Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Selection and Focus
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“Village chief! Village chief! Oh no, was the liquor too strong?”
Trombone shot to his feet and checked on the old man. But the moment he spotted the small wound on the back of the elder’s neck and the few drops of black blood trickling from it.
“……My apologies.”
A voice he’d never heard before rang out, accompanied by a sharp sting at the nape of his neck.
“Guh!”
Trombone whirled around on instinct and unleashed a torrent of flame magic toward the source.
“Who’s there!”
Fwooooosh!
Fierce flames reduced everything in front of him to ash.
But the man he’d targeted stood there utterly unscathed.
“This is…….”
Trombone’s eyes widened in shock.
Amid the blazing inferno stood a man wrapped head to toe in pristine white bandages, without a single scorch mark.
Trombone glared at the man’s eyes and slowly sank to the ground.
“Ugh……. This is…….”
“Impressive firepower, to say the least. Wiping out half this massive log house in an instant.”
The man glanced at the gaping hole in the back wall and whistled in admiration.
“Not even Tempest-level, and you pull off that kind of power. Truly worthy of the name, the Flame Sorcerer—Trombone.”
“You……who the hell…….”
“Forgive the late introduction. I am the Sponsor.”
The bandaged man inclined his body in an elegant bow.
“And again, my deepest apologies. We don’t usually resort to such crude methods. Regulations strictly forbid it, in fact.”
“Ugh……. What have you done……to my body…….”
“Oh, no need to worry. Just a simple paralytic toxin. Though it does have the fun side effect of forcing the eyes wide open.”
“Poison…….”
“Desperate times called for a discreet breach of etiquette. That said, Sir Trombone, your vigilance is sorely lacking.”
The Sponsor shook his head as he surveyed the half-demolished log house.
“An Arch Wizard living in a ramshackle place like this. The polar opposite of Sir Tolari.”
“To……Tolari?”
“Yes. Sir Tolari, the other Arch Wizard like yourself. He lived in a magic tower he built in the wasteland, always on high alert. Took some effort to slip in unnoticed. He caught on eventually, of course.”
“Tolari……you don’t mean that young girl…….”
“Killed her? Perish the thought.”
The Sponsor shook his head with exaggerated vigor.
“Quite the opposite—I tried to bring her over to our side. Didn’t quite pan out, sadly. Oh, speaking of which, Sir Tolari isn’t a young girl anymore. She might’ve been back when you were with the Magic Guild, but she’s a full-fledged twenty-four-year-old adult now.”
“Ugh…….”
“Anyway, failing to recruit her left the higher-ups quite disappointed. I had to scramble for a replacement—and fast. That’s why I set my sights on you, the only Arch Wizard we hadn’t approached yet…….”
The Sponsor dropped to one knee and lightly licked Trombone’s fallen face.
“Mmm……. As expected, so refreshingly pure. The taste matches the scent perfectly.”
“You……you bastard…….”
“How can someone’s mind be this unwarped? Such unbelievable integrity. Just how satisfied are you with your life?”
“Ugh…….”
“It’s truly tragic. Across both dimensions, it’s exceedingly rare for someone with your power to live so purely content, without a hint of distortion.”
“Bo……both dimensions?”
“Indeed.”
At that exact moment, on the opposite side of the house Trombone had obliterated, space rippled violently and began to tear open.
“Allow me to guide you to another dimension now.”
Woooooom!
Darker than the dead of night.
Yet beyond that blackness, faint lights twinkled.
The Sponsor hoisted the fallen Trombone to his feet and slowly stepped through the rift he’d opened.
“Come along. To the homeland of my birth.”
“Ugh……. Urk…….”
He struggled to resist, but it was futile.
The moment his body went numb, his mana flow severed, rendering any spell calculation impossible.
“Good. That’s it……. There we go. Whew. Finally made it across.”
Once on the other side, the Sponsor swiftly sealed the portal behind them and let out a sigh.
“Crossing dimensions is never easy. Even for one created for the purpose.”
“You……. What are…….”
“You’ll learn all about me soon enough. But first—what do you think of the arsenal I’ve prepared just for you?”
“Arse……nal?”
Trombone scanned his surroundings in bewilderment.
Mysterious lights twinkled from all directions, but beyond them lay pitch blackness—nothing visible.
Then the Sponsor snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Lights blazed to life on a towering ceiling, revealing an impossibly vast space that filled his vision in an instant.
“Ah…….”
An arsenal?
This was an arsenal?
A hall of ten thousand demons brimming with grotesque monstrosities he’d never seen before?
“Ugh……. Uuugh…….”
Trombone huddled in on himself, groaning.
The twinkling lights he’d glimpsed in the dark? They were the glowing eyes of horrors packed wall to wall.
“Oh, even an Arch Wizard can feel fear, I see. Reassuring, really. Anyone would react that way to these on first sight.”
The Sponsor strode toward the nearest towering monstrosity.
“This is an Apocalypse Beast. Per the original plan, it’s the bioweapon slated for deployment in your dimension during the fifth invasion.”
“Ugh…….”
The creature’s form was so grotesque that Trombone desperately tried to avert his gaze.
But with his body paralyzed, he couldn’t even turn his head. His forcibly rigid eyelids wouldn’t close, either.
“Its official designation is ‘Chimera.’ The key to annihilating the Kenrod dimension.”
The five-meter-tall beast’s front was plastered with dozens of mismatched animal heads, all tearing into one another.
The sheer grotesqueness and absurdity ignited terror in Trombone’s heart.
A larger, fiercer head devoured the smaller ones around it, only for the eaten heads to sprout anew, unleashing agonized wails.
Meeeeeee!
Kyaaak! Kyruk!
Grooooar!
“P-Please……. Get that thing……away…….”
“The Chimera’s power is immense. Against a dimension that hasn’t awakened its potential, one alone could wipe the slate clean. Oh—did you say something?”
“Ugh……. Hic…….”
“Especially those dozens of heads crammed on the front—they’re the masterpiece. Its specialty is sound. It brushes off Tempest spells with a mere ‘sound barrier.’ Even three or four Arch Wizards like you couldn’t touch it.”
“Im……impossible…….”
“And it can resonate various noises to auditorily annihilate surrounding foes. Now, Apocalypse Unit One? Show our guest here what you can do.”
At the Sponsor’s command, the dozens of heads unleashed a cacophony.
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
“Gwaaaaaah!”
Trombone screamed in unison. The Sponsor slowly shook his head as blood trickled from Trombone’s ears.
“Dear me. Looks like your eardrums burst.”
“U-Uh, uwaaaaaah!”
“No matter. Its attacks keep working even after eardrums rupture.”
“Gwaaaah! Stop! Make it stooop!”
“It targets instinct. The primal fear inherent in all living things. It shakes that to the core.”
“P-Please, stop!”
“How does it feel, experiencing it firsthand? Devastating, isn’t it? The mind breaks before the body.”
The Sponsor smiled and raised his hand. The beast fell silent, resuming its hellish feast of devouring heads.
Kyaaak! Kyaaak!
Crunch! Rip!
Groooar! Kweeeek!
And Trombone couldn’t tear his eyes away from the nightmare.
“Ugh……. Urk…….”
“Magnificent. A truly beautiful sight. How did the Kenrod folk ever conceive of such things? We merely fanned the flames from behind, of course.”
“Please……please…….”
“Oh? Starting to tire of it? Shall we move on to the next exhibit?”
Supporting the pleading Trombone, the Sponsor headed toward a massive lump a short distance away.
“This one’s an Infection Lord. Quite the grotesque swollen mass, isn’t it?”
“Ugh……. P-Please……. Don’t show me……this…….”
“Hm. Rather tame reaction. It spews tentacles from its body to infect targets, turning them into new hosts. Now, Infection Unit One? Demonstrate your power for our guest. But no actual infection.”
Shluck!
The hideous flesh abruptly launched a razor-sharp tentacle, piercing the immobile Trombone’s nape in a flash.
“Gack, kyaaak! Pull……pull it out! Get it oooout!”
“This is how the Infection Lord injects its parasites. The target’s brain is destroyed instantly, and it seizes the central nervous system, puppeteering the body like an extra limb.”
“U-Uh…….”
“Your expression tells me you get it. Infection Unit One? Withdraw the tentacle.”
Plop!
“There we go. Onward to the next attraction. Oh? What’s this? A fresh one, its body split like a jellyfish.”
Where the Sponsor halted crouched a massive, abyssal horror of an invertebrate.
“This is a Terror Lord. Grand name, eh? Seeing is believing. Terror Unit One? Show our guest your pow—ah, one moment.”
The Sponsor paused as if struck by a thought, then clapped heartily and nodded.
“Right. Of course. Do you happen to know a Phiren?”
“Phiren……. Knight Master?”
“Oh! You do. This Terror Unit One is him.”
“……What?”
“We reconstructed his body using only his head. Upgraded from a standard Terror Lord into a superior bioweapon. Impressive, right? Though I suppose it might look a tad creepy to you, Sir Trombone.”
Not just creepy—nightmare fuel. Tears of blood welled in Trombone’s eyes as he glared at the monstrosity.
“Th-This……is Phiren?”
“Indeed. Someone you knew in life? Er, not quite accurate, since he’s still ‘alive’ in a sense.”
“H-How……how do you turn a human……into this abomination…….”
“Abomination is subjective. Agony for the victim, convenience for the user.”
“Convenience……what the hell could you use something like this for…….”
“Terror Lords are universally potent bioweapons. They even emit terror-inducing gas. Pair it with the Chimera’s sonic assault you just saw, and the synergy is devastating. Oh, speaking of which.”
The Sponsor licked Trombone’s face again and grinned.
“As I thought. In that short time, a lovely distortion has bloomed. Excellent. Most positive development.”
“Ugh…….”
“Despair. The emotion that twists the mind most viciously. Good. Time to reveal one truth about the fate of your world.”
“Truth?”
“In nine years, we’ll invade your world with every weapon stockpiled here—and more.”
Trombone’s eyes bulged.
“Wh-What?”
“Our goal isn’t victory. Only destruction and extermination. We seek the annihilation of every living thing in your world.”
“Wh-Why…….”
“We’ll kill, kill, and kill some more. Shatter the world and nature itself. Even survivors will drown in despair and take their own lives.”
“…….”
Unconcealed terror spread across Trombone’s face. The Sponsor smiled in satisfaction and continued onward.
“Might even start sooner than nine years. Exciting, isn’t it? Now, let’s tour the rest of the arsenal. We have plenty of time.”
“P-Please…….”
“Should take about two hours to see it all. I can’t wait to see how your mind has changed by the end.”
The Sponsor drew a slender syringe from his robes and smiled.
“We’ll get to this afterward.”
“That’s…….”
“The trigger.”
“Trig……ger?”
“Not a familiar term in your dimension? It uses mental distortion as fuel to remake the body. Like what we did to Phiren.”
“N-No…….”
“Oh, yes. That’s why we went to all this trouble.”
The Sponsor laughed, and Trombone screamed.
But the tour of the otherworldly arsenal had only just begun.
Trombone beheld it all with unclosing eyes, shrieking repeatedly.
And at some point, the shrieks stopped coming.
The Flame Sorcerer, once hailed by all, vanished.
The brewer content with simple joys was no more.