681
Chapter 681
CRASH
BANG! BANG! BANG!
As the virtual space containing past memories shattered, Zeke opened his eyes.
'Where is this...?'
Zeke realized he was standing alone in a massive cavern made of fairy stone.
Bahamut, who had been glaring at him, was now nowhere to be seen.
'Where did he go?'
Zeke focused his spiritual sense to find traces of the chained Bahamut, but he couldn't detect any presence.
It had disappeared after showing him memories of the past, leaving him only with confusion.
'If we assume Mephistopheles took Bahamut's body missing its fangs and heart... there might have been some deal with Terakan Draker who tried to resurrect Bahamut.'
The very presence of Bahamut's incomplete body here was clear evidence that some transaction had occurred between them.
Then something crossed Zeke's mind.
'Then Terakan Draker might have also left his traces somewhere on this abandoned continent.'
Terakan Draker was willing to do anything to resurrect Bahamut. His whereabouts were unknown after moving to the abandoned continent, so there was a high chance he died here from old age without being able to return to the central continent.
If so, his tomb containing his final moments might remain here.
If his guess was correct, since he explored the abandoned continent ahead of others, there might be information or something helpful about this place.
'I should open a gate and look for Terakan's tomb first.'
Zeke looked around the cavern where Bahamut had been, confirmed there was still no presence, and searched for a way out.
Looking around, he raised his head toward the ceiling and felt a faint breeze from above.
It meant the exit passage connected upward.
Immediately, Zeke kicked off the ground and shot up toward the top of the cavern.
Having found the passage, he left the cavern, and as he disappeared, the shadows that had been cast silently in the now-empty space began to writhe.
Soon those shadows moved as if being sucked somewhere.
The cavern was now completely empty, without even shadows to be found.
* * *
Meanwhile, outside the ravine, gathered people were moving busily.
On top of the tower summoned by Yekaterina, Anastasia was carefully drawing magic circles while sweating coldly.
'No... why am I stuck doing this…?'
As soon as she regained consciousness, she had to begin preparations to summon the Erosion Fortress.
The problem was that since the abandoned continent's mana was quite unstable unlike the normal material world, she had to draw complex magic circles directly to summon the Erosion Fortress.
Normally, Anastasia, who hated bothersome things and only wanted to do what she liked, wouldn't quietly do boring magic circle work, but now she had no choice.
That was because Asmodeus, one of the Demon Lords, was watching her from behind with gleaming eyes to see if she was doing it properly.
Even though Anastasia was famous for being scatterbrained among the demon princesses, she wasn't bold enough to defy Asmodeus, the master of Gehenna and a Demon Lord.
Elizabeth and Yekaterina were watching Anastasia draw magic circles diligently one by one while suppressing her obvious dislike with amusement.
"In my life, I get to see my dear youngest sister working hard on magic circles. As your sister, I'm proud."
Yekaterina also nodded at Elizabeth's words.
"The sight of you hunched over drawing magic circles suits you quite well. How about getting a job as our unit's mage? It seems to be your calling."
Anastasia clenched her molars at Elizabeth and Yekaterina's words.
"Get lost while I'm asking nicely."
When she threatened them, Elizabeth smiled and said,
"Oh my, are you sure that's okay? Even though I'm personally checking your magic circles? That part you just did is wrong, by the way."
Veins popped on Anastasia's forehead at Elizabeth's words.
'Damn woman.'
Though rage surged up, she couldn't ignore the words of Elizabeth, one of hell's greatest mages, so she ground her teeth and rechecked where she had drawn.
Then Asmodeus, who had been standing quietly with arms crossed behind her, spoke up.
"Is it not done yet?"
Startled by Asmodeus's words, Anastasia answered
"J-just a little more, ma’am. I'm sorry, my lord."
Having heard rumors about how cruel the temperament of Asmodeus, master of Gehenna, was, Anastasia couldn't help but be nervous.
Since it was Asmodeus's power that had healed and awakened her in the first place, Anastasia had no choice but to find her intimidating.
Moreover, when her soul was forcibly pulled out from being submerged in the abyss and made to regain consciousness, Anastasia had to experience the tremendous pain of her soul being split.
Anastasia was obediently following orders for fear of feeling such pain again if she defied Asmodeus.
In fact, Asmodeus, who was watching Anastasia draw magic circles, was also extremely confused inside.
'Why am I doing this…?'
Though subordinate to Zeke and dragged here to help summon the Erosion Fortress according to his will, Asmodeus still hadn't let go of his dignity as a Great Demon Lord.
He was quite uncomfortable being in a position where his main body had to mingle with demons here.
'Zeke Draker. Once our contract ends... I'll make you pay for this humiliation.'
But for now, he had no choice but to follow Zeke's orders.
Asmodeus composed himself and watched Anastasia draw magic circles with sharp, gleaming eyes.
Sweating coldly under Asmodeus's gaze, Anastasia barely managed to complete the magic circles.
"UGHH, it's all done."
Having finally drawn the large magic circles alone, Anastasia reported with an exhausted, haggard face.
Seeing this, Asmodeus spoke to Anastasia in a dry voice.
"Then summon the Erosion Fortress."
Startled by Asmodeus's words, Anastasia said.
"R-right now?"
Having just depleted her strength completing the magic circles, Anastasia couldn't help but be flustered when told to immediately perform the mana-intensive summoning of the Erosion Fortress.
But a Demon Lord wouldn't consider such excuses.
"Is there a problem?"
His tone suggested he would make sure there wasn't one if there was.
If she said she couldn't do it because she was tired, Asmodeus would clearly use his authority to forcibly inject Demon energy to restore her power.
Though the effect would be certain, it would obviously come with great pain, so Anastasia rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"No, of course not. I'll begin the summoning right now."
Anastasia immediately walked to the center of the magic circles.
Then she steadied her breathing and began infusing mana into the magic circles.
WOONG! WOONG! WOONG!
Light surged from the magic circles responding to Anastasia's mana.
Though the mana was fixed by the magic circles, since the abandoned continent itself was such a special region, the mana began to surge and backflow.
'URGH!'
Already having depleted much of her physical and mental strength drawing the magic circles, Anastasia nearly lost consciousness when the mana also backflowed.
Just before actually collapsing, Anastasia felt heavy mana flowing in from behind her.
'This is?'
Glancing back, she saw Yekaterina transferring her mana to Anastasia from behind.
Elizabeth was using magic to stabilize the mana in the magic circles.
Feeling her fading consciousness return, Anastasia's lips quivered seeing the two who had been teasing her now helping.
‘TCH, this is so unlike them...'
Though she grumbled internally, with Yekaterina and Elizabeth's help, she could proceed with the summoning more stably than before.
RUMBLE!
The mana concentrated in the magic circles shot upward and directly hit the bottom of the floating fortress that Elizabeth had fixed in place.
There was a pre-installed mana amplifier at the impact point below.
As mana seeped into that amplifier, bright light soon split into six streams and fell toward the ravine below.
RUMBLE!
Changes began from the bottom of the ravine along with the split falling light.
The area where the tower stood surged upward, and ordinary rocks showed changes.
CRACK!
The entire rocky mountain of the ravine was transforming into Anastasia's Erosion Fortress.
Pointed rock mountains changed into towers, solid rocks into castle walls.
Yekaterina's tower was positioned in the center of the risen Erosion Fortress, and matching this, pillars descended from the bottom of Elizabeth's floating fortress in the air and connected with the upper level of the tower.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
When the three princesses' fortresses combined into one, an entire city appeared in an instant.
THUD!
Having completed the summoning of the Erosion Fortress, Anastasia collapsed on the spot, having used up all her strength.
"UGHHH, I can't get up even if you beat me to death."
Seeing the completed fortress city, Asmodeus nodded with satisfaction and spoke to Elizabeth.
"The fortress summoning is complete. So you'll install the gate here to bring in the human legion?"
Elizabeth nodded at Asmodeus's words.
"Yes, my lord. When the ‘Guide of Fair Pain’ arrives, we'll begin the gate installation..."
She trailed off and turned her gaze. She sensed something strange approaching.
Looking closer, countless magic beasts could be seen swarming up in black masses from below the fortress.
Seeing this, Yekaterina ground her teeth and raised her sword.
"Damn magic beasts charging at us again."
Just as she was about to lead the battle demons to sortie, Asmodeus raised his hand to stop her.
"Wait."
In Asmodeus's demon eyes, he saw that those approaching were not just magic beast legions, but beings with different energies.
He raised his hand toward the front airspace of the fortress.
SCREECH!
Along with a strange sound, heat haze rose in the air.
Then, as if unveiling a curtain, something appeared in the empty space where there had been nothing.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Surprisingly, numerous warships were floating in the sky.
The sails on those warships bore the mark of a sword and sun.
Seeing this, Asmodeus and the princesses' expressions darkened.
"The Apollion Knights..."
They had already been briefed about the current situation in the material world. Through this, they already knew about the Apollion Knights' identity.
Now those same Apollion Knights were approaching to destroy their fortress while leading the magic beast legion.
Asmodeus clenched his molars and said to Elizabeth,
"Activate the fortress's defensive barrier immediately. Also alert the guardians deployed by the ‘Guide of Fair Pain’ to be on alert..."
BOOM! BOOM!
Before Asmodeus could finish speaking, explosions rang out from the warships in the sky.
Countless mana bullets fired from the warships flew toward the fortress.
Elizabeth quickly raised her staff.
WOONG!
At her signal, the floating fortress activated its barrier.
The incoming mana bullets were blocked by the barrier, exploding and scattering midway.
RUMBLE!
Still, the impact was enough to shake the entire ravine.
Seeing this, Yekaterina glared at the warships with fierce eyes.
"These bastards dare..."
She raised her sword and shouted.
"Prepare the main cannon and blast those bastards!"
As if responding to Yekaterina's order, a giant demon eye rose from the tower's center.
WOONG!
As powerful mana flow was felt from the demon eye, compressed mana cannon fire shot toward the warships.
BOOM!
At that moment when the powerful mana cannon fired, surprisingly, the warships in the air began to fade.
The mana cannon passed right through the warships that had changed like ghosts not existing in that space.
After the mana cannon passed, the warships became clear again, returning to normal.
Seeing this, Yekaterina raged furiously.
"ARGH! This isn’t working. I'll lead the troops myself and eliminate them all..."
BOOM! BOOM!
Then loud noises were heard from below the fortress.
It was the magic beasts swarming and crashing their bodies against the barrier.