Chapter 94
Chapter 94
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Land of the Other Races (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I could feel the air trembling.
‘No, it wasn’t the air—it was the mana moving.’
Fundamentally, mages store mana in their hearts.
As the amount of mana increases, circular rings form one by one in a mage’s heart, called ‘circles.’
Of course, that only applies to humans.
The circles formed in a human heart act as a safeguard, allowing the heart to withstand mana, or as a device that makes it easier to absorb mana.
But dragons are different.
A dragon’s heart is a massive vessel capable of holding more mana than anything else.
And they possess the power to fill that vessel whenever they desire.
That’s why humans can never defeat dragons with magic.
“Th-this power…!”
Terror crept into the voice of the one who had shot the arrow.
The other races fundamentally harbored a deep fear of dragons.
“Break, break, break, break.”
Rumble, boom! Crash, crash, boom!
Riya, having absorbed the massive mana, unleashed Dragon Words one after another using that power.
Trees densely packed around them began snapping and toppling one by one.
As the thick, enormous trees broke, screams echoed through the air.
“Wait! Stop, Riya!”
It had happened so suddenly that I was too late to intervene.
In mere seconds, the middle of the mountain range had been stripped bare like a bald hill.
With all the surrounding trees felled, the figures hiding among them came into view.
‘Elves, as expected.’
No one but elves could have shot arrows so accurately in this pitch darkness.
[Why are you stopping her? Those guys just…! Even if they hate humans, does it make sense to attack out of nowhere like that?]
Even Gransesia was genuinely outraged, a rare sight.
I was the one who’d actually been attacked, yet I found it hard to get angry.
‘…No need for that anyway.’
To be precise, there was no one left to get angry at. Elves lay groaning amid the broken trees.
“G-Great One, please forgive my brethren! They knew nothing!”
Startled by the sudden turn of events, Piorn hurriedly knelt before Riya and begged.
Riya tilted her head at him curiously.
“Ignorance isn’t always forgiven. Sometimes, it becomes a grave sin.”
“P-Please, I beg you. They merely…”
“They merely tried to kill the benefactor who saved the other races.”
Cutting off Piorn’s words decisively, Riya scanned the surroundings with eyes gradually turning draconic red.
“The Empire has sought peace with the other races as much as possible, but with savages like these, we may need to reconsider.”
“…!”
At her words, the other other races’ faces paled instantly.
Having stayed at my mansion, they knew exactly what kind of being Riya was—and how terrifying her statement truly was.
“Enough, Riya. You must’ve been on edge after that recent slave trader incident.”
Here, I put on the most magnanimous expression possible.
Immediately, all eyes turned to me, filled with hope, as if pleading for me to persuade her.
Naturally, Riya pouted the moment I spoke up.
“But…”
“This is sufficient. I’m sure they’ve reflected enough.”
We’d come this far; killing them all would defeat the purpose.
We might achieve our goals through force, but that could introduce unnecessary variables.
“Right?”
When I addressed the elves groaning among the broken trees, a response came instantly.
“G-Great One! We failed to recognize you and attacked. Please forgive us!”
A middle-aged male elf, likely their leader, rushed over, knelt, and slammed his forehead to the ground.
“Hmm.”
Riya gazed at him impassively before slowly bending at the waist.
Then, she gently stroked the back of his head with her palm.
Her touch was like soothing a child, but everyone present knew she could crush his skull with a mere flex of her hand.
“I’ve done nothing wrong. Perhaps you’ve mistaken who owes the apology?”
“…H-Human sir! We were wrong. We committed a grave sin!”
The middle-aged elf crawled forward on the ground and slammed his head before me.
‘Human sir, huh.’
He looked pitiful, but considering they’d shot arrows at me, sympathy was in short supply.
Of course, I needed to appear magnanimous, so I smiled warmly and extended a hand to him, still kneeling with his head to the dirt.
“It’s fine. I came to return you other races to your homeland, not to start pointless fights.”
“O-ohhh.”
He looked up at me with deep emotion.
The other other races were the same, shedding tears as if they’d found their savior.
“For now, we can’t stay here forever… Could you guide us?”
“O-Of course. But…”
The middle-aged elf glanced warily at Riya.
She looked displeased but nodded faintly, respecting my view.
“I don’t mind.”
“Th-then we’ll guide you right away!!”
The middle-aged elf rose despite his injuries and turned.
He then hurriedly urged the fallen elves to move.
‘Thanks to this, no need for tedious explanations.’
I’d assumed some friction was inevitable, even after explaining we’d come to liberate them.
But Riya had spared us that hassle.
“You did that drastic stunt aiming for this, didn’t you, Riya?”
I asked as I followed the swiftly moving elves, with Riya beside me.
If she’d truly meant to attack them, there would’ve been casualties.
“Nope?”
“No?”
“Yes.”
It seemed we’d just gotten lucky.
* * *
“Thank you so much for saving the children from those barbaric fiends.”
Leading the other races to a nearby village, the village chief expressed his gratitude to me.
When we first arrived, they’d been visibly wary at the sight of a human, but learning I’d rescued them from slave traders eased their guard somewhat.
‘Riya’s presence helps, too.’
The surrounding elves kept stealing glances at Riya beside me.
The two horns growing from her temples marked her unmistakably as non-human, exuding a draconic aura.
To them, she must’ve looked like a dragon out for amusement, so their caution was natural.
Though not exactly as planned, it had saved us time.
“Chief!”
At that moment, an elf girl ran to the chief and threw herself into his arms.
She was the girl with the setting of being the second owner of the ‘Madness Disaster.’
“Titia, you’re safe! Thank goodness!”
“Ch-Chief, I have urgent news.”
She glanced at me briefly before tugging the chief’s hand.
I gave her a slight nod.
‘She’s about to reveal that info.’
Titia possessed information no one else’s settings revealed.
The reason they’d been taken by slave traders.
‘…Jerbisia, was it.’
Lavanteira was ruled by an elf king elected from representatives of elves, dwarves, and beastkin.
And Jerbisia was that elf king’s son.
‘He was colluding with Talua Kingdom slave traders.’
If she knew which traders or their leader, that’d be ideal, but Titia didn’t seem to.
‘We’ll find out at the Founding Festival…’
Or when we meet Jerbisia directly.
“Then we’ll head out right away.”
“Understood.”
The dwarves followed my words immediately, despite looking weary.
Unlike the elves, they trusted me completely. Likely because being the owner of one of the Seven Heavenly Swords held greater weight for dwarves.
That’s why they’d agreed to detour to the ruins where the Madness Disaster was found before the village.
“Is this the trace left from the battle between the demons and the disaster?”
“Indeed. We shouldn’t have borrowed the demons’ power back then…”
A dwarf who’d transported the Madness Disaster replied with his head bowed.
His name was… Shaundar, I think.
Given how the other dwarves followed him, he seemed the highest-ranking among them.
“Perhaps the troubles that befell us were punishment for relying on demonic power.”
They seemed to blame themselves, viewing the reemergence of their ancestors’ hidden demon sword as retribution for seeking demonic aid.
“This is the ruin where the demon sword was found.”
Following Shaundar’s guidance up the mountain, we reached a spot that looked like its corner had been sliced off.
The deeply melted, lava-like depression hinted at the ferocity of the battle with the demonic disaster.
‘The Corrosion Disaster…’
According to the synopsis, the disaster preceding the Madness Disaster in Lavanteira was the ‘Corrosion Disaster.’
The devastation before my eyes confirmed it lived up to its name.
‘Let’s see.’
The ruin was slightly exposed amid the half-melted terrain.
Entering cautiously, a passage shrouded in thick darkness appeared.
“Hm?”
As I proceeded carefully along it, a small altar came into view.
It had a groove perfectly sized for a single sword.
==
[Altar of the Mad Sword]
The altar sealing the Mad Sword, Hela.
Discovered by Jerbisia while leading troops toward the capital of Talua Kingdom.
==
A very concise setting.
But in the current situation, it was utterly unimaginable.
‘While advancing on Talua Kingdom’s capital?’
Let me think for a moment.
The state of affairs between Lavanteira and Talua in the original story.
‘…I get the gist.’
But some pieces were still missing.
If I could just fill those in…
Sizzle!
While examining the altar, I stepped into a puddle, and my shoe began melting.
I yanked my foot away hastily, but the front was already dissolved.
“…!”
At the same time, my senses caught something unfamiliar.
This chilling presence was all too familiar to me.
“You were hiding here!”
I swiftly drew Genova and swung.
Simultaneously, thick green liquid erupted from the altar’s crevice, flooding everywhere.