NOVPUB
Chapter 351 - Volume 6 Prologue 1 Chapter 229
The palace gardens were flourishing in this sunny weather and letting off sweet aromas.
In that garden was a little girl dressed in a long dress, picking flowers to make a bouquet. It was odd to the servants seeing a little girl so interested in flowers but they were used to seeing her roam the gardens every day, lost in the wonders of nature.
"—Temira (Grandfather). Thavuron (Grandmother), I am on vacation." the girl sensed two figures standing next to the hut where she stored the supplies.
"We bring news that we think you will be interested in." an old man's rough voice answered her.
Intrigued, the girl stepped into the shadow of the hut.
"—Hessinia has been chosen as the distraction." The one called "Grandmother" addressed the little girl, "I sent Miara to lead the mission because I cannot trust that harlot to lead our troops."
"I see... Has our esteemed demon friend made contact yet?"
"No. The last time we communicated was when we met up in a remote inn outside the capital."
The elderly pair glanced at each other for a second before Grandpa spoke up, "I must ask: are you not afraid that the demon might betray you? Their goal is to become the Demon King of our world and said that they would tolerate our existence but I don't see how us humans can live in a world alongside demonkind."
"Do not show aggression so early on. We agreed to lend each other support to destroy the major military powers. Once the Inversed Root is revived and flattens the nations, we will take action against them. But given that the opponent is a Greater Demon, they must be intelligent enough to have foreseen such betrayal. As expected, while we must be ready to take action once we kill the vampire lord, we must also exercise caution and not be hasty. To minimize any damage to our organization, I will act alone when the time comes."
"So, we must sit back and watch the end result?" Grandma sounded bitter, "500 years of serving as the bodyguards of this organization's leaders and this is the first time the two of us have been told by our leader that they will act alone."
"Hehehe." The girl giggled softly, the sound high and delicate, yet oddly chilling.
"I never said your services aren't required," she said, raising her eyes to meet theirs. "I simply won't risk you in a move that might backfire. You are my pieces—but not pawns."
She stepped out into the sun again, holding her bouquet up to the light.
"Besides, I'd rather you be alive when we win. It's not like I'll be moving with my real body. I can always find a replacement if my current puppet gets killed in the crossfire."
"...Then I have no qualms with letting you act alone." Temira bowed his head, "But I am curious—how do you plan on killing the demon without our help? I would gladly sacrifice my life for you."
"I have a contact who says they're from the Between Realms—I'm sure you know even the weakest living thing in that realm is a monstrosity that humanity cannot hope to overcome?"
"...." Sharing another glance with his elderly wife, Temira sighed, "You have even negotiated with god-like beings. You truly are this organization's future."
She made a smile that could only fit a child but behind that smile was a brilliant and cruel woman who would do anything to stand at the very top. She's the woman even Siegfriend Dragneud feared.
To the outside world, she is but the child of a servant who recently died and she's now being taken care of by the palace. But to these two who have served in the organization ever since its founding, they know what she really is—
God.
She is God not in origin, name or race, but someone who can control anything to her whims and move the world with a single thought.
Even though Temira and Thavuron stand at the pinnacle of humanity in strength, they too are puppets for the girl to use as she sees fit.
Every mission given must be executed with the highest precision possible, for in their mind even one slip up means they're useless and will be turned into lifeless puppets that she can control whenever she feels like it.
It was a terrifying ability that only they knew of and never dared to share with the world.
She is... God of the Mortal Realms.
◊◊
Earlier that day...
The Republic of Zrek.
Once a kingdom of crowned rulers and noble bloodlines, Zrek had shed its past like a snake discarding its skin. A few years had passed since the monarchy fell, its gilded throne shattered in the public square, replaced by the iron rule of the Republic. What once was a land of feudal lords and whispered court intrigues had become a nation of discipline and law, where swords carved the future and steel determined a man's worth.
Magicians and alchemists, once sought after by kings and scholars, were now branded as relics of a corrupt past. The Republic deemed them dangerous—wielders of unnatural power beyond the grasp of common men. Their towers were torn down, their laboratories set ablaze, and those who refused to forsake the arcane were cast out or worse. The people cheered as pyres lit the night, the last embers of Zrek's magical heritage smoldering into ash.
In their place, knights rose to dominance. No longer bound by noble birth, the new order honored strength, discipline, and loyalty to the Republic. Armored legions patrolled the streets, their banners emblazoned with the sigil of the reborn nation—a broken scepter crossed by two swords. Where once wizards dictated the course of history with whispered incantations, now only steel and resolve decided the fate of Zrek.
Despite the ongoing conflicts with other nations over their distrust of magicians and the Seven Magic Towers, the nation itself was still prosperous. Nobles and commoners were well-off, lords took care of their land and all people were allowed to vote for whomever they knew could improve things further. Under the leadership of Danus von Valtore, nothing seemed impossible to achieve, even peace.
However, he had a neutral stance against magicians and alchemists, causing conflict among his supporters. This was partly due to his wife being from a now extinct line of nomadic tribe that were known for their "ancient powers". Unfortunately, it was never discovered what this ancient power was. Regardless of what the power was for or who wielded it, the people against magicians sees magic as the tool of evil.
As such, his wife's origins had to be kept secret from the general populace or he risks conflict on the scale of the civil war that occurred in the Eulia Empire.
...
The capital descended into pandemonium.
The line of carriages, once steady and elegant, became a twisted wreck of shattered wheels and panicked horses. Beasts burst from the thick black fog like demons loosed from the underworld—gnashing teeth, glinting claws, and eyes filled with rage.
They pounced on the unsuspecting. A nobleman was pulled from his carriage window and mauled on the spot. His wife tried to scream, but a second beast dragged her into the fog by her ankle, her heels scraping against the stone before she vanished from view.
Guards raised their rifles, blades, and bayonets—but even trained men screamed when torn limb from limb. Bullets slowed some beasts, but most only staggered before resuming their onslaught with renewed fury.
A beast the size of a small carriage tore through a merchant stall, snapping its jaws shut around a fleeing man's torso and flinging the corpse aside. Another chased a group of children into an alley, their shrill screams cut short one by one. 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Carriages overturned in the panic, blocking streets, pinning the wounded. Flames erupted—not from sorcery, but from lanterns crushed in the chaos, setting nearby cloth awnings ablaze. Smoke and screams mingled in the air.
The palace gates slammed shut with a thunderous clang, soldiers inside barking orders, abandoning the civilians to save their own skins. The aristocrats closest to the palace were dragged from their seats, their ornate clothes soaked in blood moments later.
And above it all, she watched.
A lone woman stood atop a massive, grounded airship hidden high in the fog, towering over the burning capital. Her long, tentacle-like hair flowed outward as if moved by a wind that didn't exist, strands twitching and curling like living things. Her dress was scandalously tight, black and clinging to her voluptuous figure—barely covering anything, more display than fabric. Her pale skin stood in stark contrast to the sky, her posture relaxed, like a bored goddess observing ants.
She wore a smirk that deepened with every fresh scream.
The woman stood motionless high above the capital on a barely-visible structure—perhaps a tower's peak or an airborne warship. Her tentacle-like hair swayed lazily behind her, as if sensing every death.
Listening to the screams of the citizens, the sorceress' hand went down to her legs. She let out a moan when she touched her secret place.
"Ahn, your screams send shivers through my body~ Keep it up~"
Shlick, shlick—her fingers moved rapidly between her legs. She unleashed one of her breasts from their cage and pulled on her nipple. That action sent a tingle up her spine. Only a madman would do something like this while people were dying right below them.
"ooooahhhh~" a beastly groan came out of her before her love nectar squirted like a fountainhead.
--Hessenia, come in.
A voice came from the watch on her wrist.
"Nn? M-Miara? I didn't know you would be joining us." The euphoria washing away, Hessenia hurriedly answered her superior's call.
-You're not fit to be the leader of a whole unit, Hessenia. At any given moment you can decide to give up on your duties, capture one of the citizens and torture them somewhere just so you can get off on their suffering. I won't allow you to embarrass the Cadres like that.
"Tch, you sound like my mother~ What should I do then, leader~? I already created enough chaos so that you can snatch the princess away."
-Use your dark magic to round up all the corpses and take their miasma so that you can summon a stronger monster. Preferably one that has resistances to the dragon lords' attacks. We can't be certain if they will stay in the mountains.
"Lightning and Fire? Got it! I know just the one!"
-"If you sense Freya York coming—this will be easy to sense since her magic pool is ridiculously large—take the princess yourself and leave."
"Eh? But I need to protect my colleagues too! I have a heart, you know!"
-"The most important thing to this mission is the girl. Her family's [Soul Translation] ability is our only goal. If a few lives are lost then it cannot be helped."
"Ughhh~"
-"I'll contact you soon. My job is making sure no one can disturb you while you work."
"Such a sweetheart~ I'll do my best for you, Miara! Ah but can I ask one thing?"
She received a "sure".
"Could you check the Tower for any grimoires? They usually keep it locked up on the top floor."
The Magic Tower in this nation was currently "inactive" and not "closed down" due to the President's insistence that magicians can still be made into a dominant field in this nation. As such, the library might be untouched. Grimoires contain ancient spells not taught to the public, like the [Target Teleportation] spell Ceera used on Arnold in his fight with Lancelot.
These spells aren't exactly "forbidden" but they are spells far too valuable to teach to the public. One would ask why this matters since ranks exist in magic and not everyone can learn up to third rank. Well, the simple answer is that Grimoire Spells don't have ranks. Anyone with magic potential can cast them. The only restriction is how much mana you have.
-"There should be three of them here, right?"
"Mhm! It's [Blood Moon], [Curse Altar], and [Dark Eclipse]! I've always wanted these books!
-"I see. These books are meant to be used by dark magicians so I can see why you'd want them. Fine, I'll get them. But these books will be your payment for this mission. No gold for you for bossing your leader around."
"Eeeeh~?"
-"I'm cutting the line. I'll be watching you from afar so don't screw up."
Hessinia pouted when Miara cut the line. She was about to complain that she wanted the gold to go to a brothel. Not just any brothel, it was one that's considered one of the most expensive brothels in the Diacree continent—going for ten gold for one night.
"Hehehe..." thinking of going there, Hessinia's womb started to ache and juices stained her legs. She'll taint so many innocent boys~
◊◊
Meanwhile, in Whitage City—a forest near the mining areas.
"—Are you sure about this, Boss?" a rough-looking man's question broke the silence.
He was speaking to a young man who was in the front of their large mercenary group. The group were hiding in a forest that was near a lake, far away from where the Whitage City miners were working.
"Attacking the carriages between the city and working sites while they're moving the minerals is a good idea on paper but..."
"Those shadowy things might be lurking in the bushes waitin' for us." Another man finished the previous one's sentence, expressing similar concern.
"Tch, does your Thief Guild teach you cowardice?" the young master, dressed in a full set of armor that didn't look cheap at all, spoke valiantly as he addressed the ruffians, "On this day, Arnold von Berkley will rue the day he humiliated and insulted my honor. It has gone too far! You, who are scum who would throw away your lives for coin, cannot back down from this. Remember, Her Highness does not like it when her subjects run away after accepting an order because your cowardice reflects on her in the end!"
"...I heard rumors that this Arnold guy has knights that can take on armies alone."
"M-Me too! Some mercenary group thought they could plunder from the outside settlements and were apparently killed by a towering red knight."
"Why can't we see any right now? Are they just inside the city?"
"Maybe they're so fast that they can respond to any danger in these lands instantly?"
"S-Scary..." hearing that, all of them observed their surroundings while trembling.
"A bunch of exaggerated bullshit! Someone like that would be the talk of the empire should they exist!" the young noble spat, "Even if he is an exceptional fighter himself and is just as smart as I am, there's no way he has the charm to pull in powerful warriors like that!"
"T-There's also rumors that he's working with Serz... Maybe the knights come from ther—"
The young noble threw his shield at that person: "Uack!?"
"Shut up! You don't need to think, only follow my orders!"
"Uhm, what's the plan again, Boss?"
"Of course, an uneducated ruffian such as yourself has short memory. How could you even learn to formulate sentences, I wonder."
"...."
"Fine, I will remind you all but this is the last time. It's almost sunset so their shift is almost over for the day. First, we will surround them before they exit the forest, to avoid being seen by patrols in the city. if there are any troublesome bodyguards, we will use these." Tyrian took out several scrolls that Highness herself gave him, "According to Highness, these can immobilize any living thing for ten seconds. Within that time frame, we must restrain them with magic locks to drain them of strength."
He took out a set of magic handcuffs from his magic bag, "These are also items Highness gave me to restrain the enemies. The harder they try to force the handcuffs off, the more it will tighten around them in response. Only someone at the level cap can break through this but there is no one like that in this city, hahaha!"
"What will we do with the crystals if we succeed?"
"Uh, hm..." unable to answer the ruffian, the young noble stroked his chin.
He... didn't plan this far ahead. Or more like he didn't plan at all. He left it all up to
Highness". He wants to believe it's a flawless plan since it's her and he has already suffered the humiliation of being her plaything, taking "it" up the behind.
But where to go from there? Arnold could just go back to his regular routine of mining the crystals.
"Kekekeke..." then, as if a magic bulb went off inside his head, he had a plan. "A miasma bomb. We'll use those to blow his crystals sky high!"
"Eh?"
"Tch. Don't you fools get it? Mana-rich crystals can't stand even a drop of concentrated miasma, where in liquid or gaseous form! Almost like lightning striking the ground, the crystals will hiss then go boom! Like watching a candle explode! Hahahaha!"
A beat of silence followed his outburst.
"...Where do you even get miasma bombs?" another ruffian asked, taking a cautious step back.
"Highness, of course," Tyrian replied proudly, pulling out several black spherical objects that were soft to the touch, almost like balloons but a bit thicker. Highness didn't tell him to use them or anything, he just remembered seeing them in the magic bag when he was going through the supplies back at the roadside inn. "Arnold's little mining dreams are over!"
"...This guy is so petty... What did this Arnold guy even do to him..." a quiet whisper caught his attention.
"I heard that, bastard!" screamed the young noble as he chucked a rock at the guy who mumbled.
"Ow! S-Sorry!"
"Hump, if you must know, that bastard humiliated me! For that alone, he and his slave should pay with their lives but destroying his dreams to join the crystal trade will suffice to this great me! Or he can give that green-haired bitch to me!"
"Wait, he's that noble who got knocked out by the green-haired slave girl that ran away from the restaurant, right?" one of the lackeys tried to hold in his laugh as he whispered to another mercenary, "I was waiting for my client nearby when I saw the commotion—"
Noticing the noble's glare, the guy cleared his throat and averted his eyes.
"Boy, the weather sure is great today, huh?"
"—I need about ten of you to take a bomb each. Escaping with the caravans will act like decoys but our real goal is blowing up the mountain!"
That was technically possibly since miasma touching one crystal will generate a sort of chain lightning reaction that spreads the miasma like wildfire.
Although he only thought of the full plan now, he's certain it'll go smoothly. Will Highness praise him when he gets back with the good news?
Hehehe—Tyran Ayried laughed as he ordered his men to charge.
He didn't know his life from then on will be just like hell, but not the kind where you're thrown into a pit of flesh-eating maggots and forced to live that experience forever, but the kind where the ruler of hell itself has its claws around your neck.
