Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Trust No One
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King Gaimeorn's flagship was clearly not built with destruction in mind. From the start, it was a vessel that emphasized the functions of a city or fortress over those of a ship. The moment the flagship was half-destroyed, King Gaimeorn's ship lost most of its functions.
Yet even so, that massive hull wasn't vanishing into thin air. It was sinking slowly, but the ship still floated on the sea.
Fernandez suppressed his churning guts and dashed through the darkened interior of the ship. It was tilting and twisted, but a black magician's basic training included labyrinth navigation! Disorder like this was no issue.
Fernandez broke through the ship's interior, constantly revising the map he'd sketched in his mind in real time. Fortunately, thanks to Abelessas rampaging on the deck above, there were no special enemies to speak of...
-Kyaooooo!!!
"...Hah."
Fernandez came to a sudden halt and glared at the monster before him, its red eyes gleaming. Among vampire bloodlines, those who couldn't endure the soul's twisting over long years often turned into such beasts.
Creatures ruled solely by savagery and vampiric thirst. This was entirely different from Red Hunger.
If Red Hunger was merely withdrawal from ceasing blood consumption, this twisting was purely the product of time and experience.
Damned One Vampire. A nightmarish existence blending the strengths of vampires and ogres.
-Shing.
Fernandez drew his nearly shattered full saintmetal longsword from its swordbelt. One more time? Two? Either way, this blade's lifespan wouldn't be long.
The saintmetal's distinctive silvery gleam drew the monster's attention. It squinted and turned toward Fernandez, its yellowed fangs glistening. Sticky saliva dripped from its jaw.
-Kyaaahhh!!!
The monster flew at him. Quite literally, in the half-twisted corridor, kicking off ceiling and walls in a three-dimensional assault toward Fernandez. The vicious claws on its massive hands seemed to move in slow motion.
-Thud, thud, thud.
With the abomination before him, divinity dormant in his bloodline reignited. His heart pounded fiercely, sending blood infused with divinity to fuel every muscle in his body.
Temporarily, the fatigue and accumulated damage vanished from his body. Two nights of sleepless, intense combat alone couldn't diminish a Religiosa Demonica's output.
-Slash.
Half a breath to dodge the vampire's claws descending from above. Another half to twist the blade back and slice open its belly. A full breath and a half to pivot and sever the falling vampire's neck.
-Splat.
Before three breaths were complete, the vampire's body shattered into pieces and rolled across the floor.
-Clang!
And finally, the full saintmetal longsword broke. It had been precarious from the start. His first clash had been with a high vampire, followed by no time to maintain it while cutting down ghouls and vampires. And he'd even jammed it into a dragon's skull by force.
"Hoo..."
Fernandez let out a sigh and fiddled with the hilt. This was going to get him scolded again when he got back.
-Shall we head to the audience chamber?
'No, the sanctum.'
Elfin Serpentking's flagship definitely had a sanctum. According to memories of his past life. Fernandez pressed his weary eyes and rummaged through his recollections.
'Best to catch one and interrogate it, but...'
The flagship's structure he'd seen with his own eyes was mostly exterior. From the audience chamber to the quarters, and from quarters to the deck.
'No time. Looks like Franzrit's launched his assault.'
-Clang!
-Kyaaak!
-Form ranks... Aaaagh!!
Screams and roars echoed from afar. Taking advantage of the king's flagship's destruction?
-In your past life, it'd be good to know how things played out.
'Yeah. Abelessas and Gaimeorn kill each other off, and Franzrit claims Infermer. But how? It'd mean King Gaimeorn revived the dragon without any preparations.'
King Gaimeorn wouldn't have devised such a sloppy plan. Whatever the reason, there must have been something worth the risk of reviving a dragon. Fernandez scratched his head and descended the stairs to the lower level.
The ship's interior was a complex labyrinth. But one of a black magician's basic skills was labyrinth navigation, and he even had aether sight.
-Keeeng!
A simple hand seal, and azure light poured from his aether sight. His vision blurred momentarily, then he could directly 'see' the torrent of mana flowing through this corridor.
Though King Gaimeorn's flagship had lost most functions, far below at the waterline, something massive was being prepared—a great magic.
*
In the pitch-black corridor devoid of all light sources, Fernandez proceeded relying on Religiosa Demonica's keen senses and his aether sight's vision.
The mana flow was growing thicker by the moment. He hadn't noticed it up on deck.
If King Gaimeorn had used this magic prepared with such mana beforehand, even the Five Thrones' Grasp wouldn't have destroyed this ship in one blow.
-Keh heh heh, regretting it now?
'...Definitely a shame.'
His stomach roiled, thick blood repeatedly surging up his throat. The Five Thrones' Grasp was the most straightforwardly destructive spell he'd created in his later years.
Even a god of the Holy Pantheon couldn't evade its destructive power in the material world. It wasn't something conjured with hasty incantations and sacrifices. It was a miracle born of Fernandez's knowledge, experience, and innate sense for handling mana.
Thus, the spell had manifested only half its original power. Yet even that had inflicted severe backlash on Fernandez.
The Bronze Throne had nearly ceased functioning, and the rampaging mana had twisted his internals considerably.
In real time, divinity surged through his veins, healing wounds. But without the Religiosa Demonica's body, he'd already be a cold corpse.
"...B-benefactor...?"
Far ahead at the corridor's end, turquoise eyes gleamed. It was Kirhas. Fernandez relaxed his tensed body at the familiar presence and smiled.
"Benefactor!! Benefactor!!"
-Tap tap tap.
Kirhas rushed over in an instant and burrowed into Fernandez's chest. Fernandez staggered back a couple steps and let out a choked yelp.
"B-Basila. Calm down. It's fine. I'm okay."
"Benefactor! Where the hell have you... been... Oh god! Blood smell?!"
Ah, he'd spat up a bowlful of blood. Fernandez chuckled, fiddling with Kirhas's fluffy ear. He could see why nobles kept dogs or cats. It soothed the mind. Soothed the mind.
"You okay? Are you hurt? Should we fall back to Inquisition Keep?!"
"No, I'm fine. Basila. Job's not done yet."
"What job! We're totally screwed right now!! Benefactor! A dragon showed up! Vampires too! Earthquakes, chaos. Total mess!"
Kirhas blabbered in a frantic voice.
"Do you know what happened while you were gone? I found heretics! Actual heretics!"
"Heretics?"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
She perked her ears like she wanted praise and pressed against Fernandez. He smirked and stroked her head. Kirhas purred for a moment, then closed her eyes.
"Hehe. So anyway. There was this weird pervert wandering around naked, muttering strange words. 'Shichi'? 'Karuchi'? 'Charuka'? Something like that... Ring any bells?"
"Northern barbarian tongue. 'Thrashi, kaltua, charuka. Catch. Kill. Burn.' Must've been pretty pissed off."
"Wow! Sounds right! As expected of the egret... you know everything!"
Egret...? Fernandez broke into a cold sweat as he looked at her. Her tribe was from the western plains, sure. Kirhas chattered on.
"So the mage was causing a ruckus like that, and then... 'Tatchi'? 'Orion'? Some guy shows up saying stuff like that... Then Princess Leia appears... Vampires pop up... Earthquake hits, dragon emerges, flames shoot up."
Tets, Archsage. Orion. Not just the Rune Raven school? Another heretic hiding in this city. Archsage Orion. Archsage Orion... Fernandez recalled northern barbarian sects in his mind.
Archsage Orion... No way. But if Kirhas was right, that guy might be the Changeling's Archsage, Orion Weavinglet.
-That's a big fish too.
'Why's he here in this era?'
-No way to know if we missed him. And not even sure it's him.'
'I hate opaque situations like this.'
Nothing more irritating than unclear intel. In his past life, he'd gripped information tight and toyed with heroes as a black magician. Fernandez scowled.
"Anyway, you holding up okay? Benefactor, maybe we should just pull back..."
"Can't do that. The dragon on deck is on our side. It's the only way to deal meaningful damage to the Elfin King and that Franzrit bastard."
"Elfin King? Wasn't the Elfin King on our side?"
"Our side? Basila. Remember this."
Fernandez gripped Kirhas's hand tight and met her eyes. Her turquoise gaze widened for a moment, then darted downward. She fidgeted her fingers in his grasp, pretending otherwise.
"We have no 'sides,' Basila. For humans, there's no side but humanity. Elves, vampires, monsters, demons, gods. All the same. Trust no one, ever."
"...Benefactor. Your hand hurts a bit."
"Ah, sorry."
Fernandez released her, and Kirhas blushed, stepping back. She soon flashed a playful smile.
"Trust no one. You too, Benefactor?"
"...Well, yeah?"
"I don't like that. What about you then? Do you trust me?"
-Say no. You con artist.
'Shut up.'
"Of course I do."
"What? Benefactor. You're changing your tune."
Kirhas giggled happily. Her pure, unfeigned smile eased Fernandez's tension. Ignoring Feizashi's grumbling, he gazed at her.
Kirhas went "Ah!" and reached behind her back.
"Got this from your quarters, Benefactor!"
It was his full saintmetal greatsword! Kirhas grinned proudly and pulled a censer from her bosom.
"This too! Know what this does? You can use it to find people!"
"...Did it have that function?"
"Yeah! Call a messenger, then chase where it goes!"
Of course. If you could keep up with the messenger's speed. Anyway, Kirhas had a great hero's talents. A feature Fernandez hadn't considered, but mere basic skill for her.
"Thanks anyway. Big help."
"Finally!"
Stroking Kirhas's head, Fernandez nodded. Yeah. Finally. Finally, the finale.
Considering the mana flow. The king's sanctum would appear soon.
He needed to see the Elfin King's plan with his own eyes to be satisfied. Just how he planned to capture the dragon. What he schemed to achieve with it.
Pit vampires against elves, and return control of the northeastern coastline to civilized society.
The elves who'd expanded by exploiting human infighting in his past life, and the vampires gnawing at civilized society from the northeastern coast—they needed to bow out this time.