Chapter 197 : Family Reunion (4)
Family Reunion (4)
"What are you?"
Hartmon, who suddenly saw Silia appear and block his attack, revealed his contempt.
"Stay out of this!"
"Look who's talking!"
When Hartmon threw a punch imbued with heat using his other hand, Silia again blocked it with the flat of her blade.
Through Silia's defensive power, Hartmon measured her overall strength and suddenly became suspicious.
"Something's off. I definitely set up a barrier in the Imperial Castle so nobody could get in."
"Barrier?"
"A barrier that, once cast, allows no one to enter. Any non-designated person who tries will be transported outside, and it's impossible to break through from the outside."
He could even set it so only specific targets remained inside the barrier.
That's why only Estelle and the Emperor were still in the castle.
"I should've expelled every last person except for the royal family—yet someone else is still in here?"
Anyone would find it strange for an outsider to suddenly appear where only the royal family should remain.
"It's thanks to a warp magitech device. Headmaster Ferus developed a magitech device that, in an emergency, allows a member of the special task force to be instantly teleported next to a royal."
As expected from Headmaster Ferus, the warp magitech device boasted godlike performance.
Unlike the existing devices that only transported you to a previously marked spot, this one could be activated to summon someone from far away.
Marking a key item was the same, but by taking possession of the object and injecting magic power, the device's owner would be summoned on the spot.
"Fortunately, Princess activated that device in time."
Back at the party in the Seifert domain, Estelle had received a hairpin as a present.
The moment she saw Hartmon in the garden, she injected magic power into the hairpin, allowing Silia to arrive without delay.
"It's a single-use device, so I can't use it again, but one-on-one, I can handle you just fine."
Showing her confidence, Silia shot back sharply.
"How long has it been since you were dethroned? Yet you're still creeping around the Imperial Castle? Orbel."
"Orbel? Puhahahaha!"
He looked exactly like Orbel. Because of that, Hartmon couldn't help but laugh at Silia's obvious misunderstanding.
"How dense can you be!"
"Ghh!"
Hartmon strengthened his punch and pushed Silia away.
As Silia was knocked back more than ten meters, Estelle, whom Silia had protected, spoke up.
"Squad leader big sis! That's not elder brother... he's not Orbel. That's a great devil who possessed his body."
"What?"
"Hartmon. The great devil currently controlling that body is named Hartmon."
If it had truly been Orbel, he was supposed to have been found in Woodrock after deserting the army.
Estelle had confirmed that herself when she visited Woodrock.
"Wasn't that guy in Woodrock?"
"I'm not sure what happened, either."
It was unthinkable for the guy from Woodrock to appear here so suddenly. Perhaps he also used some kind of warp magitech device.
[Wait. This barrier around the Imperial Castle... I've seen it somewhere before.]
[This technique looks quite familiar.]
At that moment, Mirianne and Frederick, imbued in the Bloodline, spoke in surprise.
[How can you use the techniques Isaac came up with?]
[A barrier that transfers anyone who enters to another place. In our generation—no, in this empire—there's only one person capable of that.]
Recalling the face of their dear friend, the two asked Hartmon,
[How can you wield Isaac's sorcery?]
[No matter how formidable a great devil, imitating his sorcery instantly is impossible.]
"Isaac...?"
What could they mean by Isaac's sorcery? She knew Isaac was a hero like the two of them, but knew nothing about his sorcery.
"What do you mean?"
[Do you recall when monsters from the demon realm appeared in your domain?]
[When an advanced-rank monster as big as a mountain showed up? They were summoned by someone's sorcery.]
[The trait of that sorcery reminded us of a friend we know—so we suspected him.]
They had carefully analyzed things by stabbing their blade bodies into the advanced-ranked monster's body. In the end, they'd confirmed it was sorcery that only their friend could use.
[Out with it. Why can you use Isaac's sorcery?]
When Frederick asked, Hartmon smiled meaningfully.
"So it was Frederick and Mirianne. With heroes like you two before me, there's no point in trying to deceive you."
Deceit and mockery never work on those who know everything. Hartmon just spoke the plain truth.
"That's right. I set loose those demon realm monsters in the Seifert domain. Of course, I couldn't have accomplished it alone—I needed help from humans."
If he'd recovered his power as a great devil, it would have been trivial. But it was impossible for him currently.
"No, to begin with, 'we' receive significant restrictions if we recklessly use our original powers on your land."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"In short, it means 'we' need humans' help to use our powers."
"Who in the world would help devils like you?!"
As Estelle said, no sane person would ever approach a devil. Much less help a great devil—the symbol of calamity.
"Heheheh... That's right. Normal people would never do that. But do you really believe only normal people exist in this world?"
"What are you saying?"
Estelle instinctively picked up on the ominous implication and asked.
"If every person in this world were sane, your empire wouldn't have needed to create something like the 7th Legion."
Not just that—even the security force or vigilante groups probably wouldn't exist.
"Think about it. Leave this empire—think about how many humans across this continent follow devils or monsters!"
"No way...!"
Estelle and the Emperor both realized at once and gasped. They were well aware of how many dark magic organizations existed on the continent.
"Calamity breeds fear, and fear becomes the driving force for survival. Imagine what it's like for people to live in places with ever-expanding, dangerous demon realms."
The demon realm was constantly growing its borders.
Within those areas, monsters always came out to attack people—turning it into a never-ending horror.
"People's desire to live is like smoke from a chimney, but human power alone can't stop the expansion of the demon realm. Even the 7th Legion can only do so much to slow it down—the most powerful monsters are beyond their power. Even just look at a 'Stampede' and you'll know."
"A Stampede..."
That was a word Silia could never forget. Once it started, no one returned alive—the 7th Legion's festival of blood unleashed by monsters.
If Louis hadn't been by her side then, Silia and her squad members would've become a bloody mess scattered over the ground.
"Reports never stop coming in about demon realm monsters rampaging through city streets. In such a world of intensifying fear, what will people turn to?"
There was only one action for someone utterly terrified.
"That's right! Submission! Gather enough people who've submitted, and a dark magic cult is born."
There was no future left for this continent. They'd simply become food for monsters, or sacrifices for devils.
Abandon all hope and greet immortality with us... That was the slogan of the dark magic cults.
"They're such amusing fools. For 'us', they'll kill without hesitation. Of course, thanks to that, they all ended up in the 7th Legion as prisoners. But that turned out to be a big help to me this time."
"So the ones imprisoned in the 7th Legion helped you...?"
"There was nothing better than those guys for marking the monsters to summon from the demon realm."
The 7th Legion was practically a treasure trove for great devils. It was full of dark magic fanatics willing to follow them.
"So you used those prisoners to set the targets for the monsters you'd summon."
"I have to admit, I was surprised they managed to designate as many as three advanced-rank monsters each. I thought it would be impossible, but they pulled it off."
[No way. Doing that alone is impossible.]
[Unless you have Isaac's brain, that is.]
But all the rituals involved in those summoning feats were part of the sorcery Isaac the hero used.
Could a great devil really wield that so easily?
"Of course, if I were still my old self, I couldn't have pulled it off. But Isaac's brain still remains."
[What do you mean?]
At Mirianne's question, Hartmon tapped his own head with his finger.
[No...]
"I absorbed all of that man's knowledge."
[What?!]
"Thanks to that, I could figure everything out. I even predicted your special task force would set foot in Woodrock."
With a foreboding smile, Hartmon added,
"So I made preparations ahead of time."
****
"Young master, is Estelle all right?"
"She'll be fine—Elder sister Silia is with her."
"That's a relief. No one could ever get the jump on that big sis."
"Well, then... huh?"
He tried to speak with the king again, but the king was already fleeing out of the audience hall.
But Louis just let him go.
"Are you sure it's okay to let him go?"
"No need to catch him here—he'll get caught soon anyway. Everything we just talked about would've been recorded on a magitech device."
Now Woodrock's king's true identity and crimes were clear.
If they used that as blackmail, the king would show up sooner or later, no matter how much he tried to run.
"Wait, then, everything I said here got recorded too?"
"Of course."
"Young master..."
Trembling, Rio earnestly begged Louis.
"Um... can you cut out just that part?"
"You want me to edit the part where you were explaining?"
"Yeah!"
She wanted to delete the part where she talked about her story with the young master.
He wondered if it was really necessary, but quickly accepted.
"Well, yes, we haven't even gotten married and you spread false rumors."
"Right—it's just too embarrassing."
At that, Louis stared at Rio in surprise.
She was someone who would recklessly charge forward in any situation, so the idea of her feeling embarrassed was strange.
"We'll be getting married and having kids soon anyway, but if it goes public in front of everyone before then it's a bit much."
"You're already talking like it's going to happen, huh?"
"It's not just talk. It really will happen."
For a moment, he thought maybe she'd finally become normal—but no, that was a mistake.
Of course—this was Rio.
This crazy girl was a ticking time bomb even Louis couldn't stop.
"Wait."
Then he remembered what the king of Woodrock had said.
That all his blood relatives shared the spirit of their ancestors, the old kings, from hundreds of years ago.
Maybe Rio also shared the spirit of a former king, and that explained her strange character.
That would account for all of her crazy deeds up until now.
"Don't worry. No matter what form you take, I'll always look only at you, young master."
So this current self could be considered part of an old king as well.
Wait... did those ancient kings chase their lovers around in the same way?
That's gross—let's not think about it.
Drip—
In that instant, something started dripping from the ceiling.
Not from the cloud-filled sky, but from a ceiling concealed by walls—black rain was falling.
"Young master, what is this?"
"It smells like nothing I've ever encountered."
Wondering what it was, Louis sniffed at it, but was suddenly struck by a dull headache.
'Is this some kind of dizziness-inducing drug?'
But it didn't have any medical properties at all.
It was a totally different kind of liquid.
"Huh? Young master! The special task force insignia is fading!"
Startled, Rio pointed at the mark on the back of her hand.
Sure enough, the symbol was slowly disappearing.
Given that the symbol was the same type as the stigma of the 7th Legion, it was certainly odd.
"So maybe—!"
Louis immediately stripped off his top.
Rio's cheeks flushed for a moment, but Louis quickly turned his back to her and spoke.
"Check if the 7th Legion stigma is still on my back!"
The stigma had remained there un-erased since that day.
Even though he'd had chances, he'd deliberately left it there to control the rampaging.
"Young master, the stigma..."
Rio spoke in disbelief.
"It's gone."