Chapter 261

The moment Frieren’s replica turned its attention toward Haruto, a gap inevitably appeared in its defenses.

Frieren, who had been fighting it head-on, naturally had no intention of wasting such a rare opportunity.

The tip of her staff erupted with brilliant light, and a barrage of offensive spells flooded toward the replica from every direction.

It immediately raised defensive magic to block Frieren’s assault.

But from the other side, Fern moved at the same time.

She poured more than half of her remaining mana into a single offensive spell and fired it immediately behind Frieren’s barrage.

The replica successfully stopped Frieren’s attacks.

It had no time left to defend against Fern’s.

The spell punched straight through its body.

More attacks followed before it could recover.

Its already damaged form began collapsing, then finally broke apart and vanished completely into the air.

Silence returned to the hall.

Only the faint clatter of loose stones falling from the damaged walls remained.

Haruto jumped out of the human-shaped crater in the wall, brushed the dust from his clothes, and moved his arms and shoulders a few times.

"That was rough. That hit nearly shook me apart."

He was not actually injured, but the attack Frieren’s replica had used intrigued him.

Even with En combined with his recently awakened Observation Haki, Haruto had only barely sensed the fluctuation of mana before it struck.

The spell might not have possessed overwhelming destructive power, but its near-total lack of warning made it extremely difficult to defend against.

On the other side of the hall, Frieren and Fern slowly descended from the air.

Frieren glanced at Fern with unmistakable satisfaction.

Haruto had created the opening, but Fern had recognized it instantly and acted at exactly the right moment, coordinating with Frieren well enough to finish the replica.

That alone proved that Fern had already grown capable of standing on her own.

The three wasted no time talking.

After exchanging a glance, they turned toward the stone doors at the deepest end of the hall.

Beyond them lay the core of the Ruins of the King’s Tomb—and the hiding place of the Spiegel itself.

Haruto stepped forward and placed one hand against the doors.

He applied a little force.

With a deep grinding rumble, the heavy stone doors swung apart, revealing the room beyond.

At its center stood a mountain of treasure made from piled gold coins, jewels, and precious artifacts.

And before that glittering mound was the true body of the Spiegel.

Frieren immediately raised her staff, preparing to destroy it.

Haruto reached out and stopped her.

"Frieren, can you leave the Spiegel to me?"

His gaze remained fixed on the monster.

According to what he could sense, the Spiegel truly possessed no flesh at all. Its body appeared to be composed entirely of inorganic material.

In that case, there was no way Haruto was going to let such a potentially valuable material disappear.

Frieren blinked.

Then she nodded without much hesitation.

"Sure."

"But I’m sealing it completely first. I don’t want anything unexpected happening."

Haruto naturally had no objection.

Frieren raised her staff and began casting.

Countless sealing runes resembling luminous chains shot outward and wrapped themselves around the Spiegel in the center of the chamber.

The creature itself possessed virtually no ability to resist directly.

It could only remain there as layer after layer of sealing magic bound it.

Stone-like patterns gradually spread across its surface until it looked almost completely petrified.

Even the light emanating from its body faded away.

Haruto immediately opened the Gourmet Restaurant and stored the sealed Spiegel inside.

At the exact moment the Spiegel was fully sealed, replicas throughout the entire Ruins of the King’s Tomb began disappearing.

Mages who had been locked in desperate fights stared blankly as their opponents suddenly dissolved into the air.

A moment later, relief swept over them.

Nerves that had remained stretched tight for so long finally relaxed.

Everyone understood what had happened.

The second stage of the First-Class Mage Exam was over.

Frieren watched Haruto store away the Spiegel, then immediately broke into an excited smile.

"Now—treasure hunting!"

Before she had even finished speaking, she rushed toward the mountain of treasure.

The enormous pile of gold coins and valuables shimmered beneath the candlelight, almost dazzling to look at.

Of course, while Frieren was interested in the magical items mixed among the treasure, what caught her attention most were the chests.

Several ornate golden treasure chests gleamed invitingly among the riches, silently begging to be opened.

Frieren’s eyes locked onto one of them.

She raised a finger and cast her spell for identifying mimics.

The result was perfectly clear.

It contained mana.

It displayed every characteristic associated with a mimic.

Frieren stared at the beautiful golden chest with complete confidence.

"Hmm-hmm. The mimic-detection spell may be ninety-nine percent accurate, but that still leaves a one-percent chance."

"My many years of experience as a mage are telling me that a luxurious treasure chest hidden at the deepest point of a royal tomb absolutely has to contain a rare grimoire."

"There’s no way something this important-looking could just be a boring mimic."

With that, Frieren grabbed the lid and opened it without hesitation.

A tongue shot out from inside.

It wrapped around Frieren and snapped backward, dragging the entire upper half of her body into the chest.

Haruto watched from nearby without the slightest surprise.

After everything he had seen today, this had become completely normal.

If anything, he was rather pleased.

"Nice. Another mimic for the collection."

Fern quickly pushed Frieren farther inside until the creature spat her back out, and Haruto immediately pinned down the mimic before it could escape.

Then he noticed something unusual.

Perhaps because these mimics had spent years surrounded by gold and treasure, their outer shells were not made from the wood-like material of ordinary mimics.

They were metallic.

Their surfaces gleamed with a cold, hardened luster and rang with a clear metallic note when struck.

They were also noticeably stronger than the mimics Haruto had encountered earlier.

After examining one carefully, he discovered that the meat inside these metallic mimics was different as well.

The flesh was firmer and finer in texture.

As an ingredient, it was clearly superior to ordinary mimic meat.

Even more exciting, however, was the enormous treasure chest sitting atop the mountain of riches.

That one was also a mimic.

It stood more than two meters tall and stretched over three meters in length. Its shell was dark gold and covered in intricate patterns, while the mana radiating from it was several times denser than that of the smaller mimics.

Haruto stared at the giant mimic and unconsciously swallowed.

Now that was a premium specimen.

Still, he suppressed the urge to capture it immediately.

Opening treasure chests was what "triggered" these ingredients, after all.

It would be better to leave that job to Frieren.

Haruto certainly could not deprive her of the "fun."

So he folded his arms and waited calmly.

Frieren had already turned toward the next chest.

Unsurprisingly, it swallowed her too.

And so the strange cycle continued.

Frieren opened a chest.

The mimic swallowed her.

Fern rescued Frieren.

Haruto captured the mimic and stored it in the Gourmet Restaurant.

The three of them divided the work with such smooth efficiency that the whole arrangement somehow became oddly harmonious.

While this bizarre routine was still underway, Sense was the first of the others to enter the deepest chamber.

She took one look at what the three of them were doing.

Her expression did not change at all.

Apparently, she had already become completely numb to it.

A little while later, Denken and the other examinees gradually arrived at the deepest point of the Ruins of the King’s Tomb.

The sight of the mountain of treasure immediately left many of them stunned.

"So this is the deepest chamber of the King’s Tomb..."

Denken looked around and could not help letting out a quiet sigh.

Actually making it here was more moving than he had expected.

Sense turned toward the gathered examinees, her expression becoming formal once more.

"Congratulations."

"You have successfully conquered the Ruins of the King’s Tomb."

"This achievement is in no way inferior to the accomplishments expected of a First-Class Mage. It is a feat worthy of being recorded in history."

"Furthermore, according to the rules established before the examination began, every examinee who successfully reaches the deepest point of the tomb passes the second stage of the First-Class Mage Exam."

The tension finally disappeared from everyone’s faces.

Then Denken looked around and frowned slightly.

"Come to think of it, Frieren-sama and Haruto-san contributed the most to clearing the dungeon."

"Where is Frieren-sama?"

Sense gave him a helpless look and tilted her chin toward one corner of the chamber.

Denken and the other examinees followed her gaze.

Then all of them froze.

Frieren’s upper body was currently trapped inside another mimic.

From within the chest came her broken, tearful voice.

"It’s so dark... I’m scared..."

"So dark... I’m scared..."