Annihilation—the chilling word weighed down heavily on all listener’s hearts. The fate of a city overrun by monsters was clear, which would only lead to pure destruction and death. Concepts such as mercy didn’t exist inside existences such as monsters.
“…I don’t know what kind of guy we are dealing with, but we must find them.” Not a trace of his previous bright expression was left. The commander’s eyes looked gloomily for the mysterious perpetrator somewhere afar or in the midst and incurred bloodlust.
“Let’s quickly start our search! What if this guy drags the monsters down here while we are taking our time!”
“It’s impossible right now,” Glen said while placing the metal plate down. “For each of us to search, we each need a pair of this artifact and a One-sided Pyramid of Lamentations. However, the only metal plate I have is the one I am holding right now.”
“Then how…?”
“We’ll have to make it,” Glen said firmly. Other people responded dubiously. “Make it? How can you make an artifact so easily?”
No matter how trivial it was, one needed to pour a significant amount of effort and goods into making an artifact; that was how precious the item was. Thus, people were astounded to hear Glen talk about making artifacts as if they were going to make clay plates or the like.
“I’m sure we won’t be able to make them easily, but we have three mages in this city.”
“We are aware of that, but are these mages capable of making artifacts? I heard that one’s magical skills are separate from their artifact-making skills.”
“My companion certainly can,” Glen said. Then, he turned to Zich and said, “What about your companions, Sir Zich?”
“I don’t even need to ask them. They certainly can. Moreover, one of my companions is the best mage ever.”
“Then, this conversation is over.” Glen proclaimed,” After producing as many artifacts as we can, let’s find this perpetrator.”
* * *
After calling Lyla and Elena and showing them the artifact, Zich asked, “So, can you make it?”
“It’s easy enough.”
“How easy?”
“As easy as you scheming to screw someone over.”
Zich thought on the statement for a bit and asked, “Isn’t that way too easy?”
“Isn’t it?” Lyla responded, but Elena, let out a mixed smile and looked awkward while sitting next to her. Zich pushed the artifact toward Elena and asked, “What about you?”
Elena carefully lifted the artifact and studied the magic circle engraved on it. Lyla was able to decipher the artifact’s logic and mechanic with a quick glance, but she wasn’t at such a level yet. No, even if she studied all her life, she doubted if she would be able to reach Lyla’s aptitude for magic.
“…Yes. I think I will also be able to make it. There are no complicated engravings and the shape of the magic circle is on the easy side.”
“Good. Then, please make us some.”
“Do we have the ingredients to make these though? This is mithril.” Lyla stroked the metal plate, and mithril’s unique mana tickled the ends of her fingers.
“Did you, perhaps, offer the mithril we have?”
Since they had swept heaps of mithril in the ancient empire’s ruins, they had sufficient metals to make the necessary number of artifacts. However, that wasn’t what Zich had promised.
“Glen Zenard said he had enough.”
“Oh my, he really is an amazing person. That amount of mithril would’ve given him quite a large sum of money.”
“Since the situation was urgent, the city decided to use the ingredients that Glen had and offered to pay him back for them later. However, Glen refused any sort of payment saying that his sacrifice was nothing if he could serve the people.”
“What a just hero he is.”
“He sure is.”
The two chuckled. Not knowing what they were smirking about, Elena looked awkwardly again.
“Well, that’s that. Work hard on making these artifacts for now. It’s quite urgent, so please do your best.”
“For now?”
“Yes, for now.”
The two smiled again. Elena looked at them both and thought that Lyla and Zich’s mischievous smiles looked very similar to each other.
‘Snoc and Mr. Hans told me that their relationship was not like this in the beginning.’ Even when she had first joined, there was a sense of distance between the two. But now, as she looked at these two, Elena thought, ‘It’s true that couples become more alike to each other.’
* * *
After Lyla and Elena left to start making artifacts, Zich strolled inside the city. The thick atmosphere, shrouded in fear of incoming monsters, pressed down on Zich’s body. The air was so heavy that it could turn any bright person instantly gloomy, yet Zich’s footsteps were light. After all, it would’ve been weirder for Zich to be affected by such things as a heavy atmosphere when he had usually been the one to cause them before the regression. Although it seemed like Zich was wandering as he pleased, the trajectories he treaded followed a rule: they were all near the vicinity of the Wolf’s Canine’s camp.
‘They should officially start moving when so much of the scenario has been released already.’ Zich didn’t know what kind of ‘adorable’ plan these guys might have in mind, but it wasn’t difficult for him to figure out that this plan’s goal was Til. Of course, he didn’t only circle around the camp noticeably—he wandered inside alleyways and even near the castle walls to give him the appearance of surveilling the area. The fact that the crime rate went up in this chaotic situation gave him a good enough motive to do this too.
‘It will also give me more fame as a hero,’ Zich thought and shuddered at the title that he could never get used to. Then, he stared at the city hall located far away.
‘Lyla said they would be done around tomorrow…’ Zich recalled.
Most people were shocked to hear that the job of creating more than dozens of artifacts could be finished in just a day. People were obviously shocked by Zich’s proclamation about his companion. For instance, Glen’s comrade, Pina, was in complete disbelief. However, after Lyla made an artifact in a matter of seconds in front of her, Pina had no choice but to believe his words.
‘I wonder when he’ll begin. Before the artifacts are complete? Or after they are complete?’ Whatever happened, it was not long until Glen would officially execute his plan to corrupt Til. A significant amount of time had passed since Zich searched throughout the city. Before he knew it, the sun shining at the peak of the sky was clamoring to hide itself behind the mountain, and darkness quickly chased after it.
‘Should I eat something?’ Zich didn’t plan to go back to the lodging. He planned to at least continue his “search” the whole day. Zich went to the nearest shop and purchased a loaf of bread. He went around the streets and ate the bread in lumps when—
Boom! He felt a subtle aftermath of mana hit his skin. He turned his head; it had come from the city’s wall.
Booom! He felt the aftermath of mana hit his skin again. ‘It’s a battle!’ Did the moment he had been anticipating finally arrive? Zich stuffed the rest of his bread into his mouth. Then, he fused mana into his legs and pushed off the ground. His body floated high up and landed on a rooftop right next to him.
Boom! Boom! Boom! He continued to feel the force of mana. Zich felt it while stepping on the rooftops of several buildings. When Zich arrived at the wall, it was in a complete mess as if a strong typhoon had struck it. There were many holes on the ground and damage done to the walls. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any casualties, but most people were in a daze and looked extremely shocked. Zich continued to feel the shockwave of mana from outside the city wall. He could now even clearly hear the sounds of battle.
‘Should I ask? Or follow suit?’ Zich wondered if he should first assess the situation or follow suit in battle. Zich’s mind quickly spun, and he made a decision. ‘I’m going to follow suit.’ He hit the ground again.
‘Til and Glen Zenard are probably fighting each other.’ Zich’s prediction was exactly right. It did not take him long to reach the scene of their battle after running at full speed. A ferocious battle was happening there. Glen Zenard was fiercly swinging Tornium— a demon sword that exponentially increased its owner’s power. It greedily consumed Glen Zenard’s mana and expelled its enormous power without mercy. Glen’s skills were amazing to the point that any skilled fighter wouldn’t even think about fighting him. However, Til looked at least one level stronger than Glen to all onlookers. All of Glen’s swings were being reflected. With a swing of Til’s large sword, he scattered the shock of Tornium’s force. Even though Glen managed to land a direct hit, even Tornium’s ferocious blade couldn’t shatter Til’s long sword.
Clang! “Ugh.” Glen was being pushed back instead.
‘Amazing.’ Zich was amazed by Til’s skills. If he summarized Til’s sword style, it was rough and blunt. In a way, it was a sword style that was the complete opposite of Zich’s style. Zich used his overwhelming talent and experience to perfect a style that could even be described as art. However, those weren’t the only differences; Til and Zich’s sword style had one similarity—they were both incredibly strong.
Crasssh! “Ughhh!” Glen’s body got pushed back after Til’s sword hit him again.
‘Yeah, go for it!’ Zich cheered for Til inside his mind. He felt extremely regretful that he couldn’t cheer his head off out loud. ‘I really like him as a person!’ Til’s likability to Zich increased exponentially, and Til’s strength overpowered Glen to the point that Zich felt this way.
Til’s simple swings vibrated the air and his pierces felt as if he was hurling an entire mountain at Glen. Moreover, Til didn’t just have strength. Even though his sword style was rough and blunt, he specifically swung his sword in directions that were advantageous to him and exploited his opponent’s openings. Til had reached the pinnacle of a mercenary’s sword style; it was a style that reached its peak only through real life experiences.
As Zich watched Til’s sword style, he naturally thought, ‘He definitely seems like the Demon Lord of Disaster.’
Slam! “Agh!” In the end, Glen was strongly pushed back by Til’s attack and rolled on the ground. Zich wanted to hire a musician and dance in front of Glen as he fell, but this was not the time to do that. He desperately used up all his patience to suppress his desire and jumped next to Glen. “Are you all right?”
“Y-yes.” Even while blood dripped from his mouth, Glen slowly got up.
‘Tck! He doesn’t seem really hurt.’ Zich’s opinion of Til dropped. Til should have done a better job beating the crap out of Glen. How could he stop with such little injuries? However, Zich suppressed his disappointment because it was now time to follow Glen’s carefully planned play. “What happened? Isn’t he Mr. Til?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Then, why are you two fighting?”
“I’ll give you a detailed explanation later, but that person has the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.”
Zich stared at Til; his face looked extremely strained. “Then, Mr. Zenard, are you saying that Mr. Til is the mastermind behind this entire affair?”
“We don’t know yet, but it’s reasonable enough for us to capture him.” Then, Glen stood next to Zich and said, “Let me borrow some of your strength.”