Chapter 23

In the game Heroic Age, in order to learn advanced magic or arts of a certain rarity or higher, you need to fulfill certain quests and obtain magic texts or grimoires.

Coquitos, the most powerful area-of-effect magic in the game, can be acquired through the legendary tome Absolute Zero.

By the time I was possessed as Rain Gray, I had already mastered this magic, wherever I got it from.

Shortly after I was possessed, I realized that I could use most of the spells I remembered from the Heroic Age series, and I started experimenting with them.

In addition, of the six offensive spells the Warlock class has access to, the two that I've learned legendary spells for are Atmosphere and Curse.

For reference, the representative spells that symbolize the atmospheric attribute are Lightning and Air. The non-attack utility spell Haste also counts as an Atmospheric attribute.

In addition, Rain Gray's mastery of Legendary-grade magic didn't stop there; there were two more types of defense and utility magic that the Warlock class couldn't use.

They are Binding and Barrier.

Therefore, one of the hypotheses that can be deduced from the above facts.

Rain Gray's growth is far from over. Furthermore, his growth is not limited by the Warlock class.

All the more reason to get my hands on it now.

"Ah, ah."

I raised my head toward it.

A man froze on the spot, his teeth clacking together, it was Colonel Hydra Waltz in his SS uniform.

I walked toward him without a second thought.

Then, without a word, the jet-black guard at the colonel's side stomped on the ground. The distance closes in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the sword that should have been lying dormant in its scabbard is drawn and strikes. A black afterimage traced the blade's trajectory along the cutting edge. No, it should have.

"Stop!"

Colonel Hydra hastily restrained her actions. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

As if on cue, the sword stops in front of my nose, a blade's length away.

At first, I was skeptical. But at this distance, I was certain. I couldn't even see her face, hidden by her black helmet.

Beyond the heavy armor emblazoned with the symbol of the Iron Cross.

I'm not saying that she's a Death Knight resurrected by High Command.

"...."

But to care about that was for later.

"How dare I not recognize the great mage...! I never thought that a hermit of this caliber would be staying here!"

Colonel Hydra, who was now kneeling in front of me.

"I was merely executing my military duties, I never meant to hurt you, Lord, it's a misunderstanding!"

He dropped his head to the floor, begging for mercy.

Seeing that, I asked.

"Why did you stop her sword?"

"What? That, that."

"Why didn't you just stop it from the beginning?"

Colonel Hydra Waltz blurted out at the unexpected question.

"Do you think your apparent cleverness will help your cause?"

There was no doubt about it. He deliberately stopped her sword to show off his role, and perhaps even to see if she could actually take me down in the process.

What do you do after you've been stabbed in the back?

Usually two things. Either a hopeless last-ditch effort, or deals and negotiations that don't work.

"Oh, oh, oh!"

"...."

"What a piercing insight into the reason and truth of the world! What a stinging blow, like an axe to the frozen ignorance of this ignoramus!"

It was neither.

"Alas, I have been awakened! I have been awakened only after seeing you! I have been blind all my life, seeing nothing in the darkness of ignorance! Only after your teaching have my eyes been opened to see the world! Thank you, thank you for bringing light to these eyes!"

His mouth, which had been frozen in terror until just a moment ago, was uncharacteristically slurred.

"Hand over <Commander Secret>."

"Yes, sir, right now!"

With that reply, Colonel Hydra Waltz hastily removed his uniform and tore off his top, revealing a creature that had taken root in his abdomen.

It was fusing with his flesh as if it were a part of him, like a separate body part being transplanted through a fusion surgery.

Colonel Hydra immediately grabbed the tome in his abdomen and ripped it out.

Crunch!

As if he was ripping his own body apart, he didn't care that the bundles of nerves that connected them were torn apart and the flesh was falling off.

"Here it is!"

I accepted the grimoire from the bloodied colonel without saying a word.

As soon as I took it and held it in my hands, I understood the fact that the man at my feet was not able to bring out even 30% of the power of this grimoire.

In game terms, it's actually rather easy to understand.

Your class, level, stats, etc. all need to meet a certain threshold in order to get the full effect of a skill. It's not something that's written in stone.

The highest class that can be reached in the Commander family is the Gravelord.

The highest level of command that a Gravelord can perform is not even close.

In comparison, Colonel Hydra Waltz's class should be considered high, at the level of "Gravekeeper." For a man of that level, this grimoire is like a pearl on a pig's neck.

And a man who can't even become a Gravelord is the head of the Duchy's most powerful command mage organization?

It was so ridiculous that I couldn't help but laugh.

'Burying the dead isn't what it used to be.'

Haha, it's a miracle that the organization is still intact after being dragged out like a punching bag and crushed and shredded for the twentieth time in the series.

I looked down at the colonel at my feet, clutching the bloodied <Commander Secret>.

His subordinates cower behind him, a battalion of Immortals unwilling to take action without orders from their leader.

And finally– I looked at the black, heavy-armored guard who stood silent at the colonel's side.

"You seem to like her!"

The Colonel exclaimed, quickly pausing to lick my feet.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll like her, for as you can see, she's not just any dead person! And she's extraordinary, for she was the carcass of a prey that was consumed by the Black Snake!"

"...."

"Perhaps you've heard of her, Sir, she's called 'Sword Lady Alina'! She's very special, and that's why we brought her back to life as a one-of-a-kind <Death Knight>!"

I didn't answer, so the colonel continued, speaking with the desperation of a salesman promoting a product.

"After being eaten by the infamous <Black Snake>, she came back from the dead, and I'm sure that alone should tell you how special and valuable she is!"

As he spoke, he stood up and removed her helmet and I saw a very familiar face.

A face I never wanted to see again and yet, here it was again.

"That's why I want to call her the Immortal Knight!"

The emotions on her face were unmistakable.

Hatred that burned hotter than ever, and despair that she couldn't even move a finger of her own volition.

Trapped in the prison of flesh, she could hear voices wailing all around her. Soundless screams and wails.

"As a way of thanking you for the light in my eyes, I'm giving her to you, she's yours now. She has many uses, not necessarily in battle, please use this-"

After speaking, he tried to pull out something that seemed to control her.

"There's no need for that."

"Yes?"

"Release her."

"So your mercy and compassion are like a well that never runs dry; I will, I will, I will─."

As she spoke, the colonel's grip on her loosened.

"─Ah."

As soon as it was released, the blade in the scabbard glowed.

The next thing I knew, Colonel Hydra's head was cut off and sprawled across the floor. His subordinate command mages literally followed in their superior's footsteps.

She pointed her blade at me next.

"Go away."

I looked at the figure and said.

"I have no use for you."

"...."

Same as then. Then and now, I had no business with them or her. I didn't even want to see them. Nothing would change now.

*

The man's hand stopped dead in its tracks as someone used scissors to cut the branches of a bonsai

"My neck...."

Looking at the severed branch, the man says calmly.

"It's cut."

After muttering, the man stopped pruning the bonsai he was tending in his spare time and slowly pulled himself up.

The man, a sole proprietor of a flower shop in an uninhabited part of the countryside, was unperturbed by the death and wilting of these unloved flowers and stood silently among the wilted and dried remains of the flowers.