259
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 259
If there's one thing I miss about leaving the demon realm, it's the night sky.
The streetlights of Homigraphy were so assertive that stars could barely shine, making it difficult to see a sky full of stars. Should I say it lacks romance?
If there's another thing that's difficult to adapt to, it's the temperature. The demon realm is in the south, so it's warm all year round. In contrast, the air in Homigraph, as autumn ends and winter approaches, is quite cold.
To give you an idea, some physically weak wizards would sniffle once night fell. It will take quite some time to adjust to the changed weather.
Yes.
Despite all this talk, Caesar is lonely.
'I never thought I'd miss the demon realm.'
To be precise, it must be Agatha that I miss. Caesar thought he could manage being apart, but after being separated for over three weeks, he kept wanting to see her.
'I should be able to see her when the full moon rises.'
The full moon is coming soon, so let's try to endure until then.
"We have arrived."
As the carriage stopped, Caesar slowly got out.
"Sigh... Alright."
There was quite a smell of alcohol on Caesar's breath. After the victory ceremony ended, a party was prepared, and he had enthusiastically participated in the drinking.
Of course, no matter how much he drank, Caesar's mind remained clear as he couldn't get drunk. While it was disappointing not being able to get drunk on a night when he wanted to be intoxicated, it wasn't bad being able to vividly see Gavin, drunk at the party, excitedly climbing onto Messio's back and playing while shouting 'Giddyup! Giddyup!'
Caesar looked up at the amazing magical wonder spread before him.
The Arc Great Library.
This amazing sanctuary where Arch Duke lived still maintained its mysterious appearance as if time had stopped. Caesar went inside as soon as the Blue Star wizards opened the library doors.
Whoosh
As soon as he stepped into the Arc Great Library, he was teleported to a drawing room where a warm fireplace was burning. Caesar saw an old man sitting in a rocking chair placed in front of the fireplace, staring blankly at it.
It was Duke Laar Arch.
"Greetings, Arch Duke."
Caesar respectfully greeted Laar.
Laar silently moved only his index finger to point at a chair placed next to the fireplace. Caesar sat in the chair and looked at Laar. He looked like a weed dying under the scorching sun. His skin had turned ashen, and his muscles had dried up as if they would break if tapped. It was hard to believe this was the same person who had engaged in heated arguments with Caesar while standing until just this spring.
"...Illness makes one weak."
Laar's gaze turned to Caesar.
Laar's eyes had no vitality. Perhaps due to presbyopia, he probably couldn't see Caesar well.
"Pain breaks the will to live, and powerlessness dulls the reason that had been sharpened like an arrowhead. It makes you wonder why you lived so diligently when you're going to die anyway as time passes."
Arch Duke's throat easily dried and cracked.
Arch Duke barely moistened his throat with warm water placed beside him.
"I envy your youth."
It was difficult for Caesar to look at the weakened Arch Duke.
Until just four months ago, he had burned with passion to protect the aspirations of 36 generations of the Arch family, and now his end was like dull ashes. It was bitter, like seeing the futility of life in advance. However, Caesar knew of the ember that Laar Arc had kept alive.
"That's why you have descendants who will inherit the will of the Arch family, right?"
Laar nodded slightly.
"That's right. Passion and will are consumables. My son will bloom using the sacrifices of our ancestors, including myself, spanning 36 generations as fertilizer."
Laar lightly tapped his cane. Then the fireplace moved back, revealing a basement.
"You did your best with what you could do. Although some wizards died, you secured the magic stone mine through a deal with the Demon King. I consider that as having somewhat kept your promise to me."
Laar knew everything Caesar had done in the demon realm, even though Caesar hadn't given an accurate report yet. As expected, the current Laar appears to be from the future. Though it's unclear how far from the future they've come. Laar barely managed to stand up, leaning on their staff. As if squeezing out his last vitality, he slowly descended to the basement alone. Caesar considered helping Laar, but decided against it. He was certain that Laar's final pride wouldn't allow it.
"Therefore, you are qualified. You deserve to know what we have lived this life for."
After entering the basement, a small door appeared not far ahead. When the door was tapped with the staff, a room made of thin iron bars appeared.
It was an elevator.
Cool air and moisture were rising from the elevator. Caesar already knew what lay at the elevator's destination. And he knew why Laar was showing this to him. Caesar followed Laar into the elevator. The elevator began descending endlessly downward. How far had they descended?
Bright cyan light poured in through the elevator's iron bars. The light originated from stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Each stalactite had a large golden ring fitted around it, and while the structure was simple, the thickness of the stalactites was comparable to the size of ordinary buildings, leaving one speechless.
'These are all magic stones.'
And they were all top-grade magic stones at that. After passing the stalactites that filled his view, Caesar could see the entire place at a glance. The area with cyan stalactites was an enormous cavern. Caesar and Arch Duke were descending in a long elevator located in the middle of that cavern.
"We have been preparing for the end of the world for the past 200 years."
Laar and Caesar blankly stared up at the stalactites hanging in the sky.
"And this is the ark that will protect humanity from the end of the world."
What Caesar was looking up at was the bottom of the ark that the Arch Duke family had created over 200 years. The sight of the ark's bottom was quite familiar to Caesar.
In the ‘Valent Saga,’ when someone of magical birth somehow discovers the Akashic Records, Arch Duke would come to explain about the ark. However, seeing it in person rather than through a monitor, the scale was truly overwhelming. The elevator stopped.
Arch Duke opened the elevator door and stepped out.
"Have you ever thought about the end of the world, Caesar?"
"Not never, but I've often thought my life's end would come sooner."
"The death of an insignificant being remains just that. Whether it's me, the Emperor, or Elijah, we're all merely insignificant humans. When we die, we only cause a small disturbance in the world before being buried in dust and rotting away."
Throughout the cavern, wizards wearing blue hats were working on pouring out magic stones from boxes filled to the brim and combining them into one. They were all Blue Star wizards, publicly known to be responsible for protecting Arch Duke. However, in reality, they were workers who had dedicated their lives to building the ark, just like the Arch family.
"This world is heading toward its end."
"What kind of end?"
"The end by devils."
Laar smiled slightly while observing Caesar's calm expression.
"It seems you don't believe it?"
Laar had no idea that Caesar already knew about the world's impending destruction by devil overflow.
Well, they couldn't possibly know. After all, only the members of the Arch Duke family knew about the world's destruction by devil overflow.
"Regardless of whether I believe it or not, aren't you the one who believes in the end of the world, Duke? That's why you're doing this madness."
"Madness... Yes, that's exactly the right word."
Laar looked at the thousands of top-grade magic stones hanging from the ceiling.
"This would have been impossible without being mad."
Caesar pointed at the magic stones embedded in the ceiling.
"More importantly, you mentioned an ark earlier, so what exactly are you planning to do with all of these?"
"It's simple. We're going to lift Sapientia into the sky."
"You mean to lift the entire city?"
"Yes. We're going to turn Sapientia into a floating island."
Arch Duke picked up a small magic stone and surrounded it with magic.
A golden ring formed around the magic stone, and it began to float.
"Permanent flotation magic. It's the Arch family's secret art that creates perpetual circulation of the energy contained in magic stones to keep specific objects floating in the sky forever."
Arch Duke shifted his gaze to the magic stones embedded in the ark's bottom.
"If there's one clear difference between magic and resources like oil or coal, it's that magic doesn't disappear even when used. In other words, no matter how much magic we consume, the total amount of magic existing in this world remains unchanged."
"Then why do magic stones lose magic when used?"
"Magic stones are just one form of concentrated magic. When the magic contained in magic stones is used, it disperses into the air as certain waves."
"So that means the concentration of magic in the air increases the more magic stones are used?"
"Your quick understanding makes our conversation flow easily. Indeed, over the past 200 years, the magic concentration in the continent's air has steadily increased. Particularly since the development of artifacts, the magic concentration has increased dramatically."
Arch Duke picked up a magic stone floating in the air.
"Prime Arch Duke, who discovered the principle of magic circulation, researched whether there was a way to transform this into a complete circulation structure."
"You mean creating an infinite power system."
"Precisely. If that could be achieved, he judged we could pioneer a new world completely free from the influence of the apocalypse."
"Are you saying you've come this far based on that idea?"
"It's been a long time. However, we've hit the most critical problem."
Arch Duke handed the magic stone to Caesar.
"We lack an absolute quantity of magic stones."
"How much are we short?"
"It's almost complete. We just need to acquire magic stones weighing about the same as one magic tower."
When talking about one magic tower, it's not a matter of 1 ton or 10 tons. Wouldn't it need to be measured in units of nearly 1,000 tons? How long would it take to mine that much?
"The amount of magic stones stockpiled on the continent is steadily decreasing. Within half a year, the supply of magic stones will be completely cut off. Now we're at the point where we need to extract magic stones even from artifacts and insert them."
"Couldn't we reduce the size? Instead of lifting all of Sapientia, it seems sufficient to reduce it by half."
"It's not as simple as just embedding magic stones beneath Sapientia to lift it. It took almost 50 years to complete the foundation strong enough to withstand the floating magic. At this point, it's impossible to split the foundation and recalculate the magical formulae anew."
In the end, one way or another, this floating island plan will fail completely unless more magic stones are invested.
"Therefore, we must expedite the mining of magic stones as soon as possible."
"Very well. I understand that we need many magic stones to complete this floating island, and the demon realm mine development needs to happen as soon as possible."
Caesar decided to ask a very obvious question.
"Then what exactly is the evidence that this world will be destroyed by devils? I don't understand that part."
"Yes. I thought that question would naturally come up."
Arch Duke struck his staff on the ground. Then, with a sensation of space folding, they arrived in a familiar place. It was the deepest part of the great library where the Akashic Records were kept.
Arch Duke pointed to the Akashic Records that were being diligently recorded.
"This is an ancient relic called the Akashic Records, a book that can foretell the future and past. The content about the end of the world was written here."
Caesar felt this scene anew. When starting as a wizard, one must first discover the 'Akashic Records' before receiving the ark-related quest. However, the current Caesar had seen the ark first and was now receiving an explanation about the Akashic Records. This meant that Caesar had become an indispensable existence to the Arch family, and it was clear that they would be reliable allies who would protect Caesar at least until just before the world's end.
"It was written that when the end comes, this world will be conquered by devils, and no method can prevent it. When the 1st Arch Duke first discovered this relic, he thought it was our Arch family's destiny to prepare for the end of the world."
"Then was the future where the floating island is completed also written there?"
Arch Duke struggled to answer Caesar's question. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke.
"Recently, the Akashic Records have begun showing strange phenomena. It's become impossible to observe the distant future."
"Then doesn't that mean we don't know whether the floating island will be completed or not, and whether the devils will conquer the world or not?"
"However, one thing is certain: the devils are targeting this world."
It wasn't easy getting this far. Caesar decided to discuss constructive content that wasn't already known.
"Very well. If it's true that devils are trying to destroy the world, shouldn't there be weapons or defense systems to counter devils? We can't rely solely on that floating island."
This is what Caesar was aiming for. The Arc Dukes must have felt uneasy about relying only on the floating island. In the end, it would be right to develop weapons to counter devils, but at present, the only weapon against devils is 'Oil of Holy Flame’.
Wouldn't they have devised at least one magical method to counter devils besides 'Oil of Holy Flame’?
"I understand what you're saying. You want weapons that can hunt devils?"
"Recently, I was almost ambushed by a devil with invisibility abilities at the border of the Dior Kingdom. I would like to receive artifacts that can at least detect when devils approach me and artifacts effective in killing devils."
Caesar shrugged and smiled.
"If it's true that the world will end because of devils, wouldn't you have prepared at least that much?"
Arch Duke sat down with a smirk at Caesar's obvious provocation.
"We do have some. But I'm rather tired now."
Arch Duke tapped his staff on the ground twice.
Then, from the wall where space was chaotically mixed, a man slowly walked out. Though he had sunken eyes, disheveled hair, and dull-colored skin, he appeared healthier than the current Duke Laar Arch - a middle-aged man.
"Instead, my son will help you."
The alertness in the man's sunken eyes scanned Caesar's body.
"So you are Caesar."
The man extended his hand.
"Pleased to meet you. I am Noah Arch, the 37th Arch Duke."