Chapter 69
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Resonance of the Machine God's Heart
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There was a high likelihood that some other factor had intervened.
"I'll head to the capital first and lend a hand."
"Wait."
Afterward, I placed my hand on the ground once more.
And I reactivated the Machine God's Heart, which had moved just moments before.
Heart of the Machine God
Resonance
A blue glow rippled from my fingertips at my command, scattering in all directions and seeping into the earth.
An overwhelming flood of information brushed through my mind, but I was used to it by now.
At the same time, a massive drain on my vitality came as a backlash from using the ability.
It wasn't a fundamental loss of life force, so it wasn't a big issue.
A good night's sleep would restore it. Most of the burden was shouldered by the Heart of the Machine God, infused with divine authority.
"Leon, we don't have time to waste like this."
"I know. That's why I'm telling you to wait. I'm focusing here."
This wasn't an ability that produced swift results in the first place.
Even so, the reason I'd chosen it wasn't some careless notion of testing out a new power just because I had it.
"My word! Young Lady! You've been here all this time?! Evacuate now!!"
The Mielephon knights, who had been evacuating the villagers, spotted us and rushed over.
"Wait."
Isna calmly fixed her gaze on me and murmured softly.
"What are you saying?! With the Sword Saint away, if anything happens to you, Young Lady, it would be the height of disloyalty!!"
One of the knights reached out to grab Isna's arm and drag her away by force if needed.
"No, aren't you Young Master Leon?! You too, Young Master Leon!!"
Another knight recognized my face and extended his hand toward me, eyes closed and hand on the ground, trying to pull me away.
But his hand was swiftly blocked by Luna's small, slender arm flashing in like lightning.
"What the... Gah?! What kind of strength is this?!"
Luna Basilyn Raphael, with her diminutive height of just over 150 cm and frail build, possessed astonishing physical strength.
No matter how trained the knight was, he couldn't shake off her power, which even surprised me by my current standards.
"Please don't disturb Leon."
"Have you lost your mind?! Another tsunami is coming!!"
A smaller tsunami had already hit first, causing damage. Now a second, even larger one was approaching, promising a catastrophe incomparable to the first if they stayed put.
The knights had every reason to panic.
"Aaaah!! Help! Glub!!"
"Save us!!"
As screams poured in from all sides, urgency flooded the knights' faces even more.
Just as the knight was about to snap in anger...
"It's done. Stand back."
I slowly opened my eyes, which had been closed.
Transmutation Formula Alteration
Material Form Conversion
The Heart of the Machine God pulsed rapidly, churning the vitality it had drawn from me.
And then.
A blue light began spreading across the entire area.
The power of the Machine God's Heart was simple: analysis of information, memory, and conversion.
Like turning a 1-kilogram iron ingot into a 1-kilogram sword.
Except it skipped the furnace to melt the ingot, quenching, and bellows work.
It was a massive change for the vitality expended, made possible by the transcendent force of divine authority.
Rrrrrumble!!!
At the same time, the ground along the coastal line rose up all at once, as if alive, forming a massive wall.
And it channeled the overflowing seawater beside the breakwater, diverting it elsewhere.
"Wha... what is that?!"
"What?!"
With a deafening roar, the breakwater shot up in an instant, followed by palm-like structures rising throughout the village.
And atop those palms were the people who had been swept away by the tsunami.
"Pha!! I... I'm alive!"
"Huff... huff... What in the world."
Some had lost consciousness, but those still aware looked around in bewilderment.
The terrain of the entire village had transformed bizarrely.
Even with my current 6-circle magic, pulling off such a wide-scale rescue in this short time wasn't easy.
To ordinary mages, it was an incomprehensible phenomenon.
And most of them only realized it was the work of one person—me, the origin of the light—after turning toward where I stood.
"Heavens. What kind of magic is this..."
The dispatched mages were stunned, sensing no flow of mana at all, while the others marveled at the power that had reshaped the entire village.
"Heavens. What is this..."
Even the knight who had tried to drag me away was the same.
"Leon, this is divine authority. High-level authority at that."
Luna, who had been staring at me intently, asked with a stiff expression.
"I don't know the source, but it's mimicking authority, right?"
The Heart of the Machine God was made by incorporating the core of an ancient monster that scattered divine authority.
"Fruit of Adam..."
She muttered something under her breath.
Fruit of Adam?
Come to think of it, Luna had a keen interest in the Adam and Eve myth, called the primordial legend.
More than that, the people rescued nearby couldn't tear their eyes from me, the cause of it all.
I met their gazes boldly in return.
What? Why are you staring like that?
Honestly, I hadn't planned to join the Mielephon subjugation force.
I wanted to avoid any unnecessary interference when killing the Kraken.
But with things turning out like this, I had no choice but to get involved at least once.
Countless people looked at me with confusion, doubt, and awe, but no one approached rashly.
And that was because someone who asserted his presence before they could had appeared.
"Leon, you."
I gave a wry smile upon seeing Sword Saint Osberg Mielephon, his armor splattered with blood as if he'd just come from battle.
"Fancy meeting you here again, sir."
"How did you end up here... Isna, was this your doing?"
"Hehehe."
"Sigh. How do you keep causing trouble every time I look away..."
No matter how adorable his granddaughter was, her antics weren't something he could easily get used to; his face showed fatigue.
Even so, with no time to rest, he led us to a temporary tent set up for handling the tsunami aftermath.
The waiting knights immediately reported to him.
"Sir, we've tallied the injured and dead. Fortunately, no fatalities. Without Young Master Leon's power, there would have been massive casualties."
"Good to hear. But Leon, what was that power exactly? Every time I see you, it feels like you reveal some new ability."
"Leon's got a diverse set of talents."
No, why are you proud of that?
"If it weren't for those damn traps..."
I asked amid his anger.
"You laid traps? What happened?"
"Ahem, never mind. More importantly, it's dangerous here. The Kraken's more ferocious than expected. I know you're strong, but this trial is too much for you to handle yet."
He didn't seem inclined to elaborate.
Well, the Mielephons had their own internal affairs.
Either way, Sword Saint or not, I intended to take down the Kraken.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't back down when it comes to the Kraken."
"Do you even know how dangerous the Kraken is?"
"Yes. I daresay few know more about it than I do."
I could roughly gauge the Mielephon force's strategy.
Lure and draw out the Kraken, have others distract it, and let the Sword Saint with his immense power finish it off.
A clean, high-probability subjugation method.
My answer was hard to believe at face value, but he seemed to think otherwise.
The target currently believes you have independently researched the Kraken for an extended period. Realistically, humans cannot fathom a history of battling and defeating the Kraken countless times.
No, Luna too, and now even you? Why the pride?
As I stared at the librarian's text, Osberg let out a sigh.
"...The problem isn't just the Kraken."
"That's true. This tsunami's timing and precision were too coincidental for the Kraken alone."
It's a living disaster, not a strategist.
"It's safe to assume something else is directing the Kraken's actions."
He pondered my question before nodding curtly.
"To know that much means you've gone beyond surface-level knowledge. Do you know about the heretics?"
"Ah."
No wonder the heretics had been quiet lately.
"No. You've already tangled with them before, haven't you?"
"Have they shown up here?"
"I only found their tails. I slaughtered them all, but those leech-like bastards are surely plotting something."
Apparently, he'd been taking out heretics while the tsunami hit.
The Kraken was headache enough; with heretics piling on, it was bitter for him.
"The Mielephons can't retreat either. Someone's been exposed to its mental attacks."
"How do you know that?!"
He stared at me, eyes wide in shock.
"Even weakened, the Kraken's mental corrosion can shatter a person in an instant. I don't know why the mental attacks are weaker, but miss the chance and..."
I cut off and stared pointedly at Isna Mielephon.
"Um, why are you looking at me?"
"We have to protect you, don't we, Granddaughter?"
Yeah. They'll find out soon enough. As if hiding it would fool me.
But at my words, Isna's face crumpled, and Osberg Mielephon stared blankly at me.
"What do you mean?"
"I know all about it. Lady Isna was exposed to the Kraken's mental attack, right? I don't know how it happened, but..."
"No, wait a minute!!"
Even with her eccentricities, being called out like that must have irked her.
But I stood firm. Unless mental corruption hit her, how else explain it?
Common sense, right?
Of course, my question was met with silence.
"......"
"......"
Even Luna turned her head away.
"It's not?"
"You know Isna has a bit of an... odd personality. Or rather, tastes."
It wasn't? So that's her normal self?
Stunned, I stared blankly at Isna, who glared back with a dissatisfied expression.
"Young Master."
"......"
"Hey."
As I floundered speechless, she called out to me again.