Episode 973 Day 77 (4)
Whoosh, whoosh.
Blood gushed from Raselt Barha’s waist as he collapsed. The sight of the human corpse, its upper abdomen bursting open in the blink of an eye, was so unreal that it felt like a dream for a moment.
“Ugh, aaaah!”“What is this…?!”“Rasselt?”
Braonic Strom, the greatest diplomat of the multi-races, had his pupils dilated.A person’s entire life flashed before his eyes.It was Braonic who had recruited Raselt, who had just graduated from the Academy. He was also the one who had first mentored Raselt, who was a rookie diplomat.
Magic
Lightning struck from Braonic’s magic circuit, known as the Great Rampage.
“Braonic! Calm down!”“Get out of the way!”
Ignoring the dissuasion of the Lord of the Hellion Magic Tower, a blue light exploded in his hand.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwa!
A brain sac emitting intense heat engulfed Antias, who was sitting in his seat. Just before the magic was cast, those in the path barely managed to throw themselves away.Unable to withstand the unique magic emitted from within, the wall of Conselvar was pierced.
The forces inside the meeting hall immediately drew their weapons, while the forces outside the hall immediately assessed the situation and assumed combat readiness.
Crackling───
Braonic bares his teeth ferociously and concentrates thunderbolts without stopping. The longer he gathers magical power, the stronger his magic becomes.
The Luas Church, Eon, the Empire, the Helion Magic Tower, Virente, etc., protect their respective factors.
Srrrr.
The Knights of Custodia of the Alliance immediately surrounded Antias widely, and the beastmen who had followed as Antias’s escorts showed their wild nature and loosened their bodies.
The Iderat Confederacy and the Beastmen Great Tribe were neighboring countries and old allies, but such diplomatic relations were now meaningless.
Ostren Pulga
It was just when Braonic, having practically lost his reason, was about to detonate a brainball with its density increased to the extreme to electrocute the entire interior of the council.
Mado
Braonic paused.
The Knights of Custodia and Antias’s escort also froze in that exact position. Braonic, whose eyes had rolled back, came to his senses due to a bizarre sensation.
‘W-what is this…!’
The other person’s magical power penetrated my resistance and interfered with my body’s nerves and magic circuits. It wasn’t just my body. The chilling sensation of penetrating into a realm beyond me cooled even my anger to a cold chill.
“Please pause for a moment.”
Isabella extended her left hand, which was clad in [Elderon], a hand chain. Her awakened vision visualized the essence and captured even the soul.Melad Tastien, the original member of Black Hour, personally guarded her surroundings.
Up until now, Isabella had not really displayed actual military force on the international stage.This was because there were almost no situations where she could do so.
“Strong.””His level is at least on par with ours… but there is something unfathomable about him.””What a peculiar mage. As expected of Eon’s third-in-command.””At that age, with that appearance, he is on par with a Tower Master…!”
No magician looked down on her as a musician who once worked as a lucky melody writer.
Isabella, receiving various gazes, slowly rolled her eyes. Subtly seeing through everyone’s souls with her keen eyes, she parted her lips.
“Were you planning to wage war against the Allied nations?”“Of course not.”
Antias brushed off the debris from the desk that had turned to ashes. Naturally, there wasn’t a single scratch on his body.
“The Alliance is a nation that serves as a bridgehead connecting beastmen and various other races. Diplomatically and geographically, relations are generally good, and trade is active economically. There is no room for war to get involved here.”
Isabella slowly withdrew the magic.
The veins in Braonic’s neck swelled as he regained some of the freedom that had been taken away.
“But why Raselt…!”“I merely killed a traitor attempting to divide the international community. You must have seen that I gave him a chance to prove his innocence.”“Where in the world is there a case where a high-ranking foreign official is killed simply for failing to answer!”“It is a matter of perspective.”
Antias explained in an intellectual tone that did not suit his large frame.
“I hear that those who turned the Kingdom into chaos all had clean pasts. They reportedly turned into murderers as if they had become completely different people. Unless they were manipulated by the psychic realm, they must be a group exceptionally skilled at deceiving others, to the point where it wouldn’t be strange at all to call them the Alien Species.”
A sharp gaze scanned the surroundings.
“While waiting for the Cardinal to arrive, I closely examined each of you. I read the life force that encompassed every biological response. It was only after watching you for a few days that I began to get a sense of you, one or two at a time.”
Antias looked down at Raselt’s corpse.
How do you distinguish guys like this?
A stifling sense of discomfort.
He defined the feeling he got from the person presumed to be a traitor in that way.
“It takes days of observation just to be able to identify a few people.”“Is that… the reason you killed Raselt? Because you felt something like displeasure?”“Didn’t I ask if he was a traitor to confirm it? Those whose minds and bodies are subdued by my savagery can never hide their true feelings from me.”“Savagery cannot be the basis. Nor is there any reason to believe it at face value…”“That is precisely the difference in perspective.”
thud.
Antias moved to a different spot.
“No matter how much I explain, you cannot truly understand my perspective. Because you are not me, and you have never experienced the same senses as me. Could the blind even imagine the patterns of a beast? It would be as futile as teaching a fish fire.”“…….”“A gap in perception that overwhelms confirmation bias. The moonlight known only to me is bound to be lonely.”
My footsteps stopped.
“Isn’t that right?”
Isabella’s heart sank as she received Antias’s gaze.His tone was as if he knew she could discern souls through her keen eyes, implying that she, too, could distinguish a traitor.
“You wouldn’t even know what Hyungan is… …? But it is true that I singled out and killed Raselt, whom I secretly suspected of being a traitor.”
Souls bound in chains and free souls.
It is not considered possible that everyone who falls into the former category is a follower of fate. Because there are too many of them.However, Raselt’s soul was entangled in chains, so Isabella was watching him, keeping in mind that he was a so-called traitor.
It’s not just Laselt.
She kept a close eye on beings with souls similar to Raselt. Before the truth investigation was held, Isabella tried to identify who the potential enemies were.
Huh? Wait, a gaze?
Isabella looked at Antias as best she could without showing it. The ferocious eyes reflected in her golden eyes were watching not only her, but also what she was looking at.
Antias grinned.
‘… … ! My reaction was read.’
Antias detected even the faintest biological reactions and discerned the fragments of emotion in Isabella’s gaze. That suspicion.Furthermore, given that the targets of his suspicion overlapped with those he had identified as traitors, he must have concluded that Isabella might also possess the ability to identify traitors.
In other words… Antias took action only after cross-verifying through Isabella whether his conjecture was truly certain.This was during the three times he encountered her in the Iderat Confederation.
Cunning and flawless.
Isabella has special eyes, but Antias must have nothing but his innate sixth sense. I realized once again why he is the strongest creature in the history of the Beastkin.
“Rasselt Barha is a traitor, so I killed him. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. How you act afterward is also up to you.”
Cardinal Deello spoke in a low voice.
“If you were that certain, wouldn’t capturing them alive have been the best course of action?”“They are men who wear masks their entire lives and mercilessly throw away their own lives when necessary. Do you think we could obtain any significant information by capturing them? Not at all. On the contrary, there is a high probability that our intelligence would be disrupted.”“…….”“Let me give you one special piece of advice.”
Antias naturally drew everyone’s attention next to Isabella.
“From now on, the entities the international community must pay attention to are not these insignificant, expendable traitors, but the ‘real ones.’”
Principal Ilmarion stroked his beard.
“What is that ‘real’?”“It must be those who are impervious to the heresy inquisition of the Luas Church, those who conceal their true nature even while resisting my wild nature. It is a group that committed massacres against the Holy Kingdom. I can say with certainty that traitors of that caliber exist, and allowing them to turn their backs would be fatal.”
Antias knew by what means the Ruas religion intended to weed out traitors. He was not a foolish beast that blindly charged just because the prey was right in front of him.
“Now you’ll have to carefully consider who to keep by your side as well.”“……Hmph.”
Braonic looked at Raselt’s corpse for a moment, squeezed his eyes shut, and shook his head. No matter what, there was no way Raselt could be a traitor.
“I can’t rule out the possibility that there are traitors among key figures in other nations.””The Empire is no exception, is it?””Surely not among the students…?””What about my magic city?””If an elder-level member of the Helion Magic Tower is a traitor, hmph.”
The gazes of Zeren, Duke Lucent, Ilmarion, Orders, and Triton crossed for a moment, and then, as if by prior agreement, they turned toward Cardinal Deello.
‘Perhaps there is a traitor within the Luas Church as well.’
Silence hung in the air.
A kind of chaos unlike anything seen before weighed down everyone’s hearts like a stone.
“Unless we wipe out the seeds of suspicion like this, the international community will inevitably collapse if we just leave it alone. Hehehe, I wonder how it will turn out.”
Antias was enjoying the situation, but the observation was perfect. He thought it was the end when the murder was committed without warning… but instead, the international community had an opportunity to seriously reflect on the current situation.
Antias, noticing the meaning in Isabella’s gaze, spoke.
“Are you wondering why I settled the situation, as you expected me to stir up trouble or at least observe? Come to think of it, causing a stir amidst the chaos seemed like a bad idea since I’ve already done that at the World Conference.”
Antias stroked his chin.
“Whether I do it or someone else does. It’s always more fun when someone openly steps forward and takes the lead.”
Verden, who dominated the atmosphere from start to finish at the world conference as if he were giving a speech, was impressive even to Antias.
“Then it’s your turn.”“What? What do you mean, ‘turn’?”“I’ve identified more traitors. It would be a waste to just let them go.”
Antias revealed his wild nature as if to show off, asking if you didn’t know it too. The air twisted violently at the momentum that extended more strongly than before.
“If you don’t answer, I will kill you.”
Thick, sharp fingernails pointed at one of the High Consor members.
“Are you a traitor?”“Huh?! W-what?!”“Three.”“Please stop. Refrain from any further killings──”“Two.”
The numbers keep decreasing without stopping.
Cardinal Deello, who should have interrogated the leader of the League due to the betrayal of Leader Teriwen, ended up on the side trying to stop the situation because of Antias.
The agenda has been reversed.
Everyone tried to stop Antias immediately because they didn’t know just how many he would kill, but in the meantime, a tail resembling a dragon moved like a whip.
Whoosh──CRASH!
A heavy shockwave spread.
I thought the council member accused of being a traitor would have been beaten to a pulp, but before that could happen, a giant human shadow blocked the Water King’s blow.
“H-H-H-Eek!”“Stop…….”
The demonic terror that arrived at the Federation’s capital council intervened in the situation.
“Combat is…… forbidden…… for a while…….”
* * *
A sound like scraping metal.
Isabella immediately lowered the hand she had extended slightly.
The Slayer of Calamity? I did hear that he crossed the Allied border three days ago.
Could it be that he ran physically without borrowing any magical power?It was a very ambiguous arrival time—too slow to say he crossed space, yet too fast to say he just ran.
The truth investigation committee was in an uproar at the sudden appearance of the Ark’s captain—the Obsidian-ranked adventurer, the Demonic Terror. Although, at that time, it was no different from an execution chamber for a traitor than a truth investigation committee.
I felt it ever since I saw it at the world conference.
Antias perceived the physical strength of the demonic terror through touch.He saw through the ‘abnormal’ hidden by the armor a little more clearly.
“What a truly grotesque body. Good enough to say it is the most horrific I have ever seen.”“Now, now, let’s save the private conversation for later.”
Beyond the wall pierced by Braonic, the Knights of the Word and their King appeared. The flag of Highlandia fluttered in the wind.The Oathbreaker.Yurion Hyros displayed dignity, resting one arm on the hilt of his sword.
Why did Yurion and the Fear of Demons appear together?It was simply because they met along the way.It was a coincidence that occurred when the Fear of Demons, who had been rushing in a straight line toward this place, was delayed briefly to receive an urgent message.
“It’s been a while, so I’d like to say hello, but this isn’t the time for that. First, I have two matters to convey to you. To be precise, to the international community.”“Coming to the Alliance without notice, what…?”“Just listen for now.”
Yurion gestured with his chin.
The fear of the demon continued speaking slowly.
“It is a message from the Keeper…… that a massive number…… of undead…… have appeared…… in the Demon Realm…….”
Upon confirming the anomalous phenomenon in the Mirror of Evil, Acetro Oldin immediately conveyed the fact to the Demonic Terror through the Adventurer’s Guild’s emergency communication network.
Of course, it did not go through the Ark’s information network.
This is because it is more natural to spread information to the public this way. Acetro, who researches the Demon Realm—an uncharted territory both on the surface and in reality—maintains a close relationship with the Adventurer’s Guild.
Most people’s expressions were stiff.
“Undead in the Demon Realm?”
Cardinal Delo stood up abruptly.
“Surely not about the former king…!”“Just listen. Anyway, this is the first piece of news. I heard about it just a moment ago, so I haven’t been able to verify it myself, but it seems quite serious, so you would do your best to assemble your troops immediately. And the second piece of news is.”
Yurion stepped forward.
“I’ve heard there are traitors these days who have colluded with the Glory of the Dead to indiscriminately kill people in the Theocracy of Luas. And on top of that, I hear they are even aiming to divide the international community?”
The whole area stirred at the power in his voice.
I have come to exterminate them.
* * *
Desert of Silence
Like the Pledge of Truth held at the World Conference, Yurion’s Pledge interferes with the very existence of the subject through coercion or agreement.
There is no need to examine things one by one like Isabella,nor is there any need to read vitality for days like Antias.
Even if magic items that distinguish truth from falsehood do not work, the moment you directly agree to Yurion’s contract, you cannot escape those restrictions.
Verden asked.
“……So what happened?”“Just before signing the contract with the oath-maker, the Followers of Fate committed suicide in unison.”
Casualties occurred not only among the High Consor members of the Alliance but also among the members of the Order of Custodia they boasted of. Itwas truly unexpected… the truth was revealed that those who were trusted colleagues, subordinates, and superiors were traitors.
The confusion must have been great, but…
It is not to the point where it cannot be resolved.
Since it was practically confirmed that the people remaining in the meeting room were not traitors, they could have had a more constructive conversation than before.
The manager said.
“To summarize, using him as a stepping stone, the foundation for a new international alliance was laid. Also, not long after, a mage from the Lefragium Magic Tower arrived, conveyed the Provider’s message, and put an end to the conflict.”“Is this about the former king?”“Yes.”
The manager nodded.
“The old king has been sealed, at least temporarily, but he will soon be released.”
In other words, it provided the starting point for unity.
Alliance of Transcendents.International Alliance.Hunting down traitors.
No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t a bad situation and was more favorable than expected, but unlike that, the manager’s expression wasn’t very good.
“What happened after that?”“It went smoothly at first. But to start with the conclusion…”
Verden’s expression changed after hearing from the manager about the current situation on the continent.
this.
I must return to the continent immediately.
