Chapter 304 : Chapter 304
Chapter 304. The Last Day of the Academy Autumn Festival (2)
The western reaches of the Cretian Empire.
A small village bordering the sea.
No matter how remote it was, it was unnervingly quiet.
There was not a single sign of life in the village—not even the barking of a dog.
Caw!
The only sound that could be heard was the cry of a crow.
Into that silent village arrived Kirio Tites, an inquisitor of the Supreme Deity Order.
He had come after receiving information that heretics were hiding here.
“This is strange.”
The inquisitors dispatched alongside Kirio scanned their surroundings.
“It is dinner time, yet there is no smoke from cooking.”
“There are no livestock at all, not in the coops or the pens.”
“It is as if the entire village has evaporated.”
Even Kirio, who had spent his life as an inquisitor, had never seen a case like this.
According to the information they had received, suspicious individuals had been performing curse rituals near this village night after night.
The description of the curse ritual had been detailed, and the testimony of the informant previously dispatched had been precise.
For that reason, the Supreme Deity Order had decided to send inquisitors immediately.
They judged that even a slight delay could put the villagers in danger.
Kirio, a First-class Priest of the Supreme Deity Order and an inquisitor, had been chosen as the most suitable person for the task.
The moment he received the mission, he departed with the inquisitors of the Marcellent Temple.
Yet by the time they arrived, an ominous air already hung over the village.
Not a trace of human presence.
To anyone, it was clearly abnormal.
The inquisitors split into two groups to search the village and its surroundings.
They were looking for traces of the missing villagers.
After searching for some time, they discovered footprints near the village.
Traces of many people moving together.
“Brother Kirio! Over here!”
“It seems they moved as a group. Let us follow them.”
Kirio led the inquisitors along the trail left by the villagers.
The footprints ended at a mountain slope.
Circling along the incline, they found a wide clearing spread out beneath a sheer cliff.
Kirio, who was walking at the front, came to an abrupt stop the moment he saw it.
“Brother Kirio, this is……!”
The expressions of the inquisitors following behind hardened as well.
The missing villagers were all there.
They lay hand in hand across the wide grassy field.
Flowers bloomed in the grass, and the faces of those lying there looked peaceful.
It was an exceedingly tranquil scene.
If only they had been breathing.
“Any survivors?”
“None.”
A shadow fell over the faces of the inquisitors once they confirmed that not a single person was alive.
The same was true for Kirio.
‘We were one step too late.’
There was no trace of heresy left behind.
The ritual was complete.
Crows, drawn by the scent of death, cried out from atop the cliff.
Caw!
Caaaw!
Kirio raised his head and looked toward the cliff.
On the steep face where the crows perched, words had been carved.
‘Praise the great master, the king of all the arrogant.’
‘The new king returns.’
‘Foolish ones, you are too late.’
Kirio’s brow twitched.
The other inquisitors let out low murmurs.
“To whom was this message left?”
“The king of all the arrogant… surely that means…….”
After contemplating the words, Kirio spoke.
“Leviathan.”
The king of all the arrogant.
Among the many epithets recorded for Leviathan, this was the one his servants favored the most.
“They toyed with us.”
Kirio realized that the heretics had deliberately leaked the information.
That the purpose behind offering such a massive sacrifice had been Leviathan’s resurrection.
And the fact that they had deliberately lured the inquisitors stationed in Marcellent all the way here meant only one thing.
‘They wanted to draw us away.’
Kirio understood everything.
‘The place I was meant to be.’
Throughout the Academy Autumn Festival, he had been scheduled to remain at the Supreme Deity Order’s booth.
If he had not suddenly been dispatched on this mission, he would have been in Marcellent at the very least.
“We must return. Immediately.”
Flames leapt within Kirio’s blue eyes.
‘Your Highness.’
For some reason, a single figure kept surfacing in his mind.
***
Ding.
[The quest has been successfully completed.]
[You have persuaded Gillian Gard, a servant of the Supreme Deity.]
[Gillian Gard feels a strong Affinity toward your actions.]
Ding.
[Gillian Gard’s Affinity has reached 40.]
The notification sounds rang out in succession.
Seeing the message that the quest had been completed, Radel let out a quiet sigh of relief.
‘For now, at least, it seems I have prevented the academy from being shut down.’
If he had failed this quest, the Imperial Magic Academy might have been closed.
It was a quest that had to be completed to preserve everyday life itself.
So it really was actions over words.
Consulting the Spirit of the Library had been worth it.
Ding.
[Quest completion rewards are being applied.]
[The core ??? of ?? has been revealed.]
[Key information regarding Leviathan’s resurrection plan has been uncovered!]
‘Leviathan’s resurrection plan?’
His relief was short-lived.
The new notification window that appeared before his eyes was more than enough to shock him.
Thud.
Gillian tossed aside the pouch he had been holding.
Stones rolled out onto the ground.
“You probably do not understand what it means for me to throw this away.”
As Gillian stared at the stones scattered across the floor, he bit down on his own thumb.
Crunch.
Using the blood that flowed from his finger, he drew a magic circle on the ground.
It was dark magic.
“There is no time, so I will be brief.”
With a look of resolve, Gillian looked at Radel.
“In a short while, Leviathan will descend upon the world.”
The moment he finished speaking, a cough burst from Gillian’s throat.
HACK!
Black blood splattered across the ground.
The price of speaking what must not be spoken.
A Geas.
Given that he was a heretic, it was only natural that a Geas bound him.
Gillian was now risking his life to tell Radel something he was forbidden to say.
“To summon an Archdemon, sacrifices are required. And the greatest sacrifice is…… kuh!”
Once again, blood surged up from Gillian’s throat.
“Do not speak, Brother.”
“No…… khk!”
“I understand everything. To summon Leviathan, a great many sacrifices are required. And among them, there must be a greatest sacrifice.”
“……!”
Enduring the pain of his lungs being torn apart, Gillian stared at Radel.
The dark spell he had just cast was meant to weaken the curse of the Geas.
As with all curse magic, speaking forbidden information without preparation endangered not only the one bound by the Geas, but also the listener.
In severe cases, the listener’s mind could even collapse.
Gillian’s intention had been to redirect that backlash onto himself.
Even so, it was more than he could fully endure.
‘That the 4th Princess is the sacrifice… at least that much I have to say……!’
But before he could utter anything further, Radel clamped a hand over Gillian’s mouth.
The movement was astonishingly fast.
“Mmgh!”
“I told you not to speak. At this rate, you will truly die.”
Radel knew well how powerful a Geas could be.
The fact that not only academy students but even graduates and professors could not utter a word about the Spirit of the Library made that obvious enough.
And this was a Geas enforced by a dark curse.
Radel could practically feel the resolve with which Gillian was speaking.
‘He is prepared to die.’
But Radel had no intention of allowing that.
After all, how could he let a newly acquired slave die?
‘Not a chance.’
Radel pulled out a Hayden-style Beginner Potion from his pocket, forced it into Gillian’s mouth, and pinched his nose shut.
“Ghk!?”
“Do not breathe. Just swallow it all.”
“Mmgh!”
While the suffocating Gillian was forced to drink the potion, Radel rapidly assessed the situation.
His gaze fell on the pouch that had been dropped.
The pouch.
The stones that had been inside it.
They had seemed like ordinary stones, but judging by Gillian’s reaction, that could not be the case.
Leviathan’s descent.
These must have been part of the preparations for it.
‘He said the greatest sacrifice.’
That meant there was more than one sacrifice.
To summon not just any demon, but the Archdemon Leviathan, a vast number of sacrifices must have been required.
Watching Gillian finish most of the potion, Radel spoke.
“You only need to listen to my deductions. Those stones are clearly connected to the sacrifices, and they are most likely ordinary people.”
“Ghk?!”
Seeing Gillian’s pupils widen, Radel nodded.
Even a Geas could be bypassed to some extent if the information was not conveyed directly through speech or writing.
Circumlocution could slip through.
After all, people at the academy avoided the Geas by saying ‘that spirit’ instead.
‘It is enough to infer it.’
That reaction had been good.
Judging by the lack of backlash, widening pupils alone did not trigger the curse.
“You kept trying to take the pouch back from me, so there must be a reason it is absolutely necessary. However, there is something I do not quite understand. Brother Gillian, are you not contracted with Asmodeus? Why, then, are you assisting in Leviathan’s descent……?”
Through facing heretics several times, Radel had learned their nature.
They were far from cooperative beings.
That was only natural.
The Archdemons they contracted with did not cooperate with one another either.
Demons only worked together when their interests aligned.
It was clearly recorded in the journals left behind by his ancestor Hayden.
“Perhaps you did not truly wish to participate in this plan. It may have been an order from the Black Order, or perhaps you were threatened into coming this far.”
Radel carefully observed Gillian’s reaction.
‘Good. There was a response at the word “threatened.”’
To threaten a contractor of Asmodeus, it would have to be someone high-ranking within the Black Order, or someone holding Gillian’s weakness.
And one more thing.
It had to be someone who desired Leviathan’s descent.
‘Most likely…… Leviathan’s contractor.’
Radel recalled the purple key of Leviathan in his possession.
It was a key Gusto had stolen from a heretic in Raviedel.
The man who had corrupted the Lizardman chieftain from the shadows.
A heretic who wielded a sword with unnatural skill.
A suspect Radel had yet to secure concrete evidence against.
A follower of the 4th Princess, Kier Iern.
If he truly was Leviathan’s contractor……
“Is it Kier Iern? The heretic who threatened you?”
At Radel’s casual question, a gurgling sound rose from Gillian’s throat.
“How did you kno—!”
“I told you to listen only.”
With swift movements, Radel shoved another potion into Gillian’s mouth.
“Ghk!”
Now, what he wanted to know was clear.
A smile spread across Radel’s lips.
Leviathan’s contractor had not gathered all the Keys of Seal.
One key was in Radel’s possession.
Yet if there was still a way to break the seal, then it would require a power beyond magic or curses.
That could only be divine power.
‘Ability.’
It felt as though every piece of the puzzle had finally clicked into place.