Arc 25: Daydream Believer

Chapter 241: The Sovereign Seal and the Iron Machine Soldier

Good grief, why did it turn out like this?(Touya)

I muttered along with a sigh as I knocked down the soldiers who rushed in to attack us.

Oh well, what should I say? Weve been discovered in the end, and were currently in the middle of a large battle.

Even with the presence of Tsubaki-san whos accustomed to infiltration, it couldnt be helped for us to be detected when shes being held back by four people pulling her leg, myself included.

Soldiers holding their swords turned up one after another from the passages of the castle. The only salvation was that there were no magicians with their long ranged attacks, but there were still archers coming at us. Most of them were knocked down by my bullets and the shockwave from Kohakus roar. Rengetsu-san and Sonia-san then knocked down the enemy that the gap.

Thus, we advanced, advanced, and once again advanced. It became just like a song that my grandpa used to sing. Though there was no feeling of scattering flowers.

Didnt you say that the imperial court where the heavenly emperor resides is in here?(Touya)

Yes. However, weve also been discovered at the same time, so if we dont quickly find and capture the heavenly emperor(Tsubaki)

Its possible that hell escape, right?(Touya)

Its exactly as Tsubaki-san said. He may escape if we spend too much time here. Then the goal of Jesty-san and the rest cant be accomplished. It cant be helped. Lets go with the forceful course of action!

Kohaku! Blow off all the soldiers at front in one go!(Touya)

By your will!(Kohaku)

Kohaku, who had gotten bigger, released a shockwave along with a great roar. The enemies blocking the way were mowed down at once and fainted on their spots.

Alright, lets run through the imperial court before it is too late!(Touya)

We run past the falling soldiers and continued running without stopping from one corridor to other where a red carpet had been spread out. Vases that looked expensive were aligned along the sides of the passage. I could only say that their owners hobby was a bad one since the tint was showy.

Having come out of the passage lined up with red pillars, we then arrived before an amazing door with a standing dragon carved into it. We then kicked that door with all our might.

One man was sitting on a very flashy throne inside a very spacious room with a high ceiling.

He was a 30-year old bearded old man wearing a set of baggy yellow clothes that looked hard to move in and a gulf blade with a golden sheath on his waist. Hes also wearing something like what an Emperor of Qin used to wear, a hat attached with jiggling long strings on the front and back.

Beside him on both sides were two men standing as if they were his guards.

One man, whos also past 30 years old, was wrapped in a dignified dark red helmet and body armor. He was holding a big shield in his left hand, and a peculiar sword with a strange shape, similar to a large hatchet, in his right.

The other one was wearing a black robe and holding a metallic cane curved like a question mark. Is he a magician? Hes slightly younger than the warrior. Is he in his early 30s? He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and hes a tall, thin and delicate man. However, his eyes shined very much with impurity.

Both guards had a big pendant hanging around their necks. Its a heptagon inside a circle, the proof of the [Golden Association]. Those two must be Gad and Sol whom the soldier talked about.

I assume the hatchet man wearing an armor is Sol, and the delicate man wearing a robe is Gad, right?

To come back without learning your lesson, is that how much you want this [Sovereigns Seal]?(Jaofar)

The man sitting on the throne, the fake heavenly emperor Jaofar, laughed while carrying in his hand a golden cube with a figure of a dragon.

Is that the sovereigns seal? Its quite big. Isnt it about the size of an apple?

Shut up! I dont need that! What I want is your neck! Youre my fathers enemy, so resign yourself!(Jesty)

Jesty-san drew the sword on his waist. Rengetsu-san and Sonia-san took a battle stance as well.

Then, one gunshot echoed in the hall where the atmosphere had grown tense.

Whaa(Jaofar)

I shot at the sovereign seal he had on his hand, breaking it into pieces. The fake heavenly king then stared with a startled expression.

Of course, it was I who destroyed it. It would have been fine to shoot the heavenly emperor as well, but that wasnt my job.

Y-you bastard! What have you done! That was the sovereign seal that has been passed down for 7000 years, the proof of the heavenly emperor!(Jaofar)

Do you think I care about that? Also, thats a lie because this country wasnt even here 7000 years ago(Touya)

Frankly speaking, theres no longer a rightful heavenly lord, so an object like that is likely no longer needed. Or how should I say this, I seriously dont care about it?

This country itself is already troublesome so maybe I should, for once, invade it altogether (as Silver oni warrior), split and transfer it between Zenoasu, Ferzen, and Hanock afterward?

Then, the warrior named Sol, while standing before the heavenly emperor whos grinding his teeth, held his sword towards me.

I mercilessly hit him hard with bullets, but those bullets were repelled by a big shield. He then came rushing towards here.

Doraaaaaaaaa(Sol)

He swung the big hatchet in his right hand with all his might, but I lightly dodged that attack and pulled the trigger several times at Sols head. The bullets bounced after hitting the helmet with a loud bang. Its tough. So these bullets arent effective, huh?

Kohaku!(Touya)

As you command!(Kohaku)

Kohakus shockwave blew off Sol which caused him to roll on the ground rumbling. I used that free time to reload and let him have a taste of an Explosion Bullet. Those bullets invoked the explosion magic at the moment of the impact, but the power had become considerably lower than expected due to magic being blocked by the obstruction barrier. Nevertheless, they could still dish out constant damage.

Guua(Sol)

I, towards Sol whos still staggering, aimed another shot to his head.

Come forth light, Bright shining bullet, Light Arrow(Gad)

Suddenly, I heard a magic incantation being chanted, so I immediately jumped to the side from my spot.

Several arrows of light pierced the location Id been standing up until a moment ago. Dangerous.

I turned my head and saw the figure of the magician named Gad standing in front of the throne while holding his cane. Oi-oi, isnt this sneaky of you?

Isnt the magic being obstructed by the barrier?(Touya)

Didnt you know that its a barrier that Ive made myself? What do you think I would be doing if I didnt prepare at least this much?(Gad)

Whats that? Are you saying youve only made yourselves unaffected by that barrier? It stinks with cowardice. Oh well. Its the enemys territory. If one says that its natural, it is so, right?

Should I say as expected from a magician of the [Golden Association]?(Touya)

!? Bastard Who are you?(Sol)

A color of precaution showed in Gad and Sols faces.

Are you a dog of Ferzen?(Sol)

Who knows. More importantly, couldnt you do something about this barrier? If you do, then Ill show you guys an interesting magic(Touya)

Its regrettable, but this barrier is an installation type barrier. It wont disappear as long as I dont run out of magic power or the keystone artifact isnt destroyed(Gad)

Gad broadly grinned. Oh, is that so?

Then this means itll be fine if I destroy this magic tool, right? Ill likely find it immediately due to the fact that this is a large-scale barrier, making it improbable to leave it hidden(Touya)

Shouldnt you better worry about your life before that? [O Darkness comes forth, what I seek is the skeleton soldier, Skeleton warrior](Gad)

A magic formation appeared on the floor when Gad chanted an incantation. Skeleton warriors the appeared from it carrying worn-out swords and shields.

Damn! This is troublesome. Skeleton warrior is a summon beast belonging to the undead clan. It fighting power is not very high. However, it has the ability to regenerate after being defeated when a certain amount of time passes. Magic from the light attribute or a weapon that has that attribute is needed to completely defeat this foe.

What was most troublesome is that magic has been sealed, so we dont have a technique to defeat those guys. Nope, it is not like there isnt, but its a bother casting magic from point-blank range.

Youre doing something thats quite pleasant(Touya)

Now that youre aware of the [Golden Association], so Ill have you die here(Gad)

I shot Brynhildr and defeated the skeleton warrior who was attacking me. It crumbled down with a clattering sound, but it would likely regenerate before even one minute passed.

Tsubaki-san, Sonia-san, Rengetsu-san had easily defeated the skeleton warriors, and Jesty-san had somehow managed to do it as well, but the situation would worsen if this continued. The existence of Sol who attacked us together with the skeletons was also problematic while were at it.

Its quite troublesome, and Im not sure whether itll work or not. Nevertheless, should I try it out?

I clad Brynhildr with divinity Id emitted from my palm, letting it reach up until the bullet magazine. I shot at the head of a skeleton warrior and Baam! The whole body of the skeleton turned into dust in an instant.

Whaaat(Gad)

Leaving the surprised Gad aside, I turned the skeletons into dust one after another. Divinity has the higher order than magic power, and I believe that its thanks to divinity that Im able to use all of the magic attributes.

In other words, I thought about whether the elements converted from divinity had all of the magic attributes or not. Divinity also was unaffected by the obstruction barrier since it wasnt magic power. Only the power of a god could obstruct the power of another god.

I, who had completely cleaned up the skeleton warriors, leaped towards the throne and thrusted the blade of Brynhildr at the neck of the heavenly emperor.

Hia!(Jaofar)

Throw away your weapons. Otherwise, this guys neck will fly(Touya)

I threatened the two people, Sol and Gad. Either way, I dont think this fake heavenly emperor will keep his life since Ill hand him over to Jesty-san though. I must have those two people spill out a lot of information about the [Golden Association].

Gad greatly jumped back and stepped up close to Sol when he pointed the cane at me.

O fire comes forth, the flame sphere of Purgatory, Fireball(Gad)

A big fireball was shoot from the pointed metallic cane. Oi-oi, wait a minute.

Hiiiiiiiii!?(Jaofar)

Crap!(Touya)

I cut the fireball that flew towards me into two with one stroke using Brynhildr clad with divinity.

The fireball, divided into two, split to the left and right, and flames bursted and exploded behind me.

You Right now, did you just try to blow off this heavenly emperor guy ?(Touya)

Its high time that we no longer have any reason to keep that guy since a while ago. Our schedule has only become slightly early(Gad)

Are you betraying me?!(Jaofar)

The fake heavenly emperor raised his voice against Gad and Sol.

What you are even calling a betrayal? Youre not even our companion, arent you? Weve only lent you the iron machine soldiers, and youve paid with manpower. Though we wish to express our gratitude for being able to do a test run on the iron machine soldiers. Thats the extent of it. We, the [Golden Association], will go for the next stage(Gad)

The next stage?(Touya)

We will invade Ferzen with the iron machine soldiers(Gad)

I was a little surprised at this revelation for a moment because I thought they wanted to invade Hanock with the iron machine soldiers.

No matter how many iron machine soldiers you use, you wont be able to easily win against the magic corps of Ferzen. The damage will be mutually large though, but are they saying that they are prepared for that as well?

Is this revenge for the chief of the old Golden Association? Then itll be a meaningless revenge(Touya)

This is not a revenge for my father. This is the first step to building a world where the Golden Association reigns supreme. A new world unified by magic only for magicians where everything depends on magic. A Magic Empire Magia Imperium(Gad)

FatherI see. So you are the former chiefs son, huh?(Touya)

In the flesh. Im Garland Gouldis child, Galzeld Gouldi(Gad)

Gad no, Galzeld hit the floor with his cane and introduced himself. This guy was the boss of the [Golden Association].

Ill eliminate those ignorant masses who cant use magic from this world using the taboo magic [Sanctuary] that my father wasnt been able to invoke, and a new purified world will be born!(Galzeld)

The taboo magic Sanctuary? Is that the magic that the father of this guy was trying to invoke years ago? I guess from what he has said that it looks like a magic that will purge humans who cant use magic, but

However, what does this have to do with invading Ferzen? Is there a magic tool in Ferzen which is necessary to invoke the magic?

There are still many things that I dont understand, but oh well. Thats fine. If youre the boss of the [Golden Association], then I cant let you go(Touya)

I wonder about that?(Gazeld)

Gad laughed fearlessly. The following instant, the wall behind those guys suddenly broke, and the hand of a big machine extended into the hall.

From the rattling and collapsed wall, the silhouette of a short and stout headless unit appeared holding a cone-shaped assault lance. Is that the iron machine soldier!?