Chapter 75: Vol10 Intermission (1/2)

The innermost reaches of the Slaine Theocracy.

Very few people were allowed into this inviolable sanctum.

The first was the highest-ranked member of the Theocracy; the Pontifex Maximus.

Next were the Cardinals, the highest appointment holders of the six sects that were devoted to the Six Gods. Incidentally, each of them (aside from the one belonging to the same sect as the current Pontifex Maximus) was a potential candidate to be the next Pontifex Maximus.

The Cardinal of Fire — Berenice Nagua Sandeni.

She was the sole female among them. She was over 50 years old, and a little plump, possibly due to her age. Her well-fed face bore a motherly smile which put all who looked upon it at ease.

The Cardinal of Water — Ginedine Delan Gwerfe.

He was a shrivelled old man. He was so old that one could not tell his exact age, and his skin was a dusty brown. Although people worried about his health, none could exceed his intellect.

The Cardinal of Wind — Dominic Ire Partouche.

He looked like a kindly old man, but he was originally of the Sunlight Scripture, and had exterminated many heteromorphic beings during his time as a holy warrior. His wrath was like a wildfire while his murderous intent was like chilling frost.

The Cardinal of Earth — Raymond Zag Lauransan.

He was a keen-eyed man and the youngest of his present company. That said, he was still in his mid-40s, though his energy made that fact difficult to believe. He was a former member of the Black Scripture who had served for 15 years — a hero who had defended his nation.

The Cardinal of Light — Ivon Jasna Dracrowa.

His narrow eyes and skinny frame made him look like a sinister person, but that was definitely not the case. Everyone here knew the reason. As a user of divine magic, he ranked at or near the top of all the people present.

The Cardinal of Darkness — Maximilian Oreio Lagier.

He was surrounded by countless books that hovered in the air, supported by improved versions of the [Floating Board] spell. He wore round glasses, and he had originally been a priest from the judiciary. Hence, many of the books levitating next to him pertained to the law.

In addition, there were the heads of the Judicial Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch of the Theocracy’s government. There was the head of the research institute which handled magical research. In addition, there was the Grand Marshal, the highest appointment-holder in the military.

These 12 people comprised the highest executive authority of the Slaine Theocracy.

After entering the room, they took up cleaning tools and began cleaning the room. Some of them got rid of dust with feather dusters. Some of them wiped with dry cloths, while other wiped with wet cloths. Someone used a magic item to vacuum up dust.

There was no wastefulness in their movements, and they cleaned the room with well-practiced movements.

Not a single one of these people — who stood at the pinnacle of the Slaine Theocracy — was slacking off. Sweat gushed from their foreheads, their beautiful and pristine robes were stained by dust, and none of them stopped in their efforts until the room was spotless.

The room had been quite clean before they started working on it. Now, it seemed to glow.

None of them thought to wipe off their sweat. Instead, they lined up in front of the six statues — which appeared to be defending this room — and lowered their heads.

“Today, we give thanks to the gods that human beings like ourselves are still alive.”

After the Pontifex Maximus said those words, everyone repeated them after him.

“Thus do we offer our thanks.”

They raised their deeply bowed heads and stored their cleaning equipment in the corner of the room. Then, they cast [Clean] spells, cleaning their clothes and their equipment, and the towels they used to wipe away their sweat smelled sweet.

It was a trivial matter to clean dirt and dust with a first-tier spell. Widening that spell would allow the entire room to be cleaned with ease. However, there was nobodyamong them who was sacrilegious enough to do so in this sacred room.

After cleaning themselves, they took their seats at the round table.

This included the Pontifex Maximus of the Slaine Theocracy.

At this table, everyone was equal. There were no superiors or inferiors here. Everyone was a collaborator and a comrade. Indeed, all this was for the glory of mankind.

“Then, let us begin the meeting.”

The organizer of this meeting was the Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zag Lauransan.

“Our first topic is the seizure of the Kingdom’s Fortress City E-Rantel and its surrounding area as the heart of the Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown, a fortnight ago.”

There was nothing that could possibly be any more important than the sudden advent of this mysterious nation.

However, far too few people knew the details of the situation. Most of what they knew was little more than hearsay.

For starters, they knew that the Sorcerer King was an undead creature, that he was an extremely powerful magic caster who had obliterated the Royal Army, that he controlled an army of the dead, that there was a Death Knight among those undead, and so on.

Raymond, who commanded the Six Scriptures, reported these details in his capacity as the meeting’s organizer.

Just then, someone spoke out:

“I knew we shouldn’t have let it happen, we should have intervened in that war!”

“…What are you saying? Open battle against a magic caster who controls a Death Knight is extremely dangerous. Didn’t we all agree on that earlier? You might have objected then, but don’t try to overturn our previous decision… Although, I didn’t think he would actually establish a nation.”

The group nodded one after the other.

“What does the Empire plan to do? They’re allies of the Sorcerous Kingdom and they’ve endorsed the founding of that nation, so does that mean they’re officially collaborators now? Or are they being controlled by magic?”

“I doubt it. Paradyne’s there.”

“Then, I guess we made a mistake in thinking that Emperor could be trusted.”

“…Well, a more important problem is the fact that he’s one of the few talented individuals who isn’t being properly utilized. Should we begin the plan to draw him to our side?”

“Then–”

After a brief clapping of hands, the debate which was about to heat up promptly cooled down.

“–Thousand Mile Astrologer was observing the battle between the Empire and the Kingdom. However, there’s been a slight problem, so the report was delayed. I beg your forgiveness.”

The problem in question probably referred to the fact that she had locked herself in her room and had been in there for quite some time. At least, that was what everyone thought.

“Then, we shall distribute the records of what she saw. These have not been verified by others; they’re just her account of what she saw of the Sorcerer King’s army at the battlefield.”

How troublesome, everyone thought, though they did not say it. They took the records and studied them.

They stopped after the last piece of paper. They went over the same part over and over again. They had the same stiff expressions and their faces slowly grew pale.

Raymond smiled to see the changes in their expressions. He had been through the same thing that was happening to them now, and he was glad because misery loved company.

And then, as though to represent everyone else, Maximilian shouted. His mouth opened so wide that his glasses fell off, but he did not seem to care about that.

“Impossible! How could anything like this possibly exist?!”

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? This is just a description of what she claimed to have seen.”

Maximilian shut up in the face of Raymond’s cold response.

He was panting like he had just been sprinting. As Maximilian struggled to get his breathing back under control, Berenice decided to ask another question, to see if someone shared her opinions.

“Can you say that again? Is this actually real?”

“If everyone here still believes the word of “Thousand Mile Astrologer”, then it is.”

With pained looks on their faces, they all looked back to the papers they were holding.

They had all stopped at the same place — the composition of the Sorcerer King’s army.

“Hundreds of Death Knights (at least 200), hundreds of Soul Eaters (at least 300)… is it? If they went berserk, it won’t matter if it’s the Kingdom, the Empire, the City-State Alliance or the Holy Kingdom — they’d all be destroyed!”

“…As would we. If these things swarmed us, we’d need centuries to recover from the damage.”

Death Knights. Difficulty estimated at 100 or higher. They were able to create Squire Zombies which could themselves make other Zombies. The Zombies themselves did not have much combat power, but they might lead to the spawning of stronger undead.

Soul Eaters. Difficulty estimated at 100 to 150. They were undead with point-blank area-of-effect abilities. They could consume the souls of the deceased for sustenance and grew stronger the more souls they ate. They radiated an aura of fear. Without at least a 3rd-tier magic caster, even facing them was impossible.

All of them were undead on a level that could destroy a city or a small country singlehandedly.

“Was she mistaken? Maybe the Sorcerer King noticed our surveillance and used illusions to confuse us.”

Ivon put that possibility forward as he stretched out his withered, branch-like arms.

“Oh”, the surrounding people murmured, but Raymond shattered that possibility.

“The Black Scripture knows of many monsters. While it is true she might not have the full picture of things, she — Thousand Mile Astrologer — was in charge of providing intelligence support to her team. There is no way she could have been mistaken. In addition, we have verified sightings of Death Knights and Soul Eaters in the capital of the Sorcerous Kingdom — the former city of E-Rantel.”

That was answered by several defeated sighs.

All they could do was acknowledge the point in voices full of fatigue, and then they continued discussing the matter.

“What should we do? What is the best course of action for ourselves, as the protectors of mankind? What can we do about 500 monsters, each of which can destroy a nation by themselves?”

“So their forces are equivalent to 500 small countries… that’s insane, right? How badly could that country upset the balance between nations?”

“The question is, what does the Sorcerer King intend to do with that kind of military power? If he just intends to have them defend his territory, it won’t be a problem in the short term.”

“How could that be? It’s far too much just for defense. Also, isn’t the Sorcerer King one of the undead, who hate the living? I’m sure he’ll use his power to assault the neighboring countries.”

“It doesn’t matter how the Sorcerer King intends to use his military strength. What matters is what we can do about it.”

It was a valid opinion, and the direction of the meeting began to turn.

“Then… can the Black Scripture deal with it? That’s the most important thing.”

They were the Slaine Theocracy’s final ace in the hole, a special forces unit composed of heroes. One could think of them as adamantite-ranked adventurers, but there was a critical difference between the two, that of their equipment.

The gods had left divine equipment behind in this world, but adventurers would need to go on epic quests, the likes of which were the stuff of heroic sagas, all just to obtain a single piece of their panoply.

In contrast, each member of the Black Scripture possessed multiple articles of such gear.

If even they could not handle a threat like this, then they could still conduct a grand ritual to summon the highest-ranked angel to deal with the problem.

Surely the most exalted of angels would be able to triumph over Death Knights and Soul Eaters. However, the sheer number of foes made them very uneasy.

All eyes went to Raymond.

He chuckled. Some people smiled in response to his laughter, but those smiles froze on their faces as they heard what he said next:

“It’s impossible. I say this as a former 3rd Seat of the Black Scripture; anyone who expects us to face 500 of them must be an absolute madman. It would have been bad enough even if they were only present in equal numbers. No, if not for this, why would Thousand Mile Astrologer have locked herself up in despair? However…”

The nature of his smile changed.

“It’s different for the God-kin.”

“Ohh,” went the sounds of rejoicing.

“The two of them should be able to deal with an army of Death Knights and Soul Eaters. Of course, just in case, we still need to give them the best backup we can.”

“So it’ll be fine with those two.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

Amidst this jubilation, only Ginedine went “hmph”. Sensing the weighty air of fatigue around him, everyone quietened down.

“…You’re not telling us everything, are you?”

“Ginedine, what are you getting at?”

“The law does not prohibit false testimony and obscuring the truth in this place, but we are colleagues serving under the same flag and lying is a grave offense. If you agree with this, let me ask you one more time: What are you hiding?”

“Ginedine. What’s wrong with you? Why are you saying this?”

“Dominic, I have a question. Why did Thousand Mile Astrologer lock herself away?”

Knowing that nobody could answer that question, he continued to speak.

“She did so out of despair. Or perhaps she must have suffered some sort of shock. It’s true that an army of the dead is frightening. However, she’s a member of the Black Scripture. Do you really think she would go into hiding just because of that? … It’s because she saw something that even the God-kin could not beat. This report isn’t complete, is it?”

Everyone looked at Raymond and Ginedine.

“..What are you trying to achieve by hiding that point? I trust you. I know you’re not the sort of man who would use the Scriptures for his own gain. But why are you not revealing this?”

“Well done. As expected of you, Ginedine. I simply wanted to explore the possibilities… then, I’ll say it. Agonizing over this problem alone would simply give me an ulcer, so I’d be glad to share it with all you gentlemen here.”

Raymond looked at his seated audience.

“How much do you know of the battle between the Kingdom and the Empire — no, between the Kingdom and the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

The person who answered on their behalf was the Pontifex Maximus.

“I heard that the Sorcerer King used a powerful spell. As a result, the Royal Army routed and was defeated. Because of that, they abided by the requests made before the battle and ceded E-Rantel to the Sorcerous Kingdom for the founding of a nation. That’s all.”

“And the number of deaths?”

The Pontifex Maximus simply shook his head at Raymond.

“I don’t know. That news has not reached me yet. It should be the same for the rest of you, right?”

“Yes. Priests and traders don’t go to E-Rantel now that it has become the heart of the Sorcerous Kingdom, with an undead king. So all we hear are rumors of unknown provenance.”

“So we need the Scriptures — this sort of thing is better suited to the Clearwater Scripture than the Windflower Scripture, right?”

“Yes, which is why only the commander of the Six Scriptures — namely, you — knows the truth. All we learned is what little leaked out.”

“…I see. Then, release the full, unabridged version of what Thousand Mile Astrologer saw during that battle to us.”

After reading the rest of the report, the room filled with the silence of despair.

Feeling that this could not be allowed to go on, Ivon raised a question:

“I see, I see. …You were afraid our hearts would stop if we saw this first, right?”

“Not really. Your hearts are strong enough to sprout hair. I was simply afraid that if I opened with this, none of you would believe it.”

Ivon nodded, unable to refute that.

“It’s true that we would have doubted this if we had seen this first. We would not have believed it at all. But after understanding the reality of the Sorcerer King’s army, we have no choice but to believe.”

“Still… I don’t want to believe this. With just one spell, he killed over half of the Royal Army. During this battle, the Kingdom mobilized 260’000 men. Half of that would be at least 130’000 people, right? I heard the Royal Army was defeated, but this…”

“Only she saw it, right? It’s not uncommon for death tolls and casualty counts to be exaggerated…”

“Even so, the description of wiping out an entire wing of the Royal Army with one spell means over 80’000 deaths. And then there’s the hideous monsters summoned from those sacrifices…”

“I can’t deny what she’s seen any more. This is magic of the gods. 11th tier magic, I believe? That should be it.”

“The advent of the gods.”

“What’s written here is similar to the description of that god… is it possible He has descended from the heavens once more?”

“Impossible. The oral traditions state that the God of Death, Surshana-sama, was slain by the damnable Eight Greed Kings.This must be something else. And if Surshana-sama had actually descended once more, that person would surely have told us. After all, that person is Surshana-sama’s first follower.”

“Then, it’s come at last?’

“Probably, yes. After 200 years.”