Ch.276276. Goden Mikhail Rihabart (8)

While most of the Grand Duchy’s forces had moved to Mir Park, Levrant also needed strength to counter the sudden attacks of magical beasts.

The person considered appropriate for this role was actually Junon.

Muniher explained this to Jake.

“I understand. Levrant Academy could have been swept away by the lycans in an instant. So originally, he was supposed to be in charge of Levrant, right, Muniher?”

“You’ve got it exactly right, Jake.”

However, after learning that Junon was an Alcaide, they couldn’t readily recommend him anymore.

A vacancy had suddenly appeared, and it needed to be filled, didn’t it?

So they filled Junon’s position with Talon instead.

Even if magical beasts attacked Levrant, he was capable of leading troops. His grades and skills were decent, and he had experience leading troops against powerful enemies.

But an outcome completely outside their calculations emerged.

They say Talon’s unit was annihilated in less than a day after contact was established. It was news that was hard to believe even after hearing it with their own ears.

The two professors, wanting to prevent further damage, gathered their weapons for the first time in a very long while and rode out on horseback.

Though they said “annihilation,” not everyone had died fighting on the spot. If that were the case, signal fires would have been lit at a location far from the Lilkran Mountains, rather than sending a message from there.

There must certainly be surviving soldiers.

The two professors needed to rescue the remaining soldiers who would be scattered and trying to save themselves.

“…!”

“Whoa!”

-Neeeiiigh-!

After riding for some time, both men simultaneously halted their horses because they spotted a scene they could hardly believe even with their own eyes.

“What… what’s going on here, Muniher?”

“I don’t know. But… I do know we should worry about ourselves first!”

Soldiers presumed to be part of Talon’s unit were lying on the ground.

But they weren’t alone.

-Kyeeeeek!!

Magical beasts known to inhabit or frequently appear in the Lilkran Mountains were there too.

They were guarding this place.

Therefore, the two professors couldn’t help but wonder.

To magical beasts, humans should be nothing more than prey, just another type of living creature.

And fallen humans should be excellent sources of nutrition, providing remaining energy and magical power.

Yet why were those fallen soldiers preserved intact, without a single bite taken from them?

It was paradoxical, contradictory.

That these magical beasts would ignore human corpses.

They didn’t know the reason.

The two living legends of the Mirum Order drew their weapons, deciding to deal with the magical beasts before them first.

-Grooowl!

There weren’t many magical beasts, and within minutes, the sounds of them falling to the ground came one after another.

To face those two, much stronger creatures would have needed to appear in droves from the start.

“…We should call both the forensic team and the medical team, right?”

“Probably.”

Now that things were somewhat settled, they intended to investigate the reason for this ironic scene.

Why the magical beasts had ignored the human bodies.

“Here they come, right on time.”

People began arriving one by one, responding to Muniher and Jake’s signal magic as they had ridden ahead.

Once enough personnel had gathered, they immediately divided into medical and forensic teams and began checking the scene.

The medical team first checked a soldier’s life signs, then reported:

“He’s alive. All life signs are normal. He’s unconscious, but… I suspect a species capable of sleep or fainting magic passed through here.”

They said the person lying on the ground among the magical beasts, unable to do anything, was alive.

With the corpses of freshly hunted magical beasts lying around, the two professors must have wondered if that made any sense.

Even more remarkable was the forensic team’s response.

“There’s no trace of anyone using magic here. Only traces from you two.”

They said that after examining the flow of mana at the scene, there were no human traces.

“Huh.”

“What on earth…”

The two professors inhaled emptily, as if dumbfounded.

Of course, knowing the process, this couldn’t be true.

“Muniher, is what I’m thinking… correct? Is this even possible?”

“It can’t be!”

Rather than being affected by sleep or fainting magic, they had heard news that the unit was annihilated, with soldiers falling one by one. And as for traces of magic, it was obvious that they would have left some while buying time for their comrades or resisting during dispersal.

“Check, check once more.”

Jake shook his head and asked for another forensic examination, but the result was the same.

Something unimaginable had happened. A phenomenon that broke the common sense that magical beasts show no interest in humans.

They weren’t sure how to interpret this, but it seemed they couldn’t waste time here.

—ROAR!

With a howl coming from deep in the forest, they couldn’t leave the forensic and medical teams in this state. They had to avoid combat and move the fallen soldiers first.

.

.

.

“All the soldiers show the same symptoms. They have life signs but no consciousness… their magic circuits have stopped, and mana isn’t circulating.”

“Were there any other unusual points?”

“Um… I’m sorry. Should I check again?”

“…No. You’ve worked hard. You may go.”

“Yes, sir.”

As soon as the door closed, both men sighed.

Not only was the scene strange, but the soldiers’ conditions and the fact that all their symptoms matched exactly felt very suspicious.

In the midst of this, Muniher quietly spoke up.

“Jake. Do you remember that soldier from the 3rd unit we brought in, the one who kept a pet dog?”

“Ah. That troublemaker who was always causing problems. I remember. Today his family brought the dog in themselves.”

“This might sound random, but… about that dog. Its reaction was strange.”

“Strange?”

“You know how it would always rush at him, causing headaches in the academy and the unit? How was it today?”

“…! Now that you mention it… that’s true. It was docile, as if it didn’t recognize its owner.”

“If its owner had died, it would be sadder. If he were alive, it should have rushed to him happily upon finally seeing his face. I… have seen a similar scene once before.”

At the mention of a similar scene, Jake could roughly guess what Muniher was thinking.

“Ronelion, I presume.”

“Yes.”

Someone had already shown these symptoms. The spirit in the form of a hawk that always hovered around Ronelion. That spirit had not been seen for some time.

Like Renias, Ronelion had to control his overflowing mana in a different way, so he contracted with a spirit, which slept in an artifact and would wake up at every opportunity.

But the hawk contracted to Ronelion was nowhere to be seen when visiting his hospital room.

“It would make sense for a spirit not to be visible, but if its master is in that state, it should normally consume a small amount of mana and come out. But it remained asleep in the artifact.”

“That means…”

As if it never existed. As if it was completely asleep and could never wake up.

Ronelion’s spirit had not appeared once since his mana stopped circulating.

Magical beasts. Animals. Spirits. This revealed that all three types of living beings on the Kempriton continent treated humans with these symptoms in the same way.

“We don’t pay attention to stones rolling on the ground. It was as if… they were treating humans that way.”

If his technique had such power.

“That’s more like being cut off from the world… no, being erased from this world would be more fitting.”

Just like stones rolling on the ground.

Their existence had been erased from the world’s recognition. Except by humans.

***

A fierce battle on steep terrain.

The parched ground showed traces of blooming lotus flowers exploding repeatedly.

The blue flames clinging to the forest trees were evidence of azure flame arrows being shot without rest.

With ice fragments and puddles on the ground, and unstable holy barriers breaking and splitting…

It could be said, without a doubt, that they were giving their all.

But their enemy was strong.

Unburned by lotus flowers and flames, uncut by the thick mana surrounding sword blades, and unaffected by ice and holy power.

They couldn’t even pierce its skin.

No matter how desperately they struggled with all their might, Ashpern countered and nullified all weapons and magic that humans possessed.

Therefore, the path they took was…

-‘Please, Junon. You are… our hope.’

The sacrifice of a leader to protect all party members.

That day.

When Goden risked his life to deliver a strike that cut away a mountain, Ashpern did not die.

A magical beast that wouldn’t easily yield even when facing Tembris with full power. The worst, most vicious enemy that still hadn’t disappeared from my past.

And the greatest challenge the Grand Duchy would face in this life.

“…Did it appear much earlier?”

Ronelion’s condition was the same as back then.

No doubt. This was its power of oblivion.

The power to pierce the target’s heart with a spear of concentrated magical energy, inscribe a technique, and erase their existence from this world.

If so, it means Ashpern already existed.

“If it appeared this early… there’s no time to waste.”

Magical beasts grow stronger over time. In a world of strict survival of the fittest where only the strong survive through the food chain, Ashpern would be no exception.

But it hadn’t yet encountered Tembris.

Unlike then, it appeared earlier, so its growth would be months behind. While it was still somewhat vulnerable.

I must defeat it now. Without fail.

“I’m sorry, Renias.”

I promised her.

That I wouldn’t get hurt anymore.

That I wouldn’t jump into dangerous situations from now on, nor even think about it. That I wouldn’t suddenly collapse and use her lap as a pillow like that time.

But I had to break that promise with my own hands.

All the mana will drain from my body, and I’ll collapse. I might lose consciousness and keep my eyes closed for weeks this time.

Because to stop Ashpern, I must once again grasp the magic spear containing my life.

“I’ll fulfill your request, Ronelion.”

You must have stood for several minutes even after being pierced by Ashpern’s spear.

The words you were determined to convey. The request to never let Renias encounter Ashpern.

I’ll definitely keep that one promise.

After leaving Ronelion’s hospital room, I slipped out through the back door instead of going to Renias, who would be waiting anxiously.

***

At the hospital’s main entrance, Renias clasped her hands as if in prayer.

Since Junon went in, she had been praying with her eyes closed, facing Ronelion’s hospital room.

Her uncle’s hand reached out to her.

It was Muniher.

“No news, and now you finally show your face, Renias.”

“Ah… I’m sorry, Uncle. It’s just…”

“Never mind the excuses. Rather, I have something to tell you, so shall we move somewhere else?”

“But… I’m waiting for someone…”

She intended to wait until Junon came out, as he was the one she was waiting for.

However, Muniher, who had witnessed Junon slipping out through the back door instead of the main entrance where she was waiting, couldn’t bring himself to tell her this truth. He must have deliberately avoided her.

But she needed to know. Especially Renias, the only person who could stay by Junon’s side now.

“…Even if that person is Calix, whom you summoned from the attic?”

Renias’s eyes trembled violently, and she stared at Muniher with a frightened face.

“U-Uncle? What did you just say…”

“Didn’t you draw the Calix summoning circle in the attic when you were young? I heard about it from Dalia.”

“H-How… no. How can you be sure that’s Junon? His hair might be black now, or it could be dark purple like Ronelion’s, or it might change color later like other people’s…”

“Shh.”

Muniher raised his index finger to Renias as her voice rose.

The word Calix was certainly not one to be casually mentioned here.

“There are many watching eyes, so follow me. Since Junon isn’t here, I have something to tell you.”

Calix? A summoning circle drawn in the attic as a child?

It was sudden, but she couldn’t dismiss it as an excessive leap.

‘Could it be…’

With a sense of foreboding, Renias followed Muniher.