From the moment I laid eyes on Karabus’s hammer again, I was deep in thought.
“I need to check it out.”
The Space of Despair, linked to my soul.
It was a place created as a sort of consideration, where fragments of the consciousness of countless sealed monsters gathered over time.
“Isn’t it boring to be alone?”
Each weapon could only seal one monster, so I had no one to chat with except myself, and I didn’t use those weapons all the time.
Excluding hammers and spears, I barely used them once a month.
As a result, the monsters, who could only be active briefly at that time, were left staring blankly with their eyes wide open, unable to sleep, feeling incredibly bored.
So this place was set up for them to at least converse with each other; however…
At this point, there was simply no way to open it, and all the sealed weapons had disappeared, forgotten somewhere beyond memory.
But by discovering Karabus, it became clear that this place and Deoen were either in the same world or had a close connection.
“All the weapons have disappeared, but…”
If that place was still maintained…
“It seems you’ve forgotten the majesty of the emperor.”
At the very least, ‘that one’ would still be there.
■
Leading hundreds of thousands of sand soldiers and conquering the desert, the emperor ‘Pharaoh.’
He was an ancient monster who maintained a quite close relationship with humans and was known as the emperor of the desert due to his gigantic golden body and overwhelming military might.
His disposition wasn’t much different from other ancient monsters that looked down upon most races, including humans, but at least he didn’t invade humans just ‘because’ or ‘simply because he was angry’ like other monsters did.
I also recall having some conversations while passing through Pharaoh’s territory a few times.
The impression I had of him at the time was, “Not a bad guy.”
Although he did charge an enormous trade fee and tolls for the desert that obstructed the kingdoms, that was still understandable.
The reason he changed was simple.
He lost 90% of his territory to the demon race.
He lost his golden mask, which was a symbol of himself, and had no choice but to take refuge in the huge statue he cherished.
He’d gone from the conquering emperor of the desert to just another statue creature in an instant.
This situation was caused by the High-Class Demons.
The demons didn’t ‘attack’ him.
They just cleared out the obstacles because they needed to build a vacation home in the desert.
Like leveling the ground to construct a house.
Having lost everything, he yearned to regain his glory and turned his gaze toward places other than the desert.
That was…
“You blocked my way! My quest to reclaim my glory!”
“You stood in my way. To regain my glory!”
“It’s unavoidable. The Celestial Race and the Demon Race. To the other races, we are just rolling stones…”
The Pharaoh, trying to regain his glory, even if it means killing humans and invading territories.
And there I was, stopping the Pharaoh and sealing him in the end.
That was the first time this Plaza of Encounter was created.
Not just a weapon, but sealing him in this Space of Despair was the ‘first’ case.
Because of that, even after thousands of years, the Pharaoh could still remain in this space.
Drip, drip.
“Thousands of years have passed. I can’t know the situation outside, but seeing you moving around well in that body, the war must be in a subdued state.”
It’s finally time to reclaim glory!
From behind the Pharaoh, Sand Soldiers rise up.
From one to two.
Two to a thousand.
A thousand to…
“I didn’t spend thousands of years in vain.”
“Ha! Do you think I waited for you endlessly?”
Behind the Pharaoh, an endless golden army rises, weapons in hand.
A force far greater than the numerous soldiers I commanded in the past.
Truly an army worthy of the Emperor’s majesty.
The Pharaoh wielded a long golden sword and donned a stone-carved golden mask.
Though a fake, what’s clear is that the power difference is insurmountable in the current state.
“I thought it was impossible. To defeat you, I had to become stronger, but in that time, you would only grow stronger.”
Sre.
“But an anomaly occurred. You grew weaker, and I have become even stronger than then. Even if the Demon Race comes, it’s no problem!”
“…Hmm.”
“Subdue him!”
As the golden sword pointed towards me, countless soldiers rushed towards me simultaneously.
Each one comparable to a ranker in the top 1000.
And there are over a hundred thousand soldiers at that level.
I reached out my hand.
A pure white hammer landed in my grip.
The Pharaoh’s eyes behind the mask widened in shock.
He seemed to recall the memory he had forgotten.
But it was already too late.
“Wait…”
Thud.
Everything collapsed.
■
A virtual space made not of reality, but of various consciousnesses gathered together.
Since it operates subconsciously, will and mental strength are more important than external strength; after all, this space was created based on my soul.
‘Even if my body has weakened, there’s no way I can lose here.’
I swung the hammer around leisurely, resting it on one shoulder.
The grip feels good.
“…Damn it.”
“It seems you forgot from thousands of years ago. I must have told you that to beat me here, you need to win with mental strength.”
“It seems I forgot what I said a thousand years ago. I must have mentioned that to defeat me here, you need to win with mental strength.”
Tap tap. I sat down on the giant Pharaoh’s statue and tapped his shoulder.
Once again, the face behind the shattered mask contorted.
“Did you really think that the power gained here would still work outside, even surpassing me?”
“…It’s been thousands of years. Thousands! Of course, it should be possible—”
“Well, it’s not impossible. The growth of the soul does affect the body.”
Oops.
I got off the statue.
“However, that’s only when the body is present. Right now, Pharaoh, you don’t have a body.”
His original body was killed by the Demon Race, and the statue he hurriedly moved into was destroyed by me once again.
Now that both the Celestial Race and the Demon Race have vanished, is there even a body capable of containing Pharaoh’s soul?
He’s staring at me intently.
“You have big dreams.”
“…Wasn’t it a body I had once? It shouldn’t be impossible to have it again.”
“No, right now even your fragments cannot be contained.”
It may have been different in the past, but the Pharaoh, who is certainly much stronger than the World Boss Yena mentioned, has definitely exceeded that level.
The last opponent I faced with all my might, Raizaka, is merely at the level of a salamander compared to the Pharaoh.
“…Just how weak have I become?”
“A lot, actually. Right now, I can’t even defeat a Lower Celestial being. Ah, maybe I could beat a three-year-old.”
“Isn’t that a bit unfair? Having lost that much power.”
“…I never expected to hear that from you.”
Seems staying for a long time does change your thoughts.
I shook my head with a bitter smile.
“For us, the feeling of unfairness is a meaningless emotion. As long as the Celestial Race and the Demon Race exist.”
“…I see.”
The Pharaoh nodded in agreement, then suddenly felt a sense of injustice and raised his head.
“…But doesn’t it feel strange to call it ‘us’?”
“Then should I call it slave and master?”
“……”
■
To seal a being of higher level, two things are necessary.
One is a high-level magic formula and the materials like mana to activate that magic formula.
The other is equipment capable of fully containing it.
At the current level, it’s impossible to even imprison the Spirit of Darkness, let alone actually implement the basic magic formula for sealing.
I decided to modify Yena’s power from the Bluering and the spell of sealing she left behind for use.
The method is simple.
I thrust the spear and absorb the power.
Then, I also plant it in the light pillar, the foundation of the spell, and absorb the source of the seal.
Lastly, instead of using it as a sacrifice, I burn the power as fuel to perform the sealing ritual, placing it in the heart of the Beastman.
As a result, the Spirit of Darkness that was trying to escape was bound within my Space of Despair without resistance.
Of course, since this is a makeshift solution and lacks holiness, the seal could break soon…
‘But who cares?’
After all, a much stronger Pharaoh resides there now.
Even if I went out, I’d probably just crouch down unable to get past the soldiers.
I lifted the spear with one hand and stretched out my body.
“Ahhh…! Refreshing.”
[?]
[What’s going on?]
[Lily, why did you suddenly come back?]
[What happened?]
[Huh?]
[Where did the black thing go?]
[What? Why is the Beastman revived?]
[??????]
[Lily stretching out, wow…!]
[Oh my!]
[What the heck????]
It’s nice to finally loosen up properly for the first time in a while.
It feels like everything is being obliterated with a single blow of the hammer.
‘This is why I use a hammer.’
I turned my head.
Blen was kneeling, and the Raccoon Beastman was feeling his chest, seemingly unharmed despite being stabbed by my spear.
When I gently stroked his cheek, his body flinched.
“Indeed, this child was also a source.”
Just like Bluering, who gathered strength and gained will, this Beastman was also a source created by the darkness of the forest.
The reason the darkness took on the form of a Beastman is simple.
‘Because a Beastman is the least noticeable creature to be active.’
The innocent personality and child-like appearance were all fakes created by the Spirit of Darkness.
The fake was supposed to vanish once the darkness fully revealed itself…
But conversely, as the darkness completely vanished, the fake remained like a shell.
“I had a dream… A bad dream. A very bad one…”
“It’s not a dream.”
“Huh?”
Ding!
“So remember this. I have a feeling we’ll meet again.”
[You have cleared the highlands of the Blue Forest – another source(?).]
[Measuring first clear rewards…]
[Measuring first clear rewards…]
[Measuring first clear rewards…]
[First…]
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