“‘The Traitor Sage’—you dare?!” Dorothea’s eyes blazed with hatred. “Don’t mock me! To even speak the name of that vile traitor is disgusting! During the ‘War of the Eight Kings’ two hundred years ago, the Sanctuary Church was supposed to gain dominion over all kings. But that Sage…”
“What was this Sage’s name?”
“…Lyle Carmine. So the legend says,” she spat, glaring at me.
I knew it. When I’d heard that story from Rhodelia about the ‘Let’s Wreck the Sanctuary Church’ organization, I had a feeling. I figured Lyle must have infiltrated the Church and done something. Both he and his wife, Remilia, were just ridiculously competent. Crushing the entire Church from the inside was exactly the kind of thing they’d do.
“So what did this ‘Traitor Sage’ do, exactly?”
“…I don’t know the details. Only that he’s the one who rendered the ‘Ancient Artifacts’ useless.”
“But the one right here… the Lord of Phantoms… it’s working. What’s that about?”
“…As if I would tell you…”
“If you don’t want to talk, fine.” I cut my finger and dripped my ‘Mistel Blood’ onto the Lord of Phantoms itself. I activated Hacking—and it was nullified. Just as I thought, all magic was repelled. I couldn’t get in. The surface of the armor was treated to block magic.
In that case, I’d just apply my blood directly to the opening on the severed arm.
“Activate: Hacking.”
First firewall… confirmed. Yes, the hack was connecting. But wow, this thing had its own anti-hacking defenses. It was designed to detect any mana trying to infiltrate its internal systems and immediately eject it. Could my magic break through?
Hacking first firewall… breached.
Second firewall… breached.
A third… seriously? …Breached.
Entering internal mana region.
Beginning analysis of internal magic… reached armor’s locking mechanism.
Open armor. Release occupant. Execute.
Pssht.
“…Ugh… ah…” The front plating of the Lord of Phantoms opened, and a woman tumbled out.
“Impossible! The Lord of Phantoms… moving on its own?!”
“She’s… from the Magic Guild, isn’t she? You captured one of the investigators and used her as a battery?”
Dorothea spat on the ground. That was a yes.
I continued to analyze the Lord of Phantoms’ mana structure. This armor had been sealed. But the seal was weakening. Probably degrading over time. But to forcibly move a machine with a lingering seal, it required a massive amount of life force. That’s why… the person inside ended up so drained. I see.
“Impossible! How could the pride of the Sanctuary Church, the tactical-class armor Lord, obey someone like you?! Who in the world are you?!”
“Me? I am… the ‘Immortal Mage, Lord of Nosferatu.’”
I decided to use my old name. My face was covered, anyway. I’d just play it off as some mysterious, unknown figure.
“Don’t mock me!!”
“…What?”
“‘Lord of Nosferatu’ is the name of the Lord that the ‘Traitor Sage’ stole!”
…Huh? What is this woman talking about?
“The Sanctuary Church discovered eight Lords. The final one was meant to be named after our great founder! But that Traitor Sage and his wife stole it and fled! And they gave it that… that disgusting name… Lord of Nosferatu!”
“HUH?!”
“Wait, wait, wait. ‘The Traitor Sage and his wife’? That means Lyle and Remilia. They stole one of these giant moving suits of armor and ran off with it? And to top it all off, they named it after me… Lord of Nosferatu? Lyle, Remilia… what in the world were you two doing?”
“They… were apparently spouting nonsense about how ‘a king worthy of this Lord will one day appear.’ If it weren’t for them, the Sanctuary Church Elysium Temple would never have fallen, and we would have remained the dominant power in the world! If only that insane Sage had never existed!”
“No, I’m pretty sure they were completely sane,” I countered.
What were you doing, Lyle? And you too, Remilia. Stealing a toy from the Sanctuary Church, that much I get. But why did you have to name the Lord after me? Don’t tell me you were so traumatized by stabbing me with the Holy Sword that you went and prepared a suit of armor that no sword could ever pierce. What were you two really thinking?
“…You reckless idiots.”
What was I supposed to do if the Sanctuary Church tried to hold me responsible? I’d be in real trouble if they demanded I take responsibility for unleashing those lunatics from the village.
“Well, whatever. This Lord of Phantoms thing is neutralized, so it’s fine for now.”
The hack was complete. I’d shut down its internal systems and locked it so it wouldn’t move for at least twenty-four hours. I’d just hand this thing over to the Magic Guild.
“So, where is this ‘Lord of Nosferatu’?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Is that right.”
A place where Lyle and Remilia would hide a treasure… I had a feeling I knew where that might be.
“Right, I forgot to ask. What was your goal here?”
“…You just said it yourself.”
“Oh, right. The plan to use a specter as the pilot. Because a normal person gets drained and weakens, you have to keep swapping them out, meaning the pilot is always a rookie. So, you’d use a host possessed by a specter, who could then be trained as the user.”
Dorothea looked away. So I was right? Impressive.
“But what then? All you’d have is the specter’s knowledge and this one ‘Lord’ machine. Even with that…”
“You’ll understand soon enough, boy!” Dorothea shrieked. “The Sanctuary Church is not destroyed! Look at this world, which hasn’t evolved in over a hundred years since the war! Look at this stagnation! That is the very proof that the Sanctuary Church was justice! Those who inherit my will are already close at hand! Cower in fear! And know this: the Magic Guild is not the only one capable of creating ‘Ancient Artifact’ replicas!”
“…Give me a break.”
“Silence, boy!!”
“That should be my line! You people treated me like a monster, and now, two hundred years later, you show up saying, ‘We’re going to use ghosts to power our artifacts, we are justice!’ Are you children?!”
“—Gnnnh!”
“In the first place, it’s your fault my children went rogue! You destroyed people’s homes, and you have the nerve to call them traitors?! They didn’t betray anyone! Your damned Sanctuary Church just screwed up its recruitment!!”
“…Then you will die!!”
Dorothea’s shoulders twitched. “With my very life, I shall unleash the ancient magic that burns all enemies! Receive—”
Twitch.
Twitch, twitch.
“…Ah, aaaah? M-My arms?!”
“I’ve had more than my fill of the Sanctuary Church’s dirty tricks. You think I’d let my guard down?” My specialty was ‘Ice Magic.’ It wasn’t very powerful, but it was much easier to control. I had already spread threads of my ‘Freezing Net’ spell and locked Dorothea’s arms in place.
“I’m not letting you draw any sigils.”
“Y-You bas—mmph—mooo! Mph!!”
The threads of ice from my ‘Freezing Net’ had extended from my feet, snaring her arms and legs. While I was at it, I stuck her lips together with ice. And I plugged her ears with ice, too, so she couldn’t overhear what came next.
“Boss~.”
“You’re here, Niil.”
My bat familiar, Niil, landed on my shoulder. She was the one I’d assigned to guard Iris. She must have gotten worried and come to check on me.
“Iris-sama and Odette-sama will be here soon~.”
“…I told them to wait.”
“They got worried~.”
“Alright, take this message back. Dorothea is captured. There are three other Guild members outside the forest and one more here. Also…” I glanced down at the Holy Sword Rinkal in my hand. Summoning it was, honestly, going too far. I couldn’t just show up and say, “Hi, I summoned the Holy Sword and defeated Dorothea.” The follow-up would be a nightmare.
“I’m going to regroup with Iris and Odette. But I’m not ‘officially’ here. Get them to spread the story that some mysterious person defeated Dorothea, and then they arrived on the scene. Got it?”
“You’re not going to keep the armor~?”
“It’s fine. Apparently, there’s one out there that’s already mine.”
I looked at the inert Lord of Phantoms. A suit of armor twice the size of a man that moves just as fast. The Sanctuary Church had planned to use eight of these in the ‘War of the Eight Kings.’ I’d heard that war was a terrible quagmire, but now it seemed the world had gotten off easy. If these things had actually been deployed, I can’t imagine how many people would have died. Impervious to magic, resistant to physical attacks, only vulnerable to another ‘Ancient Artifact,’ and it shoots a mystery beam? It’s too overpowered. If they’d actually fought a war with these… the entire continent might have been destroyed.
“I’ll let the Magic Guild handle the cleanup for this toy.”
I cut strips from Dorothea’s robe with my dagger and used them to tie her hands and feet. I gagged her, too, and sealed it with a bit of ice. She could still breathe through her nose, so it was fine. The Magic Guild’s mage who had come out of the Lord of Phantoms was exhausted but unharmed. She was still unconscious. I sat her up against a tree for now. Help would be here soon.
Right. Time to regroup with Iris and Odette and come back here with an innocent look on my face. The official investigation could start then.
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