Chapter 2: The End
“That is…”
Nix and Minerva immediately recognized the identity of the spider. It was one of the insect species dwelling in the Poison Swamp of the continent’s east.
However, something felt very off.
These creatures typically fought and consumed each other daily, and barring a few exceptionally strong specimens, they would never grow larger than a building nor venture all the way here to attack humans.
In essence, this meant that there should not logically be a reason to fight spider monsters in the Imperial Palace.
“How did it get here?”
That was how it should have been, but what on earth was that scene visible through the window?
As the two gazed down at the garden, their thoughts tangled, the knights were efficiently subduing the spider monsters one by one. Even in their panic, the Silver Dawn Knights were the elite forces of the Empire.
However, more of those creatures began to appear one after another, and it started to look like they were going to be overwhelmed. Several spiders were crawling over the walls surrounding the Imperial Palace.
“…I must go.”
At this rate, a knight would have to face four or five at the same time. Seeing the knights gradually pushed back, Minerva tightened her grip on her staff.
“I won’t let them ruin everything. It’s true they need help over there as well. What about True Death?”
“That child is worried we might die, so giving up now would be going against her wishes. Let’s set those worries aside. If we defeat them and have time left, I will come back then.”
A faint smile appeared on Minerva’s face.
“What the… cough cough, what’s going on, cough cough… Minerva…?”
Kaiquilia, who was leaning against the sofa and catching her breath, forced down her urge to gag and questioned them.
Seeing Nix and Minerva’s expressions, something must have occurred, but the conversation left her puzzled about the exact situation.
Except for Floretta and Luna, who were still dazed from recently waking up from memory sharing, everyone had similar reactions.
“We can’t give a definite answer. It seems we’ll have to hear the details firsthand.”
“…Do as you wish.”
After momentarily staring at Minerva, Kaiquilia weakly lowered her head. Others seemed hesitant, debating whether to help Minerva or continue with their previous tasks.
“Everyone stay here. I will handle them. The children need to do what they must.”
Minerva firmly declared she would go alone, tapping the ground lightly with her staff to activate Teleportation. The destination was the Imperial Palace garden.
Upon arrival in the garden, a spider, comparable to the height of a three-story building, was attacking the knights not far away. Minerva waved her staff, moving the knights behind her.
The spiders, confused by the sudden disappearance of their target, scanned their surroundings with dozens of compound eyes before spotting Minerva and charging at her. Eight legs slammed down to the ground.
“This is quite peculiar, isn’t it?”
Minerva mumbled as she popped the leading spider’s body like a balloon. Even after one of their own exploded, the other spiders showed no concern.
A malicious mana, enough to make even a formidable high-level monster flee, was leaking from Minerva’s body. The problem was, they didn’t seem scared at all; they didn’t react in the slightest.
Even insects possess a minimal level of intelligence to judge a situation. If faced with an opponent they were sure they couldn’t defeat, they would run away.
Yet that was not the case now. It felt as if they were willing to charge regardless of whether they would die or if their companions would perish, driven solely by the hunger to bite the human before them.
“Where do you think you’re putting that disgusting face?”
Her thoughts were short. Minerva blew up all the remaining spiders as well. Of course, she didn’t forget to block the surrounding area with a barrier to prevent the splattering fluid from spreading and burned it away.
As the situation concluded, the knights, who had retreated behind her, approached. Witnessing Minerva effortlessly burst the spiders made awe swell deep within their hearts.
“Thank you for your help! Eternal Magician!”
“I merely did what I had to do. You can save your thanks. More importantly, I want to hear how this happened. Do you know why they appeared?”
“We don’t know either. The area outside the palace looks like this. According to His Majesty’s orders, everyone is out fighting, and fortunately, there haven’t been any casualties, but things don’t look good.”
“You said the outside looks like this?”
“Yes. Only the minimum military strength remains in the palace. His Majesty seems eager to assist outside, but sending more troops from here could endanger the palace.”
If the entire Empire is in such a state, it indicates an incredibly grave situation. Minerva hardened her expression and spread her mana wave. The three closest mages immediately flew to her.
“Skeantia!”
“Minerva, right now—”
“Has anyone used detection magic? Report the situation.”
Minerva coldly interrupted the mages’ words, freezing their bodies stiff.
“According to His Majesty, it’s not just here; the entire Empire is experiencing a similar situation. They’ve grown sizes several times larger and are far more ferocious than ordinary monsters.”
“Thanks to Divine Power, we can’t confirm the Holy Kingdom’s status, but based on reports from the border, where monsters are moving toward the Holy Kingdom, I suspect they are in a similar situation.”
“Understood. Good work. Now step back. Don’t come near.”
After briefly acknowledging their hard work, Minerva drew up her mana. That was enough information for now. She could think about details later after dealing with the pests. Every second counted in a scenario like this.
The silvery-white hair danced against the laws of nature as the mages took several steps back with their knights.
This was a clear sign that Minerva was serious about using magic. Staying close could result in being caught in a mana storm, leaving them as nothing but puddles.
The focus in her silver-white irises faded. Her body began to levitate into the air. It stopped only after her toes reached eye level with the people.
“Look! The sky!”
One of the knights exclaimed in surprise. A massive eye, shimmering silvery-white like Minerva’s own, appeared in the sky.
The sight of that gigantic eye moving swiftly while surveying the ground felt exceedingly grotesque.
“…Ugh!”
Someone let out a short scream. An even denser concentration of mana surged around Minerva’s body.
Despite being a safe distance away, the chilling sensation could still be felt on their skin, prompting one of the mages to urgently shout.
“We can’t stay here! Move the people further back! Quickly!”
“You’ve become much stronger than before?! Is this even possible?!”
“If you have time to talk, move your feet! There’s still so much magic left to learn! If you die here, you won’t be able to learn more magic!”
The mages hurriedly distanced themselves even further. The ground beneath Minerva’s feet seemed to melt away, evaporating. The 10-meter radius transformed into a death zone where nothing could exist.
Eyes continued to appear. They spread throughout every location in the Empire. The count reached into the tens of thousands.
The silvery-white eyes that covered the Empire’s sky gazed down upon the land. The people below also gazed upward at the eye hovering in the sky.
Normally, even Minerva could not fill the sky with countless eyes to surveil the entire Empire at once. It would have been impossible even for her.
But now it was different. She had obtained two Ancient Scrolls and had the chance to learn magic from another world.
Though time was short, preventing complete understanding, Minerva’s genius brain was capable of constructing new magic even in that brief moment.
Tens of thousands of silvery-white eyes responded to Minerva’s will. A faint violet hue erupted from those pupils. All the citizens of the Empire seemed entranced by those eyes.
“Ha…”
Caught in a storm of mana, Minerva exhaled a blue breath and slowly raised her left hand. The hundreds of thousands of eyes floating in the sky opened wide.
The monsters rampaging throughout the Empire soared swiftly into the air. Countless monsters flailed their limbs and erupted with roars.
Anyone with eyes could see it—countless, possibly hundreds of thousands of monsters rising up into the sky.
Anyone with a heart could feel awe at discovering that someone in the Empire made such a miraculous magic possible.
“That is… Skeantia’s…”
The mages in the palace were no exception. In fact, they were focusing even more intently than ordinary people as they watched the scene unfold.
For those without knowledge of magic, their impressions would be limited to just “incredible,” but the mages understood the magnitude of mana and magic power needed to perform such feats.
Crack! Minerva clenched her left hand. At that moment, hundreds of thousands of blue spears descended from the sky, piercing through each monster one by one.
The smaller ones died instantly upon being pierced, but the majority remained alive, flailing despite being impaled. It was simply because they were so large.
Nevertheless, it wouldn’t last long. The blue spears that had pierced through them emanated vast amounts of mana. The monsters, overwhelmed by that mana, vaporized completely, leaving not a single piece of flesh or drop of blood.
“……”
In one swift movement, Minerva had exterminated monsters all across the Empire. She descended back to the ground, and the scorched garden and nearby structures had already returned to their original state.
Stepping onto the grass, Minerva leaned on her staff, panting heavily. Drip, blood spilled from her left eye like tears. Coughing brought forth deep red blood as well.
“……So that’s how it is.”
Even for her, the consumption had been immense. Wiping away the blood that flowed like tears, she cleaned her sleeve of the blood that leaked during her coughing fit.
“Skeantia!”
Minerva quickly wiped the traces of coughing up blood upon seeing the mages rushing over to her. At least she couldn’t falter right now. She had to show she was still standing strong.
At that moment, Minerva was such a being.
“That was amazing! How did you do it?!”
“What magic did you use?!”
“It’s beyond your capabilities at this stage. It might be beyond your capabilities for a lifetime. And now, I am fatigued; please give me some space.”
“Ah, yes! I’m sorry!”
The mages hurriedly backed away. Minerva concentrated her remaining minimal mana and formed a blue mass in the air.
The blue mana mass split into dozens of pieces, taking on the shape of humans. Each had long silvery-white hair down to her thighs, silver-white eyes, and clothed in pitch-black robes.
It was Minerva’s appearance.
“What is this…?”
As the mages gaped in confusion, the individual Minervas, having ‘been created,’ immediately understood their purpose.
“Come with me. There are things to do.”
Their voices were identical to the original. With a wave of her hand toward the bewildered mages, each replicated Minerva gestured for them to disperse into groups.
Once created, no additional maintenance is needed until the mana runs out, allowing Minerva to buy herself time to recover her strength. She inhaled deeply, feeling an influx of blood in her mouth.
“That’s truly impressive.”
A voice came from the side. Minerva had conjured a simple sofa with magic and slumped down while speaking.
“What about the children? How did they come to be here?”
“If a soul cannot accept death, there’s not much that can be done even if I’m present. It makes no difference. Right now, everyone is accepting new memories. Once it’s over, I’ve prepared a magic circle for them to call me, so it should be fine.”
“What’s the progress?”
“Kaiquilia and Your Holiness are proceeding rapidly. They might finish true memory sharing in less than 30 minutes.”
“That’s a relief. Truly a relief.”
Minerva slumped back onto the sofa again. She had just over-exerted herself, but she was not in any danger. A little rest would return her to form.
With so much knowledge still to acquire, there was no way she would give her life here. It was simply too precious to sacrifice for what she had yet to gain.
“Those clones you just created, what are they?”
“They’re a form of magic I upgraded sometime ago. They have respectable combat power, and I can share sight with them.”
“That sounds convenient. What’s the reason for creating them?”
“They might be needed to aid the Holy Kingdom. To observe over there… Wait a minute.”
As the first clone to arrive at the Holy Kingdom shared its sight, Minerva unexpectedly stood up. A jolt of reaction made her stumble, but she paid it no mind.
“What’s wrong?”
“……It would be faster to see it directly than for me to explain. Would you accompany me?”
“I won’t refuse.”
Accepting that request without hesitation, Nix followed Minerva’s lead to share sight with the clone. In her left eye appeared the sight of people from the Holy Kingdom battling monsters.
With expressions twisted by anger, determined not to be defeated by the monsters, they fought desperately to take down as many enemies as they could.
“……?”
Why did they suddenly become a group of zealots, flashed through Nix’s mind.
“The Holy One has promised salvation! Sweep away these blasphemers and prove your faith!”
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