[T.L: punisher87]
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Unexpectedly, as Veradin waved his hand, a green window appeared in the air.
The green window bore a striking resemblance to the Record Magic.
Jin sensed the lingering energy, similar to what he had seen in the land where Zipfel referred to as the "Holy Land," where the residue of the sun god's power resided. Jin recognized that it was the price they had paid for saving Valeria with the help of the Holy Land.
"... Record magic?"
"You must have encountered the original magic frequently, so it would be embarrassing for me if you were so surprised by a mere imitation."
However, it seemed that the elders who had followed them into the study room were even more astonished than Jin.
"Young patriarch, so this is... the magic! You have finally obtained it!".
"Why didn't you tell us, such a happy occasion!"
The elders' greedy eyes gleamed as if they didn't care about the tragedies the federation was facing.
Veradin continued to smile, but Jin sensed the darkness behind that smile and instinctively realized what would happen next.
It was a purge.
"Why didn't I tell you, esteemed elders? Because useless old men like you don't need to know."
"What is this...?"
"Young patriarch, kkeok, young, oop, ooh...…!"
As the elders tried to respond, their throats suddenly tightened, and their bodies twisted.
Their breath was suddenly cut off. On Veradin's green window, there were some engraved characters that looked like letters.
"Considering your past efforts, I wanted to show you on the way. How about it, like I said, it didn't take that long, did it?"
Ronil stood calmly, as if he had expected such a thing to happen, while Veradin looked down at the fallen elders with disdain.
One of the elders managed to struggle against Veradin's magic, gasping for breath, reaching out his hand towards Veradin.
From his hand, a deformed fireball shot out, but Veradin easily swiped it away with his sword.
As the fireball dissipated, tears of blood streamed from the elder's eyes.
"Ah, You should keep me alive....…."
Those were the last words uttered by the elder who had momentarily resisted the magic.
As he fell forward, there were no surviving elders left in the office.
Jin felt a chilling sensation all over his body. It wasn't because of the magic that was almost close to the abilities Veradin had shown or the difficulty in finding flaws in his swordsmanship.
It was because he realized once again that his friend had changed. His friend, his siblings, had all become monsters.
"I originally planned to deal with them after you left, but this isn't bad either. Anyway, where were we? Ah, we were discussing the magnitude of despair. Take a look at this."
Veradin's green window spread wide enough to fill the office. Within it, a map of the world was depicted, filled with various regions covered in dark spots.
Huphester, in particular, was so dark that it was difficult to find any transparent areas, while the rest of the continents were filled with spots that were either lighter or similar in darkness.
"These black spots marked on the map represent the despair that is being harvested by the evil god. The evil god is approximately 50% complete at the moment."
"What is the basis for estimating it at 50%?"
"The speed at which the ship Ram is forming. Whenever new black spots appear, changes occur in Ram. That old man, Orgal, who arrived before you, seems to have put the completion of Ram and the evil god on equal footing."
Veradin pointed his finger at the dark spots on Drakka, the Autonomous Districts, and the Milkun Kingdom.
"These spots formed when the people of the Milkun Kingdom were massacred by Diphus Runcandel's attack and taken as hostages. They continue to spread and grow darker. The faith of the civilians, especially those in Drakka, who thought they would be safe as the Federation, has been shattered."
As he said, the dark spots in that area were slowly but incessantly expanding.
Compared to the whole of Huphester, they were clearly small, but compared to other regions, they were quite significant.
While Jin examined the spots in silence, his gaze fell upon the direction of the Tikan Kingdom.
There were black spots in Tikan as well. They were literally just dots in terms of size, but they stood out due to their unusually dark color.
'Is it the despair of elder sister Mary... Or Euria?'
Two people immediately came to Jin's mind.
"I have heard about the relationship between the 7th flagbearer and the 4th flagbearer. Besides, Az Mil's contractor could suffer from a terrible future."
Veradin spoke, conscious of Jin's gaze. Jin didn't respond and continued to examine the other spots.
Among the spots in Huphester, one land was undergoing the most active transformation.
Rikalton.
The land where the Prophet gathered human sacrifices in the past.
Jin had asked Dox, the Black Knight, to investigate that place in the past. Since then, Dox had been out of contact.
"Seeing how closely you are examining Rikalton, it seems you have noticed as well. We are confident that the 4th flagbearer is transferring all the hostages to that place. Rikalton is the most actively cultivating despair after the Federation was attacked."
The course of action became clear.
Attack Rikalton and rescue the hostages.
Operating on a small scale like before was not suitable. It was unlikely that all ten thousand hostages would be alive, but given the unfavorable situation, it was necessary to have a fleet, even if it meant rescuing only a thousand of them.
"Doesn't it feel absurd that humans are fighting against god? If there were no element of despair, there would be no reason for the world's most powerful forces to intervene and save the civilians in such a situation."
"What?"
"It means that if the opponent were humans, it would be terribly inefficient. What if you, as a Chaos Immune, get hurt while trying to save only civilians? What if there are irrevocable losses among other top forces? It's something that shouldn't happen."
Jin felt as if he was listening to Rosa in his human days, not Veradin.
Now, ordinary people in Veradin's world seemed to be nothing more than meaningless entities.
"Let's put aside unnecessary words. It's not a pleasant story to hear. Anyway, if you've met Orgal too, he should be aware of the situation. What we need to decide is the date of the attack on Rikalton and the number of troops to mobilize."
"Yes, it seems best to act as quickly as possible. Although there must be limitations to the mobility of the 4th flagbearer and the Chaos forces, I can't estimate that part at all. Is it the same for Hister?"
In the first place, with Valeria's current record magic, she couldn't even create the map that Veradin had just made.
Jin nodded, and Veradin shrugged his shoulders.
"It's a shame.... I can't believe the original can't handle it to that extent yet. If you're going to use it like that, you'd better hand it over to us."
"You're talking nonsense again. I agree that we need to start the operation quickly. Before the 4th flagbearer attacks somewhere else..."
As soon as Jin said that,
Suddenly, a new spot formed on the map.
Veradin also looked at the map in surprise. The newly formed spot of despair was in the Empire.
Among them, it was the land directly guarded by Dante, the capital.
Considering the time, not only Dante but also companions including Syris and Kashmir could be together in the Imperial Capital now.
"... it's moving as soon as you speak, although it may not be the 4th flagbearer."
"I need to go there immediately. We'll discuss the rest when I return."
As Jin turned around and tried to leave, Veradin followed behind him.
"I'll go with you."
Jin looked at Veradin for a moment and then nodded.
* * *
Imperial capital.
"Disband the pursuit unit immediately and ensure the safety of the civilians. It's the patriarch's order!"
"Yes!"
At the command of a commander, the knights halted their formation and stood still. They were surrounded by chaos and corpses. While there were knights among them, most were civilians.
The knights scattered and began to rescue the fallen civilians scattered throughout the area. Civilians were lying beneath the collapsed buildings.
About 30 minutes ago, a dimensional portal suddenly opened in the middle of the capital. Chaos dragons and black ships poured out from it, instantly turning the area into hell. Dante almost immediately began to respond.
Fortunately, Kashmir and Syris had just arrived, which was a stroke of luck. If they couldn't board the Mort, no matter how quickly they responded, the damage would have been greater than it is now.
It took Dante barely 15 minutes to arrive at the scene and eliminate more than 80% of the chaos dragons and black ships. Yet, the thousands of casualties that occurred during that time were truly unavoidable.
Now, Dante was chasing after the enemy commander who was fleeing while ordering the pursuit unit and the defense force to rescue the civilians and ordering the knights of the noble families, including the Dragon Knights, to clear out the remnants of the enemy.
'I will surely find you and tear you to pieces...!'
Dante's eyes, filled with anger, scanned the area without rest. The enemy had already escaped to the outskirts of the capital, continuously forming dimensional portals for escape but being hindered by Dante.
Since Mort was exhausted and he could no longer use teleportation, if he missed sight of the enemy even for a moment, it would be over.
However, Dante was not the type to lose sight of the enemy due to impatience. Moreover, this place was the center of the land he protected.
Slash!
As Rashid unleashed radiance, a part of the outer forest was cut like puzzle pieces.
Dante shot new sword energy in all directions of the severed forest to block the enemy commander who was inside.
The enemy struggled to break through Dante's sword energy, but Dante did not miss a moment.
"You bastard!"
Dante swung his scabbard towards the helmet, revealing the face of none other than Joshua Runecondel.
"Joshua Runcandel, it was you...!"
Joshua appeared even more disheveled than when he was last beaten by Bale. His eyes shook unstably, and cold sweat dripped continuously down his pale face.
-Go and attack the Empire. Originally, it was the task given to the 4th flagbearer, but I did not inform him for your sake. If you successfully complete the terror attack without the matriarch's help and return, she will surely give you another chance.
That's what Joshua heard from Ilina before going to attack the Empire.
However, now he was captured and couldn't return without help, and the terror attack failed to meet the Prophet's expectations.
Joshua failed again this time.
Once again, Joshua had failed.
What made Joshua even more desperate was the fact that, behind Dante, another dimensional portal unrelated to him was forming, and from within it, the army of Diphus was coming out.
Thus, Joshua's despair was growing once again for the sake of Rosa.
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