Chapter 425
Episode 425. Blood
“The Seals of the Stars have found their rightful masters.”
At the words relayed by the ghost, Arthur nodded.
Before sending Karl to Demtor, Arthur had entrusted him with three rings set with splendid jewels.
These rings were the Seals of the Towers, and whoever possessed one could request a single favor from the master of that Seal.
Arthur had previously received the Seals of the Stars from Elder Halyans, as compensation for aiding the Ivory Tower Union. This time, he had used the opportunity to propose his intended request through Karl.
And the Stars had accepted.
“For the Lord of the Ivory Tower to relinquish the Great Wall… that must mean he has broken completely with Grand Duke Clarke.”
Arthur’s proposal had to do with the so-called “Great Wall of Mages.”
To approach the heart of the Tower Union, one had to pass the Brilliant Great Wall.
Passing through without harm required the Stars’ permission, and the Lord of the Ivory Tower had accepted that request.
This was effectively a declaration that they sought open support from the World Tree Alliance in their civil war.
“Um…”
One ghost glanced at Arthur and asked carefully,
“Is the Master’s message a good sign?”
“It’s very good. It means the Lord of the Ivory Tower desperately wishes for our help.”
“I see… When Master left the message, his expression twisted so much that I was a little uneasy.”
Perhaps it was simply regret that his feats had to be delivered through his subordinates’ mouths.
Karl would surely understand just how great this was.
No doubt, he had wanted to boast of it himself.
“I didn’t expect success so quickly either.”
There had to be a reason for the Stars’ swift acceptance.
Arthur thought of Gram, the Lord of the Black Tower.
The Blood-Drinking Chalice.
Among her divine names was [The Serpent That Devours Stars].
Born to grow stronger by consuming Demtor’s Stars, her obsession with them was fierce and relentless.
That obsession might have hastened the Ivory Tower Lord’s choice.
“Or Karl might have done something.”
For Arthur, whose plans had already been forced forward by Kamel’s reappearance, this was not a bad development.
“So all that remains is assembling the forces to attack Demtor.”
Arthur thought of the great festival soon to be held in the city of Clayton.
Every key figure of the World Tree, including its core military strength, would attend.
It would be the perfect occasion for Arthur to compose the force he needed.
Two more days passed.
The magic ship continued smoothly down the lower Kenline River, while the group aboard passed their time leisurely.
The ghosts, however, suffered from being Lochter’s sparring partners and Lily’s new playthings.
“Ugh—!”
“W-wait!”
As groans echoed yet again from the deck, Arthur studied the map spread on his table.
It marked the deployment encircling Demtor.
By the flow of things, Grand Duke Clarke’s side held overwhelming advantage.
On the map, Clarke’s alliance forces were isolating the Ivory Tower.
The border defenses were also Clarke’s troops, and the ghosts had recorded their firsthand observations while escaping.
“The border was mostly Black Tower forces, wasn’t it?”
Arthur’s face darkened as he studied the border deployments.
It was because of a new, unexpected force that had appeared.
“The beast legion…”
Demtor housed beasts.
The most widely known were the giant lizard Hotaru and the wyvern Beluga, but what the ghosts had encountered this time were not any of those.
Arthur handed the sketch the ghosts had drawn to Samuel.
Reclining on the sofa and savoring his tea, Samuel examined the paper with a tilt of his head.
“What’s this?”
“What do you think?”
“Not bad. Hotaru?”
“No. They said it was a newly appeared beast.”
“A new one?”
Interest flickered in Samuel’s eyes. He drained his tea in one gulp and peered more closely at the drawing.
“Its form resembles the lizard Hotaru, but perhaps a different species? How large?”
“About twice Hotaru’s size.”
At that, Samuel froze. Hotaru itself was already likened to a one-story building in bulk. Twice that?
“It has large horns on its head.”
“They said it charges through everything in its path. Its hide is as hard as steel.”
“With steel hide, that would be a physique-type beast.”
“And it breathes poison, so it seems venomous as well.”
“Venom too?”
Samuel’s expression stiffened slightly.
The beasts of Demtor were artificial, bred through cultivation.
Steel hide and venom—such combined traits should be impossible.
“They said its poison could easily melt through a mage’s shield.”
“…Hmm.”
“Does it remind you of anything?”
After some thought over the sketch, Samuel offered a theory.
“Looks like a variant beast.”
“A variant?”
“In Demtor, they call beasts with composite traits variants. But variants have very short lifespans. They’re considered failures rather than proper beasts.”
“Then this one too must have a short life?”
“You’ll see soon enough. But…”
“What troubles you?”
“If this beast was the work of the Black Tower Lord, there may be exceptions.”
Samuel had spent long years in Demtor as a courier, fulfilling countless mage requests.
Naturally, he knew many hidden details about the Towers.
“Is the Black Tower Lord special?”
“Very. Do you know her epithet?”
“I heard she’s called the Alchemist Blessed by the Gods.”
“That’s what most say. But her followers call her something else. The Alchemist of ‘Life.’”
“Life?”
“It means she specializes in manipulating life. You know of her Black Butterfly Project?”
“Yes. It was the attempt to evolve a mage’s body. Our side intervened, so it was abandoned.”
“In truth, it succeeded. The test-subject mages gained powerful bodies. Her alchemy breaks the limits of life itself.”
“Breaking the limits…”
“Think of Blood Nature, the potion known as the Drop of God. It awakened countless mages to heightened senses and rapid growth. Everything she touches undergoes special change. If this beast too is her work, it could be extraordinary.”
Arthur listened silently, then nodded.
From the beginning, he had suspected the new beast was her creation.
In the reports, it was named Elter.
As Samuel said, Elter appeared to be an evolved variant of Hotaru.
“The problem is, it never appeared in the novel.”
It seemed a variable born of Gram’s altered fate, with the failed Black Butterfly Project at its root.
The Black Butterflies had been a core force in Gram’s conquest of Demtor.
But that project had been ruined by Arthur’s sabotage.
She would have needed another power to replace it, and that appeared to be the beast legion Elter.
“The report says their numbers already exceed several dozen.”
“That many?”
“During your time in Demtor, did you ever hear of research like this? Any clue at all?”
“No. Never.”
Arthur pressed Samuel for counsel about Demtor.
The gap between novel and reality was wide, and he needed Samuel’s knowledge to understand the situation better.
The more they spoke, the more Arthur felt certain.
There must be something. But what?
Elter had appeared as if from nowhere.
Arthur was the only one who knew all the secret research paths of the ‘main villain,’ Gram.
Beast experiments should only have begun after the Black Butterfly Project failed.
For such results to be completed in so short a span was astonishing.
There had to be a means that made it possible.
“Will this beast called Elter affect Demtor’s power?”
“If it truly succeeded, the influence will be enormous.”
“And if it is the Black Tower Lord’s work, does that mean mages will flock to her?”
“The impact will be great. They will be enthralled again by her innovations.”
“And if she shared that innovation as knowledge?”
“They’d swarm to the Black Tower like bees.”
Mages pursued truth with zeal, and Gram’s breakthroughs shone as if they were truth itself.
“Knowledge over money, then?”
“I would always choose money. But mages cannot be bought with coin alone. To them, money is only a tool to reach knowledge they cannot otherwise touch.”
From Samuel’s words, Arthur realized Elter’s emergence was extremely unfavorable for the Ivory Tower Union.
The vast supplies he had delivered through Karl might lose their impact.
To dampen that influence…
Arthur frowned, thinking of Gram.
He could not allow her influence to grow further.
Soon, he spoke slowly.
“What if—hypothetically—serious flaws were revealed in her achievements?”
“Flaws? What kind?”
“What if countless sacrifices had been required behind them?”
“Sacrifices are common in mage research. It would draw criticism, but nothing severe.”
“What if most of those sacrifices… were mages themselves?”
“…Mages?”
“Yes. What if Blood Nature, the Black Butterfly Project, all her other feats—what if they were built on mages as offerings?”
“That would be different. If it concerned their own kind… But could you prove it? With solid evidence?”
Arthur chuckled faintly.
“Would evidence really be necessary?”
“If it turned out false, the backlash would be immense.”
“If it were false, yes.”
The truth behind Gram Seraphim, the Alchemist.
Blood.
As one who absorbed blood to grow, she instinctively grasped all information in it.
All her knowledge came from blood.
A secret no one else knew.
Arthur intended to unleash this secret in Demtor to bind Gram’s feet.
The more people dug into her under that suspicion, the deeper she alone would sink.
Of course, the ones doing the digging were crucial.
But Arthur already had perfect hunting dogs prepared.
The Ivory Tower Union.
If the Stars of Demtor themselves raised this publicly, other mages would listen.
Even if it failed, it would still strike Gram’s reputation.
It was a plan he had to attempt.
I need to get this message to the Lord of the Ivory Tower…
But even Karl could barely enter now.
Still, Arthur knew one person who could slip through and deliver it to the Tower Lords.
Arthur silently turned his eyes to Samuel.
The one who knew Demtor better than anyone.
The one who could walk between spaces as if they were his own home.
Though now, whenever Arthur asked a favor, he only grew more wary.
How should he persuade him?
“The aroma of Twilight Leaf Tea really is unmatched.”
Samuel, who had briefly shown interest in their talk, quickly lost it and returned his focus to his tea.
Savoring it, he looked forward greatly to the coming festival.
“Ah, those elves…”
“Elves? Which ones?”
“Did you not mention them? Blue Rose, led by Nella. They’ll be there, won’t they?”
Arthur thought a moment, then nodded with a faint smile.
“Of course. I’ll introduce you personally.”
If it was Elf Nella, perhaps she could send Samuel into Demtor more easily than anyone.
Half a day remained until they reached the city of Clayton.
Soon, they would meet.