Chapter 426 - Episode Seventy-Two - Destroyer from Ancient Times Moebius (2)
The wooden dragon Quetzalcoatl, has finally entered the magical tree Alberut.
The wooden dragon’s head snaps and shatters the giant, pale branches as it pushes forward.
“D-Do you have any idea how much those branches you snapped are worth!”
Olviga was holding his head and lamenting every time a branch of the magic tree was snapped off.
“I’m sorry, but we’re running out of time too.”
“Even I won’t let you get away with it if you don’t respect the Lord Silfaim’s tree!”
“Let’s just hope it’s not too late to burn it down and move on. “
When I raised my wand, Olviga smiled awkwardly and rubbed my hand.
“Can’t you avoid them just a little bit more? It’s okay if you just try to avoid it ……”
“…… Alright, I’ll do my best.”
For the time being, Olviga didn’t make any further verbal protests when I replied that way.
Every time we bumped into each other, he would blatantly distort his expression and glared at me accusingly.
…… Once inside the magical tree Alberut, it looked more like a series of intricate cliffs than a tree.
As I walked upward for a while, I saw what looked like a large old stone palace on top of a huge branch that spread out like the earth.
Looking up at the sky, we could see a little sunlight coming through.
It seemed that we had reached the top of the magical tree Alberut.
“…… So that’s the Old Gods Temple, right?”
“Ye-, yeah, that’s right.”
…… Finally, we’ve come this far.
This should be the end of the Count Julem riot for me.
Once I get the Mea back, there’s nothing left for them to do.
“…… It would have been quicker if we could have blown up the temple or even burned the entire magical tree to the ground, but it hurts that Mea is trapped.”
“…………”
Olviga was looking at me with dead eyes.
“Do you have something to say?”
“…… No, do what you want. As long as you don’t hurt me, I don’t care anymore. Just get it over with and get me back to the castle.”
I parked my wooden dragon near the temple.
It seems dangerous to leave the wooden dragon here, but with a weapon of this scale, it’s hard to hide it far away with teleportation magic.
The only way to do this is to set strict activation conditions and place an Ortem to guard it.
I conjured a magic circle and strengthened the security of the Quetzalcoatl by resetting it.
With a scale like this, it would be unrealistic to try to transfer it and hide it in a safe place.
The worst that could happen is that it would be destroyed, but what we should be most wary of is losing control of Quetzalcoatl.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“H, hey! What, What about me? Hurry and take me back to the castle!”
“Wait for me there. Don’t do anything strange, or the Ortem will react immediately and beat you to a pulp.”
“I want to go back to the castle …… Why should I be kidnapped by bandits and then taken to this place ……?”
Olviga fell to his knees in disbelief.
…… Well, I don’t think he’s capable of anything more than high elves, and I’ll return him to the castle later.
After placing the Ortem to protect the wooden dragon, I landed on the branch and went under the gate of the old temple.
After passing through a long passage, I came out in a large hall.
Statues of high-ranking spirits associated with the Silfheim lined the walls on either side, and in the back was a mural of a giant four-winged dragon.
…… Its Silfheim, the god of the sky.
It is said that depending on the land or religion, the figure depicted may differ slightly, but it is not so different from the one seen in the DInrat Kingdom.
…… And on the altar in front of the mural, Mea was lying on the floor.
For some reason, she was dressed in a red and black robe, which was different from her usual attire.
And in front of the altar, a girl with a familiar green ponytail was standing with her back to me.
“…… Hello Abel-chan, it’s been a while. When I heard that Julem fought and escaped, I thought that Abel-chan would come here.”
Shame slowly looked back at me.
“…… Are you alone?”
“For now. I can’t afford to lose any more face …… So I suggested that I wait here by myself so as not to provoke Abel-chan any further. “
“It’s as if you think you’re the only one who won’t offend me.”
I pointed my wand at Shame.
“…… How dare you betray me so cruelly and then show yourself so openly? It seems that we were the only ones who thought you were our best friend. For the record, I hate you the most out of all of Julem’s crew, Shame. I would have been happy to let you settle this peacefully, but I know you’re not interested in having a proper discussion.”
“I know you don’t believe in us, but I think you can still believe in reason, can’t you? You know that Kudor is not very efficient at recovering his magic, and he is more afraid of losing it than anything else. It’s the same for us. If we are forced to keep draining your magic power, we will find ourselves in a definite dead end against Kudor.”
“…………”
“To be frank, having Abel-chan push Sim to the brink of death, having Julem and Gillemeim greatly depleted, and finally having Jeem disposed of is the worst of the worst. I’m sure it’s the same for Abel-chan, but it was a huge loss for us to have to clash head-on with Abel-chan again and again when we could have avoided the confrontation.”
…… Well said.
I had chosen to run away with Mea, thinking that I would not be safe if I got caught up in the struggle between Kudor and Count Julem.
It was Sim who intervened, Shame who betrayed and interfered in the worst possible way, and Count Julem who tried to dispose of me when I was no longer needed.
You’re the ones who have been trying to attack me again and again.
“It was Julem’s plan to have the four of us attack to beat Abel, but even if we won that way, we would have lost the fight as soon as we were exhausted. That’s why I suggested that we give you a chance to negotiate before that. We now have a reason to concede to Abel-chan, even if we have to take a risk. Do you understand me?”
“It’s a con man’s way of trying to gain credibility by talking long and uselessly. Let’s start with the results. If you want to return Mea and leave us alone, I’m not going to do anything about it. But, won’t accept any of it, except that.”
Shame froze in silence for a few moments, but then slowly shook her head.
“I’m sorry …… but I can’t do that anymore.”
“What?”
“Ohhhh …… it’s been a while. Is that Shame there? It’s been five hundred years.”
Mea’s voice echoed from the altar.
When I turned my eyes in surprise, I saw Mea standing there.
No …… if I look closely, it’s not Mea.
There was a red magic crystal glowing on her forehead.
Mea had very little magic, but I can feel a mass of sinister magic power from the woman in front of me.
And, more importantly, her face is so different from Mea’s.
“Great, It’s a good body, and it feels right. It is indeed a different scale of testing than the previous ones …… So, Shame, who is that Marren guy over there?”
I looked at the woman in front of me, stunned.
Then I looked at Shame asking for an explanation.
“…… She’s Moebius, the founder of the Doom tribe. You know it, don’t you? Silfheim, the sky god, decided that it was too much to take on Kudor with only a spirit that was slow to recover magic power, so he devised a plan to attack her again and again while protecting her. That was Moebius. Originally, the red stone baby of the Doom tribe, like Mea, was a container for her soul, sealed in the gravity of the Moon Din. Mea’s soul has already been crushed by Moebius’ large soul.”