Episode 231 – World’s Demise (2)

World’s Demise (2)

I checked the condition of the patients with Elise.

All were symptoms of a death curse.

“There must be someone who cast this spell.”

“It’s unlikely to be just one person.”

In the emergency room’s break area, Elise responded to Layla’s comment. I looked up at the TV news.

[Breaking news. The identity of the symptoms occurring indiscriminately in Edsilla is presumed to be a death curse. Authorities are conducting a comprehensive examination of the local mages in Edsilla…]

Already thousands were entangled.

The damage was much more severe than before my regression, but fortunately, I knew some ways to cope.

“Elise. Analyze the wave pattern.”

“…Wave pattern?”

Elise looked puzzled.

“Death curses linger in a corpse for a while. If we dissect the bodies and analyze the magical wave patterns emanating from the organs, and then construct a reverse-engineered barrier over the entire emergency room, we can at least delay death by two to three days.”

“…”

Elise blinked. My words, tinged with knowledge, seemed to surprise her.

Anyway, it’s not for nothing that I came to Petra Hospital. Not only do we have the proper facilities and resources, but we also have Elise, a sharp leader who won’t dismiss my words as nonsense.

We could save quite a lot of people.

“Reverse-engineering…”

“Elly, can you do it?”

Elise’s expression turned serious, and Layla asked with a gulp.

“Yeah. I think it’s possible.”

“Then you do the analysis! I’ll help with the barrier!”

As the two teamed up, I got up. Elise glanced at me.

“Shion. What about you?”

“…Hold on. A phone call.”

Pointing to the phone, I stepped out of the emergency room.

Leaning against the wall, I made a call to a certain agency.

Drrrring…

─Hello.

“Yes.”

A familiar voice came through.

It was the teacher from the old Orphanage.

“Are the children okay?”

─…

There was no reply.

In truth, I had already heard the news from Grawl.

Several of his cats lived there.

─Berry is quite sick. And about five others have high fevers.

I clenched my teeth slightly.

“Don’t worry, it’s not contagious. In fact, the younger they are, the better they can withstand it.”

A death curse is a spell that reacts to one’s life experience, so a child with a shorter lifeline can last longer than an adult.

“For now, I’ll contact you later.”

I hung up the phone and turned around. At the same time, my shoulder twitched slightly.

“…”

Elise was standing opposite me.

“Don’t worry.”

She shrugged her shoulders. She walked up to me and looked up into my eyes.

“I’ll send someone to bring them here. By helicopter, it should take about three hours.”

She was talking about helping the children from the Orphanage.

I hesitated quietly for a moment, then placed my hand on her head.

I wouldn’t want to burden her with gratitude.

“Instead, you find the main mage who’s behind this madness.”

“I already found him.”

“…What?”

Elise’s eyes widened.

“But I don’t know where he is, and even if I did, he’s someone we can’t kill.”

“What are you talking about—”

Ding!

Just then, a message arrived on my smartphone. It was a group chat.

[Is anyone attending Professor Theia’s Magic Spell Application lecture? Today’s class is postponed because of the death curse? Isn’t she coming?]

“…….”

It was a trivial message. Elise must have received a similar text because she turned on her smartphone and then turned it off again.

“It looks like Professor Theia Esil has joined the disaster response committee.”

Elise said that, but suddenly a thought flickered in my mind.

──Next news. Professor Theia Esil of the National University was found collapsed but has regained stability with the help of a student.

Before regression.

Theia Esil was also entangled in this incident.

Not as a solver, but as a victim.

It was just a brief news segment that I almost forgot.

The person who found and aided her when she collapsed was…

Gerkhen.

“Elise.”

I looked at Elise.

“What?”

“Where’s Gerkhen now?”

“Gerkhen?”

Elise seemed to wonder why I was asking and took out her smartphone again.

“……He says he’s on his way here.”

“Have you gotten close?”

“What? Hmm… It’s nothing special~”

Elise lifted her lips slightly. It was a smile of amusement.

“We’re just teaming up. And you and Layla seem pretty close too— Ah, hey! Where are you going!”

I dashed out in a hurry.

……

Theia Esil was affected by the ‘death curse.’

At first glance, it doesn’t make sense. Theia Esil’s magical resistance is exceptionally strong.

Of course, Theia Esil’s magical resistance is outstanding. However, the problem is that she is already a ‘patient.’

In the past, she was permanently disabled by Libra, one of which was analgesia.

Theia Esil cannot feel pain.

Because she is unaware that she’s in pain, even when symptoms reach their peak, she mistakes them for psychological or emotional reasons.

That was why she fell victim to the ‘death curse.’

If she had performed the mana circulation and healing, she would have recovered easily.

But for someone who doesn’t realize they’re sick, the ‘death curse,’ which is undetectable by any medical device, is quite fatal.

I ran through the corridors of the university’s magic building. The elevator was too crowded, so I took the stairs.

Finally, reaching almost the top floor, Theia Esil’s office.

Bang─!

I opened the door with a body slam.

“Haa, haa…”

There she was.

Collapsed with teaching materials clutched in her hand. Her face was flushed red, and her fingertips trembled faintly.

I don’t know how long she had been left here.

I hoisted her onto my back. I immediately descended the stairs and hailed the first taxi I saw.

“To Petra University Hospital.”

I laid her down in the back seat and was about to join her when suddenly…

…she is an enemy of Libra.

That fact came to mind.

I shouldn’t be with her.

It would be awkward for both her and me.

“Aren’t you getting in?”

“Yes. Please handle the admission process as quickly as possible.”

I took out my wallet. I handed the taxi driver twenty 100-ren bills.

“Oh, wow… Yes, I understand.”

The taxi driver nodded as he accepted the bills.

Vrooom──!

“……”

I watched the taxi’s license plate recede into the distance before turning away.

* * *

…There is a monster that calls itself ‘World’s Demise.’

An existence from stone—like Grawl, born from nature.

A man who believes himself to be a being conceived by a concept, and who has developed a blind faith from that belief.

His name is,

“Jude Velot. The World’s Demise.”

Akane’s [Selfless Coffin].

I sipped my tea as I listened to her.

However, I also knew of his existence. A monster passed down through legend.

“He’s also the head of the monster association.”

“……You’re saying he’s doing all this to promote the association?”

“No. He literally is the World’s Demise. He considers himself as such. It’s important that it’s ‘considers,’ not ‘thinks.’ He actually has the ability to attract the world’s evil.”

“So this ‘death curse’ is-”

“It’s the indiscriminate release of the malice from the humans he’s devoured so far.”

I ran my fingers through my hair.

“Can’t we just find the guy and kill him? The ‘death curse’ ends when the mage dies, right?”

“If it were possible, I would have done it.”

Akane shook her head. Her face turned somber.

“We can’t kill him.”

“Professor Theia is also affected by the ‘death curse.'”

“……”

Her expression hardened slightly. However, she did not show much more than that.

Akane and Theia are sworn enemies.

They once served the same master, but at some point, they became worse than strangers to each other.

Their relationship was likely irreparable now.

“If she’s about to die from the ‘death curse,’ it seems she’s shown her true colors.”

I didn’t say much either.

Explaining that Theia was actually an analgesic would be overstepping. As a fellow patient, I refuse to be the one lacking the sense to leak another patient’s privacy.

“……The best approach is negotiation. We find Jude Velot and talk to him.”

No.

He won’t agree to negotiations.

He didn’t before my regression, and he probably won’t now.

I clenched my teeth.

“We don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

“He’s not someone you can deal with using that logic. To confront World—”

“Call him Jude Velot.”

I corrected Akane. She paused mid-sip of her tea.

“Don’t empower his name. You’ll only be playing into his hands.”

“……”

Akane let out a heated sigh and looked at me as she set down her teacup.

“So, do you have a plan?”

“We’ll have to find one. It’s better than calling a mere terrorist ‘demise’ and being afraid of him.”

“……This bastard’s getting cocky. You think I haven’t thought of that? He’s an undying creature. He’s lived for hundreds of years, and has already become a ‘phenomenon’!”

Veins throbbed on Akane’s forehead.

“Of course, you wouldn’t know, would you? A mere 20-year-old college student.”

She leaned forward aggressively, and I asked her.

“Can you arrange a meeting?”

“A meeting?”

“Yes. A private audience.”

“……You’re insane. You’d be dead with just a flick of his finger.”

“That may be true for me.”

I nodded.

As a mere cancer patient who has rolled and tumbled through the underworld, I’ve learned the art of survival through deceit and strategy.

Since I’m clearly outmatched in terms of brute strength, I plan to draw in a different kind of power.

“Can you arrange it or not? That’s all I need to know. Even a foe can be a friend, right?”

“……”

Akane sighed with a strange look in her eyes.

“It’s possible. He’ll want to broadcast his intentions to the world.”

“Then that’s good.”

I nodded.

“Akane, you can invoke the ‘death curse,’ can’t you?”

“……”

Akane didn’t respond, but of course, she could. For a puppeteer, casting a curse like ‘death curse’ would be basic.

“Please send the ‘death curse’ to the person I request.”

I wrote a name on a piece of white paper.

[Eceline von Murciel Kellin]

Akane frowned as she looked at it.

“Who is this?”

“It doesn’t matter who this person is. They’re merely a means to utilize someone else’s power.”

I don’t care how vile the process is. I won’t discriminate between means and methods.

As long as the outcome is just.

“……A means to utilize power?”

“Yes.”

Jude Velot has lived for hundreds of years. He may have become a ‘phenomenon’ as Akane said, having watched over the life and death of the continent for generations.

“I will use someone else’s power. All you need to do is secure a time and place for a private audience with Jude Velot.”

But he doesn’t know.

“Leave the rest to me.”

Somewhere on this continent, there exists a being that surpasses demise, the strongest under the heavens, capable of killing and erasing even phenomena…

…disguised in the form of the most venerable nobility.

* * *

In the downtown area of the capital Edsilla, Jade, the second son of Libra, watched with composure as a sign was hung on a building of about 2975.22 square meters.

“Indeed. Removing the café and bakery makes it look more antique.”

These were the words of the newly hired butler, Diogu.

Jade nodded with dignity.

“There’s no need for excessive flattery. Balance will soon become synonymous with a high-end café.”

Even now, at the grand opening, a considerable crowd had gathered. More than half of them seemed to be there to admire Jade’s flawless appearance, but well.

It’s not bad.

Jade quietly surveyed the interior of the café.

“There have been some disturbing rumors lately. About a plague?”

Suddenly,

He asked the butler about a piece of news that had been slightly bothersome.

“Ah, it’s not a plague, but rather an indiscriminate ‘death curse’.”

“That’s a relief.”

A plague would have been problematic. It would reduce the number of customers in a place where people gather.

“However, the ‘death curse’ is said to be quite powerful, so even Lord Jade should be cautious…”

He’s not interested. Whether tens or thousands of commoners die, the world keeps turning. And it turns out very well.

In fact, Jade found it hard to understand why people were making such a fuss over a mere ‘death curse’ that would subside over time, given his noble status.

Perhaps they should have trained a bit harder in normal times.

“Also, here is a report independently investigated by the Libra Station business team.”

Jade received the report. It was a file that predicted the potential success of Café Balance and its future profitability.

“……These desk jockeys don’t seem to have a bad view of it either.”

The conclusion was that while a huge success seemed difficult, the possibility of failure appeared to be significantly low.

Of course, the profitability projected by Shion Ascal was on a different scale. Shion Ascal overestimated the café industry, while the Libra business team gave a more general assessment.

This is actually better. It will show the difference in ability and insight between them.

──It was at that moment.

Jade saw several agents from the Intelligence Agency running frantically through the crowd. They stood before Jade with sweat on their brows.

“What’s the matter?”

Jade’s brow furrowed at their rather undignified appearance. The agents approached with urgent faces and handed Jade a small note.

“Lord Jade. Please read this immediately.”

“What’s this……”

Jade’s expression turned cold as he looked at the note.

It wasn’t just a lack of expression. It was a silent rage, shaking more violently than any storm.

His eyes dried out glaring at it.

“……”

Jade rose his head from the note.

“Is this true?”

“……Yes.”

The agents bowed deeply, their tone filled with tension.

“This Miss Eceline…”

Her name was Eceline.

A painter Jade once loved.

No, he still loved her, which is why he had secretly assigned agents to her, and now,

“She has been hospitalized due to the ‘death curse'”

It was the tragic news that she had been infected with a ‘death curse.’