C259: The Shadow of Dartans (2)
Sorry for the late chapter. It's been snowing a lot these last few days so I was busy moving the snow today.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa–!!!"
A huge explosion that shook the heavens and the earth completely blew up the factory. The devastating fire and shock waves of the explosion scattered the remains of the factory in all directions.
Scarlet flames spread, and the aftermath spread to the surrounding area.
Hans, who was watching the scene from a distance, was also unable to come to his senses due to the strong wind pressure that suddenly hit his face.
Seridan was not prepared and even fell backwards.
"Oh, my."
"What?"
Hans doubted his eyes at the strange situation. He knew Rudger did something but the sudden explosion of the factory was like skipping some of the steps that were supposed to be done in the middle.
To that extent, what happened now was beyond Hans' common sense.
Hans mumbled blankly as he looked at the factory that quickly became a sea of fire.
"Brother, what the hell did you do?"
"I've tried it for the first time, but it works well."
"What? What did you do that worked well…….?"
"It's a magic that I accidentally developed while doing research as James Moriarty."
Rudger studied topological mathematics while teaching at the Ordo University. He developed it further there and continued to explore the specificity, coordinates, and three dimensions of space.
Based on that, Rudger came to invent a new magic.
The first is space movement through the shadows that were everywhere.
Of course, there's a problem since it consumes a lot of mana and makes him dizzy because he's not used to it but after he gets used to it it'll be a big revolution in the magic world.
And the second magic that he made was shown now. It was a way to use a spell at certain space coordinates as long as they were known.
"I calculated the coordinates of the place where the gunpowder was stored and scattered a wide range of flames around it."
"Is that possible?"
"What do you think? The factory exploded already."
"Isn't that a complete scam?"
"It's not as convenient as it looks."
It is of no use if the defense against magic is thorough.
If the defensive magic had been unfolded, the coordinate designation magic would be twisted and the magic was likely to explode in the wrong direction. Maybe the person who used it would even suffer a backslash because of it.
"But they only paid attention to general firearms, so they didn't guard against magic at all."
"……People don't usually think about defending themselves against things that might not appear."
Who could've predicted that magic would appear in the warehouse?
"If the target is moving in real time, there is a high possibility that it will miss."
Rudger said so, taking the mana medicine from his inner pocket and pouring it into his mouth.
"In addition, it takes too much mana to use."
Moving through space using shadows also used a lot of mana and the coordinate designation technique was also formidable. In addition, he had to calculate the spatial coordinates directly in his head, and even though it was only a moment, his head was throbbing and hurting.
"There is also a lot of mana consumption depending on the distance, but the power is significantly lower. I'm glad it's gunpowder that can be detonated with just a few embers, otherwise it wouldn't have worked."
"That……."
"It's not a big deal."
Rudger replied as if it were nothing, but Hans and Seridan, who were listening to him, could not accept Rudger's words.
"Isn't it still amazing?"
"It's not like anyone else can do this. That's amazing, isn't it?"
At that moment, Hans stiffened his face when he heard a mouse approaching him and delivering news.
"……brother, I have unexpected news."
"What's going on?"
"I hear Lieutenant General Ghetto is alive."
Rudger's eyebrows wriggled at the remark.
"He didn't die in that explosion?"
"Yes, there are more facilities in the basement of the factory. I think he went down quite deep since he was fine from the explosion because I was there."
"Is it a secret passage? He's been lucky. So what is Lieutenant General Ghetto doing now?"
"Wait a minute."
Hans closed his eyes saying so.
About 10 seconds later, Hans opened his closed eyes and said,
"He can't come up because of the explosion, and he's moving to another exit with his escorts."
"There was another exit."
Rudger threw a neutralizer at Hans.
Taking the neutralizer with one hand, Hans naturally injected it into his forearm.
"What are you going to do?"
"Somehow."
Rudger left the burning factory behind.
"I'm going to go after him."
* * *
After the massive explosion in the factory area firefighters and wizards were still struggling to extinguish the fire.
Casey Selmore, who arrived at the scene, searched the area with a heavy look on her face.
'The factory exploded after James Moriarty told me to come to the city. In addition, the factory is known to be an ordinary vehicle parts factory.'
Nevertheless, this kind of explosion occurred.
It was not collapsed by external magic since the debris bounced outward. Just by looking at it, the explosion was internal.
'The power of the explosion is huge. There are still traces of the wreckage and the smell of acrid gunpowder. This is definitely a fire caused by explosives.'
If the explosion was enough to blow up the entire factory, how much gunpowder was needed?
Casey Selmore shook her head trying to approximate the amount.
'Was this a munitions factory with a stack of weapons?'
Looking around inside the factory where the fire was almost extinguished, Casey found something strange.
It was a very fine crack, but when she saw it, she sneaked up and tapped it on her toes so that people around her wouldn't notice.
'Secret passage. It's collapsed in the rubble, so I can't see it, but there's a way down.'
A sudden explosion and a secret passage underneath the plant. No matter how she looked at it, it was full of suspicious things.
"Detective, did you find anything strange?"
Casey wasn't the only one who came to inspect the scene. The city police came up and asked Casey if she had found any clues.
Casey looked at them and shook her head.
"No, not at all."
"Is that right? Was it an explosion caused by carelessness?"
"Oh, by the way. Is there anyone who comes here often?"
"A frequent visitor?"
The police were puzzled by Casey's mysterious question.
"We don't know. This isn't a patrol area in the first place."
"It's not a patrol area?"
"It was an order that's been given from above for a long time. They said there's nothing to see here anyway, so there's no need to patrol. It's comfortable because we have less work."
Casey felt something strange about the words. There was no doubt that it was not a patrol area, but the problem was because of the incident at this place today.
'A secret factory that was full of gunpowder while saying that it makes auto parts and the area where the police don't patrol.'
Casey Selmore recalled what she saw on her way here.
'The car destroyed by the explosion wasn't something that should be in this place.'
The body was destroyed by the fire, but Casey found out what the vehicle model was based on its approximate shape.
'Military model trucks. Does that mean this has something to do with the military?'
Is James Moriarty connected to the military? Or is there something else she doesn't know?
James Moriarty told Casey to come to the city and today, when she arrived, the incident happened. Is all this a coincidence?
'James Moriarty. What the hell are you going to do?'
Casey clenched her fist as she recalled that the man was hiding somewhere in this city.
* * *
On a dark night, a ballroom used for special meetings.
In a secret space where no one knew, a man burst into anger and banged his fist on the desk.
"Damn it! How can an explosion occur?"
Lieutenant General Ghetto, who escaped from the explosion of the factory safely, distorted his face. Thinking that he might have been swept away by it if he did something wrong, he still had a hard time cooling down his anger.
"I'm sure it's going to be noisy these days because of the rare metal mine thing."
"I can't believe that the place where special gunpowder, which was not affected by the [silence of fire], was made disappeared like that. The damage is terrible."
In addition to Lieutenant General Ghetto, there were several more people in military uniforms.
They were generals with many decorations and like Lieutenant General Ghetto, they were in favor of colonial rule and advocated war.
"The problem is serious. With the release of the slaves from the mine, international restraint may come in."
"The explosion of the factory also killed outstanding soldiers. Damn it."
"Even the gunpowder I barely made is gone."
"However, the manufacturing method still remains, but at this rate, the schedule we were aiming for will be delayed even more."
The people spoke with annoyed expressions since they were troubled by the recent events.
"What happened to the Steel Chapel project?"
"The last time I checked, three days ago, the report was still not up."
"Did something happen there, too?"
"No way."
That's when the gruff Ghetto lieutenant general spoke up.
"This may not be an ordinary accident."
"Lieutenant General Ghetto, what does that mean?"
"At first I thought it was a coincidence, but the moment I saw this, I changed my mind."
With that, Lieutenant General Ghetto tossed the newspaper he'd taken from his subordinate.
"Dean Gord is…..dead?"
The article in the newspaper was about the death of Dean Gord of Ordo University.
Dean Gord Himbel was a brilliant scholar and philosopher at Ordo University, as far as the world was concerned. In reality, he was an old man with an insane desire to secretly help with experiments.
"The killer is said to be James Moriarty, a professor who has been making a name for himself lately."
"The motive for the murder is unknown, but……don't you think something is wrong?"
Everyone fell silent at Lieutenant General Ghetto's words.
"Someone is after us, that's for sure."
"Is it the Information Department of the Empire?"
"Black Ops. You mean they've made a move?"
A shudder ran through the room.
Black Ops were bred by the Exilion Empire to carry out secret missions in other countries.
If the Nightcrawler Knights of the Intelligence Service handled things inside the Empire the Black Ops was in charge of detecting the dangers of the entire continent.
At least, Black Ops' team Alpha, which was notorious in the past, disappeared, and their activities decreased but it wasn't surprising that they had resurfaced recently.
"Does that mean we should keep quiet for a while?"
"What has happened these days has raised the momentum of the anti-war faction."
"Tsk. I didn't want to see this happening, so I was going to proceed quickly."
While everyone was sorry for the current situation, no one wanted to take the lead in pushing ahead with it.
They said they were acting for the greater good and that sacrifice is necessary so they don't bat an eye at how many people die but the sacrifices never included themselves.
"Anyway, I think we'll have to keep quiet for a while."
"Let's do that. If we think it's quiet, we can move again then."
"In that case, let's get going. We'll not meet here again."
When everyone nodded and tried to get up from their seats the door of the meeting place opened wide and a strong wind blew.
"Who is it?"
There was no way that the guards outside would open the door and come in recklessly. At the very least, it was an outsider, but outsiders couldn't just come to a place like this.
The other escorts, waiting in the corner of the room, stared at the open door but there was nothing to be seen through the wide-open door. It was just silence.
"Where the hell did the guys guarding the hallway go……?"
They panicked because they couldn't see the guards, then the shadows beneath their feet moved. Rising like countless thorns, the shadows pierced the bodies of their escorts.
In an instant, death raged, and the generals who were about to leave could only freeze in place.
"This, this……."
"What the hell!"
Just as everyone was panicking, darkness formed a figure in the air and someone appeared like a mirage.
It was a young man in a black Inverness coat. His hair slicked back and a golden monocle over one eye. He wore a gentleman's hat on his head and held a staff in one hand.
The man appeared out of the place but the generals were overwhelmed by his atmosphere and could not move hastily.
The man who appeared brought an empty chair from the round table and sat down.
"Who are you?"
Lieutenant General Ghetto opened his mouth in a cold sweat.
At the sight, the man said, staring at Lieutenant General Ghetto with a cold gaze beyond the monocle.
"James Moriarty."
"……!"
There was no way they didn't know the name since he was the one who killed Dean Gord, one of their associates.