Even If the World Abandoned Them (4)

Former Shadow Mercenary Captain.

"Huh?"

Kichi swept back her disheveled black hair. It had been ages since she'd set foot on the Arcana Continent. On top of that, she'd stormed out of the Shadow Mercenary on her own two feet. She had no intention of causing a scene. If she were being honest...

She wanted nothing more than to hole up in some dingy tavern, get blackout drunk, and turn into a total wreck.

But the world wasn't giving Kichi that luxury. There wasn't a single tavern left anywhere on the Arcana Continent.

"This is why you shouldn't try stuff you don't normally do..."

So she'd gone sniffing around for a demon king's castle. Partly to settle the Shadow Mercenary's past sins tied to the Claudy family, partly figuring a demon king would have some seriously strong booze on hand. For both reasons, she'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slipped into the first one she found.

And now here she was.

"...No, wait, that's not it."

She shook her head vigorously, banishing the ignoble distractions. Then she calmly took stock of the situation unfolding before her.

Thwack!

The moment she lopped off the head of the demon legion commander who claimed to be the demon king's right-hand man.

Rumble!

The ground shook, and the demon king's castle vanished without a trace.

"...Hah."

And with it, the bottle of wine she'd swiped from the warehouse...!

With her purpose lost, Kichi's daggers had no choice but to turn toward the Omen that had swallowed the demon king's castle whole.

It was a tough opponent. Few enemies could withstand Kichi's daggers. And on top of that, this damn status ailment throbbing in her head.

"Hoo."

Her temper—something she couldn't even hand off to her vice-captain—boiled up, but Kichi suppressed it. She'd gone to all the trouble of striking a dramatic pose and vanishing into the shadows, only to die screaming in a fight against some unknown foe not long after? That kind of end was the last thing she wanted.

But.

"What the hell is this guy?"

Krunch!

The moment the Omen—which even she couldn't slice—split in half.

Kichi's jaw dropped.

She stood frozen, staring in disbelief at the impossible sight.

"He cut that thing down with that puny silver sword...?!"

The slender silver sword felling the lesser omen. The forms spilling out from the crack in its body.

As one might expect, Kichi was well-versed in Arcana Continent intel.

"...Hold on."

The Shadow Mercenaries were the overlords of the continent's underworld. Requests for info on forgotten things and searches for them were a dime a dozen.

The eyes of the former Shadow Mercenary captain, Kichi, twitched.

"Beastkin?"

A perfect half-human, half-beast appearance. That had to be the beastkin tribe from the request ledger. The ones who had suddenly vanished from the Arcana Continent one day.

And it wasn't just the beastkin.

"That crest... I've seen it somewhere..."

Money. Especially gold coins—she never forgot anything related to them. In Kichi's memory...

"That's it!"

A gold coin from an ancient kingdom said to have fallen long ago flashed by.

No doubt about it. The crest on the armor worn by some of those spilling out.

It was definitely from that nameless ancient kingdom.

Kichi muttered in a trembling voice.

"What the hell is that thing swallowing and spitting out..."?

.

.

.

At the same time.

The same scene was unfolding in other regions.

High El's eyes twitched.

"...!"

Because her liege, Hoyeol, had spoken of it.

High El hadn't flinched even when the Omen split in half and collapsed. But she never imagined spirits would pour out of it.

And those spirits...

"You all are...?"

From the distant past. Spirits that had vanished from the spirit realm: the Cosmic Spirits.

High El urgently extended stems for the ones raining down.

Diend and the others weren't faring much differently.

Iron Castle Ho.

Reports poured in to Chainwalker.

"They're pouring out! From that bastard's split-open body—everything it swallowed before is flowing back! Humans, beasts, heteromorphs... countless numbers of 'em!!"

Chainwalker asked calmly.

"Are they alive?"

"Damn, no idea. Dead or passed out... But one thing's for sure. At least the Akshan—they're definitely alive!"

"Of course they are."

Hadn't the news come in? The silver sword, symbol of the Akshan.

It had cleaved the monster in two.

More reports followed.

"We can breathe easy now, Chainwalker sir. No demon kings or demons among those spilling out! No threats to the downed ones either!"

Tension eased.

Chainwalker finally let out a hollow chuckle.

"Did he really plan everything out?"

Akshan.

Even after being swallowed by that monster called an Omen.

Did they sharpen the silver sword's edge just for this day?

"Beyond anything I could imagine."

Before the lingering echoes faded.

Chainwalker raised his lowered head.

"Iron Castle Ho, descend altitude."

His voice trembled as he continued.

"The time has come to welcome the Akshan—our dear friends."

It wasn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just about the Akshan. This was a moving sky fortress, the Iron Castle Ho, after all.

No telling how many had spilled out across the entire Arcana Continent.

But unless they filled the continent to the brim...

'We can house at least half of Antonium's population.'

Clank! Hiss! Clank!

As the dwarves moved, gears meshed busily.

Soon, the Iron Castle Ho's structure began transforming. Space expanded at a terrifying rate.

Of course, they'd still need an exact headcount.

Chainwalker asked.

"Gunner, how many spilled out from that thing? If you can't count them all, just the ones in your sight."

Multiply by the number of demon king's castles for a rough estimate.

But the response made Chainwalker freak out.

He asked again, unable to believe it.

"...W-what did you say?"

"Gotta be at least tens of thousands here."

"Tens of... tens of thousands?!"

The thing was huge, sure, but not enough to swallow tens of thousands.

No time to be shocked, though.

Chainwalker pulled himself together and said.

"Damn it. Even the Iron Castle Ho can't hold that many. We can't just dump these unconscious folks on the wrecked Arcana Continent like this...!"

Asking the empire for help? It'd take dozens of days just to reach every corner of the continent.

And even without the demon king's castles, demons unrelated to demon kings still lurked.

Walls Whale added from the side.

"It's getting dark, Chainwalker."

To make matters worse. When the sun set, demon eyes would fill the sky.

The downed ones could become demon fodder.

'Think of something, anything...!'

Chainwalker clutched his head.

Then, news turned his worries to nothing.

An urgent voice.

"W-wait a sec!"

"What now?"

"Gunner! Chainwalker sir! Th-the unconscious ones are starting to wake up, one by one! They're alive! Not just one or two—all of them!"

If true, one worry down.

With a clearer head, Chainwalker thought.

"Then the only real concern left is..."

That Omen?

It looked like it had lost the will to fight after splitting in half.

Only then did Chainwalker sense something off.

"...Gunner, one question."

"Shoot!"

"Among those who spilled from its body."

"Among them?"

"...Are there any Akshan demon hunters, our brothers?"

The ones who actually felled the Omen hadn't shown their faces.

The Akshan should've been the first to recover.

Yet they weren't there.

...Twitch!

And then. The Omen sprawled on the ground began writhing.

Urgent comms flooded the Iron Castle Ho.

"They haven't come out yet...?"

"It's burrowing into the ground again, Chainwalker sir!"

"Why aren't you emerging, Akshan!"

But Chainwalker didn't waver.

He now had an idea what the Akshan were.

Chainwalker murmured hollowly.

"Do you still have burdens to shoulder?"

Akshan.

You're too harsh on yourselves. Far too harsh.

"...Damn it."

The thing that swallowed those abandoned by Arcana.

Now spat out the forgotten and forsaken.

Those abandoned and forgotten.

Reemerged on the ravaged Arcana Continent.

As a ray of hope.

Yet.

Once again, no Akshan among them.

"...I have no right to stop you."

Chainwalker ignored the bitterness rising in his mouth.

"That's what makes you Akshan."

*

Clink—

No spare mana to scan the entire Arcana Continent with the Omen right in front of me. Even chugging mana-regen-boosting potion tea barely moves the needle.

'Compared to the Natural Enemy relationship, anyway.'

In that sense, like it or not, all I could do was trust and wait.

Across from me, Mary holding her teacup spoke cautiously.

"Thank you for the hospitality, Grandfell."

"Had you attended the banquet, I would have served finer tea."

...Is that for real?

Regretting not serving green tea in this situation?

And bringing up the long-ended banquet makes me seem petty as hell!

As expected, Mary looked apologetic.

"I'll make sure to attend next time. If you invite me."

Then she asked even more cautiously.

"Might be overstepping, but... if it's not rude, may I ask what you're waiting for? You mentioned it's part of the procedure. My narrow insight can't grasp it."

Of course she wouldn't know. I'm just brazenly pretending, but I only learned about the Akshan seniors' diversion op through the class quest moments ago.

I said calmly.

"You need only wait."

"Wait..."

"For the moment of reunion."

"...Reunion?"

Classic self-centered Grandfell speak.

For me, it's a reunion with the Akshan seniors.

But for Mary meeting them, is it really?

Clink—

When in doubt, tilt the teacup. While racking my brain for a recovery.

'!'

My vision flickered.

And after ages, I realized.

Right. Grandfell's bravado never needed fixing.

It always became reality.

Restoration messages—first time for those. If I hadn't known, I'd have wondered. But I could guess.

"I knew you would succeed."

You did it, seniors.

Restoration—the opposite of deletion.

They subjugated the lesser omen that swallowed the demon king's castle, like the quest goal.

Saved those swallowed by the Omen, like the Akshan.

And not just a few.

My vision flashed nonstop.

Messages piled up.

"...!"

Mary, who had been staring blankly.

Her face changed drastically. As if confirming something, she suddenly drew up her mana.

"!!"

She manifested her signature purple magic. The cigarette effect should've worn off long ago, but the mana surged fiercer than ever.

She must've realized it herself before I did.

Mary murmured.

"N-no way...?"

Then she suddenly looked at me.

"Grandfell, does 'reunion' mean...?"

I nodded for now.

Too many restoration messages to be sure, but one must've been about her.

'That's why she fought the Omen.'

Unable to hold back her swelling emotions.

Mary's voice cracked as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she spoke.

"How can I ever repay this grace...?"

No, the thanks aren't for me.

All I did was sip tea.

This was all our Akshan seniors.

But now it's my turn.

The lesser omens merging with the main body into a greater omen. Yeah, it looks way bigger now.

Of course, doesn't matter.

Nothing changes.

I've been ready to throw my life away since the start.

Why, you'd miss the Last Adventurer effect otherwise!

So time to seriously go all-in...

No, raise Illusion Breaker for real—

I froze.

The newly updated quest goal.

It wasn't what I expected.

What popped up was the first Akshan praise I'd ever heard.

...Is this how Akshan talk?

Anyway.

Sincerely.

You guys have some sappy vibes going on...