The statement that there was no target available for summoning was by no means simple.
If the environment made summoning impossible, or if there were some other reason, a message corresponding to that reason would appear. In the worldview of Ventair, a message saying that no target existed meant only one fact.
The target’s death, or complete annihilation.
“……Why?”
Why, so suddenly, after all this time?
Had Kkingkkingi not been a being born as a skill?
Then what reason could there possibly be for Kkingkkingi to vanish?
No, to begin with, how could an inhuman god of death be annihilated?
When he had not even summoned him, nor used the skill.
Hio could only stand there as if frozen in place, countless thoughts racing through his mind alone.
「Skill—‘Summon Death God’ is activating.」
He tried activating the skill again.
「Skill use has been canceled.」
「No target available for summoning exists.」
But the result was the same.
Had he truly been annihilated?
Did it mean Kkingkkingi was really dead?
Was the skill ‘Summon Death God’ now unusable?
How could such a thing be possible?
What had caused this result?
Where, and what, had he done wrong?
Even as he swiftly traced back through his memories, he could not pinpoint anything clearly.
If there was one thing that bothered him, it was merely that Drisella’s authority, which he had obtained this time, resembled Kkingkkingi’s.
Drisella’s authority, which allowed perfect understanding and complete control, to the point that he could be called the god of magic power.
But Kkingkkingi was an inhuman existence who had mastered not only magic power, but every form of qi.
Whether Vitalianus or Ataolf.
A presence and pressure that any being could not help but fear and revere.
That was the existence known as Kkingkkingi.
When his thoughts reached that point, one hypothesis suddenly came to mind.
“……No way.”
If.
If, truly if.
The Death God who freely handled all energies.
If his true identity was.
“Drisella……?”
Could he have been the god of ancient magic?
Could it be that, the moment Hio inherited his authority, he had been completely annihilated?
Struck by the unbelievable thought that had suddenly occurred to him, Hio could not move from that spot for a long while.
* * *
- In truth, skills themselves were strange abilities from the start. They were powers that did not fit the laws of the world.
Swordsmanship, which required decades of tempering both body and mind.
Magic, which likewise required tempering the mind and the study of knowledge.
Unlike those, the supernatural power called a skill consumed magic power, yes, but it was far too easy.
Had skills not been one of the reasons Hio had been able to face Kreuzwald, even for a moment?
In other words, there was no risk.
Neither in casting time nor in activation conditions.
Aside from consuming magic power, there was no issue at all.
Such a trait became an even greater advantage the higher the level of the skill.
- You said all the gods were involved in constructing the system, did you not? Then how about thinking of it a little differently? That all the gods were involved in every skill.
The power of every god dwelled in every skill.
When he thought of it that way, it seemed to make a certain amount of sense.
The immense abilities of the highest-tier skills.
The effects that sometimes appeared when using them.
If they were part of a god’s power, it was understandable.
“So you’re saying that because I obtained Drisella’s authority, Kkingkkingi disappeared…… no, met complete annihilation.”
- Do not think of it so harshly. That Death God may not have been Drisella himself, but one of the arrangements he left behind, no?
“……There’s no way.”
Purnell’s words might be right.
There was nothing he could be certain of right now, after all.
But once his thoughts had reached this point, there were some things he could understand by instinct alone.
The Death God who vanished the moment he obtained the authority.
The two powers that resembled each other to an uncanny degree.
It was his true identity, discovered far too late.
* * *
Time flowed quickly.
There might be no one for whom it did not, but Hio’s days, too, were a series of repetitions.
For the five minutes or so during which he used Drisella’s authority, he learned magic.
After the authority wore off, he practiced the magic he had learned.
The results were clear, and patterns began appearing one after another even in the seventh ring, which had been empty. With that, its stability sank down all the more heavily.
However, because the aftermath of the authority made it difficult to continue for long, he had to spend his remaining time on other research.
For instance, research into golems.
Or exploring the top floor of the Magic Tower, Abelard Pavlenko’s room.
Among them, the research into golems had made a fair amount of progress.
- According to the materials found in the laboratory of the golem researcher Lellendis on the 89th floor…….
It was thanks to Purnell actively throwing himself into the research.
Perhaps he had judged that, magically speaking, he could no longer give Hio advice.
Or perhaps there was some other reason, but thanks to Purnell, who had strangely become thoroughly obsessed with golems, Hio’s knowledge of golems was growing day by day as well.
- Can you believe it? This Lellendis fellow was far more incredible than I thought. His theory was already in its final stages. It makes one wonder why he failed to complete the experiment.
“A theory?”
- The most perfect golem, I mean. Of course, we will need to take a look at that psycho goddess’s ice golem as well, but Lellendis’s golem is theoretically the most perfect golem.
“It’s that impressive?”
At Hio’s question, Purnell puffed up his body and nodded vigorously.
He seemed more than a little excited.
- Its strength, of course, but even its flexibility surpasses a human’s. On top of that, it is a perfect golem equipped with magic power channels.
“……You call something like that a golem?”
- Should we call it a doll? In any case, there is no doubt that it is an astounding invention.
“Is there a sample?”
With an extremely regretful expression, Purnell shook his head.
- The problem is that even in the laboratory, I could not find that theoretical golem. It must certainly exist somewhere…… It is probably so intricate that it cannot be distinguished from a human.
“If it’s that intricate, how do you tell the difference?”
- According to the records, it cannot produce a voice, so that should be enough to identify it.
“I see.”
Purnell, who had been nodding, glanced around the empty space of the Magic Tower.
- By the way, when is the psycho goddess coming?
“How would I know? She said she’d come as soon as she finished organizing things as quickly as possible, so she’ll probably be here soon.”
And perhaps those words proved correct.
Less than a few days later, Airaitz returned to the Magic Tower.
* * *
Purnell, who had been carefully examining one of the ice golems Airaitz had taken out, lifted his gaze from the golem and turned around.
- Mm…… I will be honest.
He spoke with the solemn expression of a doctor emerging after finishing surgery.
- I cannot tell even by looking.
Hio let out a low sigh, his expression saying that he had expected as much.
“It’s fine. I didn’t have high expectations.”
- Ahem. As you know, golems are not my specialty…….
“I know. I know.”
The ice golem inherited by Airaitz and the golem of the golem researcher Lellendis, which Purnell had praised to the skies.
Purnell had confidently declared that comparing the two golems would yield better results, but when Airaitz actually brought a golem, his reaction was that he could not tell even by looking.
It was only natural.
Purnell was not a golem expert, and merely looking through some research records recently did not mean he would immediately understand them.
Moreover, Lellendis’s golem did not exist in physical form.
They had to compare something completed only in theory through imagination, so how could that possibly work?
“Let’s let the golems go now and focus on something else.”
- ……Very well. I admit I was somewhat excited because golems are top secret and of utmost importance even among mages.
“If we could have made one according to your plan, it might have played a major role even in the Abyss.”
- It cannot be helped. Still, there is that ice golem, is there not? Since it is specialized for combat, it may actually be of more help in the Abyss.
The number of golems Airaitz possessed was ten thousand.
They were as reassuring as the empire’s knight orders.
In that Hio did not have to protect them, and in that they obeyed Airaitz’s orders unconditionally, they might even be better.
- Then let us move on from the golems. Next is the hidden room of the previous Tower Master…….
The hidden room of the previous Tower Master was the place where, according to what they had seen through the memory door, the dragon tainted by the Abyss had been bound.
Of course, at present, there was no Abyssal dragon or anything else there. It was merely an empty secret chamber.
- It seems it will be difficult to find something right away.
What they had to find there was a passage.
Not anything else, but a passage leading to the Abyss.
A passage that the ancient dragon and Kreuzwald had used.
However, since it was located inside the Magic Tower anyway, the only ones who could use it were Hio, Airaitz, and perhaps Freya.
For that reason, they had pushed its priority back, and though progress was not swift, it had been moving along slowly.
But it seemed it would take even longer than expected.
The act of finding a passage itself was far too vague.
With no information and no method, they were simply searching for a passage to the Abyss.
It could not help but be vague.
“Should I try using Drisella’s authority?”
- That…… let us leave it as a last resort for now. In any case, we are not going to open the passage here, are we? It would be far too wasteful to spend an authority you can barely use for five minutes in a day or two on this.
“That’s true. There’s still a lot of magic I need to learn.”
- Let us wait. There will be a way.
Hio nodded, then looked at Airaitz this time.
No, in truth, she had been in his sight since earlier, but he had been deliberately pretending not to notice.
“Airaitz.”
“Mm?”
“How are the divinity points? Are they accumulating well?”
“Mm. With just a little more, I’ll have enough to buy one decent authority.”
“……Already?”
“Mm. I love you.”
Ever since returning from Pieria, Airaitz had once again been clinging tightly to his arm.
He had long since given up trying to pry her off.
After all, before he knew it, she would be attached to his side without anyone noticing.
- Hehehe. Now you should stop pretending to dislike it and simply accept it. I have known what was in your heart for quite some time already.
“Shut up.”
“Mm? Hio’s heart?”
“Never mind that. What did you do to gather that many divinity points already? I only got one not too long ago myself.”
Excluding his unique authority and two basic authorities, Drisella’s Origin Breath was effectively the first authority worthy of being called an authority.
And that was Hio, who exercised immense influence in both places, Earth and the Verden Continent.
Pieria might be a nation, but Airaitz was only active in a single country. How had she gathered divinity points so quickly?
At that question, Airaitz lifted her face from where it had been leaning against his shoulder and looked up at Hio.
Her gently curving smile even held a fresh brightness.
“If you’re curious, want to come with me?”
“Where? To Pieria?”
“Mm.”
“Hmm…… I am curious, but I don’t think I have time. There’s a lot to do.”
He truly was curious.
What on earth the kingdom of Pieria, which Airaitz had begun to involve herself in in earnest, looked like now.
He did not know for certain, but he had a feeling it was probably quite far outside the bounds of normal.
He had firmly told her not to commit crimes, so she likely had not done anything too terrible, but somehow he had the feeling that it would not be normal either.
“Then let’s go together after everything is over.”
“……After everything is over.”
“Mm. Pieria has many places with beautiful scenery. And lots of delicious food. I’ll prepare everything.”
“Yeah, that sounds nice.”
“And after that, let’s use dimensional transfer to go to Hio’s hometown too.”
“My hometown…… you mean Korea?”
“Mm. I’ve been curious about it for a long time.”
“That’s also…… sure.”
Though it felt unfamiliar to have such a conversation with Airaitz, he also thought it was rather nice.
Most of their conversations had always been about what to do next; this was the first time they had spoken about such a future.
Had Airaitz seeped into him at some point without his realizing?
Airaitz always expressed her feelings one-sidedly.
The reason he had stopped forcefully pushing her away was because he felt both grateful and sorry for that unchanged heart.
Of course, there were definitely times when she went a bit too far.
But when he thought about it, that was Airaitz.
Someone with whom he had shared many things, shared painful pasts, and now spoke of the future together.
“They say Korean food is that delicious. It’s not even that far, but I’ve never gone even once. Hio, you guide me.”
“……Sure.”
Time was bound to flow, and since they had begun, they would reach an ending one way or another.
And once everything was over.
“Let’s definitely do that.”