"A large lake to the north of Isengard. This lake was created by the thorn spikes of the evil god that fell during the World Fusion... Look at this."
Dr. Babylon zoomed in on the image displayed on the 'Laboratory' monitor.
"A fortress...?"
The blurry image was difficult to make out, but there was something like a fortress in the center of the red lake, seemingly built to fend off external attacks.
What was surprising was that the fortress was covered with trees. No, it wasn't covered; it was originally made of trees.
The roots of the trees were intertwined, and together with the blood-red water of the lake, it almost looked like the insides of a living organism.
The trees themselves seemed somewhat red. Could it be because they’re absorbing the water from this red lake...? What an eerie structure.
In the center, there was a pyramid-like building, and a glowing ring-like object could be seen above it.
"Is that like an altar...? Could they seriously be trying to revive the evil god?"
"The fortress is a problem, but this over here looks pretty dangerous too."
As the camera moved toward the shore of the lake, an enormous number of tiny specks, like grains of sand, lined up. What is this?
The camera zoomed in. Among the grainy image, what could be seen were mechanical soldiers with the heads of animals like dogs, birds, and crocodiles. No, they were more like a fusion of flesh and machine, so should they be called bio-mechanical soldiers?
They were like mechanical beastmen, or more precisely, they resembled gods from Egyptian mythology. It’s got a strong sci-fi feel, though. I watched a movie like this with my grandpa long ago.
These bio-mechanical soldiers were lined up, holding spears, swords, and staffs. The number of them likely reached into the hundreds of thousands, forming a large army.
And they stood motionless, perfectly aligned, as if waiting for the order to march. It was incredibly eerie, like they were waiting for the command to deploy...
"Hmm."
Suddenly, a bright light was emitted from the fortress that appeared at the edge of the screen, and the monitor we were watching went black.
"Our reconnaissance orb was shot down. I didn't expect it to be found, but it seems they are quite vigilant."
"The image was severely disrupted, but..."
"It seems that the magical energy in the atmosphere around there has greatly diminished. That’s likely the cause. It’s probably why we can't use elemental magic that relies on surrounding magical energy. Could the 'cursed vortex' the spirits mentioned be there?"
I’m not sure, but could it be that something like a black hole is absorbing all the magical energy in that area?
It’s certain that the spirits are terrified because of the influence of the fallen god's power, but...
In any case, we need to relay this information to all nations. I sent out a mass transmission to the world leaders for an emergency meeting of the World Alliance.
◇ ◇ ◇
"That fortress... could it possibly have been created with a 'Crown Skill' from a 'Crown Ability'? The 'Green' Crown I contract, Gran Grün, has that kind of power."
A few days later, during a meeting, the King of the Elven Kingdom, located on the island nation to the north of the Western Continent, brought this up.
The 'Green' Crown that the Elf King contracts, Gran Grün, has the 'Plant Control' Crown Ability, a Crown Skill that allows him to control not just plants, but even processed wood.
It's an insane ability. However, there’s a 'price' that causes the contract holder to suffer extreme hunger, unable to eat anything, which could even lead to death.
"If I were to create something like that fortress, I wouldn’t be able to eat for at least six months."
"The 'Golden' Crown on the other side has a method of offsetting the 'price'. Though, it seems it can't be used infinitely..."
The 'Golden' Crown... Gold, uses slimes made of Gravitational Slime and Orichalcum Slime as its 'substitute' for the price.
The countless slimes sacrificed in the process are likely dead, but for the holder, it must feel like just the loss of a few broken parts.
According to the doctor, Orichalcum Slimes aren’t something you can easily produce, so it’s a relief that they can’t just keep replacing the sacrificial parts one after another.
"So, does that mean the 'Golden' Crown can also use other 'Crown Ability Skills'?"
Queen of the Strain Kingdom spoke up, voicing the question that had been on everyone's mind.
"Probably. In fact, that person has already used a 'Time Reversal' Crown Skill from the 'Black' Crown."
I’ve confirmed this with the real 'Black' Crown, Noir, so there’s no mistake about it.
It’s a skill that allows you to reverse the time of a designated object. It seems it can’t be used on living beings, but it’s got a lot of potential uses.
When Noir uses it, it reverses the age of the contract holder, Norn, by about half a year. If used a dozen times, Norn would revert to a fetus and die as a result, a high price to pay.
The person has used this skill with just a few feathers made from Orichalcum Slime, so though it can’t be used indefinitely, it remains a formidable threat.
Wait... if that person can use other 'Crown Ability Skills'...
I turned my gaze to the King of the Panaches Kingdom sitting to my upper right. He noticed my look and turned pale.
"Could it be...! Bleu's [Spatial Distortion]...!?"
"...Damn!"
In my mind, I connected the images of the waiting bio-mechanical soldiers and Bleu's transfer ability, and it clicked like a puzzle.
We’d become complacent, thinking that after defeating the apostle of the fallen god who had the transfer ability, there wouldn’t be any more attacks via transfer.
What a fool I am! That person used [Spatial Distortion] to escape right before our eyes!
The 'Bleu's ' Crown contract holder, Robert, has a 'price', so he can only transfer a few people at a time using [Spatial Distortion], but Gold has no such restrictions!
"Search! The positions of the bio-mechanical soldiers, globally!"
'Searching... Search complete. Displaying results.'
On the world map that appeared in the conference hall, red dots began to appear at several locations. Too late...!
Rephan Kingdom, Gardio Empire, Fire Nation Dawburn, Regulus Empire, Demon Lord Kingdom Xenoah... these five nations have sightings.
I confirmed with the kings of the five nations, and while all of them were far from the capital, they were still large cities.
It seems they targeted those places to delay the spread of information, or perhaps they have some other goal...
'Warning. Additional sightings. Displaying results.'
"Eh?"
A red dot appeared on the map. This place...!
"Brunhild...! Damn it! [Prison]!"
I immediately activated [Prison] across the entire castle town, making sure to include animals like pets that might be involved.
Though [Prison] weakens if extended over a wide area, it should still be strong enough to hold up against earth magic like [Iron Wall].
"I’ll open a [Gate] for return! After the five nations leader have retreated, prepare for deployment! We’ll head over once we’re done here!"
I opened several [Gates] for each country leader to return to, and they quickly entered them, retreating to their home countries.
"[Teleport]!"
Once the foreign guests had disappeared, I [Teleported] to the country’s roadways, where bio-mechanical soldiers were already pouring out from a distorted circular space.
Already, tens of thousands were charging toward us.
This is definitely the 'Bleu ' Crown’s [Spatial Distortion].
Damn, that was close...! If I had been even a few minutes late, the castle town would have been attacked for sure...!
If that had happened, there would have been significant casualties, possibly even deaths.
"Target lock. [Shining Javelin] at the bio-mechanical soldiers in front."
'Locking... [Shining Javelin] activated.'
Numerous small magic circles appeared in the sky, from which lightning spears rained down to the ground.
But despite being pierced by lightning, the bio-mechanical soldiers kept marching, unfazed.
"Magic doesn’t work... then... [Ice, come forth, great ice block, Ice Rock]!"
An ice block the size of a truck appeared above the bio-mechanical soldiers and fell on them.
With a crushing sound, several bio-mechanical soldiers were flattened. Physical attacks seem to work.
Should I strike with [Meteor Rain] to wipe them out...? No, that would ruin the terrain. It’s troublesome, but it looks like I’ll have to take them down one by one...
"Brunhild Knights, charge! Protect the people from the invaders!"
'Wooaahh—!'
Suddenly, I heard voices and turned around to see the Brunhild Knight Captain, Lain, the Vice-Captain, Nikola, and others running down the road through the [Gate].
"We made it in time."
[Gate] opened again, and Yakumo appeared along with the children and my wives.
"To think they'd pick a fight with our country... let's go, Linne!"
"Yes! Let’s knock them out!"
Elze and Linne clanged their gauntlets together and rushed straight toward the bio-mechanical soldiers.
Their daughter, Elna, and Linne's mother, Linze, shared a wry smile.
"Well, I can’t be left behind. Let’s go, Yakumo."
"Yes, Mother."
"We're going too, Frei."
"Of course!"
Yakumo and Hilda, along with Frei, rushed forward.
"They’re reliable reinforcements."
Though we were outnumbered more than ten to one, I didn’t feel like we would lose.
"Here we go!"
With Yoshino on guitar, and for some reason, Keisuke-kun playing drums, the music filled the air.
As Yoshino’s guitar continued, Sakura’s voice spread across the battlefield through the magic of [Speaker].
The song was used in a movie’s opening scene with a biker speeding down the road, and even now, it’s a favorite among bikers.
I don’t know if we can be as wild as the song, but the support magic from the song seems to be boosting the Knights' morale, and they’re fighting fiercely.
"['Iron, come forth, Black Iron Wall, Iron Wall']"
Zahh! Leen and Quun created thick iron walls 15 meters wide and 30 meters high, but I think that’s more than necessary.
"Don’t miss, Quun."
"Don’t worry!"
Quun pulled out a spellcaster gun and fired two rounds at the iron walls.
The magic bullets hit the top of the two iron walls, causing a deafening noise.
As I wondered what was going on, the iron walls made from [Iron Wall] began to tilt toward the enemies, as if the impact had caused them to topple.
What?! Did we not fix the base?
With a crash, the iron walls fell, crushing the bio-mechanical soldiers in front of them, and a horrible noise mixed with the sound of them falling.
"Ugh... that’s such a brutal use of it."
As I stood there stunned, a bio-mechanical soldier with a head like the Egyptian god Horus lunged at me with a spear.
"Oops."
I dodged the spear and slashed its arm with Brunhild in Blade Mode.
Its left arm was cleanly severed, but instead of blood, black oil-like substance oozed out.
It felt like I was cutting through a living thing... But this bio-mechanical soldier had no life responses.
Even though its arm was chopped off, the bio-mechanical soldier didn’t stop fighting and continued to strike with its spear.
It was like a robot just following orders... A creature, yet less alive than a golem.
"Heh."
I deflected the spear and decapitated the bio-mechanical soldier with my blade.
Its hawk-shaped head rolled away, and its body collapsed lifelessly.
Guess it can't fight without its head.
"Father, over there!"
"Hm?"
Following the direction Kuon pointed out, a huge distorted hole appeared deeper in the bio-mechanical soldier's ranks. A strange golden mechanical figure emerged from it.
It was similar to a cyclops but thinner in shape. Its silhouette resembled a beast, and its head had goat-like horns, while its claws were sharp.
"A new type...? It looks more fragile than the Cyclops..."
As I thought this, the goat-headed golem suddenly charged toward the battlefield.
Fast! It’s not as fast as Ende’s Dragoon, but definitely faster than the Cyclops! Is it a lightweight model?!
"Bad... If it charges into the knights while they’re still fighting with the bio-mechanical soldiers..."
Just as I tried to activate [Iron Wall] to stop its progress, a black lion jumped in from the side, piercing the goat-headed golem’s abdomen with its fangs.
'Don’t make a mess in other people's yard.'
'No problem.'
The voice of the black lion sounded like an irritated girl’s voice, while the mechanical voice of the lion echoed as well.
The black lion and its rider, Norn, the master of the [Black] Crown, and her sister Elka, struck the golem with their weapon, breaking its abdomen.
"Looks like things are getting interesting. Let me join in!"
"Stop fooling around, master."
The voices of Nia and Rouge, leading the Red Crown, rang out as they attacked the remaining goat-headed golems.
But the swift goat-headed golem dodged their claws and counterattacked with its own claws. It slashed Rouge's armor, cutting through even the crystalline material.
That claw’s dangerous.
Confident after landing a hit, the goat-headed golem charged again at Rouge, but before it could strike, a blade pierced through its chest from behind.
"I was supposed to go shopping with Alice today... you really got in the way."
The voice was full of grudge as the little dagger that pierced the back of the goat-headed golem came from Ende, riding his Dragoon.
I realized that Alice had joined the fight, probably after hearing about the battle.
I guess Alice got interested after hearing about all this?
"Ende! Don't steal my prey!"
"I’m just cleaning up these idiots quickly so I can go shopping with Alice."
"I don’t care, just don’t interfere!"
Nia snapped at Ende, but Ende nonchalantly slashed at the next goat-headed golem.
Norn, as usual, was heading straight toward the Cyclops.
With Norn included, these three were famous adventurers from our guild. They must have a friendly relationship.
"We’ll go too."
"Yes, I’ll stay and guard here."
Lu summoned Waltraute from her smartphone [Storage], and with Arcia, they got on.
Did Arcia really need to come...?
Sue summoned Ortlinde Overlord, standing firmly before the road leading to the castle.
When I looked at the distorted space ahead, I saw it shrinking before eventually disappearing. It seems the apostle of the fallen god won’t be coming after all. Were they just stalling for time?
Damn it, I need to visit the other nations quickly...!
"I’ll open [Ice Bind], the Curse of the Ice Shackles, Ice Bind!"
Linze’s ice magic froze the legs of the bio-mechanical soldiers fighting the knights and held them in place.
It might not deal direct damage, but since it’s a binding type, it seems effective.
The knights swiftly cut down the frozen bio-mechanical soldiers. However, some of them broke free by smashing the ice. It’s not perfect, but it’s an effective technique.
"I’ll bind with earth this time. [Earth Bind], the Curse of the Earth Shackles!"
This time, I used harder stones than ice to bind their feet. The immobilized bio-mechanical soldiers couldn’t fight back.
The knights proceeded to crush the remaining bio-mechanical soldiers. The Cyclopes and goat-headed golems were also decreasing in numbers thanks to Norn and the others.
It was all over a few minutes later. The aftermath could be dealt with after returning. For now, we needed to hurry and provide aid to the five countries being attacked.
I opened the map again to check on the cities under attack. They were all places I hadn't been to before...
Regulus and Xenoah could be reached via [Gate]. If I use [Teleport], I could jump there... but no, better to receive direct information from the kings via [Recall].
I'll visit the countries directly. I’ll divide Brunhild’s forces into five and send them as reinforcements.
Something feels off. Could this be connected to the 'cursed vortex' the spirits mentioned?
I suppressed my rising anxiety and opened [Gate].
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