Chapter 184: Chapter 184. Evolution (8)

Desir began to describe what he had been through to Donape.

The terrorism incident in the capital of Prillecha, Deltaheim, that he played a major role in solving.

Crow Mask.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The human experiments carried out by the alchemist he encountered in the Shadow World. The homunculus research.

Skull Mask, a person acting from the shadows who had assumed multiple aliases including that of the Pope of the Artemis Church and the Prophet of the Magic Kingdom.

“He’s beguiled many and has been the cause of the downfall behind countless countries.”

“This is all hard to believe.”

Donape expressed skepticism, a natural reaction to hearing just what Desir had been through. “While I managed to destroy the homunculus in the Shadow World set a hundred years ago, they ended up being manufactured in our reality. The appearance of it now indicates that there is a link between what we saw and the Outsiders.”

An entity that controlled the group known as the Outsiders, formed by a mass of criminal gangs and thugs.

Another person popped into Desir’s head.

Crow Mask.

The Outsiders were mostly wiped out through this war, but he had still not made an appearance.

Desir kept himself abreast of news relating to the Outsiders and how the war progressed. He had to keep track of the bigger perspective. If a Sixth-Circle magician capable of using imagery magic appeared on one of the battlefields, it would be a big deal and news of it would travel quickly.

But in the end, no one matching the appearance or abilities of Crow Mask had surfaced.

‘He didn’t even show up when the homunculus fell. He mustn’t have been near the Lagrium Plains.’

Crow Mask utilized space magic. Even if he was not at the Lagrium Plains, it wouldn’t have been difficult for him to appear, as long as he was somewhere nearby.

This indicated that he never intended to make an appearance in the first place. ‘What the hell is he planning?’

Desir did not believe that Skull Mask and Crow Mask would relegate themselves to simply cowering behind the Outsiders. He had to work on the assumption that there was a greater purpose behind their actions, or lack thereof.

‘We need more clues to track them down.’ Desir continued speaking.

“So we can’t simply say that the homunculus has only hurt the warriors of the North. We must use the homunculus to reach the mastermind behind all this.”

“The mastermind… Indeed, this is true. But that’s not enough reason why we can’t be given the homunculus as well.”

Donape’s eyes flashed cold.

“We have very few clues with which to chase them down. Now is the time to gather any information we can. Any clue could mean the difference between finding them, or not.”

“… So you mean to say that the homunculus is the clue that will allow us to capture the mastermind.”

“That’s right. Therefore, we cannot oblige your request.”

“Hmm.”

Donape’s expression suddenly lightened and his face broke out into a big smile. “In the end, you intend to draw me into the fight ahead.”

Donape saw through Desir’s intentions. “Did it look like that?”

“It’s clever, but I like it. I believe you. Let’s not raise any more questions about the homunculus.”

He looked at Priscilla.

“Priscilla, I will accept the Western Kingdom Union’s request for alliance.”

“Thank you for your wise decision.”

“And Desir, we will maintain our alliance with the Empire. Even so, we can’t give up on avenging our men, so I have one condition.”

“If you find the mastermind, let us know immediately. That’s the condition. I want to avenge them by my own hand.”

Desir’s face brightened.

“Of course, I’d be more than happy to do so.”

Just as Donape had begun to throw a wrench in his plans, Desir used his outstanding wit and leveraged the crisis he was faced with to provide a foothold to gain further help from the barbarians in future battles.

“I’ll make sure to let you know when I have a lead.”

Though their talks looked as though it would jeopardize everything Desir worked for, in the end, they came to an amicable result for everyone.

Donape looked at the Saint, and then the Starling Party, before smiling.

“If you and your friends visit our land, I will share the wine I have made myself.” Desir knew that this was how barbarians typically expressed favor.

And so the meeting with Donape Aslan, a close companion in his former life, ended.

* * *

“So that’s how you soften the barbarian king up.”

Zod looked perfectly healthy now, unlike when Desir last saw him at a hospital in Adeina. “He just decided that this was the right thing to do, that’s all.”

Desir and Zod talked as they walked down several hallways towards the main tower of Altea, which in modern times had become the center of magic engineering.

The staff of the tower were amazed to see the only Seventh-Circle magician on the continent and the Hero of Victory together.

As if suddenly remembering it, Zod posed a question to Desir. “Was the Aurora System useful?”

“Thanks to you, I’m still alive. But all four of them are now broken.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that too much. Thanks to its potential being unveiled in this war, there’s now a lot of orders coming in. Let’s just write them off as demonstration expenses.”

The power of the Aurora System, a defensive equipment Desir had used to block the white bombardment of the homunculus, became known to all as a result of this war.

As they continued to converse, they eventually reached a remote place amongst the facilities. There was no one else present nearby.

Zod stopped in front of a pot. When he pulled the petals of the pot, the nearby wall opened and a hidden staircase appeared.

They started down the stairs.

“I’ve heard you’re being awarded a Silver Lion medal.”

“It’s a common practice amongst these countries. There is always a need for heroes during times of war. It serves as great propaganda to drive public sentiment and increase the rate of army recruiting.”

“But that’s such a great honor. It’s very rare for a student to be awarded a medal of that level.”

“Well, it would be a lie if I said I wasn’t happy to receive it.”

Desir nodded.

‘There are many ways to use fame and celebrity status.’

Receiving the award brought him both personal joy, as well as allowed him to further scheme. “When is the awards ceremony?”

“Right after the Hebrion Academy resumes activity. We have about two weeks left.”

“The Academy… ”

Zod’s feet came to a stop, for a brief moment.

“You don’t have to stay in the academy anymore, do you? It’d be nice for you to start looking elsewhere.”

“That’s not a bad idea. But I still have work to do there, for now.”

Although he didn’t pay much attention to the happenings inside the academy, since he spent all of his energy and time on the greater continent, the Hebrion Academy was a funnel that attracted numerous talented people from all corners of the continent. When the semester began again, he was planning to cultivate the talent of the Hebrion Academy in earnest.

“Also, there’s not much of a drawback in staying there for the time being.”

Desir was beloved by the Emperor, and was also in a technical advisory role for the Magic Tower, so even if he remained at the academy, he would not suffer much of a loss in terms of freedom and personal comfort.

“I see where you’re coming from.”

They soon reached the bottom of the stairs. This secret lab was deeply hidden inside the tower. It was a room that Zod had built with all of his heart and soul; a place no one else even knew existed, with exception of Zod, the chairman of the Magic Tower.

Desir looked around.

The lab was filled with delicate and expensive equipment, proof of the energy and care invested into it.

And at its center was a long, silver-haired, beautiful girl whose eyes were firmly closed. Her whole body was restrained with chains; chains that interfered with the circulation of her mana. She was also held in place firmly by dozens of other specialised pieces of equipment, besides just the chain subduing her

This lab had been fitted out to study the homunculus.

“Now that she’s the only clue we possess, we must get what we can from her.”

“I know.”

Zod manipulated some of the laboratory’s tools and studied the screen in front of him intently. “I’ve personally spent a bit of time studying it. As a result, I can definitely say that this homunculus was made using technology far beyond our understanding. So called high technology.”

“How good is it?”

“It goes far beyond the limits of technology we have available today. It’s unbelievable. The knowledge you’ve shared before has been immense, but this is beyond all comparison.”

“Even if it’s difficult, we must interpret what we can from it.”

“Yes, it’s going to be a tedious task, but I’ll try my hardest.” Desir couldn’t take his eyes off the homunculus.

He felt strange. The details of their fight flashed through his head. ‘It could return to the past, five seconds ago.’

Returning to the past. This kind of ability had a different meaning for Desir. ‘I’m a returner, too.’

Until now, he had acted relatively casually, simply accepting things as they came. He had no reason or method to investigate what caused him to return, so all he could do was simply accept the fact that it had happened. But now that there was a way to manipulate the past, laying on an experiment table right in front of him, this was no longer a matter that could be overlooked.

“And there’s one more thing we need to find out.” The homunculus. A valuable, hard-earned resource.

Desir stared intently at the area surrounding its heart. A set of six circles should be hovering around the homunculus’s heart, capable of storing a stupendous amount of mana.

“As far as we are aware, we know that the amount of mana we can safely gather is determined from birth. And for hundreds of years, the limits of a magician’s growth have been determined since before they started their career.”

This was a reality that Desir faced daily, and was always harshly reminded of during any battle. In his case, his body could accept up to three circles, with the aid of an artifact.

“But this high-tech homunculus shattered that commonsense.”

“This homunculus, which only had three circles when I encountered it in the Shadow World, now has mana six circles.”

“This means that we should be able to artificially implant additional circles to expand an individual’s mana capacity”

Desir and Zod were aware of what the other was intimating.

They were great colleagues and above all else, magicians of high caliber.

“If we can figure out how to replicate this, we’ll be able to attain power greater beyond what mere talent allows for.”

“How interesting.”

His voice was slightly excited. Zod couldn’t help getting excited when someone brought up an interesting topic, regardless of how old he was.

“Since it’s going to be rather difficult to analyse its ability to manipulate causality, I think it would be better to focus on studying the homuculus’s circles for now.”

“Then let’s get to work right away.”