[V11C33] Return to the Abyss
Translated by Jodas 11: Envoy of the AbyssAbout the battle between humans and the Primordial Beast, the desperate efforts of Ella and Roswitha, and how it all ended.
About how Sophie used the Ancient Magical Artifact ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools’ not to seal away the Primordial Beast, but on the dying Werewolf, Finn.
Hesitantly, Tia relayed all of the information she knew. Being airborne as she was, Tia couldn’t hear or see everything that went on, but Hütter and the others were smart enough to fill in the gaps and piece together a picture of what went on.
“If I was just a little faster to find the crystal in the Cradle…”
Wren mumbled despondently, but Sevil cut him off.
“Wren, save your ‘what if’s and ‘if only’s for after everything is done.”
Sevil knew what it meant to be on a battlefield, and Wren could only clench his fist and nod timidly.
Tia as well tried to digest what Sevil had said.
Wren had regrets about the events that led up to Finn being sealed away, as did all of the other Apprentices. But one thought lingered.
(…I bet Finn doesn’t regret a thing.)
Finn fulfilled his obsession as a Monster until the very end.
What about herself? Did she have anything to hold on to all the way to the end? To make sure she had no regrets?
While Tia grasped at her shirt, Hütter asked her a question.
“Tia, are you sure that after Finn got sealed, the King of Monsters and Fiene showed up and headed towards the Third Spire?”
“Yeah. A Font of the Abyss appeared there, and Monsters were being born from there.”
With Tia’s confirmation, Hütter clapped his hands together.
“Alright. Then let’s head back to the entrance and let Spiremaster Lowein know! Then you guys can head back to the village. Right away.”
Hütter made a scary face when Tia groaned “Ehhh…”
“Don’t give me that ‘Ehhh…’ There’s nothing you guys can do from here on out. Come on, let’s head back. Quickly now.”
From Hütter’s perspective, not knowing about Tia’s identity, what she wanted to do might have seemed insane. — No, even as a Harpy, it was still insane.
Hütter was utterly correct. She should take all the information she’d gathered thus far, share it with Spiremaster Lowein and the others, then leave the rest to the adults.
Sevil looked around, nodded, then whispered.
“Naturally it would be prudent for me to abide by the advice of my Instructor, but…”
Hütter’s expression soured.
“…You have ‘But I won’t’ written all over your face.”
“Then let me state this more directly. Even if I wanted to, it seems that our enemies won’t permit it.”
She felt the presence of many Monsters around them. Short, two-legged dogs stepped out from behind the trees, staring at them — Kobolds.
“NOT FRIENDS.”
“EAT.”
“CHASE.”
“GUTS. TASTY!”
“Run!”
Sevil shouted and broke into a sprint. Tia, Wren, and Hütter followed along behind her.
As they ran, Hütter screamed.
“What’s the deal with those dogs! They’re saying some scary things with those beady little eyes!”
“I think putting crystals on our foreheads… isn’t gonna work this time, huh.”
When he said that, Wren reached into his pocket, pulled out a small vial, and popped the cap off of it.
Detecting the rancid smell drifting out of it, Tia instinctively held her nose.
“Wren… What is that… It stinks…”
“Thank goodness we’re upwind of them. Take this!”
Wren hurled the vial at the Kobolds. Immediately, the Kobolds came to an abrupt stop.
Sevil whispered in amazement.
“A particularly pungent drug, hm?”
“Yeah, you know how a lot of Monsters have a good sense of smell? I figured something like this might come in handy.”
Wren had limited mana, and his inscription magic could only accomplish so much.
So instead, he made his preparations by asking Rukiye to make him some handy little tools, asking the Management Office to spare him some drugs, and so on.
He didn’t have any big flashy secret weapons, but his conviction that each little effort would add up to bring victory reminded her of how the Apprentices all worked together during the magic battle.
Suddenly beset by memories of the ‘Pretty Boy Cannon,’ Tia had to ask as she ran:
“Hey, Wren! Was that trick just now a ‘Pretty Boy something-or-other’?”
“There’s nothing pretty boy about throwing a stinky vial!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
The Kobolds may have relented for the time being, but other Monsters were now coming out of the woodwork.
There were no humans to be seen anywhere around them. Probably because the mana density was rising again.
Tia looked up to the sky. There weren’t quite as many Eyeball Birds up there as before. The Extermination Office must have been putting up a good fight. When Hütter saw Tia looking up, he had to ask:
“Tia! Could you make it out of here while carrying someone?”
“Probably not. I’ve already gone through most of my mana by now.”
It wasn’t a lie so she could stay here. It was a fact that the mana consumption of the Magical Flying Device increased drastically as the weight it had to carry went up. In fact, she already expended a great deal of mana when flying around with Sevil just now. That was why Tia was running on foot for the time being.
Unlike Ancient Magical Artifacts, modern magical devices were not designed to draw on the user’s mana, so once their internal mana was exhausted, that was it.
(I don’t think I can fly for much longer.)
Eventually, they could see the Third Spire: Water Bubble through the trees ahead of them. The lower two floors of it were covered in some kind of black, goopy substance.
Upon closer inspection, there were ripples across its surface. Black lumps would emerge from those ripples and plop to the ground. With each one, a new Monster is born.
She saw this same thing earlier, but to her surprise, the other Monsters were also gathering around the Spire. The Monsters carried the bloodied corpses and dismembered remains of their comrades and sank them into the Abyss.
As a Monster herself, Tia instantly knew what that meant.
(They’re returning them to the Abyss.)
Beside the monsters stood the King of Monsters and Fiene. Also, flying overhead and singing, her sister Charonlala.
From her song, Tia knew exactly what she was trying to do.
It would take time for newborn Monsters to take form. Charonlala’s song was meant to help them develop faster. If left unimpeded, their forces would grow at an alarming rate.
(I can’t let that happen… I have to… I have to…)
If she couldn’t kill them, then she would have to persuade them.
However, Tia doubted she would be able to convince Fiene, the King of Monsters, or Charonlala.
(Is there anything between kill and persuade… Hmm… Hmm… Incapacitate, maybe?)
That was probably her best bet.
But to do that, she needed her Harpy abilities.
(But Mr. Hütter is here, and there’s all those people from the Extermination Office flying around… Hmm…)
While Tia wrestled with herself on what to do, she heard footsteps. Human footsteps. A human, here.
The area around the Font of the Abyss was already awash with intensely thick mana. Knowing that, Tia figured the one running up to them must be one of the Apprentice Mages who had candies to counteract the mana’s effects.
But she was wrong.
“FIENE!!”
With a thorny vine in his left hand and a sword in his right, Otto screamed the girl’s name.
The vine was one of the mana-absorbing ones Rose made. By forcibly dragging it along and feeding it his blood and mana, he tried to protect himself from mana poisoning. It was a clever idea, but beyond reckless.
Wren’s eyes asked “What do we do?” Hütter held a finger over his mouth, instructing them to “Stay quiet.”
The King of Monsters had not unleashed its fear yet. The other Monsters looked on in unnerving silence.
Then, Fiene spoke.
“You, too, wish for salvation, yes?”
Her voice was the epitome of gentle mercy, and yet to Otto it must have been the cruelest thing he’d ever heard.
The Otto that Tia knew was a nice but tired old guardsman. He always backed away from conflict, and his posture always communicated that he had long since given up on putting his whole heart into something.
Now, that same man wailed with tears all over his face.
“I’m… Your father!!”