Ch.259Strange Metamorphosis

After cross-checking the information from Anastasia with Grand Mother Marinda, it was confirmed that the medium used to seal the spirit lord had been crafted into a totem and enshrined in the village sanctuary.

When the Water King tribe first arrived in this land, they gathered whatever wood and stones from ancient ruins they could find to build shelters in preparation for the coming winter.

Among the transported ruin stones was a particularly smooth one that emanated magical power. Upon examination, it was determined to have properties suitable for totem material. Grand Mother Marinda herself, believing that the heavens had not yet abandoned the Water King tribe, poured her life force into creating the totem.

The problem was that while Grand Mother Marinda possessed the magical talent to construct a totem, she completely lacked any skill as a sculptor.

Originally, a totem serves both as a life support system that purifies dark magic and as a decorative object showcasing the tribe’s artistic prowess.

Typically, a skilled sculptor first shapes the material’s appearance without damaging its inherent properties, after which a shaman completes it as a totem. However, the Bekya Water King tribe, being war refugees, had neither the luxury nor the manpower for this, resulting in their totem being merely a smooth stone with painted designs.

“To think that it would be an object harboring a curse.”

“More precisely, rather than harboring a curse, it’s closer to an object that destroyed the spirit lord—a collection of curses—and sealed the curse formula that was its source. If they had just used it as a foundation stone or smashed it, there wouldn’t have been any problem, but…”

“So because it was processed into a totem that absorbed the land’s magic and the shaman’s life force, the curse formula sealed within the stone affected the entire village.”

“That’s some terrible misfortune for a coincidence…”

According to Grand Mother Marinda, since settling here, the Water King tribe has suffered numerous disasters: crop infestations, mass deaths of livestock, gender imbalances among newborns, and inexplicable rapid spoilage of preserved food.

If the cause of all these problems was the cursed totem material, then Kaiser’s accusation that Grand Mother Marinda brought calamity upon the tribe wasn’t entirely wrong. It must have been shocking for Marinda, who had sacrificed her life force trying to forge a path forward for her tribe.

“If I… if I had made the totem without investigating the stone… or at least if I had split it in half before using it…”

“I understand how you feel, but there’s no use blaming yourself now for something no one could have noticed back then. Instead, we need to think about what to do next.”

“There’s nothing to think about. It’s only right that I make amends for my mistake, so I’ll gladly dedicate my remaining life to creating a second totem.”

“And if you die, who will continue the dialogue with the pioneers?”

The curse pervading the village could easily be solved by destroying the defective totem currently in use, but for the Water King tribe to continue living here, a new totem must be created.

And the person who must pour life into that totem is Grand Mother Marinda herself, who made the totem with cursed materials. I understand her thinking.

But she has the crucial mission of leading negotiations with the pioneers as the representative of the Bekya Water King tribe.

If she dies while making the totem, could her successor continue the negotiations smoothly?

Besides, it’s questionable whether she even has enough life force left to complete a second totem.

“Let’s first investigate whether we can neutralize the curse formula without damaging the current totem. Fortunately, we have two experts in our party who can analyze magical structures.”

Creating a second totem is only a last resort; if possible, we’ll find another solution.

With this bottom line established, we followed Grand Mother Marinda’s guidance to the sanctuary where the totem was enshrined.

A small hut-like sanctuary located in the center of the village.

Inside was the village’s totem—a cube-shaped stone painted with colorful dyes.

Normally, stones are carefully carved into the shape of an animal symbolizing the tribe, but the Water King tribe at that time had neither the luxury of time nor skilled artists for totem creation, resulting in its current appearance.

“Well then, let’s see what structure this beast tribe totem has~”

The two female warriors guarding the totem sanctuary tried to stop Mina and Jessica as they approached, but when the accompanying Grand Mother Marinda gestured to let them pass, they hesitantly stepped back.

Indeed, pioneers would react the same way if the Water King tribe approached the barrier tower in the western city.

“Oh~ Unlike the barrier tower, the magic here is very stable! If the barrier tower is a bonfire, this is more like a candle or a basin of warm water.”

“You can tell that?”

“The Magiascope is basically a device that reads the flow of magic. I’ll increase the scan density to interpret the formula operating inside, then Jessica will use the fragment of the Whole to… huh?”

As Mina, who had been intently examining the totem while adjusting the Magiascope’s sensitivity, suddenly made a strange sound and tilted her head, silence fell among the onlookers.

It was like the atmosphere when a developer modifying code for an important program suddenly says “Huh?” with a serious face.

“…I’m afraid to ask, but what’s wrong?”

“Um, well… I don’t know much about Water King tribe shamanism, so I’m asking—is this totem supposed to continuously emit magic in one direction?”

“It is not. Rather, the role of the totem is to minimize the flow of magic and stabilize changes in the surrounding area.”

“Does that mean the curse formula sealed inside the totem has taken root underground?”

“Hmm~ It seems to be pulsating and extending as if connected to a specific target. Down there diagonally.”

The direction Mina pointed to was a small storage building located right next to the totem sanctuary.

She was saying that magic was continuously flowing from the bottom of the totem, through the floor, toward the basement of the storage building.

Grand Mother Marinda’s expression froze like ice as she understood the meaning.

“This can’t be! Kaiser is being held in the basement of that storage!”

“What? Wasn’t he in prison?”

“We don’t have anything like a prison in our village. Internal rebellion is such a rare occurrence… Guard! Open the door to the supply storage! We need to bring Kaiser outside!”

“Ah, understood!”

As the Water King warriors received Grand Mother Marinda’s urgent order and ran to unlock the storage, Iris, who had been quietly watching from behind, stopped them with a startled expression.

“No! If you open that door—”

*BOOM*

“Kyaaah!”

“Aaaah!”

The storage door burst open violently as soon as the lock was removed.

From inside, crimson magical energy surged out like a tsunami, and the two guards who were first engulfed in that turbulent magic collapsed on the spot, foaming at the mouth.

“Kara! Etna!”

“Don’t get close! That magic is a powerful curse itself!”

“What…!”

The red magic that instantly rendered the two Water King guards unconscious spread in a circle around the storage like muddy water before stopping. Then, with splashing sounds, something began to walk out of the storage.

“That’s…”

“K-Kaiser…?”

It was too grotesque to be described as a Water King tribesperson or even a human.

Something like sticky, bright red mucus, resembling melted taffy, had formed into a shape like a dead tree, and in the middle of the trunk was the unconscious face of Kaiser, buried within.

It looked as if a cursed tree was absorbing Kaiser and draining his life force.

“Jessica! Cut off the totem’s magic first! I’ll go to the carriage and make magic-shielding equipment!”

“Ah, got it!”

If the source of that grotesque mutation was the curse formula dwelling in the totem, cutting off its supply would be effective.

With that judgment, Mina ran toward the camping carriage to create equipment that could shield against magic, while Jessica decided to use the fragment of the Whole to take control of the curse formula activating in the totem to buy time.

But before that attempt could even begin, the blood-red cursed tree shot several streams of magic toward Jessica.

“Shockwave Splasher!”

*PAPAPAPANG!*

Fortunately, the ominous red magic extending toward Jessica was scattered by Phyllis’s area-of-effect explosion magic.

The storage entrance was about 15 meters away from the totem, yet the attack range of that grotesque tree was more than enough to reach here.

“Everyone, prepare for battle! Grand Mother Marinda, evacuate the Water King tribe, and Iris, go back to the carriage and help Mina!”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

The red mucous tree began to approach, swaying unpleasantly and slowly.

The final battle for the fate of the Water King tribe village was about to begin.