Chapter 352: The Tin Knight and the Land of Emerald (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 352: The Tin Knight and the Land of Emerald (2)
If one had to label her good or evil, the witch Nessarose was undeniably a person who stood closer to evil.
But to Dorothea, she was her one and only master.
She was the guardian who took in the orphaned girl, taught her the ways of magic, and gave her the strength to live.
She was the woman who had been, for all intents and purposes, her parent.
So, for such a person to have met a death so gruesome her body was unrecognizable, for her very soul to have been annihilated without a trace—it was an indescribable shock to Dorothea.
Dorothea locked herself in her room, and the Tin Knight and her other companions decided to wait instead of forcing her out.
They felt she needed time to sort through her emotions.
Besides, even without Dorothea’s grief, the situation prevented them from taking immediate action.
“We’re finally, finally back…!”
“Gasp! We can finally breathe! We’re safe!”
“I have to get home quickly. My wife and children must have been so worried!”
The majority of the humans who returned to the surface, the citizens of the kingdom, were beside themselves with joy.
It was no wonder, as they had been cast into the underground by the Heavens' plot without knowing why, and had literally almost died there before finally being able to return.
But that was the reaction of the civilians, who were unaware of the true state of affairs.
The higher-ranking officials who understood the unfolding situation, even a little, couldn't help but worry about the aftermath.
“The underground… the underground. To think a place I thought only existed in fairy tales was real.”
“Shouldn’t we protest to the Heavens immediately? Because of them, our lord, and all of us, almost died!”
“This isn’t something that will end with a mere protest! This is tantamount to a declaration of war; we must prepare the army!”
“…Prepare the army and do what?”
“Why, a show of force, of course—”
“I’m asking where you intend to stage this show of force. Do you have a way to send all our soldiers up into the sky?”
“…”
The kingdom's nobles were certainly furious at the Heavens' atrocities, but that was all.
The fact that the Heavens were stronger than the kingdom was a secondary problem.
The kingdom possessed no method to attack the Heavens, located so high up in the distant sky.
And this was no different for the other nations.
In the first place, the act of ‘flying’ itself was impossible for anyone but the most exceptional mages.
Even if they scraped together every talent from across the continent, including the power of the Magic State and the Empire which were filled with outstanding mages, it would only amount to a few hundred people.
There was the option of having mages carry others with them, but the mana consumption and the difficulty of the flight magic were incomparable to flying alone.
On top of that, while people knew the Kingdom of Heaven was in the sky, they didn't know exactly ‘where’ or at ‘what altitude’ it existed.
Suggesting an invasion using flight magic without knowing the precise location was, quite literally, an armchair theory.
“…Blinded by the matters of the surface, we failed to realize our most terrifying enemy was in the sky.”
That single lament from King Alonso perfectly described their predicament: the nation's entire leadership had nearly been wiped out, yet they had no means to strike back.
There were suggestions to capture and interrogate the priests dispatched from the Kingdom of Heaven, but they had already vanished from the kingdom without a trace.
To at least expose the depravity of the Kingdom of Heaven, they informed other nations of the facts they knew in as much detail as possible.
Gale accompanied the kingdom's envoys to the Magic State, Algind to the Empire, and Franka to the Federation, all acting as witnesses.
Unfortunately, the news they received in return was grim.
“It seems a strange rumor spread through the Magic State while we were in the underground. The story goes that the Kingdom of Ionia was responsible for the revival and rampage of the eight generals, and that the Heavens were the ones who stopped them. Thankfully, my master prevented anyone from acting rashly, so the situation is stabilizing. But if we hadn't returned, it would have been a massive headache. The people left behind in the kingdom knew nothing of the circumstances, so they couldn't have even defended themselves.”
“The Heavens incited fallen nobles and radicals to stir up trouble in the Empire once again. Fortunately, my master protected the imperial capital, so there were no major problems, but we have to distinguish who were collaborators with the Heavens and who were unwittingly used, so any immediate military action is difficult.”
“The Federation is a total mess. All the other major noble families, except for my Aglaia family, relied on the Heavens' backing and drew their swords to tear our family apart and devour it for themselves. Luckily, the Alchemists' Association, which owes me plenty, intervened and my family escaped safely, but you could say the Federation has effectively entered a state of civil war.”
The malice of the Heavens was persistent and thorough.
They endlessly tried to sow discord on the surface, wanting to divide and conquer.
If those who had crossed into the underground had not returned, they would have nonchalantly pinned all the blame on the kingdom and continued their role as rulers from the shadows.
Realizing the power of the Heavens and their bottomless schemes, the others felt a sense of despair, but Sophia refuted that outlook.
“No. This isn’t their usual way of doing things.”
Adelaide tilted her head.
“Not their usual way?”
“Normally, the Heavens don't act so directly. To be precise, even if they do act, they conceal their tracks as much as possible. Direct interference and control make people keenly aware of the ‘real power’ existing above their heads.”
But this time was different, she pointed out.
“They hatch a plot, and we foil it. Then they hatch a new plot. At a glance, it feels like a never-ending game of cat and mouse, but in reality, the plotters are also gradually losing their composure. The later the plot, the cruder and more full of holes it becomes. Indeed, they caused chaos on the surface with this incident, but because of it, they've exposed themselves too much.”
If the Tin Knight's party had not returned from the underground, they might have had a chance to clean up the mess.
They would have used the immediate chaos to create conflict on the surface, fueled that conflict to make them fight each other, and then eliminated those who annoyed them one by one amidst the confusion.
But the Tin Knight's party once again foiled their plot and returned safely to the surface, and the Heavens' sinister nature was laid bare.
Moreover, the ones Dorothea had summoned—that is, the ones who had stopped the eight generals and been to the underground—were all key figures from their respective nations, making it impossible to dismiss everything as a lie.
“After the temporary chaos stabilizes, if the various nations of the continent decide to join forces and oppose the Heavens, they will be the ones in trouble. For now, they've blocked the path between the underground and the surface, preventing the underground's intervention, but as time passes, a situation might arise where the underground and the surface unite to strike the Heavens.”
Of course, there were countless challenges to overcome before such a situation could actually occur.
However, the mere existence of such a possibility was enough to put pressure on the Kingdom of Heaven.
Therefore, their next move was all but decided.
One: attempt to beguile the surface with negotiations and empty words.
Two: exploit their geographical advantage in the sky and dig in for a protracted defense.
And three: drop the facade, reveal their true colors, and try to burn everything to the ground.
-Vwoooooom!
Above. Every living being on the surface felt the massive wave of energy resonating from the distant Heavens.
They looked to the sky and soon realized.
There was a light.
It was a brilliant, sacred light that sparkled like an emerald.
At the same time, it was a light of ruin, pregnant with unimaginably vast destruction.
It was fired toward the surface.
The powerless felt an inexplicable sense of dread, while the powerful understood with an instinct bordering on premonition.
The moment that light reached the surface—no, the moment it impacted...
...a tremendous scar of destruction would be carved into the continent.
Just as they stared wide-eyed, unable to even scream.
The north and the south. Two shadows shot up from the ground.
Around the shadow that rose from the south, a dizzying amount of mana, enough to be felt even beyond the horizon, began to gather.
Fire. Water. Wind. Earth.
The four types of attack magic seemed to merge into one before striking the emerald beam head-on.
Kwwaaaaaaang!
A tremendous shockwave erupted high in the sky.
The emerald beam lost its momentum and shattered, but the broken fragments did not simply vanish. Instead, they reformed into thousands of light projectiles and rained down upon the surface once more.
This was a phenomenon that couldn't occur with pure light. The emerald glow seemed to be not only a powerful energy but also some kind of substance.
Compared to the original beam, the shattered projectiles possessed only a fraction of the power, yet each one still held enough force to obliterate the area around its point of impact.
However, that torrent of light could not reach the ground.
Because the other shadow, the one that had risen from the north, protected the surface with a massive barrier, as if shielding it with an umbrella.
The two shadows. The Witch of the South, Glinda, who had revealed her true form, and the Witch of the North, Orin, in her translucent, spectral state, glared up at the sky.
The Heavens' policy was all but decided.
They clearly intended to erase their shameful history from the face of the earth.