Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 84
>Chapter Title: It'll Work Out Somehow?
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“……Star.”
My head was a mess.
‘I figured it wouldn’t be ordinary……’
But who would’ve thought Senior Riheim was Musphelun, the Final Mage? It was a fact that defied common sense.
“I clearly heard you died from mana backlash…… no, that you died.”
“A good number of friends helped me out. Thanks to them, I’ve been able to live peacefully.”
“Friends? Ah……”
Senior Riheim took in my face—no, my mask—with his eyes. From that gaze, I realized who those ‘friends’ were.
“……Bear-Eaten Moon.”
“Exactly. Then you must know what Sakwol means too.”
‘Who knew this Sakwol was that Bear-Eaten Moon……’
What was the Bear-Eaten Moon?
The war had ended by the hand of the Final Mage, Musphelun, but there was another terror with fame to match.
- Above the good sky Musphelun chose rises the Bear-Eaten Moon. It is a calamity.
Musphelun’s direct mage corps, the Bear-Eaten Moon.
Almost nothing was known about their true nature.
Only that they wandered the battlefields with faces hidden behind masks modeled after Sakwol.
When the war ended, they were forgotten by history along with Musphelun’s death. That was Sakwol, the Bear-Eaten Moon.
“Enough of these old tales. Don’t we have something more important right now?”
“……Yeah, sure.”
I gathered my thoughts at the sound of Senior Riheim’s voice.
Honestly, that was it.
‘Musphelun? Bear-Eaten Moon?’
No matter what Senior Riheim or the headmaster’s true identities were, what mattered right now was Destro, the ancient abomination.
“For now…… I’ll call you junior. I hear the support is just you alone. That right?”
“For the moment, yes, but they’ll probably send more people. No idea when, though.”
I was essentially the advance scout.
The headmaster’s disciples were in positions where they couldn’t move right away, so this felt like a stopgap with whoever could mobilize on short notice.
“Hmm…… I see.”
Senior Riheim fell into thought after that, but it didn’t last long before he spoke again.
“I have a plan. However…… this part is up to you to decide.”
“What is it?”
“Will we wait for reinforcements? Or push ahead first?”
“……”
His deep-set eyes fixed on me. I met them for a moment, gauging the intent behind the question.
‘It’s not that his body can’t hold up……’
From the brief glimpse I’d had, Senior Riheim wasn’t the type of mage to worry about that.
He probably didn’t care about his own safety in this plan. I wondered if he was holding back out of concern for his disciple Obern, but that didn’t seem right either.
So then……
“There’s some kind of complication.”
“……Yes.”
Senior Riheim nodded gravely, his face serious.
“I’ve sealed all the ancient spirits away. But strangely…… Destro’s seal is growing fainter by the minute.”
“Isn’t it because of the…… no, the black mage?”
“You can call them the Gold Demon Sorcerer; I know of Salvatium’s existence too. In any case, it’s not them.”
A mage of Senior Riheim’s caliber would hear things whether he wanted to or not.
No matter how secretive Salvatium was, there were no perfect secrets in the world.
But if not the Gold Demon Sorcerer……
“I don’t know the cause. What I do know is we might not have much time.”
“So……”
“It’s your choice. Destro is an abomination that must be stopped, but how could I force you?”
“……”
What to say?
Now I understood why Senior Riheim and Obern were master and disciple.
Was he just kind-hearted, or stubbornly principled……?
In a situation like this, prioritizing one person’s safety over the greater good?
But for some reason, I didn’t look away from those eyes like I had before.
‘Because he’s Musphelun.’
The craziest of the mad. Even if he now exuded unparalleled benevolence, his past remained unchanged.
Was that demeanor a form of madness too?
‘The right kind of crazy.’
Anyway.
“Don’t we have to do it?”
“That’s true.”
So what was there to agonize over?
“Let’s do it. Push ahead.”
“You’re deciding this easily? If it goes according to plan, it won’t be that dangerous, but in the worst case……”
“Destro could awaken.”
“Yes.”
Senior Riheim looked at me with somber eyes.
I shrugged.
‘The Gold Demon Sorcerer…… they’ll be a pain.’
No, more than a pain?
I’d realized it clearly from last time.
The grudge from my past life, Friezen, hadn’t even been a proper black mage.
A proper black mage—like the Gold Demon Sorcerer—had unleashed a curse so tricky even I didn’t know how to counter it.
Still.
‘What time hasn’t been dangerous?’
It wasn’t like I had no insurance.
Even without knowing the principles, hadn’t the Fire Mark perfectly blocked the ‘Sins of the Thirteen’?
Of course, I’d take my own precautions, but danger was par for the course.
And if—
‘The worst case.’
Destro awakened?
‘……Then what.’
It’ll work out somehow?
I’d have to clash and see. Who knows, maybe Destro was a weakling weaker than expected.
That was the gist.
* * *
“Here’s the plan.”
Senior Riheim snapped his fingers, and a topographic map of the Hamern Great Forest appeared before him.
“This is Base Camp 4.”
A point glowing blue.
“This is the ancient ruins. Just an estimate. I scanned with barriers, but there’ll be some margin of error.”
The ancient ruins blinked red.
“And……”
Around the blinking red point, a fainter red light spread out, covering a wider area than expected.
Probably comparable to a decent small city.
“……This is the barrier sealing the ancient spirits.”
“Hmm.”
My admiration for Musphelun—no, Senior Riheim’s prowess was short-lived.
“We could break through if we had to……”
“……You can?”
I nodded nonchalantly.
Truth be told, sneaking in wasn’t that hard.
My mana purity had risen compared to my past life, so hiding my presence was no issue if I tried.
Even from this distance, hadn’t I hidden from Pahren before?
‘The problem is that’s as far as it goes.’
Dealing with ancient spirits wouldn’t be tough.
However.
“Don’t we need to fix Destro’s seal?”
“It’s fine to destroy the seal itself. They sealed it in ancient times because they couldn’t handle it, but now we can destroy it. It’s not unprecedented. However……”
I listened quietly to Senior Riheim.
“From the barrier scan…… it looks like the Gold Demon Sorcerer tampered with it. Thick remnants of black mana everywhere.”
“That’s troublesome.”
Frankly, destroying Destro’s seal wouldn’t be easy either.
Dodging the Gold Demon Sorcerer’s eyes wasn’t hard, but the risk if spotted?
If combat broke out, I’d face not just them but an incalculable undead horde.
“Here’s my plan.”
Senior Riheim continued.
First……
“I’ll clear out all the undead inside the barrier.”
Using Turn Undead to clean the area around the ancient ruins.
“But it won’t be a perfect Turn Undead. It’s hastily prepared…… so it’ll just exclude the ancient spirits.”
Meaning the Gold Demon Sorcerer’s undead would need separate handling.
And then.
“While Turn Undead holds……”
“You smash the Gold Demon Sorcerer and completely destroy Destro’s seal?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“……Hmm.”
On paper, it was a simple strategy.
Truth be told, without the swarming ancient spirits, the Gold Demon Sorcerer wasn’t unbeatable.
But a question lingered.
‘He says Turn Undead will “clear” the ancient spirits, but exclusion is the best he can do. They won’t be destroyed.’
If it were that convenient, why had Senior Riheim waited for us?
He’d have wiped them out with Turn Undead on every one he encountered.
Since he’d only managed to seal them, there must be limitations.
And I found the answer in his words.
“Not a perfect Turn Undead…… you’re creating a possession-free zone. That’s why you can’t exclude undead with casters.”
“Correct.”
“Then the ancient spirits……”
“With the seal this loose, Destro’s probably aware of us.”
In other words.
“The moment Turn Undead activates……”
“He’ll send the ancient spirits our way. He won’t know our goal, but he’ll sense something’s off.”
So it was like this.
‘A race against time.’
Whoever takes out the king first wins.
Their king was Destro. Ours…… Senior Riheim.
“Can you do it?”
“Hmm.”
If he was asking if I could or couldn’t, obviously……
“No idea.”
Senior Riheim gave me a deep look at my flippant reply.
Honestly, how could I predict success or failure before even starting?
No, even if I could predict, plans fell apart due to variables anyway.
“We’ll know once we try. But before that, one question?”
“Go ahead.”
Unlike before, I looked down at Senior Riheim with eyes grown cold.
Throughout our conversation, a nagging sense of déjà vu stuck in my mind.
That doubt began here.
Musphelun Giggas Aderian.
It was plain as day that the old mage before me was Musphelun.
Who else in the world could wield barriers like this? No one but him could perform such feats.
However.
‘If he’s Musphelun……’
Would he need a plan like this?
Overwhelming violence.
That was the only way to describe Musphelun’s barrier magic.
Spread a barrier over a vast area, then arbitrarily control the environment inside. Who could withstand it?
For example……
The Final Battlefield.
Like when he amplified gravity dozens of times to crush a hundred thousand enemy soldiers.
‘Turn Undead?’
Pointless.
Just sweep away the visible undead, crush the Gold Demon Sorcerer, and shatter the seal. That’s it.
Even now……
‘He could crush and kill the Gold Demon Sorcerer, right?’
Yet.
Why not?
“Are you hiding something?”
“……Hm.”
It was a vague question, but Senior Riheim’s face hardened.
At the same time, the air grew tense.
“……Master? Senior?”
Obern, oblivious, just tilted his head.
I stared silently at Senior Riheim.
“……”
His eyes narrowed. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.
“Obern.”
“……Yes, Master.”
“Could you step out for a bit?”
“……”
Obern hesitated at the ominous atmosphere, but Senior Riheim pressed.
“Now.”
“……Yes, understood.”
Obern retreated reluctantly. Even as he closed the door, he looked back at us worriedly. The moment it shut, Senior Riheim spoke.
“One favor?”
“If it’s not too much, sure.”
“Keep this from Obern, that boy. That’s my request.”
“……?”
The bewilderment was brief.
Then Senior Riheim opened his mouth.
“I give you permission. Examine my body.”
No matter how sharp one’s senses, peering inside another’s body was impossible.
Unless, like now, they permitted it.
“Mm.”
When I examined Senior Riheim’s body, I finally understood what he wanted to hide.
As befitting a grand mage, the interior was vast. Circuits and core like a universe.
But.
‘……The core.’
It wasn’t intact.
The core was split clean in half.
For any normal mage, it was a wound that should have been fatal.