Chapter 142 : Wipeout (4)
Wipeout (4)
Ian read Bertolf's memories using Judy's Bloodscent Mind Reading.
—Ssshhhp...
As he inhaled the scent of blood to the fullest, memories poured in like a torrent.
'So this is how it feels.'
It seemed that the memories came in sequence, starting from the most vivid.
Recent memories, important memories, memories he couldn't forget even if he wanted to.
There were a lot of useless memories, like Bertolf's personal grudges and embarrassing moments, but Ian also received definite, useful information: the lists and locations of prisoners kidnapped by the demonic humans.
'What a convenient ability. This will be very useful in the future.'
—Shwoooosh!
Moreover, each inhalation cost a reasonable amount of magic power.
'At this rate, I can extract all the information Bertolf has right here without overexerting myself.'
It only took about one-sixth of Ian's aura amount.
Although the amount of magic power consumed would be considered excessive by normal standards, for a peak Grandmaster, it was easily manageable.
'I probably won't have to fight anymore today anyway.'
According to Bertolf's memories, there were no more demonic humans in this hideout who could fight Ian, so he could use more aura without worry.
Without hesitation, Ian continued extracting memories.
Positions of the Demon Cult's hideouts, lists of demonic human spies, the powers they had and their demon artifacts.
Even Bertolf's personal magical insights and knowledge.
'Impressive.'
Useful information poured in like a waterfall.
'But memorizing and understanding are two different things.'
It felt like reading a book crammed haphazardly with countless pieces of information.
To firmly internalize and apply this information, simply reading the memories wouldn't be enough.
Just because you read a book written by a Great Mage doesn't mean you instantly become one.
'However...'
What if he used the Authority of Projection?
'The Authority of Projection can perfectly copy almost everything I comprehend.'
If Judy's Bloodscent Mind Reading allowed him to comprehend the knowledge, and he used the Authority of Projection to copy and implant it in his mind—
'Could I make the knowledge and insight of an 8th circle Great Mage mine in an instant?'
—Gulp.
Without delay, Ian decided to test it right away.
And a moment later—
─《Authority of Projection》─
◆ Skill
[Bertolf, archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins Cult: Magical Knowledge (8th Circle, lv.92)]
─────────
'This is insane...! It worked!'
Bertolf's lifetime of accumulated knowledge and insight became Ian's far too easily.
'The world looks different.'
Ian looked around the circular clearing.
'So many magical devices were installed in this hideout.'
Barrier artifacts at the entrances, magical circuits optimally connected across the ceiling and walls, and magic circles interspersed among the circuits.
'I know exactly what principle and design lay behind each one.'
He could instantly see where to destroy to dismantle them, or what to fix to reinforce them.
'This is nuts.'
If he used this knowledge, it would be extremely helpful whenever he had to deal with mages or disarm magical traps.
'If only I had a mana circle, I could use Bertolf's magic as is... But I guess that can't be helped.'
Mana circles and aura are rarely handled together in one body.
It's not impossible to use both, but it's harmful.
The circulation of mana hampers aura accumulation, and accumulated aura hinders mana circulation.
Handling both mana circles and aura in one body puts a brake on one's own growth.
You'd end up reaching a dead end.
'But it doesn't matter for me.'
Ian could use magic with the Authority of Projection even without a mana circle.
'I should select only the useful spells from Bertolf's magic and project them.'
However, it seemed difficult to project everything right now.
Just reading Bertolf's memories and projecting his knowledge had already consumed a third of Ian's aura.
He had to leave some reserves for unforeseen variables before returning to a completely safe zone, so he postponed projecting Bertolf's higher-level spells.
'For now, focus on extracting the rest of the information.'
Ian grabbed Bertolf by the throat and continued reading memory after memory through the blood scent.
For several minutes, only useless memories trickled past.
'...!!'
Suddenly, a fleeting shard of memory made Ian open his eyes wide.
'W-what is this...?!'
The memory showed the North, where the Heavenly Sword Lord was currently on an expedition.
There, the leader of the Cult of Greed—the Sin of Greed Cult Leader—was also present.
'The Sin of Greed Cult Leader is in the North? For what reason?'
Ian kept eagerly reading Bertolf's memories.
Images of the Sin of Greed Cult Leader came up intermittently, as if fitting pieces of a puzzle together.
'This is crazy...!'
And when all the pieces matched—
Ian could only be shocked.
'The Sin of Greed Cult Leader...! Is targeting the Heavenly Sword Lord?'
The Sin of Greed Cult Leader intended to capture the Heavenly Sword Lord and use him as a sacrifice to summon a grand duke of the demon realm.
A truly ambitious plot.
Bertolf's role was to collect and supply the magic power needed for the plan.
'Heh. Unbelievable. Even with greed, there should be some limit to recklessness.'
Darkan, the Heavenly Sword Lord, is the undisputed strongest in this world.
Even the seven grand dukes of the demon realm can't face him alone.
Even if two grand dukes joined forces, mutual destruction would be their best option; it'd take at least three to pose any real threat to the Heavenly Sword Lord.
'And yet...'
For the Sin of Greed Cult Leader, merely a proxy for a grand duke, to target the Heavenly Sword Lord?
That was no more than a moth to a flame.
A moth that throws itself, not knowing its own body is burning, blindly following its desires.
'But...'
As preposterous as the Sin of Greed Cult Leader's plan was, it was also ominous.
Because...
In his previous life, Darkan mysteriously went missing for unknown reasons.
And afterwards, the invasion of the demons accelerated at a tremendous pace.
'Perhaps the incident that led to the Heavenly Sword Lord's disappearance in my previous life...'
Was the result of this very plan of the Sin of Greed Cult Leader.
'In truth, the Sin of Greed Cult Leader... he did possess some special qualities distinct from the other Cult Leader.'
Of course, the Sin of Greed Cult Leader's combat strength was absurdly weak compared to the Heavenly Sword Lord.
He probably wouldn't even survive a single exchange.
But his forte was not magic or direct confrontation.
It was the immense number of armaments and a variety of artifacts.
That was his strength and specialty.
'That's why he was so much more troublesome and dangerous than the other high priests.'
A strategy that overwhelms the opponent with a vast stockpile of powerful artifacts and armaments.
In a way, his style was very similar to Ian's former life.
Ian had also hunted foes stronger than himself using such tactics.
Firing off Sword Spirit Release with numerous famous swords.
That's why Ian understood the danger better than anyone.
'If you have enough armaments and artifacts... it becomes much easier to strike at any opponent's weakness.'
Everyone has a weakness.
A vampire's weakness is silver and sunlight. For dragons, it's weapons with dragonslaying properties.
For demonic humans, it's holy power; for holy knights, it's demonic energy.
'What is the Heavenly Sword Lord's weakness...?'
Honestly, he didn't know.
Did that person even have a weakness? But...
If the Sin of Greed Cult Leader had some kind of weapon specifically to target the Heavenly Sword Lord's weakness—
'I have a bad feeling. Even for the Heavenly Sword Lord, I can't guarantee his safety.'
It wouldn't be strange if the Sin of Greed Cult Leader did have a weapon capable of sealing the Heavenly Sword Lord.
He'd once unleashed the most bizarre divine relics without hesitation in Ian's previous life.
He even had the Devil's Tear, which could corrupt a saint, and chains that could bind dragon wings.
Just in this hideout, there was a potent holy artifact that could instantly subdue four powerful ancient vampires.
So there was nothing strange about him having a poison or spear that could slay a demigod.
'I have to go stop him right away.'
He had to go North and thwart the Sin of Greed Cult Leader's plot.
'He must not be given any time to prepare.'
If the Sin of Greed Cult Leader made up his mind and prepared, he could easily even usurp the position of his master, the grand duke of the demon realm.
Such a person was now laying a thorough ambush against the Heavenly Sword Lord.
Given enough time, there was no telling what would happen.
In fact, in his previous life, that plan had succeeded and the Lord disappeared.
'The Heavenly Sword Lord disappeared exactly five years from now in my previous life.'
Ian had been thinking that it was about time to start investigating the incident to prevent his disappearance; he never expected to get a clue this way.
'I'll go North.'
He would go, stop the Sin of Greed Cult Leader, and change fate so the Heavenly Sword Lord would not go missing like in his previous life.
It was the moment Ian's next goal was set.
* * *
It didn't take long for Scarlet and the blood kin to recover.
Perhaps thirty minutes of rest?
As soon as their bodies, intoxicated by silver and sun-steel, healed, their regeneration quickly kicked in and they soon looked good as new.
Their recovery ability was truly the best—vampire-level regeneration.
"Wh-what on earth did you do...?"
Marcus immediately approached Ian, unable to close his gaping mouth.
One moment he closed his eyes dazzled by the flash of thunder energy, the next, it was all over.
The high priests and Bertolf, panting and maimed on the ground.
The remaining demonic humans torn apart, reduced to mere chunks of meat.
Marcus was an ancient vampire of a superlative level, so he had some extrasensory perception...
Even accounting for having been severely intoxicated, Ian's speed was still utterly beyond his perception.
"Goodness gracious...! That was the high priest! How did you catch him?"
"I never thought things would resolve this way..."
Judy and Scarlet had similar reactions.
"...zzZ"
Morgan, unfortunately, was still unconscious.
"............."
Of course, Noxcar also still looked like nothing more than a corpse.
"Alright, it's too soon to relax. Let's finish up and get out of here."
Ian quickly snapped the dazed vampires to attention.
No more dangerous enemies remained, but there was still work to do.
"Ah, yes, you're right. For now, let's focus on the task at hand."
"Agreed. Let's start by cleaning up here."
Thankfully, the vampires were cooperative; cleanup began quickly.
Judy extracted memories from the fallen high priests and the high priest.
Scarlet collected blood from the dead demonic humans and fed it to Noxcar.
Marcus checked on the unconscious Morgan.
Ian searched the hideout for stragglers and loot.
Cleanup was soon finished.
"What? You want to stay here alone? Why?"
Ian decided to part ways with Scarlet's group here.
"I'm going to take the high priest and priests away. I've already set up a holding facility."
"A holding facility? Oh... Then we'll help you move them there. Let's go together. I'd like to see it as well."
"No, sorry. I'll be calling someone else. Aris Hisperion. She's the facility manager."
"Oh..."
"She doesn't know I've formed an alliance with your family yet. For now, it's better to keep it that way."
"... That makes sense. An alliance between humans and vampires isn't common. She might get the wrong idea."
"No, it's not because you and your companions are vampires. It's just... I don't want Aris to notice anyone, regardless of who they are. She's... kind of devious, you see..."
"Heh heh."
Scarlet laughed.
"For Ian Greysel to say that about someone—now I'm really curious."
"You'll meet her someday. But not now."
"Alright then."
Ian and Scarlet's group exchanged farewells.
"See you next time, Ian Greysel. ... And thank you. We owe you everything for being able to save Noxcar."
"Ian~. Let's meet again soon! I'll cook something delicious for you next time you're free!"
"Thank you—I owe you a great debt. See you again soon."
The Noxcar family left with simple goodbyes.
Ian immediately contacted Aris through the communication orb.
It was time to deliver the first offerings to the magic power extraction facility.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Time to go save father-in-law...
Please, please, please, don't make this a harem author-nim...
There are signs, but I believe in you...
Charlotte x Sophia
There's already a precedent with Preben, so....
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】