. Ignisia clicked her tongue.

"Perhaps we'll have to take him down along with the mine."

"But Ignisia, that would..."

"We have no other choice, do we? He's already sending precious minerals up to the underworld. It's not that we have to deal with it urgently, but we don’t have the luxury of time either."

"That's... true."

Grombir groaned.

The conversation was leaning toward the inevitability of destroying the mine.

Just then, Ketal, who had been silent, spoke up.

"I have one question."

"What is it?"

"Raphael is the Demon of Gems. I understand he has dominion over gems. But even so, controlling them so freely seems hard to grasp."

Ignisia could, for instance, command the world using dragon speech.

But even she couldn’t control the elements inside the mine.

Raphael was a powerful demon with the authority of gems.

But to wield such a level of power?

It was hard to understand.

"Ah, there’s a reason for that. It's because Mantamia has now become Raphael's domain."

Ignisia replied.

"In an ordinary location, even Raphael wouldn’t be able to manipulate things to this extent. But since Mantamia is now his domain, he can freely utilize the mine."

This allowed him to make full use of the mine.

A strange look crossed Ketal’s face.

"Is there no way to break that domain?"

"Breaking an already established domain is difficult. The fastest way would be to kill the domain's owner, but that's the hardest part."

"...So because the mine is currently in Raphael's domain, he can freely manipulate the minerals inside it."

"Exactly."

"Wait. Then there’s a solution."

"Hm?"

"What? You’ve thought of something?"

Grombir and Ignisia were surprised.

No matter how much they thought, they couldn’t come up with a solution.

But Ketal, in a simple manner, seemed to have an idea they hadn’t considered.

They looked at him curiously.

Ketal said calmly.

"According to what you've said, the issue is that the mine is within Raphael's domain."

"That's right?"

"In that case, we can just move the mine outside of his domain. Simple."

"...Huh?"

"What did you say?"

Both Ignisia and Grombir looked at him as if he were speaking nonsense.

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