Limit Breaking Genius Mage Chapter 495

Episode 495: The Watcher of the North (2)

For Verden, Eres was a being shrouded in mystery.

To rule the kingdom of Prohas, the only country in the vast north, means not only to be a king, but an emperor.

Being given the title of Captain of the Northern Watch meant that you were recognized as the one who would lead humanity from the Ark.

'furthermore…….'

No matter how much insight you have, it is difficult to determine Eres' realm.

Is it magic or something?

They were similar yet different, so I couldn't tell them apart.

'It's clear that it's not divine power.'

I thought maybe the two forces were mixed together, but I quickly ruled it out.

It is hard to assume that because the Kiwa magic power is handled to the limit, and the point of intersection with the fusion Regrit has not been specified.

Eres Aindgel Prohas.

This person is a perfect example of an ark full of secrets, just as you can see.

First, Verden began the Q&A with a light question.

“Was this false Chilstead made from an artifact? That’s strange. Despite being sealed, it seems like people can freely enter and exit from the outside.”

“It’s both an artifact and my power. To put it simply, it’s a way to completely recreate the scenery reflected on the ice and change it to reality. The process is natural and can lock up the opponent in an instant, but…….”

Eres nodded slightly.

“The moment someone, whether inside or outside, notices even the slightest hint of something foreign, the closed-off nature of this place is damaged. Just like now. Maybe it’s the intuition of someone like you that is a weakness.”

Of course, even if they are transcendent, each individual has different abilities, so we cannot say for sure that this method does not work at all.

“It is my turn to ask a question. Did you obtain the sword of the great warrior who brought it to Chilstead from an unclaimed land?”

“Since you know where it came from, I think you’ve already guessed how I got it. Is there really any need to ask?”

“That is true, but I need to make sure. Did you get it from a northerner called ‘Birek’? A muscular, large man who worked for the great lord who ruled the eastern part of the Land of No Man.”

Verden answered, recalling the sight of the man known as the Great Warrior in the East being defeated miserably by Isabella.

“I don’t know his name, but his other characteristics match. I heard he was a criminal who committed massacre in the North and escaped.”

“Then you are the person I was thinking of. After all, that is the only case where the Great Warrior’s weapon went outside the North.”

Eres smiled bitterly.

“Actually, Birek was not a northern warrior who was appointed as a great warrior. To be exact, he was a candidate.”

Years ago, two men from the Dark Tree tribe, who ran a small village in the north, were chosen as candidates for the position of Grand Warchief.

It was truly a slope.

From a group of only 150 people, there were two warriors who would receive the honor of tradition… … If even one of them was chosen, the tribe would be on the path to revival.

“I summoned them both to the capital and examined them. By all accounts, Birek was superior. However, I appointed another person as the Grand Master instead of Birek.”

“Why?”

“Strength and humanity are separate things.”

Although Birek's physical prowess was outstanding, Eres saw the innate malice hidden behind his talents.

The cruelty of not hesitating to kill both children and adults for the mere reason of pleasure.

It is a serious disqualification.

If we were to give the lofty honor of being the Great Warrior of the North to someone like that, the innocent white snowfield would end up stained with blood.

“Some of the tribal chiefs and elders who had been pushing behind Birek opposed it, but of course I did not bend my decision.”

and.

“While I was away, officially for a personal memorial service for my ancestors, and unofficially for the Ark Conference… a massacre occurred in the Dark Tree Tribe.”

Birek felt a deep sense of humiliation at the fact that he had been eliminated and that a weaker member of his own tribe had become the champion.

So I killed him.

He directly defied the Northern King by murdering his compatriot who had become a great warrior, and took out his anger by destroying the village of the Dark Tree Tribe where he was born and raised.

“It was probably planned. If he had done that horrible thing while I was there, I would have tracked him down and executed him myself. Anyway, Birek stole the Great Sword from the corpse and fled immediately. He killed small villages and people that caught his eye, and eventually he left the North and arrived in the Land of No Man.”

“So that’s why you couldn’t deal with it sooner?”

No man's land is an artificial area created with an agreement not to be directly intervened by outside forces.

What I want is a world cycle through conflict, not a power struggle.

For that reason, many countries and even the Tower of Eden exert their influence over the ownerless lands through sponsorship.

“After all, it’s my position. But we had no intention of punishing Birek while supporting an ownerless land.”

Of course, using the power of the ark is out of the question.

“Therefore, whenever Birek comes out of the ownerless land, he asks the Arnak Empire to deal with him as usual.”

"empire?"

“There is one of our northerners in the Empire. His name is Griswal. He is one of the six Lords of the Legion, and is known in the Empire as the Deviant.”

If it's Grizzly… … .

'ah.'

Verden recalled one of the three Lords who had clashed at the Black Volcano.

A large old man.

The name of the strong man who wielded a giant axe with incredible brute force and confronted Verden head-on with extraordinary resistance was Griswall.

Another lord who wielded magical powers had apparently called him that.

“Grizzwal was a great warrior appointed by the previous king of the North. He was exceptionally strong even among them. Although he was defeated in a fight, he never fell… and he was a man who purely desired fierce battles.”

Eres continued, drinking half a glass of cool strawberry wine.

“Then one day, Grizwal came to me after my predecessors had stepped down and I became the king of the North. He asked to be sent to the Arnak Empire, saying that he wanted to fight against the world’s strongest. I gladly agreed. Of course, the others opposed it, but they all shut up after being hit by Grizwal a few times.”

After leaving the North, Grizzwall proved his overwhelming power and became the Lord of the Arnak Empire.

With the Emperor's permission, he lives freely, often confronting new strongmen who come to the empire.

While also executing criminals who voluntarily fled outside the North.

“Sometimes, they come to me and have a chat. They also take a bunch of Prohassan raspberry wine with them.”

“……You seem to be close friends.”

“Well, Grizzly was my childhood teacher and father figure. Now that we’re talking, I’m curious about what he’s doing these days. It’s about time he showed up in the North.”

“…….”

Verden, who had beaten Grizzwall, who was like family to Eres, to a pulp, quietly quenched his thirst with strawberry wine.

* * *

As for Verden, it didn't really matter if he talked about what happened in the volcanic zone, but in the end, it was just a sore spot, so he didn't bother to bring it up.

Eres shrugged.

“Anyway, that’s it. Now that you’ve answered where you got the Great Sword, it’s time for you to ask questions. Well then… oh, would you like another glass of strawberry wine?”

“Thank you.”

The two glasses are once again filled with the sweet and sour liquor.

Verden asked.

“Why were you tracking us?”

I wanted to change the subject and raise an important topic for the current situation.

“You must have already known that there was a change in the trials since you met the Ark candidate, Terat. I was investigating the cause. It is the common duty of the captain of the Ark to ensure that the candidate can pass the trials safely.”

“Did you sense the spatial waves I created during that time?”

“It was a coincidence. We couldn’t help but chase after it.”

Eres was glad that the misunderstanding had been resolved, even if it was late, and apologized deeply for pressuring Adrian somewhat.

It was the second time that he had apologized directly to Adrian in the square.

“There’s no need to apologize to me. This is a problem that has already been resolved between the parties involved.”

"thank you."

“I heard that there have been some big and small errors in recent trials. Is this serious?”

“At first, I was just tilting my head, but as time went on, the discrepancies became bigger. Now, the locations of the trials have changed by months and countries. This has a lot to do with you, Asher.”

“With me?”

“Septa Horn, which appeared in Sacred, a city in the Republic of Beldirn. Originally, that monster should have appeared in the Kylians City Union.”

Septa Horn, a special type of Nol with seven horns growing from its head.

At the time, Verden had never seen it himself, as he was dealing with the glory of the corpse together with Adrian, but he had heard about it.

A powerful subhuman race that caused a stampede, a large-scale attack by subhumans and demons, and caused a mess in Sacred.

It is said that he was thrown out of the city by the offensive of Haldirn, the successor to the Dark Warton Tower, and Leyra, who drew on the power of the demons, and then met his end after being pierced by the claws of a bone dragon that suddenly appeared.

───Aren't you curious, Asher? Why did we use Kylians instead of anywhere else, and why did we have to control the Ainz race?

I recall a conversation I had with Kaecilius, the fourth servant of the Glory of the Corpse.

───The Ainzoid appearance that occurred in Kylians was not caused by us. It started before the [Pillar of Life] was used. And the transport of corpses that you thought you had a clue about was just an additional factor.

───… … What?

───The fact that the Ainz race started to run wild was a purely natural phenomenon. What we were aiming for was the central axis that caused that phenomenon. Well, it was only a coincidence that we discovered it.

The eyes of the past Kaesilus shone.

───That 'monster' has so much power that even I can't handle it. Even with a scroll containing 7th-tier black magic, I couldn't control its mind, and all I could do was suppress its instincts.

Could it be that the naturally occurring Septa Horn he mentioned was part of the ordeal the Ark had anticipated?

It seems that the discovery of the glory of the corpse has acted as a variable.

Verden asked.

“Do you know who moved Septa Horn to the Republic of Beldirn?”

“It’s a group of black magicians called the Corpse’s Glory. But isn’t it my turn to ask?”

“Feel free to change the format. If you have any questions later, feel free to ask them one by one.”

"great."

Eres nodded readily, saying that it would be more convenient.

And answered.

“As you know, the Ark doesn’t usually get involved in worldly affairs. That’s why they didn’t care about the glory of the corpse. They’re not a group that originated from the Ark like Gluttony, and their natural enemy, the world-class group called the Luas Church, is keeping a close eye on them.”

“But is that not the case anymore?”

“Even if it is inferior to a living dragon, the artificial creation of a transcendent species called the Bone Dragon is not something to be taken lightly.”

Eres narrowed his eyes.

“More than anything, the glory of the corpse caused the trials to be greatly distorted, so the Ark could not help but take interest. Of course, it did not do anything directly. To be exact, it went from indifference to watching from afar.”

“I see.”

“That’s all I have to say about the glory of the corpse. I’m not trying to hide it. I don’t know much about it except in the North. I’ve given you the answer, so I’ll ask you my own.”

What questions should we ask?

'It's probably more likely a question about the process of becoming a transcendent being or the circumstances surrounding the entire North.'

Verden thought so and prepared to answer, but… … the question Eres asked was truly unexpected.

Also, in some ways, it was natural.

“Transcendent, Asher. Is humanity in line with your ideal?”

Eres looked straight at Verden.

* * *

In addition to their natural talent and hard work, each of the transcendent beings, chosen by heaven, possess their own will, and that will does not hesitate to think in extreme ways to achieve their dreams.

In fact, Ignatia's theory of transcendental psychosis was a theory that was difficult to refute, even though it might be unpleasant to some noble transcendentalists.

And now Eres is asking Verden about the direction of madness.

'It's a legitimate question, considering the significance of the ark's existence.'

If the Transcendent Being, who is a candidate for the ark, were to sacrifice humanity for his own purposes, I would not be able to sit by and watch.

To this Verden replied immediately.

“Yes.”

There is no need to worry.

Because from the beginning, the ideal he desired included humans.

“That’s fortunate.”

The Northern Watcher smiled.

It's a smile of relief.

If Verden had spoken falsehoods or thoughts threatening to humanity, his relationship with the Ark might have deteriorated here.

Eres did not ask any more questions about the ideal and moved on.

The atmosphere that had become heavy for a moment became lighter as if nothing had happened.

“But why did you come to the North?”

“It was some kind of accident. The coordinates got messed up during the space travel. I can’t tell you the details though.”

“You don’t have to tell me. We didn’t promise in advance that we would have to answer each other’s questions unconditionally. I’ll just understand that something very serious happened that could have caused the Transcendent being severe physical damage.”

“Did you notice?”

“Ahaha, I have good instincts. Then I will ask the rest.”

Eres continued asking questions, but they were of little importance.

About the official details of the Republic of Beldirn, about the convalescent life in the North, etc… … Compared to the previous ideal, these were all minor questions.

Soon after, the turn came to Verden again.

A weighty topic was raised.

“After the Ark Exchange ended this year, I met Regrit and asked him why there were no traces of the Luas Church on the Ark… He said it was because the gods were not human.”

This time, Verden's gaze turned first to Eres.

“Does that story mean that the Transcendent One is human by the standards of the Ark? Then how could Ray, who was cursed by the devil, become a candidate for the Ark?”

“I don’t know much about the devil, so it’s hard for me to answer. I think you should ask the ‘Balance Adjuster’ later. He’s considered one of the most knowledgeable among the captains.”

and.

“Likewise, I don’t know much about the Luas Church… but I heard that it is a rule that has been passed down since the birth of the Ark.”

Eres slowly tapped the glass in his hand with his fingers.

“It is said that the Ark has had questions since ancient times. Why is it that the doctrine of the God of Light defines humans? What exactly is God? Is it truly right to divide humans only by whether or not they are affected by divine powers or other beneficial effects?”

“…….”

“Of course, I am not denying that the divine power of the Luas religion is clearly beneficial to humans… but its origins are unknown in many ways. Until its origins are revealed, the Ark itself will not accept the Luas religion. Ever.”

Even if it was for the sake of humanity, it meant that we should be wary of things that are not clear, such as divine power that is said to come from gods rather than humans.

“And you asked about the Transcendent One. Well, this… I think it would be better to move rather than tell you here. There is something I want to show you.”

… … What do you want to show?

While Verden was tilting his head inwardly, Eres took out a shabby robe from the bag behind his waist and wrapped it around his body.

“Will you trust me and follow me? Oh, of course, the two people outside and the being hiding inside the grove are also welcome to come with me.”

[Einver] trembling.

Alpha emerged from the nape of Verden's neck with one eye sparkling.

[Caught.]

“It was a high level of <transparency>, but as I said earlier, I have a good sense. But this is my first time seeing an artificial golem having a conversation. There are many strange things in the world.”

Eres looked genuinely surprised at Alpha, but that was it.

Well, as the captain of the ark, you would have encountered many mysterious things, so it seemed strange to be falling over at the sight of an intelligent golem now.

Than that.

“Is it okay to tell outsiders about the ark?”

“Of course it’s not okay. There are exceptions, like when you subdued the Doctor and Gluttony’s Fangs in the Duchy of Riviant. But before that, I’d like to ask you something.”

Eres asked in a serious tone.

“Do you trust those around you enough to pay the price for their wrongdoings?”

"okay."

faith.

Words that did not exist in Verden just two years ago were passed on to Eres.

“It’s a good feeling. Trusting and believing in each other and taking responsibility. I think that’s the essence of being human. Personally.”

Eres gestured.

Then the world cracked and shattered like ice under shock.

The silence is gone.

“Hahahaha! I won! Bring me two more bottles of the same liquor!”

“Damn, how can a kid with only seven fingers be so good at throwing dice…!”

“What do you want to eat as a side dish?”

“I heard that roast duck is popular these days. It’s a bit pricey, but let’s order that.”

“If you want to hear the story of the Northern Great Warrior and the Ainz and Alien races breaking each other’s balls over two glasses of wine, come gather around! First come first served!”

The noise of the chatter filled the tavern and could even be heard outside.

The tavern is now packed with people who weren't there before.

'Did Eres return to the real world by removing the seal?'

However, the citizens of Chilstead are eating and drinking naturally, unaware of the sudden appearance of Eres and Verden.

Squeak.

Eres stood up.

“Then shall we go?”

Verden emptied the remaining strawberry wine and stood up.

“Where are you planning to go?”

“It’s the end of the North.”

Eres turned and headed towards the tavern entrance.

“Let me tell you why I am the Watcher of the North.”