Dark Lord in Chains 123 (Patreon)

After a brief consideration, I decided that the merits of going down the mineshaft were the better of the two options. The construction of the ward didn’t imply a great deal of magical competency, which, in turn, suggested that whatever was hidden shouldn’t be too dangerous. 

Hopefully.

I wanted to go down, more as a precaution than anything else. The capital was already a boiling cauldron of hot oil — with political battles, the financial collapse of the empire, the intervention from the dark lands, and not to mention, elves and phoenixes — and all that needed was a weak drop of water to throw everything into chaos. 

I decided not to miss the opportunity to remove a possible piece from the board, especially if the said piece was this close to the capital. Bypassing the ward was trivial … which was why I used the elven casting traditions to slowly create the threads and weaken the connection between them; I only dared to do that because of the incompetence of the casters, the different parts of the ward rubbing against each other in conflict, making it impossible for them to set a detection ward in a way that wouldn’t be triggered by their own ward. 

Of course, technically, it was possible. I could imagine casting one if I spent a couple of days on it … but if they had the skill, their initial ward would have been much stronger. I started moving down, noting that the deeper I got, the abandoned mines got abandoned. The signs of used torches, discarded food items, bugs, and other critters that had been killed relatively recently… 

I had to deal with a few mana shadows, a frown blooming on my face.  The threat they represented didn’t get any higher, as I could deal with them even when using my unfamiliar magic, but the number of them was starting to reach a point that tickled my suspicion. The discrepancy made me frown as I started to use my shadow magic for concealment. Something was wrong. And, I was self-aware enough to realize antagonizing a faction of unknown strength and capabilities unless necessary. 

The time to experiment was over. 

As I abandoned the elven tradition, I started moving down the mine shaft much faster. The decision to explore might have been impulsive, but didn’t mean I wouldn’t take the necessary precautions. I had no intention of revealing my identity…

And it was for the best if they had never learned of my presence in the first place. 

I walked twenty minutes before I came across another ward … one that couldn’t be more different than the previous one other than its inability to keep people out. 

I had no doubt that, once upon a time, the ward I had been facing was impenetrable. Its magical structure was both elegant and strong at one time, before the ravages of time ruined its structure. 

The ward put a frown on my face … for two reasons. First, the entrance was the source the mana shadows were constantly escaping — showing just how badly the defenses had collapsed — which implied there might be something more dangerous inside. 

Second, once again I didn’t recognize the identity of what I had been facing … and considering I was about to face yet another potential disaster, it didn’t make me feel any better. 

Was it pessimistic for me to assume I was about to find another dangerous trigger … if I asked someone else, the answer would be positive, but after everything that happened, it was just realism. 

I frowned. I was still alive and well, but it was now abundantly clear I was about to suffer another dangerous situation, II didn’t feel any better. First, I went back,  but not out of the wards completely. No, I went halfway between two wards, and established one of my own. 

It was not a ward that could keep people out, but then, it was not my objective. I copied the style of the first incompetent ward outwardly, and it could be easily destroyed, but unlike it, it wasn’t actually in conflict … meaning I could easily link an alert ward to it. 

I was hoping that if someone faced the first ward, they would be inclined to underestimate the second one. Not the best attempt I could do, but a nice compromise between stealth, security, and time. 

Sometimes, it was the best option.  

After that, I went back to the entrance. Bypassing the ancient ward was trivial, and I started moving down … and found myself in a marble corridor, decorated with gold and gemstones … making it very expensive. 

Expensive enough to make me convinced whoever established the first ward failed to arrive there. Their limited magical knowledge already made them a poor candidate to breach the old ward … and there was no dust in the marble halls, but I would have expected them to take some of the gold and the gemstones. 

But, the number of mana shadows rushing me, forcing me to kill a couple every minute made it difficult for me to focus on the historical remains. 

I hoped that was the only thing that would have to deal with, but when I stepped to a certain spot, I felt a flare of magic. And, at the same time, I heard a hard, thudding footstep, the kind that couldn’t be made by any humanoid, suggesting a weight of several tons. 

I rolled back, just in time as a blade passed through where I had been occupying. 

A statue, I noticed, moving far faster than I had seen any golem. In the next attack, I used my shield to block, but it was more accurate to describe that as leveraging its strength to put some distance. 

I quickly established a ward, one that would keep it away for a minute as I examined it. Not for long, as the ward that was supposed to last for a minute barely lasted two seconds, barely giving me enough time to examine it. 

It was made of marble, gold, and other precious materials, half of it I couldn’t even recognize, and it was absolutely ruthless. I didn’t know a magical construct could be this strong, pushing me back easily in its lonesome, each step cracking the marble floor.  

“And, it’s doing it with damaged wards,” I gasped in shock. The golem hadn’t been damaged as bad as the outer ward, but the magic that was supposed to keep it moving was still damaged significantly. Also, not all material on its surface was pristine, some were cracked, some rusty. 

I forced myself to separate from the golem as it rushed closed once more, swinging its sword mercilessly, its existence threatening to destroy me if I dared to destroy it. 

I could still hit with magic, but there was something that was keeping me back. There were several magical links between the golem and something else, meaning its destruction had the chance of triggering a lot of things … including alarms. 

I dodged as I did my best to understand the spells that went to its construction, its emotionless face and gem eyes tracking me. Worse, I didn’t want to use magic aggressively, afraid of triggering even more traps. 

“I fucking knew this would be trouble,” I growled as I tried to use my sword to damage its leg, but it failed spectacularly, and I barely avoided the damage in turn. 

Admittedly, not out of my expectations. The blade of shadows was an excellent weapon, one that earned its reputation by creating a sea of blood in its long and infamous history. Unfortunately, one word was the key … blood. 

The blade was a famous tool of assassination, elegant, deadly, and capable of hiding its owner while he delivered a deadly blow. None of those details were relevant against a golem. 

I shook my head as I tried to come up with a way to take it down without bringing the corridor down as well — either through triggering more traps, or damaging the corridor through my spells. I had some ideas that could be useful … but they required a lot of time and concentration. 

And, of course, that moment was I felt an alert from the ward I had constructed, telling me that I had visitors. After the week I had, not exactly a shocking realization. 

I stroked my chin as I pulled back, trying to decide what to do…