Chapter 252

(252)

Autumn has passed, and winter has come with snow falling.

The farmers rested, waiting for the next year, but the daily life of the royal family was fierce.

Today, Sererassie and I toured the old slums where we had built a magic tool workshop and a slime farm, reprimanding the high defect rate of the person in charge.

Braving the cold wind, we inspected the new workshop site, and I caught a senator candidate who was digging behind Konel and soaked him in the underground waterway.

“It’s so cold! If I had known, I would have worn thicker robes!”

“Shall we go warm up somewhere?”

“There isn’t anywhere nearby that we can go. Moreover, this carriage is the infamous ‘Black Carriage.’ The owner and customers might close their shops and run away.”

“That’s not true. Just a slight change of direction and we’d find something.”

I gestured to the coachman, and he promptly headed to the red-light district’s Lumineux Casino.

He was the same coachman who had once quarreled about whether to place silver coins on the tip of his tongue.

Now that I thought about it, this same coachman had driven the carriage when I took Sererassie out from the casino.

Lost in such thoughts, I noticed Sererassie’s expression turning sour.

I grinned shamelessly, and Sererassie zapped my wrist with a jolt of electricity.

“Do we really have to come here?”

“Isn’t it the best place to concretely feel that you’ve made it, sister?”

“That’s true, but… Let’s not talk about this. Talking to you makes me feel like an idiot, you know, you specious debater.”

“People are simply like that.”

“That’s why I dislike the world.”

Sererassie and I were treated with VIP service and entered the inner room, where handsome men and beautiful women brought us strong whiskey, wine, fruit snacks, and gourmet cheese.

After a drink or two, I began to feel warm.

As Sererassie tilted her wine glass, she smiled softly.

“…So, the incantation circuit I devised for the crystal resonance was all turned into incantation circuits by that Marcus guy. He’s quite a character. Yeah, we really need to start testing the mechanical armor soon, but the capital has become too safe.”

“Hmm. Should I ask Helena to conduct mock battles?”

As we were discussing this, a masked figure approached and bowed respectfully.

“Is there anything else you require?”

He was always someone who knew the appropriate boundaries, which I greatly appreciated.

“Right. By the way, have there been any recent signs of unrest in the businesses?”

“Thanks to the VIPs, business is going smoothly.”

I nodded while sinking into the sofa, and it seemed the masked figure sensed that this wasn’t the answer I was looking for and lifted his head.

“Oh. Now that you mention it, there are a few rumors.”

Sererassie leaned forward with a curious expression.

“Do tell me more.”

As the masked figure spoke, her face became ashen.

“They say that monsters have been appearing in the underground waterway near the Ivory Tower.”

“A number of workers who went in for repairs have been devoured.”

“They described it as a creature that seems to be a mix of several beings, adorned with blue crystals.”

Sererassie spoke in a grim voice, her mismatched colored eyes moving in different directions.

“Valen, could you deliver some compensation?”

“Do you have any guesses?”

“Since Cuith Az absorbed into you, surely those fragments must have influenced things somehow; a shimmer, a flutter.”

“Perhaps.”

The fragments were all connected, and since the main body had passed to me, it made sense.

“It seems like some experiment has started because of that.”

“Is it that precious reagent that I was hoarding without using for so long, starting to get attention again?”

“That wouldn’t be so unusual.”

It was entirely possible.

I thought about how big of an issue this could become if I were to raise it.

Jeilliris would likely try to completely strip the Ivory Tower of its resources at this opportunity, and Matheos would want to keep the Ivory Tower under the surveillance of church laws.

Of course, the shameless elders of the Ivory Tower weren’t the type to take responsibility, so they would likely play tricks in the heads of the emissaries sent by the royal family and the church, and before long, it would become a matter of pride between factions.

And all the heads of the three factions were people who wouldn’t yield easily in matters of pride, capable of turning a mere disagreement into a devastating conflict with a mere finger-point or incantation.

“No!”

I shouted and turned to Sererassie.

She looked at me with an anxious expression.

“Valen, do you really think it’s necessary to report this to His Majesty?”

“Shouldn’t we take preventive measures before reporting?”

“Sure. That should suffice, right? It’s not an alcohol-absorbing magic spell, is it?”

“Will you cast it?”

“Of course.”

Six mechanical knights gathered at the entrance to the underground waterway.

It was midnight.

* * *

The mechanical armor’s gauntlets were twice the thickness of normal armor, making the feet exceptionally large and heavy for balance.

When a knight of about 180 cm donned the mechanical armor, it reached up to 230 cm.

There was a reason it was said that riding it was different from merely wearing it.

In the previous underground waterways, such mechanical knights would have found it difficult to access, but the recent underground waterways had become higher-ceilinged and wider on the sides due to excavation works during Jeilliris’s restoration of the capital.

It was now possible for huge armored knights to roam freely.

“Commencing search.”

“Don’t let your guard down.”

“Pair up in twos.”

Chiiing!

From the gentle darkness, the sound of steam escaping echoed, and the red colors flickered within the brass plated gauntlets.

The color did not just shine in that spot but seemed to flow throughout the body akin to blood traveling through steel fibers exposed between the plates.

The sight of the red light glimmering in the darkness was a spectacle in itself.

“Isn’t it magnificent?”

Sererassie asked, and I nodded as if entranced.

“Of course. It should be magnificent, considering how many gold coins I poured into this.”

“Generally, the development of magic requires a lot of gold coins.”

Now, the search for Infiltrators was not conducted solely based on intuition or the prayers of priests.

The mechanical armor was equipped with Infiltrator detection magic tools developed by Sererassie, and the mechanical knights roamed the maze-like underground waterways, waiting for waves to disperse.

I stayed next to Sererassie while following them.

Suddenly, from the lead pair, a roar erupted.

“This way, Your Highness!”

It meant that Infiltrators were present within a 100-meter radius.

“Let’s go, sister.”

“Right.”

Two mechanical knights took the lead, and Sererassie and I followed them.

In the gentle darkness, a gradually enormous presence became apparent.

I felt as if I should have known this all along.

WOOOOOOR!

KIEEEE!

Sounds of something intertwining and fighting reached my ears.

“Let’s take a look at what kind of monster it is.”

We rounded the corner and witnessed the chaos.

One side was undoubtedly the protagonist of the tales.

It had its lower body submerged in the water while its upper body was exposed.

It was so colossal that its head nearly touched the ceiling.

With its skin gone, red muscles, bones, and various organs were on display, and blue crystal formations were embedded throughout its bones.

The bone blades, thorns, and claws made of crystal were fearsome.

On the other hand, the opposite side resembled a much more human figure compared to the monster.

It was slightly shorter than me, had reverse-jointed legs, and was covered in scales resembling lizardmen.

A pair of large swords made of scales were its primary weapons.

Sererassie took a light breath upon seeing them.

“It is an advanced chimera from the School of Living Biology. It appears that the elders haven’t completely abandoned their duties.”

I doubted one of my senses, either sight or hearing.

“Advanced?”

Among the eight chimeras, only two remained upright.

The others were all divided into two or more and rolling on the floor.

“Kiiiiiik!”

One of the chimeras leaped off the ground and charged at us.

In that moment, a blue glimmer flashed in its eyes, and a bone blade made of crystal shot from its wrist.

Zash!

A blue light arced as the headless chimera rolled on the ground.

Its body twisted several times as it attempted to stand, but when the monster pierced its heart with its crystal claw, it quieted down.

“Sister, that—.”

Sererassie sighed deeply.

“It pains me to say this, as it reminds me of you, but you really messed up.”

The headless chimera stood again.

Blue crystals began to sprout from between its scales.

In an instant, the monsters and the chimera corpses all turned to face us.

The already-dead chimeras were rising again.

I let out a deep sigh and commanded the two mechanical knights.

“Kill them a second time.”

Chiiing!

Gears turned and steam hissed.

The giants clashed in the darkness.

* * *

“Sister, you really are a genius.”

“Did you finally figure that out? You must be quite the fool.”

It was closer to a massacre than a battle occurring before my eyes.

“KIEEEE!”

A chimera reborn from crystal surged forward wielding its glowing blue scale sword.

The mechanical knight scoffed and swung its red-hot brass gauntlet in a downward arc.

Bang!

The scale sword clashed with the gauntlet, shattering the scale sword and the chimera’s upper body simultaneously.

“Even with strength, there were parts that couldn’t be pulled out because the steel fibers couldn’t withstand it, but thanks to your crystals, everything has been neatly resolved.”

“Having produced that magic tool, you and Marcus are amazing. Is that also part of your magic circle?”

While one mechanical knight crushed one chimera with a great sword, it activated the offensive incantation circuit engraved on its left gauntlet.

Chiziziz! Blue light flickered, and a current-throwing net shot forth.

“Zsh!”

The chimera caught in the net writhed with madness, but the net tightened quickly, and it was reduced to a cubed chunk of meat.

Chiiing.

Smoke rose from the charred surface as the second mechanical knight continuously fired the net.

Chiziziz! Chiziziz! Chiziziz!

“You turned the original ammo into a created form.”

“Right. While making you the red potion, I studied the material. Of course, I also specialized in geology, so it became possible.”

As the chimeras rapidly fell, the monster surveyed its surroundings with its six eyes.

“Your Highness.”

“Your Highness!”

Chiiing!

The remaining mechanical knights came rushing from all directions.

Blue crystals shimmered on the body of the monster, and lightning-like sparks flew.

I instinctively shouted.

“Prepare for mental wave defense!”

“WOOOOOOOOOOR!”

Chiiing!

With the monster’s roar, the blue crystals resonated and the mental waves shook the underground waterway.

I expected that two or three of the mechanical knights would be staggered, but they all stood firm and withdrew great swords.

“WOOOOOOR?”

The monster appeared to step back in surprise.

Sererassie shook her head as if shaking off an echo and said, “Let’s see. That’s borrowed from you, isn’t it?”

“Ah.”

I smiled contentedly.

A snail-shell-shaped heating circuit was embedded on the side of the helmets of the mechanical knights.

The heating circuit glowed red as it fiercely burned the energy of Corruption.

“It’s the purification of fire.”

The monster stood at a crossroads where the cross-shaped waterways met, and the six mechanical knights surrounded it.

The monster raised its crystal bone sword, while the mechanical knights aimed their left hands.

Chiiing!

WHOOSH!

As steam rose, a fierce flame shot forth.

“WOOOOOR!”

While the crystal bone barely burned, the flesh and organs ignited fiercely, releasing a foul odor.

Of course, the monster wasn’t sluggish enough to be caught off guard.

It turned its body towards the side where only one mechanical knight stood.

“!”

No matter how much I looked, it was not a size that could be taken head-on.

I tried to dash out, but Sererassie remained wearing a blissfully serene smile.

WOOOOOM!

Siiiiiing!

At that moment, deep within the mechanical knights, the red crystals began to resonate.

It felt vivid as if they were fragments of me.

The mechanical knight facing the monster head-on swung its great sword surrounded by a mana blade.

Zshka!

The monster attempted to block with its bone sword.

Considering the size, it could have easily blown it away.

Clash!

However, the mechanical knight’s sword cut through the monster’s crystal bone sword and nearly severed the monster’s wrist.

I stepped forward, entranced.

I could distinctly feel the crystals embedded in each joint of the mechanical knights.

It was a sensation connected by threads visible only to me.

Siiiiing!

I resonated the crystals a bit more, lending strength to the mechanical knights and even sending flames along the thread.

Sererassie looked at me in surprise.

She gazed at me with a flutter of pride, and I smiled broadly.

WHOOSH!

The mechanical knights held blazing swords as they surrounded the monster.

The monster looked at me with eyes filled with rage.

I met those six eyes head-on and said, “Killing you will be easier than the subsequent negotiations with the Ivory Tower, the royal family, and the church. Just imagining it is enough to be overwhelming.”

The mechanical knights plunged their flaming swords into the monster.

“But today, the monster that devours people has met its end. One by one, I will solve it.”