Chapter 108
Chapter 108
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Plague Ship
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Oldor writhed in agony amid the roaring flames, trying to scream.
"...!"
But the blaze raging from within had already scorched his lungs, and the expanding hot air lacked the force to vibrate his vocal cords.
Instead, Oldor reached out desperately, trying to strike at Mazdari.
Mazdari simply took a single step back, effortlessly dodging the attack.
Oldor collapsed in a heap.
"Don't worry, Oldor. That fire was conjured by magic—it won't spread to the ship."
Mazdari's rotten hand spoke.
-A bit early, but it's time to begin.
'This was the last piece anyway.'
The magic circle Oldor had stepped on had been prepared in anticipation of the cult priest's arrival.
The 'deception' array Mazdari had drawn was known to fool a god's eyes, but not their priests.
'Looks like they still haven't realized Oldor is dead.'
To seize the ship, Mazdari had spent days painstakingly inscribing arrays throughout the vessel.
Deception magic had to be layered everywhere to fool the cult and its priests, which inevitably took time.
-Shall we begin the incantation?
'Yes.'
Mazdari chanted alongside his rotten hand.
It was the moment all his preparations—ongoing steadily since returning from Doltan Island—finally bore fruit.
The arrays in Mazdari's cabin transferred the rules he had crafted into other arrays, activating them one by one.
The final array to trigger lay at the ship's bottom.
The dark hold, where no light penetrated except when supply crew occasionally descended to fetch preserved water and rations.
In an unseen corner of that hold, a magic circle glowed red. The rat corpse slumped atop it twitched and stirred.
The corpse rat's belly had swollen massively, oozing fluids from holes with every movement, yet it sniffed around curiously, just as it had in life.
It looked ravenous.
The corpse rat gnawed at the wooden crates to reach the food in the hold.
Normally, it would take hours, but for some reason, its strength was several times greater than in life, allowing it to devour the stored grains in short order.
But the corpse rat knew grains wouldn't sate its hunger.
With a boldness it never had in life, the corpse rat climbed toward the crew's quarters, where starlight filtered in.
Weaving between the soundly sleeping sailors, the corpse rat spotted a troll crewman's foot protruding from beneath his thin blanket.
Emboldened, it scurried over and chomped off the troll's pinky toe in one bite.
The troll crewman awoke with a scream, and his comrades lit lanterns.
By then, the corpse rat had fled, leaving blood dripping from the spot where the pinky toe had been.
The veteran sailor tried to staunch the wound but failed. He bandaged it temporarily, gave the toe-less crewman strong liquor, and said they'd check it again at dawn.
But as the others drifted back to sleep, the troll crewman awoke again.
It wasn't that he couldn't sleep.
The troll crewman's heart had stopped as he rose.
The dead troll crewman couldn't think rationally.
His brain had ceased functioning due to lack of blood flow, and overactive bacteria and germs were devouring his cells.
The crewman remembered neither the pain of his toe being bitten off while sleeping, nor the taste of the strong liquor he'd drunk to sleep, nor even who he was.
What filled that void was hunger.
The troll crewman spotted the veteran sailor who had just tended his pinky toe, now sleeping with his neck exposed nearby.
Chaos erupted once more.
The veteran screamed and bled out as knights rushed down.
Several sailors and knights were bitten while restraining the troll crewman.
He only bellowed like a beast, but without clear facts, they couldn't execute him on the spot.
As the knights questioned surrounding sailors, the veteran succumbed to blood loss, prompting calls to execute the troll immediately.
One knight went to fetch Oldor, but he didn't wake.
The command report went to Mazdari instead.
"We have military law—how dare you act on your own? Lock that crewman up and watch him closely. General Oldor will handle it tomorrow."
And so it was done.
More sailors were bitten while imprisoning the troll.
Just as things seemed to calm, those bitten by the troll fell into raging fevers.
Soon, another stopped breathing.
Frightened by the sudden plague, the knights barricaded the access to the deck.
Screams exploded from the crew quarters.
The dead rose and bit the living.
A few survivors who escaped through a temporary gunport on the hull side climbed to the deck.
But some were already infected.
Hours later.
Before dawn broke, the warship Whale's Beard—still underway—teemed only with walking corpses.
Mazdari surrounded himself with invisibility arrays and ascended to the deck.
The spell he'd cast was 'Zombie Plague' magic.
A dangerous incantation like 'Talajin's Hand,' with no guarantee of control, but Mazdari followed his own rules.
'If you're using this spell, do it in an enclosed space,' the warning had said.
A ship at sea perfectly met that condition.
Mazdari sought out each zombie and inscribed arrays on their bodies.
To make the ship move.
Having closely observed the captain's orders and the crew's tasks, Mazdari mimicked them effortlessly.
Consulting the navigation chart, Mazdari confirmed a region shrouded in sea fog.
The flagship Whale's Beard signaled the following warships to change course.
And after days of successfully operating the ghost ship, it vanished into the sea mists.
Seong-un pointed at the status window and said,
"I told you it'd work."
Runda pouted at his words.
"What kind of prophecy is this? It's like saying 'I'm going to eat an apple today' and then eating one—did you just make it come true yourself?"
"...Well, it's not not a prophecy, is it?"
Eldar said.
"That's called a self-fulfilling prophecy, Your Majesty. When the prophecy itself becomes the element that makes it happen."
"Yeah, something like that."
Runda nodded.
Even gods couldn't fully read a mage's thought processes.
Mages weren't simply divided by having or lacking magical knowledge; it meant internalizing a systematic framework of arcane lore.
This process involved acquiring, understanding, and meditating to assimilate magical knowledge—a complex ordeal.
Yet players could observe mages' actions.
So if a mage acted rebelliously, it was noticeable.
Letting a mage betray without control was foolish; monitoring mages under one's influence was a core player duty.
'But Lost World demands multitasking. There are tons of such elements—you can't obsess over mages constantly.'
Plus, mages created extra work.
This meant skilled players could let mages betray successfully, survive, and build their own influence.
'Mages are inherently rebellious toward players anyway.'
Mages free from a specific god's sway would establish workshops, take disciples, and build power step by step.
A mage might rival hundreds or thousands of soldiers alone, but uncontrolled, they became faith-devouring monsters.
So Seong-un did just that.
First, he summoned the player council to scout mages.
Then checked their histories and issued 'prophecies' to enable betrayal.
Once groundwork was laid, he gave them betrayal opportunities.
A mage vanishing suddenly was fine, but ideally, they'd strike hard at the enemy nation.
That way, those serving the mage would fear its power.
Players monitored mages too, so protection from divine scrutiny was needed.
Fortunately, Seong-un's high level granted 'Divinity Block,' but he didn't rely solely on it.
During the dawn Mazdari spread the zombie plague, Seong-un summoned Wisdom.
"Why'd you call me, Nebula?"
"Nothing much. We're in a truce anyway, and I've got nothing pressing. How about some Go, chess, or something? I don't get bored easily, but no need to waste time."
"...Isn't Eldar around?"
"Eldar? Come on, he'd never challenge me."
Seong-un figured Wisdom eyed him suspiciously, but it didn't matter.
"By the way, I played everyone else too—boring. But if you're not confident, fine."
"I didn't say I lacked confidence."
"Then you'll challenge me?"
Wisdom smiled.
"You're the one challenging. What'll it be?"
"Go?"
"Hold on. I need to create a board."
And Wisdom was indeed skilled.
Nearly Seong-un's equal, he won the final game due to Seong-un's mistake.
"So that's my win?"
"Yeah. You're the Third Continent Go King."
"Honored by the Lost World #1."
"No problem."
Seong-un wasn't displeased.
In the interim, Mazdari had fully conquered the ship.
Wisdom didn't notice until the ship vanished.
'He knows now, of course.'
Runda said,
"Nebula, great job fulfilling the prophecy, but there's a problem."
"What?"
"Mazdari isn't the only mage anymore."
She was right.
Asbestos had advanced fastest, amassing the most magical knowledge.
Thus, Mazdari became the first mage.
But Wisdom and Asbestos weren't alone in watching magic.
Golden Eye and Single Flame had captured escaped cursed ones from the Alchemist's Tower, pooling knowledge.
They had two more cooperating mages.
But Seong-un looked puzzled and said,
"When did I say I'd make only Mazdari betray?"
"Huh?"
"If I know the method and have the chance, why pass it up?"
Seong-un reopened the status window he'd thought of earlier and held it before Runda.
Seong-un said,
"All the Third Continent's mages are already independent."