Chapter 172
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 172
"How much have you figured out?"
"..."
—Everything, of course.
Hexabel opened her mouth. As she did, she replicated the softest voice she could recall from the humans she had devoured. Since she needed to continue the conversation, she kept her tone as gentle as possible, careful not to strike a nerve with Swallow.
"I even know that you, Master, are not a creature of this world," Hexabel replied.
She had first met Swallow hundreds of years ago.
She couldn't remember the exact year, but the circumstances of their meeting were seared into her memory. Back then, Hexabel had lived at the bottom of a deep ravine in the middle of a desert. Thousands of insects thrived in the narrow crevices beneath the cliffs.
All of them were prey.
Beneath the quicksand lurked the master of the desert, a colossal fish that swam through the sand as if it were water. It was a monster whose gills sucked in sand, causing the very ground to tremble with every breath. Only later did she learn that the humans of the kingdoms called it a Sand Whale, for it was larger than any whale in the sea.
The fish grew by eating the insects.
The insects’ habitat at the bottom of the ravine was a veritable dining table prepared by the fish.
Once the larvae ate enough sand to grow large, the fish would devour them. The insects would try desperately to climb the cliffs, but they could never escape the fish's gaze.
Hexabel was no different.
She was merely larger and stronger than the other insects; she had no hope of defeating the Sand Whale before reaching maturity. Her fate was the same as all the others—to be devoured. Powerless to resist, she was destined to become prey for the strong...
"What are you looking at?"
—Until a black monster appeared out of nowhere and tore the master of the desert to shreds.
"..."
For the first time, she felt a thrill of true awe.
She felt that if she followed that being, she might one day become like him.
Fortunately, Hexabel possessed a natural talent for strength. Of course, she was nothing compared to Swallow, but her innate abilities were more than sufficient. She was capable enough to handle the tedious chores that Swallow couldn't be bothered with.
"Don't expect scraps just for helping me."
Despite his words, Swallow was lazy, seemingly detached from everything.
So, standing before such a man, she took it upon herself to deal with the entities he found too troublesome to handle.
After chasing his shadow for so long, she finally grew into an adult.
Gradually, she realized she had become one of the strongest monsters in existence.
And then.
"Since it's come to this, why don't you just move into our dungeon?"
Finally, her efforts bore fruit.
"This is your room."
"From now on, you will block the humans coming through the Blue Path."
She became the gatekeeper of the Primordial Core.
The mere acknowledgment sent a thrill of ecstasy through her. It was an honor in itself to follow the 'Black Disaster,' the powerhouse feared by every living being in the world.
She fought.
She defended.
The humans who invaded the Primordial Core were strong, and she teetered on the brink of life and death multiple times. Each time, Hexabel grew stronger. She endured like that for decades.
For decades, she never questioned why the great Swallow had built a mere dungeon to pass his time dealing with invading humans.
...Her unquestioning loyalty began to waver the day Swallow singled out the 'Astupena Kingdom.'
"I think we need to destroy it."
Since their first meeting, she had never seen Swallow fight seriously.
Only when the kingdom was annihilated did Hexabel witness Swallow's 'true power.'
The time from his declaration to the kingdom’s utter destruction was a mere half-day.
That was the first time she saw Swallow's magic. It wasn't the low-level magic he used to mimic human spell formulas. It was his own, unique magic.
Alien, colossal, and...
"Ah."
An incomprehensible magic that seemed to defy the very laws of the world.
She had thought that by following Swallow, she could obtain power equal to his. If not equal, then at least half. Or a quarter. And if even that was impossible, she had at least wanted to walk in his footsteps.
—But the very 'nature' of their power was different.
Just watching his magic drove her to the brink of madness. It took a long time for her to regain her senses, and even after she did, the questions lingered.
Why is he guarding a mere dungeon when he possesses such power?
He could just kill everyone.
Why go through the trouble of creating a dungeon?
What is he trying to do?
What is the origin of that creature?
What lies at the end of the dungeon?
What have I been doing here, and for what purpose?
Once she started to doubt, everything she had once taken for granted began to look different. All past events were reinterpreted through a new, terrifying lens.
She feared Swallow.
That was the moment her fear eclipsed her awe.
She felt like she was going mad.
She no longer had the confidence to remain as the gatekeeper.
Over several years, she began dropping hints to Swallow about wanting to return to her homeland.
Later, when she formally requested to return to the Great Desert and build an insect dungeon, Swallow agreed far more readily than she had expected.
Thus, she created 'Sand Hell' in the middle of the Great Desert that surrounded the five kingdoms. Ruling over hundreds of thousands of insects, she reigned as the 'Mother of Insects.'
She faced endless vigilance and containment efforts from the kingdoms.
Around that time, a nation called the Empire began to rise in the far distance, prompting the kingdoms to desperately seek unity. Since the Great Desert separating them was a human trade route, they exerted all their strength to conquer Sand Hell.
She fought back, blocking the humans' attacks, which grew fiercer by the day. She dragged countless celebrated figures of the kingdoms into the sand.
The more humans she killed, the more her notoriety grew. Eventually, the newly emerged Empire designated 'Sand Hell' as a Great Evil Cave.
It was around the time she had established her foundation and was beginning to forget her fear of Swallow, if only a little.
After endless conflicts, an all-out war broke out that winter with 'Castilla,' the kingdom closest to Sand Hell.
Hexabel led tens of thousands of insects in a night raid on Castilla. The result was a one-sided slaughter. In the dead of night, the humans were butchered by the insects without being able to mount a proper defense.
Even the 'Saint'—the most threatening existence in Castilla, who surpassed human standards and was akin to the Empire's Hero—collapsed with pathetic ease during the raid. The hero's end was a wretched one, dragged underground with Hexabel’s grip crushing one of his legs.
The fall of the kingdom was imminent.
Just as Hexabel reached the royal palace, swallowed the king, and was about to tear the building down...
She saw a hidden altar.
The place was thick with the scent of blood, but it wasn't the smell that drew her in. An energy that seemed to call out to her permeated the air around the altar.
"..."
Hexabel stopped, freezing in place as if turned to stone.
The emotion that had been slowly fading from her memory resurfaced once more.
"...Swallow."
—An alien energy, identical to that of the ancient monster, coiled around the altar.
By the time the occupation of the royal palace was complete, the allied forces of the remaining kingdoms were swarming in. Distracted by the altar, Hexabel retrieved only the object placed at its center and ordered a retreat.
The bizarre mirror at the center was the source of the alien energy...
"..."
She could not comprehend it.
Not a single insect could comprehend the mirror's existence.
The mirror induced madness. Simply keeping it nearby drove her insects insane.
Hexabel desperately wanted to uncover the mirror's true identity, but with her subjects going mad, she had little choice.
The mirror was buried deep within the desert.
Another few decades passed.
After clashes that occurred regardless of the season, a major conflict broke out between the Allied Forces of the kingdoms and Sand Hell that winter. Once again, the five kingdoms formed an allied army of tens of thousands. The Kingdom of Castilla, which had barely escaped destruction decades ago, also joined the war.
And.
There was something different from before.
There was no 'Saint.'
——The Saint, who had always existed in at least one person in every era since the founding of Castilla, was gone.
...
"At first, I thought it was a coincidence," Hexabel said, raising her head to look at Swallow. "The fact that the era of the Saints ended the moment I took that mirror from their altar."
"..."
Swallow furrowed his brow. Despite her lengthy tale, he hadn't budged an inch.
"Didn't I tell you at the last Great Evil Cave meeting, Boss? That I've been too busy to see you lately."
She had many hypotheses, but none were proven. To make any progress, she needed proof. Hexabel had been moving tirelessly for decades.
"I was truly busy."
Hexabel mimicked a human laugh.
Heroes, Saints... Though called by different names and varying in capability, beings who easily transcended the human domain existed in several nations.
Hexabel kept a close watch on the other nations by any means necessary. Whenever an opportunity arose, she tried to find out.
She wanted to know if there was anything else that emitted that alien energy, just like the 'mirror.'
"It was not a coincidence."
After decades of effort, she had her proof. A similar object didn't just exist in Castilla.
"Who could have given such things to the humans?"
Having come this far, a new suspicion bloomed.
There was only one being who emitted that same alien energy and possessed the power to destroy the world—yet rarely laid a hand on humans.
"Master, did you know? My explanation was a bit lacking... I couldn't comprehend the mirror. However, after thousands, tens of thousands of attempts, I did achieve a result of sorts."
Hexabel twisted her body. It contorted in a bizarre direction, and the sound of muscles tearing within her massive frame echoed in the silence.
She was harming herself.
Clots of blood poured from Hexabel's mouth. The blood that spilled out first was green. But the deeper it came from within her body, the more its color changed.
"The mirror has begun to consume me. I am starting to assimilate with the alien entity."
——The last blood she spat out was black.
"You're clever."
"I don't understand its structure, but it feels as though incomprehensible knowledge is being injected into my head. I could tell... Of course it's alien. Because it is something that should not exist in this world."
"..."
"Unlike the other kingdoms, the Empire has as many as three Heroes, doesn't it? Furthermore, from what I felt fighting that light-blue-haired human last time, they were far stronger than the extraordinary humans of other kingdoms. There must be something even more special in the Empire."
"You're absurdly clever, you know that?"
But the Empire's military power was on a completely different level compared to the other kingdoms. Hexabel could not reach the heart of the Empire through sheer force alone.
She could only wait endlessly for an opportunity.
Hexabel turned her head to look at the pack of Orcs.
"An opportunity has presented itself."
If she could obtain the 'alien object' hidden in the Empire and assimilate with it, she would finally be able to approach the power, the curiosity, and the truth that had been out of reach. And if Swallow came to stop her, then the proof would be complete: 'Swallow was involved.'
"Master... no, Swallow."
With every word Hexabel spoke, the corners of Swallow's mouth curled up slightly.
"What are you preparing?"
*
"So you're the black curtain, Boss."
"Black curtain?"
"Yes, a curtain. Like on a stage."
Very naturally.
Right behind the stage.
Watching everything, yet...
...trying not to intervene if you can help it.
"The actors on stage never suspect what's behind the curtain until they realize they're just following a script."
"And yet, everything needed for the play comes from behind that very curtain, doesn't it?"
"Perhaps so."
It wasn't a bad analogy. Swallow mulled over Patrick's words. Yes, a curtain. Since his task required waiting and observation, existing as the stage curtain was the most comfortable role for him.
...
Occasionally.
Very occasionally.
...There were those who took an interest in what lay beyond the curtain.
*
In truth, more people had questioned Swallow than one might think.
Since the play had been running for millennia, it would be stranger if there were few. He had never counted exactly how many, but even estimating just ten per century, there had to be at least several hundred.
However, most of them, like Erebos, never moved past the stage of suspicion. It was exceptionally rare for someone to try and pull back the curtain themselves, as Hexabel was doing now.
...That didn't mean this was the first time, though.
In the past, there was surely——
"What am I preparing, you ask?"
After a moment of silence, Swallow chuckled.
"You should have figured that out yourself."
He had no intention of delivering some third-rate villain's monologue, like, 'You've done well to discover this much; now I shall tell you the rest.'
As Swallow's eyes narrowed slightly, Hexabel shifted. Because of her massive size, even a tiny movement caused the ground to churn violently.
"Is that all you've uncovered?"
"I needed to confirm my hypotheses up to this point before I could investigate any further."
"...I suppose that's one way to put it."
Swallow laughed playfully at her response.
That's a bluff.
Hexabel had laid all her cards on the table because she had nowhere else to go. She had hit a dead end in her investigation and was now making a desperate play.