Chapter 223 : Chapter 223
Chapter 223
Many things had happened in Föhn, the capital of Schmeizen.
Minister Belrsasal's identity was exposed, he summoned an outer being to become a seven-star mage, and a desperate battle was fought against the Demon King Pāpīyān.
It was all the work in just one day.
The city, swept over by seven-star magic, was entirely in ruins.
It was only natural, as several beings who could shake the heavens and the earth with mere emotion had run rampant.
However, miraculously, few lives were lost.
There were several reasons. This was because all the citizens were outstanding at dealing with sudden calamities, thanks to the ‘Mimic Crumb’ that had fallen for 14 years.
Even if the city was broken, if the people lived, it could rise again.
Added to that, the recovery was quick thanks to the Ancient Weapon ‘Uvula of Abundance’ possessed by the Widow Queen Aida.
Handling the earth at will with a single gesture, a single command, the ruined city regained its original vitality at an unbelievable speed.
“I still can’t believe it.”
The Widow Queen looked out the window.
Vitality reached her through the layer of glass.
It wasn't that no one was lost.
Even if they have overcome it, scars always remain.
And yet, those people, her people, how could they be so energetic.
How could they be so noisy, full of hope.
Even for Aida, who had long ago lost her laughter and called herself a madwoman, she felt the urge to smile.
“…‘Mimic Crumb’. To think that golden snow fell for 14 years, and now it falls no more. A day like this has finally come.”
“……”
“More than that, I thought you were dead.”
There were two people in the room.
One was Aida, the Widow Queen of Schmeizen.
The other was a blond, blue-eyed boy, his body wrapped in bandages.
“I saw your head get cut off, clear as day.”
“I almost died.”
I, Shion Pollinglight, scratched over the bandage. I had covered my whole body with bandages.
“If I had completely become a dragon, I certainly would have.”
“Does that mean you are human now?”
“For now.”
I scratched over the bandage again. The wound was already healed.
The reason I wrapped myself in bandages was because I couldn't reveal my skin.
Beneath the bandages, black scales had sprouted.
My blue eyes, too, were gradually flickering with an inhuman light.
'Dragon of Six Horns' is the original form of the Septem Arcana and the true form my soul has taken.
The sixth Ars, having been revealed once, continuously laid claim to my body.
Reveal your true form, it seemed to say, take black scales instead of soft skin, fangs instead of lips, thick forelegs instead of hands, and it continuously tried to twist and transform my body.
So I had no choice but to hide from others' eyes.
“It might not be long, but it’s alright. I will endure until I finish what I have to do……”
“……”
Aida glanced at me.
She seemed to want to offer a word or two of comfort, but perhaps she thought it would only wound my pride.
The Widow Queen mustered some uncharacteristic consideration and changed the subject.
“Look outside. Your subordinate is there.”
“Aha, the hero has graced us.”
The restored capital, Föhn, was in a festive mood.
The 14-year-long calamity, ‘Mimic Crumb’, had stopped, and the evil mage who controlled the country from the shadows had fallen.
The crowd wanted to attribute this achievement to someone and praise them.
However, since both I and Aida had hidden from public view, only one person remained.
“That guy Amethus, he’s even wearing a floral wreath, isn't he? I can tease him about this for a while.”
“Oh my, I think he’s spotted us. He’s glaring this way intently.”
“He’s got exceptionally sharp senses. But still, what a fierce gaze. If I don't give him a present or something, he looks like he'll cause a scene.”
I chuckled.
Amethus was waving awkwardly amidst the crowd's cheers.
Even in the midst of all that noise, he found Aida and me looking through the window and shot a sharp glare at us.
“How do the people see him?”
“How else? They see him as a hero. Another legend will be born in the West.”
“Hmm, not Three Heroes, but Four Heroes… That’s not so bad.”
I stroked my chin.
“…Shion.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Aida asked quietly.
“…Is it over?”
“What is?”
“Everything.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
I smiled faintly.
“Your Majesty’s husband, Yulan, has returned from the Underworld. ‘Mimic Crumb’ has stopped, and the seven-star mage has lost his life. And furthermore, an Imperial plot unknown even to you, Your Majesty, has been turned to nothing.”
I counted on my fingers.
The calamities the Empire unleashed on the West are four.
The first calamity, ‘Calamity that Falls from the Sky’.
The calamity that had afflicted Schmeizen for 14 years has all come to an end.
The second calamity, ‘Calamity that Sprang from the Land’.
11 years ago, a calamity visited Maesh and abducted people to the Underworld.
It was the calamity that broke the White Lord, Obro Denoebang.
However, this too has been resolved.
The eight hundred survivors from the Underworld have returned, and Obro Denoebang was even more solidly grayish-white than before.
The third calamity, ‘Calamity that Crossed the Sea’.
Starting with the Guidone marriage, a horde of eighty thousand fishmen and the Nine Streams General Nana Nereyades attempted to turn the Bururade Peninsula into a wasteland.
Even three Cordis legions and Niko Nereyades joined forces with them.
And yet, I, Shion, blocked them all.
“Thus, I have turned all the Empire’s plots to nothing. Everything has concluded for one round, but……”
The fourth calamity still remained.
“…Which means nothing has ended.”
I, the Regressor Prince, remember.
The fourth calamity is the most destructive, the most powerful, and the most gruesome.
“The Empire’s great invasion will begin.”
“…As I thought.”
Aida let out a ragged breath.
It was the last thing she wanted to hear.
The Cordis Empire is a nation that lacks nothing in being called the master of the continent.
The future of waging war against them was something she didn't even want to imagine.
And yet, as it approached reality, she was naturally appalled.
“…There’s no avoiding it, is there, Shion?”
“You already know the answer, don't you?”
“…How much time is left?”
“Two months and a little more.”
It was an absurdly short time to prepare for war.
Furthermore, Aida had no experience waging war after ascending the throne.
Everything just felt hopeless.
Just when she thought she could finally set down her heart's burden, life had instantly brought her a new pile of burdens.
“That is why, Your Majesty, I have a request.”
I, Shion Pollinglight, said, still wrapped in bandages.
“Please become a hero.”
Aida quietly shook her head.
“…Didn’t you see during the fight with the Demon King Pāpīyān? I don’t have that kind of power. Even possessing one ‘Ancient Weapon’, that’s all it is……”
“No, Your Majesty. There is power right here.”
My voice was resolute.
“Please take this.”
“…This is, Belrsasal’s……”
“Yes, the ‘Moon-Shadow Cranium’. The Ancient Weapon given to the 4th Seat of the Ten Great Generals of the Empire.”
“……I already possess one Ancient Weapon. For one person to handle two Ancient Weapons, that’s an impossible thing……”
“Impossible things always happen. Haven't you experienced that a lot?”
“……”
I took out the black tear bottle.
It was the Ancient Weapon I obtained after defeating the Demon King Pāpīyān.
The Widow Queen Aida slowly extended her hand.
Normally, the Ancient Weapon she harbored would not have permitted another.
But what was this? The ‘Uvula of Abundance’ seemed to gently pull her hand, guiding it toward the ‘Moon-Shadow Cranium’.
As if to say that her true form was one that wielded both of these Ancient Weapons.
“……”
The Widow Queen's fingertips touched the black tear bottle.
At that, the bottle opened.
Black tears automatically soared up toward Aida and settled within her tear ducts.
The tear bottle also melted away, disappearing from within her grasp.
“…Ah……”
‘Uvula of Abundance’ and ‘Moon-Shadow Cranium’.
The Widow Queen Aida felt the two Ancient Weapons frolicking inside her body.
“…I see. I automatically know how this power should be used.”
Aida extended her hand.
A black shadow flickered and then took human form.
‘Moon-Shadow Cranium’ possessed the power to summon soldiers without bodies.
And the ‘Uvula of Abundance’ shaped the earth, giving the soldier a body.
A soldier appeared, looking endlessly similar to a person.
“A loyal soldier has been made. Well done.”
“…How did you know I would be able to handle two Ancient Weapons?”
“There are ways.”
“That means you won't explain, doesn't it?”
“Haha.”
I smiled.
‘Aida has finally regained her strength.’
I remember the Aida from before the regression.
She was one of the three heroes representing the West, and she possessed a heterogeneous power compared to even Obro Denoebang and me.
‘Moon-Shadow Cranium’, which summons bodiless soldiers.
‘Uvula of Abundance’, which handles the earth at will.
The Widow Queen Aida can give the soldiers of Moon-Shadow the bodies of Abundance, forming her own army.
‘The number of soldiers she can create like that is just over six hundred per day.’
It's a number so absurd it's terrifying.
‘Six thousand in ten days, sixty thousand in a hundred days…. And each one is a monster that can take on three or four elite soldiers…….’
Before the regression, the Widow Queen Aida’s existence alone used to shatter all common sense of warfare.
I don't know how many Imperial strategists foamed at the mouth and collapsed, since her forces would increase by the thousands if given just a few days.
“…Then what should I do now?”
“There will be a regular meeting of the Dawn Brotherhood. I will see you again then.”
“Alright, Shion.”
Aida raised her head.
“Are you leaving right away? Yulan wanted to see you.”
“Please tell him to spend more time with Your Majesty. Aren't you two a longing couple?”
“…Don’t say it like that, it’s embarrassing.”
The Widow Queen shook her head. Her face was red.
Thinking of her husband, Yulan Etgendorher, whom she had met again after 14 years, she would easily become bashful.
It was because a part of her heart was still living 14 years ago.
“Ah.”
Aida said.
“This is the item you requested.”
“Aha, so this is the Hundred-Year Dew. The treasure of the Forest-keeper tribe.”
“That’s right. It’s known to drive away all ailments except death. I had obtained it wondering if it could wake the sleeping Yulan, but……”
“That wasn't the real him, so it probably didn't have much effect.”
“That’s right. So I just stored it away, but since you want it, I'll gladly give it to you.”
“To think you'd give me something precious enough to be a national treasure so readily. I don't know how to express my gratitude.”
“Ha. Could it compare to the gift you’ve given Schmeizen?”
Aida let out a hearty laugh and continued.
She had prepared twelve carriages worth of gold and treasure for me, she said, and that Amethus and I would receive honorary Marquis titles in Schmeizen, and would be called friends of Schmeizen for eternity.
I gave a rough nod.
It was certainly a valuable gift, but with the war against the Empire right around the corner, it couldn't hold much meaning.
“Now that I’ve received the gift, I really must be going.”
“…Do so.”
I, the Regressor Prince, stood up.
I limped slightly.
My state, wrapped in bandages, was rather shabby.
The Widow Queen looked at me like that and quietly parted her lips.
“Shion of Merion.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“May I ask your name?”
“……”
I fell into thought for a moment.
Come to think of it, hadn't the Widow Queen Aida watched the conversation between Sen Sorti and me?
“I am Shion. Shion Pollinglight.”
“…Pollinglight, as in, the Silver Dragon Magic Kingdom’s……”
“I will leave the rest to your imagination.”
I gave a deep nod and started to walk.
There was still much to do.
There is no time to rest for the sake of destiny.
Because a fire was still lit in my heart.
No, rather, it was flaring up even more than before.
“Then, Your Majesty, please enjoy this short peace.”