Chapter 203
Chapter 203
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 203
Chapter Title: Second Continental Summit (4)
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The Tulk Kingdom, located in the northwest of the Ion Continent.
Shaaaa—
In the middle of one of its cities, sparkling motes of light drifted grandly across a fairly wide area.
The sky glowed faintly as if it were some otherworldly realm, translucent buildings shimmered, and the streets were eerily silent despite their scale.
The scenery created by all these elements exuded a dreamlike beauty, like a fantasy kingdom from a fairy tale.
But this city of light had one fatal flaw that prevented pure admiration...
Kwaaaang!
Kuung—!
...A massive, pure-white giant that was still relentlessly smashing the city to pieces even now.
[———!]
A bizarre resonance spread out in all directions from the giant.
Though its nose and mouth—necessary for making sounds—were completely sealed, it had the power to inflict serious damage on its surroundings just with the destructive energy contained in its muffled cries.
Of course, within this space—
"Let's finish this now. Lady Harley, if you would!"
"Uahaha! Lie down and stay down already!"
—not a single person was frail enough to be affected by it.
[———?!]
And the white giant, already battered from a prolonged battle with its legs in tatters, had no way to withstand the leg sweep from someone whose height only reached its knee, who had put everything into the charge.
Kuooooung—!
With an enormous crash, the massive giant toppled to the ground.
The shock scattered the surrounding translucent buildings in unison, but no one in the group paid it any mind.
Soon after hitting the ground, the fallen giant met its end with its neck severed and head split open.
Kaduduk!
The fist-sized core that emerged from its skull became Harley's daily ration.
"Fascinating. This is the first time I've seen one up close like this."
As the giant's massive white corpse began crumbling from the extremities now that the core was gone, Saintess Riesta approached Harley alongside the others who were gathering one by one. Her golden eyes sparkled as she gazed at it.
"...You're truly controlling the Abyss Madness. It doesn't seem like a racial trait... How is this possible?"
"Hmm, who knows? It just worked! Uahaha!"
She stared intently at him with narrowed eyes as he just grinned, but there was no way she'd uncover Harley's secrets that easily.
"Well, as long as no problems arise, it should be fine. If the Main God permitted it, there must be a reason!"
In the end, she shook her head with a hint of regret and stepped back.
"Still, it ended sooner than expected. Thanks to the Saintess's barrier, we minimized civilian casualties too. Fighting inside the city was quite tricky."
"Oh, Holy Son. You all who took down that massive giant are far more impressive than I! I merely provided a little assistance."
"We could detect its appearance right away and rush here because of your senses, Saintess. If we'd been even a bit late and it started rampaging through a city this size... the sacrifices would have been incalculable."
As Heinrich said with a gentle smile.
The reason they were here, in the midst of the summit, was Riesta's detection ability activating at just the right moment.
Fortuitously, right after the second day's conference wrapped up and dispersal was announced.
And the outbreak location was a city reachable instantly via the temple's gate.
'Thanks to that, the Saintess got to make a proper debut.'
From detecting the giant, to creating an isolation space that let them fight without worrying about surroundings, to buffing everyone participating in the battle.
It was a veritable feast of high-level holy magic befitting a Saintess.
'Though the city didn't escape unscathed.'
No matter how quickly they detected the signal and moved, gathering the party and relocating still took time.
Some unavoidable sacrifices occurred in that interval.
Of course, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the expected damage.
"...Time's gotten away from us already. Shall we head back? We need rest before tomorrow's conference."
"Ah! Right. It was my first real fight like this, so things got hectic."
Giant incursions ignored timing, and their frequency was increasing.
Naturally, they couldn't handle everything themselves, so elites from each nation had to step in when unavoidable...
'Still, when conditions allow, it's more efficient for us to handle it directly.'
Whether minimizing damage or recovering the cores.
"At least the Immortal King is staying quiet... that's a relief. But why? I feel uneasy, like this is the calm before some huge storm..."
"Hmm, doesn't the Immortal King see conquering the continent as mere amusement? This is probably part of the game too. Telling us to struggle as much as we can, summits or whatever."
"If that's all it is, great. But somehow, I feel like there's more to it. Sigh— I was trying to hold off during the conference, but I miss Tion and Mu today..."
Familiar names.
Ones he'd heard once before...
'Ah! Those worms. Still alive, huh?'
Made sense, with the Saintess's blessing and all.
Heinrich soothed her as she bit her lip anxiously and returned to the temple with the group.
'...Hearing that out of nowhere? Now I'm feeling uneasy too. Guess we need to bolster the party more.'
Of course, with the Immortal King essentially on their side, things wouldn't escalate to true catastrophe as Riesta feared.
Problems, if any, would arise elsewhere.
For example—the Oath of Reverse Heaven.
'Yeah, we've left those remnants alone too long under excuses like other priorities and hassle. No matter how long it takes, we need to uproot them first.'
They'd been searching steadily, but after catching so many, the survivors had gone into hiding, making them hard to track.
At this rate, they needed some movement to grab a tail, but aside from the southern coup leader, no obvious targets stood out.
'Once the summit ends, scour the south thoroughly for more intel. Solve Harley's request along the way.'
Handling things one by one would eventually lead to the end.
Leaving the Saintess's worries and the Holy Son's concerns behind, the hero party entrusted the rest to the kingdom's forces and returned to the Roselia Main Temple.
The continental summit was still in full swing, after all.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Like the first conference, this one dragged on for days.
Given the gravity of the issues and the tangled interests of various powers, it was only natural.
One agenda was bolstering the crusade's numbers...
With Heinrich's hero party progressing smoothly, unlike the start, others now showed keen interest.
'They figure it's not too risky from how things are going. Probably jealous of the fame we're gaining so easily compared to their efforts.'
Anyway, more candidates were exactly what they wanted.
The first to catch attention was Lydia Greenwood, the high elf accompanying as Rapori's successor.
Heinrich already knew about her via Harris, the fellow high elf.
Fiercer than most elves, she was the leader of the 'Watchers'—the Elven Kingdom's warriors responsible for combat—and had come to the second summit with a contingent joining the alliance.
'Elf spirit archer! Pure fantasy. Shame Harris is still growing and can't be used yet.'
For assassin role, he considered recruiting a True Blood or higher vampire...
"But isn't it fine to leave Talia Kingdom as is?"
Before Heinrich could finish thinking, Zephia Republic's Vice President Kayla McClaire raised the topic from the conference center.
She stood, gripping the table with a resolute expression, slowly scanning the room and meeting the other delegates' eyes.
"A nation ruled by vampires who steal citizens' life force for immortality? How could that be a proper country? Regardless of kingdom or republic, how can we tolerate treating humans like livestock!"
Kayla boldly voiced what others had avoided, her eyes flashing.
Though Heinz 2nd had toned down his presence since day one, her boldness bordered on recklessness.
'Hmm, understandable though.'
Background checks revealed she'd lost her young son long ago to a likely vampire.
Officially missing, but after so long, it was as good as dead.
'Probably the Obaifo Clan's doing, based in the east.'
Still, expecting a grieving mother to differentiate clans was asking too much.
To her, all vampires were the same.
'Impressive she's held back this long.'
Her role as a national representative and vice president had forced restraint.
But speaking up only after days...
"Ahem, indeed. Even as neighbors, we're quite worried."
"There's history there, isn't there? Hard to accept outright. Maybe some sanctions for a period to reassure people..."
"Khm, agreed."
Delegates from Talia's neighboring three kingdoms cautiously backed Kayla.
'Smart political play.'
The most reasonable approach.
Vampires had been humanity's enemies for ages, after all.
Even Imperial Princess Riley of the Empire and others stayed silent but seemed sympathetic.
Likely deferring to the Church that had accepted the vampires.
"Hmm? Sanctions..."
Heinz's response was...
"Sure, I don't know what you can do. But go ahead, try if you think you can."
A brazen frontal assault.
As he finished, he cracked his knuckles and flashed a cold smile.
The chilling aura he'd suppressed began seeping out.
"......"
"...Khm."
Caught off guard, the delegates exchanged hurried glances.
They'd expected him to flinch.
The Church had accepted Talia's vampires to avoid making more enemies.
Sharpening blades now was pointless.
Their arguments were valid but mistimed and unrealistic.
Besides...
"Now, now, calm down. Lord Heinz? Could you rein in your presence?"
"...Hmph. Fine."
"We're facing a dire crisis. Creating division when we should unite helps nothing."
As the Church's Holy Son's ally, what more was there?
The delegates reluctantly nodded to Heinrich's soft yet firm words, his subtle aura spreading.
As the brief commotion settled, Kayla—its instigator—sat naturally, watching as if she'd never flared up.
As if she hadn't expected real progress.
Heinz unclasped his hands and slowly stroked his chin.
'...Kayla McClaire. Just sowing seeds, huh.'
Crises didn't erupt suddenly; they built from accumulated discord and resentment.
Sealed for now, this conflict would hinder unity long-term.
A big-picture strategy, but he felt no particular emotion.
No, he grew more interested in her.
'Impressive. Quite usable.'
She opposed all vampires now, but that could change with guidance.
Direct her rage at the Obaifo Clan...
'Would help crush the Obaifo hiding in Zephia Republic.'
Eliminating them would mean dominating virtually all vampires in Aouterica.
Minor clans might linger, but over 90% under his command.
'Then this Heinz 2nd becomes the true Vampire King... Hm?'
But as he indulged in the daydream.
An unexpected change was detected back on Earth.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ As surroundings began darkening.
[...What is this?]
Global star Hans, rampaging through the Japanese archipelago, halted midair upon sensing incongruity while entering Osaka.
'Barrier? Reverse side of the world? No, something else. Feels like... shifting to another dimension...'
Space coordinates jumbled, unable to fix position; no barrier walls detectable.
A perfect otherworld environment.
Hans's skull tilted slightly.
He realized he'd fallen into a trap someone set without noticing.
A high-level unique skill made it unremarkable, but the mood soured.
"Impressive. No wonder others fall helplessly to this."
Then.
A low voice from behind—another unnoticed presence.
"To think someone would be insane enough to harbor the 'Death of the World' within."
Hans turned to face the speaker.
Until seen, its presence was hazy; once recognized, it exuded suffocating pressure.
"Body's dead, yet ego persists—remarkable. Must have a unique unique skill."
No, on second look, just an ordinary young man.
...Or an extraordinary elder.
Maybe a ghost or illusion.
"I like you very much."
The inscrutable being smiled delightedly at Hans.