40. Trust no one.
The Guimerin King’s Flagship was definitely not a ship built with destruction in mind. From the start, it was a vessel that emphasized the functions of a city or fortress rather than those of a ship. The moment the flagship was half-destroyed, most of its functions were lost.
Yet, the massive hull didn’t just disappear. It was slowly sinking, but the ship was still floating on the ocean.
Fernandez, suppressing his churning stomach, ran through the darkened interior of the ship. It was tilted and twisted, but the basics of a Dark Mage’s training included navigating labyrinths! A little confusion in information was no problem.
Fernandez adjusted the map he had drawn in his mind in real-time as he broke through the ship’s interior. Fortunately, thanks to Abelesas rampaging on the deck, there were no special enemies to deal with…
-Kyaoooo!!!
“…Sigh.”
Fernandez stopped abruptly, glaring at the monster with glowing red eyes before him. Among the vampire clans, those who couldn’t endure the distortion of their souls over long years often turned into such creatures.
Beings ruled solely by primal instincts and a thirst for blood. It was a completely different condition from the Red Hunger.
If the Red Hunger was simply the withdrawal symptoms from abstaining from bloodsucking, then this distortion was a product of time and experience alone.
A Damned One vampire. A nightmare-like existence that combined the strengths of vampires and ogres.
-Slurp.
Fernandez drew a nearly shattered full Saintmetal longsword from his sword belt. One more swing? Two? Either way, this sword’s lifespan wasn’t going to be long.
The unique silver flash of Saintmetal caught the monster’s attention. It frowned and turned its body toward Fernandez. Its yellow teeth gleamed. Sticky drool dripped from its jaw.
-Kyahhhhh!!!
The monster flew. Literally, in the half-twisted ship corridor, it kicked off the ceiling and walls in three dimensions, charging at Fernandez. The grotesque claws on its massive hands seemed to move in slow motion.
-Thud, thud, thud.
Facing the demon, the divinity dormant in his veins began to burn once more. His heart pulsed violently, sending divinity-infused blood to power his muscles.
Temporarily, the fatigue and accumulated damage in his body vanished. The fact that he had fought intensely for two nights straight wasn’t enough to diminish Diemonica’s output.
-Swish.
Thus, half a breath to dodge the vampire’s claws descending from above. Another half-breath to twist the blade and slash the vampire’s stomach. A full breath and a half to twist his body and sever the falling vampire’s neck.
-Chop.
Before three breaths were complete, the vampire’s body shattered and rolled across the floor.
-Clang!
And finally, the full Saintmetal greatsword was destroyed. It had been on the edge from the start. The first encounter was with a high-ranking vampire, and there had been no time to maintain it after cutting through ghouls and vampires. In the end, he had even forcefully driven it into a dragon’s skull.
“Phew…”
Fernandez sighed, fiddling with the sword hilt. He was going to get scolded again when he returned.
-Should I head to the audience chamber?
‘No, to the sanctuary.’
The Elfin Serpent King’s flagship always had a sanctuary. According to memories from his past life, that was the case. Fernandez pressed his tired eyes and traced his memories.
‘Catching one and interrogating them would be the best, but…’
Most of the ship’s structure he had seen with his own eyes was limited to the exterior. The path from the audience chamber to the lodgings, and from the lodgings to the deck.
‘No time. It seems Franzrit has started their offensive.’
-Clang!
-Kyaaaah!
-Form ranks… Uwaaah!!
In the distance, screams and roars could be heard. Were they taking advantage of the King’s Flagship being destroyed?
-In my past life, things must have gone smoothly.
‘Right. Abelesas and Guimerin killed each other, and Franzrit took Infermur. But how? It means King Guimerin revived the dragon without any preparation.’
There was no way King Guimerin would have prepared such a sloppy plan. Whatever the reason, there must have been something worth risking the revival of the dragon. Fernandez scratched his head and headed down the stairs to the lower deck.
The ship’s interior was like a complex maze. But one of the basics of a Dark Mage’s training was maze navigation, and he even had arcane vision.
-Kiiing!
With a simple gesture, an azure light burst from his arcane vision. For a moment, his vision was confused, but soon he could directly ‘see’ the torrent of magical energy flowing through this corridor.
Though most of the Guimerin King’s Flagship’s functions were lost, something massive was being prepared far below, beneath the waterline.
*
In the dark corridor where all light sources had vanished, Fernandez relied on Diemonica’s sharp senses and his arcane vision to walk.
Gradually, the flow of magical energy grew thicker. He hadn’t noticed it while on the deck.
If King Guimerin had used a spell prepared with this much magical energy beforehand, even the grasp of the Five Thrones wouldn’t have been able to destroy this ship in one go.
-Khuhuhu, feeling a bit of regret now?
‘…It’s definitely a shame.’
His stomach churned, and thick blood repeatedly rose up his throat. The grasp of the Five Thrones was one of the most intuitively destructive spells he had created in his later years.
Even if it were a god from the Temple of the Gods, in the material world, there was no escaping its destruction.
It was the power of… It wasn’t a magic that could be conjured with hastily prepared spells and sacrifices. It was a miracle born solely from Fernandez’s knowledge, experience, and his innate sense of handling magical energy.
Thus, the magic only manifested half the power of the original source. Yet, even that much was enough to cause Fernandez severe backlash.
The Bronze Throne had almost ceased functioning, and the rampaging magical energy had twisted and turned, causing significant damage to his internal organs.
In real-time, the divine energy within his veins was thrashing about, healing his wounds, but if he hadn’t possessed Diemonica’s body, he would have already been a cold corpse.
“…Your Excellency…?”
In the distance, at the end of the corridor, a pair of turquoise eyes sparkled. It was Kirhas. Fernandez relaxed his tense body at the sound of her approach and smiled.
“Your Excellency!! Your Excellency!!”
-Thud, thud, thud.
Kirhas rushed over in an instant, burying herself in Fernandez’s chest. Fernandez took a couple of steps back, letting out a choked scream.
“W-wait, Vasila. Calm down. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
“Your Excellency! Where have you been… Where did you… Oh my god! The smell of blood?!”
Ah, right. He had coughed up a bucket of blood earlier. Fernandez chuckled as he fiddled with Kirhas’s fluffy ears. He could see why nobles kept dogs or cats. It was soothing. Truly soothing.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Should we retreat to the Inquisition Office?!”
“No, it’s fine, Vasila. We’re not done yet.”
“Done with what?! We’re completely screwed right now!! Your Excellency! A dragon appeared! Vampires too! Earthquakes, chaos, everything!”
Kirhas babbled in a frantic voice.
“Do you know what happened while you were gone? I found some heretics!”
“Heretics?”
“Yes! Yes!”
She nuzzled into Fernandez as if seeking praise, her ears perking up. Fernandez chuckled and patted her head. Kirhas let out a soft purring sound before closing her eyes.
“Hehe. So, there was this weird pervert running around naked, saying strange things. Sichi? Karchi? Chalka? Something like that… Do you know what it means?”
“That’s the language of the northern barbarians. ‘Ssrash,’ ‘Kalchua,’ ‘Charka.’ ‘Capture,’ ‘Kill,’ ‘Burn.’ They must have been really angry.”
“Wow! That sounds about right! You really know everything, don’t you?!”
Know everything…? Fernandez broke into a cold sweat as he looked at her. True, her tribe was from the western wilderness. Kirhas continued chattering.
“So, that mage was causing a huge fuss, saying things like… ‘Tatchi?’ ‘Orion?’ And then a man appeared… Princess Leia showed up… Vampires appeared… Earthquakes, dragons, flames rising everywhere.”
Tetchs, the High Priest. Orion. It wasn’t just the Runraven faction, was it? There must have been another heretic hiding in this city. High Priest Orion. High Priest Orion… Fernandez tried to recall a northern barbarian sect from his memory.
High Priest Orion… It couldn’t be, but if Kirhas was right, that man might be… Orion Weavinglet, the High Priest of the Changelings.
-Well, well. That’s a big fish.
‘Why is he here in this era?’
-No way to know now that we’ve missed him. And we’re not even sure if it’s really him.
‘I don’t like this situation.’
Nothing was more frustrating than being in the dark. In his previous life, he was a dark mage who manipulated heroes by controlling information. Fernandez frowned.
“By the way, are you feeling okay? Your Excellency, maybe you should just retreat…”
“I can’t do that. The dragon on the deck is our ally. It’s the only means to deal a significant blow to the Elven King and the Franzrit.”
“The Elven King? Wasn’t the Elven King on our side?”
“Our side? Vasila, remember this.”
Fernandez grabbed Kirhas’s hand and locked eyes with her. Her turquoise eyes widened for a moment before she looked away. She fidgeted with her fingers in Fernandez’s grip, pretending to be nonchalant.
“We don’t have a ‘side,’ Vasila. For humans, there is no ‘side’ except for other humans. Elves, vampires, monsters, demons, gods… they’re all the same. Never trust anyone.”
“…Your Excellency, your hand hurts.”
“Ah, sorry.”
When Fernandez let go, Kirhas blushed and took a step back. She soon flashed a mischievous smile and said, “Never trust anyone. Not even you, Your Excellency?”
“…Hmm. I guess so?”
“I don’t like that. What about you? Do you trust me?”
-Don’t answer that, you liar.
‘Shut up.’
“Of course, I trust you.”
“See? Your Excellency, you’re contradicting yourself.”
Kirhas giggled happily. Her pure, innocent smile seemed to ease Fernandez’s heart. Ignoring Faijashi’s grumbling, he looked at Kirhas.
Kirhas suddenly went “Ah!” and reached behind her back.
“I brought this from your lodge!”
It was his full Saintmetal Greatsword! Kirhas proudly smiled and pulled out an incense burner from her pocket.
“This too! Did you know? You can use this to find people!”
“…It has that function?”
“Yes! You summon a messenger, and then you just run in the direction it goes!”
Of course, that would work… if you could run fast enough to keep up with the messenger. In any case, Kirhas had the talent of a great hero. It was a function Fernandez had never thought of, but for Kirhas, it was just another skill within her capabilities.
“Anyway, thank you. This will be a big help.”
“Finally!”
As Fernandez patted Kirhas’s head, he nodded. Yes. Finally. Finally, it’s the final act.
Considering the flow of magical energy, the King’s Sanctuary should appear soon.
He needed to see for himself what the Elven King’s plan was. How exactly did he intend to capture the dragon? What was he plotting with the dragon?
To push back the vampires and elves, and to reclaim the disaster-stricken northeastern coastline for civilized society.
The elves, who had expanded their influence by exploiting human conflicts in his previous life, and the vampires, who had gnawed at the edges of civilization along the northeastern coastline, would have to step back from the stage in this life.
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