> Divulge The Magic Vulnerability Volume 1 Chapter 6">Volume 1 Chapter 6 (1/2)

There was only one thing to do now.

”Let's get out of here.”

After confirming that Demon Lord Nirvelphany was holding the old man in her arms, Ayato Criminaltrophy jumped down from the stage with his Linkage Plug sword in hand. But would the crowd use their numbers to restrain the criminal?

Of course not.

The crowd was unarmed and he was armed. And those ordinary people could not tell that his weapon was meant for Sorcery Hacking and could not actually do much direct harm. They cried out in alarm and parted in front of him. It was amusing to see a Moneylender get separated from his bodyguards and shoved around as people took out their daily frustrations on him. Ayato's group ran to their destination before the crowd could regain their cool.

”Nirvelphany, can you use that orbital sorcery cannon again!?”

The woman in red leather shrank down a bit while holding the old man, but then…

”Stay back unless you wish to be blown to smithereens!! I am the great Demon Lord Nirvelphany and I will not hesitate to fire my diabolical cannon from the heavens!!”

The crowd froze in place. Whether or not she really was the Demon Lord, they had seen that attack from the heavens break through the Guardian Umbrella. But Ayato had noticed her brief hesitation.

…He could not count on that anymore. They had to find some other way to escape the army pus.h.i.+ng in toward them. And with that in mind, there was no way they could escape Light Castle Brightio on foot.

For one thing, Teleria, Mamilis, and Henrietta were still up in the towers.

So…

”Get on, get on!! Let's take this thing for a spin!!”

A giant object had fallen surprisingly close by. It looked like a wide isosceles triangle made from several thin, bat-like wings. That flight device measured 30 esoule[1] wide and it was known as an Armored Dragon.

Level 32 was pretty high, but he could easily cover that after arriving at the castle with Level 20 and hacking high-level knights and flight devices during the battle.

Whatever it might be, a Sorcery Hacker could hijack any product of magic as long as they had the necessary level.

He stabbed his sword in, pulled the trigger, and then yanked the grip back, leaving the blade behind.

He finished hacking it by interfering with the mist mana circulating through the sorcery device just as Nirvelphany hopped onto the bat-like wings.

”The old man is on too! We're ready when you are!!”

”Y-you fool!! I told you to live the life you want to live, but your life is essentially over after opposing Celedileka like this!!”

”Oh, shut up!! How many times do I have to tell you this is what I want to do!? I am not interested in the concepts of good and evil that you humans have invented to bind the ma.s.ses! I am not about to turn my back on the decision I made for myself!!”

The device itself was thin, but if you placed your arms or legs on the top or bottom surface, they would stick there. It must have used some kind of gravitational control. Since they were accustomed to walking on the surface, Ayato's group chose the top surface.

”You know how to fly this thing, I hope?”

”I couldn't call myself a Sorcery Hacker if I couldn't do anything I put my mind to.”

Compressed air roared as it slammed against the ground and the nearby crowd was blown away. It then twisted around to rapidly ascend and fly toward the top of the towers. They were soon attacked by the knights who had been pummeled by the shockwave but still managed to stay airborne with their rotating wing crafts.

”What now, Sorcery Hacker!?”

”This thing is a lot bigger than them, so we can break right through them if we ram them!!”

The girls had been hit by the orbital sorcery cannon's shockwave, but they had come to in the short time since.

Ayato first crashed through the bottom of the small pieces of rubble suspended in midair to destroy them while picking up Henrietta who was on top of them. Artificial gravity created via sorcery made sure the Striker's body stuck to the smooth surface of the craft like it was a giant magnet.

”Whoa.”

There was no time to listen to her complaints. The impact of the collision had altered the Armored Dragon's course a fair bit, so he directed it toward one of the towers. Ayato and Henrietta reached out to grab Teleria and Mamilis as they flew past.

After feeling their weight in their arms, they lifted the Armored Dragon's nose.

They shot upwards and flew out above the ostentatious castle.

”Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah!! Wahhhhhh!!!???”

The blonde girl flailed her legs wildly, but Ayato managed to pull her up and hold her in his arms. Henrietta easily collected the Dark Elf.

He had neglected to control the Armored Dragon while dealing with Teleria, so it veered off course. They lost the alt.i.tude they had gained and nearly crashed into the ground.

”Dammit!!”

Ayato frantically focused on the crystal tarot card Linkage Monitor floating in the air and regained control of the Armored Dragon.

”Where are we!? It looks like we've flown past the castle walls at least!!”

”Coach, I think this is Water Castle Town Aquaria,” said Dark Elf Mamilis.

Either she had not had time or she no longer cared because she had not hidden her distinctive long ears.

This was a town of boats. The entire area was covered in water that reflected the sunny and starry sky and countless boats of various sizes floated there to form a town. No, the water's currents had far surpa.s.sed the pull of gravity. The water looked too crowded to actually navigate any of the boats, but a ma.s.sive amount of water formed giant arches reminiscent of rainbow bridges and the boats used those to move around. It looked a lot like a giant arm reaching down to a flat diorama and rearranging the miniature houses.

They flew through there at high alt.i.tude.

They sometimes just barely avoided the sails of a large s.h.i.+p and sometimes slipped below a giant steamboat lifted up by a water arch.

Their max speed was about 80 Scuz[2]. The only faster flying devices were the largescale airs.h.i.+ps that rode the manaflows in the atmosphere. They were moving fast enough to tear through the air, but they did not have to worry about frictional heat, air resistance, inertia, or anything like that. Celedileka's sorcery devices were most suited for use in the sky.

”I think there was a model of one of these in my grandma's room,” said silver-haired Mamilis while she reached her chocolate-colored hand to the side. Her fingers easily s.n.a.t.c.hed a white seabird from the air just above the water.

Yes, even though they were moving faster than a train.

”It really does work just like grandma's designs said. When the powerful safety is in effect, you can ignore the relative speeds, Coach. We shouldn't have to worry about hurting ourselves.”

”Tch. I really wish I could have met her before leaving the city. That is some impressive talent.”

She made it sound so simple, but that meant the riders could tear away the opponent's weapons and armor while moving at these speeds. It was basically cheating.

(Now, I've got a decent idea of what this area is like.)

Whatever the case, rescuing Nirvelphany and the old man would require escaping Sky City Celedileka as a whole.

”Ahh,” groaned Thomas in Nirvelphany's arms.

”Don't look so reluctant to leave this city,” she said while he stared blankly out from her arms. ”I will show you what you can find on that vast blue planet. This isolated and artificial land is not everything. You may have given up on this world, but I will show you just how vast, strange, and beautiful it can be!! That much I can promise you!!”

He may have already seen that. When he was driven to the edge, several people had gathered to pick a fight with the regional monarchy itself. That may have begun the process of truly saving him.

Although Ayato was not cra.s.s enough to say that out loud.

They had just the one destination for now:

”The outer edge and outside!! Hold on, everyone!!”

”That is fine, but look behind us, dangerous individual!!”

Henrietta shouted something odd.

Ayato had been busy using the arrangement of crystal tarot cards to gradually stabilize their flight, but he finally had enough time to look back.

And there he saw it.

”Another Armored Dragon is pursuing us!” said the Striker. ”And it's moving oddly! This is no normal flight!!”

Armored Dragons were large even for flight devices, so it could easily shake free of the personal gliders or rotating wing crafts that used a propeller on the top and back of the exposed c.o.c.kpit. That meant only another Armored Dragon could pursue them.

But all of the flight devices supplied through the standard route should have been knocked from the sky by the shockwave and blizzard caused by the orbital sorcery cannon. A Sky Pirate girl with an eyepatch and miniskirt had used the confusion to steal and patch up a broken flight device to use herself, but who was this person who had forcibly s.n.a.t.c.hed up a different crashed Armored Dragon to pursue them? Ayato could only think of one person with this strong an obsession with avoiding failure here.

Namely…

”It's that High Priest. Isn't he a little old to be playing a game of chicken!?”

And.

The reddish-brown Minotaur visiting Earth Castle Down Grouviv gave a sharp breath as a habit carried over from when he was human. It was apparently meant as a whistle, but his bull head meant he could not pull it off properly.

”I knew it.”

A purple b.u.t.terfly flew down.

That unnatural night b.u.t.terfly glittered with bewitching lace and colorful gems. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a purple-haired woman in a cla.s.sic maid uniform.

”Do you really intend to take that on yourself?”

”I really wish I could have gone in and put a stop to that Temple Moving Ceremony with nothing but the power of my fists, but that wasn't an option. Ayato's group took the main dish. They're the stars this time, so taking the backstage role is just right for me. Also, I already had a hunch this was the place.”

He sounded carefree, but an odd change was occurring in front of him.

The ground bubbled up with an orange light and then a sinister pillar of lava burst up with an intensity not even seen in the fire town. As soon as it came in contact with the air, it cooled, took shape, and became an enormous eight-legged horse with a scorching-hot body.

It was so huge he had to look up at it.

The bull man focused on the two holsters hanging from his zipper-covered pants.

” 'It was a golden horse carrying death and a holy follower adorned with glittering gems.' So this is what the Demon Lord's seal was once you get down to it: an ancient sorcery device that used gravitational control to give shape to lava. It wasn't enough to kill Nirvelphany even after the Hero's attack weakened her, but it could take her inside and harden around her to seal her. And with herself as a hostage within the lava that messes with magnetic and thermal sensors, she couldn't roast it with her orbital weapon.”

”I may not be one to talk, but being able to withstand temperatures of 2000 embers[3] is completely insane.”

”Yeah, it really is.”

With a neigh like a steam engine, it raised its front legs and lifted its upper body to a height of more than 100 esoule[4]. A female party tried to get involved out of some strange sense of justice, but the Minotaur gave a roar to chase off the Paladin with a soundproofed s.h.i.+eld and the Samurai with a single-shot gun hidden in the grip of her sword. Then he spoke before the ma.s.sive monster.

”It always seemed odd that Earth Castle Town Grouviv was the only one that had 'nothing', but I guess it was a supply base holding all the weapons and provisions the royal castle might need. It just never got much use with how long Sky City Celedileka has known peace.”

Ayato himself had said the military facilities were the first to be abandoned in a peaceful castle that was not a front line fortress. This was the same idea for the city-state as a whole.

The earth town could easily store plenty of the manconducting silver needed for weapons, as well as the sorcery gun ammunition and the various kinds of jewels that were concentrated from the underground gemflows. They may have also been stocking up on the toxic liquid known as rock water or petroleum and converting it into weapons. This was the perfect place for that.

And now they were releasing that giant lava horse in order to capture Nirvelphany. Magic did not activate on its own, so did the command come from the Forturiana Church which had dug this thing up and stored it? They may have been hoping to defeat the Demon Lord themselves to make their lie a reality, but it went without saying what would happen if that ma.s.s of lava charged into a densely populated area.

Unlike the other landma.s.ses that floated around restlessly and were easily distorted, the Static Continent they called home did not budge even after many long years. The people who lived there were bound by equally strong ties while they lived together in harmony.

That cheap propaganda came to the Minotaur's mind while he viewed this product of human greed.

The entire idea was absurd.

”I no longer care about a comfortable palace, a mountain of art in the gallery, or s.h.i.+ny armor and a crown.”

That was why the Minotaur had come here.

No, why the First Prince of the Selected Kingdoms' Combined Royal Family had come here.

”But I'm not about to abandon the right to have my way and strike down evil. My name is Liberca Bran Zorca Totalinus. Did you think a foolish traitor's toy could rob everyone of their homes and livelihoods while the First Prince watched on!?”

After that attempt to look cool, the maid calmly tugged on his tail.

”Hold it, you narcissist.”

”Gyawah! Don't grab me there, you idiot! It hurts like h.e.l.l!!”

”How rude. You make it sound like I was unaware of that fact.”

”How would a tailless b.u.t.terfly woman understand how this feels!?”

The maid spoke calmly to the man whose dignified atmosphere had been stolen.

”Just accept it already. You always keep those royal blades with you, so ever since I recognized you as a royal, you will never again have a chance to fight alone.”

”…Is that so?”

That was all he said as he reached for the holsters at his hips.

What he drew from there were two old-fas.h.i.+oned swords instead of sorcery guns.

They were cla.s.sified as domino-effect apocalypse-inducing chain-reaction weapons and they were named b.u.t.terfly Effector.

The two of them spoke in unison.

”The flapping of my b.u.t.terfly wings is a very small thing.”

”But it's time you saw what the small things can bring to this world, you hunk of junk!!”

Forturiana High Priest Belbath Ruin Cranky was pursuing them, so Ayato's Armored Dragon changed course again. They soared past some Dragon Knights flying small, tamed dragons and they continued to pick up speed.

Fortunately, the powerful safety measures meant none of them would be thrown from the wide isosceles triangle no matter how wildly he swung it around. So he sometimes flew just barely below a water arch, sometimes slipped between the sails of the many s.h.i.+ps, and sometimes flipped upside down to stab his Sorcery Hacking sword into a small s.h.i.+p's smokestack.

”What's the point of that!?” shouted Nirvelphany while holding Thomas Robergin.

”You never know when it'll come in handy!!”

Even a small boat would have a processing s.p.a.ce of Level 20 or 30. By connecting those together, he could reach the triple digits in no time. It grew at an accelerating rate from there, so the sailing s.h.i.+ps that read the wind direction and automatically adjusted the sails would be from 300 to 400 and the steams.h.i.+ps with external propulsion devise that resembled giant waterwheels could be 1000 each. s.h.i.+ps could support themselves just by floating in the water instead of needing arms or wings, so they really were the greatest of vehicles. No sorcery devices came in greater sizes.

While Ayato stabbed his Linkage Plug sword around, separated off the blades, and let out new blades from those compressed in the hilt, Teleria asked him a question in something of a scream.

”We aren't losing the High Priest at all! Ayato, can't you do something with your Sorcery Hacking!?”

”Directly firing on him with a sorcery gun would be difficult. That artificial bell cricket on his shoulder is compressing the air over a wide area to create a soundproof s.p.a.ce.”

”Coach, I saw the designs for that in my grandma's room. I think it's called the Bell Ringing. It was based on the anti-grenade nets used in trench warfare. It was supposed to be a large device for an entire base, so she had trouble figuring out how to make it the size of a slipper. It should be able to cover between 120 and 180 degrees in front of it by subtly changing the angle of its thin wings.”

They received a hint from an unexpected source. He wished all the more he could have met that engineer.

The Demon Lord's eyes widened too.

”At any rate, we have no way of circling behind that s.h.i.+eld while he flies straight toward us. Our sorcery guns will only be deflected!”

”Are you sure about that, Demon Lord? That Bell Ringing prototype isn't a sorcery gun. If Miss Mamilis is right, then it was originally meant for use in a stationary land base. That means there should be some distortion in the defended area while its coordinates change during high-speed movement. Belbath himself might be covered, but we can still bring down the Armored Dragon to lose him. And more importantly!”

Something about this did not add up.

They gathered what information they had while flying around the water town on the Armored Dragon.

”When that High Priest was certain of his victory, he said I was the MVP who prevented Demon Lord Nirvelphany's escape or return. He seemed happier about Nirvelphany interrupting the ceremony than if the execution had played out without a hitch. Why?”

”W-well, the Forturiana Church believes in benevolent coincidence, so wouldn't capturing the top of the demons feel like a stroke of good luck?” suggested Teleria.

”You think Forturiana loathes Demon Lord Nirvelphany?” Ayato operated his floating crystal tarot cards to focus on the hijacked Armored Dragon. ”Even though that church rapidly grew in power by donating to magic research…specifically, to the development of modern sorcery guns? Now, who is it that supports the entire system of magic?”

Just then, a sound like erupting steam reached them from behind.

Teleria screamed while ducking her head down.

A long narrow trail of white smoke shot by directly overhead. The projectile filled empty s.p.a.ce with pitch black darkness and then compressed the surrounding scenery toward the center of the explosion.

It looked like a giant ma.s.s of gravity, but Ayato immediately realized what it was.

”A bazooka!? Why is the privileged cla.s.s swiping all these weapons!?”

The sorcery gun resting on the shoulder opposite the bell cricket looked a lot like a grenade launcher, but while a grenade would cause the specified magic to self-replicate and explosively expand, a bazooka forcibly absorbed the surrounding mana and used that energy to explosively expand. In other words, it would tear apart living creatures and machines alike before blasting the dried-out remains with the external explosion.

They had been made to destroy military sorcery devices, so it was hardly surprising they had such a brutal design. They could only count themselves lucky it was not a guided variety.

”We can't keep dodging those forever!!” warned the Demon Lord.

”Bazookas are still a type of sorcery gun. The volume of the gunshot is linked to the effective range, so he has to bring down his puny s.h.i.+eld to fire it. More importantly, Nirvelphany, complain if you like, but what happened to your anti-dragon rifle!?”

”Does it look like I still have it? I literally have my hands full carrying this old man, so I left everything else in that plaza!”

”Nh!”

”Don't bother, Miss Mamilis. Shoot down the explosive within that shotgun's range and we'll be caught in the blast! Miss Teleria, you handle it!!”

”Oh, honestly! Do you have any idea how tricky it is to shoot down a bazooka round with a handgun!?”

The blonde girl complained, but she still readied her dual handguns. Then she fired ice spears toward the explosives flying their way. Instead of sniping them at specific points, she fired across the entire region to shoot them down and detonate them. This was all thanks to magic, but they could not exactly celebrate. The scenery would be pulled in toward a single point and then the explosion would occur. A direct hit from that would wipe them all out at once.

Ayato glanced over at the empty sh.e.l.ls blowing away in the wind while he calmly a.n.a.lyzed the situation.

(This isn't very efficient. At this rate, we'll probably run out of ammo first.)

They needed a more fundamental solution and he wanted as much info as possible for that. Knowing what drove High Priest Belbath to pursue them like this might help them predict his actions.

He could not let the impact of the bazooka distract him. He had to calm down and recall their discussion from just before that.

(Magic…yes, magic!)

Anyone could see how out of place that word seemed here.

These people were supposedly spreading the ”holy word”, so wasn't this an odd sort of thing for them to be proudly showing off?

”What even is the Light-Dark Duality? The world only has the four elements of fire, water, wind, and earth! The colorless mana gains those elemental colors by synchronizing with the higher beings scattered in the four directions! People might not care about those old tomes now that they only need to pull a trigger, but it was Demon Lord Nirvelphany who added a bit of 'fun' into that perfect system, effectively ignoring those four great beings and allowing us to do whatever we want in this world!!”

And when you calculated it out, you would find that those ”four directions” went well beyond the Static Continent. It was a reminder of just how small they were in the grand scheme of things.

The tricky part was how Nirvelphany's power was not a fixed value at the top. It was an uncertain factor.