Chapter 484

Episode 484. Omen of Catastrophe (6)

In a desolate territory where Ashtalon once stood, but where nothing now remained.

—Hmm…

A man was standing there. He wore a black holy shroud and carried silver chains on his trousers. He observed the Spirit Invoker’s territory with interest. More precisely, the places where the Spirit Invoker and the Divine Blood had fought. His eyes moved restlessly, as if the situation from back then was being replayed before him.

His gaze, which swept through every corner, stopped at one point. Finally…

—I see…

He sketched a smile of understanding, as if he had witnessed the end.

—So it turns out like this this time. It is fascinating.

He murmured to himself and turned around without hesitation, as if he had nothing left to do there. However, at that instant, the man in the holy shroud stopped his steps.

Right in front of him was a woman. She had a peculiar appearance with pentagrams in both eyes. Before her presence, the man in the black shroud said with surprise:

—My, it seems there was already a visitor.

—I am not a visitor.

—Then?

—I came to see you.

At that response, a natural smile appeared on the lips of the man in the shroud.

—Is that so? Then it is an honor. For the famous ‘Predator’ to go to the trouble of seeking me out… Tell me, what is the matter?

The woman stared at him fixedly for a moment before speaking.

—I was thinking of killing you in advance if I could, but it seems that won’t be possible.

A serene voice for content that was anything but. The man in the shroud responded with a relaxed smile.

—What terrifying words.

—Stop lying.

—Why do you think that? Did you perhaps hear something from my previous ‘self’?

—Hum, it seems so.

Although the man in the shroud smiled mockingly, the Predator only observed him calmly.

—Don’t act as if you are discovering something you already know.

—My, did you find me out?

—… If I could kill you, it would be wonderful.

—What a pity. By the way, seeing as you are trying to kill me, it seems you truly wish to protect him, don’t you?

She did not respond, only glared at him with her eyes that harbored pentagrams.

—But I will tell you once more: that is impossible. He has forced too many ‘obstinacies’.

—And for the one who has twisted the ‘natural order’ that should have followed its course, an even greater irrationality will inevitably be granted.

Unmoved by that icy gaze, the man in the shroud turned around.

—That will not change. Even if it is repeated a thousand times.

After saying that, he disappeared completely, as if he had never been there. Shortly after, only the Predator remained with her pentagrams shining, silently observing the place where he had been.

—… Lord Alon Palatio.

—What is it?

—Normally, the fish that live in the sea… No, that’s not a fish but a monster… but normally the beings that live in the sea can only swim underwater, right?

—That is so.

—Then what is that?

Alon Palatio turned his head to look at Evan. He observed him for a moment with a look that said: “Are you asking me?”.

—T-this… for now, shall we go in?

At Penia’s dazed voice, Alon Palatio nodded and the group headed toward Palantia. However, their eyes could not tear themselves away from the castle. It was natural. The castle, which they had barely grown accustomed to, had changed drastically again after half a year.

Although the Sea God swimming peacefully near the castle was shocking and commanded attention, the castle had changed shape more evidently than Alon Palatio expected. The most shocking change was, without a doubt, the floating island above the castle.

—… It is so large that one could build an entire mansion.

—It is big enough to build the academy we saw when crossing the empire.

—… I see.

Certainly, the floating island they saw last time was very small. So to speak, it was the size of a small house, almost like a decorative pet. But now? It had become so enormous that Penia and Evan could say such things. But that wasn’t all.

—… Why do I feel like the castle has become larger?

—I felt it too.

—Right…?

The castle had also grown. And it wasn’t a doubt of “could it have grown a little?”, but rather it could be clearly recognized: “Ah, it grew.”

—Realistically… is that even possible?

—No, well… normally castles don’t ‘get fat’ like that, right? For a castle to grow, you usually have to demolish and rebuild it.

—I suppose so…

—But it doesn’t look like they demolished and rebuilt it.

Alon Palatio nodded at Evan’s words. For starters, it made no sense to demolish and rebuild a castle of that size in just half a year. While Alon Palatio wondered what on earth had happened during his absence, they arrived in front of the castle.

And as soon as they arrived…

—¡?!

Fwaaaa!

A red carpet began to roll out in front of him. Following the initial bewilderment over the carpet…

—Illusion magic?

The moment Alon Palatio realized its nature…

Fwaaaa!

On both sides of the red carpet, knights created by illusions appeared simultaneously and drew their swords. The swords, shining in multiple colors, instantly crossed in an X-shape toward the sky, emitting sounds like fireworks while forming the silhouette of Alon Palatio.

Evan was impressed, while Penia…

—Wow… the amount of Mana Stones required to do this just once… It is a total waste of money.

Penia put on a horrified expression while calculating the amount of Mana Stones that were being consumed.

And Alon…

—… Ah.

Feeling a shame so chilling that it ran through his whole body and made him want to collapse right there, he could only close his eyes tightly. Immediately after, after completing a welcome ceremony he didn’t want at all, receiving the greetings and applause of numerous residents of the territory, Alon Palatio…

—You have arrived, Your Majesty.

—Alexion.

He exchanged a brief greeting with Alexion, who received the group.

—I have several things to tell you, but… since I assume you have many questions, I will postpone the report for a bit later.

—I appreciate it.

He immediately headed to the interior of the castle. There he could see Lainicius and…

—And also…

—Ah, you have arrived, Your Majesty!

—Hmm.

He could see the two tower masters. They were Norton, the master of the Purple Magic Tower, and Manram, the master of the Brown Magic Tower, both with smiles of great satisfaction. After closing and opening his eyes tightly at their image, Alon Palatio asked:

—That illusion magic… did you two create it?

—Yes, what do you think?

—… Stop doing it.

Alon Palatio asked them that while holding his head with his hands, which were still trembling with embarrassment. Following that, he heard how this situation had come to be.

—So, in summary, Lainicius’s magic power is so much that it doesn’t run out just by maintaining the castle, and based on that you redesigned the castle?

—Exactly.

—Wow…

Penia, letting out an exclamation of awe at Norton’s words, looked at Lainicius.

—… I’m starting to feel like a fool.

Alon Palatio, after hearing her strange murmur, asked:

—… Then is that also for the same reason?

—To what are you referring?

—… To that.

When Alon Palatio pointed to the Sea God swimming around the castle, Manram nodded.

—That is so.

—How on earth did you do that?

—It wasn’t such a grand technique. We drew a large magic circle using the five turrets of the castle as mediums, and added a bit of gravity circles. In reality, it is originally a device designed to block long-distance attacks, but seeing it closely, we thought it looked good aesthetically, so additionally…

Noticing that Manram kept talking and talking as if he had been waiting to be asked, Alon Palatio let out a low sigh.

—… Is there some problem?

Manram observed him cautiously. Although Alon Palatio thought, “Now you worry about my reaction?”, he soon shook his head.

—… No, it’s not that.

From Alon Palatio’s position, they had upgraded his castle to this level almost for free, so it was difficult for him to say he didn’t like it now. Besides, objectively, the castle wasn’t bad. On the contrary, it was great. The problem was that… it was a bit excessive. Therefore, after meditating on it for a moment, Alon Palatio asked:

—… I’m asking just in case, are there any additional devices installed in the castle?

He threw out the question to know what on earth the tower masters had done to his castle.

—Of course there are!

At those words, the tower masters, with lit-up faces, began their tale.

—This is an automatic interception device. If there were an external intrusion…

—This is an illusion activation device. If an enemy or an unwanted person appears, immediately the illusion magic…

—On the walls there are several defensive spells, but above all, a firestorm…

—In your personal quarters, there is a golem that reacts instantly to anyone other than you, Lord Alon Palatio…

And so they continued for two whole hours. When Alon Palatio was already exhausted from just listening, he received the final presentation: it was an overwhelming, almost violent sphere of magic power being created in the center, using the tips of the five turrets as vertices.

—What is that?

To Alon Palatio’s question:

—It is an interception device against the new forms.

—Its name is Dragon Breath!

The two tower masters finished with pride.

‘It’s the castle of a Demon King.’

‘It’s the castle of a Demon King.’

‘It’s the castle of a Demon King…’.

Evan, Penia, and Alon Palatio couldn’t help but give the finished castle that rating.

Later, when the sky began to darken.

—You look tired, so we will talk about Kylus tomorrow. At any rate, it’s not a story that ends quickly.

—… Let’s do that.

After receiving Lainicius’s consideration, Alon spoke with Alexion.

—Are you saying a castle will remain empty?

—To be precise, one internal castle and the castles in the outer zone, which has five layers, will remain empty. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to recruit defensive troops.

—Defensive troops?

—Yes, the truth is the castle itself is so…

Alexion hesitated a bit.

—… Although it is very well built, the castle is so large that I fear the current troops will not be enough.

—You mean we need to recruit additional troops.

—Yes. The truth is we need to gather quite a lot, so it would be ideal to be able to gather them in large groups at once… but that would subtract a lot of reliability, so I suppose it will take time to fill the ranks.

Alon Palatio nodded at Alexion’s words and responded:

—… Then let’s do it that way.

—Understood, I will make the preparations. Ah, and what do you plan to do with the internal castle that is empty?

At Alexion’s question:

—An internal castle.

—Yes. It is the castle connected to yours. If it were a normal castle, it wouldn’t matter leaving it empty, but…

—Is there something else…?

—It’s just… so many devices have been installed that… it seems like a waste to leave it like that…

Alon Palatio agreed. Although Lainicius supplied the magic power and technically it cost nothing, it was true that such a level of consumption in itself was a waste.

—Hmm…

After meditating on it without thinking of anything in particular, Alon said:

—… I suppose I’ll have to give the castle to someone.

—Give the castle to someone…?

—Yes, if there is someone among those close to us who needs it.

He said. In that instant, the red brooch and the green insignia on Alon Palatio’s coat began to shine. As if announcing a storm…

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