Chapter 116
“So this is everyone? My, my… like livestock, really.”
I spoke to the beings rolling around in the treasury…creatures that were far removed from the treasures one would expect to find here.
Once they were humans, but now they had lost the freedom of their limbs, capable only of writhing on the floor.
These were no longer anything but sacrifices. That Shilent-sama desired such things was beyond my comprehension.
“Kill me… kill me…”
“My legs…move…! Why won’t they!?”
“My arm… It’s right here, isn’t it!? It’s here, so why won’t it move!!”
…Shall I kill their throats too, if necessary? No, that would mean death.
Their voices are unbearable, but I suppose I must endure.
“Now then. Is this treasury sturdy?” (Still) I spoke to the one person inside who had not uttered a word, a man who had abandoned everything and stared blankly into the void…the king.
“…Uah…?”
“I asked if this treasury is sturdy. Depending on your answer, I might be able to help you. Like this.” (Still)
I struck the dead limbs of a man lying nearby with my fist.
[Holy Evil Reversal]
Reverses the effects you bestow.
Instant death becomes resurrection, deadly poison becomes antidote, DoT state becomes cured + auto HP recovery.
Healing magic becomes attack magic, resurrection magic becomes instant death, even item effects are reversed.
This was the only way to restore dead body parts.
In this world, there is likely no such thing as “resurrection.” Once a part of the body dies, ordinary recovery cannot restore it.
Well, of course, if the heart is killed, the rest of the body parts naturally die as well.
“Ah, ahh! It’s moving! My limbs are moving!”
“Yes, but the trial period ends here.” (Still)
I killed him once again.
His limbs stopped moving, and he collapsed back onto the floor.
The next instant, his screams of anguish filled the narrow treasury.
“Your Majesty!!! Answer, Your Majesty!!!! Our lives depend on you!!!”
“Uah…a-ah?”
“I will ask again. Is this treasury sturdy?” (Still)
At last, light returned to the king’s eyes at my repeated question.
“A-Ah… sturdy… This is the sturdiest…in the castle…”
Indeed. Located deep underground, surrounded by heavy doors, iron bars, and thick walls.
From what I have seen, multiple layers of magical protection overlapped here as well.
…It seems like it truly is the sturdiest place.
“Then please, give thanks to this sturdy treasury. Well then, everyone, farewell.” (Still)
With that, I left the treasury. I shut the door, making sure that the magical protection reactivated.
I walked out of the castle, leaving behind the now silent lumps of flesh, and went down from the small hill.
I looked up at the half-destroyed castle, still retaining its silhouette…a symbol of this nation that might deceive people into thinking its authority and prestige still stood.
“Well then… let us hope the treasury can endure this.” (Still)
If it could not, surely I would incur My Lord’s displeasure.
I slowly raised my hand forward.
I stretched my arm upward toward the sky as though placing an invisible sphere onto my palm.
And then, I swung it down, as if slamming that invisible sphere into the ground.
“[The Day the Sky Falls].” (Still)
At that instant, light poured down upon the site of the castle.
“Light poured down”? No, more fitting would be to say that a solid mass of light fell and crushed everything beneath it.
To behold it as a reality was overwhelming. If it was this awe-inspiring to someone like me, I wonder how it would be like for a true veteran mage.
But the next moment, intense fatigue and drowsiness washed over me. ///
“Tch! …So this is…the price.” (Still)
It must have been something akin to the depletion of MP. Shire had once exhibited similar symptoms.
Following her example, I quickly pulled a recovery item from my menu and drank it in one gulp.
The uphill path that once led to the castle was now carpeted with corpses…hundreds of them, piled high, woven by Shilent-sama himself.
I sat on a small rock, and looked upon the scene.
“…From here, it will depend on my discretion, I suppose.” (Still)
That man, Fus, who escaped this time…he was likely part of some organization.
And both this war and their infiltration of Golda must have been for some sort of experiment.
I read the description of the red gem I took from the chest of that false Hero I killed.
[Fragment of the Dungeon Core from Lindblum Lair]
A shard of a Dungeon Core that grew due to external influence.
That was all the information I could glean. Shire or My Lord’s [Appraisal Eye] would be needed to appraise it further.
Still, they must have wanted this shard, and were attempting to artificially create new ones inside a dungeon.
My Lord acquired it first this time, but no doubt they arranged for one of their own to retrieve it.
Then…was their true objective not to collect cores, but to create them?
If they could grow cores inside humans, that would be far simpler than tampering with artificial dungeons.
“Still not clear… What exactly is their goal?” (Still)
At the very least, however, this war’s purpose had clearly been to feed countless human lives into the cores.
I once again pulled out the core and held it up toward the starry sky.
“…Beautiful. Truly, like the crystallized radiance of human lifeblood.” (Still)
How many thousands of lives had been sucked into this thing? How precious indeed.
I stowed the core away once more and stood.
Soon, the thunderous noise from the castle’s obliteration would draw others here.
I set off again, slowly, walking down the carpet of corpses.
“Oh…?” (Still)
Two figures were running up this path. I recognized one of them.
…Lemia. Yes, that was her name. A strong woman of status… Quite convenient.
“My, my, what’s the rush?” (Still)
“! Who are you! Are you from the castle!?”
It wasn’t Lemia, but the other woman who drew her sword and leveled it at me.
…Hm. I recognized her too, but could not recall from where.
“I was near the castle. A terrifying individual appeared, but they left me alone upon realizing I was not a soldier.” (Still)
“…Are you from the Elkood Church?”
“No, not at all. I belong to a very small group, and came here seeking backing. Well… I was made to wait only to be turned away at the gates. Yet perhaps that was my salvation…for it allowed me to escape unharmed. Surely, I must be…beloved by the world itself. Ahh…what a wondrous faith this is.” (Still)
If they won’t understand me anyway, then let me be a madman.
People would call me one regardless even if I had no such intention.
“You said a terrifying individual. What did they look like?” (Lemia)
This time Lemia spoke.
Very well, let me offer the words she must be hoping for.
“He bore a greatsword upon his back, like a warrior. I saw him slaughter countless soldiers and head toward the castle…but beyond that, I cannot say. I am ashamed to admit, I fled for my life. Even now, I was merely sitting here to rest my trembling legs.” (Still)
Go on. You truly wish to rush to the castle, do you not?
Leave this strange man be.
“…Understood. We’ll hear the details later. Wait at the guild.” (Lemia)
“I cannot promise that… This nation is abnormal right now. I wish only to return swiftly to a sane world.” (Still)
“!” (Lemia)
“Lemia, we must hurry.”
The other woman tapped Lemia’s shoulder, and together they rushed again toward the castle.
Watching their backs, I finally remembered.
“Ah! So that was her!” (Still)
The woman who had overseen My Lord’s guild registration combat test when he was Seimu.
So she was no ordinary person after all.
“Well, well… How amusing. Truly, fate is a strange thing.” (Still)
Those two would surely discover the hostages trapped in the underground treasury.
I even left the key for them. If the treasury survived my strike, their rescue was inevitable.
And soon enough, they would realize that those hostages were the very ones Shilent-sama sought the right of life and death over.
The prisoners would all say the same thing: “It was a man like a priest who did this.”
Sooner or later, that woman would interrogate me.
“…I should hurry to the battlefield, while I can.” (Still)
Before the stars fade. Before night flees. Before the war itself ends.
—————-
“…What do you think of that man just now?”
“Let’s see, nine times out of ten he’s connected somehow. I don’t know to what, but the mere fact that he survived the sudden collapse of the castle makes him someone to be wary of.”
“Yes. But…this takes priority right now.”
The two of them headed for the castle that had suddenly collapsed with a thunderous roar.
At first, Lemia thought it was the work of Shilent, but the sheer scale of the devastation made her instinctively realize, “No, that can’t be it.”
Even so, she was convinced that it was Shilent who created this sea of corpses covering the city, this river of blood flowing like a stream, this literal mountain of corpses and river of blood.
The two of them traced the river of blood endlessly flowing down the slope from atop the hill where the castle’s outer wall once stood.
What they finally arrived at was…a land that had become barren along with the rubble, even the corpses gone, where the castle once stood.
“No way… There’s nothing…” (Melissa)
“No, judging from the sheer spread of blood on the ground, there must have been people here… Look. Even the color of the sand is different. Most likely..everything that composed the castle was ground into dust.” (Lemia)
“Huh…? You mean…” (Melissa)
“The castle was completely destroyed, as if crushing a lump of soil with your fingers… It’s unbelievable, but here and there you can see fragments of weapons and bits of rubble that somehow escaped. Even remnants of furnishings and carpets are mixed into the sand.” (Lemia)
“What… What the hell is this…? Are you telling me this was some kind of secret weapon of Golda’s? And it exploded…?” (Melissa)
“I don’t know. Let’s investigate further. Perhaps we’ll find some clue.” (Lemia)
And so, the two of them discovered them…the survivors. Even after being struck by a calamity surpassing even a natural disaster, as if it were divine punishment itself, there were still humans left alive.
The treasure vault being underground had somehow managed to maintain its structure.
When they unsealed it, inside was…
“Help us! Somebody, anybody! Save us!”
“That uniform! You’re with the guild, aren’t you!? Save us!!”
A crowd of what appeared to be castle residents tumbled within, packed to the point of filling the floor.
Among them, Lemia noticed the very person who she recently slipped in the declaration of war to.
“I take you to be the King of Golda. Can you explain what happened here?” (Lemia)
“…Ah…”
“The guild can offer you temporary protection. Right now, you are the only one who can stop this war, King of Golda.” (Lemia)
“I… know nothing… I know nothing anymore… Kill me… kill me!”
At first glance, the hostages seemed unharmed, but their hands were limp and their legs were sprawled weakly.
But all of them had their spirits broken. They had vacant eyes and only muttered incoherently.
Imprisoned, deprived of freedom in their limbs, subjected to ceaseless, incomprehensible thunderous sounds while in pain and confusion… Their minds were shattered, crumbled to ash just like the castle itself.
“…! Dismissing the guild staff earlier turned out to be a mistake, Melissa. It’s difficult, but we’ll have to transport all these hostages back to the guild.” (Lemia)
“There’s no other choice… I think there should still be some staff from this city around, I’ll summon them. Please wait a moment.” (Melissa)
“Yes, please.” (Lemia)
Seeing Melissa dash off, Lemia surveyed the hostages.
From their attire, she understood: they were all royalty, or at least from the upper nobility.
And these people were surely related to Shilent’s demanded reward: the right of life and death over Golda’s upper echelon.
Which meant…it must have been Shilent who imprisoned them here. So Lemia spoke the name.
“King of Golda. Was it not a man named Shilent, a giant, who locked you in here?” (Lemia)
Perhaps triggered by that, the vacant eyes of the king lit up with life once more.
He spoke with laughter, like a broken man recalling the past.
“Shilent! Yes, that man is the cause of it all! He’s the one who brought calamity!!!”
“I see. Then, where is this man called Shilent now?” (Lemia)
“He’s dead! Judgment has fallen upon him!!! The fitting end for a traitor to our nation! Yes! Judgment has fallen! I was right all along!”
“Wh… Dead? That man?” (Lemia)
“My hero! He killed him splendidly! Yes! Where has Isaka gone? Save me! Come quickly! You are the strongest! Isaka… Isaka…? Ah!? AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”
The King of Golda went mad once again. He only raved and cried someone’s name like delirium, maybe unable to speak coherent words any longer.
But Lemia was seized by the meaningful words hidden within his madness.
“Dead…? Shilent-sama…is dead?” (Lemia)
That couldn’t be. It was the ravings of a broken king. She refused to believe it.
But then…another hostage, trembling, spoke instead of the king.
“T-The one who brought us here…was not a giant…”
“Explain in detail.” (Lemia)
“A…A man dressed in black… He looked like someone tied to a religion…”
In that instant, the image of the strange man she saw outside the castle flashed across Lemia’s mind.
But she could not leave here since Melissa had gone to gather guild staff. She forced herself to endure. To wait, even while knowing the answer lay with that man.
—————
Eventually, when staff were gathered and the hostages’ transfer began, Lemia immediately dashed out of the castle.
She sprinted through the city. Through the blood-soaked streets, as if running along a rain-washed road.
The road continued outward from the gates of the capital. Faint traces of bloody footprints remained on it.
Lemia was certain…this was the trail of that man.
Footprints leading to the battlefield. In this situation, the only abnormal human who would be heading that way was him.
And then…Lemia caught up.
On the road, sitting as if waiting for her arrival, facing the direction she had come from, was the mysterious man.
“You’re later than I expected. Good work.”
The man, seated on what looked like a stagecoach bench, greeted her first.
Showing nothing but that expression; a smile that never wavered.
“…Answer me. Who are you?” (Lemia)
“Scary. Please put that dangerous thing away.”
He gently touched the tip of the dagger thrust at him, lowering it.
And then…
“I suppose you could say… I’m someone who took an interest in Shilent and followed him?”
“Followed him… That should be impossible.” (Lemia)
“Oh? Ah, you mean how he came to this country via a dungeon? No, not just this time. I’ve known him well, long before this. With the scent of war growing, it was only a matter of time before he showed up here seeking military exploits. In this case, it’s more accurate to say ‘I wasn’t following him, but lying in wait.’”
Those words silenced Lemia. This man, who even knew Shilent had a Dungeon Core, might actually be someone who truly knew him.
“Are you from the Brigade?” (Lemia)
“No, unfortunately, I’m not on good terms with that group.”
“Then why were you pursuing Shilent-sama?” (Lemia)
“It’s simple. Don’t you want that power? Having such a man in your camp would be reassuring, wouldn’t it?”
For an instant, she almost raised her dagger again, but held herself back.
“So this time… I proposed a deal to Shilent. ‘If anything happens to you, I will grant your wish. In return, once everything ends, you will come to me.’”
“…!”
Realizing at once that the wish meant the treasure vault hostages, Lemia once again leveled her dagger.
“Where is Shilent-sama now?” (Lemia)
“Since I’ve already fulfilled my promise…you know the answer. Ah, what a miscalculation it was… To think he’d be killed so easily by an otherworld hero. That’s likely the answer you wanted, isn’t it? Ah, and for reference, the wish entrusted to me was ‘the securing of the upper echelon and the castle’s destruction.’ I did feel bad about it, though. I wanted to at least recover his remains, but I crushed the castle along with his corpse.”
“…!”
Her dagger trembled with rage.
“Stop. Surely you understand you’re standing on the brink of death right now. Turn back. I don’t know the details, but Shilent surely wanted those upper echelon people brought to Lendia. Take them yourself. I have no obligation to go that far.”
“!?”
In that instant, a crushing pressure engulfed Lemia.
For the first time in her life…or rather, for the second time, after Shilent…she was overwhelmed by the intimidation of an absolute powerhouse.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground, looking up at this monstrous, deranged figure.
“I’ll be going now. My, I felt something precious. Your faith in Shilent. It was truly pleasant, faint yet strong.”
“What…are you saying…” (Lemia)
“The moment that fragile faith breaks… How beautiful it will be. Now go back, pitiful lamb who has lost her faith.”
And with that, the madman strode alone toward the battlefield, leaving Lemia collapsed on the roadside.
To act freely upon the stage of war, as one of its extras.
The curtain rose on his deranged play.
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