Chapter 153: The Inquisition (2)
Although the color had faded, the magic circle itself could still be seen on the ground. The Tower Masters, Lovellian and Melkith, approached the magic circle with their eyes shining.
“This, this is Ancient script, isn’t it?” Melkith turned to Lovellian for confirmation.
“But at first glance, these look like Gelse[1] ,” Lovellian pointed out.
“The wavering does resemble it.”
“As long as there are systematic similarities, we might be able to translate them.”
“Well, there are more than a few Ancient characters….”
“This might be the Ancient script of the demonfolk,” Lovellian remarked.
“As expected, this is knowledge passed on by the remnants of the Demon Kings, right? But isn’t this… something that we should call Balzac for?” Melkith hesitantly asked.
“There’s no way we can call such a suspicious expert over,” Lovellian refused. “If it’s the Ancient script, I’m also quite well-versed in it, so for now, let’s continue looking for a bit longer.”
Lovellian and Melkith were caught up in their own personal conversation as they examined the magic circle. After staring at the two of them for a few moments, Eugene lifted up Akasha, which he had been holding in his left hand.
“These are the remaining parts of the magic circle that I can remember,” Eugene informed them.
The rest of the magic circle, which now remained solely in his head, was drawn in the air. Because mana wasn’t infused into it, the magic circle wasn’t activated. However, his actions goaded Hemoria into movement before he could say anything.
Hemoria was now standing between Eugene and the magic circle that he had drawn in mid-air, glaring at Eugene with narrowed eyes. Eugene could feel a simmering hostility directed at him deep within those ruby-red eyes.
“...What is it?” Eugene asked cautiously.
Hemoria was quite a strange woman. That black, metal mask that completely covered her mouth from corner to corner reminded Eugene of the muzzle placed around the jaws of vicious dogs. Wasn’t it uncomfortable to wear something like that over her own mouth? You would have to spend quite some time taking it off every time you wanted to eat and drink.
“If you have something to say, then just say it to my face,” Eugene demanded.
However, Hemoria remained completely silent. Instead, a ‘grk-grk’ sound could be heard coming from inside her metal mask. Was she grinding her teeth? Or was there really some kind of gag on the inside of the mask that she was biting on? Now that Eugene thought about it, from the moment Hemoria had passed through the warp gate, she had never once spoken a single word.
“Excuse me,” Atarax called out as he grabbed Hemoria by the shoulder and pulled her away.
Eugene noticed Atarax’s fingers were digging deep into Hemoria’s shoulder. However, there wasn’t any change in Hemoria’s expression. She simply continued to glare at Eugene like she had done before.
“In some ways, my disciple is even more fervent than I am,” Atarax admitted with a smile as he patted Hemoria on the shoulder. “But as the hero chosen by the Holy Sword—”
Eugene interrupted him, “I would prefer it if you didn’t call me by that title.”
“Alright, I also felt that it might be a bit inconvenient to address you like that during a private conversation,” Atarax agreed as he turned his head to look at the magic circle. “...I know that it can’t be helped, but… sharing the knowledge of this terrible magic circle with two of Aroth’s Tower Masters and the fact that you have it memorized in your head, Sir Eugene, it’s… all of that is difficult for us to accept.”
“Did you hear that, Red Tower Master? That good Sir Inquisitor seems to think that you and I might study this shitty magic circle and come up with some bad ideas,” Melkith said with a sneer.
“To be fair, it’s not impossible,” Atarax argued. “As far as I know, if it’s for the sake of their interest and goals, wizards would not hesitate to do such crazy things.”
“I can’t deny that, but if it’s a wizard on the level of us Tower Masters, then they must already be pretty crazy. My own brand of insanity means that I don’t have any attention to spare for this sort of unorthodox magic circle,” Melkith shot back with a snort and a dismissive wave of her hand. “It should be the same for the Red Tower Master, who’s just quietly kept his mouth shut beside me. Hmm? Do you feel that? Ahhh…! All of my hair is standing on end, and I feel like trembling in terror at this killing intent…! Want to know why that is?”
Although the way that Melkith was shivering was highly exaggerated, she wasn’t lying. Eugene could also feel a faint killing intent. This killing intent was coming from Lovellian, who was gritting his teeth so tightly it seemed like his molars were about to be crushed into pieces.
Melkith continued excitedly, “It’s because of how furious the Red Tower Master is! Do you know just how great of a hatred for black magic writhes within him behind that gentle and handsome mask of his? This is the Red Tower Master, Lovellian Sophis! Although he has grown docile in his old age, just up until thirty years ago, he was known as the Mad Dog of the Red Tower of Magic and had a truly foul temper.”
Lovellian finally spoke up, “Let’s not bring up my shameful past, Spirit Princess of the White Tower of Magic.”
This was a nickname from Melkith’s youth that she had hoped to never hear again.
Melkith covered her ears and shrieked like a crow, “Kyaaaah!”
Ignoring this, Lovellian continued, “...However, it’s also true that my fury has indeed been stoked. Inquisitor Atarax, I will absolutely never use or even research this magic circle for my own self-interest. If you wish, I can even swear this on my mana.”
“The Holy Empire is an ally of Aroth,” Atarax said with a smile as he shook his head. “I’m only expressing my view from my position as an Inquisitor. I have no intention of insisting on something like an Oath. Red Tower Master, I’m already aware of why you hate black magic so—”
Grrk.
The sound was heard once more, coming from behind Hemoria’s mask.
Trying to draw attention away from this, Atarax turned to Eugene, “...As for the Lionhearts, the descendants of the Great Vermouth… believing in the purity and righteousness of their bloodline… might be foolish to do so in light of how this incident occurred, but there is no way that Sir Eugene, who has been acknowledged by the Holy Sword, would be corrupted by black magic.”
Tap, tap.
Atarax’s fingers, still holding onto Hemoria’s shoulder, tapped on her shoulder in reminder. The grinding sound could no longer be heard from behind Hemoria’s mask, and the hostility also disappeared from her red eyes. Hemoria bowed her head to Eugene and stepped back to stand behind Atarax.
“Hemoria. Don’t say anything, don’t do anything, and just stand here watching while the Tower Masters inspect the magic circle,” Atarax ordered.
Hemoria nodded in acknowledgment.
‘Is he having her act as surveillance?’ Eugene thought as he glanced towards Gilead.
Upon arriving here, Gilead’s complexion had become even paler, and he had chewed on his trembling lips so hard that they were covered in blood.
“...Patriarch,” Klein called out as he approached Gilead, looking at him with pity. “...A diary was discovered in Eward’s rooms within Count Bossar’s mansion.”
Klein pulled out a fancy diary with a leather cover from the inside of his pocket.
“...According to the Black Lions who searched the mansion… this diary was found in the top-most drawer of Eward’s desk as if he intended it to be found,” Klein revealed.
“Isn’t that cute?” Atarax commented before bursting into laughter. “He must have been dreaming up quite a cool future for himself inside of his own head. After finishing the ritual here… having sacrificed all those who had mocked and looked down on him… and having gained such strength from this, he must have imagined himself being able to escape leisurely. However, if he did that, he wouldn't be able to tell you why he did all of this in person, so he deliberately left a diary for you to find.”
That could be the only explanation for why Eward had left behind something so important as his diary. Eugene also had the same feeling as Atarax. That idiot must have wanted to reveal the ‘why’ and ‘how’ pretty badly, so he must have done something like this.
Gilead silently took the diary and opened it. Eugene had thought that Atarax would disagree with them reading the diary, but surprisingly, Atarax allowed Gilead to read it without any interference.
It didn’t take long for Gilead to read the entire diary.
“...Haaah…,” Gilead gave a long sigh and shook his head a few times.
Then he lifted his chin and looked up into the sky.
“...Father…,” Ciel called out in a sorrowful voice as she embraced one of Gilead’s arms.
After letting out a few tears, Gilead handed the diary to Eugene.
“Is it alright for me to read it?” Eugene checked.
“...Since you were the last one to speak to him, I think that you deserve to read it as well,” Gilead said.
There was no reason to refuse the offer. Eugene was also quite curious about the inner workings of this incident.
‘...Really now…,’ Eugene muttered to himself once he was done reading.
The first half of the diary didn’t have any reading value. It was full of lamentation, rage, and self-hatred. Unable to even put his thoughts down in coherent sentences, it was all just a stuttering stream of words. There were only details about how much he was despised by Count Bossar and how many rebukes he was forced to hear from his mother, Tanis.
Although the contents were bound to leave Eward’s father, Gilead, in great regret, they meant nothing to Eugene. He wasn’t interested in any of these thoughts. Nevertheless, Eugene continued to flip through the diary.
Where the content changed abruptly—
[Dominic Lionheart came to me.]
—was at this point.
Why had Dominic approached Eward? Even Dominic himself couldn’t really explain the exact reason for it. It was just an impulse.
That was all it must have seemed like to Dominic, but Eward could uncover the precise reason for this.
It was none other than the remnants of the Demon King.
The whispering of the darkness spirit had led Dominic to approach Eward. Their existence was nestled deep within Dominic’s Annihilation Hammer, and they held an interest in the ‘blood of the main family’ flowing through Eward’s body.
[The spirit said that I was special. After they became a spirit, they had possessed several people, but I was the first to have ever heard their voice.]
[When I asked them about when they first came into existence, they said they became a spirit one hundred years ago. As a spirit of darkness, I asked them if they could become as powerful as a Demon King? As the remnant thoughts of the defeated Demon Kings… with just that, they wouldn’t be able to become a Demon King. But at the same time, they aren’t just some trivial existence either. The spirit said that I was special, and they, as a special spirit, matched well with me.]
[I want to become a great wizard, not a spirit summoner.]
[The spirit told me it didn’t want to remain as just a spirit either. So if that was the case, what should we do? The spirit said that he would show me the way.]
[All that the ritual requires is the blood of their enemies. So how about Ciel and Cyan? If it’s those twins, they should make for a great offering. Since so much time has now passed, the power of using Vermouth’s bloodline for the ritual must have faded, but the spirit says that with how special I am, I can serve as their vessel and that offering my brother’s blood as a sacrifice will give it significant meaning. Magic really is amazing.]
[The more sacrifices there are, the better.]
[I’ll be leaving this house tomorrow. Mother, grandfather, and everyone else are all giving their blessings for my future. Once the ritual is completed, I will become an Archwizard that no one can look down on anymore.]
[I haven’t decided where I should go once this is all over. The Pride say that I should make a new Lionheart clan to symbolize the main family's downfall, but… Dominic doesn’t seem to care for that idea. The same goes for me. I hate the Lionhearts.]
With that, the diary ended. Eugene closed the book and handed it over to Atarax, who had been waiting patiently.
“...I knew that he had gone insane when he fought, but it seems that he was already insane before he even started writing that diary,” Eugene observed.
From the day before Eward finally left the mansion, Eward was the only living human left in the Count’s estate. Count Bossar, Tanis, and the servants were all killed by Eward before he left.
“It seems that the power of this black magic ritual is amplified by the extent to which it breaks taboos.” Flipping through the diary, Atarax continued speaking, “The Demon Kings' enemy was the Great Vermouth, who subjugated them three hundred years ago. As the heir to his blood… they wanted that exiled son… to sacrifice his own siblings. If they had succeeded, there should be no better condition than that for performing this black magic ritual. It seems that it was true that Eward’s ‘blood’ was quite special.”
The blood of their enemy.
Instead of forcefully activating the ritual somehow, Eward had been obsessed with obtaining Eugene as a sacrifice.
‘It seems that wasn’t just Eward’s stubbornness,’ Eugene thought.
Vermouth wasn’t the only enemy of those Demon Kings. For the Spirit of Darkness, Eugene must have been a great potential sacrifice they couldn’t give up on.
“This term, ‘The Pride,’ is frequently mentioned throughout this diary. Is this referring to cancer within the Lionheart clan?” Atarax deduced.
“Right after this incident occurred, of the many collateral branches of the Lionheart clan that have spread across the continent, four families have suspiciously disappeared. In addition, a few members of other branches have also disappeared,” Klein explained. “They are most probably a Lionheart splinter group that led Dominic astray and tried to make use of Eward.”
“Are they still a threat?” Atarax inquired.
“Not at all,” Klein replied without any hesitation. “If Dominic had successfully managed to steal the Demon Spear and the Annihilation Hammer, they could have become a dangerous organization. And if Eward… had completed the ceremony, their group would have become a true terror. However, they weren’t able to accomplish anything. They might have claimed a fancy and grand name for themselves as ‘The Pride,’ but they are nothing more than a bunch of losers who ran away, abandoning all they had to preserve their own lives.”
“However, if they manage to emigrate to Helmuth, the Lionheart clan’s prestige may fall to the ground,” Atarax warned.
“Do you think our prestige really has any more room to fall?” Klein scoffed with a chuckle as he shook his head. “Should they manage to emigrate to Helmuth, we may instead be grateful for it. Should Helmuth really make public the news that descendants of the great hero’s clan have willingly walked into Helmuth’s embrace on their own two feet… then we will leave it up to the Black Lions to take care of them.”
“They might emigrate to Nahama or even hide in the Samar Rainforest,” Atarax murmured a reminder as he closed the diary.
“...We’ve finished our inspection of the magic circle,” Lovellian said as he stood up. “Excluding the help of a black wizard or a high-ranking demonfolk from Helmuth, our interpretation of its purposes should be the best available.”
“Please give us your expert opinion,” Klein requested.
“The purpose of this ritual is a reconstitution of the soul and the creation of a body,” Lovellian declared as his face twisted into a scowl. “The basic gist of the spell is similar to summoning magic. Though it has been twisted into an obscene mess.”
“Did you say that it was intended to create a body?” Atarax confirmed.
“If the sacrifices had been made successfully, this magic circle would have summoned a large number of demonic beasts from Helmuth. Then he would have probably constructed a new body by using a mixture of those demonic beasts,” Lovellian theorized.
“...What about the reconstruction of the soul?” Atarax asked after processing the previous answer.
Melkith answered this question, “It’s literally what it sounds like. The thing that died here was a spirit of darkness born from the remnants of the Demon Kings, not a Demon King itself. But if the ritual had been completed… then it could have become a higher-ranking ‘Spirit King.’”
Melkith stopped talking for a moment to burst into laughter.
“I have to say that this is quite a surprise! To think that a spirit of darkness was trying to raise its own status through independent and artificial means. Should I say, as expected from the remnants of the Demon Kings? They attempted a method that an ordinary spirit would definitely never even think of,” Melkith reluctantly admired.
“...So they’d be a Spirit King without a body…,” Eugene muttered.
“Although they might not be able to reach the heights of a Demon King right away, they were close to becoming an existence that would likely reach the heights of a Demon King in time,” Lovellian said as he turned to look at Eugene. “Saying that, fortunately, they didn’t succeed.”
“It’s all thanks to the blessings placed on the Holy Sword and the Hero,” Atarax praised.
With a pleased chuckle, he applauded Eugene.
Atarax’s applause suddenly cut off as he began, “However….”
Grrk.
The metallic sound leaked out from behind Hemoria’s mask once more.
“...It seems that not everyone who was here died that night,” Atarax concluded.
Booom!
Atarax’s foot stomped on the ground. As his body was surrounded by a soft brilliance, a mass of the dead and blackened soil rose as one.
Shashashak!
The floating soil flowed forth like a wave of sand. Slowly, very slowly, the soil advanced forward toward the huge hole that had been created during the fierce battle. As the soil neared the entrance to the hole, it suddenly began to whirl around.
“...Hrm…!” Lovellian let out a low grunt of surprise.
He hadn’t been able to detect any traces of magic at that spot. Even when holding Akasha, Eugene also hadn’t been able to see anything.
However, as a department of the Holy Empire’s Inquisition, the Inquisitors of the Maleficarum were expert hunters who had received training in eliminating black magic and hunting down demonfolk that had been passed down over hundreds of years.
Atarax was one of a handful of the most talented members of the Maleficarum. He had examined all the remaining demonic power in this area and found traces of the black magic that had been cast here five days ago.
“Although it’s impossible to reproduce the exact technique….” Atarax tightened his control over the soil hanging in midair and continued speaking, “...This was… some kind of spatial transportation. It wasn’t Blink, but instead some kind of long-distance… technique that allows one to teleport without going through a gate….”
“Hector,” Eugene growled as his face contorted into a scowl. “It looks like he managed to get away.”
“You didn’t allow him to run away, did you?” Atarax asked, turning to look at Eugene with a grin.
Glaring back into those seemingly amiable eyes, Eugene shrugged and replied, “What reason could I have for allowing him to escape?”
“You might have a reason you don’t want others to know about,” Atarax insisted.
Eugene growled, “Me? Someone who’s been recognized by the Holy Sword?”
“I just want to explore all the possibilities. Because the Holy Sword does not necessarily prove one’s innocence,” Atarax stated calmly.
“I thought that Hector was dead,” Eugene shrugged once more. “For it to turn out that he ran away, it seems like he was much more talented than I expected.”
“Why didn’t you confirm it?” Atarax asked with disapproval.
Adopting an insolent tone, Eugene asked, “What if I tell you that it’s because I didn’t want to?”
“Sir Eugene, your carelessness allowed this rat to run away,” Atarax accused. “We don’t know if this rat might manage to sneak away to hide in a shed, where he can devour some grain before continuing to spread disease—”
“Hold on, I don’t think I fucking get what you’re trying to say,” Eugene tried to respond calmly before giving in and losing his temper. “Are you really trying to say that I fucking let him get away on purpose? The motherfucker who tried to kill me? I told you, I didn’t know that he was fucking alive! I was busy keeping my eyes on the Demon Spear trying to stab me and the Annihilation Hammer trying to crush my head in, all while the bastard who I called my older brother joined hands with a spirit of darkness to try and sacrifice me! So how the fuck was I supposed to check if that bastard who should have been out for the count had either escaped or was swept away by our attacks and had died?”
“Please don’t be upset,” Atarax tried to calm him.
“I’m not upset. I’m just irritated. No matter how much I think about it, it’s ridiculous and infuriating. Are you fucking making light of the Holy Sword? Do you think that you can hold the Holy Sword?” Eugene challenged them.
“Grrrk.”
“And is she a mute or what? Why has she just been making those grk-grk noises instead of speaking? If you’re going to question my words and fuck with me, then stop grking away over there and fucking say something. If you’re going to pretend like there’s nothing wrong, then just stop with those grk-grk noises already!”
In the face of Eugene’s outburst, Atarax’s mouth snapped shut, and Hemoria also blinked in surprise as she stopped making those grk noises.
“That’s enough,” Eugene stated as he took a deep breath, then planted the Holy Sword he was holding into the ground. “If you have any more complaints or just want to spout off some more bullshit, then before you say anything, you need to pull this Holy Sword out first.”
Eugene folded his arms and stepped back from the Holy Sword.
He then gave this ultimatum, “I’m not going to take this shit from a pious jerk who only pretends to be faithful if he can’t even draw the Holy Sword.”
Momo’s thoughts: Melkith had me at “My own brand of insanity.” You do you, girl. And Eugene had me at “stop grking away.”