Episode 164: The Immortal King Disappears
At the southwest end of the continent of Surada, there is a place that is said to be off limits to humans. This is because it is the place where the ancient ``king'', the immortal king Zenon Life, resides.
It is a dangerous area covered in highly concentrated magical power emitted by the Immortal King, and where powerful immortal monsters created through experiments roam. Only a few people returned alive, and there is little information.
That is the West End, a place of silence that rejects all living things.
But that day, the West End was noisy.
"My name is..."
The Immortal King, a former human monster reduced to nothing but bones, reveals his frustration.
The reason was a human man who suddenly attacked.
There have been many foolish people who have tried to disrupt the centuries of quiet research. Each time, the Immortal King used disintegration magic to destroy those who failed to reach him. However, the man who appeared today could not be killed with magic.
"It's useless, Immortal King."
"what!?"
The man has his hood pulled over his head, hiding his face.
However, even though I couldn't see his face, I could see through his relaxed expression. This irritates the Immortal King, and he summons his followers, the Immortals.
Those are six rotting demon dragon zombies.
The ability to control six monsters at the same time, classified as disaster-class monsters, is worthy of being called the immortal king. The rotten demon dragon zombie was completely controlled and attacked the hooded man.
"Is this... an aura of corrosion?"
The rotten demon dragon dragon zombie is endowed with powerful corrosive abilities. This is magic, which is a unique ability, and if you touch it directly, it will turn into bones in an instant. Close combat is dangerous.
The hooded man lightly waved his arms and created six magic formations.
Then, the six rotting demon dragon zombies disappeared in the air as if being swallowed up by a whirlpool.
“Perish, humans!”
However, the Immortal King did not miss the opportunity and unleashed a disintegration spell.
Disintegration magic is the ability to instantly weather any material, transforming it into something that looks as if it has been billions of years old. If a human were to bathe in it, it would disappear, leaving no bones behind.
However, if you get it right.
The hooded man had disappeared from the Immortal King's sight and had gone behind him.
"It's over, Immortal King."
Just saying that, I let the Immortal King touch the beads in my hand.
Immediately, a vortex-like spatial distortion occurred around the beads, and the immortal king Zenon Life was sucked into it and disappeared. He didn't even have time to voice his resentment.
"Hmm. I guess that's the level of a 'king'. Even the ancestors of the immortal genus who were reincarnated from humans can also know the level."
"That's not true."
“Is it you, Rosetta?”
A woman's voice came from somewhere, and then a black mist gathered and took on the shape of a human.
Then, the mist transformed into a beautiful black-haired woman. Her deep red eyes glowed suspiciously, and her equally bright red mouth curved.
“That sealing curse tool that Gladio-sama created... No matter how long you estimate it, I guess that the limit for the seal is one second.I guess they are counterbalanced by continuing to use magic even now.Magic... Don't underestimate the immortal king Zenon Life's disintegration magic, right? If this continues, it will be broken within a few months.''
"Hmph. But there's no problem. Now we're ready for negotiations. As long as it's the Immortal King's magic power, your master will be satisfied. Isn't that so?"
"There is no doubt about it. The power of the 'King' is enough to be a souvenir."
"It's a special magic tool that uses a large amount of magic stones. With this... I can surpass my master."
The stones in the rosary are all pale and translucent, and all of them are magic stones.
This magic stone is said to be a taboo magic tool, and as it is regulated by the demon religion, it is virtually impossible to obtain it. However, there are rumors that are true in the underground world. In fact, some dark organizations have stolen and established the generation method, so if you have someone and money, you can't get it.
By the way, as always, the source of all information is ``Takame''.
"Gladio-sama, finally?"
"Ah. Return to my abominable hometown... to the Faron Empire."
Gladio, the hooded man, deploys a magic circle.
Then, the two disappeared from the scene.
◆◆◆
In the 244th year of the sacred calendar, an abnormality was observed in a place called West End. The first person to notice the change was a nearby cathedral. A holy knight who was patrolling to hunt down monsters noticed that the West End had an unusual presence of uncleanness.
“The cursed land is progressing?”
“Yes, Bishop.”
The bishop was confused by the Holy Knights' report.
West End is cursed by the magical power of the immortal king Zenon Life, and has become a land where a large number of immortal monsters appear. However, until now, the curse had not leaked out to those around him.
"How is the investigation going?"
"Ha! A powerful monster will appear, so we are being careful. However, after a simple investigation, we have not been able to confirm the existence of the Immortal King."
“Is it true? That immortal king?”
"Yes. It is sensed by magic and magical equipment. It is reliable."
"I never thought the Immortal King would attack us... no, was he subdued by someone? You're such an idiot."
If you are in the position of a bishop, you fully understand the threat of the ``King'' monster. My honest impression is that there was no way the Immortal King could have been subdued.
Regardless of subjugation, I would never have imagined that it would have been sealed away.
Now that the controller of the curse, the Immortal King, has disappeared, the cursed land that produces immortals will only continue to expand. Since the curse of impurity had not disappeared, they were skeptical about the disappearance of the immortal king.
After that, the Holy Knights conducted an investigation for a month, but they were still unable to find the Immortal King.
◆◆◆
Shu, who lives in Fairyland, also noticed the disappearance of the immortal king Zenon Life. He was concerned because he was the same ``King'' and lived nearby, not that they were actually involved.
However, the fact that the ``King'' demon has disappeared is something that Shu cannot overlook.
“My god, I will give you a detailed report on the measurement results.”
Alerianne appeared in Shu and Iris' living quarters and showed her a pale crystal.
This crystal is a processed magic stone, and can record information inside. It's a flash memory created based on Shu's knowledge. However, since it is recorded using magical power rather than electricity, it can be activated and read using the same magical power.
Shu received the recording crystal and expanded the information.
"As you can see, we have recorded a temporary activation of magical power that appears to be the immortal king Zenon Life. Judging from the observed magical power waveform pattern, it is clear that a battle has occurred. I have observed two separate magical powers that appear to be, but they also disappeared along the way.''
"Both the Immortal King and the two suspicious magical powers are dead...I don't see how they'll disappear."
"Ha! The analysis team's opinion is the same. And the hypothesis they came up with..."
“Space magic, right?”
The clue to the magic that Shu has been searching for for over 250 years was found in an unexpected place. Shu is not going to let this pass.
"Can you infer the magic circle from the magic information?"
"I'm sorry. Not only is it far away, but it will be disturbed by the fog of Fairyland..."
"I guess it can't be helped...but if spatial magic had been perfected, I would have been too careful. Maybe I was too reclusive in the fairyland."
"Are you heading to the outside world?"
"Oh, where's Iris?"
"Today, you are witnessing the development experiment of time magic. It is a general-purpose attack magic against people that combines magic that sends you into the past with simple electric shock magic."
"I guess it's already that time..."
Currently, various technological developments are being carried out in Fairyland.
In addition to time magic and space magic, we have actively developed other useful magic tools. Shu touches one of them, a magic stone necklace.
Then, a small translucent display was projected from the magic stone.
Operate the display by sliding and touching to execute the command labeled ``Iris.'' Then, the characters connected rotated on the screen, and after a while, Iris' face appeared.
``What's wrong, Shu-san? ”
"I'm going to the continent soon."
“It’s sudden! ? ”
"Actually, I think I might be able to get some clues about spatial magic. I'm going to go see Hawkeye for a while."
``I can't help it. Be prepared! I think it will be ready tomorrow.''
"ah"
Shu ends the communication.
The communication device that operates using this magical power was also developed with the fairies. However, it is only a prototype and is not suitable for mass production. There are a total of three prototypes, one for Shu, one for Iris, and one for Hawkeye.
This is to contact you in times like these.
I operated the display again and this time called out ``Takame''.
"Long time no see. Are you talking about the immortal king? ”
"...The speed with which you speak is unusual, as usual."
``My information network spans the entire continent. The Immortal King's abnormality was immediately transmitted.''
“The day before yesterday, we also measured the immortal king’s magical power, and just now we analyzed it and concluded that it had disappeared.”
"Oh really. However, I did not know the details except that I received notification that something had changed. I'm about to investigate. Is the Immortal King's magical power disappearing...I didn't know that either?''
“Please look into it.”
``That's fine. Now, I'd like to report from here as well, but I've obtained information about space magic.''
"what?"
Perhaps satisfied with the surprised look on his face, ``Takame'' gave a fearless smile.
``I only recently found out. And this is a request from the leader.''
"Leader? 'Black Cat'?"
"yes. This is a request to erase an entire city like before. I also researched this and found out about the possibility of spatial magic.''
"What does it mean?"
``It's a country called the Fallon Empire. Do you understand that I am in charge of the sealed Scarlet King? ”
“Is it possible that it has something to do with that seal?”
"yes. It seems that the family that manages the forest where the Scarlet King is sealed has something to do with spatial magic. The family seems to be quite secretive, and I didn't realize it until I looked into the details. They may be a significant ethnic minority.''
"Is that why I haven't been caught up in your information network until now?"
"I'm embarrassed"
``Takame'', known as a black cat informant, undoubtedly has the world's best information gathering ability. By combining it with the magic armor of teleportation, the range of information collected can cover the entire continent.
However, the information network of ``Takame'' is a combination of multiple informants and subordinates, and it is difficult to passively obtain completely confidential information. If you actively investigate based on some kind of clue, you can usually find out, so this time I used the request from ``Black Cat'' as an opportunity to investigate the Faron Empire and arrived at that information.
“So, even if you erase the city, there are still targets for assassination, right?”
"yes. I want you to kill all of the emperor's family.''
"Okay. What's the reward?"
``How about something like rare ore? ”
"That's fine"
They are so-called rare earths and rare metals.
Fairyland is progressing with development, so such supplies would be appreciated. If you want to, you can create it with magic, but the efficiency is the worst, so I'm grateful for the opportunity to get it in large quantities like this.
To be honest, money is unnecessary because it can be obtained infinitely by synthesizing diamonds.
``Then let me pick you up at a nearby bar. Since this is a request from the leader, I will also help you move.''
"Then tomorrow."
"I'll be waiting for you then."
After that, communication with ``Takame'' was cut off.
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