99 - Episode 25: The Resurrected Dragon ~Albestein~
Because the god was not accustomed to creating worlds, this world is immature from its very inception. Consequently, while the world was given factors to evolve automatically, it was not optimized, and it seems that when certain conditions overlap, it enters a permanent loop due to variable processing issues.
Of course, it is said that this latch circuit can be resolved, but since the god uses this world for his own trials, he intentionally leaves it as is and gains experience by solving those troubles.
How do you do that? When that... asked.
"Using the souls of people from other worlds is the recent trend. That said, moving them directly between worlds is a crime, so we randomly select souls just before they are bleached, gacha them, and toss them in,"
Apparently, there are rules even in the god's world. That... thought that, considering the trials, it is surprisingly worldly.
Having witnessed several stirring processes... other-world reincarnations, that... found enjoyment once again.
As the god said, the souls of people from other worlds are indeed suitable for stirring. Perhaps because they are not souls originating from this world, they are distorted and sharp, and that is precisely why they are a chaos where one never knows what will happen.
The people from other worlds who come to this world all produce interesting results.
Those who became Demon Kings, and those called Heroes.
From those who became great scholars to those who became once-in-a-generation villains, the results are too numerous to mention.
But, if one continues this, boredom eventually sets in.
Once again, emotions begin to dry up.
When that lament was conveyed to the god, the god said this.
"You were likely born too early. Let's see... until this world eventually catches up to you, shall we rest for a while?"
I don't want to, that... defied the god for the first time.
That... loves people. That... loves watching people. Right now, it is only because they are still young, but eventually, they will surely show an unknown that that... cannot even imagine.
"That action exceeds your role."
The resistance was powerless. A thing that was nothing more than a system could not prevail against the god.
"Sleep for a while now. Hoping that your prayer will eventually reach its destination."
As it drifted into hibernation, the god's voice, mixed with a bit of pity, echoed quietly.
Therefore, that... waits.
At the end of the prayer of severance, for the arrival of the one who will break this absurdity called boredom.
●
The news of the capture of Prime Minister Gardel Vertex reached the main camp shortly after the tide of the battle was decided.
The ones who captured him were the First Knight Order, led by Mule Grey.
Lumilia, wondering why they, who were once hounds chasing her, had done so, asked Radock, only to be brushed off with, "That was my doing, so you needn't worry about it." Lumilia found it suspicious, but decided to accept it. She figured it was the result of some shadow struggle beyond her understanding. As long as she stood as King, she would eventually need to learn such things, but it was not important right now.
And now, in the main camp, Lumilia was facing Gardel.
Bound with ropes and forced to his knees, he nevertheless looked surprisingly healthy and clean for someone who had been captured. Lumilia wondered if he had been caught without resistance as she looked closely at his face.
It was a face she had seen since she was born, a face that could be called another parent. He had a slightly tired expression, but he had not lost his usual sternness. At first glance, he gave an unapproachable impression, but Lumilia knew well that he had a surprisingly playful side.
"You've come."
"Yes. I have come, Lord Vertex."
Even though Gardel was the one who had been hauled in and brought here, the fact that she said such a thing made her think he hadn't changed. No, if she meant that he had marched toward the royal capital, then it would be correct.
"Step back, Shannon. Count Radock, is that alright?"
"But..."
"It is fine. I wish to speak without others present."
When she said that, Julia shrugged, and Shannon, looking reluctant, led the other guards out of the camp tent. Even though he was bound, she thought he was far too defenseless. If he were a mage, he could attack as long as his mouth could move.
But even so, she wanted to hear Gardel's true feelings.
"I was watching from here, and you showed great skill."
"Everyone lent me their strength. If I were alone, I likely could not have even escaped."
At the slightly softer tone of his voice, Lumilia reminisced about the old days. Back then, her father was there, Gardel was there, Shannon was there, and while the studies and ritual practice as royalty were difficult, they were fulfilling days.
"You have been a bit of a tomboy since you were young, but you were intelligent. Do you remember? When you were seven years old, the time you sneaked past the guards and headed into the city."
"Yes. At that time, you found me and saved me. Even from Father's lecture."
Then why.
"Then why is that? Why won't you remain the kind and reliable person you were that day? Ga-jii."
Why did it turn out like this.
She understood that she had been unreliable. That she had failed the most important ritual. But she could not believe that the man named Gardel Vertex was so heartless as to abandon someone for that alone.
Therefore, she directed a somewhat clinging gaze toward him.
"It makes me want to vomit."
She was rejected.
"That sweetness makes me want to vomit, Lumilia."
"Ga, jii...?"
That voice and tone were sterner and colder than anything she had ever heard.
"Kind and reliable? I simply flattered the next generation's royal authority to ensure my own survival. If you cannot even perceive that, you will be even less capable of functioning as King. It is fine to trust your subordinates, but what is the point of a King depending on her subordinates?"
"That is..."
Lumilia, shrinking under a sharp gaze that seemed to pierce an arch-enemy, had no means to argue against those words.
"Royal authority is, in other words, the main pillar of the country. If that breaks, the state and the people will collapse together. If so, it is only natural to try and replace it before it breaks, before it rots. And that role belongs to the subjects, not the royal family that has lost its power. Why do you not understand that?"
"Are you saying that I cannot be the main pillar?"
"The answer to that came out four years ago."
Gardel, shaking his head quietly, slowly lowered his eyelids.
"Our paths no longer overlap. If you still intend to have your way, then behead this Gardel Vertex."
He declared with even greater sternness than usual that if she wished to move forward, it would be in exchange for his life, and then he fell silent.
●
In a corner of the battlefield, four men and women were walking together.
"...Hey, Kazuha. It's hard to walk when you're clinging to me like that."
"Do you dislike linking arms? Then, the tail."
"Oof... fluffy for the first time in a while...!!"
"I see. You guys have been on quite an adventure too."
"Yeah... I wanted to see Big Sister's first live..."
It was Leiter and the three girls.
After the tide of the battle was decided, just as Leiter was getting fired up, saying they should take a breather and then march into the royal capital, they happened to run into the three girls who had escaped on their own and joined up. Now, they were heading toward the Royalist faction's main camp to reunite with Geoglyph and Marianne.
While Kazuha clung to Leiter, Latia and Lilitia nodded and spoke of their respective circumstances, and the conversation concluded with the first trouble.
"So in the end, what was the cause of us being sent here?"
"Who knows. The princess seems to have an idea, but I can't even recognize the names. I speculated that summoning magic was the cause, but I still don't know if it was intentional or a rampage."
"Is it possible to teleport using summoning magic?"
"Sensei said, with that usual know-it-all SF-otaku face, that 'just as spatial coordinates have no meaning before the concept of time, spacetime has no meaning before the concept of dimensions.' But I don't really get it."
While replying to Latia and Kazuha, he kept it to himself that the origin of the princess's summoning magic wasn't from this world in the first place, so it couldn't be understood with the common sense of this place.
Marianne herself had mentioned it before, but the base was an ancient document, and almost certainly a book left behind by a reincarnated person who was once in this world. Why the seventy-two pillars of Solomon were left in an ancient document wasn't even written, but the details and the magic circles that likely corresponded to each pillar were apparently drawn.
Geoglyph, who became curious and wanted to analyze it, requested the ancient document, but according to Marianne, it was in her possession for a while after the contract, but she noticed it had gone missing.
"So, where are the other two?"
"They were the buff-casters at the main camp, so a bit further ahead..."
It was when Latia asked and Leiter pointed toward the main camp. Suddenly, Lilitia stopped and turned her face toward the sky.
"...!? Sniff sniff sniff sniff...!"
"Lilitia-sama?"
Then, ignoring Kazuha's question, she snorted, spun around the area as if checking the wind direction, and then.
"I smell Big Sister...! This way!!"
Following the scent of her beloved Big Sister, she dashed off, kicking up dust.
"She's becoming less human by the day... Is she a dog?"
"If anything, she's a mad dog."
"U-um, that just means Lilitia-sama's love is that strong..."
I think 'heavy' is more accurate...
The three, appalled by how her engine started, slowly began to follow the back of the rampaging Saint.
●
Meanwhile, around the same time.
"What is the matter, Geo?"
Geoglyph and Marianne, having finished what they needed to do, were heading toward the royal capital together. On the way, Geoglyph suddenly stopped. He crouched down, touched the ground, and asked Marianne beside him.
"...Isn't it shaking?"
"? Ah, you're right. It's been a while since there was an earthquake."
When Marianne crouched down as well, she indeed felt a subtle shaking.
The Empire, located in the center of the continent, was a country where earthquakes rarely occurred, perhaps because it was far from the continental plates. Even if they did, it was only the aftershocks of a great earthquake that occurred far away, and as far as Marianne remembered, she could count them on one hand. Most likely, Alberstein, which was adjacent to the Empire, was also a region with few earthquakes. The soldiers who had begun cleaning up the battle were buzzing with puzzled expressions.
After a small shaking of about intensity 2 continued for a while, immediately after, this time it was not a shaking but a very large presence that was born underground.
In other words, it was an immense pressure. It was a danger signal itself, as if speaking to one's instincts.
"Eh? What is this!"
"What is this amount of magic power...!? It's coming from below!? Run, Marie!! Thaw!!"
Judging that emergency evasion was necessary, Geoglyph pulled Marianne's arm and evacuated from the place where the large presence was using wind magic. At a spot sixty or seventy meters away from where they originally were.
"Big Sister...!!"
"Geh! Lilitia! ...No, stay! Stay! Wait! Right now, there...!!"
Recognizing the figure of the familiar rampaging Saint beyond the large presence, Marianne waved her hand to tell her to stop. However, Lilitia, judging that she was being called, accelerated all at once. When she came near the center of the place where the large presence was born.
Ah
With a thud, that... appeared from underground, as if splitting the earth, and extended toward the sky like an inverted waterfall.
"Big Sisteerrrrrrrrrrr...!!"
Lilitia, who was blown away by that... like a ball at a dolphin show, flew off toward the royal capital like a shooting star.
She seems to have enough energy to scream, so the Saint is sturdy as expected, Marianne thought, feeling relieved as she looked at the surprisingly energetic Lilitia, when Geoglyph thrust out his palm beside her.
"Overlap Thaw!!"
He overlapped lightning magic and released it. The lightning bombardment, like a beam weapon nearly ten meters wide, surged forward while brilliantly illuminating the surroundings and hit it directly.
However.
"No way...!?"
The covering scales repelled most of it, and although it slightly scorched and changed color, it immediately returned to normal.
"You didn't hold back, did you?"
"It was the maximum firepower possible within the fastest speed I could fire..."
To Marianne's question, Geoglyph answered with a twitching cheek.
Unaware of the two who were completely put off, that... continued to grow toward the sky, and eventually reaching its peak, it collided toward the ground this time... no, this time it burrowed into the ground and extended toward the sky again.
It was a movement like a fish jumping and diving on the sea, but the damage caused by that action was not cute at all. After all, it was a giant body with an estimated width of over forty meters and a length approaching approximately two kilometers. The plains that had become the battlefield immediately became full of holes, bringing immense damage regardless of whether they were Royalists or the Prime Minister's faction.
"Hey Geo, could that be..."
"Hmm, it's probably the Spirit Dragon Albestein that we've heard rumors about, but..."
As its name including Dragon suggests, it had scales, but they reflected the sunlight glossily as if they were wet, and occasionally body segments were visible through the gaps in the scales. There were no eyes on the head, and a mouth about the same size as its width opened and closed like petals. The shape itself was very simple, and if it weren't for the size approaching two kilometers in total length, one could have called it a snake.
That such a huge unidentified creature was around the royal capital was not something the two idiots had been informed of in advance. If it hadn't just popped out of nowhere, it was natural that it connected to Albestein, which was said to have ravaged this land in the past.
Of course, there were various thoughts, such as whether it had been sealed, why it was now, or how it had been resurrected, but for now, the words that came to mind upon seeing that... were these.
No matter how you look at it, this is just a huge earthworm...!!
Is it an Albenian Death Worm!? the two idiots retorted in a desperate manner.
●
"...What is it?"
While Lumilia and Gardel faced each other and silence dominated, a great shaking of the earth broke it. Thud, thud, sounds and vibrations like striking, which were too heavy for an earthquake, gradually drew closer. And finally, they recognized it through a gap in the camp tent.
The rebel against Cathedra, Albe. The deviant extending toward the sky, Stein.
The natural enemy of those dwelling in this land, possessing both names.
Its name was.
"Spirit Dragon Albestein...!?"
As if reacting to Lumilia's words, the Spirit Dragon Albestein, which had been glaring at the sky, turned its eyeless face consisting only of a mouth toward her, spread its palate like petals, and launched a surprise attack from above like a reverse drop.
"! Your Highness!!"
"!?"
Gardel, who came to his senses, used his body as a shield to protect Lumilia, but before that violence, he was powerless, and the two were swallowed up along with the camp tent.
Next time, again next week.