Satou here. Every business is struggling to raise successors, but where crafts are passed down through the generations, the lack of a true heir can spell the end of it all. It’s really best to broaden the scope in the interest of sustainability.
“My link to the great demon’s been severed? It lost to the hero’s companions…”
Next to me, Zomamurgormi let out an astonished whisper.
He genuinely could not believe the bark demon lost.
“That false monarch has warped the entire empire! Am I doomed to be unable to return it to the rightful ruler?”
Every kingdom had someone not happy about who’d taken over.
“No, my spells…they’re a match for that dubious Sai-ance. Sorcery shall lead the populace!”
This made no sense to me. Didn’t seem to connect to anything else he’d said.
By Sai-ance did he mean science? Did the current emperor favor technological advances over magic?
More importantly…
“Guess I’ve just gotta turn you over to the Great Sorceress, and this is all over.”
No sooner had those words left my mouth than Zomamurgormi ceased his mutterings. His head snapped up, and he shrieked, “It’s not over yet! I won’t let it end here!”
“It’s over. You should atone for the people you killed.”
My mind flashed back to the horrible sights in the basement here.
“The people I killed? The lives of lesser races are meant to benefit their betters, the weasels! I take pride in what I’ve done and atone for nothing!”
So he was a racial supremacist?
“All races are equal.”
“That’s what the lesser races always say!”
Nothing I said would get through to him.
“Then shut up. You’re not worth listening to.”
I pulled a gag out of Storage.
When he saw that, he started struggling.
“……”
He began an incantation, but I hit him with a full force “Intimidation,” and he froze long enough for me to get the gag in place.
He’d struggled so much, his staff broke.
“Ah, so you were after that.”
The skull on the end broke; there was a Magic Item inside. A pitch-black jewel.
My AR display said it would trade his life for a fatal curse, unleashed indiscriminately—a fitting item for a terrorist to carry. Suicide bombings? Best done when no one else is around.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Master, can you hear us?”
Arisa’s World Phone reached me.
“I can. All done on my end.”
“We beat the greater demon!”
“Yeah, I saw. You’re all so strong!”
She relayed my praise, and I heard them cheering over Clairaudience.
“The Gate closed behind me, but do you see a way back?”
“Oh, we’ve got that covered. We found an Otherworld manual by the altar, so if you give us a little more time, I’ll reopen the portal.”
It sounded like Otherworlds had Cores of their own, and interacting with that would enable them to open Gates at will.
“Then I’ll wait here. Let’s head back together.”
I cut off the transmission.
Down the hall, there were adventurers in need of healing.
But first, I’d better reassure Tia and Roro, let them know I’d caught the bad guy.
Huh?
Interference?
I tried contacting Tia with Telephone as I healed the adventurers, but there was a weird resistance that stopped the call from going through.
“That’s odd, I took out Tia’s Space Magic interference barrier…,” I muttered, and as if my voice did the trick, the unconscious adventurers started to wake up.
“…Er, unh?”
Nona was the first I’d healed—and the first to wake.
“Wakey, wakey!” I said, consciously switching to Nanashi’s voice.
“Er, huh? A mask?”
“Can you heal up these other adventurers?”
Ignoring her confusion, I handed her a sack of potions.
“We were in the back room—”
Sorry, Ms. Nona, but I care more about Roro right now.
I focused harder, sending Telephone at Tia.
“Who is it?” she croaked.
“Satou. We’re done here.”
“We’re screwed here. Some sort of grudge clusters attacking.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Hey, lady! The crook’s tied up in back, so take him to the fortress city, will ya?”
Dumping everything on Ms. Nona, I didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, I used Return to get back to Arcatia.
The instant I appeared behind the Hero’s Rest, my radar filled with red dots.
Looking up, I saw wisp-like things with horrific grins. My AR told me they were Stampeding Ghosts. A type of undead. Ghosts that had been harmless, corrupted by thick miasma.
I remained in Nanashi’s guise, flying upward and unleashing my “Spirit Light Control.”
Healing the Stampeding Ghosts as I flew toward the Sorceress’s Tower.
“Eeek!”
I heard screams from the streets…
But the Stampeding Ghosts were just scaring people and seemed uninterested in actually harming them.
“What the?”
The tower was covered in a clear fluid with a black outline. My AR told me it was another type of undead—a Chaos Soul.
“Save the Great Sorceress!”
On the ground, I saw one of her apprentices leading a group of Fire Staff mages in an attack on the Chaos Soul.
But when the spell hit the undead, the size of it increased explosively. It tried to swallow them up, so I used “Flashrunning” to close in and drag them all to safety.
Careless attacks could just expand our foe’s size.
The Chaos Soul only seemed to react when provoked and made no attempt to follow them at a distance.
“Tia, I’m in the fortress city. Should I whittle this Chaos Soul down from the outside?”
“We’re still okay in here! We need you crushing the roots that give the Chaos Soul its power. Somewhere with thick miasma!”
“But if I rescue you first—”
“Don’t. If I leave here, the Chaos Soul will lose its target and start consuming people all around.”
That would be bad.
“Gotcha. Then I’ll take those roots out ASAP!”
I cut off the call and searched for the source of the miasma.
Found it.
More than one, actually—I found seven miasma-rich locations. Better start with the closest.
Just in case, I set Clairvoyance and Clairaudience on Tia’s location, keeping tabs on them.
“Asshooooooole!”
Tia was using her staff as a shield, shoving back the goop dripping from the ceiling.
Or rather, the purple light around the staff was keeping it at bay.
Roro and the hamsters were clustered at her feet. Whew. None of them were hurt.
The Chaos Soul was retreating and advancing, like a pulse.
“Rahhhhh!”
Tia let out a groan.
Tough work for someone ravaged by a curse.
I’d better take these roots out fast.