Ch.161161. Tumultuous Land

The bright smile the girl had been wearing until just now vanishes like it’s been extinguished by the Republic’s piercing cold.

Before anyone realized it, the warrior who had forgotten her past and resolved to make a new start had returned.

Sling.

As she pulled her greatsword from the ground and rested it on her shoulder, Aria’s eyes held a calmness that couldn’t possibly belong to the girl who had been throwing a dramatic tantrum just moments ago.

The greatsword resting on her shoulder tears open.

A large mouth appears and releases a grotesque scream.

Oscorp’s brow furrows at the Black Magic energy flowing from within it.

“The Devouring Sword, Duatein?”

An object that could be called a living weapon. It holds limitless potential, especially since its properties and characteristics change depending on what it cuts down.

It was a greatsword that had interested the Republic of Clark, which was conducting various weapon research, but they couldn’t obtain it because it was hidden in the Griffin Kingdom.

“Did you feed it a Black Mage?”

Oscorp’s expression showed disbelief. Unlike the Griffin Kingdom, the Republic of Clark actively accepted Black Mages, so he had some knowledge of Black Magic.

If that level of Black Magic energy was emanating from Duatein, the person it consumed must have been no ordinary figure.

And Oscorp’s guess was correct.

Back when Aria was still obsessed with Deus Verdi as a hero, she had fed two of Dante’s Black Mages to Duatein and tried to give it to Deus as a gift, but he refused.

Since then, she had just been keeping it as something difficult to dispose of, never expecting to use it like this.

Kieeeeek!

With Duatein’s scream, Aria swings the greatsword. Despite the considerable distance, the force pushing through space itself was tremendous.

Only the superhuman Oscorp was able to stand firmly on his two legs in this situation.

His saw-toothed greatsword begins to roar roughly, emitting noise just like Duatein.

“Kingdom folks are truly absurd.”

Thump, thump, thump.

Oscorp walks forward with heavy footsteps.

“Living such lukewarm lives while thinking they’re something special.”

Thump.

Standing right in front of Aria, he looks down at her. Just looking up at the 3-meter-tall Oscorp, enhanced by his protective armor, was overwhelming for Aria.

The height difference was more than double.

In a situation where weight class alone was crushing, Oscorp raises his saw-toothed greatsword high.

“Being elegant and dignified is proof of not living fiercely enough.”

KWAAAANG!

The saw-toothed greatsword slams down and immediately begins rotating on the ground without hesitation. Normally, it should have crushed Aria’s entire body, spraying blood everywhere.

But the saw-toothed sword only grinds the floor, sending sparks flying.

Aria had already leaped away, holding Duatein with both hands and spinning her entire body like a top.

KWANG!

A heavy strike that seemed impossible to have come from a small girl’s hands.

Oscorp, momentarily struck in the head, exhales a tense breath, realizing he could have been knocked unconscious.

But Aria and Duatein don’t stop there.

Black Magic energy extending from Duatein forms into the shape of hands, grabbing Oscorp’s shoulders as he’s pushed back.

Pulling Aria toward Oscorp, she continues her combo attack without even touching the ground.

Under the barrage of attacks, Oscorp finally had no choice but to raise his greatsword upward in defense.

Aria continues fighting, jumping in all directions as if gravity doesn’t affect her.

She wields a long, heavy greatsword against an opponent twice her size, engaging in relentless infighting without backing down an inch.

A combat style much tougher than her fragile appearance would suggest.

“Hoo.”

A deeply exhaled breath.

Just that alone sends chills down Oscorp’s spine, and he desperately tries to create distance while raising his sword.

THUMP!

Aria’s feet stamp into the ground, and simultaneously, an explosive display of mana erupts.

The black mana contained in Duatein spreads like paint, covering the surroundings.

The scenery darkens like it’s covered by a massive dark cloud. Oscorp felt as if he were floating in the night sky.

“Crescent.”

And as the girl’s sword emerges, a single strike resembling the moon in the night sky flows out smoothly.

Cracks begin to form in the supposedly indestructible armor, the protective gear known as invincible.

CRACK!

As the protective gear shatters, Oscorp inside it touches the ground with his own legs for the first time in a long while.

While it could be seen as finding freedom from the protective gear he thought he could never escape, Oscorp wasn’t happy at all.

“Impossible.”

“Hoo!”

Regardless of Oscorp’s reaction, Aria exhales deeply and shoulders her greatsword.

After showing such a fantastical series of attacks, is she not going to take his life?

“Are you… showing mercy?!”

Though Oscorp shouted in humiliation, Aria responded indifferently.

“The professor asked me not to take others’ lives for my own sake.”

When she first heard this request in Norsweden, she refused, but now it’s different.

Originally, schoolgirls don’t casually take others’ lives.

“Besides, this is ridiculously tough. I had to use Crescent just to break it.”

Aria furrows her brow as she pokes at Oscorp’s shattered protective gear with her foot, muttering in disbelief.

“What is this?”

Even though Aria had witnessed countless tragedies and horrors before her regression, this was something new.

Unlike its solid exterior, the inside of the protective gear was writhing like hundreds of insects, searching for its next host.

A sight so grotesque it almost induced vomiting. Did Oscorp know what he was wearing?

While wondering, Aria creates distance.

She glances over at Findenai, who was leaning against the Kid Zone entrance, breathing steadily.

Though the Salvation Corps members seemed to have lost the will to continue fighting after Oscorp’s defeat…

Eeeeeng!

A buzzing sound like what everyone hears on a summer day.

“Mosquitoes?”

As Aria grimaces and looks around, the area was suddenly filled with flying insects.

Looking at the gathering insects, Aria instinctively understood.

That the master of these insects was the creator of that protective gear, an object that shouldn’t exist in this world.

The insects crawling on the ground and flying in the sky gather and merge to form a human shape.

The insects soon scatter in all directions, and in their place stands a hunched man.

If Oscorp was twice Aria’s size, this man was the opposite.

Due to his hunched back, he appeared much smaller than Aria, but if he straightened up, he would likely be at least 180cm tall.

The old man leaning on a cane greeted Aria with interest.

“What’s your name, virgin?”

“Stop the sexual harassment.”

“Kekeke, that wasn’t my intention, but you can take it that way if you want.”

Pleased with Aria’s reaction, the old man placed his hand on his chest and introduced himself.

“I am Filai. The father of Findenai behind you.”

“…What?”

Aria turns around in surprise. Hearing this from behind, Findenai musters her strength to raise her middle finger.

“Stop bullshitting, asshole.”

At her firm attitude, the old man who introduced himself as Filai laughs.

“But you believed it, right? It was fun, right? Interesting for a moment, right? Hahaha! This is what you call having a sense of humor!”

“Crazy bastard.”

As Findenai, the subject of the joke, grinds her teeth in hatred, the old man wipes away tears of laughter and responds.

“Huhahua, I’m Barkterus Nicolai, Director General of the Weapons Development Department of the Republic of Clark. Also a Black Mage affiliated with Dante, which your greatsword devoured.”

“…Affiliated with Dante?”

“Yes, yes. It’s my side job.”

Nodding, Barkterus approaches the split protective gear and looks down at it.

“Hmm, to think you could destroy Oscorp’s special protective gear. Quite impressive. But thanks to you, I’ve obtained good research material.”

“What should I do?”

Aria grips her greatsword again and takes a stance.

“I don’t think you’ll have time to use that good research material. You’ll be the third Dante member to be devoured by this greatsword.”

“Huhahua! You’re giving me that Duatein too? I’m receiving quite a bundle of gifts today!”

Though it doesn’t feel like they’re having a proper conversation, it’s infinitely unpleasant.

The old man called Barkterus was thoroughly unpleasant and detestable to others, but he also possessed enough strength to live that way.

‘He’s no ordinary person.’

Even Aria, who had hunted two of Dante’s Black Mages simultaneously, had to acknowledge Barkterus’s strength.

“Ah, it’s time.”

Barkterus raises his head as if he’d been waiting.

Even Aria had momentarily forgotten due to his intense presence.

Golden light begins to spread from the marker in all directions, soon taking the form of a person.

Wearing thick golden robes, they were one of the kingdom’s elite forces.

Magic Inquisitors.

And standing at their forefront was Magic Inquisitor Chief Tyrn Ol Belokus.

As Barkterus looks up at Tyrn, who is glaring around impassively and exuding angry fighting spirit, he laughs again.

“Huhahua! A big shot has arrived! Is the kingdom looking to start a war?!”

Though Barkterus taps the ground with his cane, finding it amusing, Tyrn slowly turns his body to make way.

“You dare speak of war after committing acts showing not a shred of respect for the kingdom.”

A blonde girl wearing a dress completely out of place in a detention camp, yet also carrying a sword at her waist despite the dress.

“Hunchback, don’t open your disgusting mouth. I fear I might take out my frustration with Norsweden on you.”

At the appearance of the Griffin Kingdom’s princess, Elenoa Luden Griffin, even Barkterus bulges his eyes and smiles coldly without laughing.

“My, my, for the princess to come to such a dangerous place.”

“…”

“This is a place where it wouldn’t be strange for someone to die in an accident.”

Eeeng.

An insect naturally tries to land on Princess Elenoa’s white skin, but…

“Hup!”

It’s blocked by Tyrn’s mana barrier beside her and burns up.

The golden robes of the Magic Inquisitors ripple through space.

It was armor that could counter all magic, and its defensive power made even Deus uncomfortable when facing Tyrn.

“Hooh.”

Barkterus shows deep interest in the Magic Inquisitor Chief’s robe. This indicated his guard was down.

“Tyrn.”

At Elenoa’s cold command, Magic Inquisitor Chief Tyrn summons strength throughout his body and charges forward, gripping his spear-like staff.

Barkterus cackles as he looks up at Tyrn who has suddenly rushed to his side.

Tyrn’s staff strikes precisely at Barkterus’s hunched back.

WUDDDDDDDDDD!

As his hunched back straightens, Barkterus crumples to the ground like an insect. Tyrn’s mana creates intense pressure, completely crushing him.

“D-Director!”

Though Oscorp tries to react, he can’t do anything having lost his protective gear.

The same goes for the other Salvation Corps members.

They couldn’t even move properly in the face of Tyrn’s overwhelming magical power.

Barkterus, crushed into the ground like a dead centipede, but…

“Huhahua! Is this really a declaration of war?!”

Suddenly laughing right next to Oscorp. Tyrn checks the corpse he killed in confusion, but it soon dissolves into hundreds of insects and disappears.

“Princess! Do you understand the situation? You’ve walked right into enemy territory. Do you know how valuable your body is?”

Barkterus licks his lips up to his nose and cackles, but…

Elenoa responds with only a sneer.

“How stupid.”

“Hu?”

“You really thought we didn’t know anything because we’ve been pretending not to notice until now.”

“…”

The warp marker Aria had placed begins to fluctuate.

Golden beams of light…

Strike down from the sky to the earth once more.

This time, it didn’t require the massive amount of mana needed to bring a large army.

Only a single figure was contained within the golden light.

“Do you know the weight of the blood you’ve spilled?”

“…Ha.”

Realizing who was coming, Barkterus, for the first time, adjusts his grip on his cane with a tense expression.

Gulp.

Saliva passes through his hunched back as insects slowly begin to gather.

“You’ll soon find out. How heavy death can be.”

Seeing this, Elenoa smiles slightly.

“I wonder if you can stop his footsteps.”

And so…

As the pillar of light completes its role and disappears…

Standing there was an expressionless man known as the Death Priest in the kingdom.

A quiet stillness settles low, as if welcoming him. His sorrowful eyes, filled with various thoughts, take in the Republic.

“How.”

A lamentation directed at heaven and earth.

He spoke with genuine regret.

“Can it be so noisy.”

As if, he could see something.