Chapter 1064 – Disagreement

000

The guardian, who resembled Schrödinger, nodded his head so easily that he felt dispirited after hearing Lila’s nervous request.

That reaction was something Lila didn’t expect, so she must have looked at her in shock for a moment.

Of course, it was the same for her and her companions around her.

Kuon, Amelia, and even Schrödinger were all looking at the guardian with expressions of disbelief.

The first thing Lila had to do was come to her senses and ask her again.

“Now, wait a minute! Is it okay to give permission that easily?”

Then the guardian will fold his arms and talk as if there is nothing he can do.

“Originally I wouldn’t have just let you go… But I was asked to…”

“A favor? … From whom?”

Was there anyone they knew who could ask the guardian to help them pass through this mountain?

Or is there some kind of scheme they are unaware of?

The party must have been wary because there was a suspicious aura in the air, but the guardian responded calmly.

“From the guardian of ‘Cheonryongsan Mountain’ that you passed by. And also from the guardian of ‘Gwiryongsan Mountain’ that you must go to in the future…”

“… That guy that looks like Kuon?”

“I said we don’t look alike!”

In response to Lila’s point, Kuon raises her voice.

‘Come to think of it, that guy disappeared without saying anything as soon as he heard their story. … Did something change your mind after hearing Kuon’s answer?’

“Apart from Cheonryongsan Mountain… What about the guardian of Guirongsan Mountain?”

And while Lila was lost in her thoughts, Amelia asked another important fact.

Gwiryong Mountain─

Although Naryongsan Mountain, where they are now, can only be reached by passing another mountain, the group planned to skip Chukyongsan Mountain and pass through the canyon to go to Gwiryongsan Mountain.

And since there was a hideout for returnees in Gwiryongsan Mountain, it was a place that could not be avoided like Chukyongsan Mountain.

Therefore, the guardian of Guirong Mountain, along with the guardian of Jade Dragon Mountain that must be defeated, was a guardian who was expected to have some intervention in the decisive battle with the returner.

“I don’t know the reason because I didn’t hear it, but… He wants to see with his own eyes what kind of person you are. Well, that’s the kind of person he is.”

The guardian simply shrugged her shoulders in response to Amelia’s question.

“… There are cases where an intruder is sent away due to the will of another guardian.”

When Kuon says that, the guardian reacts as if he is being stabbed and answers as if making an excuse.

“Wow, normally it’s not common for guardians to intervene in other mountains… Well, as long as the entrance to the ruins they are guarding is not invaded, they tend not to have any problems. Since we are colleagues who have been together for quite a long time, we are surprisingly close. Is it good?”

However, because it was a very favorable story for the group, everyone present looked at the guardian with suspicion.

“What, what are those eyes? Are you dissatisfied?”

“… Oh, no, it’s not that, but…”

The guardian himself would probably say that such views are unfair.

Amelia would quickly shake her head saying that wasn’t the case, but the Guardian would say that something bad had been switched.

“Me too, as a guardian, I’m trying my best to prevent people from entering the ruins I’m protecting…? Moreover, this place is responsible for purifying the unclean energy of the Dragon Mountain Range, so I get criticized for smelling like rot, but even if you respect me a little, I wonder if it will work…”

The Guardian mumbles, talking with negative mode on.

‘The rotting smell was not the smell of a rotting corpse, but rather the smell of bad magical energy flowing from the corpse…’

“The guy in the back said that the animals in his mountain were attracted by the smell and wandered in, and was then attacked by homunculi… The guy in the front said, ‘What do you do when you wake up from a dream because of the stench? Then, you guys take care of purifying the magic of the mountain range. …”

“Um, hey… Are you okay…?”

Schrödinger, who felt something like sympathy, grabbed her by the shoulder and called out to her, but once she was switched on, she could hardly come back to reality.

“… It looks like quite a lot has accumulated.”

“Isn’t it not the spirit vein of the mountain range that needs to resolve the stress, but the guardian himself…?”

Amelia nods her head at Sasha’s words.

“… Ha. Well, whatever the reason, we’d be grateful if they let us pass without a problem. Then, let’s go back and call the guys waiting behind us.”

Her other companions agree with Laila’s words.

The guardian felt a little sorry, but they had a long way to go.

With this, we will be able to safely pass through Naryongsan Mountain.

That was the time when I had no choice but to let my guard down a little.

“Ah~ah… I wonder if another comet will fall and ruin everything…”

A guardian who says something slightly creepy, even if it’s just a joke.

Shuung-

And as if in response, the party heard a sound that sounded like something was cutting through the wind.

Schrödinger was the first to hear the sound, and the guardian who looked just like her must have looked up at the sky while making a dumbfounded noise like ‘Huh?’.

‘Meteor?’

Even Schrödinger must have thought the same thing the moment he saw it cutting through the sky, its long tail hanging down.

In the red-stained sky reflecting the blood-stained ground, for some reason I could feel the red even more vividly.

The very moment when I felt that the orbit was not disappearing beyond the distant horizon, but was getting closer towards this direction.

Kwaang!

Intense collision.

Their ears and the ground ringing at the same time, and the group’s bodies are shaken by the swirling storm, but they are unable to bear it and each one flies backwards.

“Aaaaah!”

“Quon!”

In a field obscured by sand and wind, Laila hears Kuon’s scream and urgently raises her voice.

“What, what’s going on~!?!?”

Sasha, who had also been brought to Laila’s side, finally came to her senses and was embarrassed.

“A meteorite… No, it’s not a meteorite. Something fell from the sky!”

As she said.

It was clear that something had fallen from the sky right next to where the party was standing, creating an impact similar to a meteorite and blowing the party away.

“Oh, wind!”

At that time, a voice was heard once again from the sand dust, and emerald magic spread with the wind.

What if the sand that covered the group and blocked their vision scattered in all directions, and they could barely see in front of them?

The ‘guy’ was sitting in the same spot where the guardian was standing just moments ago.

It was a being wearing full body armor made of black metal.

The guy is in a stance, with one knee on the ground, supporting his body with one hand, as if he were crushing the ground with his fist.

I could see that the shock just now was caused by the guy falling from the sky and punching the ground at the same time.

In addition, the flames that surrounded the body when it hit the ground spread out in all directions, and the ground was burning here and there.

That feeling of intimidation.

“Kick…!?”

The monsters that were nearby, chased by Sasha just moments ago, step back as if frightened by the sudden appearance of the enemy.

Even if you were affected by the liberation gas, you might have felt a sense that you couldn’t win when you saw it suddenly appear.

When Amelia saw that, she couldn’t help but mumble.

“Dragon Knight Drake…?”

“Amelia thought so too…?”

Kuon, who was sitting on the floor with Amelia, nodded her head at Amelia’s muttering.

“But Lord Drake would have returned to the kingdom with Selena…?”

“Hmm… Maybe the person inside is a completely different person… Ugh—”

Even as Kuon says that, he shakes his head.

Before her eyes, the being wearing black armor moves its joints somewhat unnaturally and stands upright.

“There are no ‘people’ inside that armor. … Probably a humanoid machine like Arnia. It’s an automaton.”

This was the moment when Kuon guessed the identity of the enemy.

The guy stays in the direction where the group is –

So, I raised both arms towards the place where Sasha and Layla were gathered, and where Kuon and Amelia were gathered.

The moment when everyone gathered on both sides took a defensive stance for fear that something might fly.

The guy’s hand suddenly bent into a shape that couldn’t have been possible for a human, and a hole was revealed beyond his wrist toward his arm.

And—

[Incineration, commencement.]

Kwaaaaa-!!!

“Wow…!”

There was a reason why Sasha raised her screams without realizing it.

This is because a flame as large as the fire magic that Lila normally uses radiated from its wrist and attacked the four people.

Had Amelia not raised her shield and laid out her shield to protect her comrades behind her, she might have been reduced to ashes by the flames.

“… It seems like Kuon’s guess is that they are machines and not humans.”

Amelia couldn’t help but look nervous at the movement, which was impossible for a human to do.

It would have been the same for Laila as well—

“More than that, Guardian, where did you go? By any chance, you didn’t run away alone, right?”

At the same time, she quickly finds her guardian.

If you look around-

“Hey, over there!”

When Sasha lifted her finger and pointed, she could see something like a head sticking out of the ground beneath the flame-spewing automata.

The black cat ears stand out.

“S-you can’t believe I got caught in that guy’s landing and ended up buried in the ground…?”

Laila, naturally, could not help but react in bewilderment to that indescribable sight.

“I was able to get through without colliding with the guardian, but suddenly there was an obstacle…! What is that guy?!”

“I don’t know… But I don’t think they’ll let us go over to the next mountain…”

In response to Lila’s complaint, Sasha said this and, as if she had strengthened her resolve, took out her own bow and shot her arrow.

And behind the barrier Lila had put up, she looked beyond the view obscured by the flames and aimed for his arm –

When she removed her hand from her grip, her arrow bounced and flew in front of her in an arc.

Shuung – Kaang!

When the wind-cutting arrow hit the guy’s armor, his shoulder jerked and the guy’s arm was thrown back by the impact, causing the flames to aim lower than where it was originally aimed – at the ground.

Faaah!

At the same time, Laila and Sasha scattered to both sides at the same time.

The guy only has two arms.

So, if they stick together, both sides will be attacked at the same time.

Therefore, first the two had to keep their distance apart and keep watching to see who the arm was chasing.

The guy’s arm, which had been pointed down by Sasha’s arrow, immediately returned to its original height—

[Orbit Correction]

“!”

Just like that, we chase after Sasha.

It seemed like Sasha, who seemed to have no proper defense against the flames, was targeted first.

Besides, Lila is a wizard.

Automata, which can be called ‘weapons for great wizards’, have excellent defense against wizards.

To this guy, ‘Sasha’ was judged to be a more threatening and annoying enemy than ‘Lila’.

That’s why Sasha didn’t stop and kept moving.

If you keep turning around with him at the center, the diagonal lines may overlap where Amelia and Sasha are, so take steps left and right to avoid being engulfed in flames.

‘Okay, you’re doing well, Sasha…!”

That alone was enough.

It’s okay even if it’s just for a moment.

If the enemy’s awareness is distant from her, Lila penetrates the gap and focuses her mind.

Matter becomes flame, my body becomes element.

Become a fire that burns the three thousand worlds.

Howling!

At that moment, when Lila’s whole body was engulfed in flames, even her clothes and hair turned into beautiful flames that moved in the sky.

“Haaa!”

Laila approaches the black armored man with a staff that has changed into a spear.

As she ran, leaving a trail of her flames on the ground, she attempted to plunge her own staff straight into his chest.

Kang!

However, she returns her arm, which was spewing her flames at Sasha, and blocks Laila’s flames by directly catching them with her hands.

“Tch…!”

As Lila clicked her tongue, she seemed to be trying to somehow pierce her opponent’s armor by spewing out her flame magic from behind her back.

‘Layla, she obviously doesn’t have much magical energy left…!’

Sasha looked at her with concern, but Lila didn’t lower her output at all, as if she was burning herself.

Then.

[─Confirm that the target’s magical power response increases rapidly.]

“Hey. Looks like they installed a good sensor…”

Laila raises the corners of her mouth.

The sensor in her armor that blocks her Lyla – that is, the head with the ability to visualize her magic, and turns her head, not the flame magic exploding from her Lyla –

I followed the direction of her magic flowing towards Lila.

That is Amelia, who is firmly blocking the flames coming out of her armor with her shield.

─It was Kuon, standing behind her, sitting on her knees with her staff planted on the ground.

[Check the magic pass. Changed the removal of the supply source to priority.]

At the sound of her voice coming out of the automata armor, Lila frowns.

“You should do that after you do something about me!”

Next moment.

Laila concentrated all of her magical energy on the tip of the spear and shouted in a loud voice.


The flash of light created by the large explosion between the armor and Laila filled the arena.

001

Darwin fell silent for a moment at the new reaction that appeared on the monitor.

At the sound of a teacup moving, clattering coming from next to me, I would squeak and turn to look at my colleague Descartes.

“You sent out the ‘Meteorite’ at will. … Why?”

“Ah. I confirmed that the power was distributed. I thought Fleur would be safe.”

Descartes calmly accepts Darwin’s words, which seem a bit angry, and enjoys the tea he brought.

Bang!

Darwin approached Descartes and struck him on the side with his palm.

Descartes glanced at the imprint of Darwin’s palm on that area, perhaps because of his considerable strength.

“I didn’t ask that question hoping for such a nonsense answer. Meteorite… Is one of the weapons of the primordial world that has a lot of undeciphered technology among the technologies we have. What were they thinking when they sent something like that into the battlefield without a guard? Are you a beggar?”

If a satisfactory explanation was not given, Darwin seemed ready to do anything to Descartes.

Then, Descartes sighs softly.

“Anyway, while that weapon performs its mission alone, it causes considerable destruction to the surrounding environment. It makes no distinction between friend and foe and literally turns the area into a barren wasteland. Are you planning to use such a weapon indoors?”

“…”

Darwin said nothing to the old man’s explanation.

Looking at that, Descartes smiled slightly.

“I know very well that you are nervous, madam. The expedition team is advancing faster than expected, and the magic swordsman is holding on more persistently than expected and is interfering with us. I sympathize with the desire to preserve all forces, but in the end, it is a waste of money. You have to use your cards effectively.”

Descartes casually answers that question, but Darwin is taken aback by Descartes’ vocabulary and asks.

“Ah, Akie… What?”

“Ah. Don’t you know? It means ‘If you cherish it, it becomes shit’. It means literally. … You’ve been more active in society than me, but you don’t know that?”

Descartes said that to Darwin, but Darwin’s expression turned slightly red and then returned to its original color.

“Unfortunately, most of the people I meet outside are nobles with some level of status.”

“Oh. That’s right. Certainly, this is a word that nobles would not use.”

Descartes, who was originally just a sailor, would have had no resistance to such words, but Darwin was never tolerant of such words in order to portray himself as luxurious.

“Okay. If there was a Laplace or a Maxwell, they would have sympathized.”

“If you don’t want to be like them, you better be careful.”

“Of course. I can’t die until I see my great-granddaughter or great-grandchild.”

As Descartes spoke, showing the reason for his obsession with life, Darwin let out a deep sigh and tried to sit down.

“Hmm? … No, wait a minute. Does that mean that my cute Fleur will become the wife of some horse bone-like bastard somewhere that I don’t even know who she is…?”

“…”

“I can’t forgive you! I can’t forgive something like that! If something like that happens, I’ll burn the continent with my ultimate weapon!!”

Darwin turns his back on Descartes, who suddenly has a seizure.

‘A senile old man…’

Darwin curses Descartes in his mind.

Of course, she is much older than Descartes.

‘─Well. If it were the flame of Meteorite, it would burn and neutralize the liberation gas accumulated in the pit of Narongsan Mountain.’

And Descartes also acted like a madman on the outside, but was thinking like that on the inside.

As a bonus, it would be even better if you could get rid of the four obstructive adventurers who were clinging to Fleur.

His only interest is one thing.

His granddaughter arrives here safely.

For his sake, he was able to become so cruel that he did not hesitate to betray his long-time colleagues who had been with him his whole life.

─However, what he is overlooking.

“…”

“…”

Darwin, who shares the silence that surrounds this room, may also be a person who could become like Descartes for his own purposes.