Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Frontier (3)
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When he came to, they were in a wide clearing.
Jamie looked at Siegfried, who still eyed him warily.
Across from them, Siegfried's companions—excluding Han—were on guard, poised to lunge at any moment.
It was because the killing intent Siegfried had just shown was real. For the others, excluding Han, the archmage's murderous aura must have been overwhelming.
"Spatial transfer magic on this level with just gestures and no incantation... As expected of Siegfried of Space."
"Don't talk like you've figured it out yourself after hearing it from your underlings. It's pretty disgusting."
"Back to polite speech already?"
"Thank the young lord. When I start talking rough, it usually means I'm about to kill someone."
"Scary."
Both wore relaxed expressions, but an invisible, tense air flowed between them.
If this continued, the atmosphere would only grow more hostile. They had come here to talk, not to fight more comfortably.
'I've already recovered the items.'
The Shadow Sheep's heart and All Might were back in his possession.
If talk fell through, he could just leave.
Jamie tugged at Siegfried's robe.
"We're not here to fight."
"You never know with people."
"Am I a kid?"
"I never thought I'd hear that from an actual kid... Hmm."
Siegfried glared at Han once before withdrawing his aura.
Han followed suit, pulling back his own energy.
"Now we might actually be able to talk."
"Less talk, more answers from you. Why did you come here? With your underlings."
"First off, a few corrections. They're not my underlings."
He had assumed they were, given the honorifics in their names.
"If anything, they're from my organization, but different divisions? Right?"
Han looked to Izaya, who nodded quietly.
"Strictly speaking, underlings fits, but we don't take orders from Han."
"That's the relationship. Anything more is internal classified info, so no comment."
Siegfried snorted at Han's sly smile.
"Whatever, that doesn't matter."
"You asked, though."
"Why are you here? Again, don't think you can pull the same stunts here as in Harmonia."
"Right, another correction. Frontier isn't the leader of the Liberation Army. We just provide some aid. I have no idea how rumors ballooned to make me the leader."
"Guess we'll find out when we gut you."
"Yeah, yeah. Believe what you want. Anyway, I have no feelings toward Seldam Kingdom. One of our executives is even from here."
"Sir Onyx?"
At Jamie's question, Han nodded nonchalantly.
"Yep. Loves his homeland."
Han said with a hint of sarcasm.
"And we don't snipe at nations without cause. Without justification, we'd just be a band of lunatics."
"You already are a band of lunatics."
"Fair enough."
"Han! Why are we lunatics? We're Frontier, guiding the world to the right path. It's a noble cause!"
Braha scolded Han, squinting one eye.
'What a chatty elf.'
Jamie thought, watching Braha yell shrilly.
Elves were typically quiet and peace-loving.
Sure, some were talkative, but he'd never seen an elf who spewed militant rhetoric like this.
'The elven race must have changed quite a bit.'
It had been a long time, after all.
Siegfried chuckled at the exchange.
"Noble cause, my ass."
"Whatever. We've got what we came for, so we're leaving. We just greeted the kid Beryl mentioned because it was nice to meet him. You go your way."
"What did you get?"
"...This kid really won't switch to polite speech, huh?"
Han's eye twitched at Jamie's persistent casual tone.
"It's too late for formalities now, and we didn't meet on good terms, so don't sweat it."
"No skin off my back... Sigh, if you were really my kin, I'd spank you. You locals have no respect for elders."
"So what did you get?"
Han shook his head like he'd truly given up.
"Not telling you that. Unless you show some respect."
"What did you get?"
Jamie's expression unchanged, he brazenly switched to polite speech.
Han didn't know how to react. This kid was impossibly tricky to handle.
He toyed with people like they were puppets, far beyond his age.
"...Just be casual."
"Can't you tell us quick? We have schedules too."
"Damn. Can't win with words."
Han surrendered.
Siegfried quietly admired Jamie, who dominated with mere words. The boy blessed with talent in magic and swordplay seemed gifted in rhetoric too.
"Nothing to hide, but it's not my call alone. And they look ready to kill if we don't talk."
"You know it. You have to tell us before leaving. For national security."
Siegfried warned with veiled killing intent.
"Scary enough to piss myself. Anyway, cool with you?"
Han looked to Izaya.
As mentioned, no direct hierarchy, so he needed permission from Izaya, the mission leader.
"It's not harming them anyway, so fine."
"Still, do we have to tell?"
Braha voiced concern, and Ramu backed her.
"Yeah. Why bother?"
If they were Frontier core or close, maybe, but spilling for a mere acquaintance of Beryl Onyx?
"It'll be fine. Isis is interested in that kid too."
"Lady Isis?!"
"...For real?"
"That changes things."
At Isis's mention, their expressions shifted.
Isis, leader of Frontier.
To all in Frontier, she was godlike. Her interest in Jamie Welton was shocking.
They glanced at Jamie oddly, whispering among themselves.
"Why are they looking at the young lord like that?"
"How should I know?"
He could eavesdrop if he wanted, but saw no need.
If they told, he'd listen; if not, no big deal.
"Looks like you've decided."
Not Han, but Izaya stepped forward as representative. As mission leader, he had the say.
"Our goal was this."
Izaya pulled the last auctioned item from the bundle.
A small golden rectangular prism.
The auctioneer called it a key.
[Sleep here. Never to awaken again.]
The ancient script engraved on it.
"A key, right?"
Izaya nodded at Siegfried's question.
"The key to unseal the monster slumbering in the Great Volcano."
Jamie and Siegfried didn't grasp it at first.
But soon they did.
"...Not the monster of Kelton Great Volcano, right?"
"That's the one, kid."
Han grinned, pointing afar.
The heart of the towering Kelton Mountains. Its flat peak looked artificially leveled.
The Great Volcano, active until a millennium ago, turning the range into a lava sea.
Siegfried had mentioned it once.
"...So the legend was true?"
"Looks like it."
Siegfried seemed surprised too.
The Great Volcano monster tale was formally discussed in mage circles, though sparsely.
But lacking solid evidence, it stalled.
How did Frontier know what even mages couldn't confirm?
"Reliable source?"
Siegfried knew they weren't lying but asked formally.
"Of course."
Han said confidently.
"Frontier sealed it a millennium ago."
"Frontier?!"
"Precisely, one of Frontier's founders."
Braha answered.
She brushed her mint hair behind her ear, continuing.
"And my grandmother."
She smiled proudly.
'An elf, as expected.'
A mage powerful enough to subdue the Great Volcano would be 9th class. No human in history reached that pinnacle, so elf or dragon.
But another question arose.
'Why was such a monster under Kelton Mountains?'
A beast needing a 9th-class elf archmage personally—why had it lurked there so long?
With that power, escape anytime.
'Wait.'
They said "sealed," not "defeated and sealed."
And now, unseal it. Why release what they beat?
Whether they could subdue it or not, unsealing meant the volcano would erupt soon.
Saint Dermang would perish.
They claimed no grudge against Seldam—destroying its southern hub made no sense.
Then Siegfried spoke.
"One question, though."
"Question?"
"Why unseal it? It'll reactivate... Don't you know that wipes out Saint Dermang?"
Siegfried voiced Jamie's exact thoughts.
"Or was there some incident a millennium ago?"
Hitting the core.
Han just smiled silently. The others too.
Izaya answered.
"To fulfill a promise."
"...Promise?"
"No need to tell you that. And no worries. The monster won't erupt like before."
"What the hell is it?"
Izaya looked at Jamie.
He pondered briefly, then deemed it okay.
"Behemoth."
Jamie doubted his ears.
Behemoth.
The mythical beast reaching the sky's end.
And...
'Why the hell are you popping up here?'
One of Diablo Volpir's familiars.
"...Behemoth?"
Siegfried looked clueless.
Naturally. Behemoth existed in Diablo Volpir's era.
Over 66,000 years ago. Why mention it now?
'It didn't die?'
Becoming a black sorcerer, Jamie commanded various familiars.
Tools to fight alongside, not comrades.
Three stood out.
Black, the sea-ruling serpent Yormungand, and sky-piercing Behemoth.
He assumed they perished with him in defeat against the 12 Gods.
"Young lord? What's wrong?"
Seeing Jamie frozen in shock, Siegfried shook his shoulder worriedly.
Jamie shook his head, snapping out.
"I'm fine."
"Lame reaction. Anyway, first time hearing that name."
Normal not to know.
Them knowing was the anomaly.
'Come to think of it, not just Behemoth.'
Ganon with Perfect Cell.
Zenith Church using Leviathan grimoire as seal.
Geheena Auction knowing All Might's true name.
And Frontier knowing Behemoth.
'My traces...'
Four traces of Diablo Volpir, lost 66,666 years ago, found in Seldam already.
Coincidence or fate?
Not sure yet, but surely more on this land.
Over eons, someone exploited Diablo Volpir's remnants. Frontier included.
'Isis.'
Beryl's mentioned Frontier leader.
Guiding Frontier for 700 years. She must know some truth.
He wanted to meet her someday—ideally now.
But he'd wait.
'Not yet.'
Timing immature.
Craved Behemoth now, but Frontier taking it meant future chance.
He'd endure till then.
"We've shown you plenty of consideration. Your turn."
"..."
"No more questions. Let us go. We returned your stuff."
Han's words fair.
Siegfried had no intent to push further. They'd gained plenty already.
"See you later with Beryl, Jamie Welton."
Han said meaningfully, shaking the bell.
That instant.
"Gathered in one place."
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ground shook like an earthquake.
Siegfried scooped Jamie and leaped skyward. Han shook the bell, erecting a mighty barrier over the three.
Crack!
The ground they'd stood on erupted upward.
Cracks spiderwebbed everywhere, twisting unevenly.
Split earth shoved upward, piling higher.
Boom!
Like a bomb, the instant stone mountain exploded.
Rock fragments scattered wildly.
Siegfried whisked them to subspace effortlessly.
Han's barrier repelled all debris.
Minutes passed; the chaos subsided. Braha's wind cleared the thick dust fast.
A man stood there.
In a crisp black suit, muscles bulged beyond concealment. Skin pitch-black.
Black sunglasses.
Black from head to toe.
The man adjusted his shades, eyeing Siegfried and Han alternately. He muttered like appraising.
"1.2 and 1.47 or so."
His gaze halted on Jamie.
"Hmm. 0.93. Small size, some defect?"
Jamie frowned at that.
"Who the hell's this guy? Can't even tell a kid?"
"Kid?"
At "kid," the man's bushy brows twitched.
"Hmm. Kid at 0.93? Overkill."
"What're those numbers?"
Han couldn't hold back at the cryptic mutters.
The man, Darius, grinned.
"Your power levels."
"...What?"
"Plenty enough to capture."
"Crazy bastard... Who are you?"
"Me?"
He thumbed himself at Siegfried.
Grinned again, introducing.
"Darius. Around 2.01."
Whoosh—!!
Han's form rocketed away, smashing into a wall.
No one caught Darius's movement.