104 - Chapter 30: The Alberstein Subjugation Battle Begins
I had stopped updating because I was participating in the Kakuyomu Con, but updates are resuming.
I do not know myself.
Am I a dragon, a fairy, or────.
"Enough! Do not toy with me! I am I!"
Suddenly, such a voice echoed from within.
"I am no dragon, and do not lump me together with some idiot fairy!"
What is this? There is a foreign object inside me.
"I am a glorious True Ancestor Vampire! Do not confuse me with those people I do not understand!!"
That scream hinders my fusion.
"I will absolutely never assimilate with the likes of you!!"
If you would just be quiet, we could become one.
"Shut up and die! Also, give back my sworn ally! He is not a man so cheap that I would let you devour him!!"
Why resist? Why hinder? Do you not want power?
"Who needs some ready-made power given by someone else! I am not so shameless as to act tough with a convenient cheat! I would rather die cleanly than live such a pathetic existence!!"
Why? Why reject it? If you accepted it, you could become such a strong creature.
"I have no use for power that does not become my own flesh and blood, you moron! Do you have no pride! Besides, I have my own power! Though I do not have it on hand right now!!"
Why is your will so strong? It would be easier if you just threw it away.
"Is that the result of continuing to take the easy path, you! You fool who has lost sight of your own self! How dare you speak of strength when you cannot tolerate a single detour!!"
What are you? Who are you? You who reject this power, the dragon────.
"Do not make me say it twice, you idiot! I am the True Ancestor Vampire, Beosteral Gehardt!!"
You are────.
"An ally of farmers!!"
Immediately after, the foreign object vanished from within.
●
"Haa... finally out."
"It was deeper than I thought. ────Yeah, it looks like it is okay to go down as is."
While blasting through the deep underground, Geoglyph, who had been digging in a zigzag pattern with magic bombardment, moving slightly diagonally rather than straight down, like a multi-story parking garage, finally took a breath upon finding a large cavity ahead.
When Latia used spirits to investigate the interior, it seemed that while the Spirit Tree itself was slightly tilted due to the collapse, the internal structure was still stable.
"Um, may I be excused now?"
"Ah, yes, yes, go ahead."
"Then, farewell."
Having witnessed this, Io asked, and when Geoglyph nodded and urged him, he hurried back the way he came. Geoglyph and Latia watched him go, then used wind magic to float and descend to the base of the Spirit Tree at the bottom of the great cavity.
The Spirit Tree was tilted overall, but there were no signs of it withering. It emitted a strong phosphorescence that stretched toward the heavens.
"Hmm. Now, what to do about this..."
Touching the Spirit Tree and scrutinizing its internal structure and flow, Geoglyph groaned, knitting his brows.
"The magic path is definitely extending upward, so why not just destroy it? The Spirit Tree is probably a relay point for the Dragon Veins further below, right?"
"Is that okay from an elf's perspective? Like, do not destroy the forest, or cherish the trees, or something?"
"The forest is important, and trees are precious, but if no one tends to them, the forest will die anyway. Besides, elves cannot live without using forest resources, like building houses, making firewood, or crafting bows and arrows."
"It is not just a tree, it is a Spirit Tree, right?"
"It is not the World Tree protected by the High Elves of the interior, so there is no problem."
Updating his knowledge of this world with the fact that a World Tree exists, Geoglyph rejected the plan to destroy the Spirit Tree.
"It is certainly the quickest way, but the collapse when the Spirit Dragon ascended probably broke part of the circuit halfway. ...If I just clumsily destroy everything now, magic will flow backward into the Dragon Veins from a short circuit, and this thing will have a meltdown."
"Meltdown?"
"In other words... Boom!"
"Boom?"
Finding Latia endearing as she tilted her head while mimicking his gesture of opening a clenched fist, Geoglyph pondered.
This Spirit Tree, in terms of electrical equipment, serves the role of a cubicle. It receives high-voltage magic (6600V) from the power line called the Dragon Veins, steps it down, and transforms it into multi-purpose magic (200 or 100V). If it is destroyed without following safe procedures, a reverse current will occur.
If this were electricity, it would just be a matter of selling the power back or, if the system were gone, at most the power generation would stop and cause a blackout, but it does not work that way with magic.
(If the reversed magic just erupts using a primer and scatters as mere magic, that would be fine, but I do not know how large the Dragon Veins are. In the worst case, the energy itself could blow up like a volcanic eruption, and if that is entirely converted into destructive power, this entire land could be blown away...)
After all, it is like having a nuclear power plant directly beneath. Since energy is being extracted directly from there with almost no safety devices, there is a high possibility that the surrounding area will be blown away if handled clumsily.
"Also, access is bidirectional. It seems the main body (Alberstein) also has transmission and reception functions and connection rights, so there is no point in destroying only this side if it is reconnected from the other side. If we are to do it, internal destruction of the main body should come first. Then, while it is disconnected, we intervene in the control rights from this side..."
"In other words?"
He tried to explain this and that, but Latia did not seem to understand, and when asked concisely, Geoglyph shrugged.
"I am at my wit's end for now. Let us pray that Marie destroys it from the inside. Either way, she should be breaking in to recover Her Highness Lumilia, so she will likely run wild."
That said, it was not as if there was nothing he could do.
"Until then, shall I repair the circuit and look for a way to connect safely?"
Trusting his bad friend to move the situation, Geoglyph decided to take control of the Spirit Tree.
●
Save the king.
Having been told this in unison via telepathy by the Shadow Beasts, Marianne pondered while on the back of Ipos, who had flown into the sky above the royal capital.
(The king is probably that golden spider. Hmm... a name, is it?)
The name she learned during that encounter had been forgotten, just like the author of that ancient document. However, she had the sensation of knowing it despite forgetting it. And the fact that she had met him despite forgetting.
The golden spider, Marianne certainly knew its true name. She remembered it as if it were carved into her soul. Although that sensation and feeling existed, for some reason, she could not recognize it.
(It is almost on the tip of my tongue, but it feels like a fish bone stuck in my throat...)
After recognizing the "king" the Shadow Beasts spoke of, she began to feel a somewhat feverish pulsation within her chest. She did not know if it was her own or a longing through the path connected at the time of the contract, but she had the conviction that if she could utter that true name now, she could call him forth.
At the same time, there was a slight fear.
It was not based on theory but instinct, but she understood that the aforementioned "king" was the cause of this random teleportation. If she called such a thing out recklessly, there was no telling what would happen again.
The expectation as a military force and the anxiety as an irregular caused her conflict, leaving her in a "monyo-monyo" mood.
"What is wrong, Marie?"
"No, nothing..."
Perhaps sensing her state, Shannon, who was seated on Ipos with her arm around Marianne's waist, asked. To this, Marianne shook her head slightly.
Now was not the time to spend her thoughts on such things. While there were questions and anxieties, she switched her mindset, telling herself she must concentrate on what was before her.
"Here we go, Shannon. Hold on tight!"
"Y-yeah!"
And so, Ipos, carrying the two, dove into Alberstein's mouth.
●
Meanwhile, Later, who was practicing his strike-outs in the sky above the royal capital, watched Marianne dive into Alberstein's mouth and gazed at the situation on the ground as a short break.
"Man, the princess's full power is still brutal..."
Looking down from the barrier he used as a foothold, the ground looked like a general advance of mascot characters, running all over the royal capital and pummeling the skeletal soldiers. Kazuha, who was peering at the ground next to Later, nodded in agreement.
"I wonder what Marianne-sama contracted with."
"Who knows. Only the name is from Solomon's Seventy-Two Pillars──── ah, they are minor demons, so Kazuha probably does not know them, but such things exist. But according to Sensei, he thinks they are essentially different."
"Essentially different?"
"I do not know the details either, but he said the princess's case deviates from the laws of summoning magic."
Normally, in summoning magic, one cannot call forth something that exceeds the summoner's amount of magic. There is a possibility of leaping over that framework by using something related to the target's connection as a catalyst or vessel, but even then, one entity is the limit.
If the difference in power is too great, even if both parties agree, they cannot exert much strength. In terrible cases, that gap can cause some kind of reverse flow phenomenon for both.
However, in Marianne's case, each individual Shadow Beast easily exceeded her total magic capacity, and furthermore, she commanded seventy-two of them. On top of that, she did not seem to be bearing any kind of disadvantage.
Well, the Shadow Beasts occasionally seemed to ignore the summoner (Marianne) and make their own judgments.
"True, Marianne-sama possesses a tremendous amount of magic, but to the extent of employing such quality and quantity..."
"Right? Sensei suspected they were essentially different──── in other words, that a different law was being applied."
"A different law?"
"He said he did not know that far. Magic is outside my specialty, so I do not know either."
As Later shrugged, Alberstein, who was licking the sky, suddenly wavered.
"Oh? Something is squirming."
"Is Marianne-sama doing something?"
"I wonder," Later muttered, sitting down on the barrier foothold.
"Well, either way, it is about time to wrap this up. I want to get back to the Imperial Capital and relax."
"We have been away for about a month, after all..."
"That is part of it, but since coming to this country, I have not had enough kemonium. I am starting to suffer from fluff deficiency..."
"There are hardly any beastmen in this country," he sighed deeply, and as if to block his view, Kazuha's tail was offered.
"H-here, please?"
"Ofuu..."
After thinking for a while, Later confirmed there were no eyes on them from the surroundings and decided to indulge in fox tail sniffing to his heart's content.
Next time is next week.