Episode 152 Moonlight Party ⑥
Shu and Iris move forward in time and infiltrate the underground sewers.
I went around the old city area for a while, but not a single person knew where the founder was. He would listen to stories and then stop time and leave, so much so that there were rumors that the ghosts of the couple were there.
According to the information obtained at the Black Cat Bar, the founder only gives instructions using his voice. Since they were so careful to hide themselves, it was hard to imagine that they would be able to monitor the interior through the windows on the ground. I thought that if there was a founder, it would be underground.
“Maybe it was a good idea considering it was a random idea.”
"I see. There are signs of restoration all over the place. It's quite new."
“The waterway is also quite complicated. And in some places, the flow of water is stagnant. Either the person who designed this place is a real idiot, or they made some strange additions to the original waterway, and it turned out like this... In any case, something other than the country must be involved.''
The old city area was once the royal capital. There is no way that underground sewerage system was properly designed. My new assessment is that it's even more suspicious.
"Anyway, it looks like the Holy Knights have been destroyed. They have no magic power."
"Maybe he's just hiding it?"
"If anyone can escape my sensing ability, it's the Awakened Magician. Or rather, Iris should be able to escape my sensing as well."
"That's impossible."
"Even though you say that, you're secretly practicing..."
"Huh? Did you know?"
Iris has acquired the overwhelming awakening magic of time manipulation. He no longer has any enemies. If you stop time, you can evade even the speed of light, and if you send magic into the past, it will instantly kill you, and even awakened magicians can be easily killed with a state change curse.
However, he did not stop training.
Not only training with magical equipment, but also training with magical power. He thought he was practicing various things behind Shu's back, but it seems that Shu knew about it. Iris looks a little embarrassed.
"I can't create weird magic like Shu-san. I need to solidify my basics!"
"Don't call it weird magic."
"Didn't you destroy the country before with light falling like rain?"
"You mean Rain of Light? At that time, it was troublesome to find assassination targets who were holed up, so they decided to wipe out the entire country...20 years ago?"
“That country is still vacant land.”
"People say it's a mysterious disaster."
"It seems that there was a rumor in some quarters that it was a forbidden spell of earth, the 12th-level Meteor Shower Star Fall. 'Takame'-san said so."
"Rain of Light can be activated with a much smaller magic circle than a forbidden spell. I thought it was revolutionary."
"So you're going to destroy the entire country? It's just a troublesome experiment."
"Ah, the 'Black Cat' guy also told me to destroy it. Isn't there something that would be troublesome for the Black Cat?"
Shu also remembers this request because the leader, ``Kuroneko'', had specifically specified it. She was asked to eliminate a scientist from a certain country, but unfortunately she was forbidden from borrowing the help of other Black Cat members. If the information gathering ability of ``Hawk Eye'' cannot be used, assassination will become difficult.
I got permission from the black cat and erased the entire country.
All the cities in that country were annihilated with the forbidden magic ``Rain of Light''. Because he was able to annihilate cities in such a pinpoint manner, it was suspected that it was the work of someone else.
“Don’t do anything too cruel.”
"ah"
"You definitely don't understand. Well, that's fine."
There is no one in this world who can stop Hades.
A conversation that makes you think so echoes in the underground passage.
"Okay, Iris."
“I know.”
"Someone seems troublesome."
The sound of solid footsteps echoed as if interrupting their conversation. The magical power that can be sensed from deep within the dark underground sewers is incomparable to that of ordinary people. However, from the perspective of the Hades and the Witches, it is a very small amount of magical power.
A white holy knight uniform enters the area illuminated by the light magic that Shu is activating.
“Holy Knight?”
“It looks like it.”
"Are you...Gekkokai? Then you're dead..."
"Die, Death"
The holy knight man... no, the holy knight commander Zack ran out of strength in front of Hades without his name being known. It's a truly pitiful end.
However, Shu passed by the corpse as if he didn't know anything about it. Iris also sighs and follows Shu.
"There's no need to ask questions."
"My opponent is a holy knight. There's no reason to overlook him and take advantage of him."
Unbeknownst to anyone, the Holy Knights were destroyed.
◆◆◆
The Gekkokai, which lurks underground in the old city, is generally classified as a dark organization. All independent military forces that do not belong to the nation or demon religion are treated as dark organizations. The Gekkokai, which has a military force of magicians and even kidnaps magicians, is also recognized as a criminal organization.
However, their public face is a religion for the people. Their selling point is that they are an organization for the weak. It gained secret support mainly from poor people who were dissatisfied with the church and the state.
"Guru-sama"
"Hmm"
A laboratory located underground that only a few people in the Gekkokai know about. There you can see the essence of Gekkokai.
In the hands of the old man known as the Guru, there is a magic stone that emits a pale blue light. They were conducting an experiment to generate magic stones here.
"Is that the Philosopher's Stone?"
"No, this is still an unfinished product. I thought that a magician as good as a Holy Knight could use the Philosopher's Stone, but... it's not what I'm looking for."
"The moonlight's guidance is far away."
"Not really. We are following the guidance of the moon. With this final experiment of mine, the Philosopher's Stone will be completed. And the Moonlight Society will reign as a new order in place of the Demon Religion. Noda”
The power and order of the demon religion is enormous. In fact, they control the continent. It forces all humans to follow the teachings of the demon god El Magia, and severely restricts anyone other than the church from having military power. It is no wonder that the demon religion has prospered for so long.
However, if prosperity continues for a long time, dissatisfaction will inevitably arise.
Just as there is a shadow where the sun shines, there is darkness behind tremendous prosperity. And the darkness wanted to come out as light. No, he was planning to replace Light.
"This magic stone is also an achievement. Now, I'll contact our sponsors. I'll leave it to you to dispose of the remaining Holy Knights. I'll kill the Holy Knights who have taken out the magic armor, sell them as slaves, or dispose of them. Put it down.”
"Ha! But what should we do with the Holy Knight Commander? He is the only one who has not been captured yet. And we have confirmed the corpse of the Holy Knight who was working with him. It seems that he has split up with the rest of the group..."
"Leave him alone. Zack is not your enemy. If you find him, just let the executive who gave you the magic stone deal with it."
"That's a good idea. Now let me dispose of it."
The executive man bowed deeply.
Seeing this, the Guru nodded with satisfaction.
"The day when the moon will replace the sun is coming soon. Surrender yourself to the moon's guidance."
After saying that, the guru left.
◆◆◆
Shu and Iris weren't just walking through the underground sewers. It sensed magical power and moved towards the area where it was solidified. The underground is complicated, so you can't just head straight there. However, they were definitely approaching their destination.
“On rare occasions, we have come to see each other.”
"That's how close it is."
And when we got here, members of the Gekkokai were wandering around. Of course, each time Iris stopped time, there was no commotion.
Iris seems to be happy to be of help to Shu, and stops time frequently. He even goes so far as to say that he will go along with assassinations these days.
"But the Gekkokai may be a bigger organization than I thought. Even though it's an abandoned place, they manage such a huge underground facility. It wouldn't be strange if they had a sponsor somewhere. Maybe a rich merchant? , or the royal family. There are no aristocrats in this country."
"It seems like there are a lot of rich people in this country. I heard that oil is produced there."
"Thanks to oil exports and the tourism industry, it's easy to earn foreign currency. Does that mean you won't have trouble finding sponsors?"
The Kingdom of Armand gained power through the resource of oil. However, oil is a finite asset and cannot be produced forever. Therefore, the wise previous king used the wealth obtained from oil to promote tourism. This is the streetscape of the new urban area.
``However, there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor.This tends to happen in countries that have rapidly developed.The country commissions those who can to develop it, so those with power become even more powerful.What do the poor people do? They won't let you do that, so you'll remain poor.''
Ever since the continent of Surada was effectively ruled by the Holy Grineer, the idea of the fittest has diminished, and the tendency for the powerful to use their power for the benefit of the weak has become stronger. However, the initial ideals fade over time. Nowadays, governance reminiscent of the great empires of the past stands out.
The only change from the past is that the status of nobility is no longer as strong. The idea of capitalism became pervasive and the power of corporate managers became stronger. Nowadays, aristocrats are more often seen as soldiers or investors. Also, the number of countries such as the Kingdom of Armand where there is no privileged class other than the former royal family is increasing.
The world has changed considerably over the past 100 years.
“Sacred Grineer has also changed, hasn’t it?”
"Ah, I'm starting to become obsessed with gathering power. The number of holy knights is increasing, and I'm frequently subjugating powerful monsters in unexplored regions. I'm intentionally trying to create awakened magicians. Maybe.”
"Will Fairyland be attacked again?"
"Rather than that, wouldn't the Immortal King and the Scarlet King be subdued first? The defense network of Fairyland is also increasing little by little...Now that I think about it, it looks like the magic stones can be used to defend Fairyland."
If the magic circle is stored inside the magic stone, it may be possible to introduce automatic interception magic into the fairy town. At first, I thought it was just a matter of activating magic somewhat easily, but if used in this way, it would be useful.
“Me and Iris don’t seem to need it at all, but it might be fun to let Alerianne use it.”
“If I stop time, I can use forbidden spells without any time lag.”
"It's a wonderful transformation of the magical armor that doesn't let you die."
"Time acceleration is also useful for cooking. You can make stews in an instant."
“Is it a waste of magic equipment?”
“I don’t want Shu-san to be told that he’s wasting his magic.”
However, wasteful spending is also the fault of culture. Magic and magical equipment are both powers for battle. This is because it is often treated as a power for fighting monsters.
There are few people who use their powers in their daily lives like Shu and Iris. It's different if you have a lot of money to spare.
"Iris"
"Yes, yes. I'll stop time."
Iris stopped time because she felt the magical power approaching again.
As long as these two are using their powers in their daily lives, there may be peace.
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