Chapter 704: An Unavoidable Trap (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 704: An Unavoidable Trap (3)
Suddenly, Veradin waved his hand, and a green window materialized in the air.
The green window was a spitting image of Record Magic.
It radiated the exact same aura Jin had felt in the land the Zipples called their ‘Holy Land’—a place steeped in the residual energy of the Sun God. Jin recognized it instantly; this was the price Veradin had paid to save Valeria from that very place.
“…Record Magic?”
“You must have encountered the original quite often. It’s a bit embarrassing for me if you look that surprised by a mere imitation.”
However, the Elders who had followed them into the office seemed even more shocked than Jin.
“Y-Young Patriarch! Have you finally obtained that magic!?”
“Why did you not tell us of such a joyous occasion!”
The Elders’ eyes gleamed with greed, the tragedy currently befalling the Federation seemingly forgotten.
Veradin maintained his smile, but Jin saw the darkness hidden within that expression. He instinctively knew what was about to happen.
It was a purge.
“Why wouldn’t I have told you, Elders? It’s because old, useless things don’t need to know.”
“What do you mean by— urk!”
“Young Patriarch, ack, Young Pat— urgh, ghk…!”
The Elders, who had started to protest, suddenly clutched their throats and writhed.
They had been abruptly robbed of their breath. As they struggled, strange characters began to etch themselves onto Veradin’s green window.
“I’m only showing you this on your way out as a courtesy for your past service. See? It didn’t take as long as I said it would, did it?”
Ronil stood by with his usual stoic expression, as if he had known this would happen all along. Veradin looked down at the Elders as they collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
One of the Elders struggled against Veradin’s magic, gasping for air.
With bloodshot eyes, he managed to push himself up and reach out toward Veradin.
A distorted fireball erupted from his hand, but Veradin simply drew his sword and sliced through it with ease.
As the fireball dissipated, tears of blood streamed from the Elder’s eyes.
“Ah, I should have kept you alive…”
Those were the last words the resisting Elder heard.
As he slumped forward, not a single living Elder remained in the office.
Jin felt goosebumps erupt across his skin. It wasn’t because of the magic Veradin displayed—which bordered on divine authority—nor was it because of his flawless swordsmanship.
It was because he realized, once again, that his friend had changed. His friend, his siblings… they had all become monsters.
“I originally intended to deal with them after you left, but this isn’t bad either. Anyway, where were we? Ah, right—we were discussing how we monitor the scale of despair. Take a look at this.”
Veradin’s green window expanded until it filled the entire office.
A map of the world was drawn within it, covered in writhing black stains across various regions.
Huphester, in particular, was so dark it was hard to find a single clear spot, while the rest of the continent was filled with stains of varying intensity.
“The black areas on this map represent the despair being harvested by the Evil God. Currently, the Evil God is roughly fifty percent complete.”
“What’s the basis for that estimate?”
“The formation speed of the Ship Ram. Every time the black spots increase, the Ram changes. Orgal visited before you did, and he equates the completion of the Ram with the completion of the Evil God.”
Veradin pointed his finger at the spots over Drakka, the autonomous districts, and the Mila Kingdom.
“These spots formed the moment the Federation was attacked by Dipus Runcandel and when the commoners of the Mila Kingdom were slaughtered and taken hostage. They are still darkening and expanding. The belief that the Federation was safe—especially Drakka, home to our main house—has been shattered. That’s the likely cause.”
Just as he said, the writhing spots in those areas were growing slowly but incessantly.
While small compared to the entirety of Huphester, they were quite large compared to other regions.
As Jin quietly observed the spots, his gaze landed on the Tikan Kingdom.
There was a black spot in Tikan as well. It was literally the size of a dot, but it was exceptionally dark, making it stand out.
Is that Marys despair… or perhaps Yuria’s?
The two of them immediately came to mind.
“I’ve heard about the relationship between the 7th Flagbearer and the 4th Flagbearer. Besides, the Contractor of Az Mil is likely suffering after seeing some terrible future,” Veradin said, noticing where Jin’s gaze had fallen.
Jin didn’t respond and instead looked at the other spots.
Among the stains in Huphester, there was one land where the changes were most active.
Rikarton.
The land where the Prophet used to gather human sacrifices.
Jin had previously asked Black Knight Dox to investigate that place. Dox had been out of contact ever since.
“You seem to be looking closely at Rikarton. I suppose you’ve noticed as well. We’re certain the 4th Flagbearer is transporting all the hostages there. Since the attack on the Federation, Rikarton is where despair is growing most vigorously.”
The task was clear.
Strike Rikarton and rescue the hostages.
A small-scale operation like before wouldn’t suffice. While it was unlikely all ten thousand hostages were still alive, they would need a fleet even if they only managed to save a thousand.
“Doesn’t it feel absurd all over again—humans fighting against a god? If it weren’t for this element of despair, there would be no reason for the world’s greatest powers to step forward to save commoners in a situation like this.”
“What?”
“I mean that if the opponent were human, this would be terribly inefficient. What if you, someone immune to chaos, get injured while trying to save ten thousand civilians? What if our other top-tier assets suffer irreversible losses? We can’t let that happen.”
Jin felt as if he were listening to Rosa from her human days, not Veradin.
It seemed that in Veradin’s world, ordinary people had become meaningless existences.
“Let’s drop the useless talk. It’s not a pleasant conversation. Regardless, if Orgal has already visited, he must be aware of the situation. What we need to decide is the date of the attack on Rikarton and the forces to be mobilized.”
“Right. It would be best to move as quickly as possible. The 4th Flagbearer and his chaos forces must have limits to their mobility, but we have no way of estimating them. Is it the same for the Hister?”
To begin with, Valeria’s Record Magic wasn’t capable of creating a map like the one Veradin had formed.
When Jin nodded, Veradin shrugged.
“That’s a shame… To think her mastery of the original is so limited. If that’s all she can do with it, she might as well hand it over to us.”
“More nonsense. I agree that we must start the operation quickly. Before the 4th Flagbearer raids somewhere else…”
The moment Jin said that.
A new spot suddenly began to form on the map.
Veradin flinched and examined it. The new spot of despair was forming in the Empire.
Specifically, the capital—the land Dante himself was protecting.
Given the timing, not only Dante but also Siris, Casimir, and other comrades could be in the Imperial capital.
“…They’re already making a move. Though it might not be the 4th Flagbearer.”
“I have to go now. We’ll finish this talk when I get back.”
As Jin turned to leave, Veradin moved to follow him.
“I’ll go with you.”
Jin stared at Veradin for a moment before nodding.
*
The Imperial Capital.
“The pursuit team will disband immediately and tend to the people! That’s an order from the Patriarch!”
“Yes, sir!”
At a commander’s shout, the knights broke formation. The area around them was filled with chaos energy and corpses. Some were knights, but most were commoners.
The knights scattered and began to tend to the fallen. Civilians were trapped beneath every collapsed building.
About thirty minutes ago, a pitch-black dimensional gate had opened out of nowhere in the middle of the capital. The chaos dragons and Black Ships that poured out had instantly turned the area into a living hell, and Dante had responded almost simultaneously.
Fortunately, Casimir and Siris had just arrived. If they hadn’t arrived on Mort, the damage would have been far greater, no matter how quickly they’d responded.
It took Dante only fifteen minutes from arriving on the scene to eliminate over eighty percent of the chaos dragons and Black Ships. Even so, the thousands of casualties that occurred in that short time were, quite literally, unavoidable.
Dante had ordered the pursuit team and the city guard to rescue the people, while the family knights—including the Dragon Knights—were to mop up the remnants. Now, he was chasing the fleeing enemy commander.
I will find you and tear you apart myself…!
Dante’s eyes, filled with rage, scanned the area ahead. The enemy had already escaped to the outskirts of the capital, but Dante kept nipping at his heels, thwarting every attempt to open a dimensional gate.
Since Mort was exhausted and could no longer use teleportation, the chase would be over the moment he lost sight of the enemy.
However, Dante was not one to lose his target to impatience. Moreover, this was the heart of the land he protected.
Swish—!
As Rashid emitted a brilliant radiance, a portion of the outer forest was sliced away like a puzzle piece.
Dante fired waves of sword energy in all directions around the severed forest, boxing in the commander who was likely inside.
The enemy made a desperate attempt to break through Dante’s sword energy, only to stumble pathetically. Dante didn’t miss the opening.
“You son of a bitch!”
He slammed the hilt of his sword into the man’s helmet. The face revealed underneath was none other than Joshua Runcandel.
“Joshua Runcandel, it was you…!”
Joshua looked even more pathetic than when Vail had last defeated him. His eyes darted nervously, and cold sweat poured down his pale face.
— Go and strike the Empire. It was originally a task for the 4th Flagbearer, but I didn’t inform him for your sake. If you successfully complete the terror attack in place of the 4th Flagbearer and return without my help or the Patriarch’s, he will surely grant you one more chance.
Before attacking the Empire, Joshua had heard those words from Ilina.
But now he was captured, unable to return without help, and the terror attack had fallen far short of the Prophet’s expectations.
Once again, Joshua had failed.
Furthermore, what made Joshua despair even more…
Was the sight of another dimensional gate—one that had nothing to do with him—forming in the distant sky behind Dante.
From within it, Dipus’s army could be seen emerging.
And so, Joshua’s despair deepened—another offering for Rosa.