My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 469 The Missing Concept

When the blade of the Dawn of Destruction began to change, Roland suddenly understood why the greatsword was called that.

This is the world itself. It is the last moment before the world enters its final moments.

But in the end, none of it happened.

Because time is overwritten by a new time at the last moment.

Thus, the dawn before destruction was solidified as a concept, and then, through the hands of some unknown person, it was transformed into the double-edged sword he sees today.

Roland finally understood why he had felt that the Dawn of Destruction was incomplete.

Because it only retains the form, but lacks the most crucial concept.

"The last moment before the world ends"

This is the concept embodied in this greatsword.

This concept was stripped away and sealed in the deepest part of the underworld, bound and sealed by the rules of this land of the dead.

Looking at the underworld, which had turned from moonlight to twilight, Death simply smiled: "It seems you have truly regained your power."

"congratulations."

"In that case, I no longer need to worry about the time bomb exploding."

"Although the seal is very strong, both the underworld and the real world are now riddled with holes due to the invasion of the evil god. You really need to hurry."

Upon hearing this, Roland turned and asked, "How much have I lost?"

"Five?"

The reason for asking this question is that Roland knows there are a total of five special runes.

In this way, when combined with the nineteen primordial runes that already existed, the total number of primordial runes would be equal to twenty-four.

But I only have two on hand right now...

If I need to regain all the power, wouldn't I still be short three?
Moreover, he was completely unaware of this.

Fortunately, Death didn't want to continue playing the riddle-maker and kindly explained to Roland, "No... I know you're thinking about quantity."

"But you have only lost three parts of your power."

"You have already retrieved two copies."

"As for the rest... that's something you need to do."

"Like I said, what you need to do most is to find yourself again."

"It's not just about strength, but also about cognition."

"And...exclude 'foreign objects'."

As he spoke, Death extended his finger and pointed it at Roland's brow.

Then, the crown of the King of Men appeared on Roland's head.

It burned with a radiance like the blazing sun.

"You are not him, and he is not you."

Even if you look almost identical, it doesn't mean you are the same person.

"You're just using someone else's identity."

"Only in this way can you truly live in this world."

"But since it's a borrowed identity, it means it's fake and unreal."

"Even though the rules of the world have already recognized you as one entity, this is still true."

"This only shows that lies have deceived the world's rules and truths."

"So...you need to discard it."

"As for the method, that's beyond my knowledge."

"But you yourself might be able to guess some of the methods."

After Death finished speaking, he opened his eyes, which had been closed, revealing violet eyes that were exactly the same as Iluvia's.

She looked at Roland quietly, and said with a light smile, "If you don't mind, then stay in the Underworld a little longer."

"Thinking and acting... are most suitable here. You have plenty of time to think things through."

"Perhaps you haven't realized it, but you are already the de facto master of the underworld."

"Time and everything here will change according to your thoughts, even if it further lengthens the difference between the flow of time and the outside world."

After a brief moment of thought, Roland nodded and then looked at Death, saying, "Then I'll give you a little more time."

"However, if the situation gets out of control, you must contact me immediately."

Death closed his eyes again and nodded gently: "That's natural."

……

……

The imperial capital, the royal palace.

Salah III coughed as he picked up the report from the table.

These days, the compilation of various intelligence reports on the desk has never stopped.

Fortunately, aside from a few bad news items, it's all good news.

Traffic within the country has begun to recover thanks to the efforts of the airship force and the Griffin riders.

Even those powerful entities emerging from the fog became manageable after they learned to dedicate all their production capacity to manufacturing weapons and to work together with the Empire's major factories.

At least most of the eerie, pale doll-like entities could not withstand the main gun bombardment and machine gun fire of the Poison Blade tank.

On the contrary, those twisted tentacle aggregates are not easy to deal with because of their unimaginable speed and partial spatial teleportation capabilities.

It often takes the Hatter squad and the so-called No. 5 single-soldier mech developed by the Society to solve the problem.

However, overall, there is currently no entity within the Empire that can be dealt with by even legendary powerhouses.

Although most of the towns that lost contact in the first wave of fog disaster suffered heavy casualties, they are fortunately still under the control of the Empire.

In just over a day, the demons' stabilizers were also delivered to various parts of the empire and along the railway lines.

At least in the short term, there is no need to worry about the disaster continuing to escalate.

The elves also sent a lot of reinforcements, which relieved the empire of concerns about the security of most of the southern region.

Even the saints of the Holy See tracked down several bishops and two leading priests and priests of the Chaos Brotherhood.

Although they were not completely wiped out, their whereabouts have been pinpointed, and the entire church is currently mobilizing its resources to search for them.

The current indication is that they are attempting to advance towards Enwa, the Demon Clan's stronghold.

According to the intelligence Salah III currently possesses, the other side likely intends to further detonate the existing, irreparable boundary rift in Enwa.

But he, who also had information about the demon race, was not flustered.

He knew how well the demons were prepared.

The King of Carrion Eaters, rumored to be a powerhouse second only to the peak Demon Kings, is currently stationed in Enwa, along with the full strength of the Gargoyle King's Court.

Not to mention the powerful figures from the Holy See chasing after them.

If even this can't stop those lunatics, then no matter how anxious he is, it's useless.

The powerful figures of the Empire and the Academy have already devoted all their efforts to preventing disasters within the country. The Academy has a total of seven Great Sages.

Apart from Erebus, who is still on the front lines in Platia dealing with the fog disaster that has not yet fully erupted and spread, the remaining six, including the current chief sage Amphis, have all gone down to factories in various places to direct production and help clear the fog disaster.

Clearly, the situation did not spiral out of control due to the suddenness of the disaster. Although the atmosphere within the empire was tense, it had not yet lost order and control.

The continuous production of the Poison Blade tank, along with the development of numerous new weapons and specialized ammunition, enabled the city defense forces and militia units of all towns to launch counterattacks.

And... that witch named Kalia and that girl known as Little Grey, with just the power of these two, quelled the disaster in the northeastern part of the continent in a single day.

With the Demon King opening the portal, the two were moving at an excessively high speed.

They even helped the demon royal army enter the border of the Kingdom of Hetland, which was completely covered by fog and where there was no visibility at all. They also established forward outposts in the border city of Sekert within the Kingdom of Hetland, and cleared away all the fog in the process.

That kid Roland...

Salah III sighed. Although he knew from the beginning that this guy wasn't the type to be hung up on one woman, his demeanor, appearance, personality, and strength were indeed attractive enough to women.

But that's too much... and it's only been a short time!
It's only the beginning of March, and in just a few months, this child has already attracted so many people...

Forget it, none of this matters.

In some ways, he was quite at ease with Iluvia.

Let's think about what to do next.

Whether it was Roland, the Papacy, the Society, or even the elves, all the forces told him that a great disaster was about to befall him and that he should prepare in advance.

I just don't know if the current preparations are sufficient.

After sighing, Salah III began to take his medication; his body needed medicine to function again.

Fortunately, this specially made alchemical potion only needs to be taken once a day.

But he couldn't help but worry.

Roland has been out of contact for almost two days, and there is still no news.

The only news came from Kalia and Little Grey: Roland had gone to the underworld at the invitation of the god of death.

Moreover, neither the Society, the Vatican, nor even the demon race expressed any doubt or suspicion about this claim.

Clearly, in their view, this is a perfectly normal thing and nothing to worry about.

This made Salah III, who was not actually very concerned about Roland's recent situation, realize something.

So, is it true that this seemingly absurd statement is completely beyond doubt?
Just as Salah III was taking a rare moment to daydream and slack off, Chief Court Magician Sean, his old friend, slowly entered his room.

Seeing that Salah III was in a daze, he directly called him back to his senses.

"Your Majesty, I have something extremely urgent to say. Could you please concentrate?"

Upon hearing this, Salah III belatedly came to his senses: "Sorry, I was thinking about something."

"You're just spacing out. You can fool others, but do you think you can fool me?" Sean ruthlessly exposed the old emperor's excuse, then waved his hand to close the door behind him, and incidentally set up several soundproof barriers.

The old emperor became serious upon seeing this: "What happened? Isn't the situation excellent right now?"

Sean nodded: "That's right. The situation is indeed very favorable right now. But both the Demon King and the Elf King Thran have warned us not to let our guard down."

"And my reason for seeking you out is simple—dragons, like elves, also want to come to the continent."

"And they hope to find a place to dock at Dragon Island on the empire's coastline."

"And demanded that they stay away from Avalon, the land of the elves."

The old emperor was stunned for a moment after hearing this: "A giant dragon? Dragon Island? Docked on the empire's coastline?"

Sean nodded: "This message was relayed by Mr. Sinos."

"He is currently at the front lines in Platia, where he is responsible for teaching his daughter dragon magic."

"You've met his daughter too, she's the little white cat who's with Lord Roland."

Salah III: "???"

Seeing this, Sean laughed: "Incredible, isn't it? But this is just a little interlude to ease the tension."

"You need to choose a location as soon as possible. The dragons are controlling Dragon Island and are approaching the mainland via spatial teleportation."

"Moreover, they conveyed an important message—another anomaly had occurred on the sea surface; the shadows that covered the sea surface had become active again after a brief disappearance."

"They have even begun attacking Dragon Island, where the dragons reside."

"Although it wouldn't be too difficult for the dragons to deal with, they decided to migrate considering how things would develop."

"At least this way we can get reinforcements."

Salah III rubbed his temples. "So why stay away from the elves' Avalon? Do dragons and elves have a grudge? I've never heard of that."

“No. Their reasoning is quite simple,” Sean explained. “Avalon and Dragon Island have unique structures and both contain a large amount of overlapping space.”

"Getting too close could cause things to get out of control. Although the methods of dragons and elves are similar, the principles are different. This requirement was made to avoid risks."

Salah III sighed: "Then let's go to Isfar."

"Or near the chalk wall."

"Since we're already here, let's share some of the defense burden."

"The continent is surrounded by the ocean. Although there is no decent port in the northwest of the continent due to the lack of good port conditions, this may not be the case if monsters invade."

Sean nodded: "I understand. I'll pass on the message."

"In addition, King Thranan expressed his wish to have another conversation with Lord Roland."

"Please convey this message to His Excellency Roland upon his return."

Salah III nodded: "I understand. But why not inform Ms. Flam directly?"

Sean shook his head: "That's what those elves are thinking. Who knows?"

"Alright, I won't bother you anymore... There are some things you don't need to handle yourself. Get some rest, Salah. Even if it only adds a few more days to your life, that's good."

Salah III smiled and said, "You'd better take care of yourself, old man."

Sean shook his head helplessly and left Salah III's room.

……

……

March 4, 1030, 9 PM
Kingdom of Hetland, border territory of Sekert.

Inside the outpost built around the noble mansion within the territory, Kalia and Little Grey were playing chess.

Beside them, Polycia and Fram were watching the two play Go, while Cellina, opposite them, was acting as the referee to ensure the game proceeded smoothly.

That's right, the whole group has come to the front line of Seekert.

Or rather, after clearing the fog from the Kingdom of Platia and after the Imperial and Academia reinforcements, carrying poison-blade tanks and mechs, entered the territory of Wislow, there was no need to worry about many things.

Most of the fighting force has been deployed to the front lines.

This outpost was also prepared for a major battle.

Just as Kalia was about to die, at the critical moment when Little Grey was about to die, a dark purple door suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Then Roland came out of the door.

Also emerging from the river was Elena, the ferryman of the River Styx.

(End of this chapter)