Maseki Gurume – Vol 5 Chapter 10 Part 2

It’s Ko-Fi’s Supporters’ chapter (98/116), enjoy~

ED: Lonely-matter

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Part 2

 

The flames were not the only damage to the Magna as they approached.

The city was filled with small monsters, all of which looked very similar to Viscount Sage’s Wyvern that Ain had seen at Ist.

It had unnatural huge body parts, bloodshot eyes, and instinctive movements without any sense of ego.

“──That’s the Princess Olivia!”

The people who had taken refuge by the sea noticed the appearance and shouted with joy.

Nearby were the Sea Dragon twins kept by Crown Prince Ain, and it was a joyous sight to see the monsters in the sea being dealt with so quickly.

However, the threat in the city has not disappeared.

Monsters were rushing in from inside the city along the sea where the evacuated residents were.

A mother and daughter run desperately to escape from these monsters. But the girl slipped and fell to the ground, separated from her mother’s hand.

“Mother…!”

Even though she was very young, she realized that she could not be saved.In that moment she closed her eyes and didn’t call out for her mother, tears spilled down her face.

“It’s okay.”

She heard a gentle voice in her ear.

It was strange to hear such a gentle voice in this city, where the only sounds were the voices of monsters and the sorrowful cries of the people.

But the girl did not open her eyes and waited for the end. But the end never came, not even for a moment.

“Eh…?”

After a weak voice, she finally opened her eyes.

When she looked back at the path she had come from, she saw that a large number of monsters were dead.

All of them, without exception, was cut in two, and not a single one of them was still breathing.

“Are you hurt?”

“No… but…”

Who is he? She thought to herself.

The man in front of her was dressed in royal attire, but his hands were covered in jet-black armor, and he looked nothing like an Ishtalikan royal.

But when the man looked back at her, the Magna-raised girl immediately understood.

“That’s good to hear. You’re safe now.”

The hero everyone knew reached out his hand to her.

The girl, unlike before, shed large tears of relief. The hero put his hand on her back as she stood up, and the warmth and gentleness of the human skin quieted the distortions in her mind.

The people gradually noticed his appearance and rejoiced.

“Ain-sama! Watch out!”

Lloyd appeared, shouting loudly and swinging his greatsword. The one who was cut down was a monster that appeared from Ain’s blind spot.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

“Please be careful!”

“Yeah, I thought it was okay because Lloyd-san and Dill were here, and also──”

In addition, a monster appears from above Lloyd’s head, from the roof. As soon as the monster came down, it never moved again, and its body was cut in two.

When he looked closely, he saw that the monster he had defeated also had scars he did not recognize.

“Weren’t you a bit careless too?”

“Kuh… haha… haahaahaha! I’m very sorry! It seems I’ve been putting my own inexperience on the line!”

“It’s not like that ─── Well.”

Ain drew his sword here.

He had pulled it out many times before, but this was the first time he had exposed it to the public for all to see.

Then he raised his sword high into the sky.

“Disappear!”

After a murmur, he thrust the sword into the ground.

What would happen if Ain, who had become a Demon King, used the Ocean Current skill?

The answer is simple: it will be on an even greater scale than before. The surface of the nearby sea rose up all at once, creating a wall of water.

The wall of water quickly became as fine as raindrops and quickly extinguished the houses near the coast.

“T-this is… Oh my, this is really impressive.”

“I’m happy to hear your praise, but we’re not done yet.”

There are many monsters in the city. If they don’t get rid of them soon, the casualties will only increase.

The people of Magna called out to Ain, who was about to leave.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

Lloyd and Dill, who would normally condemn them for their rudeness, let them off the hook for now.

“I believe you are… from the stall. What’s wrong?”

“Y-yes! Actually, His Majesty the First’s villa is──”

When he heard the voice, Ain looked towards the cape.

The villa of the first king, Geil, is also enveloped in flames, just like any other.

“Lloyd-san, tell the knights who came to the city. We’ll head straight for the villa. The rest of them should defeat the monsters in the city.”

He wanted to defeat the monsters himself if he could. But that’s not possible. There are a lot of important documents in the basement of the villa, and if he doesn’t hurry to extinguish the fire there, it will be too late.

Lloyd nodded to Ain’s words and gave instructions in a loud voice.

Meanwhile, Ain looked at the stall owner’s store.

Perhaps he was doing business today, but there were overcooked skewers lined up in front of his store. Ain picked it up and brought it to his mouth.

It smelled burnt and was covered with the saltwater from earlier, making it unappealing.

“You should also hurry up and do the restoration work so that everyone can enjoy your skewers again.”

Saying goodbye to the tearful owner, Ain ran off with Lloyd and Dill. They were headed for the cape where the villa was located.

He avoided going along the seaside as he had done when he was in secret and ran through the city.

The knight’s voice urges the people to evacuate. The screams of the people. The sound of collapsing houses. The smell of burning that stung the nose only made him feel more uncomfortable, and his cheeks naturally twisted.

(I should probably use the power of the Ice Dragon again, but…)

But no.

The next time, he might actually collapse.

Suddenly.

“Someone, send in reinforcements… No! There are too many of them…!”

When Ain looked in the direction where the voice came from, there was a knight. He can see at a glance that he was holding a small boy in his arms and was fighting to protect him.

There are many monsters that will attack the knight.

Lloyd turned to go for backup, but the distance was too great. It was only natural for Ain to pull out his black sword as he imagined the worst possible outcome.

The sequence of actions was unconscious.

Dullahan’s hand armor was summoned in his hand as he moved to pull out the black sword. He was clad in the power of Dullahan, the strongest swordsman, which suited the black sword well.

“Please make it in time──”

He raised his sword, and this time, instead of wearing cold air, he wore jet-black magic power.

As he swung down the sword with great force, the jet-black magic power became a gust of wind that attacked the monster. The monster, which had lost its vitality in an instant, lay down, and relief flooded the knight’s face.

“Y-Your Highness! Why are you here…? No! How can I thank you for saving our lives…?”

“Don’t worry about it! What’s the situation in the city?”

“Yes! Most of the people have already been evacuated!”

The only thing left to do is to protect the people who failed to escape.

Exhaling and patting his chest, Ain was lost in thought. He thought that he should save the people of Magna, who were now in need of help, instead of going to the villa.

“The city is in the hands of our knights! Your Highness, please take care of the villa of His Majesty the First!”

“Ain-sama, a knight, has his duties. They have their own things to do, and we have ours. Please heed the knight’s wishes and let’s move on.”

“…Lloyd-san.”

“If the monsters have been reduced in number, there is no problem. Now, let’s hurry up!”

Ain faced down in regret and shook his fist in a small motion.

After a few seconds, he made up his mind, looked up and said to the knight.

“I want you to take care of the city!”

After receiving the crown prince’s declaration, the knight regained his energy and replied in a loud voice.

 

◇ ◇ ◇

 

When Ain arrived at the cape, he saw that the villa was in ruins. Its former beauty had been burned to the ground, and there was an altered appearance.

Although there were many monsters in the vicinity, they were no match for the three of them. It was no hardship at all, and the pain in his heart from seeing the current state of the villa was more serious.

“How did this happen…?”

Dill said, stepping forward.

The villa is in more dire straits than any private home he’s ever seen.

How about the basement?

Instead of praying for safety, Ain decided to use the Ocean Current.

“──Dill! Get back!”

However, when Ain noticed something, he stopped his hand and hurriedly called Dill back.

“Ain-sama, what’s wrong all of a sudden──?”

“Just back off!”

He forcefully grabbed Dill’s hand and put all his strength into his legs to get away from the villa. He grabbed Lloyd’s body along the way and pulled him away.

The two of them, looking for an explanation, soon saw the reason.

A ray of light pierced the sky from the villa. The glow was not a blinding light but jet-black, creating a black, purple atmosphere around them.

Soon, a crack appeared in the ground in front of Ain.

The cape collapsed in the blink of an eye, and the entire villa crumbled into the sea.

“Don’t leave my side.”

Ain held his hand up in the air.

“That air is miasma. My powers are working on their own.”

The air around them was quickly purified, but it was definitely miasma. It wasn’t just miasma, either. Lloyd and Dill understood that just by looking at it.

“What a high concentration of miasma!”

“Father… how did that much miasma get here?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know, but… it’s something that can’t be ignored.”

Ain turned his head away, thinking about something else, as well as the fact that he had lost the basement of his villa.

He gritted his teeth as he looked down at the city of Magna, where the commotion had yet to die down.

“It’s them.”

There’s no doubt about it. It was the Red Fox.

It’s the same with the monsters they’ve seen so far, and they took the trouble to turn the first king’s villa into nothing. No doubt they knew about the underground basement and acted accordingly.

“…..Unforgivable.”

The city had already suffered many casualties.

The destruction of the buildings was fine. But the lives of the people that were lost will not return.

Ain looked up at the sky, his body trembling with a rage he had never felt before.

“If you hate the royal family… if you want to kill me, why don’t you just aim at me?”

As he drew his black sword, the red light of the city reflected dully off it.

Suddenly, Marco’s image seemed to be reflected in the sword’s blade, and the hand that grasped the hilt was filled with strength.

“A… Ain… sama…?”

The frozen ground spreads out from underneath Ain’s feet.

Dill gasped at the sight and blinked repeatedly.

“I won’t let them do what they want anymore.”

Following his words, he raised his black sword high into the sky.

Dill and Lloyd, who was standing beside him, thought he was using the power of the Ocean Current ── but they were wrong.

That would only be able to extinguish the fire in the vicinity, and the anger of Ain now has a magic power in his body that is beyond human comprehension.

“The man you want to kill is… right here!”

A silvery-white magic power overflows from the black sword. As soon as Ain thrusts his black sword into the ground, a glow of light appears around him.

The ground around the cape is frozen, and the sea below is also frozen as the whole area is as cold as the winter in the adventurer’s town of Baltic.

──Gi, gigigi.

When the ice on the surface of the sea cracked, it shattered all at once.

What emerged from the shattering was a pillar of ice. However, it was not just a pillar. It had an appearance that could be mistaken for a tree if it were brown.

It looked like a giant ice tree.

In the blink of an eye, the ice tree grew higher and higher until it reached a height of several hundred meters. When the ice branches began to grow from the top, they quickly enveloped the entire city of Magna.

“This can’t be…!”

Lloyd exclaimed in surprise.

This is not something that can be done by a human being. It is truly an act of God.

Immediately, as if in response to the great ice tree, roots made of ice appeared from all over the city. The roots flickered with a pale light like fireflies, the same light that was emitted when the illusory hand absorbed the magic stone. The evidence of this is the monsters that had been rampaging in the town were inside the ice roots.

The great ice tree continued to grow, creating a fantastic scene.

“…Ain-sama.”

Dill was the one who let out a voice.

What crossed his mind was the battle between Marco and Ain.

He had always wondered why Ain had grown so rapidly that day. If Ain had become the Demon King, then… the reason for Sylvird’s silence would be reasonable.

It was the only thing he could think of when he saw the scene unfolding in front of him.

“Let’s go, both of you.”

Ain started to walk towards the city.

“There might still be monsters. They’ll need us.”

The two of them nodded simultaneously when they heard his voice.

With a sigh… snowflakes fell on their hands. The next thing they knew, snow was falling all over Magna.

When they looked up at the sky, wondering why, they saw that the great ice trees had as many leaves on them as trees in midsummer.

The leaves, however, are all cold snow.

The great ice tree, which makes it snow, was extinguishing the flames in the city.

This was incomparable to the power of the Ice Dragon, which turned the area white in a matter of seconds.

“It seems that this is not just snow.”

It’s a mysterious power, but the city is more important now.

“Dill, we’re going to accompany Ain-sama.”

“Yes!”

 

◇ ◇ ◇

 

A man was sitting on a hill outside of the city, looking at the great ice tree.

“Ah… Aaaaahh, what an incredible power! Not only is it as brilliant as that of Arche, but it has the potential to be so much more!”

The white robe he wore was spotless, even though the sparks from the fire had reached this far.

He repositioned his glasses and gazed lovingly at the great tree towering high in the sky.

“I want to study that power.”

He licked his tongue.

“I need to cut the body, open the head, and let me take a good, long look at the magic stone inside.”

He said the words without hiding his desire for knowledge.

As soon as the special snowflakes falling down reached his hand, he immediately put them in his mouth.

It tastes… normal.

The taste is normal, but the magic is so pure that he holds his upper body in his hands and shakes his body.

It had been a long time since he had shuddered at such sweetness.

“…Th-this is enough!”

Someone called out to him. The voice belonged to the first prince of Heim, Layfon’s men.

“I’m with Layfon-dono! And I have kept my promise to you!”

“Yes, you have been very helpful.”

“Now it’s your turn to keep your promise…! You’ll give me back my family!”

“Yes, I did, I promised. If you give me the magic tools that Layfon gave you, I will save your family. Layfon wouldn’t have kept his promise anyway, and if you had been captured by Ishtalika, you would have been condemned to death.”

The reality is different. Elena and Warren’s exchange has saved their lives. But those of them here didn’t know that and were being taken advantage of.

“Oh! You’re a famous researcher named Oz, aren’t you? That’s why I believed you!”

“It’s an honor.”

Oz smiled and walked away.

“Did you know? Most contracts cease to exist when the other party dies.”

“…Eh.”

“Farewell.”

Oz put his hand on the man’s face.

Then the miasma from his hand enveloped the man, and he quickly──.

“Is this the first time you’ve breathed in a thick miasma? Oh, I don’t think you hear me anymore.”

Seeing the man lying on the ground, Oz stepped on him like a stone on the road and walked away from Magna.

“Oh, I’m in the best mood. I want to strip naked and run around the royal capital,” he said.

“There’s more to the story, Your Highness.”

He said as he walked briskly.

“The man who was so passionate about his research could not stop his desire to know something. He remained on the continent and blended into the long history of the world. Eventually, he led the people to build the Tower of Wisdom and set up a paradise for himself. ──And”

And so the old story continues.

“He was an avid researcher ─── No, I’m glad to see you again.”

His body shivered, perhaps from the cold.

Or maybe it was a joy.

“This is the beginning, Your Highness. It’s about time she, or even the chief, turned on you.”

Once again, he looked up at the great ice tree.

Then he disappeared, smiling broadly.

 

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