Ch.274274. Goden Mikhail Lihabart (6)

Already the seventh, the final colony.

“Direct hit! Just as you said, by slightly twisting the trajectory right after firing, it hit perfectly!”

The soldiers are intoxicated with the victory they’re about to claim, shouting in excitement.

The magical beasts drawn by the noise are now few in number. Even those have been sufficiently weakened, and the magic that precisely struck with the long-range sniper artifact has dampened the colony’s magical energy.

That’s why everyone believes without a doubt that this dreaded colony destruction operation will soon end.

“The magical energy of the targeted colony is starting to decrease!”

“Advance! Sweep them all away!”

Goden, at the vanguard, draws his sword and commands the highly motivated soldiers.

To eliminate all enemies before them.

Most of the soldiers are current students, graduates of Levrant Academy, and a small number of exchange students.

Since most of them lack experience and even basic knowledge of field supervision and small-unit command structures, their daily operations were often fraught with difficulties.

In other words, the current imperial army, composed not of battle-hardened veterans but young people, was uniformly inexperienced and deficient. Especially Goden’s unit, made up of vanguard and support classes that had been excluded and denied battlefield experience until now, was prone to making small mistakes and truly precarious.

However,

-Crunch.

“No other connections! The colony’s magical energy concentration is disappearing!”

“All magical beasts in the vicinity have either fled or been eliminated!”

“Good, let’s return!”

—Hurrah!!

Could this really be that precarious unit?

Were these truly the same people who had retreated against Feltibourgos?

Consecutive victories. Undefeated. From the outside, it was impossible to tell the difference.

As the roots of the final colony were pulled out, another nest of magical beasts was completely eliminated.

‘It’s over.’

After completing a total of seven colony destruction operations, Sirah would no longer be under attack.

While the soldiers are celebrating their victory, still trying to grasp the reality that they’ve actually finished the job, Junon is experiencing a different kind of realization.

As always, Junon had planned to draw the attention of the magical beasts himself, employing guerrilla tactics focused on dispersion and defeating them one by one to greatly deplete their strength.

But from the day his plan first went awry, forcing him to transform the decoy operation into a lure operation, Goden no longer allowed Junon to act alone.

To put it more clearly, he wouldn’t let Junon shoulder all the risk by himself.

Even though time has reversed and produced clearly different results from before, some things remain unchanged.

“Comrades are supposed to share burdens together. You stubborn fool.”

-‘I can’t entrust such a reckless operation to you. No matter how powerless you feel, I can’t allow it.’

“You haven’t changed, then or now.”

Goden hasn’t changed.

Whether overlaying the past onto the present Goden, or the present onto the past Goden.

Goden was still just Goden.

So, Junon realizes his failure.

The operations he devised might have seemed somewhat unorthodox, but they always shone.

Yet it was a failure. He should have barely used any forces and should not have relied on Goden’s power.

In the end, he couldn’t break Goden’s will, and just like before, he couldn’t accumulate their strength.

Even though the colony destruction operation succeeded, for Junon, it was a failure.

‘…Right, I should step back now.’

With the final colony destroyed, there was no more need for him to act.

Tembris, who would soon finish sealing Feltibourgos, was expected to arrive here, so why would he need to intervene? The imperial army would handle it.

Only one thing remained.

Whether to find the Ashpern of Oblivion and deal with it personally…

-‘Don’t use it!! That’s not magic—it’s a power that consumes your life force!’

-‘…You’ve never experienced magical exhaustion, have you?’

Thanks to Professor Denis’s explanation, he now had a clue about his power.

Though extraordinary, the theory itself wasn’t far from conventional understanding.

It consumes life. So is mana related to life response?

The answer is Yes.

When any living being dies, their mana completely disappears, escaping as a mass of magical energy.

Then the enormous mana that goes into the magic spear must forcibly activate the circuit by consuming lifespan to make up for the deficiency. That’s why using magic shields or armor never caused any problems.

In other words, it converts insufficient mana into life force. Only when using the magic spear.

So if he could extract mana stored somewhere else, wouldn’t that work? Couldn’t such a trick definitely stop Ashpern?

That’s why he had planned to use the trick of bringing the Blushuar Arc to contain Ashpern.

But the current political situation of the empire was clearly different from the past. To the extent that he didn’t need to act directly.

Unlike before, the empire now has sufficient military power. There’s plenty of time, and all Tembris members except Erika, who is held back by divine power, possess synchronization-type magic armor.

In such circumstances, is there any need to confront Tembris?

No. He felt there was no need to step forward.

“Hmmmm-?”

While lost in thought, dazzling silver hair blocked his view.

With a face that seemed ready to nag if she spotted any injuries, she was poking here and there.

“What, what?”

“I need to check, don’t I? It’s obvious you’d hide it if you got hurt again.”

Her narrowed eyes were filled with suspicion, searching for any hidden wounds.

That’s understandable.

Until the destruction of the second colony—that is, until the third colony destruction when Goden intervened and the operation was modified—Junon’s body always returned injured.

Even though she had visually confirmed his safety through collaboration with Goden several times, one shouldn’t let their guard down until the very end.

“Well, you’re not hurt today.”

“…I already told you I wasn’t hurt.”

“How can I believe you? You’re a liar.”

Renias finally relaxes after thoroughly examining Junon’s body and finding no injuries.

And as always, she should have offered the food she had carefully prepared, but.

This time, her silver hair fell limply on her shoulder.

“Is it all over now? Since we’ve destroyed all seven.”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go back. There’s no need to stay here anymore.”

Renias abruptly suggests returning.

Perhaps being separated from Junon had been difficult for her, as she begins to show tears.

Junon strokes her head gently, acknowledging that her tears come not from childishness but from the emotional burden she’s been carrying, and agrees to leave.

“…Sigh.”

Goden, who had been watching the two until they left, lets out a quiet sigh.

Then he scratches his head awkwardly.

“I thought about talking to Junon, but… with Renias sticking to him like glue.”

The day before destroying the final colony.

Goden received a letter.

[I can assure you that Lord Ronelion is alive. His breathing, pulse, body temperature, and blood pressure—all vital signs are normal. However…]

[He’s alive, but no new mana is being produced, almost as if he were dead. Yet he hasn’t turned into a mass of magical energy either. That’s why I said he’s not dead. His unconsciousness seems related to this mana issue… but nothing has been discovered yet. If you happen to meet those two, please send a letter with more details about the situation at that time.]

It was a letter regarding Ronelion’s condition.

Ironically, due to the Grand Duke’s convalescence, the Lantana ducal family couldn’t be contacted, and Renias had suddenly disappeared. Even Ophelia, who had been close to them, had left for the Empire, leaving Goden as the only one who could hear this news.

He had learned from Senia that Renias and Junon were at the scene during the incident, but he didn’t know the details.

In the end, he had to ask the two directly.

But how could he deliver this news right now?

Should he blurt out in front of Renias that Ronelion is technically alive but might as well be dead, and ask about the situation?

That would be absolutely unacceptable.

“The only one left is Junon… but Renias is in that state.”

Since Renias, who had lost Ronelion, was relying on Junon, he had no choice but to quietly wait for the right timing.

***

The imperial army, having successfully conquered Mirpark Castle, immediately engaged in battle with Feltibourgos.

Though they faced both humanized magical beasts and undead magical beast hordes simultaneously, Tembris eventually succeeded in occupying the castle.

The undead magical beasts that swarmed day and night could have caused a crisis, but fortunately, as Senia had predicted, Feltibourgos had not yet grown into a being with such power.

By now, the nobles’ offensive had also weakened.

After occupying the castle, they focused solely on sealing Feltibourgos, and the Mirpark faction, having lost their ultimate weapon, turned tail and fled.

The soldier concludes his report on the Mirpark castle siege.

“So the sealing should be complete by now?”

“Yes, Duke Zelvartan.”

“Then what about Sirah?”

“Lord Goden has taken action. A total of seven colonies have been destroyed, and the operation…”

“No need to continue. I can roughly see who planned it.”

Muniher finished comprehending just by looking at the map of Sirah and the advance routes established in various places.

“Then what remains is the Rilkran Mountains, where forces from Levrant moved.”

Swift messengers have arrived from Mirpark and Sirah, but one spot remains empty.

The herald from the unit that went to subjugate a Champion-grade magical beast in the Rilkran Mountains hasn’t arrived.

As Muniher, sensing something ominous, was carefully examining the map with his fingers interlocked before his face.

“Huff, huff…! Disaster has struck!”

A soldier arrived with news.

“Report.”

The soldier, barely catching his breath, closes his eyes tightly and wails on the spot. Muniher quickly approaches, placing a hand on his shoulder.

From the soldier’s hurried arrival and expression, Muniher instinctively realizes that the news is not good.

So what is the extent of the damage?

What problem are they unable to resolve?

He needed to know in order to formulate a countermeasure.

However.

“The magical beast in the Rilkran Mountains… has annihilated our unit…!”

“What?!”

Annihilation.

An unbelievable outcome had occurred.

“It’s not Champion grade…! It’s not B-rank! It’s, it’s… a monster that defies the very concept of mana!”

“I understand what you’re saying, so calm down and answer! Tell me what kind of creature it is!”

“Everyone who charged at it was pierced by its spear, and not a single one of those struck ever rose again… Nothing works… Neither blades nor magic, nothing works…”

“Hey! Pull yourself together!!”

The soldier, who had run with all his might, fainted on the spot.

“That thing in the Rilkran Mountains… annihilated Talon’s unit?”

Although the current generation of Levrant Academy tends to focus on Tembris and Arkab, it shouldn’t be to that extent.

If that unit wasn’t just defeated or forced to retreat but completely annihilated…

“Contact Goden’s unit in Sirah immediately. Tell them to deploy to the Rilkran Mountains!”

The estimated threat level: minimum S-rank. Must be treated as a Named grade.

***

【 Last. I will turn the fifth clock hand. 】

【 I remember your choice. O maiden like a blue flame who upheld justice, without even a grain of karma. 】

【 However, one man’s life has already been taken there, and each of you has become a clock hand to turn back time. 】

“Ugh…!”

“Michel? What’s suddenly wrong with you?”

What is this?

My head feels like it’s about to split open.

Why, why am I hearing this telepathic message?

【 I will be waiting. At the place where the breath of the man whose life was filled with tragedy was cut off. 】

“Argh…!”

“What’s wrong, Michel? Why are you suddenly like this?”

“I don’t… know… what is this voice…”

【 Come find me. O first friend who believed in Alkaid until the end and wept bitterly at his death. 】

Flash-

The place that appeared before her eyes was in the form of ruins.

And a vague phrase comes to mind.

-‘The location of the ruins containing the oracle.’

“Michel? Michel! Wake up!”

“Senior Senia? What… what is happening?”

“Cain! Michel is—”

Remembering only that, Michel clutched her head and fell into a deep slumber.