CHAPTER 790

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Oterium.

It was the capital of Vankela over five hundred years ago. After the outbreak of the Holy Kingdom's Protection War, the territories of Vankela, including Oterium, became desolate lands where no one could live.

As a result, the kingdom relocated the entire country to the central part of the continent, and the former lands of Vankela, including Oterium, remained as unprotected zones.

During his time as a reserve flagbearer, Jin suppressed the Dark magic society of Kinzelo, who conducted living-golem experiments in the old Oterium. He also obtained the legacy of Riol Zipfel and faced Orgal for the first time there.

Jin and Oterium are intertwined in various ways, with both connections and unfortunate ties.

"Old Oterium..."

Jin looked out the window, recollecting the communication he had with Runcandel.

Tasha was dealing with the remaining demons there. At that time, thanks to the heroic deeds of her and other heroes, the Allied Forces of the Holy Kingdom's Protection War were able to completely suppress the remnants of the demons. However, they ultimately could not find the true nature of the Demon World.

In the end, the Holy Kingdom's Protection War ended in victory for Vankela and the Allied Forces, and the demons no longer appeared. As a result, the Demon World Investigation Team was disbanded without completing its mission.

It was because the two major clans had shed too much blood. Several patriarchs died, and the deaths of knights and mages was countless.

"But strangely, there are very few records..."

Jin's words were met with nods from his comrades.

"That's right, my lord. Even if the two major clans considered it as an excessive loss and dismissed it, there are too few remaining records about Oterium."

As soon as the meeting was over, Leut ordered the butlers and scribes to thoroughly search the remaining records of the Holy Kingdom's Protection War in the current library of garden of swords. However, there was no record of the "location of the Demon World" anywhere.

"Runcandel has lost many records due to the evil god war, so it is possible. However, it's strange that there are no related records in the Holy kingdom as well."

Syris immediately visited the Holy kingdom, but even Lani had very little information about it. In other words, both Runcandel and the Holy kingdom had no records.

"Even if Runcandel and the Holy kingdom tried to dismiss the damage situation of the Holy Kingdom's Protection War and hide it, it's strange to have such a lack of records. They would have at least left some records that only the patriarch or the king could access."

"There might have been external pressure not to leave records in Runcandel and the Holy kingdom, or there might have been manipulation of history... One of the two."

Jin came to that conclusion.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain the complete disappearance of such a crucial event, which could be counted on one's fingers in the entire history of humanity.

Whether it was external pressure or history manipulation.

There could only be Zipfel who could do such a thing against Runcandel and the Holy kingdom. The records that his current comrades couldn't confirm were also likely Zipfel's doing.

"Dame Tasha said that Zipfel wouldn't have had the power to pressure Runcandel. After the war, both major clans suffered significant losses."

"Then it leans towards history manipulation, my lord."

"Yes. Since they couldn't exert overt pressure, they would have chosen the covert route of erasing history."

"Since Sir Alpen and Dame Tasha, who were crucial to the event, were already deceased, there would have been few obstacles to history manipulation. As Ms. Leut said, Runcandel probably did not have the power of existence that two of them had."

-<Elona Zipfel, along with 3,026 other mages, attempted to manipulate the history of Temar Runcandel but failed break immense power existence possessed by him.>

The power of existence.

Jin confirmed this first time in the third tomb of Temar, in the subspace where Leut was. Leut speculated that if Zipfel manipulated the history of the Holy Kingdom's Protection War, it would have been possible because both Alpen and Tasha were absent.

"Zipfel knew that the Demon World existed beneath this world. However, they claimed not to know the exact location."

"Then Zipfel did manipulate the history of Dame Tasha's search for the location of the Demon World, but they didn't know about the old Oterium, the location discovered by the investigation team at the time?"

"For now, that seems to be the most likely possibility. Since Zipfel was not part of Dame Tasha's investigation team. Only Dame Tasha and the Black Knights of that time knew about the relationship between the old Oterium and the Demon World."

The puzzle pieces were coming together.

"Sanna speculated that Zipfel knew the location of the Demon World. But once she started cooperating with Zipfel, they pretended not to know the location. That's why Sanna, through Zipfel's power, is trying to destroy the surface to find the entrance. And the reason Sanna is not collaborating with Orgal, who is presumed to already know the location of the Demon World, is because their goals are different."

"I see, Jin. And even if Zipfel knows the location of the Demon World, they wouldn't readily share it with Sanna. According to Sheenu, Veradin and Sanna are in a mutually exploitative relationship. They have no reason to give each other what they want until they've squeezed everything out of one another."

"Veradin, Sanna..."

Jin thought about the two of them for a moment. The reason they suddenly ended up together.

"...The Holy land. Zipfel's Holy land is a land where the residual energy of the Sun God remains. Veradin is in the midst of using the special power of that land through Sanna. I don't think Veradin would become a follower of the Sun God; he probably wants to contain even the Sun God within the Demon's God's Orb."

In other words, Veradin is using Sanna to contain the Sun God within the Demon's God's Orb, while Sanna wants to resurrect the Sun God.

That was Jin's conclusion.

"Now I understand why Sheenu sought our help. Whether it's Veradin or Sanna, once either of them achieved their goal, Sheenu will have no place. Zipfel must have considered the core of the Demon's God's Orb to be the combined power of my shadow force and Sheenu's authority, but now there is a means to replace that."

Looking back, there came a point when Zipfel stopped coveting the power of Jin's Shadow Force as before.

-I compliment you on this surprise attack. However, you and your god will become the most crucial materials for the Demon's God's Orb, Jin Runcandel...!

-Secure Jin Runcandel. He must not be consumed by the chaos!

Words spoken by Andrei Zipfel on the deserted island of the Empire and by Kelliark during the Battle of the Sword Emperor Castle.

Since Jin's status as a Contractor of shadow was revealed, Zipfel had been making continuous efforts to contain the power of the Shadow within the Demon's God's Orb.

However, since the evil god war, they hadn't shown such intentions. It could be due to Jin becoming a Giant, but Jin hadn't felt any sense of Zipfel coveting his power recently.

Instead, Veradin had shown confidence when he revealed the Holy land and the magic swordsmen living-golem.

"According to Orgal, the Sun God is the beginning of this world. So, even if the Sun God possesses greater authority than Solderet, it wouldn't be surprising."

"So, that's why Zipfel abandoned Sheenu. Since you're not affiliated with Zipfel anyway, there's nothing to discard or keep in your case."

"Well, it seems we've discussed everything we can for now. I should go to the Oterium myself."

***

Arriving at the old Oterium on the Red owl, there were traces remaining from the past when Jin had fought against the Dark Magic Society with Murakan.

Suddenly, memories from that time resurfaced.

The sacrifice of the Holy Kingdom's citizens in the living-golem experiments and the martyrdom of the Saint, Mutuel Scylla, who fought to reveal the truth until the end.

Jin closed his eyes momentarily to commemorate them. His comrades followed suit and offered their silent prayers.

"...The battle traces are remarkable. Were you already at 10-stars back when you were a reserve flagbearer, Jin?"

Hedo commented as he glanced over the location where the castle of the Dark Magic Society once stood.

"No, Murakan handled most of the actual fighting at that time. And I was able to manifest much stronger power than usual by harmonizing with Tess. Cold Joe brought out the golem created by a phoenix in front of Tess."

The destroyed site of the Dark Magic Society exuded a desolate feeling. Alongside the battle traces, occasional areas contaminated by the chaos left by Glyek caught their attention.

"It's like experiencing the tales of Jin indirectly. Ah! What a joy."

"My lady, we're here on business."

"Shut up! I'm going to imagine the heroic figure of Jin while feeling these sword marks. You mind your own business."

With Sandra promptly leaving the scene, the group was able to immediately focus on their investigation. Valeria rolled her eyes while observing Sandra's behavior.

Valeria had accompanied them to the old Oterium for the purpose of researching history records. Hedo had come along as a precautionary measure, and Sandra just followed along.

However, the records contained no significant information.

"Perhaps it's because some areas have been contaminated by chaos that the records aren't well preserved. Or maybe there weren't any special records to begin with. When you were a reserve flagbearer, I came here to inspect the records, so I know."

-It would be best to acquire Riol Zipfel's magic tome as soon as possible.

-Is there anyone else who is targeting that magic tome?

-Yes. Recently, a mage I've been keeping an eye on is targeting that magic tome. She's a human girl named Arya Aulhart, quite an individual born with a rather special destiny, just like you.

Words spoken by Misha in the past as she informed Jin about Riol's legacy.

Just as Misha had said, Valeria had come here a few years ago in search of Riol's legacy but returned empty-handed.

"Even though my abilities have greatly improved since then, if the records aren't being observed, it means Kinzelo hasn't visited this place recently. Or... under the ground. Sheenu said that the entrance to the Demon World is under the ground, right?"

"That's right."

"If Kinzelo took action deep under the ground in Oterium, the records may not be visible due to the distance. In other words, if the entrance to the Demon World exists several kilometers under the ground, we would need to approach it more closely."

The area where an event occurred is a crucial factor in record magic. Without proximity to the scene, related records cannot emerge.

Jin pondered for a moment before coming to a conclusion.

"In that case, we should start digging this place from now on. Until something emerges."

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