Perfect Misdiagnosis
The heavy oak door of the hospital room swung open, and a procession of elderly priests entered, clad in robes so blindingly white they hurt the eyes. At their head was Solon, the supreme authority of the Sun God Church and the empire's chief priest.
"We have come at Your Highness's summons. May the blessing of the Sun shine upon your path."
Solon bowed his head politely, but Kasian jerked his chin toward Kellun on the bed.
"Skip the pleasantries. Examine that bastard's body thoroughly right now. He's claiming some 'ancient demon king' appeared in the sewers right in the heart of the capital and did this to him."
A sneer curled Kasian's lips.
"To me, it just looks like he got the shit beaten out of him by some slum alley mercenaries with clubs. Chief Priest, use your holy power to find the 'demonic energy' lingering in those wounds. Even a handful would do."
"As you command."
Solon raised the sacred relic of the Sun God clutched in his wrinkled hand high. Dazzling golden holy power filled the room, gently enveloping Kellun and his adjutant's bodies. The romance fantasy world's top-tier MRI scan had begun.
Kellun squeezed his eyes shut.
God, please. Let even a rat-shit-sized speck of demonic energy show up in these wounds!
But his prayer went unanswered. Solon's brow slowly furrowed. He focused the golden holy power on Kellun's abdomen—a brutal bruise that looked like it could've ruptured his internals without a second thought. Solon carefully traced the edge of the contusion with his fingertips.
"...Hmm. This is peculiar."
Solon muttered softly, and Kasian scoffed.
"Peculiar? What's so peculiar about it? He couldn't even maintain his aura shield properly and took a direct hit from some crude blunt weapon like an iron mace or hammer."
"The physical trauma itself matches Your Highness's keen insight. An overwhelming mass impact that completely ignored his breastplate's defense and punched right through. But..."
Solon tilted his head and turned to the adjutant. He channeled holy power into the man's head, where dried blood crusted his ear.
"This one's even worse. The eardrum's been completely shredded by pressure."
Kasian's eyes sharpened.
"Pressure? You mean he got hit by an explosion-type spell?"
"Not quite. An explosion spell would leave burn marks as a matter of course, but there are none. And look at their retinas."
Solon flipped back the adjutant's eyelids, revealing unfocused, cloudy pupils.
"The retinas have been temporarily burned out by an intense flash. Your Highness, this means an extreme concentration of light and sound precisely targeted and struck only their sensory organs."
Kasian crossed his arms and shot back coldly.
"So? Some gutter rats set off a rare bomb or something. Get to the point. Any traces of the demon king? Even a speck of demonic energy or a curse?"
The room's temperature seemed to plummet. Kellun trembled, barely able to breathe. Of course there was no demonic energy.
Solon slowly shook his head.
"No, Your Highness. Not a single speck of demonic energy was detected. However..."
Kellun's heart sank like a stone.
Kasian flashed a victor's smile and gripped the hilt at his waist. A chill sword aura sliced through the room.
"I knew it. You dare drag the honor of the Imperial Knights through the mud and deceive me? Drag this worm out and haul him to the execution block...!"
"But Your Highness! Hear me out to the end!"
Solon urgently cut him off. The chief priest's voice trembled, stripped of its usual calm.
"It's not just the lack of demonic energy. There's... absolutely no trace of mana in their wounds."
"...What?"
Kasian's hand froze.
In this world—the romance fantasy world—mana permeated the air like breath. Even the puniest commoner's punch would carry faint traces of ambient mana from the physical collision; that was the 'absolute common sense' of this realm. For an impact strong enough to pierce an Aura Master's barrier, rupture organs, or shred an eardrum, the surrounding space's mana should've churned violently, leaving thick residue.
But no mana traces at all? It was like carving a perfect vacuum out of a room full of air—a blatant 'physical contradiction.'
"What nonsense is this, Chief Priest? Someone erased the traces with powerful magic?"
"Magic to erase traces still consumes mana, so residue from that should remain. But this... it's different."
Solon clutched his solar emblem relic, hands shaking. Deep terror frosted his eyes.
"A force that defies the laws of nature, wielding power utterly separate from mana. One that perfectly shreds an Aura Master's energy, leaves only pure physical phenomena, and suppresses mana entirely—this horrific providence..."
Cold sweat dripped from Solon's forehead. He suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud, slamming his head against the marble floor in horrified cry.
"Oh, merciful Sun God! The legends are true! The 'Devourer of Nothingness' that ascends from the lightless abyss and feasts on mana!"
"Ch-Chief Priest?! What the hell are you talking about?!"
Kasian shouted in confusion, but the other priests behind Solon, hearing the cry, prostrated themselves en masse, trembling like aspens in prayer.
Solon bellowed like he was vomiting blood.
"Your Highness! Captain Kellun speaks the truth! This is the primordial abyss itself, devouring all energy so perfectly not even demonic traces remain! Ancient lore states the 'Devourer of Nothingness' uses no mana. No—mana is mere prey to it!"
With no knowledge of modern science or gunpowder mechanisms, their worldview led to one conclusion: overwhelming physical force without mana reaction equaled an 'ancient demon king that erases mana.' And conveniently, a perfect legend matched—the lore of the mana-devouring Abyssal Spores.
Solon had fallen into perfect delusion.
"Fucking..."
A hollow curse escaped Kasian's lips. The crown prince's pupils—swollen with Sword Master pride—shook violently. Confirmation of an entity nullifying mana itself was cosmic terror to one who'd lived his life basking in its blessings.
And the man watching this insane turn from his bed.
I'm saved! Fuck yeah, I'm alive! That old geezer's turning my half-assed bullshit into gold! Best medical team in the empire! You quacks, I love you!
Inside, he spewed raw profanity and danced a jig, but Imperial Knight Captain experience ran deep. Kellun instantly twisted his face in agony and crawled off the bed. Barefoot and bloodied, he clutched Kasian's boots and wailed.
"Ugh! Your Highness! Believe me! That place is hell! It scoffed at my aura blade! A single beam from that black metal lump incinerated my soul's mana, and thunderous roar turned my life's training to dust! Even if Your Highness led with your royal person, I couldn't guarantee your safety against that monster!"
"Ngh...!"
Kasian was utterly overwhelmed by Kellun's desperate performance. The arrogance that had treated him like a rat moments ago vanished; now Kellun seemed a miraculous survivor from primordial calamity. With the Knight Captain and Chief Priest aligned, denial was impossible.
"That... Lady of House Erzen truly allied with that monster?"
"Yes! Lady Ayla Erzen was no longer human. She sneered at me with a vile grin before its altar! They're set to turn the empire's heart into a mana grave!"
The perfect clincher. The last blood drained from Crown Prince Kasian's face. His vaunted Sword Master bravado shattered pathetically before the 'unknown horror nullifying mana.' He staggered toward the door.
"...The armed subjugation plan for Zone 17 underground is hereby scrapped entirely."
"Your Highness!"
"No knights, no mages from the Magic Corps—nobody sets foot near those sewers for the time being. Approaching with mana only feeds it."
Kasian turned to Solon, face ashen, and commanded.
"Chief Priest. We must report this horror to Father immediately. Follow me."
The door shut, and once Kasian and the priests' footsteps faded completely.
Kellun and his adjutant locked eyes and silently pumped their fists in victory. Their pathetic defeat had morphed into the world's greatest threat, saving their necks from the noose in a thrilling last-second reprieve.
At the same time. The Grand Audience Hall of the Imperial Palace.
"Wh-what?! What the hell is that supposed to mean, Solon!"
The aged emperor shot up from his throne. The heavy golden crown atop his head rattled noisily. On the crimson carpet of the hall, Crown Prince Kasian and Chief Priest Solon prostrated with grim faces.
The truth from Solon's lips was enough to freeze the emperor's heart.
"Your Majesty. Regrettably, it has all been cross-verified in the Sun God's name. The 'entity' nesting beneath the capital devours mana and shreds aura—it's the primordial abyss incarnate. Armed subjugation would only serve our knights' massive mana as its feast! If it fully awakens, the capital's mana veins will dry up, and the empire falls overnight!"
"D-destruction?! You saying that calamity's been coiled right under the capital's heart?!"
The emperor's face blanched to ghostly white, then tinged blue with terror. To a ruler who'd gorged on mana stone abundance his whole life, a monster gnawing mana from below was hell itself.
"K-Kasian! Can't you, the empire's finest sword, take its head?!"
"...My apologies, Father. My aura is mana-based. If the enemy turns mana to nothingness with abyssal power, my sword's just a dull hunk of metal."
Even the prideful crown prince admitting his impotence sank the hall's air like lead. The emperor clutched the throne's arms, staggering.
Blocking the lava bubbling underfoot was priority one.
"What to do... what the hell do we do?! Just watch the empire fall to peril?!"
"There is one way, Your Majesty."
Solon snapped his head up, eyes burning with near-fanatical resolve.
"Sealing. Perfect, absolute, permanent sealing."
"Sealing?"
"For some reason, it's confined to Zone 17 underground. As long as we don't approach and feed it mana, it lacks the power to surface. Mobilize the palace's mage corps and holy priests now—seal every entrance to Zone 17 with double, triple barriers. Erect walls so no idiot can offer it mana tribute!"
The emperor's eyes flashed. Yes. Bury it. Don't dig out the headache tumor—just seal the area. The perfect stopgap favorites of rulers everywhere.
"Yes! That's the only way to save the empire!"
The emperor bellowed, shaking the hall. His voice mixed extreme panic and survival instinct.
"Chamberlain! Issue imperial decree now! Declare Imperial Capital Underground Zone 17 a 'Class 1 National Disaster Zone'! Summon every grand mage of the Imperial household! Open the treasury wide—grind top-grade mana stones if needed and seal those entrances completely! Not even a rat gets through—a flawless, absolute, permanent sealing barrier!"
With the emperor's edict, the empire's full public authority mobilized to imprison the underground 'unknown demon king'—or rather, to 'perfectly protect a single survivor hiding there from external threats'—racing madly.
The moment Bunker Master Zeke obtained the sturdiest, most perfect 'free defense shield' legally, exploiting the empire's budget and grand mages' labor without lifting a finger.