The Thing That Haunts the Mansion

In a corner of a bubble world separated from countless other bubbles, there exists a forest world. It is such a tiny world that there are no organized nations or settlements of any kind. If one were to insist, there is a single inn in the forest, which was thought to be the only sign of civilization in this small woodland.

The inn, run by an old goblin—"The Inn of Restful Solitude"—is characterized by its unique cultural atmosphere, delicious rice dishes, and hot springs with many medicinal benefits. It has become a secretly popular spot for traveling spell-card users as a hidden sanctuary where they can rest quietly far from civilization.

There are no particularly dangerous beasts living in the surrounding forest. Occasionally, wolves or bears might pass through, but for a spell-card user, they are not much of a threat, let alone for an ordinary person. Birds chirp without being noisy, and the gentle murmur of the river soothes the ears. This is one of the safest zones in the bubble world, a place untouched by commotion or battle...

■ ■ ■

“Customer! Please wait. You must not go to that mansion!”

A loud voice echoed, out of place in the quiet forest. A small goblin came pattering out from the inn's front desk. He was a charming goblin wearing a tuxedo. The goblin looked extremely flustered. It seemed he was trying to stop one of the guests.

Hearing the goblin's voice, a man—the guest—turned around. The goblin shuddered for a moment at the unconscious intensity the man radiated. The guest's name was Van Riu.

“Why are you stopping me? I have already paid for my stay.”

“Y-you, why are you trying to go to that mansion when I told you how dangerous it is?”

“It is decided. I am going to fight the monster that nests in the mansion.”

The situation is as follows: In this small forest, there is only one other structure besides the Inn of Restful Solitude. It is a mansion that has already become a ruin, said to have existed even longer than the inn.

The proprietor of the inn... the goblin, did not have much interest in this mansion, but curious guests would go to investigate it on their own. As a result, out of the three spell-card users who entered, two never returned, and the remaining one collapsed in front of the inn, covered in wounds. The survivor muttered tremblingly, “A monster lives in the mansion.”

After this incident, the proprietor forbade entry to the mansion, but travelers who went there out of curiosity and an overestimation of their own abilities never ceased... Eventually, he sealed it off with a barrier spell-card. Fortunately, the mansion has never launched any kind of attack against the inn. As long as this state of non-aggression continues, the inn can maintain its peace.

“And yet, why would you go out of your way to break the prohibition and go to the mansion!?”

You slaughtered multiple spell-card users, didn't you? In that case, I suspected that a formidable opponent was lurking there. I must become the strongest. If there is a powerful enemy, I will go to them.

That is why...

The innkeeper fell silent. Logical arguments had no effect on this man. If that was the case, what method could be used to persuade him?

Meanwhile, Ryu was also deep in thought. As long as the barrier existed, if he could not obtain the innkeeper's permission, he would have no choice but to force his way through. However, because the innkeeper was a pacifist, he could not fight him.

Then, how about this?

Ryu took out a single spell card from his hand.

If you let me pass, I will pay you separately from the accommodation fee. How about that?

Are you trying to bribe me!?

Ryu's action only added fuel to the fire. Realizing this method would not work, Ryu put the currency spell card back into his pocket. He had seen someone skillfully negotiating in a town in another world before, but things were not going as smoothly as that.

After that, the argument between the goblin innkeeper and Ryu continued for a while, but when the innkeeper realized there was no room for persuasion, he set a time limit and allowed the man to set off on the condition that he would return quietly if he did not achieve results after a certain amount of time. Ryu reluctantly agreed to this and finally ventured into the forest.

The innkeeper intentionally did not inform Ryu of the mansion's location. No matter how small the world might be, the forest was reasonably large, and it was not uncommon for people to get lost if they lacked local knowledge. In fact, among the spell-card users who had challenged the mansion so far, there were several who had turned back after getting lost. The innkeeper was following that precedent this time as well.

At this point, there was one miscalculation in the innkeeper's expectations. It was that Ryu's combat intuition was extraordinarily sharp. Ryu walked the path to the mansion as smoothly and accurately as if he were not in a forest he was visiting for the first time.

■ ■ ■

The path leading to the mansion was in the middle of a forest where almost no sunlight entered.

In contrast to the warm atmosphere around the inn, the forest in this area was dark and slightly damp, as if it wanted to exclude anyone who approached. If someone with a weak heart were walking here, they would surely be overcome by fear and want to turn back immediately. As if to mock such people, the surrounding beasts howled in the distance.

However, on this day, it was Ryu who was challenging the mansion. He was a man who knew nothing of fear, and he advanced without being bothered by the gloomy atmosphere of the forest. Perhaps the beasts living in the surroundings instinctively sensed the pressure of his presence, as they did not even let out a single growl.

Therefore, Ryu passed through the forest without incident and arrived at the mansion. The mansion where monsters dwell.

The mansion stood in the dim forest. The building, which seemed to have been constructed with a different cultural background than a traditional inn, was visibly dilapidated and barely maintained its exterior. There was no miasma or evil energy of the kind one might expect from the rumors that monsters lived there. Because it was eroded by plants like moss, it was as if the mansion itself were already a dead tree, and if one were to visit without knowing of its existence, it would not be strange to pass by without even realizing it was a mansion.

Perhaps someone before him had pried it open, but the front door was already gone. From the wide-open entrance, Ryu stepped into the mansion—.

“!?”

A whistling sound cut through the air. Ryu dodged instinctively, kicked the top of the entrance with that momentum, and landed in the foyer while rolling. He stood up immediately and caught sight of the attacker—a floating chair.

(A chair...?)

The chair swirled in the air and dove toward Ryu, pointing its legs at him. Ryu threw a counter-punch to intercept it, but the moment his fist made contact, he was sent flying back by a powerful impact.

Though he nearly hit his head on the dusty floor, Ryu spun rapidly in mid-air to prevent the collision. He slammed both feet onto the floor and retreated vigorously, creating a friction sound. He glared at the chair still in the air and felt suspicious.

(Is that chair a product of a magic card?)

Ryu thought that the impact generated by the previous contact might have been a collision between the force field formed around him and the chair. This was because he had been struck by an impact similar to when his barrier field took minor damage.

The chair floated up as if suspended upside down... and charged straight at Ryu again! A homing chair!

“Hmph!”

Ryu instinctively drew one magic card and used it. It was not from the bundle of miscellaneous magic cards he carried, but from the top of his own deck. Counter-punch. A golden aura enveloped Ryu's body.

The chair's attack was, as before, a monotonous linear strike. Ryu, who possessed extraordinary dynamic vision, easily dodged the attack and landed a counter-attack of his own. Unlike before, this counter-attack was imbued with the power of a magic card. Ryu's fist shattered the chair in a single blow. Mixed in with the falling dust, a single magic card fell to the floor and quietly vanished.

“A magic card, after all... Has the duel already begun?”

Ryu muttered to himself and drew four magic cards from his deck. He did not know the principle behind it, but from the moment he stepped into the mansion, a duel using magic cards had begun. This was the first time Ryu had experienced such a case, and his muscles trembled with anticipation. Ryu left the foyer and climbed the stairs to the second floor.

■ ■ ■

The interior of the mansion was even more dilapidated than its exterior, practically a ruin.

And as a matter of course, every time he visited a room, a new poltergeist attacked Ryu, and each time he replenished one magic card and repelled it. Candlesticks, stuffed animals, some kind of device—the most enormous of them all was a bed.

Ryu was surprised when the bed came crashing through the bedroom door, but like the chairs and other objects, he easily repelled it with a single magic card and his fist. Just like the furniture before it, a magic card fluttered out from the breaking bed and vanished into the void.

Now, it was when he left the bedroom and stepped into the study. Ryu, who had been expecting a bookshelf to attack him next, was answered by the raspy voice of an old man.

(Intruder. Leave at once. Do you know where you are? This is the castle of the great necromancer, Divalt Elixeld!)

The voice did not ring in his eardrums, but directly inside Ryu's brain. However, Ryu replied without fear. In a dignified voice.

"I am Van Ryu. I have come to fight the monsters that dwell in this mansion. If you are the master of this place, then you are my opponent."

Ryu lowered his hips deeply and took his stance. A gust of wind raged, and dust and scattered books were whipped up. Immediately after.

(W-wait! I have no intention of crossing magic cards with you—)

The mysterious voice's telepathy was drowned out by the person's own coughing. Perhaps the swirling dust had entered his airway. Eventually, before the suspicious Ryu, a small man appeared from the shadows of a bookshelf, coughing violently. He was an old man wearing robes like a hermit.

"Once again, I am Divalt Elixeld—cough. So much dust has accumulated while I was sleeping for so long. I must clean again... *cough*"

The old man... Divalt coughed violently and rubbed his own back. After a while, Ryu asked.

Ever since I entered this mansion, chairs and bedding have been attacking me with magic cards. I suspect it's the work of a monster. If you aren't the monster yourself, do you know anything about it?

The master of those magic cards is me. Wait, don't be so hasty. It is true that it was my magic cards that attacked you, but I was not the one who cast them.

What do you mean?

Divart sat on a fallen bookshelf as if it were a chair and began to speak.

As I said before, I was once known as a necromancer. I studied many spirit-calling arts, laid my hands on many living souls... and in the end, I became a magic card user.

The old man's hands trembled.

The young me was arrogant. I obtained forbidden magic cards, buried countless magic card users... devoured them, and grew even more powerful. I was greedy. Day after day, I spent my time in research and duels. With each passing day, my power grew immense...

The old man coughed once and continued his story.

One day, it happened. The passion I had for dueling, the thirst for power, suddenly vanished as if a thread had been cut. My heart became a hollow shell. I cannot recall now what triggered it, but having lost even the desire to live, I found peace among these small trees, far from conflict, and decided to make this place my own tombstone.

Then you should have just died.

Ryu said indifferently. Divart responded with a wail.

I couldn't! Even if I didn't seek duels, my avatar was different. It remained hungry for battle, devouring all the dangerous creatures in the area, and still not satisfied, it made a meal of the magic card users who happened to visit this land... It grew too powerful. Because of that, I am not permitted to die. Even if I were to attempt suicide, it would surely come to stop me. All that fills me now is regret. Because I sought excessive power, I must suffer for eternity.

Divart shed large tears.

It is still hungry. If things continue this way, it might affect other worlds and wreak havoc. I did not want that. That is why I bound it to this mansion along with myself. So that it cannot escape from here.

I see, so you are suffering.

After listening to Divart's story, Ryu concluded.

Then, I will put an end to your suffering.

Ryu declared. Powerfully.

Your avatar is seeking me, isn't it? In that case, we are fated to fight anyway. Tell me where it is.

“Fool. I told you, did I not? My avatar is a dangerous entity now. To fight it... is beyond reckless; it is like challenging a mythical being.”

“I must become the strongest. Whether it be an avatar or a god, if it is a powerful foe, I will defeat it.”

Dibalt felt anxious. Was the man before him, much like himself in his youth, possessed by power? He sensed a danger within that simple-minded strength. On the other hand, he also felt something different about him. Perhaps this man could break his curse and choose a path different from his own—that expectation existed as well.

After much deliberation, Dibalt decided to bet on Ryu and lifted the seal leading to the avatar. Then, he pointed his finger toward the ceiling.

“The third floor, the Chamber of Penance. That is where my avatar resides. Be careful; it is no longer a normal existence.”

Ryu flexed his muscles and grinned.

“I shall show you that I, too, can transcend the normal.”

■ ■ ■

Leaping over the stairs that looked as if they might collapse at any moment, Ryu jumped onto the third floor. The stairs shattered from the recoil, but he had no need for a retreat anyway. Ryu easily forced open the heavy door with his muscles. A deep darkness greeted him.

A complete darkness where not even a single ray of light was permitted to exist... No. Within the darkness itself, there was one faint point of light. It was a single magic card, burning with a pale, evil flame. Sensing Ryu's presence, the magic card floated up and rapidly intensified its light...! Ryu braced himself.

The light emitted by the magic card soon took on substance and began to expand. It formed countless arms, legs, and a massive body... manifesting an evil not of this world. In other words, it was the summoning of Dibalt's avatar.

Ryu readied his fists and deployed five magic cards into the air. A strong enemy after so long... Ryu's fighting spirit flared up. As if in response, the avatar before him roared. And then...

“|Conflict|!”

Ryu shouted alone and used one magic card from his hand. A light, the exact opposite of Aggregate's blue... a vermilion glow ignited on Ryu's fist. Ryu closed the distance to the avatar in an instant and unleashed the strike of the magic card.Lethal Fist!

“““GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG—!!”””

The incarnated Avatar. Ryu struck with all his might at what he perceived to be its heart! The Avatar’s giant frame bent into a V-shape as it was blown away and collapsed. However, while it was a powerful blow that would have killed a normal magic card creature in one hit, it was not enough to completely destroy the Avatar.

The Avatar rose unsteadily. The spot where the previous blow had landed was gouged out, but as the Avatar’s body glowed intensely, it began to form black flesh as if absorbing the surrounding darkness, and it was soon restored to its original state.

“I see. You avoided destruction by converting it into damage.”

Ryu calmly interpreted the phenomenon that he had failed to destroy.

“...Turn end.”

But that was when it happened. Two pieces of flesh crumbled from the Avatar’s body, and each formed a body that could be called a small Avatar itself. The parts that had shed the flesh also repaired themselves just as before. Divart’s Avatar, Ghost Aggregate, possessed both powerful regenerative abilities and the ability to produce minions!

“““GGGG...”””

The ghost let out an eerie, mocking laugh... and ordered its minions to attack Ryu! The minion ghosts opened their creepy, massive mouths wide and charged at Ryu.

Ryu’s response to the minions’ attack was—.

He took it head-on! The strange, long fangs damaged the barrier field Ryu had released, slightly gouging Ryu’s body within the field. Yet, Ryu did not let out a single scream; instead, he wore a smile.

The Avatar, which had been looking forward to the prey’s screams, groaned in dissatisfaction and extended countless long, tentacle-like fangs from its own limbs. It was the main body’s attack. Countless fangs targeted Ryu. This time, Ryu dodged several of the fangs, waiting for the right moment. And just as the fang closest to the Avatar aimed for him, he activated a magic card.

Counter-Fist! It was the same magic card as when he destroyed the chair. While deflecting the fang attack, Ryu landed a counter-punch. The Avatar, having taken the counter-attack directly, staggered heavily and slumped backward.

The Avatar pierced two of its minions with its fangs, performing an absorption recovery. However, it still seemed to need time to recover. With that, the Avatar’s turn ended. Ryu judged this to be the case and was about to draw a new magic card, but...

“...!!”

Immediately after, countless tentacle-fangs sprouted from beneath his feet! He had intended to dodge instinctively, but his barrier field was significantly eroded. And from the surrounding darkness, even more fangs were closing in.

(Multiple attack ability...!!)

Ryu inwardly regretted underestimating the Avatar's abilities. Its phenomenal regenerative powers, its ability to generate minions—perhaps these were abilities it had acquired as it grew more powerful. If so, it would not be strange for it to possess other abilities as well. Aggregate had become that formidable a magic card creature.

Multiple fangs sprouting from the darkness dealt further damage to Ryu's force field. Ryu did not let out a cry of agony at first, but the sheer number of attacks was terrifying. Countless attacks piled up, and finally, the barrier field shattered almost completely, the impact blowing Ryu far back.

“Guh... ugh...”

All the fangs receded, and the Avatar appeared from the darkness once again. Naturally, it was unscathed. On the other hand, Ryu had been wounded by the previous attack and was in a truly desperate situation. On the verge of victory, Aggregate wore a vulgar smile.

“I have been waiting for this situation...”

However, no matter how much he was wounded, Ryu never knelt, maintaining his combat stance. In his hand was a new magic card.

“To defeat you, petty attacks are not enough. It seems I must bury you with the full force of my fist.”

At that moment, over a dozen fists emerged behind Ryu. Some fists radiated flames, some lightning, and some the crimson light of slaughter. These were all the 'fist' spells Ryu had unleashed since entering the mansion. Witnessing that majesty, Aggregate perhaps knew the emotion of fear for the first time.

“Fist-Strike Hell”

Literally, it was hell. As the words implied, it was Ryu's full power. Without being given a moment to recover, a fist struck the Avatar, and the next fist struck the Avatar. Damage from a fist. Damage from a fist. Fist. Fist. Fist. Fist.

“““GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG”””

The Avatar screamed. It was no longer even a sequence of shrieks. Every time it took a blow, scorching heat, electric currents, and powerful vibrations pierced its entire body. And finally, a lethal fist accompanied by destruction pierced the Avatar's heart with pinpoint accuracy.

“G————!!”

The Avatar, the phantom Aggregate's body, scattered. The flesh that had been blown away in pieces no longer had the strength to regenerate and vanished as if evaporating.

With the disappearance of the incarnation, the abyss of darkness that had closed off this room of repentance faded, revealing the interior, which seemed to have been kept clean aside from being ravaged by the battle. On a simply made altar, a portrait of an unknown woman was displayed.

Confirming the complete annihilation of the phantom, Ryu relaxed his combat stance and tucked the magic card into his pocket. Then, a withered voice echoed from somewhere.

(((Thank you, Van Ryu. I thought a peaceful end was something far removed from me. But since you shattered the incarnation, I can finally depart to the other side. It is an unexpected joy... thank you—)))

It was a voice filled with peace, devoid of dignity or resignation. The Avatar's magic card was the embodiment of the magic card user's soul, and the death of the Avatar meant the death of the magic card user themselves. Ryu could not imagine how the growing, rampaging Avatar had corrupted its user's soul. But just now, he had been liberated. He had also overcome a fierce battle with a strong enemy. Ryu was enveloped in a sense of satisfaction.

Immediately after, the confessional shook violently, and the altar collapsed. No. Having lost its master and its purpose, the mansion itself had finally begun to crumble. Naturally, Ryu tried to get out, but a powerful drowsiness, the backlash from having used all his focus on the duel, overcame him. He had rarely been able to resist this sleepiness in the past. This time was no exception; as several pieces of rubble grazed his body, Ryu's consciousness faded, and he was swallowed by the ruins of the mansion.

■ ■ ■

"---Please... please wake up, Master Ryu!"

Ryu snapped his eyes open, pushed aside the massive piece of rubble that had been crushing his back, and forced himself to sit up. His wounds had already completely healed.

"Thank goodness. You're safe... How were you able to survive?"

The owner of the Peaceful Solitude Inn was the one who had spoken. Worried, he had followed Ryu, only to arrive just as the mansion was collapsing. He had managed to find Ryu, but unable to move the rubble, he had no choice but to call out to him.

"I defeated the monster that lived in the mansion."

"...I suppose you did."

The innkeeper looked again at what used to be the mansion. What had barely managed to keep its shape had finally lost its structural integrity and collapsed. Was it really a monster that had been nesting there? Now that everything had turned into a pile of rubble, there was nothing left to answer that question. The innkeeper decided not to think about it any further.

"Anyway, there might still be dangers lurking. Come now, let's get back to the inn quickly."

"Danger, you say? I'm fine. I need to find the next strong opponent..."

"Never mind that, let's go back. It's almost time for our promised return."

Using the condition they had set before going to the mansion as an excuse, the innkeeper forcefully tried to bring Ryu back. Ryu reluctantly followed. The two walked back to the inn, making idle conversation.

Even though the monster's mansion was gone, the area remained as poorly lit as ever. In the dim forest, as if to say the nuisance was finally gone, the beasts began to howl in the distance. A gentle breeze brushed over the pile of rubble that had once been the mansion.

[The Thing That Haunts the Mansion] End

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