NOVEL NEXT Chapter 44 - Vulcan Ruins
Chapter 44 – Vulcan Ruins
—–CROW—–
Balboa and Astra were dead.
Though dragonmen, their strength, at the lowest rank, wasn’t absolute.
Plenty of dragons were stronger than them, and compared to true dragons, even mentioning their strength was meaningless.
Nevertheless, they were dragonmen, inheriting the blood of dragons.
Moreover, both had died in their true dragon forms, not their weaker human forms.
It wasn’t clear who had killed Balboa.
However, it was easy to deduce who was involved.
The man who had disappeared with Princess Fellialu the night Balboa attacked the upscale inn.
“Luther Light Seeker.”
Coincidentally, he was also connected to Astra’s death.
It was Luther Light Seeker who had defeated her at Count Glasstone’s mansion.
What was going on?
Why had he appeared at Count Glasstone’s mansion?
Was it mere coincidence, or fate?
The dragonman, Jenadu, exhaled slowly.
He lifted his green eyes, which couldn’t be hidden even by his white mask, and looked out the window.
Balboa and Astra were dead.
The Spirit’s Jewel was missing, and Arma Valentine, one of the world’s top ten superhumans, had visited Count Glasstone’s mansion.
Things were going awry.
The plans they had prepared in the west had gone wrong from the start.
But Jenadu didn’t panic.
Instead of losing his composure and rushing, he calmly reviewed the documents.
Luther Light Seeker.
A man who used unknown magic armor.
Balboa’s case could be dismissed as a coincidence.
Astra’s case could also be considered a coincidence.
Luther Light Seeker had traveled with Lilia Aislestone, Count Glasstone’s niece.
But if such coincidences continued, regardless of Luther Light Seeker’s intentions, it would have to be seen as fate.
“The next incident will reveal the truth.”
Jenadu wasn’t impatient.
Though he had lost Balboa and Astra and failed to obtain the Spirit’s Jewel, what was meant to happen would happen.
Jenadu turned his head.
He looked out the window with his green eyes.
Despite all the setbacks, he smiled.
* * *
The Vulcan Ruins were half a day’s journey from Asain Gorge.
In the original story, it had been a hellish journey for Annerose, injured from her battle with Astra, struggling against dragons and monsters. But reality was quite pleasant.
In fact—
“Whoa.”
A man gaped in awe at Arma Valentine’s crimson giant armor as she led the way.
And he wasn’t the only one.
The man’s companions, walking alongside him, wore similar expressions.
They were travelers Luther had encountered by chance on the road.
But Luther knew all their names.
‘Lynn, Jane, Asella.’
Lynn, the minstrel with slender fingers, skilled at playing the lute.
Jane, the young but devout cleric.
Asella, the boisterous mage.
The adventurers who had accompanied Annerose in the original story.
[Master, is it just me, or are those all female names?]
Integra’s slightly sharp voice interrupted Luther’s momentary reminiscence.
Luther scoffed and replied confidently,
‘Of course not, the warrior over there with his mouth agape—’
[The warrior?]
‘Is a warrior. And the young man next to him is also a warrior.’
[And you don’t know their names?]
‘You’re right, I can’t seem to remember. Maybe they lack personality?’
Luther replied nonchalantly. Integra narrowed her eyes and said in a less-than-gentle tone,
[Master.]
‘Yes, Integra.’
[Are all the men on your planet like you?]
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
Changing the subject again, Luther cleared his throat and said seriously,
‘Anyway, Integra, we saved these people.’
People who would have died in Asain Gorge if events had followed the original story.
But thanks to Luther’s intervention, history had changed, and they were alive.
‘Aren’t you happy?’
[Is that how you’re going to deflect the question?]
‘Ahem, why are you being so curt?’
[Hmph. Hmph.]
The miniature Integra sitting on Luther’s shoulder turned her head away as if sulking, but Luther just smiled.
She was cute, but he knew she was just teasing him.
‘I’m really glad, though.’
Luther took one last look at “Asella’s party.”
Kind and gentle Lynn, cute Jane, and cheerful Asella.
Their appearance in the original story was brief, but their journey with Annerose, filled with laughter and tears, had been memorable.
That’s why he felt so good.
The fact that their tragic end, etched in his memory, had been erased in this world brought a smile to his face.
‘I wonder how Princess Aru is doing.’
Princess Fellialu.
The tragic figure who, in the original story, became the cause of the conflict between the Malkuth Kingdom and the surface.
But she hadn’t died either.
The cheerful princess with a bright smile.
She was probably confined to her room as punishment for running away.
He could easily picture her, pouting and flipping through pages with a bored expression.
‘I’ll see her again someday.’
Not only Princess Fellialu, but Sandalphon as well.
[What are you thinking about?]
‘Princess Fellialu. I’m wondering if she made it back safely.’
[Sigh, is it always girls on your mind, Master?]
‘Well, there’s a girl living in my head, so it’s only natural. Have you ever heard of a kind, cute, adorable, beautiful, and competent all-in-one support AI?’
He was a little embarrassed saying it, but he continued with a playful smile.
He was certain Integra would be even more embarrassed.
And his prediction came true.
[Ugh, uh… um…]
Integra blushed crimson and fidgeted, speechless.
She covered her face with both hands, and Luther chuckled again, suppressing his laughter.
Behind them, Karen and Max frowned slightly, looking at Luther with puzzled expressions.
“Why is he doing that?”
“Maybe he’s talking to a… spirit?”
Only Luther could see the miniature Integra.
So, to others, he just looked like he was chuckling to himself and muttering.
“Hmm… what kind of conversation could he be having with a spirit to make that kind of face?”
“I… I wonder.”
He was a cool, strong, and righteous angel, but perhaps he was also a pervert.
As Karen and Max whispered to each other with dubious expressions, Luther continued to tease Integra with a grin, while Arma Valentine silently walked ahead.
* * *
‘Our support AI is just too cute. Perfect from head to toe.’
[Oh my god! Stop it already!]
He had been teasing her the entire walk, and she seemed to have finally reached her limit.
Integra’s face, neck—no, even her chest, though he couldn’t see it—turned red. For the first time, she even resorted to cursing and whining, which startled Luther. He nodded and said,
‘As expected of our Integra. You’re the cutest when you whine—’
[I said stop iiiit!]
‘Alright, alright. I’ll stop. I will. So, stop crying. Okay?’
[Who’s crying?! Really!]
But it was true that her eyes were teary.
Integra huffed and puffed, then composed herself and said,
[Anyway, let’s stop this, human.]
[This is a serious warning.]
‘Alright, we seem to have arrived anyway.’
[What? Huh, we really are?]
Surprised by Luther’s words, Integra shifted her consciousness to the drone and began observing the surroundings.
A small basin, half a day’s journey from Asain Gorge.
The Vulcan Ruins, located in its center.
[No significant life signs detected near the ruins.]
Luther nodded at Integra’s report, but another thought crossed his mind.
‘She’s so human.’
She seemed more like a real person than an AI.
Her reaction just now hadn’t been forced; she had genuinely been surprised and flustered.
[Master?]
What had happened to Integra?
What had changed her so much?
[Master, please focus.]
‘Oh? Oh, right.’
[Honestly.]
[Master, something seems strange about the Vulcan Ruins.]
‘Strange? In what way?’
[There are abnormally few life signs.]
Integra brought the drone, which she had sent high into the sky, back to Luther.
Karen, Max, and even Arma Valentine naturally looked at the drone.
[These are the life signs detected around the Vulcan Ruins.]
Integra, appearing as a hologram above the drone, projected another hologram into the air.
Blue dots appeared on the 3D rendering of the area around the Vulcan Ruins. As Integra said, it was abnormal.
“Could it be… that we’re the only ones here?”
Four blue dots were marked near the entrance of the basin.
Other than those, there wasn’t a single life sign detected within a 300-meter radius of the Vulcan Ruins.
[I might have missed very small insects.]
[But it’s certainly strange that even small animals don’t inhabit such abandoned structures.]
It made sense.
Some kind of anomaly was definitely occurring.
“Let’s approach.”
Arma said quietly and moved her crimson giant armor forward.
Karen and Max looked at Luther, who retrieved the drone and nodded in response.
[Master, was it this quiet in the original story?]
Integra asked in a voice only Luther could hear. He shook his head.
‘No, in the original story, it was teeming with not only Hecatonchires’ dragonmen, but also dragons and monsters.’
[That’s strange.]
[I’ll take another look around.]
As Integra launched the drone again, Luther looked at the Vulcan Ruins, which were getting closer.
If he had to compare them to something, they resembled Inca ruins.
A low pyramid made of stacked stones, but instead of a perfect square base, it was a hexagonal structure with a flat top.
Arma Valentine stopped her giant armor in front of the pyramid and frowned as she climbed the stone steps.
“It’s different from what I read in the books.”
The Vulcan Ruins were a legacy of the ancient kingdom built by the Lizardmen.
It wasn’t Arma’s area of expertise, and since the excavation and looting were complete, all that remained was a half-collapsed pyramid. She had only read a few lines about it in books, never having visited the site herself.
But she remembered those few lines clearly.
“I’ve never heard of this.”
On the flat top.
A very complex magic circle was drawn.
What was even more surprising was that it didn’t look newly drawn at all.
It was as if it had been there since ancient times, drawn when the pyramid was built, bearing the marks of time.
What was going on?
Arma frowned and began to examine the magic circle. Luther tried to recall the Vulcan Ruins he had seen in the original story.
[Master, there are no life signs within a 1km radius.]
[In fact—]
Just as Integra was about to continue,
“Get back!”
Arma suddenly shouted and leaped backward. Karen instinctively activated her telekinesis, lifting herself and Max into the air.
Luther also chose to leap upwards rather than retreat.
And because of that, even without sharing vision with the drone, Luther could see what had startled Arma.
The magic circle was glowing.
No, more than that, the geometric shapes that made up the magic circle were moving, like a precise clockwork mechanism.
“It’s a sealing formation.”
Arma said as she landed.
Karen and Max looked back and forth between the magic circle and Arma, confused. Luther, landing after them, tilted his head involuntarily.
Arma’s words were too strange.
‘A sealing formation? Not a summoning formation?’
Jenadu, the dragonman of Hecatonchires, had brought the Demon King to the Vulcan Ruins.
In other words, he had summoned the Demon King through a summoning formation using the Spirit’s Jewel.
But a sealing formation? What in the world—
That was it.
Struck by a sudden thought, Luther closed his eyes and shared vision with the drone.
He looked down at the magic circle again from high above.
The Spirit’s Jewel wasn’t there.
With Balboa and Astra’s deaths, Hecatonchires’ plan had been severely disrupted, and it was likely that Jenadu hadn’t even arrived in the west yet.
Yet, the magic circle was there.
A magic circle that had been created along with the pyramid and was still active.
And this could only mean one thing.
‘It wasn’t a summoning from the beginning.’
The event in the original story wasn’t a “summoning.”
Annerose had simply misunderstood, seeing Hecatonchires performing a ritual around the magic circle.
“The sealing formation is significantly weakened. At this rate, the seal will be broken in about ten days.”
About ten days from now.
The Night of Mana.
Finally, Luther understood everything.
Hecatonchires hadn’t summoned the Demon King.
They had merely welcomed the Demon King, who was about to be released from a seal broken by the passage of time.
“A sealing formation? What exactly is sealed here?”
Arma frowned at Karen’s question but didn’t readily answer.
But Luther already knew the answer.
And because of that, his mind became complicated.
His plan had been to prevent the Demon King’s descent.
But there was no descent to begin with.
Even without Hecatonchires’ intervention, the Demon King was destined to break the seal and appear in the world.
Defeating Balboa and Astra wouldn’t prevent the Demon King’s appearance.
Protecting the Spirit’s Jewel was also meaningless.
What was meant to happen would happen.
Luther felt a sudden tightness in his chest.
It wasn’t just because he couldn’t prevent the Demon King’s appearance.
It was something more fundamental—
[Master.]
Integra’s gentle voice interrupted his thoughts.
Appearing before him, she smiled brightly and said in a cheerful voice,
[This is good.]
“Huh?”
[Isn’t this good?]
[Think about the current situation again, Master.]
What was she talking about?
Luther looked at Integra questioningly, but she just smiled gently as always.
So, he thought about it himself.
And then, he couldn’t help but smile.
[As expected of our Master.]
[You understand why I said this is good, right?]
“Yes, yes, Integra.”
What was meant to happen would happen.
Even without Hecatonchires’ intervention, the Demon King would definitely appear in this world.
But Luther knew.
[When, where, and what will appear.]
On the Night of Mana, at this very place, the Demon King.
[Boom, right as he appears?]
Integra winked and made a finger gun gesture. Luther clenched his fist.
He began to devise traps, picturing himself slamming the lid shut on the Demon King’s coffin the moment it opened.
—–CROW—–