Chapter 57 - Even Though They're Allies, It's Draining
Even Though They're Allies, It's Draining
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Translator: Ruby
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Even Though They're Allies, It's Draining
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As the incomprehensible conversation progressed, Carson asked, seemingly frustrated.
"What on earth are you all talking about? Witch? Ledei, what-something? Let's all understand together."
Since Commander Vincent also had a bewildered face, Diaz explained.
"Ledeia. In the past war between angels and demons, the corpses of the defeated demons are still buried somewhere in the middle realm. Quite a long time has passed, so now they sleep in very deep places, but...... occasionally those corpses would be excavated."
"Such......?"
"It's established theory that demons who died long ago, or demons who possessed great power in life, still have enough power left to exert influence. And Ledeia is known as a witch who extracted power from such demon corpses."
"A witch with demon power. I'm hearing this for the first time. If it were such a big deal, I should have heard about it......"
Diaz answered him.
"It's understandable that you don't know. That's because Ledeia is a witch who disappeared 300 years ago."
"T-three hundred, you said?"
"So to speak, she's an existence that only faintly remains in records. No, even those records have been mostly lost, so she's hard to find even if you deliberately search. So normally people don't know. Not knowing is normal. I also came to know while studying as an adjutant of the Seven Knights."
"Aha. I see. But......"
Carson's eyes turned to Andrew.
"Why didn't Sir Andrew know until now?"
"Ah, haha. Hahaha! Do all Seven Knights members know everything? Lady Diaz is a knight order adjutant."
"But Sir Rohan knew first?"
"......Why are you only picking on me......"
Carson chuckled.
"Just joking. Anyway, just from hearing about it, she seems to be an ancient monster witch who has lived for over 300 years. Do you all know a method to defeat that monster?"
Carson asked Diaz again.
However, Diaz shook her head.
"Actually...... even in ancient literature, there was no record of finding a method to defeat Ledeia. It only says that she suddenly disappeared on her own and never showed herself again. And we don't even know why she suddenly appeared now......"
Diaz's gaze naturally turned to me.
Then everyone's gaze moved together.
"Why did she disappear and reappear? Actually, it's not that she appeared after 300 years. The first time she appeared was 100 years ago."
When everyone made expressions of not understanding,
I continued speaking.
"And at that time, Ledeia died once by my hand."
"What......!"
"I-is that true?"
"Wow. I never thought I'd hear such nonsense......"
***
At my answer, Carson's eyes shook roughly.
"You said you already fought once? And that was 100 years ago?......"
That wasn't all.
Diaz, Andrew, and even Commander Vincent weren't much different.
To be precise, it's awkward to say it wasn't me, but also a bit ambiguous to say it was me......
The Dimension-Splitting Witch, Ledeia, was a boss monster that appeared once in the original work.
Otherwise, how would I know about such an existence that didn't even appear properly in literature?
Precisely, she was a tutorial boss you'd meet if you selected the mage character.
Coincidentally, since the mage character itself was such a mysterious figure, the tutorial timeline was 100 years before the main story began.
Naturally, having also played the mage character, I had already experienced Ledeia.
Actually, I had directly played the situation of killing Ledeia myself.
To explain comfortably, I expressed it as "me."
"Traveling with Sir Rohan, I thought I wouldn't be surprised by most things anymore......"
Andrew even poked my cheek with his finger.
"Golem...... no, you're human, right?"
I only rolled my eyes to look at Andrew.
Only then did he grab the hand that was poking my cheek with his other hand.
Carson, who had briefly lost himself, came to his senses again and asked.
"What on earth...... happened 100 years ago?"
Now everyone was looking at me.
I slowly opened my mouth.
"100 years ago, I definitely killed Ledeia. But at the moment of death, she had already cast a curse—not quite a curse—on herself that would activate."
"A curse? What kind of curse?"
"The curse Ledeia placed on herself was magic that would trap herself in a dimension where time doesn't flow if death approached. Then even in death, the corpse wouldn't decay. Nor would it bleed anymore. But since there was no time, she couldn't move either."
"Is that a useful method? A curse that seems more like a prison than a prison, where you can't even move......"
Carson tilted his head as if he couldn't understand.
"If it had ended there, it would have been a simple curse, but she pulled a trick. At the same time the curse activated, she forcibly tore the mind from the body. And she connected that mind to a crystal sphere she had hidden somewhere in the middle realm."
"Only the mind? To think such a thing was possible......"
"The reason for placing such a curse on herself was simple."
Tracing my memory, I continued the story about Ledeia.
"To resurrect someday. She had feelings close to abhorrence toward death. So if death ever came at some point, she decided to continue research on resurrection and immortality with only her mind while preserving her body. It's just that I delivered that thing called death faster than she expected."
"An unnecessarily good idea."
"However, it had a fatal flaw. She couldn't repair her damaged body with her own power alone. She needed outside help......"
"That must be Count Soleon."
"Mm. Count Soleon was probably also interested in immortality. And Ledeia, who noticed that, must have appeared in his dreams."
Diaz's face became serious.
"If she researched for 300 years...... she might have completed immortality?"
"She probably used Soleon to restore the body that was trapped in another dimension. But she would have failed to complete immortality."
"Then...... she just resurrected with no changes from before?"
"That wouldn't be the case. Her magic would have become more powerful than before. More than the Ledeia in literature."
"How could that be......"
"And probably using that power, I imagine she'll try to complete immortality by finding a way to steal eternal life from a divine being."
She probably wasn't trying to steal eternal life, but actually trying to steal it.
Then she would face a second battle with the player following the tutorial.
The reason I spoke as if I was speculating was because it would seem too strange from the listeners' perspective if I knew all the way to that point.
Ledeia's full-scale movement was something that would happen a bit more in the future.
Thanks to finishing the story speculatively, those who heard the story to the end all made expressions of understanding.
Carson scratched his head.
"I'm originally not someone with outstanding knowledge about witches or magic. So I'm asking because I really don't know, but I definitely understand what kind of being that Ledeia is. However, if she's a witch who can manipulate dimensions like that, doesn't she know many other dangerous spells?"
I affirmed his question.
"There would be quite a few. She can twist dimensions to defend, and using black magic, she can make things happen that couldn't occur with ordinary common-sense magic."
Actually, I remember that Ledeia, who had fully resurrected, had an incredibly diverse range of patterns.
To the point where for a while, there were even rumors that her patterns might be infinite.
"T-then is there really a way to win?......"
Of course, eventually the players around the world, as always, found the answer and completely analyzed the patterns.
And one of the easiest strategies I know also came out that way......
It was a strategy that utilized inducing patterns one-sidedly to make the patterns themselves simple.
I was thinking of making Ledeia's patterns focus on dimensional magic instead.
'For that, I need quite a lot of allies. If I pour arrows to make her focus on defense...... my turn will keep coming.'
No matter how I thought about it, that was the safest method.
Of course, to execute that plan, the follow-up forces led by Count Gargent had to arrive.
Without being hit by catapults, safely.
"However, it won't be easy."
Even at my not-so-positive answer, Carson smiled.
"It won't be easy...... where is that? It's a hundred times, a thousand times better than not knowing at all."
"That's true. The conclusion is that even if day doesn't come, we must go out and eliminate the catapults. Only when the follow-up forces arrive can my plan become feasible."
"Understood. Do you have a plan in mind?"
"Diversionary operation."
"Diversion...... one side draws attention while the other attacks the catapults?"
As befitting the leader of this shelter, his mind worked quickly.
"Dealing with the catapults will be me, Diaz, and Andrew. The three of us will do it. We need agents who can deliver fast and definite strikes."
Carson answered while folding his arms.
"I'll take the lead and prepare forces that can draw attention. Anyway, since there are survivors in the eastern district, we'll rescue them while we're at it."
"Good."
Like that, according to our new operation, we each began our preparations.
***
Rohan, Diaz, and Andrew quickly finished preparations and headed toward the target first,
And Carson also gathered his forces under his command and departed with the purpose of rescuing eastern district survivors while dispersing the enemy's attention.
And the first battle began not long after.
"They're coming! The vampire bastards!"
Carson gripped his battle axe tightly.
It was as expected.
The vampire bastards also knew there were survivors here.
So they must have been lying in ambush to greedily suck blood.
"Heurya!"
The massive axe swung in a circle, and the vampires' necks were chopped off one after another.
The sight of their heads spinning through the air was spectacular.
"Kahaha! As expected of Carson!"
"Thanks to that guy, I'm not scared at all!"
The warriors following him were also among the most skilled warriors among the barbarian warriors.
Monsters with builds that looked like orcs at a glance, wielding iron maces and axes with one hand.
Even so, they couldn't help but admire Carson's monstrous strength.
Overwhelming force.
Carson was a man to whom those words suited perfectly.
Thwack!
Even at this moment, a vampire that dodged an axe attack and burrowed below was sent flying by his knee attack.
The sound of a skull splitting in a single blow could be faintly heard.
A living weapon indeed.
With Carson's performance, the rescue team's morale soared.
But at that moment,
"Let's go!"
"I'll split them all! Kahahaha!"
"Chaaaarge!"
From far away in the direction Rohan had departed—
Rumble...... Kwaaaaang! Flash! Jjeojeojeong! Kwaaaaaaang!
A thunder like divine wrath poured out.
"......"
"......"
"......"
Because it was so overwhelming......
"Even though they're allies, it's draining."
Carson chuckled and shook his head.