EP.59 Rotten things (2)
altar.
The main culprit of wire destruction.
A battlefield nightmare or tragedy.
The first time I encountered an altar was when I was dealing with shamans on the front lines. Dealing with shamans was tricky, but if you’re asking if they were dangerous, it wasn’t.
In most fights, we achieved complete victory. Every time Kyle swung his sword, the demon beasts and shamans were swept away in a heap.
-uh?
however.
-What is this? Is this okay?
There was something that wouldn’t be swept away.
As we pushed back the front lines and recaptured the land that had previously been taken from us, we encountered something strange.
Something resembling a piece of bone.
Something I don’t know what it is.
Even in all that chaos, it was okay. We pulled it out and showed it to the drivers. A knight came looking for something similar.
So the four pieces came together.
Looking at the completeness of the circuit, I realized that one piece was empty. And, it didn’t take long to find out where the piece was.
-···What is this… peel?
There was a wizard who was with us at the time.
He was a promising talent in the Knights Templar.
Something identical to the fragment appeared in the wizard’s heart. And, without us having a chance to stop him, he disappeared on the spot.
-·····.
He disappeared without a trace and reappeared the next morning. He appeared in the center of the Knights’ barracks. He looked at the sky with upside-down black eyes.
-■■■■■■■■.
While looking at the sky, I recited a spell.
The four pieces resonated with his heart. The resonant piece became a circuit.
And, the door opened.
A door connected to the center of the demon world.
The Demon Lord’s army poured out from inside the door.
The place where the door was opened was the garrison of the knights. The Demon King’s army pouring down from the sky above the garrison was a nightmare itself.
‘···It wasn’t even a fuss.’
That day, the Knights were on the verge of destruction. At that time, we first learned about the altar.
‘The second time the altar was opened…’
In similar situations, we did the best we could.
Just one piece was missing. The missing piece was lodged in the heart of a nearby wizard.
The same thing happened.
The wizard disappeared before my eyes.
From the moment the wizard disappeared, I tracked him. And then I realized.
-···You can’t touch this.
-What do you mean, Raniel! If we don’t stop it right away, it’ll be the same as before…!
-f*ck, I went into another world. An otherworld that summons spirits and familiars. I can’t touch what’s in this world.
It was not my area to touch a wizard who had left for the other world. That was the role of a spiritist.
-···I’ll give it a try.
Coincidentally, the Spiritualist of the White Magic Tower who was nearby at that time searched the other world like a rat. And then, they found the wizard who had gone missing in the other world.
-I’ll drag you out!
and.
It didn’t take long to realize that it was the wrong way.
-I pulled it out! right now···! uh···?
Push!
The White Magic Tower’s elemental fire exploded before my eyes. The person who set it off was the missing wizard he dragged out.
-Ah■■■■■■■?
The wizard who was forcibly dragged out of the other world went berserk on the spot. ‘Something’ that controlled that mind helped the runaway.
‘The talent I had blossomed perfectly.’
No matter how we did it, we had to face the wizard who was created like that. It was terrible. Even if you break his limbs or cut his head off, he doesn’t die.
In the midst of the knights’ ranks, we had to subdue a rampaging wizard. In the process of suppressing it, two knights were annihilated.
Two failures.
From that failure, we came to understand the cause of the failure and what the altar is.
“I gained three realizations.”
“·····.”
“One is that it is absolutely impossible to block the altar in advance once the sculpture is in place.”
I folded one finger.
“Two are that a person who has a single piece and is a ‘mediator’ of consciousness must never be touched. “Whether it is before or during the ritual.”
One again.
“Finally, the third is that the mediated wizard falls into a dream during the ritual. “The guy who put me in a dream and created an altar takes over that body.”
I folded my last remaining finger.
Then Kalt asked me a question.
“···Why do you bother to use a medium to carry out the ceremony instead of yourself? “It would be much easier if you came forward yourself.”
“Because that guy is a coward.”
Kalt tilted his head at my answer.
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Since this part wasn’t something I could really explain, I shrugged my shoulders.
“Anyway, when the medium that entered the other world comes out, there is no other way than to stop it right before it recites the spell.”
“···Yes, I remember that too. It was a race against time. “Has anything more come to light since I left the battlefield?”
Kalt also had experience with altars. Because Kalt was with me in the previous two failures.
“There’s more. “A way to buy a little more time.”
“What is that?”
“Breaking the pieces of the altar.”
I pointed to the piece I had placed on the floor.
“This is similar to the stock of spells I use. When the altar is activated, the circuit engraved here is activated at that moment. “It shortens the chanting of the spell that opens the door.”
“then···.”
“Okay, if we destroy this, we can buy some more time. “From what I remember, it’s probably about two minutes per piece.”
There were four pieces in our hands now.
“That means 10 minutes.”
“···It’s still too late.”
“Compared to the old days when we only had two minutes, this is a bit more leisurely.”
Kalt had a serious expression.
“Still, you never know where the vector will appear in that vast forest, right? “It will pop out of the other world, but tracking it will be impossible because of that saturated mana.”
We were standing on the rooftop looking at the forest.
The forest is wide. The Magi that swallowed even the Harmain Forest was excessively cloudy. Thanks to the saturated mana, it is difficult to see through it.
Finding one person in there would be impossible no matter how much of a dog Coin Kalt I am.
That’s what’s so f*cked up about altars.
Even if you know something is going to happen, you can’t do anything but watch until it happens.
Although it was an altar…
This time, the case was a little different.
“If it were a normal altar, it would be like that. “But not this time.”
I spoke slowly, resting my chin.
“There are ways to find it.”
“yes?”
“It looks like the coward who built the altar made a mistake this time.”
2.
I had a dream.
It was a happy dream.
So much so that I don’t want to open my eyes.
* * *
“Child, you have talent.”
“Talent?”
“Yeah, I guess this is the second time I’ve seen someone as talented as you. “I never thought I’d find treasure in a place like this.”
An orphan who lost his parents during the war. A customer came to the orphanage where such orphans were gathered.
‘···Who is that person?’
Little Resty didn’t know who he was.
I just thought that he must be a great person because the teachers who were normally strict kept nodding their heads in front of him.
“What is your name?”
“It’s Resty.”
“Yes, Resty.”
The person said his name.
“I am Cranbel Eleanor, an elder of the Gray Magic Tower.”
Resty was young, but not so young that he didn’t know what it meant.
Every wizard’s dream, the Magic Tower.
I didn’t know the exact color, but the elder there was an incredibly high-ranking person.
“Hello.”
“Haha, there’s no need to be scared. “I came to make you a suggestion.”
The old man, who introduced himself as an elder, pointed to Resty’s notebook. It contained a circuit that Resty had drawn for a month.
“You already know how to use spirit circuits at that age. Have you ever tried putting magic into this?”
“···that is.”
“There is no need to pay attention. “Unlike your teachers, I have no intention of scolding you.”
“…I secretly went out during the night and tried it once.”
“Yes, you are a very curious child. What jumped out at you there?”
“A fox wearing wind has appeared.”
With a tap, the old man touched the circuit.
The wind blew. When the wind died down, the fox wrapped in the wind that Resty had seen was sitting on the old man’s shoulder.
“So, is this what Aida looks like?”
Resty nodded.
“Do you know what this child’s name is?”
“In the book, it was introduced as a wind spirit.”
“Well, if you just call me Wind Spirit, this child will be sad. “This child’s name is Sylphy.”
“Sylphy?”
“Yes, Sylphy.”
The old man put the fox down on the floor.
Resty’s eyes sparkled and he touched the fox. The texture was amazing.
“Lesti.”
“yes?”
“Are you interested in learning magic under me?”
So the old man held out his hand.
“You have talent.”
I looked straight into Resty’s eyes and smiled.
“The talent to lead this era.”
Resty grabbed that hand.
That’s how Resty became a wizard. The story that followed quickly passed before Resty’s eyes.
It was a happy day.
I learned magic, made a contract with a new spirit every day, and every time, the elder praised Resti.
-That’s amazing, Resty.
An old, wrinkled hand ran through Resty’s purple hair. Every time my cracked fingertips touched my forehead, it felt prickly, but even that was good.
However, those memories soon disappear.
The elder’s illness worsened and he lost consciousness. Lesti was left alone in the magic tower.
The dream does not show the memories of those three years.
It only shows happy memories.
“·····.”
In my memory, Resty is smiling.
He was smiling brightly and learning magic.
“·····.”
Real-life Resty raised his hand.
I unconsciously touched the corners of my mouth. The corners of his mouth were stiff. What I saw in the mirror was a face I didn’t want to see.
When I close my eyes, I see a dream.
When you open your eyes, you see reality.
The dream was sweet.
The reality was bitter.
The dream was full of things I wanted to see.
In reality, I find myself becoming something I didn’t want to see.
Resty closed his eyes.
I wanted to dream a little more.
-Rustling.
Even while she is dreaming, her body moves faithfully. Toward the center of the altar.
3.
“I heard it was an altar again, Kyle.”
“It looks like it’s hard to just let it go this time, right? “It takes place in the royal capital.”
“It didn’t seem like a good situation.”
Sarah and Remia whispered.
They were moving through the alleyways of the royal capital, covered in robes.
“It’s here, everyone.”
Guiding them is Hound Gale. Gail swallowed dry saliva and walked through the alley. He guided the shortest route to Aplia.
‘···Senior Kalt said he was bringing reinforcements… I never thought it would be a warrior.’
The Kalt that Gale knows is a cautious person. As a knight with experience on the battlefield, he is reluctant to waste anything. Among the Hounds, he was a person who particularly pursued efficiency.
That person called the hero.
It meant that an incident of that magnitude would occur in the royal capital.
‘What on earth is happening?’
Gaylo, who only served as a guide, couldn’t tell. I can only assume that something big is going to happen.
“Come this way···.”
“Did you say hound?”
“Oh, yes.”
Kyle, the warrior following behind, opened his mouth.
“Ask me one question.”
He asked Gale while maintaining his walking pace.
“Are we the only reinforcements in this incident?”
“Yes, the only support troops I have been instructed to have are the warrior party, including Kyle.”
“That guy… No, the gray wizard isn’t participating as a support troop?”
“From what I heard, it doesn’t seem to be there. At least, it looks like he’s not in the royal capital.”
In the first place, not even the Hounds knew where the Gray Wizard was. Because that wizard disappeared without a trace.
‘The tracker, senior Kalt, has been searching for two months and he hasn’t been able to find even the slightest trace.’
The opinion shared by the hounds was that at least it was not in the royal capital. With that thought in mind, Gail was about to take her next step.
“That’s strange.”
Suddenly, Kyle stopped.
He said, stopping.
“It doesn’t seem like I’m telling a lie, but this situation itself feels like a lie.”
“···yes?”
“It’s probably one of the two.”
The fingers smoothed the hilt of the sword.
Starlight rose above the hilt of the sword.
“The star sword gave a wrong prediction.”
Kyle’s red eyes look at Gail.
“You simply didn’t get it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The stars foresaw.”
Those red eyes narrow.
“No matter which direction you take, you’ll meet him.”
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