Chapter 252: Clash
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 252: Clash
“Ugh...! What is with this sword...!”
“What are you doing? Why are you just standing there?”
“This—this sword... it won't obey me...!”
“Huh? Isn't that the sword Aven was using?”
Before Yoo Eon had departed for the Southeast, he had received a 100% purity Orichalcum Greatsword as payment for summoning the explorers of the Northwest. Renart Lymain was certainly an excellent swordswoman, but it was a simple fact that she fell far short of the Knight Lord Hersha, who possessed transcendental mastery.
The Orichalcum Greatsword possessed a trait that made it stronger the more mana it was fed. This didn't mean the greatsword she usually used was of low quality, but the weight carried by the title of the 'Final Grand Swordmaster' was on an entirely different level of existence.
As a result, the sword was currently struggling to manifest its true performance even after draining all of Renart Lymain’s mana.
“Phew...! It can't be helped. I have no choice but to use my original greatsword for now...!”
Ultimately, Renart stowed away Hersha's Greatsword, which she had received from Yoo Eon, and gripped her original 100% purity Phantasmite Greatsword before heading toward the Southeast.
Meanwhile, in the Southeast...
* * *
“This should be enough.”
I had completely eliminated all biological signatures in the vicinity of the city district. With about an hour left until midnight, Mystery Antoinette was likely in that outer zone where powerful mana was surging.
“The body disposal site, then.”
I had finished off several criminals from the Antonio Brotherhood and sifted through their brains to grasp the layout of the surrounding facilities. Since some of them held fairly high positions, the information was accurate and extensive.
The ultra-long-range indirect bombardment magic fired to destroy the Northern Teleportation Gateway seemed to have been launched by Mystery Antoinette before she fully summoned her Treasure.
While one could travel between towns via land routes, there were obvious limits. With the gateway destroyed, the number of people traveling in and out of Calax had dropped by over 99 percent. Furthermore, from an outside perspective, the Southeast was currently being decimated.
Anyone coming by land would have stopped their carriages or turned back by now.
“Shall I head in?”
The body disposal site was located in the far outskirts, even for the Southeast. I had pulverized the Antonio Brotherhood’s largest building in the central district the moment I landed, burying everyone inside deep underground.
Since the Antonio Brotherhood had lived in luxury thanks to the demands of these people, they were all accomplices in a way.
“They deserve to die.”
Rumble...!
As I stood up from the rubble I had been perched on and reached a hand toward the sky, the thousands of synthetic monsters roaming the inner Southeast were instantaneously stripped of their flesh and bone, which then flowed into my body.
Since the area had been mostly cleared, the Scavengers had been wandering around with nothing to do. They should be fine now.
Whirrrrr....
Leaving behind only the wreckage of the Southeast, most living beings within the area had vanished. I had primarily rescued people near the central city district, and those in the outskirts near the boundary had fled on their own.
“Succubus Queen. I’m coming to kill you.”
* * *
“Huh? What’s going on?”
Across the Surface World, the magic devices connecting to Calax’s Teleportation Gateway all ceased functioning simultaneously. In Roanmarie, where travel was frequent, this fact was recognized immediately. They began gathering information by requesting cooperation and understanding from those who had just arrived from Calax.
“I know what happened.”
“You are...?”
A golden insignia with a coin-clutching glove embossed on it. It was a token that only those holding high positions within the Golden Glove Syndicate could possess.
Even in the capital, Veritas, where the Guild Headquarters was located, the gateway to Calax had just stopped working.
“What happened to the Calax gateway...?”
The Calax district manager at the Headquarters was speaking with the Calax branch guild staff via a long-distance voice communication artifact. An attack on a gateway was considered an act of terrorism and was treated far more severely than most criminal acts.
It was an incident significant enough to send an emergency mobilization request through a vertical communication channel that bypassed the usual hierarchy, going straight to the top brass of the Guild Headquarters.
Naturally, this news reached the ears of the two Orichalcum-grade explorers, the Guild Headquarters' greatest assets.
“Calax...”
An attack powerful enough to completely destroy a gateway and halt all functions. Since dozens of mana barriers had been pierced in an instant by a strike they couldn't even properly react to, the severity of the situation was judged to be quite high.
“Murit. Will you go?”
“I’m leaving. I should arrive within eighteen hours at the latest.”
The other Orichalcum-grade explorer, known as the Bowmaster, Murit Denshter. Considering the safety of Veritas, both Orichalcum-grade explorers could not leave the city at the same time.
Adelaide Margarita deleted the emergency mobilization request message that had appeared on her artifact terminal and let out a deep sigh.
“Hmph.”
* * *
Creeak, screeech....
A lone knight, shrouded in a red aura, strode through the ruins of the Southeast. As his joints moved, his high-density exoskeleton emitted sounds like rusting hinges, and eyes that occasionally sprouted through the armor thoroughly monitored the surroundings.
There were no other signs of life. The people had all left, but thanks to the somewhat controlled destruction, the streets maintained their former shapes. There were no corpses, as the Scavengers had devoured them, and Yoo Eon had synthesized them back to life before sending them away.
Those who hadn't died had fled long ago, and the only thing detected by mana was in the far outskirts.
A sinister pink mana was radiating from the body disposal site.
“We meet again?”
A woman's voice drifted from somewhere. Turning his head toward the source of the voice, he saw a human figure atop the broken rubble in the distance.
Pale pink hair. Horns resembling those of a goat growing from the sides of her head. The characteristic wings of the Succubus Species.
“Mystery Antoinette.”
“Oh my, are you still calling me that? I’m flattered. It seems you quite liked my roleplay.”
Mystery Antoinette... no, the Succubus Queen.
Whatever she found so amusing about my words, the smile never left her lips.
“Then what should I call you... Ah, right. I have a good idea.”
“Oh, what is it? I’ll be happy with whatever you call me.”
She curled her lips into a smirk, and behind her back, a massive, glowing pink magic formation rotated counter-clockwise. This was the alleyway closest to the body disposal site.
Once the fight started, 'alleys' wouldn't matter anyway. Buildings would become nothing more than piles of stacked stones that could be broken through.
Of course, she wouldn't just let that happen.
“Spear-whore.”
“...Pardon?”
“How about 'Spear-whore'? Since I don't know your name.”
For a moment, Mystery Antoinette’s expression crumbled. Even as the Succubus Queen and a Succubus Lord, was she not immune to such derogatory terms?
“Don't misunderstand. You use a spear, so you're a spear-woman. A spear-whore. Get it? Relax your face.”
“...You are a very interesting person.”
“What's wrong? I thought we were on joking terms.”
“Ah, of course. We are close, aren't we? You listened to my tragic story... so long and so deeply.”
“Yeah, that's right.”
Mystery Antoinette, who had been sitting on the pile of ruins, stood up and brushed off her backside.
“Hmm, I’ll ask just in case.”
“What.”
“Would you like the Surface World?”
She spoke with that habitual smile back on her lips. The 'Surface World' meant this 'world' itself. While the word literally referred to the land above, why would someone who owned the land above not also possess what lay beneath?
“The world ruled by humanity is utterly meaningless. Their power, their wealth, their authority—it’s all nothing but an illusion.”
“Hmm.”
Click, clack—
The sound of high heels striking the ground echoed quietly through the silent street.
“Even the mighty martial power everyone boasts of is ultimately just a pile of trash grown from eating His leftovers. What is destined will proceed as planned, and eventually, the Human Species will fall. The Surface World will be placed under the rule of the Demon King.”
Flutter!
Spreading her small wings, Mystery Antoinette descended from the high pile of rubble and thrust her spear into the ground.
“Before that happens... wouldn't it be better to, shall we say, 'strike it big'? Rare jewels, exquisite foods? Perhaps... you could even claim the virginity of every woman in the world and taste pleasures you've never even imagined.”
“Sss... that is quite tempting.”
“Oh, really? I’m glad to hear you say that.”
The Succubus Queen giggled, casually covering her mouth with her hand.
“But what can I do? I already have two wives.”
“Two wives... My, my, you certainly are energetic. Can I look forward to a spot there as well?”
“Nothing's impossible. But my wives are quite exceptional. I was thinking of meeting a woman with some real strength this time.”
“Strength... I do like a strong woman. I suppose I’ll have to work hard then?”
After a brief silence following the conversation, the Succubus Queen adjusted her stance, spinning the shaft of the spear she had planted in the ground.
Clink....
“I’ll finish you before the army arrives.”
“You talk too much.”
Inside the silent, ruined alley, the Succubus Queen and Yoo Eon clashed.