Chapter 107
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: The Answer to the Problem Isn't Always Good. (8)
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Foreboding energy.
A demon?
It was a little different from that.
Ordinary mana.
Or was it really ordinary mana?
'It's powerful.'
An enormously potent mana.
Even though only a tiny bit had leaked out.
From the quality of that mana, she could sense the caster's power.
Lin excused herself to Kane and hurriedly rushed toward it.
She wasn't sure if it was friend or foe yet, and if it was a dangerous entity, she had to eliminate the threat before it could endanger Kane.
With that in mind, she raced over.
And there...
"And who might you... Huh? A kid?"
A cute blonde girl with blue eyes.
Maybe around thirteen?
Of course, she wasn't that much younger than sixteen-year-old Lin, but she definitely looked childish.
It was bewildering.
That girl was clearly the source of the mana.
She could feel the immense power.
It wasn't just vast.
It was mana refined to extreme purity over decades.
Incredibly pure and distilled.
Yet its owner was a little girl in her early teens.
As Lin reeled in confusion at the mismatch...
"Hehe."
The girl smiled brightly and spoke.
"Hi there? You must be Lin, right?"
Her words sounded like she already knew Lin, tilting Lin's head in puzzlement.
The chilling mana she'd sensed earlier.
It definitely seemed to belong to this girl.
But how could a child wield such power?
And how did she even know Lin?
Lin's mind was a whirlwind of confusion.
"Don't mind it. This appearance is just a hobby of mine."
Noticing Lin's bewilderment, the little girl... Rebecca shrugged calmly and explained.
Her look wasn't meant to confuse others or lure them into complacency.
It was purely Rebecca's own taste.
So she wasn't putting on an act as a child.
"The Pacific Kingdom. Your homeland, right? I had some business there... so I know a bit about you."
Lin felt a sense of disconnect from Rebecca, who continued speaking calmly despite her childlike appearance.
But thanks to that, Lin could tell she wasn't just some kid—she was someone wearing a kid's form.
"...Who are you?"
Rebecca had mentioned a connection to the Pacific Kingdom, but honestly, Lin couldn't care less about that place anymore.
Separately from that, she was curious about the identity of this woman who'd emitted that chilling mana moments ago.
She might be a threat to Kane, after all.
"Just think of me as... an ordinary witch? Anyway, I'm not planning to fight you right now."
You're more fun if I let you live.
Muttering that to herself, she clapped her hands as if something had just occurred to her.
"Oh, right. Some scary people are coming to kill you right now. You should run."
"What? What do you mean...?"
Suddenly warning her that scary people were coming to kill her and telling her to flee?
"Who would believe that?"
It wasn't without suspicion.
The Meran Confederacy might have caught wind of something and sent assassins after Lin's group.
But if that were the case...
'There's no guarantee this girl isn't one of them.'
She could be lulling Lin into lowering her guard for a backstab.
That chilling mana.
And right in front of her lay a headless corpse.
Honestly, it was natural to find it suspicious.
"Oh, this? This guy's one of their comrades, so I killed him."
"......"
It still looked fishy no matter how she sliced it.
And even if her words were true, Lin didn't care.
"If you're a threat to Sir Kane, I'll kill you."
No matter who the opponent was, she was ready to fight with her life on the line.
For Kane's sake, she'd explode every ounce of mana in her body to take down the enemy if needed.
"Hmm, doubt you'd manage."
At that moment, Rebecca replied...
"If those three team up... they'd be as dangerous as me, wouldn't they?"
Ssssh─
She released her mana.
"...!!"
Sensing her overwhelming mana, Lin flinched and stepped back.
Not just the quantity, but this was the first time she'd felt mana so hair-raising.
The moment it touched her, it felt like sinking into a pitch-black, bottomless swamp.
And the unpleasant aura emanating from within...
'...Demonic energy.'
This woman was connected to demons too.
"Urk..."
But even knowing she wielded demonic power, Lin had no intention of charging in recklessly.
Lin, a magic-specialized hero, had plenty of mana both in quantity and quality.
Yet she immediately knew.
If she fought this woman, she'd definitely lose.
Aim for mutual destruction with a mana explosion?
It'd be pointless.
Even mutual destruction wouldn't let her win in her current state.
This power might rival an upper demon's true form.
The demon she'd just expelled from Marco's body.
The demonic energy she'd felt touching its soul was on a similar level.
She'd thought if that upper demon's true body had descended, she'd have lost for sure.
'Who'd have thought it'd be right in front of me.'
Not quite at that upper demon's full strength, but a powerhouse nonetheless.
And she said the three coming now would be equally dangerous if united.
One-third of that power... She might beat a single one.
Even two, maybe with mutual destruction.
But three...
'...Time to bail.'
She never imagined coming to the Meran Confederacy would mean running into so many powerhouses.
Lin was struck anew by how vast the world truly was.
"Got it? Whether you judge me dangerous or believe me and think those three are as bad... running is the right call."
She was right.
Either way, it spelled danger for Lin's group.
Fleeing now, while this woman warned her, was the best option.
Her earlier suspicion that it was a ploy to lure her into a trap felt foolish now.
'If she wanted to kill me, she could've done it anytime.'
If she truly intended murder...
No matter how much Lin resisted, she'd break through it all.
This woman would've killed Lin and then Kane.
"...I admit it. Right now, I couldn't beat you. Or those three you mentioned."
Lin conceded quickly.
She'd sworn to give her life protecting Kane, but he wasn't in immediate danger.
She wasn't fool enough to charge to a pointless death.
On the contrary, stubbornly fighting now would only endanger Kane.
Lin knew that well.
"Then..."
With that, Lin swiftly retreated from the scene.
Rebecca watched her go, smirking.
"Right now," she murmured.
She's fun, alright.
With a deep sigh, Rebecca continued.
"Phew~ Too bad. She doesn't seem attached to her homeland."
She'd been curious what reaction Lin would have seeing her home kingdom utterly collapse.
Rebecca's face, as she said it, wore a venomous sneer utterly devoid of her earlier calm.
Centered around former Knight Commander Niber, a strange organization emerged in the Pacific Kingdom.
The 'Immortal Society'.
This secret group, formed by Niber drawing in select nobles, shockingly promised immortality to those who joined.
And the nobles truly received the power of immortality... demonic power infused into their bodies.
They became half-human, half-demon.
Using that as bait, they drew in even more nobles.
The Immortal Society, expanding its influence in utmost secrecy, eventually...
Even ensnared the Pacific Kingdom's third prince.
Sigrion Pacific, the hero still active in the field.
"...Can you really live forever?"
"Of course, Your Highness. And you'll gain far greater power than now. Immense strength and an eternal body! With that, you shall become Pacific's true king—the eternal sovereign!"
Before a pitch-black orb containing demonic power, the prince hesitated slightly.
Niber coaxed him gently.
After the throne was all but assured to his brother, the first prince with the Hero's Quality...
Convincing Sigrion, who harbored a deep complex over not becoming king, was easy.
"Immortal king... eternal king...!"
His obsession with the crown.
That ultimately led Sigrion to grasp forbidden power.
Gulp!
He swallowed the orb outright, soon feeling his body boil with heat.
"Gah...!! It, it hurts...! My body hurts!!"
Pain exploded through his entire form.
As if his bones were being torn apart, his nerves scraped raw with sandpaper.
The agony was so intense he writhed on the floor.
He thought he'd die.
"Just endure a little! The demonic energy is taking root!"
Even as he said it, Niber felt inwardly anxious.
Demonic power wasn't something anyone could just take willy-nilly.
Some bodies accepted it seamlessly, while others rejected it and died outright—quite a few cases.
Of course, as a hero with a sturdy physique, Sigrion should be fine, he figured.
Still, as a stepping stone to devouring the Pacific Kingdom whole...
He couldn't help worrying if he might die.
"Urk..."
But it was mere worry—Sigrion soon rose, gasping for breath.
"Incredible... Such immense power...!!"
Gazing at the black demonic energy rising from his hand, he grinned maniacally.
"Kuh, kuahaha! Yes! With this power... with this much strength! I can be this kingdom's king!"
As one of Pacific's two heroes—Lin having left, leaving just two—he stood among the kingdom's strongest.
Yet the legitimate heir, the first prince with Hero's power, overshadowed him.
And in raw skill, he lagged behind another hero and the king's closest guard knight, 'Gid'.
He bore the supreme title of hero, but his father—the reigning king from hero stock—didn't favor him much.
Perhaps it stemmed from that ingrained inferiority complex.
Lin's treatment probably arose from the same.
'Well, that weakling deserved it anyway.'
Gid at least looked after him out of loyalty.
Bottom line: Sigrion could never become king, no matter how he craved it.
He'd plotted a coup, but lacked the power, and nobles hushed it fearing the king's ire in their small nation.
But now...
"With this power, it's possible."
The kingdom's top hero, Gid?
The other heroes?
He could beat them all.
And now, he had...
"Immortal Society. Let's devour this country together."
"Of course, Prince... no, Your Majesty."
The nobles empowered by demonic might—the Immortal Society—stood with him.
"Hehe, things are getting fun."
Rebecca watched it all through a welcoming avatar.
Munching popcorn happily as she observed a kingdom's downfall.