◈ Episode 308. The World May Have Abandoned Them (4)
Former leader of the Shadow Mercenaries.
“Huh?”
Kichi swept a stray strand of black hair out of her face. It had been a long time since she’d set foot on the Arcana Continent. In addition, she had just left the Shadow Mercenaries on her own. So she didn’t plan on making a scene.
To be honest, I’d rather…….
I was hoping to find a decent tavern, get drunk, and become a wreck. But the world wasn’t helping Kichi. There were no taverns left on the Arcana continent, or anywhere else for that matter.
“This isn’t why I don’t do things I haven’t done before…….”
So she searched for the Demon King’s Castle.
I entered the Demon King’s Castle to settle the score with the Shadow Mercenaries over Claudi, and also to steal some strong liquor, as a demon would naturally do.
And now.
“……No, no.”
Shake-shake.
I shake off my thoughts of pride and calmly look at the situation. Deng Geng. The Demon King’s right-hand man, the leader of the Demon Legion, was blown away.
Kugugung!
The ground trembled, and the Demon King disappeared without a trace.
“……ha.”
Even the wine she had stolen from the storage room was gone, along with……! With her purpose lost, Kichi dagger had no choice but to point towards the bad omen that had swallowed up the Demon King’s Castle.
It was a difficult foe.
It wasn’t often that a kichi dagger could not penetrate.
Moreover, it was beyond the point where it made her head spin.
“Huh.”
Kichi suppressed her emotions, even as her temper flared like the head of the organization. At best, she’d be able to hold her form together and disappear, only to die a screaming death in a fight with an unknown opponent not long after.
That was not a pleasant ending.
But.
“No, really?”
Kwaziziziziz!
The Bad Omen that she couldn’t even cut herself split in half.
Kichi’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.
Kichi had to stop and watch in disbelief.
“You sliced that thing with that stupid sword……?!”
The slim silver sword fell to the ground.
Figures pouring out of the gaping hole.
As you know, Kichi is well versed in Arcana continental intelligence.
“……Wait.”
The Shadow Mercenaries are a well-known force in Arcana’s underworld, and it’s not uncommon for them to be called upon for information about the continent’s forgotten past.
The eyes of the former leader of the Shadow Mercenaries, Kichi, narrow.
“Beastman?”
The appearance looks like a mixture of exactly half human and half beast. That was definitely the beastman she had seen in the request ledger. This is a beastman tribe that was said to have suddenly disappeared from the Arcana continent one day.
It wasn’t the only one.
“Where did I see that sigil before……?”
Gold.
I have a long memory, especially when it comes to gold coins.
From a kichi memory.
“That’s right!”
A gold coin from a long-defunct ancient kingdom flashes through my mind.
Even looking back, it’s clear.
The sigils on the armor worn by some of the surging men.
It must have belonged to some unknown ancient kingdom.
Kichi muttered in a shaky voice.
“What are you swallowing and spitting out……?”
.
.
.
Same time.
The same scene was unfolding elsewhere.
Hiel’s eyes narrowed.
“……!”
My lord, Hoyeol said.
Hiel was not surprised when the bad omen split in half and fell. However, she hadn’t expected to see spirits pouring out of it.
Plus, those spirits.
“You are……?”
In the distant past.
She realized that it was the 『Space Spirit』 that had disappeared from the Spirit World. Hiel urgently stretched out a stem for those pouring in.
The situation was no different on the other side, including Diend.
The Iron Castle.
Word came back to Chainwalker.
“It’s pouring out! It’s like everything it’s ever swallowed is being thrown back out of its gaping body! Humans, beasts, different races……. Anyway, there are countless of them!!”
Chainwalker asked calmly.
“Are they alive?”
“Damn, I don’t know. I don’t know if they’re dead or knocked out……. But one thing’s for sure. They’re alive, at least as surely as you are, Akshan!”
“Yes, of course they are.”
Hadn’t we heard the news?
The silver sword, the symbol of Akshan.
It cut through the monster’s body.
News after news.
“Looks like we’ve got a break, Chainwalker. I see no demons among those who have poured out, nor do I discern any threat to those who have fallen!”
I relax.
Chainwalker spits out a wry smile.
“Really, you mean you had it all planned?”
Akshan.
Even after being swallowed by a monster called a bad omen.
You’ve been sharpening your silver sword just for this day?
“It is unthinkable to me.”
The words were barely out of his mouth.
Chainwalker lifted his trembling head.
“Iron Castle, descending altitude.”
His voice trembled as he spoke.
“The time has come to greet Akshan, our friend.”
It’s not just Akshan they’re bringing with them.
Isn’t this the Iron Castle, the moving sky castle?
There is no telling how many of those who have poured out of the Bad Omen will spread across the Arcana continent. But there are literally enough people to fill the entire Arcana continent…….
‘Even if it doesn’t, it could hold half the population of Antonium.’
cheolkeog!
chiig!
cheolkeog!
The cogs grind furiously as the dwarves move.
Eventually, the structure of the Iron Castle was transformed.
Space is expanding at an alarming rate.
Of course, we still need to get a clear picture of the numbers.
Chainwalker asks.
“Gunner, what is the number of those who poured out of that thing? If you can’t count them all, just the ones you see.”
Multiply that number by the number of Demon Kings, and you’ll have an approximate number.
But the answer stuns Chainwalker.
In disbelief, he asks again.
“……What, excuse me?”
“Well, I think it’s in the tens of thousands.”
“Tens, tens, tens of thousands?!”
The creature was big, but not big enough to swallow tens of thousands of people. But there was no surprise. Chainwalker regained his composure and spoke.
“Damn it, we can’t even fit that many on the Iron Castle. We can’t afford to dump them all on the Arcana Continent in this condition……!”
Even if they ask the Empire for help.
It would take dozens of days for them to make their way across the continent. And even if the Demon Castle was gone, there were still demons that weren’t related to the Demon King that would still be hanging around.
Wallswale spoke up beside him.
“It’s getting dark, Chainwalker.”
A slap in the face.
As the night falls, a evil eye rises in the sky.
It meant that those who fell might become prey to the demon.
“Think of a way, think of a way……!
Chainwalker snapped.
Just then, news arrived that changed his worries to hope.
An urgent voice.
“Now, wait a minute!”
“What’s going on?”
“Mr. Gunner, Mr. Chainwalker, those who have been unconscious are beginning to wake up, one by one. They’re alive, not one by one, but all of them!”
Was it true?
If so, I’m relieved.
Chainwalker thinks with a clearer head.
“Then all we really have to worry about now is…….”
Is that the only thing left?
It’s split in half and looks like it’s lost its will.
Chainwalker suddenly realized something was amiss.
“……Gunner, I have one question for you.”
“By all means!”
“Of the ones that spilled out of its body.”
“Among them?”
” ……Are there any hunters of Akshan, our brothers?”
The demon hunters who had slain the Bad Omen did not show their faces.
Akshan would have been the first to wake up.
He could not see them where they should have been.
……Wiggle!
And.
The Bad Omen on the ground began to twist and turn.
Urgent communications are heard aboard the Iron Castle.
“They haven’t gotten out yet……?”
“No, they’re digging in again. Mr. Chainwalker!”
“Why do you stand still, Akshan!”
But Chainwalker was unmoved.
Akshans, what they are.
He could guess now.
Chainwalker whispered in my ear.
“You mean you still have a burden to bear?”
Akshan.
You are indeed harsh, you people.
Are you not being too hard on yourself?
“……Damn it.”
The one that devoured those abandoned in Arcana.
Now it spills out the abandoned and forgotten.
The abandoned and forgotten.
To the trampled Arcana continent.
It has reemerged as a ray of hope.
However.
Akshan was not there.
“……I have no right to stop you.”
Chainwalker tried to ignore the bitterness welling up in his mouth.
“Because that is you, Akshan.”
*
Dalcak─
With the Bad Omen in front of me, I don’t have the energy to explore the entire Arcana continent. Even if I drank an herbal tea that boosted my magic regeneration, it wouldn’t make a difference.
‘It’s like a natural enemy.’
In that sense, whether I like it or not, all I can do is trust and wait. Mary, who was holding the teacup across from me, spoke up cautiously.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Grandfell.”
“If you were at the banquet, I would have served you better tea.”
……You, is that right?
She’s regretting not being able to get green tea in this situation.
Plus, mentioning a banquet that’s already over makes me look like I’m not kidding!
As expected, Mary looks regretful.
“I’ll be sure to attend the next one, if you invite me.”
Then she asks more cautiously.
“This may be presumptuous of me, but if you don’t mind me asking……., what are you waiting for? You said it was part of the procedure, and I can’t fathom it in my narrow mind.”
No wonder you don’t know.
I’m shamelessly pretending to be a know-it-all, but I only just found out about Akshan’s seniors’ Operation Bucket through a class quest.
I said nonchalantly.
“You just have to wait.”
“I wait…….”
“For the moment of reunion.”
” ……Reunion?”
It’s that narcissistic Grandfell way of speaking.
I’m Akshan, and I’m reuniting with my seniors.
If Mary meets her seniors, does that mean they will be reunited?
Dalkak─
First of all, when I have nothing to say, I sip my tea.
At the same time, I’m trying to figure out how to make amends.
‘!’
A light flashed in front of my eyes.
And for the first time in a long time, I realized.
Yes, that was it.
Grandfell’s bluff didn’t require an apprenticeship.
‘I had to make it real.’
Line by line, the message emerged.
[The small coastal town of Narvik is restored].
[The sea breeze of Narvik blows across the Arcana continent].
I’ve never seen a restore message before.
If I hadn’t known, I would have done something.
But I could guess.
“I knew you could do it.”
You did it, my seniors.
Restored, the opposite of deleted.
As the quest goal, subdue the Bad Omen that swallowed the Demon King Castle.
Like Akshan, he saved those who were devoured by Bad Oomens.
And it’s not just one or two.
Vision constantly flashing.
Messages come to mind one after another.
[The ancient kingdom of Jishura will be restored].
[A desert storm is coming to the Arcana continent].
[The Forest of Harmony, Manasia, will be restored.]
[Seeds of peace bloom on the Arcana continent].
[The pure-blooded Mage clan, Descendants of the Twilight, is restored].
[The Arcana Continent is overflowing with forgotten magic power.]…….
“……!”
Mary had a dumbfounded look on her face.
Her complexion changes drastically.
As if to confirm something, she raises her magic power.
“!!”
She releases her signature violet magic. The effects of the cigarette should have worn off long ago, but the momentum of her magic is incomparably fiercer than before. I’m sure you noticed it more than I did.
Mary mumbles.
“That can’t be right.”
Then she turns to look at me.
“Mr. Grandfell, is it possible that the reunion is……?”
I nod for once.
I’m not sure what that means because there are so many recovery messages that come to mind.
I’m pretty sure one of the messages was about Mary.
‘With such a story, Mary must have been fighting against Bad Omen.’
She can’t contain her overwhelming emotions.
Mary sobbed and said
“How can I ever return this favor……?”
No, I’m not the one to thank.
All I did was tip my teacup.
It’s all the work of our Akshan seniors.
Quest objectives flashed together between messages.
─Hunt the Bad Omen. (Ongoing)
●Subdue the scattered Bad Omen across the continent. (Successful)
But from now on, it’s mine.
The small bad omen is combined with the main body to form a large bad omen.
It certainly seems a lot bigger than before.
Of course, it doesn’t matter.
It makes no difference.
Actually, I was planning on throwing my life away from the beginning.
Why, it would be a shame to forget the [Last Adventurer] effect!
[Last Adventurer: You cannot die on the Arcana Continent. Upon death, you will immediately return to reality and will be unable to access the Arcana Continent for a period of time. – Cooldown: 24 hours]
So let’s get back to work in earnest…….
No, it was the moment I picked up the Illusion Breaker.
I froze in my tracks.
A new, updated quest objective.
It wasn’t the quest objective I was expecting.
What came to mind was Akshan’s never-before-heard praise.
●Well done. (Success)
……Is this the Akshan way of speaking?
By the way.
Seriously.
●And this is the last one. (Success)
●Last of the Demon Hunters. (Success)
●So that no one gets swallowed up ever again. (Success)
●So that no one is forgotten. (Success)
●Seal the Bad Omen in the southern sea with us. (Proceeding)
This is a dirty sentiment, you guys……?
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tl/n: wait, Akshan intervenes in the system?