She told me she had absolutely no idea, and I have to admit, that deflated me a bit.
Nekia. The anomaly in Heizen's former dungeon. The Spider Queen.
She now went by the name Nekia, housed in Hayan's original body.
That body was a brown-skinned, purple-eyed dynamite beauty.
Let me say that again. Brown-skinned, purple-eyed dynamite beauty.
That original body had been used as a temporary vessel for a vicious woman named Raada.
Because someone who knew her showing up would mean needless trouble, Heizen had kept her shut away in isolation.
"Oh, um, could you step out of the room for a sec? I need to change."
"Sure. Got it."
I left the bedroom as instructed.
Change? Into what?
"Okay, come in."
"Y-yes. Excuse me."
When I opened the door and stepped inside, Nekia was wearing something quite startling.
She had on a skin-tight black outfit that looked like a wetsuit, clinging to every contour of her body.
Over that, she wore a mechanical jacket.
It looked just like Riv's suit.
"So? How does it look?"
Forget "how does it look" — her entire figure was on full display from every angle.
That wisdom. Utterly magnificent wisdom.
"That's..."
"Riv gave it to me. A pilot suit. I can fly the Etranze now."
"Huh?"
"Hyzen had dungeons and all sorts of things going on, so we couldn't set up a gate there, right?"
That was right.
The reason we'd been using the Etranze to travel back and forth was that Hyzen couldn't support a gate installation.
Dungeons and whatnot made it impossible to stabilize properly.
In the first place, the farther a gate stretched, the more distance it covered, the more unstable it became.
"So, I asked Riv for help."
I'd felt bad about it and offered to pay, but she'd refused.
"But Riv couldn't keep it up forever. So I asked her to teach me how to pilot instead."
"Oh, so that's how it was."
That was a relief.
Nechia smiled, looking a little embarrassed.
"I want to be useful to everyone too. I am the queen, after all."
"Nechia... thank you."
That should take care of the anxiety and guilt around traveling.
But the problem of the Phantom Unit... hmm.
"What's wrong? If something's bothering you, why not tell this queen about it?"
"About the Phantom Unit we were discussing earlier."
"The one they said is in the Forbidden Land's treasury?"
"Yes. There's a report that it might still be there in the treasury."
"Sorry—I don't really know much about the tribute items, but you're saying there might still be a tribute with a Phantom Unit sealed inside, right?"
"Yes, exactly."
That's why I'd proposed sealing the entire Forbidden Land inside the dungeon.
I figured she'd probably approve it. As for what comes after that...
"On that note, can't you use Wof's Relic?"
"My Relic?"
"You know, that Fortune-something thing."
"Oh!"
Right! That's right! I have the Circle of Fortune!
I'd completely forgotten about it. What an idiot.
That's the queen for you.
She grins smugly. Quite the queen.
"Um, I know this is sudden, but can we move to the Forbidden Land?"
"Of course! Leave it to Nekia!"
The Etranger teleports us.
The Heisen Great Forest. The innermost depths. The Forbidden Land.
This was once the deepest floor of the Heisen dungeon.
It now serves as the innermost point of the surface area.
Its role as the deepest floor is done.
Now it's just the ruins of a kingdom that once stood here.
Etranger stays on standby overhead. I have them teleport me to the surface.
And the moment I try to activate my search and Danger Discernment—
"Gyaaaaah!"
"Guaaaaaah!"
Screams. What's going on? I activate Danger Discernment, and countless red dots appear.
Two white dots move among them. They crash into the red dots, which flicker black for an instant before disappearing.
"Are they... fighting?"
White dots mean safe — allies. The ones that briefly turned black must have died.
In the Forbidden Land, and in those white buildings. A battle is happening near the treasury.
Two white dots — thinking about it, a suspicion pops into my head. No... it can't be.
"...Those two?"
The odds are pretty high. I rush toward the treasury.
And the red dots — could it be? Even so, I only learned about them today.
Monsters, maybe — but no, I heard screams, so that can't be it. Which means...
"Curse you! The last embers of our kind cannot be snuffed out in a place like this!"
"We haven't even gotten our revenge on Heisen yet!"
"What the hell are those two!?"
"We are the Jinryū! Warriors renowned even in Heisen!"
"You monster!"
Whoa... seriously? We're running into them this fast?
Remnants of the Jinryū — seriously. And I spotted two white dots.
"Black Spot!"
"What the hell is this black stuff!? S-stop it!"
"Hyah-hah-ha-ha-ha!!!"
"Guaaah!"
"Gyiiiaah!"
"W-wait, I surrender! Just spare my life! Guhaaah!"
Brutal. Every last one of the black-robed figures was killed.
Actually, begging for mercy from that woman is pointless anyway.
"Then don't come picking a fight with us in the first place."
With a sharp snort, she twirled the semi-transparent Banish Death Scythe in one hand.
Her distinctive hairstyle: purple braids coiled into loops, forming twin tails.
A simple outfit of a black jacket, yellow shirt, and red skirt.
A beautiful woman with purple eyes blazing with madness stood there like an iron statue.
It was Narcissus.
"So, what exactly are these people...?"
Tilting her head slightly was a beautiful woman with long black hair in a hime cut and purple eyes.
Clad in black-red gothic lolita attire, standing nearly 190 centimeters tall.
That was Megadia.
What a bunch of fools.
Even if they hadn't known, there was no way you could pick a fight with a Rank I delver and walk away unscathed.
Just as I'd figured.
I already knew these two were somewhere in the Heisen Great Forest.
"They ran off, huh."
"That looks like the treasure vault Wof mentioned."
"Hey, you two."
I figured this was my chance and called out to them.
"Oh?"
"Well, if it isn't Wof. You here to hunt too?"
"No, I'm..."
For now, I gave them the highlights.
"Phantom Units. I fought something similar in a dungeon once."
"They latch onto you? That's the worst."
"And these guys are the leftover embers of the dragon... they really do look like nothing but embers now."
"Yep."
"Then all we gotta do is kill the ones who ran, and problem solved! Let's go, Megadia. Wof—"
"Hey, wait, don't rush ahead!"
"Just a moment!"
Narsis took off running, and Megadia and I followed.
The treasury was the same as before — the first floor above ground was a mountain of treasures.
We dispatched the black-robed attackers who came at us and headed down to basement level one.
"Not here?"
"Look — there's a staircase down to the lower levels, hidden away in a spot like this."
"B basement level two... so it does exist."
We descended the stone staircase.
Basement level two had become a corridor, with several doors along the sides.
At the far end of the corridor, another staircase led further down — a dead end.
Basement level three.
"Another staircase. Wof — did you know about this?"
"No. I didn't..."
I shook my head at Megadia's question. We went down the stairs.
Basement level three was lined with eerie stone statues at equal intervals, with a massive door at the back.
"Die!"
"Wha—!?"
A black-robed figure lunged out from behind one of the statues, and I reacted on instinct with Banish.
The black-robed figure's sword and head vanished in an instant.
Narsis and Megadia both took out the ones that came at them.
Narsis kicked the great door open with a violent slam.
Inside was a dome-shaped space.
At the center stood a man in a red robe, a mirror surface affixed to him. His arms were crossed, looking all smug.
"Fwahahaha! So the last ember of Jinryū is just me now, is it?"
"Then you should just die already."
"Lady Narsis. Normally you'd call for surrender, you know."
"Too much trouble!"
"—Where did you get that mirror surface?"
"Oh, that's what you're curious about?"
"Sealed inside it is an undead called a Phantom Unit. It's a terrifying thing that completely changes your personality."
"Fwahahahahaha! And you want me to hand it over? Sorry, but this is a vessel body I worked hard to obtain. I've only just settled into it. You think I'd just give it up?"
A vessel body?
Could he be possessed?
"Looks like that one's a no-go."
"Shouldn't matter, right? We were planning to kill him anyway."
Narsis transformed her square Banish into a halberd.
The axe end had become a vicious axe-lance. Megadia sighed too and produced a black sphere.
"Oh. I see. You lot. That Relic. Those purple eyes. You're Edda."
"And what if we are?"
"What a coincidence. I am too."
"Huh?"
"What did you say?"
Come to think of it, the phantom units I'd fought in that mysterious space had purple eyes.
Phantom units and Edda. Were they connected somehow?
"Who cares! Just die already—rest in peace!"
Narcissus raised his halberd and lunged at the mirror-faced man.
"[Etandol]"
At the same moment he swung down, something translucent and diamond-shaped appeared in the man's hand.
"Wha—!?"
Narcissus's Banish halberd was caught and held by the translucent diamond.
Was that—also Banish?
"[Black Spot]!"
Seizing the opening, Megadia hurriedly fired off four black spheres.
"[Radiren]"
But they were dissipated by something like a translucent veil.
"…What?"
Megadia was stunned; Narcissus disengaged.
Ignoring the stunned Megadia, I stepped in behind the mirror-faced man.
The moment the four black spheres of Black Spot were launched, I made my move.
I activated Knife Magic's "Hide and Seek" and "Changing."
"You—!!?"
By the time the mirror-faced man noticed, it was already too late.
I drove Banish into him with everything I had.
—Just kidding.
The man grinned.
Banish collided with the translucent, diamond-shaped Etandol that had materialized God knows when.
Only Banish shattered.
"—!?"
The translucent, diamond-shaped Etandol was unscathed.
"Radiren."
A translucent whale lunged at me, but I barely dodged.
That was Knife Magic's "Changing."
"Tricky. Setting that kid aside, I suppose this is what you'd expect from Edda."
"So, your Relics—they both have the same effect, huh?"
"Both my Etandol and Radiren are Relics that erase whatever they touch."
"Same as Urā's and Wof's Banish."
Same, yeah—but the effect really is the same.
But Narcissus's Banish hadn't shattered.
Mine had.
"...!!"
I headed straight toward the man in the mirror.
I feinted with Misdirection from Knife Magic, then switched to what even the Azure Sage uses.
The world slowed down, and I closed the distance with One Step, rushing toward the man in the mirror.
"Banish!!!"
"Elandol."
The instant my Banish made contact with the translucent rhombus, it shattered.
It scattered like broken glasswork.
"Impossible."
"You're more interesting than I expected, boy. For a lowly slave crawling in the dirt, you certainly use a diverse array of Relics. One of Edda's prized slave warriors, perhaps? But it matters not. A slave can never hope to stand against the Gemstone Sage King, Edda herself."
"Huh? What are you—"
"You're nothing but an eyesore now. Disappear. Elandol."
The translucent rhombus barreled toward me.
"Graaaaaah!!"
What deflected it was Narcissus's translucent halberd.
"Fall back, Wof!"
Megadia launched eight black spheres at the man in the mirror.
"Futile. I don't wish to hurt you."
"Excuse me?"
"What did you just say?"
What was he even talking about?
"Fwahahahaha! Magnificent. Beauty and a Relic — both of you. I shall make you two my very first consorts, resurrected into this world!"
Consorts? These two? Was he out of his mind?
"Sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
"Agreed. Who are you, exactly?"
The two glared at the mirror-faced man.
"I am a man who was once the king of Eda."
The mirror-faced man declared, every inch the picture of confidence.
The king of Eda?
"Was there ever a king in Eda?"
"No idea? I don't know and I don't care."
"I've heard there was one, a very long time ago."
"Wait. Looking more closely — those purple hair... A reincarnation of a god? What a stroke of fortune! A shrine maiden? To be able to take a shrine maiden as queen — how splendid!"
"..."
"Hmm. And that Eda woman over there — on closer inspection, what's with that height? Being taller than me, a king, is inexcusable. That height is a flaw, but even so, that beauty. I shall generously make you a concubine. Be grateful."
"..."
Whoa... the killing intent pouring off those two was intense. I could practically see a pitch-black aura radiating from them.
Not that I knew much about history, but was ancient Eda really like this?
Well, even now, Eda was entirely composed of nobles, and I'd always figured there was some chosen-people mentality going on.
But this was way too much.
"You. Die."
"Yes, I'm going to kill you."
With clear killing intent and fury, the two of them advanced on the mirror-faced man.
"What's this, what's this? Why are you two so angry?"
He deflected their onslaught while wielding two Relics.
"You're the type I absolutely despise! You remind me of my hometown!"
Megadia continuously fired off black spheres.
"I hate you too. What do you think people are, to you?!"
She swung Banish, shaped into a single whip.
"What are you saying? I am the Sacred Treasure Holy King, sovereign of all races, ruler of Eda! It is only natural that you of Eda submit to me!"
"Huh? Are you out of your mind? But more than anything, the reason I'm about to lose it is—"
"I will absolutely never acknowledge you! You're no king of Eda! I've decided you're not, so you're not! But the thing that makes me the angriest of all is—"
Their two attacks overlapped into one.
"—the fact that you insulted Wof!!"
"The vile things you said about Wof!!"
The mirror-faced man's Relic shattered and he was driven back.
"Mmguh!?"
"The two of you... you were that angry on my behalf?"
"Obviously."
"Of course."
"Honestly, everything the mirror-faced man said to me was so ridiculous that none of it even landed, so I didn't care at all, but..."
Because nothing this guy says is even close to right.
This isn't that kind of era anymore.
Being told he's hopelessly outdated just sounds like the ramblings of an old man, so...
"What did you say, you worm?! How dare a lowly insect that crawls on the ground speak to Edda, the supreme ruler of all—"
"But I was happy that the two of you got angry on my behalf."
Also, I figured something out about Banish.
"You wretched thing! How dare you, a pathetic worm destined to be crushed beneath me, defy the divine words of Edda's king—"
"Like I said, I'll take care of that myself."
My current Banish isn't going to cut it anymore.
So there's one thing I want to verify.
The two of them exchanged looks and gave helpless, wry smiles.
"I'm fine. Wof's the one getting the worst of it."
"Honestly, I'd love to beat the crap out of him, but you're treating us to dinner later, got it?"
"Yes. Thank you."
I turned back to face the mirror-faced man.
I could feel the hatred radiating from the mirror-faced man.
"You — you — YOU — how dare you, you lowly, wretched, ground-crawling insect—"
"You've been saying the same thing over and over, haven't you? Could it be that your vocabulary is kind of limited?"
"You — !!!!"
He's really furious, huh.
It seemed Edda's King also had zero resistance to taunts.
Hm? Wait — huh? What?
Hair bristling with rage, screaming, directing an enormous wave of killing intent at me.
And yet he didn't attack. Didn't even approach.
Come to think of it — had he ever actually made a move on me?
"Um, aren't you going to come at me?"
"G-Gah?! Why would I, someone like— someone like you, a worm of a slave—"
"Could it be that those Relics of yours — both of them are for interception?"
"O-Of course not! There's no way—!"
He was rattled.
It seemed Edda's King was absolutely terrible at lying.
"I see. So that's what was going on."
"What do you mean?"
"Counter Relics, that's what. Think about it — he's never attacked first."
"Is that right?"
I pulled Ballistic 6 from my knife belt, aimed, and fired.
The pale blade touched the semi-transparent rhombus and vanished.
It had appeared automatically, as if on its own. Maybe that was why he'd been calling out the Relic name — so I wouldn't catch on.
"Just as I suspected."
"What do you think you're doing, you worm?! How dare you raise your hand against this King!"
"Shall I finish this?"
I activate Generous and use Riv Form.
My hair and eyes both turned purple, and I felt a small pain in my forehead.
"W-What... what are you? That form... im-Impossible. Impossible — no, that can't be. There's no way. That mark on your forehead is... —No. No, it can't be. It can't be. It absolutely can't be. There's no way this is real. I-I-I won't accept it. I won't! I won't! How dare you — that form is nothing short of blasphemy! How dare you, in front of our... WHAT IS THAT FORM, YOUUUUUUUU!?!?!"
"Annoying insect. Banish Roar."
I moved with One Step and unleashed Banish Roar.
The translucent diamond-shaped Etandorl and translucent veil Ladiren went flying.
The moment they made contact, both Relics vanished as if it were a lie.
That was beyond incredible.
It was power on a completely different level.
"IDIOOOOOT! THOSE ARE THE RELICS OF THE KING OF EDDA!?!?!"
"It's over."
Banish Roar shattered the mirror surface.
Then something red-black came pouring out, but I immediately thrust the skull sword into it.
"GIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
When the elixir knife pierced it, the red-black thing let out a tremendous scream and vanished.
"That was kind of anticlimactic. A lame ending. Makes me look like an idiot."
"But it was a fitting end for a foolish king."
"That's true too!"
"Besides, something of that level never stood a chance against Wof from the start. That's exactly why it was so comical."
"I know. That's what they call a clown, right?"
At Narcissus's blunt words, Megadia gave a wry smile.
The merciless comment drew a wry smile from me too.
We still had time, so I decided to try bringing out [Banish Lore] in my current form.
The Relic that regular [Banish] couldn't even touch was easily erased.
It was on a completely different level.
But what exactly was different?
It was still a translucent sphere. That hadn't changed.
No, wait. What IS this [Banish]?
Inside the translucent sphere, small circles were chained and stacked in overlapping layers, forming intricate geometric patterns.
What is this? Is this the secret behind its otherworldly power?
And if touching it makes things vanish, why would there be geometric patterns carved into it?
Ah, time's up.
"............"
Back to normal, I stared at my empty palm and made a resolution.
The current [Banish] is weak.
Very weak.
So I'll make it stronger.
"What's wrong, Wof?"
"Did you hurt your hand? Come on, let me see."
"Wait, no, that's not it!"
Narcis-sama grabs my hand forcefully, and I start panicking.
Regardless, I'll definitely make it stronger!
Wait, Megadia, don't grab me too!
I'll get stronger!