Goddess of the Magic City (2)
Goddess of the Magic City (2)
Magic.
It is the power that transforms the invisible into the visible.
Like swordsmanship or martial arts, anyone can acquire it with enough effort, but just like those disciplines, there exists a wall of talent that cannot be overcome by effort alone.
Magic was a mysterious power that had existed on the Crea Continent since ancient times.
But it was not solely the province of humans.
Humans came to realize this painfully when they witnessed the Demon King's army that had once invaded their lands.
The magic of the Demon King's army was incomparably more dreadful and destructive than anything humans could wield.
Kwajik!
It was a merciless weapon of murder, existing solely to kill, destroy, and burn.
For the continent's mages, who had always treated magic as just another branch of academia, this was nothing short of a shocking sight.
This was one of the reasons humans suffered repeated defeats against the Demon King's army in the early stages of the Holy Evil War.
If the magic of human mages was a match flame, then the magic of the Demon King's mages was a blazing burner.
To anyone watching, the odds seemed hopeless—and indeed, they were.
Everyone would have long since abandoned the idea of opposing the Demon King's army with magic.
That is, if she hadn't descended from the heavens to open a new horizon in magic.
Kwaaaang—!!
Thanatos El Crezel.
After marrying the hero Ion Rayhard, she became 'Thanatos El Crezel Rayhard'—she was the faith of all mages on the continent and a legend in her own right.
During the Holy Evil War, Thanatos's performance in magical combat far surpassed that of the other goddesses.
True to her terrifying title of the Goddess of Death, Thanatos delivered countless deaths to the Demon King's army.
The mages of the Demon King's army, who had been slaughtering human mages like ants, witnessed her magic descending from the sky and realized too late.
That they were nothing more than slightly larger ants.
That they were fated to be slain by a true powerhouse.
Human magic was a match. Demon King's army magic was a burner.
And the magic of the Goddess Thanatos was the magma of death erupting from a massive volcanic crater.
The power she possessed was something beyond the realm of everything on the ground—a cheat.
"Did you already know I was coming?"
"Well, something like that."
Click-clack, click-clack—Thanatos walked beside me, making the sound of her high heels.
Her beauty was by no means inferior to that of the Goddess of Abundance.
"I sensed your magical energy when you entered the city. As you know, Crezel is surrounded by a special invisible barrier."
The magic city of Crezel, being a prosperous city with a large population, had quite a lot of crime, big and small.
The mages of Crezel had implemented various security measures to prevent the ever-increasing illegal activities that came with the city's development.
The barrier encircling the outskirts of the city was one of them.
"So, did someone report that I entered Crezel, and you came looking for me?"
"Huh? I don't recall receiving any such report. I maintain and manage the barrier all by myself, you see."
Thanatos stretched lightly and spoke as if it were no big deal, but I couldn't hide my surprise.
To think she was maintaining such a massive barrier that completely surrounded an entire city all by herself, without any help.
It seemed that the 'Empress'—the legendary archmage bearing that epithet—was truly not just anyone.
"You came from the Lepodesia Great Forest?"
"Yeah, I was with Demeter for a while."
"I see. Is Demeter doing well?"
"Yeah..."
I nodded naturally, careful not to let my guilty expression show.
Fortunately, Thanatos didn't seem to suspect anything.
And so we walked leisurely, exchanging the kind of small talk a married couple might have.
Even though the hero who saved the continent and a goddess were strolling casually through the streets, not a single person approached us to say hello.
That was despite me having stopped my disguise and Thanatos showing her face fully.
All of this was possible thanks to the perception-inhibiting magic Thanatos had subtly cast.
"By the way, what was that golem commotion earlier? Did you get any reports from the investigation team?"
"Nine times out of ten, some fools secretly performed forbidden monster synthesis magic and caused an accident."
"Monster synthesis magic?"
"It's a dangerous magical experiment. It involves using monster corpses, and because it could temporarily resurrect dead monsters if done incorrectly, it's been prohibited."
Thanatos explained, then gave a cold smirk.
"They blatantly did what they were told not to do, so I'll have to give the instigators an appropriate punishment. A very appropriate punishment..."
The Empress of the Magic City let out a low laugh, covering her mouth with her hand.
The face of Thanatos, who repeatedly mentioned the word 'punishment', was eerily alluring.
I had a feeling that the instigators of the golem incident would face quite harsh penalties.
They had committed a dangerous act in the middle of the city, so it was entirely self-inflicted, but still, I felt a bit sorry for the faceless instigators.
"Phew, hey there pretty lady, you free right now?"
Just as we reached a relatively quiet area on the outskirts of the city while chatting.
Suddenly, a pair of scruffy-looking thugs came waving at us from the front and boldly blocked our path.
"Wow, up close she's even more amazing!"
"Come have a meal with us, miss~."
Despite me standing right next to her, these two thugs blatantly tried to hit on Thanatos in a sleazy manner.
They completely ignored me, as if my presence made no difference to their approach.
Thanatos and I currently had perception-inhibiting magic active, but this magic wasn't very effective against guys scouting for women to hit on like this.
'Maybe I should have asked her to cast invisibility magic...'
Perception-inhibiting magic had the effect of hiding the identity of the caster and specific people around them.
But it didn't make us completely invisible or inaudible like we were ghosts.
It was hard to fully block the approach of pickup artists who were drawn to Thanatos's otherworldly appearance.
"But damn, this lady is really something else..."
The thugs, openly ogling Thanatos's figure, licked their lips.
It was an extremely rude action, but their lip-licking wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Even as her husband, I couldn't help but admire the sight of her standing still on the street.
A proud yet alluring beauty that stirred a man's desire to conquer.
Voluptuous breasts and a slender wasp waist wrapped in a black qipao.
Her smooth thighs, barely covered by the dangerously short skirt, were impossible to ignore.
An absolute beauty that any normal man would have fantasized about at least once.
"Hmm, what should I do?"
Thanatos suddenly tapped her lips and muttered those words.
For a moment, I doubted my ears. I couldn't believe those words had come from Thanatos's mouth.
Thugs with such vulgar and frivolous behavior were exactly the type of people Thanatos despised.
Above all, with her husband right beside her, showing interest in these thugs was completely nonsensical no matter how you looked at it.
"What's there to think about~?"
"Playing with us will be way more fun than being with this little boy~."
Muttering such nonsense, the thugs slowly closed in on her.
They had no idea that the woman they were harassing was none other than the Goddess of Death, Thanatos.
Apparently thinking they had almost won her over, the thugs reached out to touch her body.
"...Huh?"
But those hands never reached Thanatos.
Because in that instant, something impossible to ignore appeared before the thugs' eyes.
Whoosh!
"Wha-what is this?!"
"A g-ghost!!"
The thugs, seeing the suddenly appearing flaming skull, were terrified and fell flat on their backs.
As the skull clicked its teeth and tried to latch onto them, the thugs abandoned all attempts at pickup and fled outright.
People walking nearby tilted their heads in confusion as they watched the thugs run away.
"Other people won't be able to see it."
Thanatos, withdrawing her gaze from the fleeing thugs, dusted off her hands and said.
"Well, since the trash is taken care of, shall we go again?"
Thanatos approached me, wrapped her arm around mine, and smiled with her eyes, the corners of her mouth curling up.
It seemed that her earlier words had just been a joke to tease me.
"Uh, yeah..."
Looking at the Empress back to her usual self, I nodded mechanically.