Chapter 258

Haruto and the other three entered the narrow passage, which ended in a hidden chamber.

To Frieren’s disappointment, however, there was no grimoire waiting inside, nor any magical item worth taking. The room contained nothing except a carved mural.

It depicted the achievements of the king buried within the Ruins of the King’s Tomb.

Haruto’s attention settled on a particular motif repeated along both edges of the mural.

It showed a great tree with lush branches spreading in every direction. At the crown of the tree hung a single diamond-shaped "fruit."

That diamond-shaped fruit represented the monster guarding the Ruins of the King’s Tomb—the Spiegel, the water-mirror demon.

Come to think of it, the same image could be found all over the walls throughout the dungeon. Most mages who entered simply assumed it was an ordinary decorative motif and never realized what it actually represented.

Haruto stared at the depiction of the Spiegel, absentmindedly rubbing his chin as an idea suddenly occurred to him.

The Spiegel looked almost like an exquisitely crafted gemstone. It did not appear to possess flesh at all.

Could it perhaps be used as material for forging a kitchen knife?

The creature possessed the unique ability to replicate the abilities of others, while its own body seemed closer to mineral or gemstone than organic flesh.

From Haruto’s perspective, that sounded like an exceptional material being delivered straight into his hands.

The more he thought about it, the more plausible the idea seemed.

Haruto decided that once they actually encountered the Spiegel, he would have to discuss it properly with Frieren and see if she would let him take the creature with him.

Still considering the possibility, Haruto finished searching the hidden room with Frieren, Fern, and Sense. Once they confirmed there was nothing else concealed inside, the four left and sealed the stone entrance behind them again.

Not far from the hidden chamber was the staircase leading down to the lowest level of the dungeon.

"This has been almost too easy."

Fern could not help commenting as they descended.

"Maybe we’ll just reach the deepest point without any trouble and pass the exam like that."

It was not difficult to understand why she thought so.

Aside from mimics, they had not encountered a single noteworthy monster along the way, and every trap they came across had been casually dismantled by Frieren.

Exploring the dungeon had felt more like strolling through their own backyard than braving one of the most dangerous ruins on the continent.

"Maybe."

Frieren answered absentmindedly.

She had explored far too many dungeons to believe that things were really so simple.

Whenever a dungeon seemed suspiciously peaceful, it often meant the most dangerous part was waiting at the end.

This was the First-Class Mage Exam.

There was no chance it would conclude without any real challenge.

Sense remained silent beside them.

As one of the exam proctors, she naturally knew something about the secret waiting at the deepest level of the Ruins of the King’s Tomb.

Their journey had been so smooth not because they were lucky, but because the thing at the bottom had deliberately made it that way.

Of course, Sense had no intention of giving them any hints.

Haruto glanced thoughtfully at Frieren walking ahead and had already pieced most of the situation together.

The Spiegel clearly possessed considerable intelligence. Otherwise, it would never have thought to place a replica of Frieren in front of itself as protection.

Likewise, it obviously understood just how terrifying a thousand-year-old Great Mage like Frieren truly was.

Any replicas of ordinary mages it sent against her would be crushed almost immediately.

So the Spiegel had simply kept every other replica far away from their group and directed them toward the other examinees instead.

That was probably why Haruto’s group had encountered nothing dangerous at all aside from mimics.

As they talked, the four reached the corridor at the bottom of the staircase.

Ahead of them, Denken and three others who had arrived earlier were gathered in miserable condition before a closed stone door.

Their robes were torn and ragged, with scorch marks from magic covering several sections and dried blood staining others.

"Why is everyone waiting out here?"

Frieren looked at the four of them in confusion.

"Aren’t you going inside?"

At the sound of her voice, Denken and the others looked up.

When they saw Frieren, their expressions first relaxed with relief before quickly turning helpless again.

Denken pointed toward the sealed door behind him and explained hoarsely,

"Judging from the structure, the hall beyond this door leads directly to the deepest point of the dungeon—the destination of the examination."

"So?"

Frieren tilted her head.

"Why are all of you standing out here?"

"Because we can’t get past what’s inside."

Denken gave a bitter smile.

"They’ve been occupying that hall for quite a while now. We tried forcing our way through once."

"We were driven straight back out, and we nearly died in there."

Frieren immediately became interested.

She hurried to the door, leaned close to the narrow gap, and peered into the hall beyond.

The chamber was dim, vast, and completely silent.

Only two figures stood at the far end, directly before the door leading to the deepest part of the tomb.

One was identical to Frieren.

Its appearance, posture, and even the fluctuations of its mana matched hers perfectly.

There was no doubt that it was her replica.

Standing beside it was another replica.

Haruto.

Even while simply standing motionless, the duplicate radiated an oppressive presence.

"Hm. Now this is interesting."

Instead of showing the slightest fear, Frieren’s eyes brightened.

A delighted smile appeared on her face.

"This is what dungeon exploration is supposed to be like."

"It would’ve been boring if we could just stroll all the way to the end without anything happening."

Frieren leaned toward the gap again and observed the hall carefully.

Before long, she reached a conclusion.

"It’s a perfect replica."

"That copy of me is just as strong as I am."

"It isn’t only your replica, Frieren-sama."

Denken’s expression became even more bitter.

He glanced uneasily toward Haruto standing behind her.

"His replica is absurdly strong too."

"If we don’t defeat both of them, there’s no way we can cross the hall and reach the deepest point."

Even remembering their earlier attempt still made Denken uneasy.

He had fought Frieren during the first stage of the exam and knew perfectly well how terrifying her strength was, so he had already been mentally prepared for her replica.

Haruto, however, was another matter entirely.

Denken knew nothing about him.

He had been cautious, of course, but not particularly worried.

After all, Haruto did not even look like a mage.

Then they rushed into the hall.

The moment Denken launched an offensive spell, Haruto’s replica simply took the attack head-on with its body.

It did not suffer so much as a scratch.

Then it appeared directly in front of them in an instant and threw a single punch.

Their defensive magic shattered outright.

That degree of physical strength did not resemble anything a human being should possess.

It was more like facing a top-class monster wearing human skin.

Fortunately, both replicas seemed concerned only with guarding the door and had no intention of pursuing anyone outside the hall.

Otherwise, Denken’s entire group might already have been wiped out.

Haruto walked over to the door and glanced through the gap at the other "himself."

A moment later, he looked away and relaxed.

"My replica should be pretty easy to deal with."

"The Spiegel can’t completely reproduce my abilities."

For the mages of this world, the Spiegel’s replication ability was practically flawless. It could perfectly recreate a target’s strength, mana, and spells.

But Haruto was an entirely different case.

His Gourmet Cells were not something the Spiegel could reproduce.

Neither was his Nen, since Nen did not belong to this world’s power system at all.

Haruto could clearly sense that the replica inside the hall had only copied his physical strength.

Defeating it should not be especially difficult.

"Is that so?"

Frieren turned toward Haruto thoughtfully.

From the moment they first met, she had already noticed the strange energy inside him.

And now, even the Spiegel’s supposedly perfect replication could not reproduce Haruto’s full strength.

That only made Frieren even more curious about where Haruto had come from.