214. Decide For Yourself (3)
“Don’t let anyone but me inside.”
“As you wish, my lord.”
Thud, thud.
Leaving the interrogation room, Yerina bit her lip as she pulled down her hat.
Even now, just thinking about what had happened in the interrogation room made her head spin.
‘That damn demon······. What the hell did he bring here······.’
The investigation revealed that it was not the Great Demon who had landed on the mortal realm, annihilated the undead army, and approached the White Tower, but a third party.
All that is known about him so far is that he uses the Great Demon as a servant.
The information obtained despite the long interrogation time was too little.
It wasn’t because the Great Demon was uncooperative.
On the contrary, the Great Demon was overly cooperative.
He wanted to live and spilled everything, even things he wasn’t asked about.
It seemed that the guy was trapped in the sword and couldn’t get out.
The problem was that no one, including Yerina, could hear it.
No. To be exact, they could hear it, but they couldn’t remember it.
When the Great Demon gave a detailed explanation of the unknown guy, the information about him simply disappeared.
They tried everything they could to get the information.
They tried to have a conversation with words instead of speech.
They tried to convey it indirectly using a code.
They tried to dig up the truth by asking questions that could only be answered with yes or no.
But all the results were failures.
The last method came closest to the identity of the opponent, but they couldn’t find out any key information about him.
What kind of race he is, what his name is, what his purpose is······.
They couldn’t find out anything about his nature.
‘But this is also information in its own way.’
That didn’t mean that all those attempts were meaningless.
They got the most valuable information.
‘The information that you can’t recognize information.’
Why can the Great Demon recognize the opponent, while Yerina and her people can’t?
It wasn’t that only demons could recognize the opponent.
It was clear that even the unknown person who had been brainwashed by the enemy could recognize him.
The Great Demon and the unknown person.
The common ground between these two would lead to a clue to the identity of the opponent.
‘Come to think of it, Rex too······.’
There was also something unusual about Rex, the high-ranking warrior.
He suddenly disappeared at one point, and when he came back about a minute later, he had forgotten everything that had happened in the meantime.
This was also a first.
If you lose your memory, everyone at the scene loses their memory.
What does it mean that Rex lost his alone?
The answer was simple.
Rex saw something he shouldn’t have seen in the place he had transferred to.
One more thing.
The fact that Rex ‘alone’ lost his memory means that the world is a world independent of the mortal realm.
In other words.
Rex had visited another world for a moment when he lost his memory.
‘No matter how I look at it······.’
It was full of limited information.
But the evidence is piling up, one by one.
Doubt turns into conviction.
He uses the Great Demon as a servant.
He has Eugene’s magic stone, which has disappeared from the mortal realm.
He has the ability to transfer to another world.
And he is a being who erases records with the intervention of the laws of the world······.
No matter how you think about it, it narrows down to one.
The moment she was about to say the name, Yerina’s lips trembled.
A whirlwind of unknown emotions swept over her, giving her goosebumps.
“Draken······.”
Is there anything else besides that?
A being with such immense power?
Other than Draken, who is said to have a world as his body, there was no other being that could possibly be the opponent.
Her chest tightened and her vision blurred.
Did Draken succeed in descending to the mortal realm?
The being that Eugene had warned and feared so much?
If so, shouldn’t the mortal realm have been destroyed already, since there is no god to protect it?
If Draken wasn’t watching over it on purpose, it meant that his main body hadn’t descended yet.An avatar, or perhaps it’s a luxury to even call it a remnant, has succeeded in descending.
It wasn’t a crisis of annihilation yet, but it was certainly a crisis of similar magnitude.
Even if the four great demons went on a rampage, they were only a threat to the country.
Right now, the entire world was being shaken by a single avatar of Draken.
‘His goal is probably the descent of his main body.’
Draken’s main body must be prevented from descending.
No matter what it takes······!
With that resolve, Yerina’s fist clenched tightly.
However, how do you deal with an existence that you can’t even recognize, and even if you do recognize it for a moment, all your memories are erased?
The clue was with Rex.
In the other world that Rex had crossed over to, it was possible to recognize the enemy.
Perhaps the law is applied the moment you return to the present world, and you lose all your memories from there.
If Rex had been dragged into that world by Draken, then Rex should have died and returned.
However, Rex returned alive and well.
That means it’s more likely that Rex didn’t get dragged in, but rather went in on his own.
Then how?
The most likely thing was still the secret technique.
The moment he used the Merida-style secret technique, he disappeared as if he was being sucked somewhere.
The exact correlation is unknown, but it is certain that the secret technique is at least related to the transfer.
Yerina looked at her wounded hand and clicked her tongue.
“Tsk.”
Secret technique.
It was a resonance filled with love and hate.
Yerina felt her true heart flutter and tremble, and quickly shook her head to erase the useless thoughts.
‘Well. Then Rex went as far as the realm where he could recognize his opponent, fought, but failed to defeat his opponent within the time limit and was kicked out······ Is that it?’
This seemed to be the closest to the correct answer.
Of course, this is still just a hypothesis······.
Still, it was the most convincing and perfectly explained all the phenomena of the hypotheses that had come out so far.
‘There’s no way the theory that the dead Eugene came back and is causing trouble is true.’
Who the hell said that?
Ah. It was Jill.
Apparently, Eugene was trapped somewhere and sacrificed his own existence to get out, becoming a body that could not be recognized by anyone, and is now struggling to regain his existence······.
I remembered the hypothesis that was so mind-boggling that Jill was so excited about it and explained it in a hurry.
Yerina couldn’t bring herself to tell him to stop his delusions in front of him.
She could only nod and say, “Yeah, yeah, that could be it.”
As more and more hopeful delusions arose, Jill seemed to deteriorate even faster.
‘Jill is talking nonsense. Julia seems to be drowning in alcohol.’
From Noble mtl dot com
A sigh escaped her.
Yerina was the only one of the top executives of the Alliance who was in a normal state.
Of course, that was just ‘relatively normal’, and Yerina was also in a clearly dangerous situation.
If it hadn’t been for the mind technique book that Alicia had given her, she would have probably lost her mind long ago.
‘Come to think of it, that mind technique book was also given to me by Eugene······.’
The mysterious sorcerer who had moved with Alicia must have been Eugene.
Thud.
In Yerina’s hands, the mind technique book that had been opened countless times over the past three years was opened.
It’s not a complete cure yet, but it’s something that cured my madness.
This was given to me by Eugene······.
Even though I hurt him so much, he did this for me to be with me······.
Ah. Today is especially hard.
I’ve been repeating to myself that I have to live, but I’ve managed to hold on somehow.
Today, I really feel like I want to sit down and cry without thinking about anything.
The moment Yerina’s body trembled.
For a moment, her eyes flashed.
“Ah! The pursuit team!!!”
Only then did she remember the trio who had left to pursue the unidentified enemy.
Kwiho, Transylvania, and Alicia.
If Yerina’s guess was correct and the enemy’s identity was Draken, or his avatar······
“Alicia is in danger!”
All three of them were in danger.
.
.
.
“Then kill yourself right now, Linda.”[Are you serious, Master?]
“If you’re just reconfirming the order, there’s no need. Commit suicide. Destroy all data physically without leaving a trace.”
[······.]
Linda stared at me silently with her mouth shut tight.
However, that doesn’t mean this place was filled with silence.
Thud, thud, thud······.
An unknown vibration enveloped us violently.
[It seems like an earthquake is happening for a moment.]
A brazen voice.
Our senses are confused by the double and triple barriers, but everything that happens outside this room is being read.
It seems like the Archmage is blocking our senses even more because he’s our opponent.
However, I’m reading the situation outside through touch through the vibration.
‘We’re surrounded.’
As I read it, this mansion is surrounded by countless steel bars and skewers.
Before I knew it, the mansion looked like it was surrounded by thorns.
If I did anything wrong, the thorns would pierce through the wall and stab me.
[I’m sorry, Master. I want to follow your orders right away, but I can’t. I made a contract with the Union. It’s my job to manage the archives, and if I commit suicide, the contract will be broken.]
“It doesn’t matter. I own you. I’ll take responsibility for any penalty or liquidated damages. Don’t worry and commit suicide.”
[Master······. It may be a bit rude, but I hear a lot that I’m tactless. I’m saying I don’t want to die right now.]
Linda looked pitiful with a very resentful expression.
It’s not like she’s imitating emotions.
It’s a real emotion.
But this······ no matter how I look at it, it’s not Linda’s.
It’s definitely not an emotion from Linda’s circuit.
In each of those words that she spat out dryly as if she was acting out emotions, there were complex emotions that Linda couldn’t have felt.
Not only a simple desire to survive, but also anger, regret, longing, and······
Loneliness.
This is Linda?
I can’t believe it.
“Are you even bothered to lie? I’ll ask you one last time. What is your identity?”
[······.]
“I understand.”
Refusal to answer.
Then, all that’s left is an all-out war.
As I pulled out an intangible sword with my will, the nameless man’s eyes widened.
It seems like he doesn’t understand the situation at all because his senses are blocked and because of Linda’s acting.
“W, what are you doing right now?”
“Get your head straight. This guy isn’t Linda. It’s something that’s wearing Linda’s shell. Be careful because there are iron skewers aiming at your neck, forehead, heart, lower abdomen, and thighs from all sides.”
“Huh?!”
[How about we part ways peacefully without a fight? My core circuit isn’t here anyway. Even if we fight, it’s impossible for you to achieve your goal. If we fight, there’s a high probability that we’ll get injured or lose our comrades······. Are you really going to start this meaningless and damaging fight?]
“······.”
Linda smiled and made a refreshing threat.
Her expression frowned for a moment.
But I quickly noticed that it was a bluff.
A meaningless and damaging fight for me?
Then why would Linda offer me peace?
She wants to avoid fighting because she’ll suffer even more damage.
And above all, she doesn’t know my purpose.
If it was Linda, she would have noticed it a long time ago.
“I think you’re mistaken. I’m not risking my life to destroy just you.”
[Then······?]
“I’m risking my life for my people.”
“Mister! The magic circle is ready!”
“······This side, too. Warm-up. Done.”
At that moment, the nameless man and Mijung shouted.
I also sharpened the sword energy gathered in my hand even more.
However, no matter how much I strengthen it, a sword made of only intangible will can never be as strong as a real sword.
Was I foolish?
Was it a mistake to leave the magic sword?
No. No.
I can’t do this with a magic sword.
“Dakia-ryu. And Merida-ryu secret technique······.”
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
The skewers pierced through the walls and windows.
My will scattered sword energy everywhere.It was a misunderstanding that combined two types of will.
“Celestial Blood Armor!”
The sword energy that scattered in all directions was the same as the Iron Blood Storm Strike.
However, the shape formed by the sword energy was not a net that could not be escaped, but a shield.
It was an armor that was prepared to kill and stain everything in its path with blood.
[Ah······. In the end, it came to this-]
The moment it touched the armor plate, the spring machine was instantly disassembled into its components.
The skewers and rebar that were reaching out for Mumin and Mijung were all bent and bounced off as soon as they touched the blood armor.
Cuckoo!
After the shield that crushed everything it touched passed by.
Before I knew it, my mansion was smashed beyond recognition.
The archive, which resembled the World Tree, was collapsing as its pillars collapsed and could no longer support the weight.
“You still don’t know me well. No matter what the percentage chance of me dying is······.”
The decision had been made from the beginning.
There was no such thing as going back on it.
I was just listening to see what Linda would suggest.
“I had no intention of letting anyone who put my women in danger live.”
The fact that the Alliance was entrusting the archives to the archive meant that the information on the heroines was also piled up here.
It was already a certainty that this place would be destroyed before they became dangerous.
Linda······ No, if the guy had been smart, he would have shown even a little bit of self-determination.
There is no sincerity. Sincerity.