Intelligence agents from each nation were closely monitoring the Baienrus Kingdom.
Seeing Tirna take such a hard-line stance, with even the Petra Papacy and the Carleon Kingdom supporting them, there had to be a good reason.
The intelligence agents disguised themselves as ordinary citizens and surveyed the central plaza of the Baienrus Kingdom.
The vast plaza was in an uproar with protesters. This was something unimaginable in the Baienrus Kingdom. The strong royal authority had pressed down on the citizens with fear.
However, the situation was different now. Recently, disappearance cases have been occurring one after another in the Baienrus Kingdom.
At first, it started with just homeless people on the streets or unknown small villages on the kingdom's outermost edges. It gradually began to spread like ink dropped on white paper, extending to workers and vulnerable classes.
If it had stopped there, people might have just accepted it. Even respectable middle-class people disappeared, and even nobles who didn't follow the king's will vanished without a trace. What brought the citizens' anxiety to its peak was the disappearance of children.
Moreover, recently in international affairs, other nations were pointing fingers at the Baienrus Kingdom. It was so blatant that even dim-sighted citizens couldn't help but notice.
Just looking at the current protest it showed that the citizens were terrified and enraged.
This would be the largest scale in the history of the Baienrus Kingdom.
"Even by estimate, it looks like 500,000."
The vast plaza was completely filled with crowds. There wasn't even space to step. Intelligence agents from each nation thought it couldn't be better if the Baienrus Kingdom's system collapsed in this state.
"At this level, even Joseph would have no choice but to step forward."
"Will he sweep away the plaza citizens as rebels like an oppressor, or will he take a step back given the numbers?"
The option of sweeping them away was just talk; it would probably only amount to using force to forcibly disperse the protesters.
They didn't care which way the situation went.
Click.
That was, until they saw the scene of numerous soldiers entering the plaza.
'Those are.'
The eyes of the intelligence agents disguised as ordinary citizens narrowed. They carefully observed the situation while pretending to be protesters, or pretending to read newspapers, or pretending to sell goods at stalls.
'They're not ordinary riot police. Those black armors are the Royal Guard from the palace.'
The Baienrus Kingdom used to be an empire in the past, a conquering nation with tremendous prestige at that. Though much had declined as times changed, their ambition hadn't disappeared. They wanted to become an empire again. So the customs from that time still remained stubbornly.
The armored Royal Guard were the same. Royal Guards of this era all wore uniforms now. Those black armors were like remnants of the Baienrus Kingdom's ambition.
The problem was why the Royal Guard had come out directly. Normally, they would have mobilized soldiers to make them disperse on their own.
'Something's strange. Why are those who should only stay inside the castle outside?'
The protesters also sensed the strangeness. Those who had been shouting stepped back hesitantly upon seeing the Royal Guard. But there were too many people in the plaza. There was no space to retreat.
The intelligence agents moved tactfully. They instinctively knew they needed to get as far away from this place as possible.
Their judgment was quick. However, their actions were too late.
Swoosh.
The sound of cutting through the wind was heard but the result was different.
Thud!
Something, along with the sound of a hard fruit being crushed, a male protester who had been close to the Royal Guard disappeared. He vanished as if sinking in, as if he had never been there in the first place. What remained in his place was some kind of black mark etched on the ground.
It resembled the shape of a person. Like a shadow, or like the ash left when a corpse burns.
"Huh?"
A person nearby was confused when his companion beside him suddenly disappeared. He looked at the black mark etched on the ground.
Wriggle.
The black mark moved.
Fwoosh!
Something pitch black burst out from within the black mark. It was like a heat haze and also like a tentacle. A tentacle made of pure darkness pierced through the citizen's body.
"Grraaaah."
The citizen's body crumbled. His body melted away limply, then became a pitch-black puddle that pooled on the ground. The puddle on the ground wriggled. New tentacles burst out from there.
"R-run!"
"It's a monster!"
"Kyaaaah!"
The plaza became pandemonium. It had already been hard to move through the packed crowd, and now people in panic became entangled with each other. People trampling and being trampled, those crushed to death increased exponentially.
"Cr-crazy!"
The intelligence agents doubted their eyes. Black tentacles rose up throughout the plaza. They undulated like heat hazes. Their sizes varied, with the large ones appearing to be 30m in height.
They swung widely as people swept up by them were crushed. In the spots where the tentacles lifted, only traces of what had been human remained.
Not bright red bloodstains, but black tar-like marks.
A terrible stench spread. Just touching the nose made it feel like it was rotting away. It wasn't an illusion.
"Gwaaaack!"
"Ugh! Cough!"
People near the tar cried out in pain when touched by the stench. Some vomited blood, others grabbed their faces in agony. The toxic air spreading through the atmosphere burned and melted their faces.
Soon their bodies melted away like black mud and disappeared. It was a horrific scene like having a nightmare. Those vomiting blood were now spewing black liquid. Their bodies shriveled and collapsed limply. People nearby were caught up in it and melted away.
The contamination spread. Contamination gave birth to contamination, and that gave birth to more contamination.
It didn't even take 10 minutes for the 500,000 people gathered in the plaza to disappear.
The plaza that had been filled with crowds became hell. The dark gray ground was dyed pitch black, and black heat hazes rose up like structures everywhere, undulating. It looked like hands desperately reaching toward the sky.
"Emergency! Emergency!"
"The Baienrus Kingdom has joined hands with the Outer Gods!"
The intelligence agents immediately sent what they knew to their home countries. Normally, they would have been careful about security in multiple layers to avoid having their tail caught but they didn't have that luxury now.
They conveyed the news regardless of whether their tail was caught or not. Not in code, but in direct language. Because the plaza they were watching with their eyes had begun to move.
-Wriggle.
The giant tars moved. At first they trembled finely but the vibration grew stronger, and soon it shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
Then suddenly, standing tall, the movement stopped.
-Gulp.
People watching the situation from outside swallowed their saliva.
-Fwoooosh!
The pitch-black substances suddenly rose up and surged forward like a tsunami. People watching that scene couldn't even think to run away.
The promised time had come. I immediately headed to Eldin's Anvil Workshop in Hammer Square.
The streets were quieter than usual. The workshop technicians here were also feeling that the current atmosphere was unsettling.
Some still opened their workshops, but didn't pound hammers or touch machines. They seemed to have opened their workshops simply out of inertia, because they usually did this so they had to do it today too.
I passed them and headed to where Eldin was.
Her workshop was hot and some kind of power flowed out from inside.
I didn't knock on the door since it was already open. It meant she knew I would come. Well, of course, she had set the appointment date herself.
"I'm coming in."
When I entered, I saw Eldin. She was sleeping, slumped over the anvil. I looked at her and wondered whether to wake her or not.
Then I felt heat nearby. When I turned around, I saw a lizard made of flames. It was the fire spirit Eldin had contracted with. It flicked its fiery tongue with a hiss.
It was the size of a medium dog. A sword was wrapped around its tail. The spirit held out the sword to me.
I accepted it.
"She said she'd just touch it up a bit."
It had become a completely different sword. The sword that had boasted sturdiness with an ordinary design had become so splendid that it wouldn't look strange even if royalty used it.
Shing. I carefully drew the sword. The blade was white as if snow had settled on it. Though I hadn't done anything, it shone as if looking at starlight. The crossguard, grip, and pommel were all white too. It looked like well-carved marble.
Looking at it from various angles, the light flowed differently depending on the angle. Sometimes blue. Other times golden. Occasionally it seemed to show colors mixing.
I couldn't dare imagine how much effort Eldin had put in to make a sword of this caliber. The fact that she, who would be fine staying up for days and nights, had fallen into deep sleep showed it. During these two days, Eldin must have squeezed out all her strength and mental power to make this supreme sword for me. For her, this must have also been a kind of gamble.
"Tell her I'm grateful."
I spoke to the spirit. I don't know if it understood my words but the spirit nodded its head. It approached Eldin and spread warmth around her so she wouldn't be cold.
I sheathed the sword and left the workshop as I looked up at the sky. It was the same clear sky as usual, but the feeling was quite different.
Without realizing it, my gaze turned in a certain direction. I didn't know why. However, from a distant place whose distance was hard to gauge, a very ominous energy was wafting over.
It had come.
I wasn't surprised. It was because I knew this would happen someday. I had already been mentally prepared. However, I still felt bitterness at the fact that my prediction hadn't missed the mark.
I wouldn't be the only one who knew this fact. Everyone with sharp ears would have heard.
-Whirrrr.
Along with the sound of a small mechanical device turning, a brass sphere with a propeller on top flew toward me.
[Osian.]
"Puppeteer?"
[It finally happened.]
I nodded. Yes. It had finally come. The Primordial Void. However, its main body hadn't come. It led an army. Outer Gods like the Clown served it.
Among them, there would be those who were like the vanguard. I didn't know whether to say to be relieved that the Primordial Void itself wasn't moving right away, or to worry because there were more opponents to face.
Still, what I had to do hadn't changed.
[Right now, the leaders of each nation are beginning to gather. Will you attend as well?]
The Puppeteer asked for my intention. It wasn't a demand to come. Perhaps because it knew I couldn't do that. Or perhaps because Deliphiros had strongly cautioned it.
"No. I won't attend the meeting."
[Then......]
"I'll move right away. Even while we sit still like this, the damage will increase."
The Puppeteer didn't bother to stop me. Perhaps it knew I would make this choice. It had been watching me secretly for a long time. And it must have realized it more desperately while fighting directly.
"You all do what you have to do. I'll do what I have to do."
Three emblems rose behind my back. Sun, Moon, and Stars. Armor imbued with that energy wrapped around my body from toe to head. Finally, a helmet covered even my face, and I opened my eyes that had been closed.
"I'm going."
I flew into the sky. Rising to high altitude in an instant, I set my direction. It was the direction from which the ominous energy continued to flow out.
Yes. Was it called the Baienrus Kingdom? I became a streak of light and advanced toward there.
If people had seen, they probably would have thought a pure white streak of light was drawn across the empty sky. Or else that a shooting star crossed the sky in broad daylight.
A journey without a passport was an act of arbitrarily invading another nation's airspace, but there was no one to point that out now.
I advanced continuously.
There was no stopping and there wouldn't be in the future either.
And it's not just me. There shouldn't be anyone stopping. Especially if it's not their own choice, but due to unexpected external oppression.
Crossing through the empty sky, the air didn't strike my body. The energy of the Sun, Moon, and Stars minimized even friction with the atmosphere. The surrounding scenery passed by quickly.
I recalled the scene from when I took an airplane to travel back then, which could now be called a past life. The world spread out below looked infinitely small. Buildings were smaller than a fingernail joint and densely packed. It's the same now.
Villages, forests, wheat fields, and some cities spread out below. They felt infinitely small. However, each light within them lived and breathed.
I raised my head and faced forward. I saw darkness ahead.
The Baienrus Kingdom had already been encroached by darkness. Though it was broad daylight, the sky was dark. It was as if light itself was being swallowed.
Throughout the kingdom, pitch-black tentacle-like things were surging. They were so huge they reached the sky and seemed to be 1km tall.
A disgusting smell stung my nose. It was the smell of death and destruction.
I was advancing but stopped as I saw a certain giant existence staring at me.
Red eyes glinted from within the darkness, a giant presence similar to the Clown, yet much stronger than that.