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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 200: Deception
The barrier of light, Ragnarok.
The symbol of the White Magic Tower and the product of mages who worked together for a long time.
The White Magic Tower, once considered just a magic research institute, now holds a position that encompasses the other three major towers, and Ragnarok played a crucial role in that.
The barrier that blocked incomprehensible monsters, including the giants beyond the northernmost land of death.
Unbreakable light, Ragnarok.
"Oooooh!"
"The Floor Head has completed Ragnarok!"
The mages, who had been watching the curtain of light emanating from the Thousand-Sky Orb in the sky, finally breathed a sigh of relief and sank to their seats.
Black muttered,
"It's the one in the land of death. A simplified version, I guess."
I also looked at the barrier for a moment.
The entrance to the restricted Demon Realm was completely engulfed in the light, unable to exert any power.
It was similar in form to the 7th Circle Grand Protection that the White Magic Squad used to deploy.
Originally, I wouldn't have cared what the mages were doing...
But now, for the first time, an unpleasant feeling was creeping up on me.
The world is truly unpredictable.
I never imagined that the magic book that flowed from Samael to the White Magic Tower in the past would be distorted into this form.
Magic where mages each take charge of only a part of the incantation.
Whether it was absurd or amazing that they could imitate 7th Circle magic with such a bizarre method...
Either way, it was unpleasant.
Because none of them had a proper incantation in their minds.
"Crazy Mage Squad Commander."
Mahon Sirius, who had descended to the ground, looked at me.
"What was that incantation?"
As I remained silent for a moment, one of the high-ranking mages standing behind Mahon said with a displeased expression,
"We almost failed to activate Ragnarok in time, Floor Head."
The high-ranking mage then looked at me.
"It's our first time meeting Crazy Mage Squad Commander. You stepped in at a bad time. The incantations almost overlapped and interfered with the magic circle. It was dangerous."
"How noisy."
"...What did you just say?"
At that moment, with earth-shaking footsteps, a large group of people appeared from the right.
"What's going on?!"
A crowd of mages from the Alliance, knights stationed in Keplan, and high-ranking mages from the main towers of each Magic Tower surged in like a tidal wave.
Looking at the gaping hole in the barrier and the curtain of light within, they shouted with surprised expressions,
"...Ragnarok?"
"The barrier was breached?"
From among the crowd, Altair, one of the Six Dominion Swords, walked forward and looked at Mahon.
"Floor Head. What happened?"
All eyes focused on him, and Mahon looked around with a hardened expression.
"The barrier that was binding the restricted Demon Realm has collapsed. It seems something is happening inside the Demon Realm."
"Are you saying there are signs that the Demon Realm is opening?"
Mahon shook his head.
"The Demon Realm was already open. The barrier was just holding it back. We were prepared, but something unexpected happened. The triple barrier inside that was binding the Demon Realm collapsed all at once, and as if that wasn't enough..."
Mahon pointed to the gaping hole in the center of the barrier.
"As you can see, the outer barrier was also destroyed by a single shockwave. It happened in an instant. We can't guarantee that even Ragnarok is safe."
Mahon suddenly looked at the mages of the Alliance.
"Where is the Alliance Head?"
"He's checking other parts of the barrier."
"We need to request emergency support from the vassal clans and the Divine clans immediately. We need to enter the restricted Demon Realm. Waiting won't solve anything. If we're not careful, the cracks could spread throughout the entire barrier."
Altair, nodded in agreement.
As the high-ranking mages and dispatched knights from each Magic Tower looked around, Black, who had been observing the situation, whispered to me,
"Was this the work of the Seven Demons?"
"I have a bad feeling about this. I don't know what they're up to."
"I feel like there's a demon inside."
I nodded and replied,
"Aren't you cold?"
"Cold? Why do you ask?"
This time, I called out to Mahon.
"13th Elder."
Mahon, who was organizing the situation and giving various orders, looked at me.
"Aren't you cold?"
Mahon tilted his head and asked back,
"What do you mean?"
"I keep feeling a chill. This place isn't usually cold, is it?"
It seemed that everyone was too tense to notice it properly, but...
The cold wave was still raging from all directions.
Ragnarok was clearly activated, but the chilling air showed no signs of disappearing.
Wheeeee—!
A cold gust of wind slapped my face.
I looked at the entrance of the Demon Realm once again.
Shockwaves were periodically erupting from within, but they were blocked by the barrier and couldn't escape.
The barrier was clearly functioning normally.
"Hmm."
Black, who had been observing the situation for a while, spoke to me in a low voice,
"You're right. It could be a trick."
"I think so too. It's not over yet."
"Any ideas?"
"Not yet."
The ominous premonition still lingered.
The reason I wasn't acting rashly was that I didn't know the exact cause yet.
If this phenomenon was truly caused by the Myriad Demon Assembly...
It was highly likely to be a feint, as Black said.
I briefly looked around.
"Everyone, stay alert!"
"Form ranks! From now on, we will take turns guarding the barrier and keep watch."
The various factions busily moved around.
There were definitely members of the Seven Demons among them. Perhaps one of the Seven Demons themselves was even here.
No matter how I looked at it, it was strange.
There was no reason for only shockwaves to erupt from the Demon Realm.
Wouldn't that only serve to alert everyone by breaking the barrier? It's not like they couldn't have anticipated Ragnarok from the White Magic Tower.
"Floor Head! Should we convene a meeting?"
"Wait for now."
Mahon's voice suddenly sounded different. He had also noticed something strange.
Clank—!
It was then that a tremendous booming sound echoed from the Ragnarok barrier.
Everyone saw the moment the light barrier changed color as a massive shockwave erupted from within.
"What was that...?"
As the surprised mages exclaimed, a possibility flashed through my mind.
Black drew his sword and glared at the Demon Realm.
"I think something's coming out."
Simultaneously, Altair along with knights from prestigious clans, began to position themselves to the left and right of Black and me, and the mages from the Magic Towers spread out behind them.
Black tilted his head in disbelief.
"Are they confident?"
Black's words hit the mark.
Judging from the apparent situation, there was only one answer.
They were confident that they could handle everyone at once.
If their plan was to gather everyone's attention and wipe them out in one fell swoop, their intentions were somewhat successful.
But it was too amateurish a way of doing things.
I didn't know what was inside that Demon Realm, but it was completely different from the methods of the shady Myriad Demon Assembly that I had experienced so far.
Later, when the other mercenary groups and spectators who arrived from Keplan gathered near the barrier...
I suddenly muttered while looking to the right,
"It's the opposite."
"What?"
A strong wind blew from east to west.
While everyone was focused on the restricted Demon Realm, I took my eyes off it and stared intently at the eastern sky.
In the eastern sky, where a chilling coldness was sweeping in, a small dot was rapidly expanding.
"A carrier pigeon?"
Someone recognized it and shouted,
"It's the Alliance Head's carrier pigeon!"
At that very moment, as everyone turned their heads...
Suddenly, the sky to the right flickered, turning pure white before returning to its original color.
An ominous premonition washed over me.
"It's not here."
Just as I was about to kick off the ground and run to the right...
Faster than I could move, a tremendous roar resounded throughout the sky.
Boom—!
Although the source of the sound was quite far away, it was loud enough to make everyone's ears ring.
"What's that?!"
It felt like thunder striking in the distance, followed by a roar a few seconds later.
The deafening roar clearly imprinted an ominous certainty in everyone's minds: something had happened in the east.
Mahon's face turned completely pale as he said,
"...Was the barrier breached on the other side?"
Black and I kicked off the ground at the same time as if we had made a promise, and ran towards the right. I heard the buzzing and shouting of knights behind us.
"Everyone, head to the eastern barrier!"
***
The restricted Demon Realm was just a distraction.
Their intention was to focus everyone's attention on the restricted Demon Realm and do something on the opposite side in the meantime.
We fell for it.
Actually, it was inevitable.
The restricted Demon Realm was too powerful of a bait.
Even I, when I first heard that something had happened in the westernmost region, thought of the restricted Demon Realm.
Their real aim must have been the opposite side from the beginning.
While running eastward at full speed, I stopped in one place.
"Ugh!"
Eastern Section 1, the breached barrier.
Traces of a tremendous shockwave that pierced through the barrier and swept through the city in a straight line.
Mages directly under the Alliance Head, with parts of their bodies severed by the shockwave, were scattered around, screaming.
"Kyaaaaaaaaa!"
Amidst all this, Alliance Head Agriche was holding a pure white weapon I had never seen before, reaching towards the barrier.
A translucent membrane extended from the weapon, forming a defensive wall covering the breached barrier.
It seemed the situation hadn't worsened thanks to the Alliance Head noticing it.
But even that was just a temporary measure.
Perhaps having reached his limit, a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of the Alliance Head's mouth.
"So it was here."
Just as Black, who had approached at some point, drew his black sword and was about to step towards the barrier...
"Wait."
I stopped Black.
As Black met my eyes with a questioning look, I shook my head.
"This is also a trap."
Following that, those who arrived from the westernmost region immediately approached Agriche.
"Floor Head!"
"Alliance Head!"
Agriche shook his head at the mages of the White Magic Tower who were quickly approaching.
"Don't come any closer!"
I looked inside the breached barrier.
Demon Realms were sprouting up like mushrooms after rain.
It was more like proliferation than creation, with Demon Realms rapidly forming even at this very moment.
And beyond that...
'There it is.'
A pure white ice crystal towering in the center of a swirling vortex.
A crystalline structure so massive it could be called an ice wall, radiating an insane amount of cold air.
Wheezing—!
A gale so strong it was hard to keep my eyes open.
The source of the raging cold wave was there.
It was as if it were breathing on its own, sucking in the surrounding air and exhaling a tremendous amount of cold.
Crack—!
Suddenly, a red sword aura imbued with a massive amount of mana struck the pure white ice crystal.
It was Altair's Dominion Sword aura.
Slash—!
The moment the ice fragments that bounced off the severed ice crystal touched the ground...
With a corrosive sound, the rate at which the Demon Realms proliferated accelerated.
"What?"
Looking at Altair, who was frowning, the Alliance Head shouted,
"Stop it! It's useless unless you destroy the whole thing at once!"
The aftereffects of the cold intensified, and the surrounding land rapidly withered.
The area of land erosion expanded, and another Demon Realm formed within it.
Black said in a low voice,
"It's similar to the land of death."
A knight's sword aura couldn't block the entire spreading range.
Rather, the more fragments scattered, the faster the land would erode.
The entire massive center had to be destroyed at once.
If we delayed, it would be irreversible.
I could finally guess what the Myriad Demon Assembly was aiming for.
Despair.
They must have thought it was obvious that the people gathered here couldn't stop it.
"Sirius!"
At the Alliance Head's cry, Mahon's face hardened.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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