#275
Rematch (4)
After Marquis Lawrence, the master of the Imperial Palace Magic Tower, and the battle mages arrived.
The situation that had broken out in the slums on the outskirts was quickly brought under control.
Stav, who resisted to the very end, did not last long before being subdued, and the few masked men who attempted suicide the moment they realized they could not escape after an archmage had barged in...
“Ghk!”
“Mmph!”
“Hey now, where do you think you’re going! Stay still.”
Before they knew it, curse threads had wrapped around their bodies, including their mouths, leaving them stiff and immobilized. The mages who soon joined them then sealed every means they had and took them away.
‘It really is incredibly useful.’
Hesperon glanced at his right hand, which gave off an even denser aura than before, and nodded.
It was partly because the masked men had let their guard down at the moment just before killing themselves, but even taking that into account, the reason he had been able to completely suppress those rather high-level fellows was all thanks to the growth of the 「Right Arm of Craving」 and its increased output.
Being able to use more detailed curses with greater proficiency, like the “paralysis” he had used this time, was no small gain either.
-Situation over! I’m alive thanks to you. Thank you, Riley.
-Haa— I’m glad I wasn’t too late. ...And if we’re getting technical, this was my fault, so I should be the one apologizing. I should have handled it properly from the beginning so I wouldn’t trouble you...
-It’s fine, it’s fine. That’s just how life is. As long as you did your best at the time, that’s enough. From now on, we’ll just keep doing our best to deal with...
Hesperon, who had been leisurely encouraging the self-reproaching Riley, suddenly stopped speaking.
A moment later, his gaze turned back to his own right arm.
Sssss—
A pitch-black aura of curse began to creep up.
The 「Right Arm of Craving」, which had been satisfied after devouring resentment, was slowly raising its head again in protest.
-Heron? Why did you suddenly stop? Are you all right? Don’t tell me you really are hurt somewhere...!
-Ah, sorry. It’s nothing. I just happened to make eye contact with Stav for a second. I gave him a glare.
But even as Hesperon answered her every word, he quietly looked down at his right arm, which had now begun convulsing violently.
‘Ah, this is dangerous.’
Contrary to what he had told her, his complexion was growing pale as the blood slowly drained from his face.
Drip, drip—
Only his expression remained calm. Blood from his nose, running down a face covered in cold sweat, dripped to the floor.
At that, several mages who had been cleaning up the surroundings hurried toward him, but right now he had no attention to spare for them.
Saaaa—
Before long, the curse energy that had seemed to be testing the waters little by little began to rampage more and more violently.
“This... must be a side effect.”
Even in that situation, maintaining his composure through 「Mind Hub」, he slightly frowned and began checking his body carefully, one part at a time.
No matter that he had succeeded in making the curse serve him through a contract, its very essence had been a power like a double-edged sword from the start.
Wasn’t it even a special existence, not an ordinary curse, but one that possessed spirituality and had acquired a rank of its own?
Unless he was a being like the Immortal King Hans, who could completely ignore things like curses, this was an ability that always had to be handled with caution.
‘...I definitely did use it a bit excessively this time.’
He had not simply operated its power, but had also used it for defense, clashing head-on several times with attacks imbued with black magic.
The impact that had filtered through alone had been enough to shake his organs, so how much damage must have accumulated in his arm?
Sssss—
At that moment, a black dragon that had manifested at some point, coiled around his arm, stared intently at him.
Unlike its usual dignified appearance, its eyes gleamed sinisterly like a snake’s.
Then, the curse that had been confined to his right arm began slowly expanding its territory.
“Tsk, this is why I should have listened when the doctor told me to be careful.”
At its behavior, Hesperon quietly clicked his tongue.
Of course, this time had been an unavoidable emergency, but it seemed he needed to come up with a countermeasure somehow after all.
Because there was no telling what would happen later, once the curse grew even stronger.
“But not a chance right now, you bastard.”
Crackle—
And as expected, the curse that tried to widen its domain failed to cross the line of his shoulder and writhed repeatedly.
Not only because of the bandage sealing tool wrapped tightly around his shoulder, but also because his skill, 「Curse Predator」, had begun fiercely resisting the attempt to invade his body.
‘Now!’
Flutter—
While the curse faltered for an instant.
At his will, the bandages on his shoulder unraveled in a flash, then in the blink of an eye wrapped around his right arm so tightly that not even water could seep through.
Crack— crackle!
Soon, as if rebelling against it, black sparks flew and his arm thrashed violently.
In time with that, the black dragon repeatedly appeared and vanished like a flickering fluorescent light.
At the same time, tremendous pain began surging in from his right arm, but his 「Mind Hub」 and 「Soul Firewall」 thoroughly blocked it and protected his mind.
However, unlike his mind, the reaction of his body, which could not help but be directly affected by pain, was beyond even his control.
He was not Harley, who could control every strand of muscle and every single cell.
His pupils lost focus under the pain occupying his brain and nerves, and the muscles throughout his body convulsed.
In contrast to his pale complexion, thin streams of blood flowed from his mouth and nose, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat as though he had fallen into water.
Like that, about five minutes passed.
Perhaps because he had continued tightening the reins through the 「Chain of Covenant」 connected to the curse.
The 「Right Arm of Craving」, which had been rampaging wildly, finally began to calm down slowly, and his body also gradually regained stability.
‘Whew, if this had happened during battle, there would’ve been no answer.’
He soon let out a sigh of relief and massaged his throbbing right arm.
Then, after moving the arm that had been thoroughly wrapped in bandages this way and that to check its condition, he lifted his head.
“Are you... all right?”
At some point, Marquis Lawrence had come over and was cautiously speaking to him with a strange expression on his face.
“Yes, I’m fine now.”
Since Hesperon had learned magic at the imperial palace for some time and had often run into him, they could be considered fairly familiar with each other.
Perhaps conscious of Riley, the next highest authority, Lawrence had occasionally offered him various pieces of advice as well.
“Mm... well, if you say you’re all right, I suppose that’s fine.”
“Haha, more importantly, my greeting is late. Thank you for saving me like this. I was just thinking things were getting truly dangerous.”
“Not at all. You fought quite well yourself. I heard it hasn’t been long since you started training, yet you’re already at that level.”
As he spoke in amazement, he stopped and slowly looked Hesperon over again.
The dirt and dust covering his body, the bloodstains left here and there, his pale complexion, the cold sweat soaking his whole body, and even the muscles that still trembled intermittently.
No matter how one looked at him, he certainly did not seem all right.
‘No, even aside from that, anyone who saw him earlier would think the same.’
Lawrence stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes.
A confrontation between a curse that had lost control and gone berserk, and a will struggling to suppress it somehow.
Just by looking at his body’s reaction, one could easily guess what level of pain had been inflicted on him at that time. Yet Hesperon’s face was now utterly calm, as if nothing had happened.
‘His mental strength and self-control are beyond words. What a pity. Truly a pity.’
His growth rate, which Lawrence had observed until now, and the fact that he had held out against Stav until Lawrence arrived this time.
If Lawrence took him as a disciple and taught him properly, he seemed like someone who could even become his successor...
‘Mm, should I try bringing it up casually later?’
But now was not the proper time to bring up such a topic.
Since he had decided to do this, it would be better to make sure of it properly.
If Hesperon ended up going wrong somewhere because of side effects after Lawrence had gone to the trouble of saving him, wouldn’t he risk earning the princess’s resentment?
“That simply won’t do.”
“...Pardon?”
“Now, now. Let’s get going.”
“Ah... yes.”
And so, unable to overcome Lawrence’s insistence, Hesperon was half-forcibly admitted to the imperial hospital.
After Riley heard the full story, his long-term hospitalization was decided immediately.
Along with a worried scolding transmitted through the 「Chain of Covenant」, asking why he had said he was fine.
***
A base set up on the outskirts of Seoul.
Tap, tap, tap—
The sound of fingers drumming on a table scattered through the quiet room.
I stared blankly at the monitor displaying a report sent through secure mail, then quietly fell into thought.
‘Auterica has now entered its final chapter.’
There were still quite a few minor matters left, but the incidents that could bring major changes to the world had roughly been wrapped up.
What remained from now on was for the avatars standing in their respective positions to steadily increase their influence, and for the home-theater to be brought to a successful conclusion.
‘The biggest matter left is the sanctions against the Duchy of Hermanhart...’
In truth, that did not seem likely to last very long either.
Perhaps Riley was truly furious, because she was moving more actively than ever before.
She was still at the Great Temple of Rosellia, but she had begun showing large-scale movement while commanding the subordinate forces she had gathered all this time in perfect order.
The political world, of course, as well as the business world, the academic world, the Magic Tower, and even mercenaries.
She had even leaked the story of Stav becoming a dark knight to the church and requested inquisitors, so what more was there to say?
‘I have a grudge against that side too, so I accepted right away.’
This was something said directly by a person who had come as the representative of the empire.
Was that not more than enough justification for the church to intervene directly?
‘And if that feels a bit insufficient, I can just plant a few points of connection to the Immortal Army on their side.’
If I did that... well, would you look at that!
A prestigious ducal house would very easily become traitors to humanity!
Rebels who were so blinded by power that they even joined hands with the Immortal King.
Even if they were an imperial ducal family, it would be only a matter of moments before one house was finished.
All the more so if even the imperial family had turned its back on them. Their chances of recovery would be zero.
‘But when I think about it, it isn’t even wrong, is it?’
And on further consideration, I realized that this was not even a false accusation.
It had already been confirmed that Duke Hermanhart was one of the executives of the Heaven-Defying Oath.
What kind of people were the Heaven-Defying Oath?
Were they not an evil group that not only resurrected the Immortal King, but also opened the Gate of the Abyss to release madness, and plotted the sinking of the Enamel Continent and the Great War of the Ion Continent?
‘I don’t know how much he knew when he cooperated, but in any case, the truth is the truth.’
Whether he cooperated while knowing the continent might truly be destroyed, or whether he merely intended to profit by creating a suitable crisis, was no longer an important issue.
This had now become the execution of a lawful sentence.
‘...My thoughts wandered elsewhere. Then that side can be handled like that, and...’
My gaze turned back to the secure mail on the monitor.
Then the mood I had forcibly lifted to clear my head sank back to the floor.
The sender was Andrew Weaver.
A slave... no, a talented individual who possessed the unique skill 「Trajectory Observation」, useful for gathering information.
And the report that had arrived this time contained information that made me feel it had been worth recruiting him.
‘The Lawgiver...’
Suddenly, I recalled the sight of him when I encountered him in Japan, beaten to a pulp by Hans.
And I thought back again to the past that had brushed by me during the hospital terror attack not long ago.
Flames and explosions, heat, screams, the smell of blood.
A voice calling my name, eyes looking at me, warmth, memories.
“Huuup, whew—.”
Along with a deep breath, the emotions I had struggled to bury during that urgent situation began boiling up.
The anger and resentment I had buried in 「Persona」, telling myself that it was not yet time, slowly began raising their heads.
‘Yes, I’ve held back plenty. It’s about time... I showed some results.’
The corners of my twitching mouth slowly rose.
The East Asia branch chief, the Lawgiver.
And in other words.
Did that not mean he was the decision-maker and overall person in charge of the terror attack back then?
I had no intention of ending it with just that one bastard, but he would at least serve as an appetizer to roughly quench this thirst.
I closed my eyes and leaned back against the chair.
My vision darkened, and there was the faint operating hum of the computer.
And then.
“Hans.”
Inside the room.
Darkness descended.
***
The deepest place in Auterica.
The Abyss.
That place, where the standards of time and space, matter and concept were disturbed and floated meaninglessly, was filled with chaos as always.
It had always been that way until now, and would likely continue to be so in the future.
Crackle!
And yet.
In that place, which seemed as though it would remain unchanged forever, a sudden anomaly began to occur.
Crack, crackle—
Crunch— craaack!
The sound of something shattering rang out as space broke apart.
No, perhaps what was breaking was not space.
This was a place where even such a concept could not exist intact, so even the fact that there had been a sound might have been an illusion.
But whatever the reason, an unknowable change was continuing even now.
And at last, it spat out another anomaly into that place.
“Hmm.”
A man who had suddenly appeared there, as if he had been in that place all along.
Even within a space where everything was chaotically mixed together, he was not affected in the slightest. He slowly looked around and let out a low hum.
“Is it a miss this time too?”
But he could not be certain yet.
Since he had not visited through the official route and had intruded by using a loophole, there had been similar cases before as well.
After all, vulnerabilities in security were usually found in these remote places beyond the administrator’s gaze.
The man who thought that... a being who seemed ordinary, yet exuded an oppressive air, and even felt indistinct—
The leader of the Buncheon Society twisted the corners of his mouth and opened his lips.
“I hope there’s something useful to gain this time...”
But before he could finish speaking.
《The XXed XXX is looking at you.》
Thump—
With a fierce heartbeat, space trembled.