[Investigate the incident at the fourth mine and report any findings to the employer. Time remaining: 11 hours 16 minutes.]0

Inside the fortress's courtyard, the dense magical energy filling the space immediately stood out. 0

Contrary to just a few hours ago, the courtyard was now shrouded in darkness—it had once again been consumed by dark mana.0

Kyuntriachae and his servants had been tied up and were now lying in front of the fountain's statue. A sinister red magic circle surrounded them, emitting an ominous light.0

“Krrr?”0

Standing in front of them, a half-transformed demonic entity stared at me. Their wide-open eyes conveyed their panic at my prompt arrival, and I assumed this was the lone returning miner. Their transformation hadn’t been completed yet, probably due to a lack of time.0

Looking at the magic circle, the miner had been in the middle of preparing something.0

Kyuntriachae appeared shocked. “You, you!”0

I met Kyuntriachae's gaze.0

Despite his age, I found his inability to properly dispatch even a single demon underwhelming. After all, I had just seen him dispatch similarly powerful beasts only the day before—well, fifty years ago.0

“Deal with the magic circle first!”0

Urged on by his frantic words, I nodded...0