Chapter 243
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 243
Chapter Title: Part 2 Chapter 17: Princess of Ran (3)
“Can I assume you’re thinking the same thing as me?”
Isis asked, tilting her head slightly.
She had picked up on the truth in her words from Jin’s attitude.
In fact, even without Jin’s attitude, Jamie knew her words weren’t lies.
Because no one could utter the phrase “kill the gods” lightly, without any sincerity behind it.
Especially in front of a saint of the gods—if they overheard, it wouldn’t matter if you were a grand master or whatever; divine punishment would come crashing down.
Of course, Jamie only bore the mark of a saint, so direct communication with the goddess was impossible.
In any case, everything Isis had said was sincere, and it aligned perfectly with Jamie’s own intentions.
But alignment didn’t mean they should join hands.
If this woman’s methods differ from mine, she’ll only become an obstacle to both of us.
So, Jamie responded positively for now.
“That’s why I’m reacting like this.”
“Even as a saint?”
She nodded toward Jamie’s left hand.
Jamie raised his left hand and said,
“People curse out kings in places they can’t hear, don’t they?”
“That’s a god we’re talking about.”
“We’re not connected.”
“Hahaha! Can a saint really say stuff like that?”
“If I were acting like a true saint, I wouldn’t let a heretic like you off the hook.”
Regardless of who would win, a devout saint would never let such words slide.
Isis knew that too, so she didn’t press further.
“Anyway, it’s a relief that our views align.”
“What would you have done if they didn’t?”
“Well……”
Isis’s eyes darkened completely.
A faint glow rose over her sky-blue irises.
“I’d have to deal with you before facing Hawks.”
She didn’t radiate any overt killing intent.
Just revealing her presence was enough to make goosebumps prickle at Jamie’s nape.
As expected.
With his current power, she was beyond him.
And as the Princess of Ran, that made perfect sense.
On the other hand, he couldn’t help but like that such a powerhouse had the Twelve Gods as enemies.
It reminded him of old comrades from ages past.
Jamie smiled and said,
“That sounds fine to me.”
“You mean that sincerely?”
“Battles with the strong always make me grow.”
“You really are an interesting human.”
Isis chuckled, then leaned back against her chair’s backrest.
“My turn now?”
“Go ahead.”
“You took care of Gremia?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“I figured as much. Did Armion leave well?”
Armion was Gremia’s creator, a 9th-class mage who had been closely tied to Isis six hundred years ago.
She seemed to know that Armion’s lingering thoughts remained within Gremia.
“He entrusted everything to me and left.”
“Hmm~ I see. He entrusted everything to you, huh.”
She nodded, gazing downward as if reminiscing about the past.
“I wished he’d given me Gremia along with Gram, but he was so stubborn. He said he’d take Gremia to his grave first.”
“Because you weren’t the one Armion was waiting for.”
“So you do know? The secrets of the world.”
Her eyes, as she said this, were far more serious than before.
“I know who Armion was waiting for. He passed Gremia to you, of all people. So, it’s safe to assume you’ve inherited that person’s power?”
Isis had lived for an incredibly long time.
At least a century longer than Ganon, and probably even older than Armion.
Plus, leading a massive organization like Frontier meant she had no choice but to know about Diablo Volpir’s ‘black mana.’
Jamie figured showing was faster than explaining, so he summoned his black mana.
As his eyes turned violet, an immense power filled Isis’s small home.
“……Black magic?”
Jin’s eyes widened in shock.
Even listening beside them, it had been hard for him to follow their conversation.
He was an executive, but he hadn’t been privy to information about black mana from the Mythical Era.
Isis had kept him there because she’d judged it was time he knew.
“Jamie. Were you a black sorcerer? But this black mana……”
Jin was confused.
The black mana he knew was vicious and utterly evil.
In contrast, Jamie’s black mana felt merciless but not inherently wicked.
Still, this was definitely black mana.
Jamie turned to Jin and said,
“I am a black sorcerer. The successor to the mighty black sorcerer who, in the era when myths ran wild, alone stood against the Twelve Gods.”
“……Isis. Am I dreaming right now?”
“He’s telling the truth. Sorry, Jin, but it’s time you knew.”
“This is confusing.”
Jin slightly lifted his mask and rubbed his eyes.
His face wasn’t fully visible in the shadows, but a thick scar running to his jaw was clear.
He readjusted his mask and said to the two,
“I’ll step out for some air.”
Then he left.
Learning that his companion of over a month was a black sorcerer seemed like quite a shock to him.
“You can explain it properly later, and he’ll understand. He’s someone I chose, after all.”
“Don’t worry. I believe Jin will get it.”
“Heh. Spending a month together must’ve built some deep trust between you two?”
“To some extent.”
“So. Can you tell me where you got that power?”
“My turn now.”
They were exchanging questions one by one.
Isis had already taken hers, so now it was Jamie’s.
“Why did you fight the ancient dragon?”
“Hmm.”
Answering this one seemed tricky, as Isis didn’t reply immediately.
But moments later, she seemed resolved and met Jamie’s eyes directly.
“To get its help reaching the ruins slumbering in the Dragon Mountains.”
“……Dragon Mountains?”
“Humans don’t tread there, so you wouldn’t know. About five hundred years ago, dragons settled there and started calling it the Dragon Mountains.”
“Five hundred years ago……? Why?”
“Nope, no can do. It’s my turn now~”
Damn it.
Jamie clicked his tongue inwardly.
Isis posed her next question.
“So. Where did you get it?”
“I didn’t ‘get’ it.”
“Then.”
“I was born with it.”
Isis’s fine brows furrowed.
It was an answer she hadn’t expected.
Propping her chin on her hand like someone lost in deep thought, she muttered under her breath—too quiet for even Jamie right in front of her to hear.
But he could roughly make out her words from her lip movements.
‘No way.’
‘Born with it?’
‘It wasn’t a stone from the ruins.’
‘But can you really be born with black mana?’
‘Reincarnation maybe?’
‘Impossible. If it were a reincarnator, He would know.’
Isis looked utterly bewildered.
‘Who’s “He”? What does she mean He’d know if it was reincarnation?’
Jamie was just as confused.
Reading her lips only made his head spin more.
Then Isis spoke up.
“I can’t ask about that right here and now, can I?”
“Of course not. It’s my turn.”
“Your question is about that, right?”
“Tell me what happened five hundred years ago.”
“Nothing special. There was a human. He was a black sorcerer, and……”
“I know that story. I heard it from the blue dragon who knew him better than anyone.”
“You met Mayatrei, huh.”
Isis clearly knew Mayatrei too.
Even as the Princess of Ran, her connections were impressively vast.
“Do you know this too? The place where the black sorcerer hid from the dragons’ eyes.”
“You mean those ruins said to exist in the land of potent mana?”
“Exactly. The Dragon Mountains and the surrounding area—that’s the land of potent mana.”
Jamie’s eyes widened.
He hadn’t expected “the land of potent mana” to come up here.
No wonder he couldn’t find any information no matter how much he searched.
It had to be that way.
The land of potent mana was in a place humans couldn’t reach.
He was glad he’d come this far.
If he hadn’t, he’d have wandered everywhere searching for it, all for nothing.
“But why did the dragons make their home there……?”
“I’d normally say it’s my turn, but since this is part of your question, I’ll answer.”
“How generous.”
“Don’t mention it. The reason the dragons call it the Dragon Mountains and settled there is simple: their master ordered it.”
The master of dragons could only be the Dragon God Brahman.
Brahman had commanded the dragons to guard the land of potent mana.
To keep anyone from approaching the ruins where Ganon had hidden.
Why?
Because something that must never be revealed slumbered there.
What could it be?
“So, you went to the ancient dragon to enter that place.”
“Right. Though it cost me this arm.”
“Did you succeed?”
“My turn now. How many of his traces have you found so far?”
With even black mana revealed, there was no point hiding anymore.
“Four in total.”
The ‘Perfect Cell’ of complete immunity.
The unyielding pride of ‘All Might.’
The gluttony of ‘Leviathan.’
And the ‘Crystal of Black Mana,’ the source of holy light.
“Four of them?!”
Isis’s eyes bulged like a startled rabbit.
She couldn’t believe a kid who’d lived barely thirteen years had found four traces.
His traces were scattered across the world, but they weren’t easy to find.
If he was born with black mana, maybe it guided him……
Belatedly, she realized it wasn’t impossible.
Even so, four was too many.
One alone was monumental; four would hold enough energy to easily crumble a major city, to put it bluntly.
“Judging by your reaction, Frontier has some of his traces too, right?”
“Is that a question?”
“Count it as one.”
“We……”
Isis said,
“have five, and only one remains here.”
Dwarf Ironreel sat with his back to the blazing furnace.
Having spent his life in front of forges, this level of heat was merely warm to him.
That was the dwarf race for you.
Artists who always hammered away at their works before the flames.
Ironreel was one of the rare master craftsmen counted on one hand among them.
But even he had something he couldn’t easily handle.
“Tricky. Extremely tricky.”
A few days ago, Isis had returned to Avalon with it: a long black rod with three pairs of short protrusions on either side, seemingly made of the same material.
It looked like some kind of device, so he’d tried disassembling it, but its internal structure baffled him.
Ironreel was no slouch in magitech either.
He’d studied diligently, believing a craftsman ignorant of magitech—which led the era—made no sense.
Even magitech couldn’t unravel this.
“Something’s needed to activate it.”
The rod’s end probably once held whatever was needed to recharge its energy.
But no magic stone he tried worked.
He recalled Isis’s words.
‘It’s from the Mythical Era. Approaching it with common sense might not cut it.’
Mythical Era artifacts had passed through his hands countless times.
Now, they served as energy sources in Frontier-influenced regions.
But this wasn’t the type for such use.
“Is it really from the Mythical Era?”
The technology was abnormal.
Ironreel thought it was at least centuries ahead.
Maybe even centuries from now, grasping its true nature would be impossible.
It was a day of unusually deep unease.