Reset Life – Chapter 218

Chapter 218: What Does a World on the Verge of Destruction Look Like? (4)

“As you might have guessed, he’s gone mad. He’s lashing out at the innocent palace staff, demanding to know why we haven’t won yet. Apparently, there’s at least one new corpse every day. Thanks to that, any remaining loyalty has pretty much hit rock bottom. The citizens of the Imperial Capital are blaming the Imperial Family who issued the conscription order more than the Herduke Kingdom Army that their conscripted family members have to face. And some quick-witted nobles are diligently preparing for asylum procedures.”

“Asylum? Where to? There’s nowhere else to go besides the Penkeal Republic or the Azot Kingdom.”

“That’s right. Most of them are preparing in secret. We’ve seen covert movements of asset disposal and sales. So, our organization, pretending to be nobles from the Ruery Three Kingdoms, offered significant cooperation in the sale of their assets, excluding real estate, and we left them to the judgment of the law.”

He meant they squeezed them dry and then reported them to the authorities. Indeed, they’ve certainly taken care of what I can’t openly do. If my prediction is correct, the current atmosphere in the Imperial Capital is……

“A complete mess, what else. The higher-ups are trying to escape, and the lower-downs are just sighing. There’s even talk of surrender in some quarters, and this is a real kicker. If they were truly loyal to the Emperor, there wouldn’t be any room for such talk. Don’t you think so?”

“Pfft, you’re right. If they surrender, the Imperial Family will be the first to be hanged.”

Jay spoke with a mocking expression, thinking of those who might be somewhere out there.

“In the end, their scheme is to quickly surrender, take credit for it, and try to cozy up to the Herduke Kingdom, something like that.”

“Were there any attempts to assassinate the Emperor?”

“Of course there were. We’re not an assassination group, but we have some connections. I asked those guys, and they said they received offers more expensive than themselves from some very wealthy individuals. But they all gave up because of that tall white guy stuck to the Emperor’s side. Apparently, his abilities are no joke. Plus, there’s a dark old geezer and a ferocious halberd grandpa guarding him 24/7. They say both of their skills are so good that Knights are like after-dinner snacks to them.”

Judging from the context, I could guess that the tall white guy is Artshever. But tall…… he and I are exactly the same height.

Now I understand why Baius and Silvan aren’t on the battlefield. They are protecting the Emperor by his side.

By the way, that’s unexpected. Artshever protecting the Emperor. Does he have to gain his trust in order to act as his advisor?

Come to think of it, we don’t know the whereabouts of only one person, right?

“Ah, is there no red magician?”

“Red magician? Ah, yes, there is. That guy is holed up in the basement of the detached palace, and no one knows what he’s doing. Now that I think about it, there have been rumors of strange noises coming from the detached palace lately. You know, that creepy sound of a dagger scraping against a metal plate. The fraternal twin of the sound of a wicked teacher scratching their nails on the chalkboard to torment students.”

Just in case, I looked at Lucy (Male) and Aila. Lucy spoke with a grave expression, while Aila had an indifferent look.

“So, in the end……”

“It seems to have begun. Hehe.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“It’s our story. Continue your story for now.”

Jay shrugged and continued his story.

“Eh, also…… that tall white guy, Artshever, is quite resourceful. He seems to have a knack for recruiting nobles. As long as he’s there, I don’t think surrender is an option. He reminds me of the Mujaindos Duke of the old days. You could say that the Imperial Family is practically in the hands of that Artshever fellow. In reality, he holds the greatest authority over the Imperial Capital’s defense and the Imperial Army. Oh, and his claim is quite amusing. He says that once we drive out the Kingdom Army that has come this far, reclaiming the Empire’s territory will be a piece of cake. Certainly, with the Southern Army intact, they could fight the Kingdom with those troops, but…… that old geezer Duke Ecoshian will probably just yawn.”

I stroked my chin.

If I lose this war, Artshever will intend to devour the Southern Army. Because that’s the only military force left. But then, he might have to hand over Restart to the Ruery Three Kingdoms? It’s like removing the border defense forces.

Moreover, even if the Kingdom Army loses by some chance, if I shout ‘Gather!’ to those uncommunicative friends in the northeast, a million-strong army will come pouring down. It’s not a good plan for the future.

Well, Artshever won’t be thinking too much about the aftermath of the war. Once Referndi’s preparations are complete, his objective will be accomplished.

“Did you find the core of the Imperial Palace’s Anti-Magic Barrier?”

“We did. It’s in the basement of the detached palace. One of the organization’s mages said that the Imperial Palace’s Anti-Magic Barrier thingy has been deactivated. They’re probably preparing a magic spell in the palace. There have been reports of quite a few mages coming and going.”

That makes sense. It must be a large-scale magic spell, so it’s the right course of action to eliminate any interference.

I scratched my head and turned to Aila. As if waiting for this moment, she asked Old Man a question.

“When did the strange noises start coming from the detached palace?”

“About five months ago.”

“The dates almost match. The red pervert lady visited in February. Anyway, five months…… Macho Lucy-ssi, how long will it take?”

“I appreciate the effort to differentiate, but macho? That’s offensive. Anyway, I don’t have much knowledge about Fundamental Magic, so I don’t know. But the fact that the magic ritual started making noise means it’s probably in the 4th stage of the preparation phase.”

Aila nodded. She was the only one among us who nodded. This is why being a swordsman is sad.

“I agree with that. It seems they’ve been preparing for several years. It seems like they officially started the ritual about five months ago. In this case, it’s probably Dikern Magoros’s Law, right?”

“We can’t rule out Dolan Vakencrow either. Perhaps they used the Magic Essence Resonance Formula for deepening the magic ritual? It seems like Magnolia Beming’s Ritual Structure Restructuring Method was also used.”

“But as a Fundamental Magician, wouldn’t they be able to enchant Prime to discount the General Cost? Then they could even use the Lost Protocol.”

“That’s another possibility. But did the parallel dimensions that the white-haired guy visited actually have the lost 15th-tier magic? There’s a high probability that he’s learning it.”

“But it would be difficult to teach. The Forgotten System basically has a Security Lock. Individuals might be able to use it, but they lack the foundation.”

They exchanged words in the Grenoian language (what’s the difference since I can’t understand it anyway) in a serious tone for a while. Then, finally, they came to a conclusion.

“Then there’s only one conclusion.”

“There is. This is becoming a bit serious.”

“Indeed.”

“I want to become serious too, but you two.”

Aila waved her hand dismissively. She shrugged and spoke in a casual tone.

“It means there’s not much time left until Referndi’s ritual is completed.”

“What?!”

“Large-scale magic rituals have precursors, which are defined in six stages. Among them, hearing noises is the precursor of the 4th stage, and the next is……”

“Forget about that! You said there’s not much time left! What does that mean?”

Aila made a face that made the person asking the question feel like a child asking what 1 plus 1 is.

“It means Referndi’s ritual will be completed soon. What else could it mean?”

I was speechless at her attitude. But why is she so calm?!

“But why are you so calm?”

Although not a married couple, Levidian asked urgently, as if they were one mind. Aila chuckled (Oh?) and said,

“What’s there to worry about? We just need to stab the dragon uncle’s dagger in before the ritual begins.”

“Ah……”

“Ah……”

We became goldfish.

That’s right. If the magic ritual is in progress, we can just stab Brandione into the location and solve everything. Then the Shadow Stone will interrupt the magic.

Was I too obsessed with the words ‘world destruction’? I forgot that it was a magic ritual. No, I’ve been forgetting because there hasn’t been much need to use Brandione’s power lately.

Brandiego, I apologize.

Ah, please don’t answer. It’s embarrassing.

Aila clasped her hands behind her head and spoke in a relaxed manner.

“Since the precursor is at the 4th stage and it’s been about five months now, it will probably last for another month. I don’t know exactly what kind of formulas and techniques the magic ritual uses, but usually it takes six months for the 4th stage, and a week from the 5th to the 6th stage before activation.”

“Huh? Why is it so short?”

“Magic is originally a terribly slow technique until it gets on track. The first four stages are the process of getting it on track. For example, it’s like the process of moving a very heavy rock to the top of a mountain. But once the rock is at the top, isn’t it easy to roll it down? And after rolling it, the rock gains speed on its own and rolls down with its own power. You can understand it in that context.”

“Ah, I see. Then now would be the perfect time to interfere. Since they’re in the middle of moving the rock to the top of the mountain, just a slight nudge would make them fail. Then, conversely, is it difficult to stop it at the 5th or 6th stage?”

“Generally, yes, but we have Brandione. It’s like setting up three barriers the size of the Barrier to stop a rolling rock. It’s like using Joey’s holy sword to catch a chicken, but it’s definitely effective.”

I finally understood why Aila and Lucy were so calm. The others, except for the AJOR trio, could also breathe a sigh of relief and relax.

So there’s still plenty of time. Then, we just need to topple the Imperial Capital within a month and a week, right?

According to my estimation, if the Imperial Capital siege lasts for more than two weeks, I’ll be called an incompetent Grand General. We have the numerical advantage, and we also have the upper hand in individual combat strength. In about nine days, we should be able to march through the gates of the Imperial Capital.

“Hahaha, that’s a relief. We came at the right time. It was close.”

“It’s our victory by a hair’s breadth, you could say.”

“That’s right. But what was the 5th stage precursor you were talking about?”

“Ah, that? It’s the precursor that tells you what kind of ritual it is. It’s like a warm-up stage for the ritual to take physical form. For example, if it’s a magic ritual for large-scale rainfall, clouds would start gathering at the 5th stage.”

I nodded. But at the same time, I tilted my head inwardly. If it’s a precursor to the world’s destruction, what would it be? I haven’t experienced it, I don’t want to experience it, and no one has ever experienced it, so I can’t even imagine what the precursor would be.

Lucy (Male) scratched his chin and spoke as if he was truly intrigued. Personally, I wish he wouldn’t.

“It would be quite an interesting situation. A precursor to the world’s destruction…… It would naturally start with a large-scale natural disaster, right? Like an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, or a great flood……”

“A drought would take too long, or a sudden, large-scale uprising of monsters, or demons appearing when no one wanted them?”

Although the surreal and gloomy stories are quite appealing, seeing them happily discussing the precursors of the world’s destruction as a joke just a month and a week before the supposed event makes me want to break up with them. Hey, there’s a High Priest here too.

Namias, listening to their delusions, quietly spoke up as if she couldn’t take it anymore. That’s right! As a High Priest, she should nip such blasphemous talk in the bud! Namias said,

“Eternal darkness. A world without light.”

God is dead.

Lucy and Aila clapped their hands and got excited.

“Oh! That’s good. The divine grace has vanished, and the sun, the moon, and all light have disappeared.”

“And amidst the ensuing chaos and fear, people’s hearts have become sick. It sounds like an epic. Oh, right. There would be plagues too. Shocking! A mysterious plague sweeps the continent!”

God, please apologize to the world. For sending out two such individuals. And Lynin, I didn’t think you were like this, appointing just anyone as a High Priest.

Everyone except Lucy, Aila, and Namias sighed and lamented. And the AJOR trio just tilted their heads, unable to follow the conversation we were having.

As I turned my head away from the two temporary human scum who were happily discussing the world’s destruction, Old Man asked as if he had been waiting.

“Master, what are you talking about? Could you please explain?”

“Ah, of course. It’s not that long of a story. So…… Huh?”

I, who was about to tell them the story, couldn’t close my mouth after opening it. The outside of the tent was shining brightly. In the middle of the night, a powerful light as bright as the sun, not the flickering orange of the campfire.

“Wh-what is that……?”

At my words, the three AJOR executives turned their heads, and they too froze. The two who were excitedly chattering about the precursors of destruction and the one who was quietly participating also stopped talking.

When everyone was frozen, the first to act was Jay. As expected of an executive of the night world, where you have to be quick-witted to survive.

The moment he lifted the curtain of the tent, an intense light that seemed to split our eyeballs poured into the tent. I had to temporarily cover my eyes and suffer from the light.

“Ugh! Wh-what is this?!”

“Kyaak!”

“Ugh! It’s blinding!”

I could barely manage to see the source of the light through the gaps between my arms covering my eyes.

The Imperial Palace.

Light was emanating from the Imperial Palace, soaring as if to pierce the heavens. It was as if the end of the light descended from the sky and connected with the ground.

The beam of light, or perhaps it should be called a pillar, standing silently towards the sky, gradually turned red and reduced its intensity. The light, which initially required a tightly squinted expression to see, slowly turned into a red color that could be seen with open eyes.

Blood red.

Everywhere the light touched was dyed red. Was this world ever this red?

An ominous feeling crept into my chest.

Even the night sky lost its color and was transformed into a purplish red.

I forcibly turned my stiff neck. Then I looked at my friend, who was pale as a sheet. Aila’s face must be white. Seeing how her face was completely dyed red.

“Aila.”

“Ri-Risel……”

Her expression was truly despairing. It was an expression I had never seen before.

I had seen her hesitant, troubled, or sad expressions, but I had never seen her look so lost in despair.

No way, it can’t be, right? Huh? Tell me it’s not.

She opened her pale lips, which were dyed purple, and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Risel, what does a world on the verge of destruction look like?”

I closed my mouth.

There’s no way I would know, and even if I did, I wouldn’t say it out loud.

Because we’ll be able to see it from now on.

On this day, the two words ‘destruction’ were engraved in the world.

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• Kimonos, Cosplay, and Cultural Cancels: Nezuko’s Demon Slayer Saga in China
• Goku Goes Yandere: A Dragon Ball Z Nightmare
• Your Crush is With Someone Else? Channel Your Inner Samurai, Not a Sad Puppy Dog.
• Demon Slayer: Tengen Uzui – The Ultimate Husbando?
• Who’s Your Waifu? Why Choosing Your Anime Spirit Animal Is Deeper Than You Think (And Who I’d Pick)