Chapter 173: Magic Warhorn II (1/2)

The magician spoke in a voice that sounded old.

It was the precursor to the Horns.

It was a success. As long as his test subjects were in the vicinity of the dungeon, their wounds would regenerate instantly, and they could surpass their physical limits without limit. They were truly an immortal army.

However, there was a problem.

Each time they regenerated, they lost a bit of their intelligence and reason. It was as if they were gradually being replaced by an entirely different creature. The cause was immediately found. It was the horns that grew out when they regenerated. The skulls of living creatures would mutate, causing horns to grow. These horns turned out to be receptors that received ”the will of something”.

As a result, their personalities were overwritten, their humanity was lost, and they were transformed into a completely different kind of creature with nothing but the viciousness of beasts and the wickedness of humans.

It's ironic.

What the king had created out of fear of the beasts was but another type of beast.

Garving tried to work around this problem by giving them horns in advance.

There was a problem with this too.

First of all, this regeneration used the life-force within the user and a minute amount of magic power instead, so it was far from limitless. Also, the ability to surpass the limits of the user's body could only be used for a short time.

But strangely enough, this regeneration also worked in the other dungeons. For that reason, it became an indispensable piece of magic for those who explored dungeons, who were known as【Explorers】.

This was the birth of Houma, the magic that you call the regeneration point.

In later iterations, the horns were cunningly disguised by making them into the containers you now carry on your person.

And so, with Duin at the helm, the adventures of Vindoobunikuru began.

They left on a journey to cleanse the curse of the beasts.

However, the true purpose of their quest was concealed, and all people saw was a glorious tale of adventure. The miracles that they created together and the truth behind the regeneration point, these were all obscured by the glare of glory.

Time passed, and【Explorers】started to be called【Adventurers】.

The age of adventurers had come.

It was an era when many gods and goddesses performed countless miracles.

It was a time of peace that hid the shadow of the curse.

Even after the country had changed its name to Beliale, the Faceless King continued his research.

The Horns were enhanced and strengthened, evolved and brought under control. Generation after generation, life after life. After trampling on wisdom, after transcending sanity, after distilling madness, he finally created the Horns that could wipe out the beasts.

He called them Tenma.

Tenma【Abaddon】.[1]

Because they're incomplete as individuals, they're rabid monstrosities that specialize in taking over, seizing control, and dominating others.

They’re monsters that can even debase the curse of abominable blood.

But Lars, the king at the time, sealed them away.

It was a very wise decision.

Something that could wipe out the beasts could just as easily destroy the world. It was foolish to research this, but what lay waiting at the end of the line was a wise decision.

And what lay waiting for that wise king was annihilation.

Beliale was destroyed by the beasts.

In the midst of the destruction, it's said that the people had this on their lips.

Those were words of resentment against a king who had the means to fight back but chose not to use them.

The people who only knew their everyday lives understood not the ways of the wise. The wisdom of the isolated king was disparaged as foolishness.

That was the fall of Beliale.

And the precursor to this floor.

On the orders of the Wise King Lars, Wagreas and I sealed the【Abaddon】in the depths of the dungeon.

However, that was a miscalculation.

One day, the dungeon's portals, which hadn't worked for thousands of years, suddenly sprang to life.

As a result, the adventurers' explorations reached floors that were previously thought to be unreachable. We hurriedly moved the【Abaddon】to a deeper floor to hide them.

You remember the great skeleton floors that make up the 30th to 34th floors?

That's the left-over husk of what the【Abaddon】had devoured.

In short, the ability of the【Abaddon】to eat into others worked even on the floors of the dungeon.

The activation of the portals was probably triggered by the【Abaddon】eating ”something” inside the dungeon.

The urban landscape on this floor is one of Wagreas' bright ideas. By making the【Abaddon】think that they’re outside the dungeon, he was able to stop their encroachment of the dungeon.

Taking advantage of their instinct to creep out into the upper parts of the city in an attempt to invade it, we used our own Horns to fend them off.

We used the best adventurers from Lemuria and beyond as a base for our Horns. They’re Horns that cannot be taken over by the【Abaddon】. And by using the magic warhorn, they become an obedient and powerful army.

They’re the ones you fought and defeated. But they were in a dormant state then, so they weren't able to show their true strength.

………………That’s right.

This is nothing more than a way to stall for time. Until a way to exterminate the【Abaddon】 is found, that is.

In the past, Lemuria also saw the【Abaddon】as a threat and tried to eliminate them.

I lent him my strength, but we failed, with Verxina sustaining serious injuries.

After that, as the newest Horns, she blew the magic warhorn and continues to fight against the【Abaddon】even to this day.

Her fight is a never-ending hell where she can only wait and hope for an end to come」

「You're just foisting the messes that the old have made on the young」

It's a problem caused by the older generation.

One bad enough to destroy the world.

「Isn't there something similar in your country as well? Like the thing with the pensions?」

「It's not a serious enough problem that people from other worlds would need to worry about it」

He's not wrong, but that has nothing to do with the current situation.

I heard a flurry of footsteps.

Rana, who was carrying Shuna on her back, Bel, Nanassy, and Arcane had arrived.

「Now, before we continue…… Apprentice hero, you didn't come to this floor using one of the portals managed by the Guild. That's beyond foolish. As such, you’ve not earned the right to hear this story. Leave at once」

The old man thumped his staff on the ground, and Nanassy and Arcane were enveloped by light and then disappeared.

He had probably teleported them somewhere else.

「Dear, who is this person?」

「Sorry, Rana. I'll fill you in on the details later」

Rana has every right to ask that, but there's something I need this guy to answer first.

「So, what do you mean by “it’s as I thought”?」

I repeated my question.

「I sensed numerous powers within you. The stench of the abominable curse. Elven charm magic. The martial prowess of dragon hunters. The nostalgic immortality of vampires. A fragment of a nightmare. The wisdom of a strange foreign land. The ferocity of a berserker. The same presence as my nemesis, the First Hero. And for some unknown reason, the fragrance of the abyss. A multitude of powers capable of exterminating the【Abaddon】, destroying Elysium, and changing the world forever」

You're talking me up far too much.

Wait, aren't almost all of them powers that Misuranika-sama has neutralized?

「That’s it. That's the one! The power to cleanse curses and turn them into your strength! That's the reason why you didn’t lose your reason entirely even after turning into a Horns! You're the perfect person to blow the【Magic Warhorn】! ………………But it's all for naught now, I suppose」

「That's right」

This old man had gotten stabbed in the back by Verxina-san. I suppose there must be a reason why he’s no match for her, even if he claims to be a great magician.

Well, he did come out of it unscathed though.

「Verxina has the blood of one of the heroes of Elysium in her veins. It's the blood of the natural enemy of us magicians. Because she's a beastkin, the abominable blood doesn't manifest itself, but her blood makes her impossible to control even with my magic. And even with that kind of blood, she can only retain her reason for a very short time………How about that? Have you finally realized what a rarity you are?」

「I see. I refuse」

I've already decided that I'm going to say no to everything this guy proposes.

「Hey, Souya. The conversation's jumping all over the place. I can't quite follow it」

Otou-san, who I hadn't realized had woken up, complained.

「I'll explain later」