Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Memoir
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'Mana explosion...'
Arsen rolled the mysterious term around in his mouth for a moment before asking Barkran what it meant.
[What's a mana explosion?]
[Hm? Mana explosion? Well, how should I put it... It's not a physical blast or anything, but more like an explosion that wrecks all magical phenomena? Mana-infused items can break or stop working temporarily. Mages caught in the epicenter take a huge hit. But why do you ask?]
'It's like a kind of EMP.'
Not exactly the same, but if he interpreted it in Earth terms, that was the vibe.
This also gave him a good idea why almost none of the magic items from Barkran's era had survived. The device Barkran had been using must have been damaged by the mana explosion too.
Satisfied with that much, Arsen recited the passage he'd just read aloud to Barkran.
It wasn't long before an enraged response came back.
[No, fuck, so you're saying I died because... a worldwide mana explosion went off during my experiment?]
[Probably.]
[Does it say the date anywhere?]
Checking the date, it lined up perfectly with the day Barkran had started his experiment. It seemed Barkran had been caught in the mana explosion mid-experiment—or right after it succeeded—and something had gone wrong, killing him.
Judging by the absence of remains from the assistant or professor who should have been there with him, the professor had likely survived.
[Those crazy bastards. Who the hell did they think they were? Did they really believe messing with that wouldn't cause problems? Just thinking about it screams danger, doesn't it?]
Leaving Barkran sounding aggrieved, on the verge of tears, Arsen continued reading.
-A massive mana explosion was a catastrophe in itself. Mages all died with their brains bursting. Ordinary folk clutched mana-explosion-ruined gas masks and perished.
On top of that, most buildings collapsed. Modern architecture mostly used a mana amplification technique, embedding materialized mana to bulk up materials, and that became the problem. The only intact structures were old ones built before that method existed, or special facilities made without it in anticipation of such disasters. Like this shelter, for example.-
Looking around anew, this shelter didn't seem like anything special.
Then again, any building made with that technique had collapsed, so it was hard to compare to something he'd never seen.
Either way, now he knew why no traces of buildings from Barkran's era remained, while ancient ruins endured.
-Yet even in this tragedy, humanity endures, and survivors existed. A tiny few who stayed near intact pillars survived. Thank you, gods.
And it wasn't just people who survived. Dolls did too—combat dolls in particular.
They were built to survive any situation, so they had resistance to poison gas and their sturdy armor protected them from the mana explosion.
The problem was we had no way to control them. No surviving mages, and the restraints that bound them had lost their power in the mana explosion and shattered. The surviving combat dolls became a new threat in themselves.-
'Hm.'
-We wandered around in gas masks, searching for survivors. It wasn't pleasant.
The pillar sites were near ruins to begin with, so few had emergency rations stocked, and most prepared gas masks were broken anyway. Scavenging food outside in the poison-filled air was impossible.
Yet amid that, some survivors endured. By coupling with combat dolls, receiving food in exchange.
I couldn't condemn them. Our royal family was to blame for the world becoming this hell—what right did I have?
As horrific as it is to say, combat dolls seemed to prefer humans over their own kind for breeding. Regardless of gender, only those who mated with combat dolls carried on their line. The dolls had monkey-level intelligence but at least cared for their mates.-
'So that's how the half-breeds came about...'
Nodding, Arsen scrolled down further.
Not much was left.
-Time passed, and half-breeds began to be born. Why could they breed? Naturally, because human genes were used to make them.
Publicly, it was claimed they only mimicked human forms without using human genes, and early models were indeed made that way. But when crafting human-shaped beings, using human genes made a world of difference in efficiency.
It was hushed up to avoid international backlash, but anyone in the know was aware human genes went into doll production. Magic prohibitions prevented breeding with humans, but those had likely been swept away by the mana explosion too.-
Arsen paused and glanced at Barkran. This directly contradicted what Barkran had said.
But considering it, the knowledge of a royal heir held far more credibility than that of a mere grad student. And the existence of half-breeds proved it made sense.
-Regrettably, the hybrids' intelligence was nowhere near human levels. They could manage simple conversation but were hopelessly inadequate for grasping humanity.
Yet despite that low intellect, they were overwhelmingly powerful. With superior physical abilities and poison resistance, it was only natural for hybrids to push out pureblood humans.-
'Low intelligence?'
Modern humans weren't low-intellect. From Barkran's reactions, they seemed comparable to ancient humans—not far off at all. This account differed greatly.
Perhaps intelligence rose over generations of breeding. Forming that hypothesis, Arsen kept reading.
-Numbers, weapons, even functional gas masks for outdoor activity—all were in desperately short supply, and the fight dragged on. Amid it all, grotesquely mutated animals began appearing, plunging the situation into chaos.-
'Magic beasts.'
Even this prince didn't know magic beasts' exact origins. Like Barkran, he suggested bioweapons or some fusion of poison gas and animals.
There was even the horrific hypothesis that magic beasts came from dolls and animals breeding.
Clicking his tongue, Arsen read the final paragraph.
-Thus, after several defeats, pureblood human communities collapsed entirely. Survivors scattered or became slaves. As the sole survivor, I now lie here in my aged body, awaiting death.
Even facing death, regrets persist. Forty years ago, that summer at twenty-eight—if I'd staked my life to oppose Father's decision, if only...-
The tale ended there.
'...What an insane story.'
From why the world ended up like this to the true nature of modern humanity, it was a chain of staggering revelations.
Too vast for one person to hold alone, and not particularly useful knowledge even if kept secret.
After pondering briefly, Arsen called the others.
"What is it, sir?"
"I've found some information here. Pretty... monumental stuff. Everyone, gather round. I'll share what we've confirmed."
Arsen manipulated the device to pull up the memoir again and began reading it slowly from the start.
Shock spread across the listeners' faces.
"Good lord..."
"I can't believe it."
"No, bro, I don't get it. What's this 'genes' thing?"
Reactions varied.
Some accepted it, some were aghast, some denied it, some just didn't understand.
Arsen calmly explained, revisiting parts they struggled with, repeating as needed.
Lattis, grasping it first, gave a wry smile.
"Mages turned the world into this... Can't say it's entirely wrong."
What shook him most seemed to be the purifying magic circle's existence.
If this memoir was true, the world had been sustained by magic's power only to be shattered by it.
"It's not the mages that matter. Magic's just a tool—the humans made it this way."
Arsen firmly rejected Lattis's self-recrimination.
Mages were human too, and humanity's foolishness and stubbornness had led to ruin.
In the end, the mages had merely followed orders from ordinary humans in the royals. Sure, they'd contributed to doom with shoddy predictions like "destroying one pillar won't cause this," but still.
"This information is incredibly valuable, at any rate."
"R-Really? It's wild, sure, but what's it good for?"
Barkran scratched his head furiously as he asked.
Arsen explained patiently, without scolding.
"Yeah. From the description, space cutters are big, cumbersome things. If we crack down to keep them out of estate halls or castles, we can prevent it. And if we restore the purifying magic circle, we can't let this happen again."
"Ah..."
From his gaping expression, restoring the circle hadn't even crossed his mind.
Then again, Bazkal had never been one for grand causes or ambitions. He'd just been lured by promises of good fights and growth to follow Arsen.
"Let's search the interior more thoroughly. Might find something useful."
"Got it!"
* * *
That place was a room steeped in an indescribable grotesqueness.
Most striking were the magic beast pelts and taxidermies scattered haphazardly everywhere.
Hunted brutally, they were heavily damaged overall, but their massive sizes preserved an imposing presence. Yet these crude decorations clashed entirely with the lavish carpets, glass, and gold-and-silver embroidery surrounding them.
And the man seated in the marble chair at the center was no different.
His hair neatly trimmed in a line below his ears like a helmet had been lopped off, paired with a thick beard and three scars etched across his face, gave him the look of a dragon-slaying hero.
But the dazzlingly ornate clothes he wore made the combination resemble a bandit who'd stolen a rich man's garb.
Just as the room and decorations mismatched, so did the man's appearance and attire.
"A weird bunch?"
The man muttered in a gravelly voice, then stood. The subordinate kneeling before him gulped.
Plenty imposing while seated, standing he was like a mountain rising before one's eyes.
At 3 meters tall, with broad shoulders and long limbs, he seemed even taller than he was.
For the 160cm subordinate, even straining his neck upward barely let him meet the king's gaze.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Strangely, two types of magic beasts are traveling together without fighting, side by side."
"An anomaly, eh."
The giant king, Nardok, stroked his beard as he rose from the throne and paced briskly left and right.
Hard to find royal dignity in that frivolous gait, but the subordinate didn't relax a bit.
"The old estate ruins... near that mountain with the caller, right? Pretty close."
"Yes, exactly. Shall I send a subjugation force, just in case?"
Nardok pondered the question briefly, then shook his head.
"No need. Check the nearby transfer gates, make sure they're working properly. Prep support troops if needed. And that successor—we still haven't found them?"
"No, we haven't..."
Before the answer finished, a thunderous crash echoed. The king had kicked a nearby taxidermy.
The force was so immense the massive water buffalo mount smashed into the wall and pulverized into dust.
Seeing that terrifying display, the subordinate bowed low and shouted.
"It's just... we're a bit short on mages searching!"
"Then deploy more mages! Find them, no matter what! Time's running out!"
Roaring like a tiger, Nardok slumped back onto the throne as if drained.
He brought his hand up to his face, scrutinizing it intently. Still taut with muscle, but starting to wrinkle—the hand that could no longer hide his age.
"Time's running out..."