Chapter 372
Chapter 372
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 372
>Chapter Title: ……The Moon Doesn't Rise During the Day
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Monster carcasses lay scattered across the plain.
Screech, creak.
One half-formed humanoid monster corpse let out a grating noise.
Aster took up a stance right away, momentarily startled by the eerie sight. Or at least, he tried to.
[No need to be so wary. I only came to say hello today.]
“……”
Aster didn’t respond. The 4th Elder, unperturbed, twisted and turned his incomplete incarnation this way and that.
[You wield some rather special magic power. Or is it mana itself? It’s not easy to repair. Anyway, that’s not the point.]
The 4th Elder stilled his movements and straightened his posture. Then he gauged the direction where Aster stood and turned his body.
“Not that way.”
[Ah, this side? I can’t see, you see……]
“A bit more to the left. No, no. Even further.”
The 4th Elder twisted his body back and forth following Aster’s directions. Finally, when Aster said “stop,” the 4th Elder politely bowed in greeting.
[Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am the 4th Elder of Salvatium. I discarded my name long ago, so just call me the 4th Elder.]
“……”
[Surprised? Well, it’s only natural.]
The 4th Elder seemed pleased by Aster’s silence, his mouth moving.
But Aster wasn’t responding for any other reason.
‘Idiot, not over there.’
The 4th Elder had his back turned. Aster had pointed him in the wrong direction, and now he was greeting thin air.
Of course, it wasn’t just to mess with him.
It was to gauge the opponent.
‘Can’t sense his presence, that’s for sure.’
It seemed true that he’d only come to say hello.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have manifested in such a body that couldn’t even detect an opponent’s presence.
Still, the rippling aura was far too ominous to let his guard down completely.
Aster collected his thoughts and took in the sight of the 4th Elder. Then he posed a question.
“4th Elder?”
[Yes, that’s all you need to know. But is this the right way? Your voice seems to be coming from behind me……]
“How dare you! Trying to deceive me with your deceitful three-inch tongue, you foul demon! Out with the main point, or begone!”
[……Quite the foul mouth.]
Refusing to give the 4th Elder time to think, Aster pressed the attack.
“If you came to greet me, then greet me and get lost! But mark this well: I will never compromise with the likes of vile scum.”
[……]
“Your sins are known to heaven and earth alike. I shall surely, without a shred of shame beneath that moon in the sky, bring you to justice.”
Of course, there was no moon in the sky. Only the blinding sun illuminated the surroundings.
Naturally, it was all nonsense, but to the 4th Elder—who was meeting Aster for the first time—that declaration wasn’t something he could just dismiss as drivel.
[……Do you mean that?]
His voice turned icy cold.
In truth, though he’d said he came just to say hello, that wasn’t the reason the 4th Elder had sought out Aster.
[I’ve been thinking.]
“……?”
[You and I are tied by ill fate. But I believed it was a relationship we could mend.]
……If Aster’s level had been lacking, the 4th Elder would have crushed him without a second thought.
Instead of this sloppy manifestation in a monster’s flesh, he would have prepared a proper vessel and taken Aster’s life.
But in that instant when the black magic-corrupted monsters were vanishing, the 4th Elder—who had scattered fragments of his consciousness into them via forbidden magic—had clearly felt it.
The extent of Aster’s power.
‘……A clear transcendent.’
He’d had some inkling when Aster slaughtered the two children he’d so carefully raised, but to think he was truly an archmage.
Realizing this, the 4th Elder reconsidered.
‘His true level is transcendent…….’
It wasn’t revealed, but he concealed some artifact.
He didn’t know exactly what, but it was at least powerful enough to annihilate Destrow.
And most troubling was his bold decisiveness.
For example, that stunt at the academy principal inauguration.
‘Linking the second imperial prince to Salvatium—that’s no ordinary madman’s ploy.’
It had coincidentally aligned with Salvatium’s event, making the tower lord’s scheme work, but it could easily have backfired spectacularly.
And that was just the start.
His background was no joke either.
‘……The 72 Council.’
From the circumstances, the tower lord held the fourth seat in the 72 Council: Wybard.
What mattered here was that the tower lord was only fourth.
‘At least three others equal to or above the tower lord.’
Even for the 4th Elder—no, even for Salvatium—turning such a secret organization into an enemy was an exhausting prospect.
……Of course, all this held meaning only because the tower lord was a transcendent archmage, but still.
So, the 4th Elder thought.
[Alliance……might be too grand a word. How about a non-aggression pact? Not just the tower……but the 72 Council as well.]
“So you knew about the 72 Council too.”
[Others probably haven’t noticed. That’s why……I wanted to make this proposal. Will you truly refuse to compromise?]
The aura surrounding the 4th Elder’s incarnation surged ferociously toward the front, as if in threat.
Of course, since Aster was behind him, it had no effect.
Aster found the sight mildly pathetic while pondering deeply.
After a moment.
Aster replied.
“……The moon doesn’t rise during the day.”
[What do you mean? ……Ah, ha, hahaha! Oh, right. The moon doesn’t rise during the day. Hahaha!]
The 4th Elder finally grasped the loophole in Aster’s earlier declaration and burst into laughter. It was a pleased laugh.
[So, you accept my proposal? That’s how I should take it?]
“The moon isn’t out.”
Aster mumbled evasively, but the 4th Elder knew it was the assent of a hypocrite.
Perhaps that’s why his aura and voice softened naturally.
[Good, then…….]
“Ah, one moment before that.”
[……?]
The 4th Elder tilted his head. Meanwhile, Aster’s voice echoed in his ear(?).
“Since we’re fated to meet, how about a drink? A non-aggression pact is fine and all, but who knows how relationships might develop.”
[Hmm.]
“You never know. The tower aside, there are plenty in the 72 Council who might ally with Salvatium. We could even end up on good terms with them.”
[That’s…….]
The 4th Elder trailed off. His tone was far more cautious than before.
[I need to think it over. We hardly know each other well enough to share drinks.]
Facing one tower lord was no big deal. No matter how transcendent an archmage, he was still a brat who hadn’t even lived a century.
But if the other members of the 72 Council got involved, it changed things.
‘……Minimize variables as much as possible…….’
“……I’m disappointed.”
A heavy remark.
[…….]
The 4th Elder fell silent. Soon, mana swirled around him. The incomplete incarnation staggered under indescribable pressure.
[What are you doing?]
“4th Elder, what exactly are you trying to pull?”
[…….]
The 4th Elder listened quietly to Aster without responding. Soon, Aster’s angry voice boomed down like thunder.
“We’re taking a huge risk here. Let’s face reality. Salvatium and the tower joining hands—if word gets out, does the tower survive unscathed?”
[Well, it wouldn’t be a bad deal for you either. Making more enemies just tires us both…….]
“Do you really think that? Even knowing the 72 Council exists?”
[…….]
“4th Elder, yes. How much of the 72 Council has Salvatium grasped? No, did you even know we existed before I stepped into the light? Listen well. I’m agreeing to non-aggression not because I disdain you. I thought we both had something to gain, so I reached out…….”
The 4th Elder fell silent at Aster’s genuine anger. When he spoke again, his voice was much softer.
[……I apologize. But understand my position. With the Biwon approaching and me chosen as executor, I can’t afford rash actions.]
“Biwon? Executor?”
[Just know it’s a thing. And……don’t worry about news of the tower and Salvatium allying leaking out.]
“You say that lightly because it’s not your problem, but this is no small matter. Ah, is that it? You’re safe hiding in the shadows anyway?”
[No, that’s not it.]
The 4th Elder hesitated briefly. About whether to reveal one of Salvatium’s secrets to the tower lord.
In truth, it wasn’t a huge secret. The continent’s power brokers knew of it in passing.
“What is it? Some safety net?”
[Well, this much should be fine. You may not know, but Salvatium has allies across the continent. From renowned merchant guilds to great nobles. Of course, they don’t even know what they serve, but when Salvatium commands, they’ll move like limbs.]
“Ah, so……in a pinch, they’ll move to suppress the rumors? Something like that?”
[Exactly. That’s why the power brokers know of Salvatium yet dare not touch it.]
Followers who are nowhere and everywhere at once.
Touch Salvatium carelessly, and who knows where the dagger might fly from—they just watch.
This was the tight safety net Salvatium had woven over long years.
“Then……overthrowing the eastern continent is possible too?”
The 4th Elder shook his head at Aster’s subtle tone.
[Not quite. These things always hinge on the ‘right balance.’ Just enough carrots to maintain faith, and demands no greater than that.]
“This is……quite intriguing.”
[……Interested?]
Aster nodded. Not that the 4th Elder could see.
“Didn’t I say? I think we both stand to gain.”
[In that case, there’s one way.]
The 4th Elder’s voice sank low. Like a hawk spotting prey. If he had eyes, they would have gleamed sharply.
“A way?”
[Yes, by forming a contract with me. I’d originally aimed for a non-aggression contract……but if you wish, I can help you form a higher one.]
“And then?”
[Then……you could join Salvatium.]
……Of course, that would make his soul the 4th Elder’s.
No, even a mere ‘non-aggression contract’ would bind Aster’s soul to the 4th Elder’s grasp.
The proposal had been a trap from the start.
[What do you say? Any thoughts?]
The 4th Elder asked in a coaxing tone. Like a predator eyeing the throat of its prey.
But then.
Crunch—!
[……?]
Immense pressure bore down on the incarnation’s body.
[What…….]
The 4th Elder hurriedly tried to resist, but the hastily made incarnation reacted slowly.
He grasped the situation in a flash, however.
[You bastard……! Tower Lord! What is this!?]
A roar that shook the earth. The ominous aura shot forward laden with hostility. But naturally, Aster wasn’t exposed to it.
Crunch, crack! Snap!
Meanwhile, watching the aura savagely tear at the space, Aster smirked.
“What is this? You idiot.”
Did he really need to spell it out?
“You got played.”
Crunch!
As the incarnation crumpled, rising flames swallowed it whole.
……That was the last voice the 4th Elder heard.