Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 258

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Chapter 258 – Starting Device

Alicia gazes intently at the manhole, her finger pressed against her lips.

I silently compare her expression to the manhole.

As expected, her reaction is dull.

Like me, she’s looking at it with a “normal gaze,” as if it were something mysterious.

“Even if Loki-kun does something, nothing happens, right?”

“Yeah, I threw things at it, cast magic, and hit it a little. I even tried to lift it, but it didn’t react at all. It doesn’t seem deeply connected to the ground either. But I was able to store it using Spatial Magic.”

“…”

Alicia gently touches the manhole cover and looks up at the sky. I follow her gaze, but there’s nothing up there.

There’s no way this is where the aliens landed, is there?

Right?

Suddenly, a ridiculous idea pops into my head, and my heart starts racing. After a moment of silence, Alicia speaks up.

“I understand what this material is.”

“Really?”

“You’ve seen it before, haven’t you, Loki-kun?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s installed in every church…”

“Ah, obsidian plates!”

With that hint, I realized it did look similar.

The blackness that seemed to absorb light was exactly like that mysterious large plate.

I hadn’t thought about it in a while, but that mysterious substance did give off an otherworldly atmosphere unlike anything I had encountered in my adventures thus far.

“That’s correct. Those obsidian plates do not exist naturally in this world. They were created in the divine realm at the Shrine Maiden’s request and sent down to this world.”

“So, you’re saying that something made from materials from the divine realm is here for some reason?”

“That’s right. If I don’t know about it, then no one else does either. We are not allowed to create objects of this shape.”

“So, you’re saying that Felza-sama placed it here for a reason?”

“That’s correct.”

After that, Alicia stood frozen in place, tilting her head as she tried to figure out the meaning of the manhole cover.

No matter how much she thought about it, though, she couldn’t come up with an answer.

Looking at the surface of the disc again, I wondered if there was anything that could give us a clue.

I was too scared to step on it directly, but since Alicia was already there, it should be safe.

“Hmm, there are no pictures or patterns. The only clues are this indentation and the six lines spreading out from it.”

After using Wind Magic to blow away the dust, the indentation on the disc became clearer.

The hole in the center was slightly larger but still only about 20 cm in diameter.

Similar to the hole I had dug out while building the bathtub the other day, it was a hollow hemisphere.

The six surrounding holes were even smaller, about half the size of a ping-pong ball.

“All the holes are round and seem to be connected by lines.”

“Yeah… Could this be some kind of device for summoning something?”

“Summoning?”

“Yeah, since Earthlings’ souls are being summoned and reincarnated, maybe it’s a device to summon souls?”

“That’s unlikely. If it’s just moving spiritual entities, like souls, it wouldn’t require much effort.”

“But if it involves physical bodies, you don’t know?”

“Well… I’m not sure, but considering the situation, that’s even less likely.”

“Hm?”

“This was definitely placed here by Felza-sama. Unlike us, she can easily move between dimensions with her physical body, just like Loki-kun. So, she wouldn’t need a ‘summoning device.’”

“Oh, I see.”

If it can be done without a summoning device, then there’s no need to prepare one.

It would make sense if it were prepared for the goddesses, but since they don’t seem to know about it, it seems unnecessary.

The only possibility is that someone fell into a dimensional rift a long time ago, but that’s unlikely.

“Then the key must be this ‘hole,’ right?”

“Yes. From the fact that the lines are connected, I think this hole is connected to something that activates it.”

“Hey, what does the obsidian plate react to for the skills to manifest?”

I can feel that something is connected.

The obsidian plate and the high-performance magic tool “Storage Room” in Malta’s Hanfa Rest were on my mind.

Its authentication was based on a person’s minimal magic power.

If that’s the case, then the black obsidian plate must have the same potential.

“Minimal magic power, that is.”

“…”

As I got closer to the answer, I could feel my heart beating faster.

If so, then the hole must have something to do with magic power.

But this “hole” is too small for that.

Then maybe this?

“Huh?”

“Alicia, could you take a look at the whole thing? Especially the connected lines.”

My instinct was to cut my finger deeply.

I’ve gotten used to it recently, so I thought I’d try that first.

I poured the blood into the hole, but there was no reaction.

Thanks to the Slave Magic and the resurrection of Zeo and Carla, I know that magic power is mixed with blood.

I thought the size of the hole might be the key, but…

“How about it? Any changes?”

“N-nothing… What are you doing, filling the hole with blood?”

“I thought the magic mixed with the blood might cause a change, but I guess not.”

What’s in front of me is a manhole, but it feels like I’m pouring blood into the Holy Grail from mythological times.

Even when I look at it, though, there’s no reaction, and I gradually feel a sense of futility.

If I try to do all this, the hole in the center will be particularly difficult.

Besides, there’s a possibility that my magic power won’t be enough.

The last resort I took out of storage was a magic stone from an A-rank monster that I picked up somewhere.

Monster magic stones aren’t perfectly round, so I thought this one might be different. However, when I tried to fit it into the smaller holes around the edges, it was too big.

Then, when I threw one into the central hole, black smoke suddenly erupted from the stone.

“”…””

About a minute later, the smoke cleared. When I looked into the hole in the center, all that remained was a dull, white magic stone.

It was still solid when I took it out, but it was so fragile that it looked like it would crumble at any moment.

Although it was my first time seeing one, I could tell right away that this was what a magic stone looked like after its magic power had been depleted.

“I think I see the answer now.”

“Y-yeah. But this consumption doesn’t seem normal…”

“I guess so. After all, this is a magic stone from an A-rank monster.”

At this point, the answer was clear.

However, the item I had was still “too small,” so I needed something “bigger.”

I took out a “magic stone” about the size of a marble from my storage and focused on the surrounding hole, which was about the size of a ping-pong ball, as well as the even larger hole in the center.

If this magic stone became unusable, it would be disastrous.

The loss would be in the hundreds of millions, and I might have to dig a hole in the cliff and hibernate for a while.

But Orlando-san had said,

“Even if it’s consumed, the magic power will recover.

Then it’ll be okay; it has to be…

I don’t know what will happen.

This is fantasy and adventure, though, so I gently rolled the magic stone into the hole in the center.

Then…

“O-oh?”

“Lo-Loki-kun!? It’s glowing a little!”

Six faint lines glowed near the center of the hole.

The light was very weak and didn’t reach the six surrounding holes.

But there was a reaction.

There was definitely a reaction.

I quickly grabbed the magic stone and gently stroked it to check its condition.

It didn’t seem to have changed much, so I put it back in its case quickly.

If it’s going to recover, it would probably be best to take it out before bed and let it recharge with natural magic.

What should I do next? What should I aim for?

I now have another big goal to work toward.

In fact, I feel like this might be my ultimate goal.

No matter how I think about it, one or two more magic stones won’t be enough.

I’ll need a considerable number of magic stones, including the holes around it.

Bigger ones at that.

What will happen once I gather them all?

“Alicia, if this ‘activates,’ what do you think will happen?”

Alicia and the other goddesses probably don’t know the answer to that question.

“I don’t know. But I hope this world will move in a positive direction.”

“That’s right.”

In reality, we won’t know if the outcome will be good or bad until we open the “lid.”

Currently, only Felza-sama knows the truth. There’s a possibility that activating it could be extremely dangerous, so we might decide against it as we travel through the world.

Still, if this is a fantasy world, I want to try activating it once the conditions are right.

As I thought this, I shifted my gaze from the manhole and noticed a faint shadow on Alicia’s profile.

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