episode_0075

“Where are the mages?”

“Contact the Apostles!!!”

Inside the bustling city.

Everyone gathers their strength to prepare to face the powerful external enemy.

Countless people preparing for battle without panicking despite the desperate situation.

Even ordinary citizens begin to come out armed.

It feels as if everyone instinctively knows this is the final battle.

To all of them, we were completely invisible.

We exist as outsiders, as if watching a well-made simulation video.

Even if soldiers rushing out brush past us, no physical force is applied.

“What on earth is going on?”

No one could figure out the reason.

No matter how carefully they read the book, no information appeared.

Furthermore, they didn’t know what caused this to happen or what the trigger was.

“They said it was the Evil God’s army….”

The words they heard in passing earlier.

The Evil God’s army.

Everyone knows the old stories where it appears.

“In all the old tales across the continent, the Evil God’s army always appears. They feel like everyone’s enemy. But there’s nothing recorded in actual history.”

“Could it be that it’s too old to remain until now?”

“I don’t know about that.”

Perhaps because everything is so unknown.

Everyone is in a state of confusion.

It must have been a labyrinth they entered without much thought, but it’s turned out like this from the first attempt.

Will they think it’s just bad luck this time, or will they think some misfortune has befallen our clan?

Since those who applied to our clan must have researched us to some extent.

‘Perhaps whether we succeed or fail this time, some clan members might see a change.’

But they should think about the future later and break through the current situation.

For now, the situation is not good.

If I were in a combat situation, I would set up magic circles or put up shields like before. Unfortunately, the combat situation is over now.

Moreover, I couldn’t even get a reward from that Gallius we fought inside the cave.

“Then that monster could be alive?”

“Probably.”

“The situation is just awful.”

If there’s one fortunate thing.

It was the information brought back by the clan members who went out on reconnaissance.

“The army has surrounded the area and is waiting!!”

News that the Evil God’s army has surrounded the castle but is only watching, without approaching.

It was good news, but at the same time, a question arose.

“Why wouldn’t an army with such overwhelming force and even using strange smoke enter here?”

“Right.”

While everyone was just pondering, unable to suggest an answer.

Gamel, a mage of the White School, expressed his opinion.

“Isn’t there some secret in this city?”

Gamel’s opinion was reasonable.

They decided to scatter and explore the city together.

I decided to act with Grace alone.

Of course, Luca, who went to a different party, followed along, making it 3 people.

My judgment was that it would be good if they split up because both of them have excellent senses.

“…I don’t want to.”

Since Luca clung so much, I just let her.

After [Wild Instinct] was unleashed, Luca became increasingly faithful to her instincts, making her behavior unpredictable, so it was a factor we had to deal with.

“The army can attack this place at any time. The deadline probably won’t be generous.”

“Probably.”

My intuition tells me we must reach a conclusion within 3 days at the longest.

“Still, fortunately, the picture and appearance of the original Gelart are similar. Since the destroyed buildings have returned to their original state, it seems we won’t get lost at least.”

“Then it would be good to head to the banquet hall first.”

“I think so too. I have a feeling that we need to find out why the key to the door opening the inner castle was with the Grim Reaper in the banquet hall, for something to click.”

“……Me too!!”

Luca shouted energetically at the end, but her gaze was captured by a butterfly flying nearby, and she almost became lost, so I barely managed to bring her back.

The entrance to the inner castle has tight security.

But since we are neither visible to them nor physically tangible, we just passed through and entered.

As soon as we passed through the extremely tall castle gate and entered inside, we stopped in our tracks.

There was something incredibly massive inside, beyond explanation.

But we could grasp its purpose.

Because of its appearance, with multiple massive main cannons and a lot of blue magic stones embedded.

Anyone could tell it was a magic tool created as a weapon of war.

“……Wow.”

“Could it be that they can’t easily approach because of this?”

“That makes sense.”

But the more I kept looking at that imposing and magnificent sight, the more something felt strange.

Isn’t this too big compared to what I expected?

“Are there things like this in the labyrinth city too?”

“That’s impossible. If even a magic tool half the size of that had come out among all the inventions of the Magic Tower, the continent would have been turned upside down just by that.”

Gamel had arrived beside us before we knew it.

Gamel was traveling with Priest Kitra.

Kitra looked at me and greeted me.

“What, when did you arrive?”

“Ah, Clan Leader. Isn’t it that you sensed the immense mana from the inner castle and came in based on that?”

“Oh, really?”

Actually, I had just been looking with my eyes until now, and the rest I was relying on Luca and Grace’s senses, so I hadn’t thought about it.

As soon as I spread my senses, I felt immense mana coming from the inner castle.

Because every single magic tool was emitting vast amounts of mana.

Gamel walked towards it as if interested.

There were soldiers and mages guarding all the weapons of war, but since they couldn’t perceive us, we could approach closely.

Gamel read the magic circles and circuits attached to the weapon, but.

“I understand nothing. The only thing I can guess is that the magic circles and circuits are very basic.”

“Is this a world where ancient technology is more advanced?”

“Come to think of it, it seems we have no knowledge or information about past technologies at all.”

Since Gamel, a mage of the White School who learns all information generously, says this, it seems nothing similar to this exists in the current era.

“Perhaps it might be a scene from the future. Or the state after the Evil God awakens.”

It is still too early to judge everything based on just this appearance.

We decided to explore the inner castle further to get a little more information.

“I will analyze the circuits and magic circles here!”

We parted ways with Gamel and Kitra and explored the interior of the inner castle.

Unlike the outer castle side, which resembled the current era, the interior of the inner castle was a world filled with all sorts of magic tools. There were weapons of war like the cannons mentioned earlier, as well as weapons whose purpose was unknown.

Unfortunately, unlike Gamel, I hadn’t studied to become a professional mage at the Magic Tower, so I didn’t know how these worked.

But even so, I could roughly tell what they were.

“How would one use things like that?”

“It seems they use mana to fire projectiles upwards.”

As a Korean man who had even been to the military, I could infer their purpose and what they were made for.

Among them, there were some that looked similar to modern weapons.

How on earth did they think of such things? The confusion continued.

“Why are the outside and inside of the inner castle so different?”

“Right.”

There were no such magic tools in the outer castle area where ordinary citizens stayed.

There must be a reason, but only one thing came to mind right now.

“Since they are such dangerous weapons, they must have placed them where ordinary people can’t reach.”

“That’s probably the most likely reason, isn’t it?”

As we kept walking, we soon arrived at the banquet hall.

Just then, many nobles were holding a gathering there.

“To hold a party even when the Evil God’s offensive is pouring in….”

“Nobles are the same whether outside or here.”

While Luca and Grace harshly criticized the nobles, my impression was slightly different.

They were waiting for someone.

“Can’t eat the food….”

Leaving Luca, who was trying her best to somehow eat the food at the party, behind, Grace and I appropriately took seats.

“We can’t touch the food, people brush past us, and we pass through doors. Why can we sit here?”

“And you can lean against the walls too. Since it’s different in every situation, it’s easier to just think of it as doing whatever it wants.”

“That’s true.”

In such chaotic situations, it’s important not to try to understand everything but to adapt as much as possible.

Around the time I was spending time watching Luca, who had returned to her seat on an empty stomach, take out jerky from her subspace bag and tear into it.

Someone opened the door to the banquet hall and entered.

People with unified attire pouring in.

However, all their attires were similar to the priests of the current era.

“Are they priests?”

“It doesn’t seem like Ariel’s religion…”

Then what kind of god do these people serve?

The priests entered first, followed by the Holy Knights who came in one after another.

So many people entered and made a path.

The person who entered after that was one woman.

As soon as I saw her, only one thing came to mind.

“Is she the Holy Maiden?”

“Probably?”

A woman with features quite similar to the Holy Maiden of the current era, Aria.

But she is a completely different person, only similar in appearance.

“If this is a scene from the past, do all Holy Maidens share the same ancestor?”

“I wouldn’t know that. Perhaps they changed into that appearance after being chosen.”

Contrary to our expectations, the Holy Maiden entered but then immediately stepped aside.

That means the person entering afterward is someone higher in rank than the Holy Maiden.

Do they know that?

All the nobles in the banquet hall showed courtesy.

“Could it be the Pope entering?”

“Nobles acting like this towards the Pope?”

Was this a time when divine authority was strong?

That makes sense. If it’s a time when the Evil God’s army is active, the power of the group standing opposite them would naturally become stronger.

But my prediction missed the mark completely.

Someone entering, slightly floating, without even making a sound of footsteps.

Even if I tried to see their face, I couldn’t.

Because intense light was radiating around them.

All the nobles, and even Luca and Grace next to me, knelt down.

As if even seeing their face was not allowed, they couldn’t lift their heads.

Even the priests and Holy Knights who were with them knelt.

The Holy Maiden beside them did the same.

But only I could watch normally.

And he looked straight at me too.

Simultaneously, intense light filled the interior of the banquet hall.

Ddiring!!

『The record of the past has discovered you.』

『The record is being played.』

『The final moments of the most glorious city.』

As soon as the status window disappeared, the Divine God’s avatar walked towards me.

“……?!”

I don’t know why I thought it was the Divine God’s avatar.

But that was the only correct answer.

That which is approaching me now is a recreation of the Divine God’s past appearance.

“Has the time finally come?”

The Divine God’s avatar didn’t even open its mouth. Its thoughts directly entered my mind.

He looked me over this way and that, and then left the spot.

“Come to the Holy Land. Apostle.”

With those words, the Divine God’s avatar, having returned to the banquet hall, spoke this and that to the nobles according to its past form, and then went outside.

As soon as he went outside, everyone in the banquet hall stood up again and started talking about various things. What exactly they talked about did not enter my mind at all.

“Let’s go out.”

“Yes.”

For now, it seems we should go to that Holy Land.

We came out of the banquet hall and walked.

A world that still couldn’t detect us.

But the Divine God’s avatar clearly found me and spoke.

“What did you talk about? More importantly, that person was definitely… the Divine God, right?”

“He told me to come to the Holy Land. I don’t know where it is, though.”

“…I think I know a similar place. It feels like we’ve seen it on our side once.”

Following Grace, I quickly ran towards the inner castle.

We also passed by the procession of priests ahead.

Because the Divine God’s avatar was no longer there.

As we reached the Holy Land faster than them.

Countless priests and Holy Knights were bustling about.

The busy interior of the Holy Land, as if preparing for war.

It must be a natural thing.

Because the Evil God’s army was pouring in outside right now.

“Where should we go?”

He said to come to the Holy Land. But where exactly?

While looking around for a long time like that.

“Come this way.”

The Holy Maiden from the past found us.