Chapter 146
Chapter 146
Chapter 146
Dilmun (2)
CRACK!
A spatial door opened, and Rudian and Kirchrus arrived at one of the locations within the overlapping space.
"Huh? Rudian?"
There, Sarah Bloodrain, who had regained consciousness, and Rebecca, who was receiving intensive training from her, could be seen.
Rebecca, who had been sweating all over her body and immersed in training, waved her hand happily and approached Rudian.
"What, what! Did you come to see me?"
"...Yeah."
Rebecca's appearance was the same as usual.
No, to be precise, it was visible that the power of the Demon Eater was noticeably being refined.
Since a day had passed, a month's time must have flowed in this place.
Originally, the growth of talented individuals is fastest in the beginning, so Rebecca, who had historic talent as a Demon Eater, also belonged to this category.
Rebecca approached with eyes shining like a puppy and grinned.
"What's the matter? I'm really happy that Rudian came to see me!"
"Wait...take off your coat."
"Huh?"
"Lord Kirchrus."
"Yes, I'll help."
Kirchrus, who had polymorphed into a human woman, went behind Rebecca and slowly removed her clothes.
In the sudden situation, Rebecca waved her hands frantically with her face turning red.
"I, I'm not mentally prepared yet...!"
"Looking at her saying such things, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly wrong..."
"Still, we should check thoroughly."
"That's too much!"
Rebecca seemed to know why Rudian and Kirchrus had come, and despite her words, she obediently complied with the examination.
Still having some modesty, Rudian quietly turned around and waited until the work was finished.
"Hmm, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly wrong."
Kirchrus removed her hand from near Rebecca's heart and let out a sigh of relief.
'Adi, what about you?'
The last bastion also shook its tentacles up and down.
-There are no particular traces of mischief, Master.
'Really...?'
Rudian's brow furrowed involuntarily.
'Is it so secretive that even Adi couldn't detect it? No, even if it's Baal, he shouldn't be able to avoid Adi's eyes...'
Rudian's trust in Adi was absolute.
'Then what exactly did he give her?'
The words he heard from Baal just before coming here.
-I gave Miss Rebecca a very big gift.
Baal had honestly revealed that the reason he lured Apophis here was to make contact with Rebecca.
When he heard those words, Rudian almost lost his mind due to tremendous anger he had never felt before.
'Damn it, what the hell did he do?'
Originally, he was going to abandon all alliances and everything else and have a fight to the death with Baal.
If Baal hadn't said he would eliminate the side effects of the Demon Eater, he really would have realized that thought.
"That person...when I refused, he just left?"
"Really...?"
Rebecca recalled the conversation she had with Baal.
"Honestly... I was quite attracted. That person said if I listened to his words, I would be the most helpful to Rudian in the future... I think that person was sincere when he said that."
"...!"
But Rebecca had rejected Baal's proposal.
"Hehe, but something seemed off about it. The feeling that if I listened to those words, it would become irreversible? The feeling that Rudian would hate it?"
Rebecca scratched her cheek with her index finger and laughed carefreely.
Rudian was so proud of her.
So he hugged her tightly.
"Well done."
"Huh!"
"Never, no matter what that bastard says, never give in."
"A-a-absolutely, that will never happen!"
Rebecca flailed her arms with her cheeks already turning red.
Kirchrus finally examined Sarah Bloodrain as well and determined that she also had no particular abnormalities.
"This is strange."
Baal's statement that he had given Rebecca a gift was something that Kirchrus and Calesta, who were nearby, had also heard.
"A being of that caliber wouldn't lie, so in the end, there's only one possibility..."
"What is it?"
"The gift that Demon King Baal mentioned has nothing to do with Miss Rebecca's body."
"Hmm..."
It could be information, he could have provided an ally, or he could have given some material something.
But no matter how much they thought about it, nothing particular came to mind.
Rudian finally spoke to Sarah Bloodrain.
"Lady Sarah, is there anything that comes to mind?"
Sarah Bloodrain, Rebecca's ancestor who had been instantly subdued by Baal and suffered humiliation, shook her head with a dejected expression.
"I'm sorry. When I came to my senses, that being had already disappeared."
Sarah didn't even know how things had unfolded in the first place.
When her distant descendant had designated her as the education supervisor, she had excitedly rushed over, but she met Baal midway and her memory was cut off... When she came to her senses, that descendant was right in front of her.
She had heard the rough situation from Rebecca and reported it, but Kirchrus, who was actually in charge, had left his post due to the Apophis incident.
"Ugh, for a clan that hunts demons to be subdued by that very demon..."
"Well, I understand. The opponent was Baal, after all."
In the end, the question returned to square one.
After pondering for a while, Rudian and Kirchrus finally concluded to strengthen surveillance only on Rebecca and Sarah's space and exited that space.
There was a place they needed to stop by before returning to training with Yev.
***
"You don't look very refreshed."
As soon as they left the Hall of Heroes, Red Dragon Lord Calesta greeted Rudian.
"That bastard didn't explain properly and just ran away... But who are those people behind you?"
Behind Calesta, several different races with extraordinary auras were lined up.
"They are the Lords of each race. When they heard I had awakened, they came running in one breath."
Certainly, without being dragons, they couldn't emit such ferocious power.
The Gold Dragon Lord, Rayus, who was right behind Calesta, opened his mouth toward Rudian.
"Are you the one who wants to examine the ark?"
"That's right."
"I don't know how you know about our situation, but let me tell you this. Whether you see the ark or not, our plans remain unchanged. You'd better keep that in mind."
"......"
Rayus, as well as the Lords of each race, had similar expressions.
They had been briefed in advance that Rudian was Diablo's contractor and the one who drove away the evil god Apophis.
Therefore, by their standards, they had given Rudian, who was a 'lowly human,' the maximum treatment possible, but...
"I see. I understand well."
Treatment or whatever, Rudian had no intention of quietly letting the dragons escape this planet.
"Follow me."
When Rayus chanted a special spell, the peculiar sight characteristic of dimensional gates appeared before their eyes.
A dimensional movement gateway with a completely different level of difficulty from spatial movement.
Rudian looked at that dimensional movement gateway and thought.
'The ark seems to be sealed inside there.'
As it was currently the dragons' highest priority task, they naturally wouldn't have left it on the surface.
When Rudian followed the dragons through the dimensional gate, a cavity that seemed to be inside a massive cave appeared.
And in that cavity, there was an underground lake of unknown depth...
"This is...called an ark?"
Above it existed a massive ark whose size couldn't be determined.
-Master! Master!
Just from Adi's excited reaction, he immediately realized what that thing was.
A massive space colony that seemed capable of accommodating at least a hundred thousand people.
The identity of that massive, SF-like ark that seemed to have been built from the beginning with interstellar flight in mind was precisely...
-That is the 4th generation transport-type artificial intelligence, Dilmun. Master!
It was Dilmun, one of Adi's artificial intelligences that Adi and Rudian had been so desperately searching for.
***
Ever since seeing Eldorado, I've felt this, but those Adora bastards really have an incredible sense of scale.
'What the hell is this?'
The estimated size is at least 100km or more.
At least it's beyond the sight of ordinary people to see its end.
While Rudian was mesmerized by Dilmun's scale, Rayus opened his mouth bluntly toward Rudian.
"Now, you've seen the ark, so are you satisfied?"
"...I think I need to see the inside."
At those words, the expressions of all the Lords except Calesta hardened.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"We spent a long time of no less than 2,000 years to see inside that thing. Naturally, the materials and magic power we invested during that time are beyond imagination. It's impossible to show the interior of the ark, which is no different from our dragon race's greatest achievement."
The other Lords also agreed with Rayus's words and blocked Rudian.
"In the first place, because you knew of the ark's existence, and because of Calesta and Kirchrus' request, you were able to see its appearance."
"If you want more than that, you'll have to go to war with us."
"No matter how much you defeated the old Dragon God, anything beyond this crosses the line."
"Hmm..."
Rudian trailed off and confronted the Lords.
Though he said nothing outwardly, Rudian had been rapidly exchanging opinions with Adi since entering this place.
-I've confirmed that the system has been hacked. The one who had control was that Gold Dragon called Rayus. He's quite capable indeed. To dare hack the legacy of the Creators...
'Reversing it?'
-What do you take me for? I've already taken control. That lizard doesn't even know he's lost control.
It was the moment when the dragons' 2,000 years of effort went down the drain.
But Rudian narrowed his eyes after hearing Adi's next words.
'But to properly operate Dilmun, we need to awaken the artificial intelligence, right?'
-Yes, think of it like Eldorado. Unlike Eldorado, Dilmun's control system is inside that ark.
Opening that door is simple.
Now the control authority is in Adi's hands.
But the moment such a thing is done arbitrarily, Rudian and the dragon race would become hostile.
To that extent, the lives of his companions currently training inside the Hall of Heroes couldn't be guaranteed either.
Therefore, he shouldn't start something now.
-I've completed calculating the dimensional coordinates. I can now enter and exit this place at any time, Master.
'Good. Well done.'
To the Dragon Lord who was hitting a wall saying no more was allowed, Rudian showed a good-natured smile.
***
After parting with the Lords like that.
"Please come this way."
Rudian, who had returned to the Hall of Heroes, was guided by Kirchrus to somewhere within the hall.
"It seems your business went well."
"Yes, thanks to you."
"Lord Calesta is waiting inside."
Even after the Lords of each race had dispersed, Calesta had secretly returned to the Hall of Heroes without returning to his lair, without anyone knowing.
The reason was naturally that Calesta was one of the few 'world guardian faction' dragons among the dragon race.
"Have you come?"
The administrator's office of the hall where Kirchrus usually resided.
There, Calesta was quietly drinking alcohol while waiting.
'Alcohol...?'
Naturally, dragons don't get drunk from drinking a little alcohol.
Maybe if they chugged about a hundred liters of Spirits-level alcohol.
"Ah, you mean this?"
Calesta, who felt Rudian's gaze, smiled bitterly and lifted his glass.
"I'm about to drive my own kind into war, so I thought it might be appropriate to down some alcohol for the atmosphere. I tried imitating the ancient humans a bit."
As it was indeed just for atmosphere, Calesta put down the bottle and glass and said:
"Shall we begin then? Countermeasures against the alien invaders who will soon come charging in..."