Magic Gems Gourmet

Chapter 224

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 224 – At the Foot of the World Tree

“Is anyone here?”

The three of them rowed a small boat and landed in the port city of Roundheart.

Then Arche looked around and muttered.

“I wonder if they’ve evacuated somewhere far away. I didn’t see any civilians yesterday…”

“Hmm. Even if they stayed, they’d just be absorbed… I don’t really care…”

She showed no deep interest in people other than those from Ishtalika. This was a tendency similar to that of Ain’s mother, Olivia.

When she said, “I don’t care,” with a slightly cold attitude, she stood in the straight line created by Princess Olivia’s main cannon.

“Let’s hurry and go. Otherwise, it’ll be too late.”

Cain turned his gaze to the capital of Heim, just a stone’s throw away, and saw the World Tree of Gluttony, greeted by a blinding light.

It was growing every second, and its body was getting thicker and taller. It must have possessed a power that exceeded human knowledge.

And then Arche and Sylvia nodded and ran after Cain, who was running a little ahead of them.

◇ ◇ ◇

When they found a suitable horse in the city, they rode it as fast as they could. Sylvia used magic as if it was her natural right and forced the horse to run.

Perhaps because they were able to run much faster than the warhorses there, the three of them were able to advance smoothly to the outskirts of the capital of Heim… but,

“Wait here for a moment―I will talk to him.”

There was a large gate on the outer wall of the capital of Heim, which was a matter of course. When Cain noticed the person standing in front of it, he gestured to Sylvia and Arche to stop and step forward himself.

The person also noticed that Cain had approached and moved forward at a leisurely pace.

“…It’s been a while.”

“What are you talking about? We just passed each other yesterday, right?”

“Haha… I mean, we exchange words like this.”

“You’re right when you say it like that… Marco.”

Marco’s body stood out well, even at night.

This was because tubes like blood vessels ran through his body, and they emitted a faint light every time they pulse.

This was much more pronounced than when Ain had a one-on-one with Marco, and it was nothing but proof that Marco had the power of his prime.

“I believe I informed you about the completion of the mission through Ain.”

“I received it. At that time, your consideration of my loyalty… it was a great honor.”

Marco replied, then placed his hand on his chest and bowed deeply.

“I announce a new mission to you, Marco, the second-in-command of the Black Knights. Please lend us your strength to stop Ain from getting out of control.”

Cain held out his hand, and Marco stretched out his fingers several times as if to take it.

But he shook his head from side to side as if to shake off his worries and then pulled a huge sword out of thin air.

“Commander, with all due respect, I have already been assigned a new mission. Therefore, I cannot grant your request.”

(I knew this would happen.)

Cain also took out his sword and held it in one hand, muttering to himself wistfully.

“You mean you cannot obey the Commander’s orders? That would mean your loyalty is dead.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. My loyalty has not died… that’s why I’m also taking up a sword.”

“Marco… can’t you even hear my request?”

Then Arche, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke up.

“Arche-sama… I have not lost my respect for you… but as you can understand, the person I was supposed to serve…”

“That’s enough. I’ll force you to understand. Marco.”

Arche pressed her chest and bowed her head, her sadness evident. Then Sylvia approached gently and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

“We’re going to stop Ain. You’re going to get in the way, aren’t you?”

“…I will dedicate myself to the happiness of my lord.”

This was different from the time of the one-on-one fight with Ain, and also different from the time he defeated Ed. As Marco concentrated all his strength, the ground around his feet began to rot.

The air became thick like smoke, irritating Cain and the others a bit.

Marco’s unclear attitude was irritating, but his stance did not change.

“I never thought a man like you would misunderstand the definition of happiness.”

The distance between them began to close. As they walked, Marco opened his mouth and spoke with a voice that seemed to be smiling ironically.

“No. I have never misunderstood what Ain-sama’s happiness is. If anything, I think I have stronger feelings than the commander who thinks he can stop the rampage.”

“Marco… what are you trying to do?”

If they did not want to be exhausted by this senseless battle, they wanted to go straight to Ain.

As Cain thought about the hardships they would face,

“――!”

Suddenly, Cain had a flash of inspiration. As the conversation with Marco played over and over in his mind, he realized a certain fact.

“I want to ask you one last thing. Marco, you are thinking about Ain’s happiness… is that right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Sylvia. Arche. Go to Ain first. I’ll be there soon.”

“Dear… we’ll all go…”

Sylvia wanted to answer that they would fight together, but…

“No. Just go ahead. It’s better if it’s just me.”

“D-Dear? Then at least explain a little more…”

Cain replied that it was fine.

Then he suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of Marco, swinging his sword. But Marco caught it easily…

“It’s not often that we get to fight each other when we’re both at the peak of our powers… Marco!”

“…As expected from the Commander. My arm is numb!”

Strong, fast, and skilled. Everything a swordsman would surely strive for was condensed and played out at the gates of the capital of Heim.

“Arche. Let’s go.”

“But, Onii-chan…”

“I’m sure he has his own reasons. I don’t like the fact that he started the fight without telling us, but we don’t have time to waste right now.”

“…Yeah.”

◇ ◇ ◇

The two of them rushed into the capital, leaving Cain and Marco behind.

Most of the capital city had already been reduced to rubble, and the castle of Heim, which Ralph and the others had been so proud of, had collapsed. All that remained were a few houses, but even these were covered in roots and ivy that Ain had created, making it clear that this was Ain’s territory.

Suddenly, Sylvia wondered where Heim’s soldiers had disappeared, and the answer was soon found.

“I see. Anyone who could be considered an evil presence to that child was just sucked up and killed, was that it?”

Looking to the side of the corridor, they saw the skeletons of many bodies lying scattered about. Seeing the armor of Heim soldiers scattered nearby, it was clear that they were former Heim soldiers.

“If they were the enemy, didn’t they deserve to be killed?”

“Yes, of course. I just wondered if that was Ain-kun’s intention.”

“…Hmm.”

“What about Arche? Were you conscious?”

“A little bit.”

Then Sylvia looks at Arche with a surprised expression.

“…But how did you get out of control?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

Arche grunted and thought about it. Sylvia waited for Arche’s answer while keeping a watchful eye around them.

“But it could have been a development from the day I was really sleep-deprived.”

“…Yes?”

“I was irritated, and my whole body ached in a vague way, and I didn’t feel refreshed. Even when I lay down in bed, I couldn’t sleep, and I was irritated by the feel of the sheets, the feeling of my legs rubbing against each other, and I felt like I was cutting up my own body. I wanted to snap at a single hair that had fallen on the pillow, and I wanted to burn the uncomfortable bedding.”

“…..”

“Everything I see seems dirty and like vermin, and the only way I can feel refreshed is to take a bath. I think that’s how I felt when I was on the rampage.”

It was the first time she had heard of Arche’s feelings at that time. Her expression was full of her personality, but her struggles reached Sylvia.

“But then sleep deprivation wouldn’t work.”

“That’s why I said it was hard to explain!”

Sylvia laughed at the sight of Arche stamping her feet. Then, after taking a deep breath, she said.

“Then I have to make those painful feelings disappear.”

“…Mm!”

She pointed her staff at the World Tree of Gluttony, which was rooted around Augusto’s mansion―Ain.

Arche, who was standing next to her, also changed her mood. She wrapped her body in an aura and prepared for battle.

“Onee-chan. By the way, how did we get here so easily? I’ve been wondering that ever since we were in the port city.”

“I don’t know why. Maybe Ain-kun is working hard in his heart?”

“I see.”

While the two of them were talking, the battle suddenly began.

As they stood in the deserted streets of the capital, several vines crawled out of the shadows to surround them.

As several of them reached behind Sylvia’s back,

“――!――…”

Sylvia turned around and turned them into glowing sand, just as she had done with the Heim soldiers.

“How is it?”

“This level is nothing. It’s just a vine that has grown long.”

“…I’m glad to hear that.”

Then, Arche also moved.

She let out a sigh and sent the purple aura surrounding her in the air to the vine, and the vine withered as if it were drying up.

Maybe this was just a test? The two of them breathed a sigh of relief, but they remained vigilant.

However, as if mocking them, the crystals on the branches above them begin to fall to the ground. There were countless of them, and when dozens of them fell around the two of them,

“AHAHA… AHA… HA…?”

“FU… HA… EHE… HEHE…”

And gathered the ivy and roots around it. They wrapped themselves around the crystal, and a new creature was immediately born.

“What is that?”

“…I’ve never seen anything like it before, but I’m pretty sure it’s not friendly.”

It was about twenty meters tall. It looked like a single rose, but all of its petals had shark-like fangs and an ugly tongue stuck out from the top of the flower. It looked at Sylvia and the others while dripping mucus, and the mucus that dripped onto the ground dissolved the cobblestones with ease. The strange appearance made them shiver, but the problem was that dozens of these creatures had been born to surround them.

“Do you think they’re strong?”

All of the dozens of them turned their bodies towards Arche and licked their lips.

They’re not creatures that make you feel good to look at. Arche asked Sylvia in a disgusted voice.

“If you think about the crystals they are made of, I don’t think they are weak at all. But what’s more troubling is the number of them.”

“I understand that, but I wonder why they’re all looking at you.”

“Oh, maybe…”

Sylvia clapped her hands and realized.

“We were summoned by Ain, but Arche didn’t come through Ain, so…”

“…So does that mean they consider me their mortal enemy?”

Arche, who was resurrected by Chris, was not a summoned being. She was an existence that appeared in the real world around her own magic stone and haD nothing to do with Ain, so it’s not surprising that Ain… the World Tree of Gluttony looks at her with strong hostility.

“I think that’s going to happen to me soon. At least it hasn’t happened yet.”

“This is terrible… to make a little girl like me the object of everyone’s amusement.”

“Yes, yes. If you don’t want it to happen, then let’s work together to prevent it.”

“…Hah. This is terrible, too terrible.”

Then Arche walked in front of Sylvia.

“Oh, hey, Arche?”

“…..Fuh.”

Without answering Sylvia’s call, she continued to walk with a calm yet intimidating gait.

Her long silver hair spread out as if she was bathing in the wind, and she slowly opened her hands from side to side, then opened her mouth to look at the World Tree of Gluttony.

“Shall we sleep? To indulge in sweet pleasure.”

The air began to crackle, and the ground and houses around where Arche was standing began to crack slightly. As if the air around her had become thin, breathing became difficult, and even Sylvia, standing behind her, felt a sense of oppression.

“Shall we sleep? For the sake of melting pleasure.”

If there were any people left in the capital, they would have been able to sense this abnormality. With every word Arche spoke, the air in the capital was distorted.

(A mirage…? My vision is starting to distort, but what is she up to?)

Watching over Arche as she stood in the distorted vision, Sylvia muttered to herself.

…And the Demon King, who went berserk five hundred years ago, made her strength known to the capital of Heim.

“Let’s go to sleep forever, shall we?”

Hahahahaha, ahahahahahahaha, fufu… fufu… Hihihihihihihi, ufufufu…

Voices of all ages and both sexes, not Arche’s, echoed throughout the capital. The voices echoed, penetrating the ears and enveloping the body.

Then, without exception, everyone in the capital felt a great shock in their bodies.

It was as if the top of their heads had been knocked off or as if they had been kicked to the ground from a high place and received such a powerful shock.

Without a pause, the houses that had not collapsed collapsed all at once, and the rose-like creatures also smashed the flower parts of their faces into the stone pavement all at once.

After that, they twitched for a while but soon stopped moving.

…The capital city sank around the Arche. It was very similar to a small child who could not resist the urge to sleep.

“Yes. Good.”

Arche’s dignified demeanor had completely changed, and she held onto her hand with a dazed expression.

However, for those who had not been given this explanation, it was difficult to nod in agreement with the word ‘good’ and…

“What… what is ‘good’ about that! Doing something like that suddenly… it’s dangerous!”

“Pi… piiiii!?”

Sylvia, who had been watching from behind, had sweat on her forehead. She had been kneeling on one knee, leaning on her staff, but it goes without saying that Arche’s attack had affected her as well. Frightened by Sylvia’s angry voice, Arche crouched down and held her head.

“D-don’t be angry… Onee-chan. I tried my best, you know?”

As she crouched down, she looked up at Sylvia. When she did, Sylvia couldn’t bring herself to scold her any harder…

“You know what? I don’t blame you for trying your best. But… hah, whatever. What was that about?”

“What was that about? I just thought if everyone went to sleep, everyone would be happy, so I just forced them to sleep.”

So it was just brute force. Sylvia was stunned and held her head in her hands, but the Demon King was still a special being. Besides, she felt that the attack method was also like that of a succubus.

No matter what, she was showing her power that affected the entire royal capital, which was very reassuring.

“I am sure that the attack reached Ain-kun as well. Well, I know it wasn’t all bad… Well then…”

The chase began. As Sylvia got into the swing of things, the World Tree of Gluttony began to move.

One by one, crystals of magic power rained down like rotten fruit falling to the ground. But this time, not only that, but thick roots and vines began to emerge from the ground, and Sylvia and the others took a step back and prepared themselves.

“Arche, it looks like it’s time to go for it.”

“This wasn’t something I could do over and over again, you know?”

“I know. So try your best not to die.”

Sylvia, smiling seductively, waved her wand. Arche, on the other hand, had opened her mouth in shock at the harsh words, but after a few seconds, she pulled herself together and gathered her strength.

The two of them watched as the magic crystals transformed into roses and prepared themselves for a long battle.

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