Chapter 198 : Stigma Liberation (1)
Stigma Liberation (1)
Hartmon, who had taken over Orbel's body, had known who the special task force was since long ago.
He had become able to know about them around two years ago.
Originally, the Great Devils were beings whose bodies were bound in another dimension, unable to descend into the present world.
In the past, they could exert some influence on the world with powerful strength, but by now they had grown so weak that any form of interference had become impossible.
Despite being completely sealed away in another dimension, starting two years ago, cracks began to form in that seal.
'The one and only exception was Duramon and Wigmon, who, before being bound, left manifestations of their lingering thoughts in this world, and so were able to exercise a bit of power.'
While other Great Devils were sealed in another dimension, those two hid within the Imperial Court.
'The reason they could leave those incarnations was because those two were killed.'
Having died once, they lost all their strength, but instead could exist in the world as lingering thoughts.
Thanks to that, they could either grow back their strength by burying their bodies in the ground like trees or live in hiding by possessing other humans.
'Among them, the one Duramon possessed belonged to the Woodrock royal bloodline.'
Impatient Duramon, blinded by his desire to regain his power, committed a reckless act.
He stole the body of a royal who possessed the blood of a Blood Sword Technique user and tried to perform a ritual to forcibly awaken the power of the Great Devil.
The Blood Sword Technique was the key to regaining the power of a Great Devil.
If one was of the Woodrock royal family, they could use it even a little—and indeed, the royal who was possessed had been able to wield that power.
'To enact that plan, he involved over 50% of the dark magic cultists.'
However, it had been a hastily improvised version of Blood Sword Technique, so it failed spectacularly.
As a result, all the cultists who helped perform the ritual ended up dead, and the outcome was nothing but a catastrophe as monsters from the demon realm rampaged wildly.
Thus began what became the demonkin war.
While expanding the demon realm was advantageous, losing so many cultists was actually a great loss for the Great Devils.
Even if the demon realm expanded, humans would eventually block it, and losing cultists meant fewer hands to summon them into the world.
After that incident, the dark magic organizations entered a continuing period of decline, even to this day.
That was because Duramon had called together all the talented people and exhausted them completely.
'I wondered if descent would be impossible after that, but...'
Two years ago, an event occurred that could only be called a miracle.
The power of the World Tree, which had blocked their appearance, was suddenly severed.
Even now, some remnants of dark magic organizations remained, and they continued to perform rituals to manifest the Great Devils every day.
Normally, these rituals ended in failure, leaving only slight results, but today, suddenly, the ritual succeeded.
The reason was that the restrictions rooted in the World Tree on this land had disappeared.
Of course, the World Tree hadn't completely vanished from this world, but its power that had obstructed them was now feeble.
'It truly was a miraculous event.'
Thanks to this, they, the Great Devils, were able to manifest in this world, and could completely remove all the World Tree's spells.
'However, even after manifesting, our power is still unstable.'
In the past, they had all lost their power in a defeat to the Chaos Dragon.
The Chaos Dragon had also perished together with them, falling to earth in a hatchling form, but their own damage was not insignificant either.
Even after manifesting, they judged that with such power, they could not resist humanity's strength, so for two years, they stayed quiet, focused on regaining their power.
During those two years, Hartmon traveled discreetly around the continent with his companion Goramon, pretending to be human.
Searching for the reasons why their allies Palmon, Wigmon, and Duramon had fallen, to identify who had struck them down.
'Special task force. Who would have thought such people existed?'
Thanks to this, Hartmon learned about the special task force.
As he gradually regained the authority of a Great Devil, collecting information over two years proceeded rapidly.
'Now, preparations are almost complete.'
Hartmon then began moving to wipe out all traces of the World Tree.
Though its power had faded, any remaining unstable elements had to be cleared—so he visited the Imperial Palace.
The final legacy of the World Tree kept by the Imperial Court was to destroy the 'Broken Artifact'.
****
"My purpose is the 'artifact' your Imperial Court stores. As long as you hand that over, I'll spare your lives."
Hartmon threatened, releasing strong magical power at the same time.
The Emperor, overcome by the powerful magic leaking from Hartmon's body, collapsed to his knees.
"What overwhelming strength...!"
Estelle also fell to her knees, shocked at Hartmon's power.
"The numbers I see with Mind's Eye are beyond belief. At this rate, for survival..."
Shouldn't we just hand over the broken artifact stored under the Imperial Castle?
Silia spoke up just as Estelle was about to say that.
"There's no need for that!"
Clutching her two swords crossed, her eyes gleamed blue as she amplified her inner aura.
The formless power manifesting from her body began to neutralize the overwhelming magic of the Great Devil.
"Leave it to me."
Silia swung the two Bloodlines, now surging with aura, in a great arc.
With the enemy some distance away, it seemed a futile sword clash, but she was not aiming at Hartmon.
"...?!"
At that instant, Hartmon was startled as a rift appeared in empty space.
Following the trajectory of Silia's swing, space itself seemed to tear open.
"The barrier...!"
What actually broke was the barrier Hartmon had erected.
As the barrier split, countless spirits began flooding into the garden.
They were all spirits glowing with a gold band—spirits contracted to the mages of the Imperial Court's Magic Tower.
'This can't be...'
Flustered, Hartmon examined Silia closely.
It was a barrier born from the combination of the knowledge of Isaac, one of the legendary heroes.
This was not a simple barrier that blocked physical interference, but one that transferred all interference to another space—thus, the concept of 'strength' could not break it.
Yet, it had been shattered simply by swinging a sword.
Was it because this girl possessed physical force that transcended dimensions? That was not it.
How had she been able to cut through a barrier indecipherable to all but another hero?
[Flustered, are you?]
At that moment, Mirianne, held in Silia's hand, spoke up.
[Since it's my friend's barrier, of course I would know its secrets.]
"Mirianne. I agree you could do it, but right now you exist only as a lingering thought in the sword. How could you manage that when you're not even in your prime?"
Without Mirianne's body as it was in life, it should have been impossible.
[Though I lack my best body, there's someone here who can fully make up for it.]
"What?"
That was Silia herself, holding both swords in her hands.
Seeing Silia indicated by Frederick, Hartmon was dumbfounded.
"Apart from being the head of the special task force, there's nothing special about that girl—how could she possibly..."
[She has inherited our blood.]
[Look down on her, and you'll lose your head.]
"No way!"
Shocked by that revelation, Hartmon was left speechless as Silia immediately charged at him.
Hartmon summoned a sword of black flame to block her sword strike.
"Kh!"
[Do you realize what blunder you've just committed?]
[Those black flames were originally Isaac's power.]
"No, it can't be!"
When the two swords flashed, the black flames were instantly extinguished.
Not one to miss the chance, Silia unleashed the highest-level Weissman technique, taught to her by Andrew.
KWAANG!!—
The sword strike fused with her exceptional form and powerful body engulfed Hartmon.
Hartmon barely protected himself by covering with black magical power, but could not block it completely and suffered a massive wound to the chest.
"I never imagined... she would be this strong."
Hartmon had heard of the special task force.
He had even assumed they might be guarding the royal family.
There were testimonies from the 7th Legion that they could take on even advanced-rank monsters without faltering.
'I thought that having power several times above advanced monsters, I would have a chance...'
Hartmon had not fully adapted to the physical world yet.
He was not using his original body, but that of this fool called Orbel.
'Besides, this fool once made a contract with Palmon, and ages ago was no different from a reincarnation of that foolish Emperor. I thought I'd adapt quickly, but...'
He had high hopes for this vessel, but in practice, it was as good as wreckage.
Only now did he understand why.
'For all the eons I've lived as a Great Devil...who would have thought I'd end up in such a useless body...!'
Orbel had zero talent for magic or aura.
There was no way such trash could help Hartmon adapt.
'That's not the only problem. That girl...!'
Hartmon glared at Silia, whose swordsmanship was seasoned and experienced.
Had his defense been any slower, this fool's body—and even his soul—would have been cut in half.
'Those two heroes in the sword help her, but...their aid has limits.'
At best, they could only act as a compass and could not walk the thorny path for Silia.
In other words, all the skill came from Silia herself, and Hartmon had to admit her prowess.
"She truly has the bloodline of legend."
[Now, will you answer us?]
[How do you possess Isaac's knowledge?]
As Silia leveled her sword, the angry voices of two heroes echoed out.
To them, isaac was an irreplaceable comrade and friend; to see his knowledge used like this was unforgivable.
"Heh heh. And if I answer, will you let me live?"
But Hartmon only replied with mockery.
"That guy was the idiotic son of the Emperor who used to hang around us. There were plenty of chances for us to interfere."
[And what of it?]
"His father was a remarkable bastard. Imagine selling his son for his own reincarnation."
[What did you say?]
In the Imperial Court's secret room, there were records about Isaac's past.
There, it was also written that the old Emperor, isaac's father, had made a deal with a Great Devil.
[So, your possession of Isaac's knowledge is because of that deal?]
"The man named Isaac died hundreds of years ago. But the instant he died, that memory was transferred to me. That was roughly the deal."
With that, isaac's father, the Emperor, earned the privilege of being reborn into the royal family in his next life.
"So, this is not my fault—it's the great Emperor's fault. Understand?"
Both Mirianne and Frederick knew very well who that Emperor had been.
They had known he was trash, but never imagined he'd sell his own son like that.
"If you're angry, blame the Emperor, not me."
[Are you planning to run?]
At that moment, black energy began to seep out of Orbel's body, possessed by Hartmon.
"I can't accomplish my plan to destroy the artifact at this rate, so I'll have to wait for the next chance. Besides, that last attack pushed this body to its limit."
As he completely withdrew from the body, Orbel slumped to the ground like a corpse.
"And I'll give you one good piece of information. That fool is actually the reincarnation of Isaac's father, the Emperor!"
"What?!"
"And very soon, you'll hear some extraordinary news."
While everyone—including the Emperor—was in shock, Hartmon vanished in a wisp of smoke.
In the tense silence that followed as if a storm had raged through—
[Your Majesty! Are you safe?!]
Just then, one of the flock of bird spirits flew to the Emperor and spoke.
It was a mage from the Magic Tower, communicating through the spirit.
"I am safe."
[More importantly, something terrible has happened. Just now in Woodrock...]
The mage's voice trembled with fear.
[There's news that a dragon has appeared in Woodrock!]