I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 4.2

Aside: Ligdartha

“THESE FORTIFICATIONS have come a long way since I last saw them. Excellent work, as always.”

“Thank you, Sir Ligdartha,” said the human, smiling at me.

He was a court mage for the Beastman Nation, and his name was Lucius Laurentia—a descendant of the very same house destroyed almost a hundred and fifty years ago. He was also one of the greatest Land Mages on the continent, earning him the nickname of Great Wall Lucius.

Looking at him, you’d never suspect he was capable of throwing up a giant spire and killing hundreds of our enemies at once, but a fierce determination lurked behind his smile. We were the same age, and over the past thirty years, he had become a dear friend and a powerful ally.

“You sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard?” I asked.

Lucius conjured these fortifications with a spell called Great Wall. It was a notorious mana sink, and he had come straight out of battle. He must be exhausted.

“A man has to protect his home,” he said. “And the Beastman Nation was the only one kind enough to take me in and treat me with decency, instead of branding me as a traitor to mankind.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed. Besides, you are pushing yourself just as hard. I saw the White Rhinos charge into battle from the top of my little fort. I never imagined that a few hundred warriors could fight their way to the heart of a whole army.”

But they did, and I had led them there myself. My name is Ligdartha, and I am the patriarch of the White Rhinoceros tribe, younger brother to the king’s own personal bodyguard, Diamond Wall Gaudartha and Deputy Commander in our battle against the Basharlians. It is my duty to be on the frontlines, and to raise our troops’ morale.

“So is something the matter?” Lucius asked. “I can’t imagine you’re visiting the troops just to reminisce with me.”

“Indeed. Here, have a look at this.”

“What is it?”

I handed over the missive I’d received from headquarters. Lucius read through it carefully. By the time he’d finished, he looked frustrated and annoyed, which is exactly how I’d felt when I saw it.

“Who are the Krishna royals?” he asked. “I’ve never heard of them.”

“They ruled the Beastman Nation about five hundred years ago. Apparently, they’re claiming that the Narasimhas seized the throne from them.”

I’d asked the commander and our general if the accusations were true, but all they’d say was that it didn’t matter. Which was true enough, I guess. I did matter, but not in the middle of a battlefield at least.

Still, I figured the story had a grain of truth. The circumstances under which our current royal family, the Narasimhas, ascended to the throne were only passed on from patriarch to patriarch, and I had to admit, that was pretty suspicious. Still, our king was a good one, and it really wasn’t the time to be fanning the flames of old feuds.

Claims about legitimacy came up every time there was a war, but that didn’t mean we could safely ignore them. For tribes with lifespans as long as us beastmen, five hundred years wasn’t exactly very long. And besides, if Basharl really did have a member of the Krishna family in their midst, it could make a real mess of any post-war negotiations. The conspiracy was all the more probable considering Basharl’s lack of neighboring allies.

“And she’s a Fiend too?” Lucius asked.

“Yeah. Apparently, the Narasimhas chose her as a priestess when they seized the throne, so they could sacrifice her to the Evil One.”

“They clearly want to smear the Narasimhas and curry support for the Krishnas.”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “They’ve also said that they’re obliged to help restore the rightful ruling family to the throne. As though deposing our own king is simply the act of a good neighbor.”

We didn’t know for sure whether Basharl was in league with Fiends, but this was definitely part of some bigger plan. They’d spread this propaganda through other kingdoms too, and not just in writing. Now we had to deal with inquiries from other nations about the letter. They even seemed to think there was an element of truth in it.

Lucius shook his head. “No good can come from the power of the Evil One.”

“And I suppose you would know that better than anyone.”

“Quite. When I was a boy, there wasn’t a day that people didn’t throw rocks at me for being ‘the Fiendmancer’s son.’”

I sighed. “Linford.”

“He’d abandoned us by the time I was ten. I barely remember anything about him, just that he was always grinning to himself. I think he must have been crazy. I was fortunate that the Beast King took me in. My father spent decades being hated as a descendant of a Fiendmancer. I suppose he finally snapped.”

“And you haven’t seen him since?” I asked.

“No. My father was an old man when I was born. If he’s still alive, he’d be almost a hundred years old. And I really don’t think…”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“That’s all right. I’m only looking for him so that I can put him to rest with my own hands. But never mind that. This letter is far more concerning.”

“It is at that, my friend. It is at that.”

The battle against Basharl seemed to be going well. So why was I getting a massive headache?

***

“I hope I’ve answered some of your questions at least,” Urslars said, standing from his improvised chair. “Now leave.”

“What?!” Mea protested. “But we just got here!”

“And you are not necessary. Kiara, please see the children out.”

“All right.”

“But Master Kiara, we can help!”

Kiara shook her head. “You can feel it, can’t you, Urslars?”

“Yeah, it’s that same sinking feeling. If you don’t want me to kill you, you’ll leave.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. Mad Ogre Form must be close to triggering. I’d already seen the sort of damage Urslars could do under normal circumstances. I had no desire to see him amplified fivefold.

Fortunately, Kiara understood.

“Come, Mea.”

“V-very well.”

“You too, Fran.”

“Hm…”

They both nodded, looking equally disappointed. Mea didn’t like the idea of leaving Urslars to take care of something that she felt was her own responsibility. She’d already expressed frustration about not being recognized as a true Godsword user, and I suspect this didn’t help. Fran, meanwhile, just wanted to see Urslars in action. Still, this couldn’t be helped. Nothing was worth the risk of him turning on us in a fight. There was nothing we could do to change his mind, and Urslars was more than strong enough to take on whatever awaited him.

We should get out of here.

“Hm.”

“Quina,” Kiara said. “Open the door.”

“Affirmative. Watch my back, Mianoa.”

“Very well, Miss Quina.”

Quina led the way to the entrance, while Mianoa took the rear. They probably wanted to stop Mea from doing anything stupid. Without the maids’ careful oversight, they expected the princess to sneak away and follow Urslars.

“…”

Quina frowned at the door. She looked troubled. So troubled that all of us noticed.

“What’s the matter?” Kiara asked.

“It won’t open.”

“What?”

“Something has changed. I could open it before.”

Quina had checked when we entered the room to make sure the door still opened from inside, but now it was sealed shut. That wasn’t a good sign. I prepared a Dimension Gate to get us away. It might not be enough to take us out of the dungeon, but we didn’t need to go that far. We only needed to get out of this room. Unfortunately, my spell wouldn’t activate.

What’s going on…?

The spell was working; I just couldn’t focus my mana into it. Even Seal Immunity wasn’t helping. That meant my Timespace Magic wasn’t sealed. There was something else disrupting it.

Teacher?

I can’t warp out of here, Fran.

This all felt kinda familiar. It was the same sensation as Murelia’s teleportation-disrupting dome. Then, almost as soon as I’d thought that…

“Aha ha ha! No one is getting through that door. And you can forget about your precious teleportation, too!”

“That voice…” Mea muttered.

Fran glanced around. “Murelia?”

Everyone immediately prepared for battle.

“Correct!”

Murelia warped into the opposite side of the room. Her Fiend powers gave her a clean route through her own barriers. She had an insane smile on her face, but her Malice was greatly reduced from before. Had Fiend Crusher Revelation done that? Even diminished as she was, Murelia was still powerful. We couldn’t let our guard down.

“To think that I would get a visit from a Godsword user,” said Murelia. “And you tore through my new labyrinth so quickly!”

“You’re the dungeon master?” Urslars asked.

“No, but I have ties with this dungeon.”

“I see…”

Urslars drew Earth Sword Gaia and readied himself. He’d sensed her Malice and identified her as an enemy, but Murelia wasn’t the only thing he was worried about.

He turned around, “Kiara…”

“I know.”

“Protect those whippersnappers, okay?”

“Don’t worry, Urslars. I have them.”

What now? Should we just run around the room and hope we didn’t get in Urslars’ way? Maybe we could kill Murelia before he went berserk. Together, we were certainly strong enough to pull it off. The sooner we could get it over and done with, the better. If Urslars lost it, it was game over. Seemingly, he had the same thought.

“We need to beat her fast. Try to keep up.”

“All right,” Kiara agreed. “Everyone, listen to Urslars.”

“Of course!” Mea agreed, happy to fight alongside an S-Rank.

“Hm!”

“Woof woof!”

Fran and Jet were pumped to fight at least, while Quina and Mianoa only nodded in their usual stoic way.

“Fran’s weapon has Fiend Crusher Revelation. It’s very effective against Fiends,” said Kiara.

“Really?” said Urslars. “Excellent.”

It was our trump card against Murelia, and we’d made sure to explain it to everyone.

“Now listen, little cat,” said Urslars. “Don’t get so excited that you get smacked by my attacks, you hear me?”

“Hm!”

“Looks like you’ll be fine. Seriously, how did you get so strong at your age? People say Black Cats are the weakest of all beastmen, but with you and Kiara around, I find that pretty hard to believe.”

They really were special exceptions. They were easily the two strongest Black Cats alive, and yet Murelia seemed strangely unfazed. She was just standing there with a sick grin on her face.

“Are you done talking?” she asked.

“You don’t seem worried at the prospect of fighting us,” said Urslars.

“You could say that. Still, I would like to ask you something before we begin.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Are you sure you should be fighting anyone right now?” Murelia asked. “You seem somewhat…on the brink.”

Urslars clicked his tongue.

“You are clearly the most powerful member of your little group,” said Murelia. “And you managed to make it all the way here on your own. You must have fought many battles along the way, and it seems that you lose a little more of your mind each time. I do hope you don’t ruin your hard work by slaughtering all of your new friends.”

“Guess we’ll just have to kill you before I go crazy!” Urslars roared.

And with that, the battle began. Urslars charged Murelia, fully intent on finishing the battle in one swing, but she teleported quickly away, and the room shook as his Godsword slammed into the ground. Her No Cast was still a problem, but our numbers gave us an advantage.

“Haaa! Flashing Thunderclap!”

“Aha ha!” Murelia laughed. “So persistent!”

“Hmph!”

Fran turned, anticipating Murelia’s teleportation path. We might not be able to teleport ourselves, but we could still sense the spatial disruptions they caused.

Haaaa!

“Tsch!”

With the added speed of Flashing Thunderclap, Fran rained attacks down on Murelia. We wanted to pressure her, and thanks to Fiend Crusher Revelation, every hit drained her Malice. Meanwhile, I transmogrified my ribbons back into steel strings. I was getting more used to controlling them, but this time, Murelia was prepared.

“That was close!”

Damn it, I missed.

Murelia kept warping around, but she didn’t seem to be fighting back at all. Was she that worried about Fiend Crusher Revelation?

“Well, that was scary,” Murelia said with an air of superiority. “You’re definitely using some unorthodox tactics there, but how long can you keep it up? Just save yourselves the time and effort and surrender now.”

She was the only one here who could teleport, but did it really give her so much of an advantage? Or did she have another ace up her sleeve? She kept dodging Kiara and Mea and only attacked to lay down suppressive fire.

“Come on!” Murelia gloated. “What happened to your confidence? You can’t kill me with those weak attacks!”

All of this was just to buy time. We realized it, but we still couldn’t land an attack on her. A powerful area effect would have done the trick, but the arena was too cramped and there were too many of us. And besides, I was betting that Murelia could teleport out of the room if she wanted to.

What we needed was a continuous attack that covered a lot of ground and could catch her after she teleported. And, as far as I could see, Fran and Urslars were the only ones capable of pulling it off. Quina and Mianoa were both melee specialists, Mea and Kiara couldn’t sense Murelia’s teleportation path, and Jet lacked the firepower. Meanwhile, I could predict her teleportation path with Timespace Magic, and Urslars could rely on his Intuition. Either of us could do it, but I was worried about allowing him to deal the finishing blow.

Urslars was, after all, the reason Murelia was stalling. If she held us off for long enough, sooner or later, he’d go berserk. And gods help us all if that happened. All of which meant that it was down to us to finish Murelia off, and fast.

I couldn’t feel Urslars’ rage mounting, and his expression was getting more frantic. Murelia was right. We were running out of time.

Fran?

Hm?

I’m going to stop her from moving. Be ready! You have to land a solid hit to kill her.

Got it.

Murelia teleported herself out of the path of Mea’s White Fire, and I transmogrified myself again—spreading myself wider, making myself thinner and sharper. Multi Mind allowed me to achieve exactly what I wanted.

Fiend Crusher Revelation…activate!

I needed that skill on each and every needle. It was the only way to pin her down.

Hurrrrgh!

The mental strain was agonizing. It was worse than using Multi Mind to cast several spells at once. I might not have any pain receptors, but I could still suffer. The whole world was full of a deafening creaking noise that wouldn’t stop, but I couldn’t hold back now. I transformed the rest of my body into steel wire, taking the shape of a giant spider web and covering the arena.

“Urgh!” Murelia cried. “What kind of an attack is this?!”

Now I’ve…got you!

The web caught Murelia as she came out of a teleport. The fine wires sliced through her, taking off her right arm and left leg. I tightened my hold, and the Malice drained out of her body.

You’re not getting away this time!

Hrrrrgh…!

I opened a path just big enough for Fran to get through. Once she saw what I was doing, she charged right in. The path was crowded from all sides with steel wire, but Fran ignored the small scratches as she bore down on Murelia.

My blade was no larger than the size of a dagger, but Fran plunged me straight into Murelia’s heart.

“Haaaa!”

Just…die!!!

“Urgh…”

All I had to do was release the full power of Fiend Crusher Revelation, and destroy her from inside…but I couldn’t pull it off in time.

Murelia pushed the threads out of the way with compressed Malice and teleported away. When she reappeared, there was a gaping hole in her torso, but she wasn’t losing strength anymore. Still, her Malice was less than half what it had been to start off with. We were gaining on her.

Teacher, are you okay?

I should be asking you that!

I’ll heal. But you don’t look so good.

Yeah…

I didn’t even have enough energy to pretend otherwise. Turning myself into that steel web and covering the whole thing with Fiend Crusher Revelation had almost torn me apart.

But the fight isn’t over yet!

All right…

Fran glared at Murelia. Despite the fact her Malice supplies were almost exhausted, she was still grinning.

“Aha ha ha ha! You lot really are strong!” she said.

“Thanks…” Urslars said cautiously.

How could she be so relaxed? Whatever was happening, this was definitely our chance. We had to finish her off before she could teleport again.

Was I going to pass out? No, I had to stay focused!

The air in the arena was quiet and dense. Murelia must have sensed that Urslars and Fran were about to act, so why didn’t she attack? What was she planning? I wanted to be careful, but we were running out of time.

Let’s end this!

“Hm!”

Before we could move, a powerful wave of mana trembled through the ground under our feet.

That feels strange. What is it?

The dungeon shook to its roots, throwing everyone in the air—even huge, heavy Urslars.

Was this some kind of earthquake? And, if so, why was Murelia smiling even more as we all got thrown around? Was she… had she been waiting for this to happen? But what was causing it? I didn’t sense any Malice or mana beforehand. Had the dungeon caused it somehow? Either way, it had left us defenseless.

Careful, Fran!

Hm!

Air Hopping off the ground to stabilize herself, Fran set her gaze on our enemy. If Murelia was waiting for an opportunity to remove the only person with Fiend Crusher Revelation, this was it.

…

And yet, she didn’t move. All she did was throw back her head and laugh.

“Aha ha ha ha ha! Finally! Finally!!!”

And she wasn’t the only one acting weird. Urslars and Kiara were staring at Murelia in pure shock.

“Was that…the dungeon’s cry?”

“If it was…why is she laughing?”

The dungeon’s cry was an earthquake that happened when a dungeon was shut down, or when the dungeon master died. I hadn’t noticed anything like it in the goblin dungeon of Alessa, but apparently, not all dungeons experienced it like this. The big earthquakes only happened in old and strong dungeons. But then…why was it happening here? Linford must have done a lot of work to strengthen this place.

Apparently, the mana that a dungeon core released just prior to the cry was unique. If you knew what to look for, you could see it coming. That must be the source of the mana surge I’d felt through the ground earlier.

So the dungeon master was dead? If that was so, then why was Murelia laughing? All of a dungeon’s monsters are supposed to disappear when a dungeon loses its master. She was meant to be dead.

“Hee hee hee, and now I’m free!”

Urslars shook his head. “What? You said you were a creature of this dungeon. You should be…”

“Gone?” Murelia said happily.

“Yeah.”

“Well, too bad! Only half of me was made in this dungeon, so you’re not getting rid of me any time soon. I have a few more days left, at least.”

“That’s…not very much.”

“I suppose not. But it’s long enough to kill all of you.”

“You sound confident,” said Urslars.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be able to beat you,” Murelia said calmly. “After all, you do have a Godsword, and Fiend Crusher. Not to mention the fact that you’re all Evolved.”

What was she planning?!

“But I could just use the remainder of my power to blow us all to pieces. In fact, if I’m going to die anyway, then I may as well. Even if that doesn’t kill you all, I’m sure it’ll be enough to send the big guy over the edge.”

Even at half power, Murelia had a lot of Malice. If she chose to self-destruct, even Fiend Crusher couldn’t contain it all. She’d even foreseen that it would trigger Urslars’ Mad Ogre Form.

But why was she so desperate? It didn’t make sense. It sounded like she was expecting the dungeon master to die, but why wait for that, only to then kill herself?

“How about we make a deal?” Murelia asked.

“What?!”

“Do as I ask, and I’ll let you kill me. Quietly. And with no tricks. I promise.”

Essence of Falsehood didn’t trigger, so she wasn’t lying. But it wasn’t enough to tell her true intentions. Did Essence of Falsehood work against Fiends? Identify didn’t, so maybe she was lying. After all, it was as natural to her as breathing.

Do you think she’s telling the truth, Fran?

Hm. I can see it in her eyes.

I see.

Fran was much better at reading people than me. I guess we had no choice but to trust her.

“What’s the deal?” Urslars asked. “Reviving the Evil One, I guess?”

“Don’t be stupid,” said Murelia. “I wouldn’t waste my time on such foolishness.”

“What…?!”

Urslars was almost speechless. There couldn’t be many Fiends out there who didn’t want to revive the Evil One.

“I only ask for one thing,” Murelia said. “And it should be easy enough for the likes of you.”

“Go on…”

“There’s a house in Basharl named Magnolia. I want you to get their newborn heir out of the kingdom and take him somewhere safe.”

“What are you talking about?” Urslars asked.

Kiara looked just as surprised. “You want us to do what?!”

We couldn’t believe our ears. What did the Magnolian heir have to do with any of this? I knew she’d promised Johann that she’d take his son out of Basharl, but she wasn’t bound to that promise anymore, and she’d be dead in a couple of days.

Looking back, none of her actions made sense. She’d only entered into a deal with Johann so that she could use Magnolian blood to escape Linford’s curse, but the old Fiendmancer was long dead now. She no longer needed Magnolian blood and had no use for Romeo, so why did she still care?

Didn’t she want to use her freedom to wreak havoc on the Beastman Nation? Her entire campaign was focused on freedom and vengeance, and the only reason she even needed the Magnolias was to accomplish that.

Did she have other intentions that we didn’t know about? Maybe she had plans for Romeo that went beyond the span of her own life. She did say that he was very strong, maybe even strong enough to free her from the dungeon, but that wouldn’t be any use to her if she was already dead. Was she really prepared to give up her own life in the hopes we would save Romeo? I used Speed Thinking to push my thoughts to the limits, but I couldn’t come up with a logical answer.

“Seriously,” said Urslars. “What are you planning?”

Murelia tilted her head. “For once? Nothing. I’m asking you to take the Magnolian heir away from Basharl before he is enslaved to the throne, that is all. After that, he is free to live a normal life. I would suggest taking him to a neighboring continent. I hear there is an A-Rank adventurer who runs a good orphanage there.”

“And you couldn’t have done that yourself?”

“No. The dungeon master would have taken Romeo hostage if he found out about him. And, now that I’m free, I don’t have enough time. You people are my last hope.”

Kiara and Urslars fell silent.

Was she for real? Fiends were notorious for their wanton acts of destruction, but this one…wanted us to protect a baby?! And yet, I couldn’t help but agree with Fran—it didn’t feel like she was lying. Her eyes were convincingly honest.

“What about the other Magnolians?” Fran asked. “The knights?”

“Leave them. They are worthless next to Romeo.”

“And what about your revenge? About taking back the throne?”

“Ha! You really think I care about that relic of the Krishnas? I only used my family name because it convinced the Basharlians to cooperate. I’ll admit, when I first awakened, I wanted vengeance. When I met Johann and his family, I wanted it still. But it all changed the moment I saw Romeo. So innocent. Compared to him, the world is ashes and dust. I have done what I can to conceal my true intentions, as I never knew when the Basharlians or the dungeon master was listening. But I am telling the truth now. All I want is for Romeo to be safe and happy. Please, you must free him from the curse of the Magnolias.”

“What are—”

But before Urslars could finish his question, someone else stepped in.

“Enough of this nonsense!”

“Gah!”

A shadowy figure emerged behind Murelia and stabbed her straight through the heart. Her Malice flowed to her attacker, and blood dripped out of her mouth. He was draining her power! Worse still, I remembered this man. The scar-covered warrior from Bulbola.

“Theraclede…” spluttered Murelia. “You…betrayed me…?”

“Kua ha ha! As if I would let a good meal go to waste!”

“Urgh…”

Theraclede tossed Murelia aside. By the time she hit the floor, she was almost dead. Her Malice was almost gone. She couldn’t even heal herself.

“Please…make Romeo…happy…”

She reached out toward us with the last of her strength.

“Poor girl,” Theraclede gloated. “I know Malice makes you crazy, but I never thought it would make a servant of the Evil One wish for the happiness of a child.”

“Aah…”

Murelia’s hand fell limp and she crumpled to the ground.

It was a sad end for such a fierce enemy.