Chapter 198 : Chapter 198
Chapter 198
"A World Eater appearing at this stage is cheating."
Rozalin laughed as though she could not believe it.
World Eater — Rozalin and Yuria had once told me it was one of the demons that would appear in the future.
At the time, Yuria had assessed the World Eater like this:
'The single most threatening entity to the world among all demons that had appeared until then.'
"Is the location still the Empire's north?"
At Rozalin's words, a voice came from beyond the Goldline Scroll.
— Unchanged. A mountain in the Empire's north opened up, and teeth emerged. It has started chewing its way through the Empire.
A moving mountain.
And inside that mountain, fifteen rows of teeth moved endlessly like saw blades, tearing apart everything within range.
Apparently two or three cities in the Empire's north had already been destroyed.
And among them.
"......"
There — the territory of Duke Crownhardt, whose face had gone pale with shock.
The former Crownhardt Duchy was included.
"If we had still been there......"
"You would all be dead now. All thirty thousand."
At Rozalin's blunt statement, the people of the Crownhardt Ducal House fell silent.
Had it been an ordinary monster, they would not have spoken so.
But this was a mountain. A mountain.
A massive mountain in the Empire's north — one whose peaks were capped with perennial snow.
And now it had grown teeth and was crawling toward them. How could a mere human possibly escape that?
"What of the Emperor?"
— Not in the Empire. That old man Perdius is nowhere to be seen either. The Empire right now is in total disarray. Rather funny, actually.
A snickering laugh drifted from beyond the scroll, as though he genuinely found it amusing.
— So the imperial grandchildren are floundering, each insisting they should seize the initiative. Everyone is panicking. But what can they do? Can a fragmented Empire deal with this?
"How was it dealt with originally?"
— Us? We threw in the Magic Tower and Sihan.
"Uh, me?"
Sihan, who had been listening nearby, unfolded his arms and wore a baffled expression.
"I was told I survived to the very end. Was that a lie?"
— Your island — Lefteria — was rammed into it and detonated.
"......"
— The Magic Tower helped with that. The entire corps of Magic Tower mages worked together to make a flying island. Quite the spectacle.
"Damn it all. They must have overheated every component and artifact on the island. At that output, you could have blown up the Empire itself."
— Correct, Alchemist.
"Shut up. Do not do that."
— What?
"I said do not do that!"
Sihan erupted in anger for reasons no one else could understand.
It seemed to be fury at the thought of his decades-long life's work being rammed straight in.
"And you?"
At my question, a drawn-out hmm drifted from beyond the scroll.
— I plan to sit this one out. I need to head back.
"That is unlike you, Wolf King."
— Do not be mistaken. I am someone who benefits the more the Empire crumbles. There are ways to deal with the World Eater. But not dealing with it right now is better for me.
"......And the people who will die?"
— They are all Imperial citizens. Is that not funny? If they were not killed by the World Eater, they would have been killed by me. Or they would have become our slaves.
"Was your goal not to unite humanity and combine our strength?"
— Useful, obedient humanity, yes. I have no need for humans who are of no help.
A chuckling laugh spilled from beyond the scroll.
The amusement sounded genuine.
"Then why did you contact us?"
The day after the World Eater appeared.
An eagle had delivered a Goldline Scroll to me.
A scroll from the Wolf King.
He had immediately informed us of the World Eater's emergence and the state of the Empire.
Had he not, we would have learned that the newly appeared demon was the World Eater at least several days later.
— I was curious. About your reaction.
I could almost feel eyes watching me from beyond the scroll.
— The Emperor has completely vanished since that day. In this situation, neither the Magic Tower nor the Lionheart Knights — who could resolve this — are making progress. No, could they even resolve it? Perhaps half the mages might come up with an idea. Would that help humanity?
His voice, reciting the worst-case scenario, seemed to tighten around me like something visible.
— And then there is your beloved disciple, here. Fighting the Underground Magic Tower, was it not?
The Holy Kingdom was still in combat within the Empire.
They had pinpointed the Underground Magic Tower's location, but the path there was treacherous.
With the Empire shattered and the Emperor absent.
What was born from chaos should be a hero.
So the one who could seize this chaotic Empire and ascend to the throne had to be the one who dealt with the Holy Kingdom that had entered Imperial territory.
Not just the Magic Tower — countless Imperial factions had converged to stop the Holy Kingdom.
— The World Eater, you see — it was a demon that should not have appeared for another six years. So why do you think it appeared?
The snickering from beyond the scroll deepened.
— Because Pan would have reached Master by then.
"......"
— You have become a Master, have you not? Your skill has risen. You could not have shown that kind of performance otherwise.
"......"
— The demons growing stronger is your fault. How does it feel? Thinking you ought to take some responsibility?
"What utter horseshit."
With a CRACK, Rozalin's fist destroyed the scroll along with the desk.
The massive round table in the center of the office split clean in two, and the scroll, its mana scattered, ignited and vanished into the air.
At the same moment, the strange oppressive aura that had been squeezing the room disappeared.
"......So my office table is gone."
Queen Charlotte grumbled, but.
"Sihan will fix it! He is an excellent alchemist!"
Rozalin folded her arms without a word of apology, brazen as could be.
No — perhaps "brazen" was not quite right.
She was watching my expression.
Not just her — everyone was watching my expression.
The reason was simple.
'His words were too calculated.'
The Holy Kingdom and Yuria.
I could not abandon her.
She was someone who had devoted her convictions to help me, a student who had risked her life to save me at my most vulnerable.
'I cannot abandon the Imperial citizens either.'
Right now, the proportion of students from the Empire at Akarind Academy was very high.
Their hometowns, their families were there.
Above all, the Crownhardt Ducal House.
No matter that they had left their homeland and moved here with their entire population — their home ground had been destroyed.
'Pan is in danger too.'
The stronger the demon, the more terrifying a Fantasy it tended to produce.
"What is the World Eater's Fantasy?"
"World Sculpting."
Rozalin answered as though she had been waiting.
"It can freely manifest and shape the worlds it has consumed. If it wants a mountain — a mountain. A cave — a cave. An ocean — an ocean."
"Sounds like a game mode."
Sihan added from beside us, but no one understood.
"Humanity faced its worst moment because of the World Eater. But conversely, because of the World Eater Fantasy, we were able to hold on just a little longer."
Using the World Eater Fantasy, they had shaped the path through which demons entered humanity's last stronghold.
A so-called "kill zone."
A natural fortress that restricted the enemy's passage while enabling allied attacks.
The World Eater Fantasy had made that possible in mere seconds.
'I cannot let Pan get that.'
The Underground Magic Tower alone was a headache — let alone the regular Magic Tower.
On top of that, the Emperor and Perdius's movements were suspicious.
With no knowledge of where they were or what they were doing, I could not allow the demons to grow any stronger.
'Everything he said is right...... and the final piece was aimed at me.'
The claim that the World Eater had appeared six years early because I had reached Master.
That was an attack on me.
And at the same time, it was a statement that could isolate me from the people around me.
Rozalin, Pan, Hati — they were comrades who had been in sync with me for a long time.
They had trust; they would not be swayed by something this crude.
The problem was the Crownhardt Ducal House.
A military house that had just joined and had lost its homeland.
In a situation where we shared nothing with each other, our bond was flimsy and light.
"......"
Indeed, Duke Crownhardt's eyes were churning with more emotion than usual.
They did not look like merely the eyes of someone who had lost their homeland.
"Teacher. What will you do?"
Rozalin asked carefully.
From her expression, she had apparently noticed me watching the Duke's reaction.
I could feel her intent — trying to draw attention away and shield me.
I felt both sorry and proud.
That aside — how, she asked.
In a way, the method of dealing with demons was quite simple.
'I do not know how powerful it would be to detonate Sihan's island, but in any case, it means the thing can be dealt with by crushing it with strong force.'
I had heard the pre-regression Blue Hole had been dealt with in a similar manner.
Three 6th-circle mages had poured in their magic, had they not?
'And Sihan was among them, they said.'
Truly versatile, Sihan.
In any case, the key was overwhelming force.
If I, a Master, went — could I deal with the World Eater?
I kept running mock battles in my head.
'No. I do not think I can do it alone.'
What a shame.
If only the Holy Sword remained.
If only the Holy Kingdom and the Magic Empire were not still at war.
Then I could have used their power and fired it at the World Eater.
'......No. There was a reason that power had to be unleashed at that timing.'
Unlike the war between the Holy Kingdom and the Magic Tower, the area around the World Eater was more likely to have no forces present at all.
No ruler would dispatch troops to try and defeat a crawling mountain.
'I need some way to drive forces into that area.'
Rally the barbarians near the area and summon them?
Or somehow shift the Holy Kingdom-Magic Tower battlefield there?
Was there a way to lure the World Eater?
If not......
Countless thoughts raced through my mind.
'Ordinary people are no good. Knights who have learned Aura — people who can discharge energy and vibrate mana. At minimum, several hundred...... wait.'
Midway through the thought, it hit me.
Did I need to look far for such people?
Right nearby was someone with the perfect conditions — and, what was more, a thoroughly legitimate reason to draw their sword.
I looked at Duke Crownhardt.
He was still watching me with a complicated expression.
"Your Grace."
"......Teacher Cassian."
"I will go to deal with the World Eater."
"I see."
"For that, I will need the strength of the Crownhardt Ducal House."
Even if the Wolf King tried to drive a wedge between me and the Crownhardt Ducal House, I would not be swayed.
I would charge straight through and solve the problem.
"How?"
"Within three days, every knight and soldier will master the Crownhardt Ducal House's swordsmanship and formations."
Duke Crownhardt could not handle five hundred people.
But if it were me.
"I will stand at the front."
I could.