Chapter 170
Chapter 170
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Predation - 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
My fame stat had surpassed even the Heavenly God.
The words coming from my mouth were on par with divine decrees.
There couldn’t be a better moment than this.
I took a light breath and spoke.
“Where should I start? …Well, from this.”
“…….”
“Idria has been raising Kaild as the hero.”
I explained everything in detail, one by one.
Why Idria wanted to make Kaild the hero.
Why the Heavenly God had passively cooperated.
The fact that the Heavenly God was actually a human named Adin Press.
And the battle from an unrecorded, forgotten era.
The previous Demon King of Falsehoods, Bellosian, and the hero of that age, Impellium.
“……That’s how it is.”
Contrary to my expectation of shock, the emperor remained remarkably composed.
He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.
Serein, who had been keeping silent to avoid interfering, finally asked.
“Your Majesty. You’re not surprised?”
“Heh. Even after coming this far, Lady Serein remains ever consistent.”
“You can speak casually to me. We’re quite entangled, after all.”
“No. My manner of speech isn’t something I deliberately put on. It’s just that instinctively, this feels like the ‘right’ posture toward you all.”
“…….”
“The same goes for what you said, Maide. Even without evidence, your words ring true to me.”
A chill ran down my spine.
To believe such an ancient myth-like tale without any proof.
Simply because ‘Maide Mohan said it.’
Of course, I had anticipated this, but hearing the emperor declare it firsthand was unnerving.
‘Ah. I want to retire.’
[Now? You already gave up on retiring.]
‘I’m regretting it fiercely right now. No matter what I say, that reverent gaze is uncomfortable. Well, this time I’m benefiting from it, at least.’
[…….]
‘Whatever. Complaining won’t change anything.’
At that moment, the emperor spoke.
“What must I do?”
Instead of answering him, I first glanced at Adwin.
I had revealed most of the world’s secrets to the emperor, but not everything.
Adwin quickly caught on and lightly moved his lips.
Soon, we could communicate through our souls.
[Neril. You can still use fame as power, right?]
[Seems like it. Wait, why ‘still’? The branch of corruption should’ve fooled them perfectly.]
[I’ll explain later. Anyway, if so, can you show the saved Apert View to everyone on the continent?]
[You showed them illusion magic before. Showing what actually happened should be even simpler. Definitely possible.]
Good.
Seeing my satisfied expression, Neril said.
[I get what you’re thinking. You want to broadcast this entire conversation across the continent, right?]
Exactly.
Soon, the people of the continent would learn a great deal about the world’s hidden secrets.
The concealed falsehoods would be exposed.
And that would weaken Idria.
No, even more than that……
I spoke aloud.
“This truth will weaken Bellosian.”
“Indeed. Especially the fact that the Heavenly God was human—that alone is a massive falsehood. It must belong to Bellosian.”
“Right. We weaken Bellosian as much as possible, then enter the special chamber and kill him.”
I turned to the emperor.
“As I mentioned earlier, beyond that door beneath the imperial palace is Bellosian’s stronghold.”
“…….”
“A battle will break out here soon. Not beyond the door, exactly, but the aftermath could affect anything. So…….”
“I’ll temporarily relocate. Not just me, but everyone residing in the imperial palace.”
I like how quickly he’s catching on.
But I shook my head and corrected him.
“No, evacuate the entire capital.”
“Th-that much?”
“Safety first, after all.”
“You said three months. Finishing preparations by then will be tight. If you permit…….”
“You can start right away. No need to ask permission for that.”
The emperor replied with a humbled expression.
“How could I presume…… Hero.”
Give me a break.
We first took to the skies on Agril.
Slowly departing the capital without Mime’s help.
“Now we need to decide our destination? Where’s Idria hiding?”
“Hm. One moment.”
I said to Trail.
‘Show me a secret between Idria and anyone…… Well, with Kaild. Something related to their hiding spot.’
[Got it.]
[Used Eye of Omniscience.]
[Current Eye of Omniscience level is 5. Viewable secret rank is S-rank.]
[Selection condition is ‘Secret between Idria and Kaild Wake.’]
[Corresponding secret rank is B-rank. Proceed?]
A screen appeared.
The timestamp in the upper right showed it was quite some time ago.
But it was the same cave as in Idria’s secrets I’d seen multiple times with the Eye.
If they hadn’t moved recently, she was still there.
Kaild spoke in the footage.
“Where’s this?”
“What a ridiculous question all of a sudden. Is something wrong with your head? Though it always was.”
“I meant, are we far enough from Maide? He cut my throat. You revived me, but in my current state, I can’t face him.”
Ah. This must be shortly after I first killed Kaild in Hasfil.
Idria giggled.
“No one expects you to beat Maide.”
“Skip that. Where are we? Far from Hasfil, right?”
“No matter the distance, Agril will get there fast. But if you insist, we’re in the Sacred Forest. Feel better now?”
“……Yeah. Quite a ways off.”
Click.
The footage ended there.
Truth be told, I could’ve found Idria’s base anytime with the Eye.
I just hadn’t been confident I could kill her until now.
‘But not anymore.’
My fame had skyrocketed, and I could wield it as power.
Idria was no longer my match.
“She’s hiding in the Sacred Forest.”
Jenia calculated instantly and replied.
“Won’t even take an hour.”
“Good.”
Everything was perfect.
If there was one potential issue.
I looked at Neril.
“You still have the branches of corruption, right?”
“Yeah. Wait, no way?”
“Yeah. Distribute one to each party member.”
Neril handed them out with a tense expression.
She had originally made ten branches of corruption.
One used in Hasfil to seal the Jewel of Destruction.
One in Dronor against the giant worm.
One recently for the continent-wide illusion magic.
Three used total.
The remaining seven were distributed evenly among the party members excluding Neril.
That left two branches.
I said.
“Impellium told me the deception effect lasts one month per branch.”
Neril sighed regretfully.
“Now that you mention it, I asked if you could ‘still’ use it during the emperor interview. I didn’t expect lifetime use, but…… a month is too short.”
“We still have spares, so it’s fine. You did amazingly well—better than anyone could’ve.”
“Ahem.”
“Anyway, since we can’t produce more branches of corruption, don’t overuse them. But use them freely in critical moments.”
Jenia asked.
“In a pinch, we break one and borrow power from fame?”
“Right. Though even with the branches, I wouldn’t ask you to give up your wishes—that’d be too harsh.”
“No. We should handle it ourselves without relying on this.”
“If that happens, I’ll get mad again. Like when Neril did it behind my back.”
Neril’s cheeks flushed slightly.
I continued explaining.
“I’ll handle Idria. But her minions won’t just sit idle.”
“Yes. We’ll take on the Fingers of Falsehood.”
“First priority is Phirensha. Sorry about this, Serein.”
Serein blinked.
“What for?”
“Uh, well…….”
“I don’t see Phirensha as a sister. And I never even met the ‘dead Serein Magnus’ to begin with.”
She continued firmly.
“Personal feelings won’t get in the way.”
I scratched my head.
Worrying about that might’ve insulted her from the start.
“Sorry.”
“If you’re sorry, pay me. You’ve been skimping on special allowances lately.”
“No need since Mime joined—you don’t have to supply holy power to Agril anymore.”
“…….”
“Disappointed?”
“A, a little.”
She was lamenting living off bentos before.
I cleared my throat and gathered everyone’s attention again.
“Before the fight, I plan to talk to Idria first.”
“To use her against Bellosian? Like we discussed briefly before.”
“Yeah. If she obeys, things might change. But the odds of that Demon King allying with me—someone trying to kill her—are slim, so assume combat.”
“…….”
“Don’t die.”
The party smiled softly.
And each responded firmly.
“I won’t. Not until Risel learns Serad’s recipes. And until I can eat that food in the real world again.”
“Saying that so solemnly.”
“Kehe. Has the time finally come to purge the world’s falsehoods with my light?”
“Adwin, you’ve been quiet lately?”
“Well, time to settle things with my master.”
“You said he wasn’t your master before.”
Correction.
They didn’t exactly respond firmly.
What a bold bunch.
[So how will you use Idria? You’re not planning to team up with her and storm the special chamber, are you?]
‘No way. I wouldn’t trust her at my back.’
[Then?]
‘Hold on. Need to tell the party something simple first.’
[Eh? Sure.]
I spoke to the group in a casual tone.
“By the way, if Idria dies, Trail dies too.”
“……?”
“Don’t tilt your head. You heard right.”
Everyone was stunned.
But Trail was the most stunned.
[Hey, hey!]
‘They needed to know eventually.’
[Why?]
‘You’ll see from their reactions.’
Soon Jenia spoke up, looking exasperated.
“How could you drop something that important now!”
“Is it?”
“Of course! Trail’s already one of us. This concerns a comrade’s life.”
I said to Trail.
‘Comrade. Nice, right?’
[I…….]
‘Go to Adwin. Use his mouth to talk directly.’
I nodded to Adwin.
Quick on the uptake, he promptly summoned Trail into his body.
Trail was dragged in with a dazed vibe, then settled into Adwin.
“Uh, um…….”
“What Maide said—is it true?”
“Yeah. Sort of.”
“Then why keep quiet?”
“Well. I didn’t think you’d care that much.”
Everyone’s expressions darkened.
Trail hung his head like a guilty child and mumbled.
“You know, I haven’t spent that long with you all.”
“You met Maide first. So you’ve been with us the longest.”
“B-but we didn’t really talk or anything…….”
“Is that an excuse? Then we don’t need to care about Agril since we don’t chat much either?”
“I’m sorry.”
Neril pressed on.
“You’re staying with us from now on. Even after all this ends.”
“Neril…….”
“No arguments. We’ll talk later.”
I gestured to Adwin.
Trail returned to me.
[Don’t make me do stuff like that.]
‘Feels good?’
[Yeah.]
His blunt admission surprised me a bit.
[Really good. For real.]
‘…….’
I scratched my head.
Feeling awkward myself, I changed the subject.
“Jenia. Let’s go.”
Jenia nodded and shouted.
“Mime!”
“Why are you calling Mime?”
“Oh, right. Then Risel, can you call Agril?”
“No.”
We briefly mixed up roles, but soon we were soaring at tremendous speed.
Toward Idria.
Then Neril asked.
“Tell us on the way. How will you use Idria?”
“As a sacrifice.”
“……?”
Not just Neril—everyone tilted their heads.
I elaborated.
“A sacrifice to elevate my fame even further.”