Chapter 173: Cause(Part 2)
"According to the documents, when a rift is created in the boundary between two different worlds, the energies from each world flood into the other world, creating instability. Of course, we have no way of knowing what kind of effect that has on the other world, but as for our world, the foreign energy has an effect on Monsters, who are especially sensitive to Mana.
To us, Mana is a source of energy to fuel our Magic, but it isn’t essential to our survival. Many Commoners hardly have any Mana at all, but of course, they have no trouble staying alive. Monsters are different, though, Mana is as important to them as air is to us, they can’t survive without Mana. And the resulting tainted Mana affects them like a poison.
Their bodies react to the increase in energy, but since said energy doesn’t consist solely of Mana, they suffer side effects. In most cases, that just means they get sick for a short while, or gain temporary boosts in power, and usually go back to normal after a few days," Explained Jules.
"I see, so it isn’t exclusively the Monster Queens that get affected," Nodded Rione thoughtfully.
"Right, and speaking of which...based on the documents, newly born female Monsters that are born around the same time as when the Hero Summoning Ritual is conducted are the most susceptible to the effects of the foreign energy. Most of them end up dying when exposed to it, but the few that survive end up mutating. They gain immense power, and the others of their species feel a strong, instinctive urge to nurture and protect them.
Fortunately, only those female Monsters that are born around the same time as the ritual are affected, and only a small percentage of those become what we now call Monster Queens. In other words, we don’t have to worry about any new Monster Queens being born, unless the Hero Summoning Ritual is conducted again, of course. But since we destroyed the ritual that Alphonse Plore used, that shouldn’t be a concern," Remarked Jules.
"Well, unless there are more Hero Summoning Rituals hidden away in some archives or whatever, we can’t rule that out," Chimed in Aster warily.
"Yes, that’s true. I’ve asked the church to search their archives for any more copies of the ritual, and to destroy them if they do come across any. I’ve also requested several Nobles who have old collections of Ancient Magic Artifacts and the like to cooperate with us and allow us to search their collections to see if there are any dangerous rituals or Artifacts present. This is a dire situation, and the last thing we need is for it get even worse than it already is.
Anyway, to continue. As some of you have experienced firsthand, the Monster Queens tend to be much stronger than their species usually are, but the extent of just how much more powerful they become varies greatly. A Monster Queen of a stronger species isn’t necessarily going to be immensely more powerful, a Monster Queen of a weaker species could end up being more powerful than one from a stronger species."