Chapter 40
Mana harmonizes with mana but repels divine power. That was why mana was more suitable for unsealing this barrier.
So Malita, too, had tried to undo the seal with her own mana. But it hadn’t worked, so she had even sought the help of a priest.
Yet, even with the priest’s intervention, the mana remained immovable.
And now that very mana—why, how…! With awe and curiosity, Malita’s eyes gleamed brightly.
Just then—
The golden mana that had been leaping about on the paper suddenly shot upward, as if about to leave the book entirely.
“Huh?”
Giselle’s eyes widened as a sound escaped her lips.
Because the moment the golden mana lifted away from the picture book, the illustrations began to slowly transform.
Originally, the storybook’s contents were nothing but peaceful.
A beautiful forest and a high, clear sky, beneath them flower fields, children, and rabbits. A warm tale of them playing merrily together.
But the instant the golden mana completely left the book, the story began to change.
The changes began with the illustrations.
The rabbits’ eyes turned blood red, the sky lost its color and became ashen.
Flowers twisted into sharp thorns, and the children’s faces contorted as though screaming, mouths gaping wide.
Golden mana continued to seep out from the book, and the more it did, the more horrifically the scene inside the picture book was transformed.
“Ah…!”
Malita gasped for breath.
The kind, gentle text that had once been written vanished, and new sentences appeared.
[From all directions, monsters appeared and devoured the children.]
[The mother and father wailed loudly, having lost their child.]
[But soon they could no longer weep—for the monsters devoured the mother and father too!]
Immediately after, a lump of blue mana burst out of the storybook.
“The picture book was using the golden mana as its power source. Now that the seal is undone, it reveals itself right away.”
Flustered by the sudden shift, Malita fixed her gaze on the blue mana.
The squirming, writhing blue lump began slowly to grow larger.
And then, beneath the rock where the book had rested, a surge of crimson mana erupted at the center of the formation.
“But you said the array was dismantled!”
“Y-Yes, that’s right! I even took part in dismantling it…!”
Shocked, Giselle and Malita raised their voices at each other at the same time.
“Your Grace, you must move…!”
Andrew shouted urgently, but Alcade only raised a hand to silence them, standing his ground, his eyes fixed firmly on the sight before him.
Shrrrk—
The crimson and blue manas intertwined, forming a new array.
The newly manifested magic circle hovered, spinning above the ground where the original had been etched.
Voooom—
The two circles resonated with each other, emitting a humming sound.
But the circle on the ground had been dismantled. It shouldn’t be able to activate…
“Huh? Huh!”
Malita cried out in a panicked voice.
“T-This is…!”
“What is it?”
Finally turning to him, Alcade asked. Malita’s face had gone pale.
“The array etched into the ground was, as I reported, used to summon monsters.”
“And?”
“Until now it was invisible, but with the blue mana, a new array has appeared. The problem is—it’s resonating with the old one.”
“What does that mean?”
Giselle cut in, her face taut with urgency.
“As the two circles resonate, the function of the original array has changed. It no longer summons monsters—it tames them.”
“What?”
Alcade’s voice turned icy cold.
Monsters were the very symbol of the Evil God.
In ancient times, those who followed the Evil God corrupted sacred beasts and animals to expand their power.
Their descendants were monsters—brutal beings that bore the Evil God’s power and harmed mankind.
To tame such creatures was not only to defy the gods, but also to pose a dire threat to humanity.
It was a matter far more dangerous than mere summoning.
With a simple summoning, the uncontrolled monster could at least be slain by knights and warriors.
But a tamed monster could be controlled—commanded when and where to attack, or when to flee a subjugation force.
“A little more time and they would’ve successfully tamed it. That must have been the goal of whoever set this up.”
“Then…! That explains why Keiak hasn’t stirred from the Benerta Mountains all this time…!”
Andrew clenched his fists, grinding his teeth.
It had always seemed strange that Keiak had suddenly settled in Benerta. Now it turned out—it was because someone had been trying to tame it.
The gravity of the revelation silenced everyone.
Then, the golden dust faintly drifting over the book shuddered.
At that moment—
The two arrays each fired beams of blue and crimson mana into one another, fusing into violet.
Shhhhh—!
The violet mana honed itself like a blade and shot straight toward the golden mana.
“N-No!”
Malita’s eyes widened as she screamed.
“Now what!”
Giselle asked irritably, though her voice carried a tinge of unease. Clutching her wand tightly, Malita shouted:
“The golden mana was blocking the circuits of the array on the floor! But it was just attacked!”
In other words, the array was now fully prepared to activate.
“We must stop it at all costs!”
Voooom—
The violet mana once again attempted to trigger the circle.
Malita stretched out her hand, gathering her mana, but to block such a massive and complete magic circle alone was impossible.
I should have realized sooner…!
Her face was filling with bitter regret when—
From Alcade’s fingertips, the shadows split open like jaws, lunging toward the violet mana.
The shadows then shifted, becoming like golden mist, wrapping protectively around the golden mana drifting over the storybook, while simultaneously devouring the violet mana that had surged upward.
Crackle, crackle!
Sparks scattered as the violet mana thrashed violently, as if resisting. Yet it was no match for Alcade.
Fsshh—
At last, the violet mana lost all strength, dissipating into thin smoke.
Vooooom—
With a final rumble, the array’s activation ceased.
Shadows spread from beneath Alcade’s feet, clawing across the ground to shred the inscribed array, destroying it so it could never activate again.
“Haah, haah…”
Malita, sensitive to the flow of mana, released the breath she’d been holding.
It had all happened in an instant.
What she had just witnessed with her own eyes—she could scarcely believe it.
Was this even possible?
To neutralize such a vast and complex mana in a mere moment?
Even the greatest sorcerers would need days of effort to accomplish such a feat.
“That’s how it is.”
Giselle, standing beside her, patted her back.
“…What?”
“Our lord has always been exceptional.”
Giselle shrugged, as if this kind of thing was hardly surprising.
Once the array was destroyed, the golden mana gently drifting around the storybook seeped back into it. The terrifying words and images began returning to normal.
The screaming children smiled once more, running across the meadows. The trees and sky regained their original colors. The world within the picture book was restored to peace.
“This picture book should be fine now, right?”
“Uh—y-yes! I’ll check right away!”
Malita enveloped the storybook with her mana.
Now it was nothing but an ordinary storybook. No—something more. A special book, imbued with love, infused with someone’s mana.
Retrieving her mana, Malita nodded. Alcade picked up the storybook and gave his command.
“Investigate this cavern thoroughly. Find out what happened here.”
“Yes, understood.”
“This, I’ll take with me.”
“…Pardon?”
Malita and Andrew both asked, but Alcade merely turned and walked toward the surface.
He hadn’t yet found Elaine, so he couldn’t give it to Lor right away.
This was something Elaine made for Lor.
When Elaine returned, he would hand it to her. She would read it aloud to the child herself, in her gentle voice.
For a moment, he imagined sitting beside them, both of them smiling softly together.
So no one will ever dare take Elaine from me.
Recalling those who wished to use her, Alcade’s eyes glinted with a cold, sharp light.
