Meeting of the Evil Organization (1)
Meeting of the Evil Organization (1)
<Darkest Academia> was a game with RPG elements, so a level system existed.
Naturally, the game became easier as the player's level increased. Not only did the character's and companions' stats rise, but they also learned various skills and functions.
[Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. A new feature has been unlocked.]
'It started at level 55, I think.'
Vermel scanned the system window floating in the air.
[You can now roughly gauge the current psychological state and Stress Level of nearby characters.]
He didn't need anything else. With the thought that he only needed to manage Black Day's stress, he flicked a finger. Another semi-transparent window appeared before his eyes.
[Stress Level]
[Aether : 30/100 (Normal)]
[Angelica Totsfel : Impossible to Measure due to Status Ailment]
Although he couldn't be certain of his exact level, he could make an indirect inference through the abilities gained whenever he met certain thresholds.
'Level 55, huh.'
Considering the current point in time, that was a sufficiently high level.
'If this were Easy or Normal Difficulty, that is.'
At a difficulty around Nightmare, even starting at max level was brutal. By Veteran Player standards, this was about the level where a narrow clear was possible.
Vermel turned his head and looked toward where Aether was. The black-haired, golden-eyed girl was adjusting the unconscious Angelica's sitting posture so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable when she woke up.
'I couldn't really say anything harsh to her anyway....'
Even if the girl in front of him wasn't the origin of the world's destruction, he probably wouldn't have taken a hard line. It was simply because she was someone from the same homeland.
Twenty years had passed since Vermel fell into this world. All that time, he had been alone. He had met and interacted with many elves and humans, but something had always felt empty.
Identifying the source of that emptiness hadn't been easy. It was probably because he alone knew about the world's destruction.
In that situation, he met someone in the exact same circumstances as himself. He couldn't help but be glad.
But the feeling of kinship was brief.
"If this doesn't work, can I hit her one more time?"
"...Hold back if you can."
This possessor occasionally said and did things similar to the original Aether.
'No, not even occasionally.'
Let's say her way of speaking happened to overlap sometimes. The problem was her conduct.
Even setting the prince aside, beating up Angelica out of nowhere and dragging her here was a sudden action Vermel hadn't even imagined. The moment he saw Aether whip out her Staff and charge, he thought his heart and gallbladder were both going to drop.
In any case, it was behavior hard to understand for a modern civilized person. Common sense dictated that these things ought to be resolved with words.
Like spraying pesticide at a mosquito the moment you saw one, the attitude of drawing her Staff merely because someone slightly got on her nerves was problematic. This was a trait commonly seen in demons who looked at humans like insects.
'Could her memories be mixing with the original's?'
He had to be careful at least until the Demon King was defeated.
[SYSTEM : The probability of the current world heading toward a Bad Ending is 46%.]
Even if things were going well right now, there was no telling when or how they might go wrong.
That was the nature of the game called <Darkest Academia>.
**
Numerous facilities existed within the Demon King army's territory.
Among them, the 'Iron Fortress of Eight Formations' was an impregnable stronghold that served as both a military installation and a research center.
Located at the deepest core of the territory occupied by the demons, it was effectively impossible to enter without authorization because it was designed to be as solid as the 'Iron Magic Tower.'
It was self-evident that the facility functioned as the control tower of the Demon King's army.
"Oh my. You're diligent, aren't you?"
When Rosemary arrived at the Iron Fortress of Eight Formations, the 2nd Seat, Third Seat, and 5th Seat were already seated around the round table, conversing.
The two besides the 5th Seat held higher rank than Rosemary, who was the one who had called the meeting.
Originally, a higher-ranking member had the right to refuse a lower-ranking member's summons without reason. This was the principle by which the one called First Seat could abstain from attending anyone's summons.
"I thought Akasha wouldn't come here, using busyness as an excuse."
"I happened to bring good news. Even if you hadn't called one, I would have issued the summons myself."
"Good news, you say."
Looking at Akasha's innocent smile, it did seem that way. It was an uncharacteristic smile for the Gold-Eye Tribe.
"What good thing happened to make you look so delighted?"
"I got the Tokamak from my sister."
"What's that now?"
Even Rosemary didn't know exactly what the Technical Department, to which the 2nd Seat belonged, was up to.
"Just something. That kind of thing."
"So you did make contact with Aether in Saliere Territory. How did it go?"
"Don't be surprised when you hear this. My sister recognized me, even if just for a moment!"
"What...?"
Rosemary's head turned with a creak. The Third Seat, who had been quietly counting shell casings nearby, also seemed intrigued and focused her attention on Akasha.
"What does that mean? Did her memory return?"
"...Explain that in a little more detail."
"Don't even get me started. She called my name! With a pet name, at that! Do you know how long it's been since I heard that sound?"
She understood. So Akasha had a reason to be so happy.
However, this statement contradicted what Rosemary planned to announce today. Rosemary's lips twitched as she took a sip of her stashed coffee.
Perhaps because she had added a full dose of beryllium, a sweet taste lingered. In contrast to that, her mind felt like it had been overturned once.
If. If what Akasha said was true....
'Ha, so you're telling me my sister was in her right mind when she started going out with that elf bastard?'
If she were a member of the Gold-Eye Tribe in a clean-slate state who knew absolutely nothing, that would be one thing. But if even a speck of memory from her Demon King's army days remained, then even a single grain of resentment toward humans and elves ought to have existed.
[That's probably not the case.]
A single statement cut in, bluntly.
Everyone, including Rosemary, turned their heads toward the direction the voice came from.
The inside of the Iron Fortress of Eight Formations was shrouded in pitch-black darkness. Within that darkness, a pair of inverted crosses shimmered as they approached.
The tapping sound of a Staff, the deeply oppressive atmosphere. An intimidating pressure that could crush even fellow Extinction-class beings.
Without question, there was currently only one existence in the Demon King's army capable of this.
Great Machines of the Nine Heavens First Seat, the Radiation Dragon Jormungand.
"...What wind blew in the First Seat, who usually never even shows her face?"
Jormungand's meeting attendance rate had been abysmal. She hadn't shown her face at a single gathering out of hundreds of recent meetings.
So when she suddenly appeared like this, her comrades had no choice but to be taken aback.
"What wind, indeed. A simple diversion."
"It'll be a whim."
While everyone remained frozen at Jormungand's entrance, someone struck back directly at the First Seat's words.
A tone mixed with derision and contempt.
It was Rosemary.
"Would you mind not dressing up the excuses of the indolent as something noble?"
"I came out for a drink after a long while, and you speak harshly."
"Harsh? What makes that harsh?"
Rosemary ratcheted up the intensity of her remarks. Akasha looked at her with an expression that said, 'Here she goes again,' but Rosemary ignored it and continued.
"Despite belonging to the Demon King's army, you've treated every matter halfheartedly. You rejected the plan to rally the beastkin and invade Saliere Territory over and over again. Did you think you'd hear anything pleasant if you stuck to that attitude and then turned up unannounced in a place like this?"
There were two types of beings Rosemary despised.
One was humans and elves.
The other was lazy and indolent existences.
While Rosemary was racking up achievements by driving three kingdoms to ruin and annihilating the Dwarves, Jormungand had been holed up in Pitchblende Mountain, leisurely practicing alchemy. She was living in comfort and luxury for the sole reason that she was the Demon King's oldest friend.
"I was planning to give you a piece of my mind if you ever showed up. Glad you came. How about doing some work?"
'Heh,' Jormungand let out a derisive laugh. A reaction of disbelief.
"Don't you think that's a bit much toward a thousand-year-old dragon? I have done plenty of work in my time, you know."
"Not listening. If you have any will to resurrect the Demon King......."
But Rosemary's words cut off sharply right there. It was because she sensed a strange presence.
She stared straight ahead. The spot Jormungand should have occupied was empty.
[Insolent brat.]
The voice came from behind. The demons, including Rosemary, whirled their heads around in alarm.
Crash!
The chandelier hanging from the ceiling fell. Thanks to that, the round table was turned into a wreck.
[Shall I teach you once more why there is a hierarchy?]
This time, it was from the left... no. The right?
Rosemary frantically summoned her Staff from a mana-infused Scroll.
But even as she barely got the violin bow into her hand, the fabric on the sleeve of the elegantly tailored dress she wore was torn straight off.
"Urgh...!"
The heat in her right wrist was no joke. She had been struck so hard that the epidermis tore away. Where the artificial skin made to perfectly mimic a human had vanished, cold metal dermis remained underneath.
[For something that was once human, you've grown rather cocky just because you were granted such a body. If you simply stayed humble like the original 2nd Seat, I would have said nothing.]
Clutching her arm, which was leaking oil profusely, Rosemary staggered. A dangerous sound came from between her teeth.
"I was making a reasonable point...."
With those words, she slumped down into a chair. It was a loss of fighting spirit, in other words, a declaration of defeat. Only then did Jormungand withdraw the darkness and reveal herself.
"I had only intended to deliver a piece of news and then leave, but it has turned into a scene where all we've done is get cross with one another."
Clunk, clunk. Jormungand walked over, leaning on her Control Rod like a walking stick. She took a handkerchief from her pocket, tossed it to Rosemary, and then slowly opened her eyes.
The eyes of a blind woman, with no focus. Yet they had not lost their light.
"I ask everyone one question. Does my colleague here think I went too far against a comrade?"
No one dared to answer. Someone of Akasha's standing could have spoken, but given the atmosphere, she too kept her mouth firmly shut and waited.
"You might think I sound like a nagging old-timer, but... allow me one piece of advice for the naive juniors born after the Demon King was sealed. When picking a hostile opponent as you just did, first train yourself in the skill of gauging that opponent's capabilities. Dozens, hundreds of millions of our comrades were slaughtered en masse by the spirits in the Great War of the past simply because they neglected that one thing."
"...This isn't about that, is it?"
"Which side showed hostility first? If the 4th Seat hadn't drawn her Staff, I had intended only to threaten her moderately and be done with it. Now, let me say it again. Just as weak humans flee the moment they see you, you too must be prepared to flee when you see a higher spirit. If you fail to grasp the difference in power and spout rhetoric or try to rely on momentary tricks......."
Crash, crash, CRAAASH—!!
"You won't live out your natural span."
No sooner had Jormungand's lecture ended than one wall of the conference chamber collapsed with a rumble.
"What was that sound...?"
Most of the demons who had been listening intently to the lecture looked around, trying to grasp the situation.
Even Akasha was slightly taken aback. Only two people remained unperturbed upon seeing the outer wall of the meeting place smashed to pieces. One was Jormungand, who had laid down a presence-detection field beforehand, and the other was the Iron Fortress of Eight Formations' overall administrator, the Third Seat, Schudelgeiger.
"It's starting again."
Schudelgeiger rose from her seat with a grinding noise. When she stood upright on two feet, her height alone reached seven meters.
"Ah...."
Beyond the wall, a woman's low sigh was heard. It was a human voice, not a demon's.
"What's going on?"
"A prison break attempt. There's been a bitch throwing pointless tantrums lately, you see."
"She's got some nerve. Who is it?"
At the 5th Seat's question, tinged with scorn, Schudelgeiger recited the ringleader's name in a casual tone.
"Kleis Haspelt."