The words “death of a vampire” struck Preden as unfamiliar.
Was there any pair of words more incompatible than immortality and death?
It was the fate of an overwhelmingly powerful existence that no one had ever witnessed until now.
And Priestess Remria had seen it.
What’s more, she had seen the death of the Church’s archenemy—a fact far too difficult for Preden to accept.
‘But Priestess Remria would never lie to me.’
Those words were far too grave to dismiss as a mere jest.
Though she said it with a smile, the way she dismissed others and explained only to him made it clear.
If one had to choose between truth and falsehood, it was certainly the former.
Preden’s thoughts raced.
The death of a vampire, and a twisted fate.
He did not know what it meant, but there was no need to think deeply.
Whatever it was, it was an immense blessing for the Church.
He wondered why she had bothered to tell him such a thing.
But it was better not to try to fathom the meaning.
That was the conclusion Bishop Preden reached.
“I understand. If there is anything related to this that I or my subordinates must do, please say the word.”
“Mm. No, not really. Nothing in particular.”
Remria’s voice brimmed with cheerfulness.
As if she had no idea how great a shock her words might bring.
“This matter will be handled by the homeland. All you need do, Bishop Preden, is to carry on as usual.”
At that, Preden felt a slight bewilderment.
If that were so, why tell him such a grave fact?
Was it a passing choice for amusement? Or was some other hidden meaning cleverly concealed?
As Preden pondered such things, Remria’s eyes glimmered beneath her tiara.
‘Fufu. He’s deep in thought.’
She fully understood that Preden’s mind was troubled.
She # Nоvеlight # herself had been astonished when she saw that fate.
It was surprising enough that such a monster was quietly residing in this city, but to have seen the death of an existence that had never been able to be killed before—
Priestess Remria revised her thoughts there.
What had changed that being’s fate was no longer important.
What seized her attention even more strongly was the vision she had seen.
The moment she saw that vision, she thought nothing else mattered.
Because it was—
It was utterly—
‘Exhilarating.’
Though Remria’s face still held a bright smile, within she was overflowing with rising expectation, excitement, and rapture.
She had seen only fragments—merely a part of the scene.
Even then, the indistinct image had made her eyes throb as if they would split apart.
But it was worth the pain.
For in the scenery where the vampire’s death existed, she had clearly seen it:
A massive black hole torn open in the sky.
It was not something that sucked everything in.
It was a “gate” that existed to vomit forth something far greater.
* * *
“How was it for you, Brother? I heard there was an incident in the Kingdom of Sevilla.”
“Black mages had slipped in. Quite a large group. Enough to form a proper school.”
“That would be a considerable force. Did you fight them?”
“I only helped a little. Someone else did the real fighting. The important thing isn’t that.”
“It must be the reason those black mages drifted there.”
“Did you look into it?”
“Rumors have been flying lately. Word is, there’s been a massive purge among the black mage groups in Isla Machia.”
“I heard the same—that entirely new players appeared and swept the area clean.”
“Yes. Established schools collapsed helplessly, many black mages were killed or absorbed. The astonishing thing is, even after all that, no one knows who they are.”
Hans rubbed his chin and glanced at Ludger’s reaction.
“Perhaps you know something?”
Ludger silently nodded.
“......I have a bad feeling. Could this be connected to that place again?”
“It’s the place you’re thinking of.”
“Damn. The Black Dawn again?”
To Hans, the Black Dawn stirred tangled feelings.
If he had to put it plainly, they were the most accursed bastards.
Some of his misfortunes were due to them, and most recently he had fought a battle with the First Order Ventmin.
“The Elven Kingdom, Mystic Night—and now Isla Machia? It seems there’s no place they aren’t involved. And lately, there’s been another strange movement.”
“Another one?”
This was news even to Ludger, beyond Isla Machia.
“......Recently, Phantos has left his place.”
“Phantos? That’s unexpected.”
Normally, unless something exceptional happened, Phantos remained in place, meditating and training.
For him to leave meant he had gone far.
“Where did he say he was going?”
“He said he would return to his homeland, where his kin live, to attain his final enlightenment.”
“Phantos’s homeland...... that would be the southern continent.”
This did not apply only to Phantos—it applied to beastkin in general.
Most beastkin lived in the vast plains and mountains of the southern continent.
They were divided into countless tribes, but now stood united under the command of a Great Chieftain.
By nature, beastkin were free-spirited and warlike.
Before the union, they were split into hundreds of factions, fighting wars day after day.
But something forced them to unite: the Race War.
Human armies, armed with gunpowder and firearms, had swept away beastkin without mercy.
If the beastkin had been united, they might have endured somehow, but divided as they were, the damage was devastating.
Elves and dwarves had managed to defend themselves, but beastkin suffered enormous losses.
After the war, the beastkin clasped hands, formed a union, and established a powerful force under the Great Chieftain.
Ironically, it was human greed that pushed the beastkin to unite.
“So what is Phantos planning to do there? He has no reason to visit the union.”
But Phantos was somewhat different.
Even though the beastkin had formed a union, many still did not belong to it.
Those who could not give up their wildness, who lived for nothing but battle and strife.
Among beastkin, they were called Outsiders, living in separate factions.
Phantos himself was one of these Outsiders.
‘For one like him to seek out the union—what is he thinking?’
Hans folded his arms and nodded, seeming to share Ludger’s thought.
“Well, that reaction makes sense. After all, Phantos is an out-of-standard being. Aren’t you worried he might have gone there to pick a fight with the union?”
“I can’t deny the possibility.”
Phantos was taciturn, but within him burned a savage beast fiercer than any.
He held it down only with superhuman self-restraint.
The moment it was released, there was no telling where he would rampage.
That was why Phantos pacified his wildness with the hunt.
Seeking out opponents stronger than himself, insurmountable walls, he had roamed the continent.
Even his insane feat of hunting whales at sea with a harpoon, overcoming beastkin’s dislike of water, was part of that.
“He has been particularly restless lately.”
After his battle with Lutus Wardot, Phantos’s talent had fully blossomed.
Even before, his talent had been great, but now it was on another level.
The insights he had gained by fighting someone overwhelmingly stronger than himself—
He had succeeded in fully digesting them.
But a realm achieved only in spirit was still incomplete.
To complete it required a final piece.
It could be a different state of mind, or a battle fought with life on the line.
Phantos’s journey to the beastkin union was surely to find that final piece.
“If he grows stronger there, that’s fine. I don’t mind.”
“Well, as long as he doesn’t make a mess of things...... But the reason I mentioned this isn’t just because of Phantos.”
“There’s something else?”
“Among the students in your class, there’s that boy—Aidan, or whatever his name was, right?”
“Yes.”
Why bring up that name here?
Ludger felt a suspicion.
“......Where is that boy now?”
“What else would it be? One of his friends is beastkin, isn’t she?”
“Iona Obelli.”
“Yes, that was it. Do you know who that beastkin girl is?”
“She is of the bloodline of the current Great Chieftain of the beastkin union.”
At that, Ludger understood at once.
“......So right when that boy and his friends head to her tribe, Phantos also goes there. What a coincidence.”
“But that’s not all.”
Another?
Ludger raised an eyebrow.
Hans wiped cold sweat even though he wasn’t guilty of anything.
“Recently, trouble caused by the Black Dawn has been brewing in Isla Machia.”
“Yes. You said there was strange movement.”
“The place in question...... is beastkin land. To humanity, still an uncharted territory.”
“......So the Black Dawn is moving there too?”
“That’s what we’ve confirmed. The uncharted lands attract mercenaries chasing money, so rumors spread thickly. And lately, many incidents have been reported. Disappearances have greatly increased.”
“Disappearances are common in the wilds.”
The uncharted lands were full of dangerous cryptids, as no industrialized cities existed there.
Moreover, it was beastkin territory.
Among the races, beastkin had suffered the greatest in the Race War, and they bore deep hostility toward humans. Outsiders especially were infamous for killing humans indiscriminately.
If adventurers exploring the wilds died to Outsiders, mercenaries simply marked it as “missing.”
It was hard to recover bodies, and they preferred not to spark disputes with beastkin.
Hans shook his head.
“Even accounting for that, the recent surge is abnormal. And it isn’t only adventurers and mercenaries.”
“Then who?”
“Beastkin tribes in the area are also seeing a sharp increase in missing members. Mercenaries who had good relations with them all testified to it. The beastkin are now frantic to find the culprit, but they believe it to be the work of humans, and the atmosphere is volatile.”
“You saw traces of the Black Dawn there.”
“Anyone could see it. They’re sowing discord between the sides while profiting for themselves. We don’t yet have complete information, but I strongly suspect there is a Black Dawn base nearby.”
Hans’s voice carried firm conviction.
“And the scale of this is beyond what an average Second Order could pull off. For things to be this big, yet still quiet, I judge at least a First Order of the Black Dawn is involved.”
“If you’re right, then yes, it would be a First Order.”
“Do you have any guess who it is?”
“I think I do. Several First Order seats are vacant right now.”
Three of the existing First Orders had died.
Esmeralda, Ventmin, Lesley.
One of the empty seats had been filled by Helia, but the power vacuum was not so easily patched.
Nicolai was handling Isla Machia.
The black knight Verom was assisting Nicolai there.
Which left only one remaining First Order.
“Victor Dreadpool.”
The mad scientist with the eerie laugh.
The villain who carried out cruel experiments everywhere, from Rederbelk onward.
And among the First Orders, the one most unpredictable—and thus the most dangerous.
The one surely connected to the events in beastkin land.
“This is growing larger than I expected.”
“What will you do?”
“I’d like to go deal with it myself, but unfortunately I already have too much on my plate.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“But I can send someone else.”
Phantos was already there, but one person was not enough.
In such a situation, someone was needed to fill the gap.
“Send Seridan to join Phantos.”
Seridan might look like a reckless explosion maniac, but among the members she was actually quick-witted.
Given her skill in engineering and taking apart any machine, her mind was razor-sharp.
And if the opponent was Victor Dreadpool—
From his automatons to his Liquid Golem—
Seridan could analyze everything. In terms of compatibility, it was not a bad match.
“She will be able to fulfill her role well enough.”