Chapter 279: p i e c e
Chapter 279: p i e c e
That is———- Well, I guess that could be possible.
The Forbidden Curses having that ability would definitely lead to them being targeted by that sh*tty goddess.
Of course———- That's why she's so determined to suppress these abilities.
That's why she wanted to erase its existence.
After all……
The existence of this Forbidden Curse makes the value of her existence disappear.
The significance of being their Goddess would disappear.
I see———–
It indeed has the power to bring down God.
However……
[Excuse my discourtesy…… but how credible is this information?]
When I asked this……
[Unfortunately, we also haven't proven its power yet. The person who once possessed my Spellbook of Incantation wrote down that the curse had such power.]
[Thus, in order to confirm its authenticity———–]
[I searched for the Faraway Country———- and the Forbidden Race living in it.]
……In other words.
The Mad Emperor had been informed that "Vysis was desperately searching for the Forbidden Race".
Vysis' actions, on the contrary, supported their belief in the power of the curse.
That convinced the Mad Emperor that the power of the Forbidden Curses were real.
He had found a way to oppose the Goddess———– and he's going to use it to turn against her.
However, he may have been a bit hasty with their rebellion.
I feel like they still haven't fully ascertained the truth of the information regarding the Forbidden Curses.
They haven't even confirmed if the Forbidden Race still lives to this date.
And yet, they declared war on Alion at this moment.
This——– seems to have something to do with the Great Demon Emperor's great invasion before.
That battle……
It's a good thing that the Heroes from Another World fought better than expected.
In the East, they managed to flee from the Great Demon Emperor who had appeared in the battlefield.
In the West, they defeated the 3rd Oath of the Confidants.
They may have received extensive damage, but with our assistance, we had defeated the 1st and 2nd Oath of the Confidants in the South.
On another side of the Southern Battlefield, where we were supposed to join up with Sogou and the others, although it was a narrow victory, we had won the battle.
There were no defeats on any battlefront.
In addition, all of the S-Rank Heroes, who are the great strength against the Great Demon Emperor, are still alive and well.
With the victory over the great invasion, the atmosphere around the people all over the world suddenly changed……
Thinking that the battle against the Root of All Evil has already been won.
But for the Mad Emperor, this was a somewhat unpleasant situation.
After the Great Demon Emperor was destroyed, the "pressuring factor" would disappear.
If he turned against the Goddess, he would also be making enemies with the Holy Alliance.
However———— If the Great Demon Emperor remains, the Goddess and the other countries would have to "watch their back" for when the Great Demon Emperor's force assaults them.
This situation makes it easier for Mira to wage war.
Yes.
The Mad Emperor wanted to make his move while the Great Demon Emperor was still alive.
Rather than the Great Demon Emperor, he probably considers Vysis the more troublesome opponent.
The Great Demon Emperor is the great "deterrent" he could have against the Goddess.
From what I see, the Mad Emperor probably thinks that……
"After defeating the Goddess, he will convince the S-Rank Heroes to defeat the Great Demon Emperor together with him…… and after that, return the Heroes with the Forbidden Curse."
No……
If he plays his cards right, he might even get the S-rank Heroes on his side before he defeat the Goddess.
Ikusaba Asagi probably went along with the Mad Emperor for this idea.
For example, yes——— He could use Ikusaba Asagi to persuade the other heroes.
The Mad Emperor probably thinks as such.
With this thought in mind, I glanced at Ikusaba Asagi.
She didn't seem surprised about what he had just said.
She looked as if she already knew about this.
Well, however———– I see.
If they can return to the original world without having to rely on the Goddess……
I suppose it really wouldn't be surprising if they turned against that sh*tty goddess.
But even if that's so……
I still can't get rid of this hypothesis that she was a spy sent by that sh*tty Goddess.
I should always take both possibilities into account.
That is, until I eventually got a definite proof.
[……………………..]
Anyhow, I think I'm starting to see the situation.
The intentions of this young rebellious emperor———— the Mad Emperor.
It seems that this isn't just a reckless rebellion backed with empty ideals.
This appears to be a rebellion that has a winning strategy laid out.
……That strategy of theirs feels like they're walking on a very thin tightrope.
Conversely speaking, that means they would have to prepare to take a risk comparable to that.
It seems like they've decided that it's now or never.
Tick tack, tick tack
With my index finger, I tapped on the table.
At that moment, I heard a caw resound from behind me.
A raven's caw.
Responding to the signal I made with that caw———- was Munin.
At her own request, Munin has attended this meeting in the form of a raven.
In fact, she is perched on the shoulder of a Leopardkin soldier behind us.
"If I foresaw the situation correctly, the conversation will probably turn to the Forbidden Race".
Hearing this in advance, Munin offered to be in attendance for this conversation.
I suggested that we keep her presence "a secret" though.
It seemed a bit risky for Munin to just attend without making sure.
And by tapping my finger twice on the table……
I asked Munin if I could reveal to them that the Forbidden Race is still alive.
If she responds with a single caw———– then it's an OK.
In other words, I have received Munin's permission.
[The Forbidden Race still lives in the Faraway Country.]
The Mad Emperor didn't make any obvious reactions.
Meanwhile, Wright's smile slightly deepened.
The ones with the most obvious reactions though, would be their counselors patting their chest with relief.
As I expected, the offer of an alliance asking for additional war potential was just a bonus for them.
Their real target——— is the Forbidden Race.
[Thus, it is possible for your side to talk with the Forbidden Race. However, we will need to hear your intentions about what you will do with them first……]
[I'll tell you this first. We're willing to pay you a reasonable price in addition to the terms mentioned before.]
Saying this, the Mad Emperor snapped his fingers.
[Bring that out.]
Upon his words, the nearby Wright took a bundle of parchment paper from his bag.
Then, he holds out those papers to us.
The bundle of paper had a hole punched in one of its four corners.
A string was then threaded through the hole, binding all these papers together.
Receiving this stack of paper, I asked.
[———-What's this?]
[This is a list of the items that Mira has in our Great Treasury. There are many items whose names and effects we do not know of, so I can't say that this is a complete list. But even if we don't know the name or the effect, we did our best to make a picture of what these items look like.]
[……Would it be alright to browse through this?]
The Mad Emperor silently urged me with his hand.
With my gaze down on the document, I flipped through it.
……The guy who made this is honestly amazing.
The process of creating these pictures is especially daunting to imagine.
This already feels like a big picture book.
It must have taken them a lot of time and effort to make this.
As I flipped through the documents, I found myself stopping at a certain page.
Indeed, I could see through their intentions…… but I'll have to check just in case.
Keeping my gaze down on the documents……
[May I ask why you're presenting this list now?]
[If the Forbidden Race agrees to cooperate with us in defeating the Goddess———— We will give you what you want in that document in exchange.]
[………………]
While I was flipping through the pages earlier……
I had found "it".
From its appearance————- That's probably a Gem of Teleportation.
According to Erika, this item is extremely rare.
If anything, I know the usefulness of this item firsthand.
The document doesn't have any description about this gem's effect.
It only had a picture depicting this item.
However, there was no doubt that this was a Gem of Teleportation.
Mira isn't aware that this was a Gem of Teleportation——— and what this gem's effects huh.
However, the page that my hand completely stopped at————-
[………………….]
What should I do?
Before the decisive battle against that sh*tty goddess————- I guess I should get this huh.
"A Preserved Carcass of the Purple Beetle"
Yes.
This is the final piece that I had been lacking……
The final material for Pigimaru's reinforcer.