Chapter 250 - Chapter 249: The Lost [God's Miracle]
The second month of Fire, the first week, the day of Wind.
The garden of Viscount Mumbaro's residence.
Mika had been summoned by Crown Prince Cranzard to demonstrate the God's Wrath of Mika.
Beside Mika stood the Crown Prince, an old knight serving as his guard, and one elderly man.
This old man was the head of the research facility for the God's Wrath, and his name was Nestileo.
Nestileo was a gentlemanly old man, exuding the very air of a noble elder.
At this moment, there were no other people around; the personal knights were merely standing guard from a distance.
Mika raised both hands high and sang loudly.
"Juryomou, Juryomou, Gokou no surikire, umasuri no suigyo no――――!"
The Crown Prince and Nestileo watched Mika's state with bated breath.
"Yabura kankou no burakanko, paipo, paipo, paipo no shuuringan――――!"
"Paipo...?"
Hearing the incantation Mika chanted, Nestileo tilted his head and muttered.
"Guurindai no ponpokopii no ponpokona no――――!"
"Ponpokopii?"
The Crown Prince frowned, making a difficult face as he muttered.
"Choukyuumei no Chousuke!!!"
Mika called out a very auspicious name all at once toward the sky.
Then, stones the size of volleyballs began to rain down from the sky one after another.
Their number, over ten.
"Oh!?"
"What!?"
The stones landed on the ground with a thud-thud-thud about ten meters away, causing the Crown Prince and Nestileo to cry out in surprise.
The Crown Prince and Nestileo looked at the stones that had fallen, then looked up at the sky.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
Mika, barely able to catch his breath, wobbled and knelt right there.
As expected, I can't finish it all in one breath.
Mika wrapped himself in high-temperature air created by the Blast wind magic around his surroundings, turning his whole body red and drenched in sweat.
"Are you alright...?"
Seeing such a state, the Crown Prince asked with concern.
"...If I rest a little... haa haa... I will be fine..."
An appeal saying "It's super tough."
Nestileo looked at Mika and nodded once with a "Hmm."
"Regardless of the scale, manifesting it places a considerable burden. It cannot be helped. It is a miracle that creates stones capable of swallowing an army of tens of thousands. To do it alone must place a burden beyond imagination."
That's right.
It's super tough.
But, upon hearing Nestileo's opinion, the Crown Prince made a suspicious face.
"However, you. I hear you continued to fly around even after that on the battlefield?"
Gikku.
Mika coughed deliberately, "Goho goho...", buying a little time.
"...At that time... I was desperate to save everyone..."
I'm still desperately trying to deceive you now!
Mika, dripping sweat, twisted his face in pain.
"Show me the power you used."
At one point, the Crown Prince said something like that.
He said he wanted to study the power that swallowed an army of seventy thousand.
But, naturally, Mika had no intention of cooperating with such a thing.
Who would willingly become a guinea pig for someone else?
So, he lied on the spur of the moment.
"That power places a heavy burden..."
It was a claim that he didn't want to use it unless absolutely necessary.
This bought him a little more time.
However, even after that, he was summoned by the Academy Director Maurice and persuaded.
So, reluctantly, he decided to show it just once.
Mika thought that by actually manifesting it, he would need to prove that he was indeed the one who did it.
He needed to show his utility value, but also refuse being used however he pleased.
A somewhat troublesome balance was necessary.
If he was thought to be easily usable,
"Hey, you go destroy the Empire for me."
He might get told something like that.
Well, the Crown Prince didn't seem that stupid after all.
It seems he is considering the possibility that Mika might pretend to go destroy the Empire and then just run away.
If it were the Crown Prince, he could probably take important people to Mika hostage.
But Mika was able to think properly about what would happen after that.
He properly considered the possibility that the stones he intended to rain down on the Empire might fall on their own heads.
Therefore, his interference with Mika seemed to be kept to a minimum.
He probably wanted to take Mika in completely, giving him money, honor, or anything else.
However, for the Crown Prince, it was very troublesome that Mika had no interest in such things.
It seems they adopted the method of maintaining a loose cooperative relationship instead.
"If anything happens, just say so. I will try to help."
He showed a magnanimous side.
This was likely a response based on reading Mika's character, knowing that pushing too hard would cause resistance.
Perhaps he knew of the current awkward atmosphere between Mika and Marquis Leventein, who even took him to a commemorative party.
Nestileo held the round stone Mika created and pondered.
"Hmm... indeed, it is clearly different from the God's Wrath. Well, since it can be manifested by one person, the very concept is different... But seeing it displayed like this allows me to state this clearly."
"In that case, the question arises: what is that power...?"
Thus, the Crown Prince and Nestileo both looked at Mika.
Mika, tired of acting, lightly adjusted his breathing.
"Whatever you say... I suddenly had a flash of inspiration one day. Perhaps this is what is known as a divine revelation."
Mika wiped the sweat flowing down his cheeks with a tired expression and answered.
Mika had always blamed mysterious phenomena on magic power, but from now on, the target was God.
Growing wings, flying in the sky, creating stones, even Mika's God's Wrath, everything was God's doing... thanks, yes.
Since there is a cooperative relationship with the church, it is more convenient to leave it at that.
Mika disliked being questioned until he was exposed, so he tried to start the conversation himself.
"Nestileo-san, how is it different from the God's Wrath? I don't know much about that side."
"There are several differences just at a glance..."
Saying that, Nestileo looked at the Crown Prince.
He was checking if it was okay to speak.
"If it is simple, I may explain. However――――."
"Of course, I will not tell anyone. Being glared at by His Majesty for such a thing is enough for just me."
When Mika answered like that, the Crown Prince made a somewhat troubled face.
Mika's status of having his punishment suspended remained unchanged.
Currently, it seems the Prime Minister is helping him somehow.
And the object of that help included the Crown Prince as well.
The King still seems to dislike the God's Wrath.
However, there is the fact that in the previous battle, a section of the Kingdom Army was completely crushed and forced to retreat without any way to stop it.
Considering the Empire's potential re-invasion, the Prime Minister is persuading that letting go of it is not a good strategy.
You could say the King prefers very logical things.
If he had been born in an era over a hundred years ago, I think he could have been a wonderful king.
In an era without crazy weapons like the God's Wrath.
No, even now, that evaluation can be said to be correct within a limited scope.
Because it was undoubtedly the current King who rebuilt the war-torn Kingdom.
In the early days after ascending the throne, even nearly forty years after the war, the Kingdom's national economy seemed still fragile.
Only a few signs of recovery were visible in some areas, and only a few trading companies were wealthy.
It was undoubtedly the King's skill that made that wealth spread throughout the Kingdom.
Regarding military affairs, he does not seem to be completely ignorant either.
He expanded the messenger network and thoroughly organized the Kingdom Army.
He believed that training and the number of soldiers were important, and also valued information warfare.
However, he only underestimated the God's Wrath, a weapon of mass destruction.
Rather than underestimating, it might have been too far outside the King's common sense.
Victory or defeat is decided by the number of soldiers and their training.
This idea itself was not wrong.
Until a hundred years ago.
To stabilize the country, the God's Wrath, which only caused unnecessary damage, was likely an obstacle.
So, banning it was understandable.
If the Empire hadn't attacked.
(If peace continued for another ten years like this, I could have abdicated as a legendary wise king...)
Crown Prince Cranzard was thinking carefully about the danger of the Empire and the war with it.
If the Empire had invaded after the Crown Prince succeeded to the throne, the current King's evaluation would not have been tarnished.
A wonderful king who inherited a well-trained Kingdom Army for the next generation and eliminated the huge corruption nesting in the country.
One could say he was the founder of the restoration who saved the Kingdom from crisis.
If not for the Empire's invasion, the King's paranoia would not have been exposed.
That obsession, which could be called a phobia of the God's Wrath.
This was Mika's impression of the King, as he had heard from the Crown Prince and Maurice so far.
Nestileo put down the stone he was holding and brushed his hands.
"You know that the God's Wrath is manifested by multiple people, don't you?"
"Yes. Well, I can say that is all I know."
When Mika said that, Nestileo nodded.
"In the case of the God's Miracle, one prays to a single deity to manifest the miracle. For Physical Enhancement, to the subordinate deities of the God of Fire or the God of Strength. For Heal, to the subordinate deities of the God of Water or the God of Healing."
"Yes."
Mika understood that as well.
Although, strictly speaking, it seems to have nothing to do with gods, he thought.
But he understood that in this world, it was interpreted that way.
"In the case of the God's Wrath, this becomes praying to multiple deities. Manifesting the power of deities of the same system."
"Same system... Like the God of Fire and its subordinate deities?"
"Yes. The six deities each have eleven subordinate deities. In the case of the God of Fire, it is the God of Strength, the God of War, the God of Passion, and so on."
It seems the God's Wrath is meant to combine the powers of these deities into one and manifest them.
"In the case of the Fire system God's Wrath, initially, it was manifested by combining the powers of two or three deities."
There are different incantations for praying to each deity.
The mages manifesting it chant the incantations while praying to the respective deities they are in charge of.
If it goes well, the powers can be combined into one, manifesting a great power.
The Crown Prince looked at Mika with a serious face.
"Initially, it was the power of two or three deities, but after that, research was conducted repeatedly――――."
"Finally, the God of Fire and all eleven subordinate deities?"
When Mika said that, the Crown Prince nodded.
At that moment, Nestileo looked at the Crown Prince's face as if checking his mood.
As if to say, "Is it okay to stop the story here?"
"Twelve people pray to the deities and chant incantations... In the case of a thousand-person scale God's Wrath? What about the remaining nine hundred and eighty-eight people? Do they assign each of those people to their respective deities? Or are they just standing there?"
There was a story that the key mages and the fuel tanks would be separated.
When Mika asked that, the Crown Prince clearly grimaced.
He pondered for a while, then looked at Mika with a pained expression.
"......Do you really want to know?"
"No, not particularly."
Mika shrugged lightly and shook his head.
Since Mika gave up so easily, the Crown Prince seemed to slump in disappointment.
"You... if you don't want to know――――."
"I just had a question. Well, there is one thing I really want to ask."
Saying that, Mika tightened his expression.
"Is there a way to hinder manifestation? If even one of the twelve chanting mages is crushed, can the God's Wrath itself be crushed? Or is there some other method?"
If the God's Wrath manifests only when the twelve key mages are all present, there is a possibility that crushing just one would be enough.
However, if the God's Wrath manifests even with the power of the remaining eleven deities if one is crushed, it wouldn't be a very effective method.
Isn't there any way to stop the manifestation itself?
He asked with that thought in mind, but the Crown Prince and Nestileo made difficult faces.
"This could become a hint for manifestation, so I don't really want to say it..."
The Crown Prince muttered that, hesitated, then nodded to Nestileo.
Seeing that, Nestileo explained.
"...At that scale, there would be dozens of mages praying to a single deity. Even if you defeat all the mages praying to a single deity, the God's Wrath will manifest through the remaining eleven deities. Naturally, the power will be reduced by that amount..."
Even so, the God's Wrath would still manifest with the magic power of over nine hundred people.
It probably has enough power to kill ten thousand soldiers.
(Really, troublesome...)
It seems necessary to kill all a thousand people to completely crush it.
Also, what would happen if the mages suddenly died in the middle of manifestation?
Would the magic power they intended to offer just dissipate into the mist?
When he asked with that thought in mind...
"Probably, if there is no one to control it in a state where that much magic power has gathered, it will explode."
Towards the end of the Fifty-Year War.
Both countries engaged in battles where they fired the God's Wrath at each other.
Records from that time seem to include a tactic of crushing the God's Wrath before manifestation using a surprise attack.
However, the result was half success, half failure.
An incomplete God's Wrath manifested, and both the mages and the soldiers who launched the surprise attack were caught in the explosion.
Hearing that story, Mika crossed his arms and pondered.
(If it manifested incompletely, it means some mages finished their chanting, right?)
That part manifested.
And the part crushed by the surprise attack caused the explosion.
Something like that.
(Attacking from a long distance leisurely will still result in partial manifestation. To completely crush it, one must deliver a blow that annihilates everyone immediately and withdraw instantly.)
A devastating blow-and-retreat tactic would be best.
There is a high probability this will be needed soon.
Let me think of a method a bit.
Mika also decided to ask something he had been curious about.
"It has nothing to do with the God's Wrath, but I have something I'd like to ask."
"What is it?"
Nestileo raised one eyebrow lightly.
"Why is there not a single system for self-protection in the God's Miracle? Is it just not taught at the Academy?"
When Mika asked that, the Crown Prince grimaced.
"It is not that we don't teach it. It doesn't exist."
He said that with some difficulty.
"There is absolutely nothing like that in the God's Miracle. It has been lost."
"Lost..."
When Mika muttered that, Nestileo nodded.
"You learned in class that there are lost God's Miracles, didn't you? It was several hundred years ago, but many important God's Miracles have been lost. At that time, there was no such system as an Academy, so if the user died for some reason, the incantations necessary for manifestation would be forgotten."
The God's Miracles currently taught at the Academy seem to be those that a former king, fearing they would be lost, established the Court Magic Institute to inherit.
He had learned in class that a magic academy was established during the Fifty-Year War to increase users, but it seems there was a movement to protect the God's Miracles by the Court Magic Institute even before that stage.
However, except for a few fragments of incantations, there has been no example of restoring such God's Miracles.
Except for one exception.
"The Explosive Flame was also lost once. A genius mage restored it."
It seems only a fragment of the incantation for the Explosive Flame God's Miracle remained in the Court Magic Institute.
One mage restored it.
The Crown Prince's expression softened slightly.
"Indeed, there was someone from House Segerbaum in your class, wasn't there?"
"Yes, a friend."
Speaking of which, I haven't played Buattre Heed with Stellan much lately.
"The mage who restored the Explosive Flame was the first head of the Segerbaum family. The Segerbaum family was ennobled to Baron due to that person's achievements."
"Eh!? Is that true!?"
About two hundred years ago, Mr. Segerbaum, a mage of the Court Magic Institute, achieved the great feat of restoring the lost God's Miracle.
Due to this achievement, he was raised to nobility, and the Segerbaum family was founded.
After that, they produced many excellent mages, and were elevated to Viscount due to their achievements in the Fifty-Year War.
"The Explosive Flame is a very useful God's Miracle on the battlefield. It also showed that restoring lost God's Miracles is possible. That achievement is immeasurable."
The Crown Prince said with genuine admiration.
Mika was surprised by this as well.
There was a surprising person in an unexpected place.
It was surprising that the Explosive Flame was lost, but that Stellan's ancestor restored it.
"At the end of the Explosive Flame, words that seem meaningless will be lined up, right? It is likely different from the original incantation. But even so, it manifests a God's Miracle with very high power."
Nestileo also said with admiration.
(Indeed, the end of the Explosive Flame is something like 'Shuu, Gok, Ret, Bak. En.' I wonder if that was modified from the original incantation.)
I thought it was just random number adjustment as a joke, but he must have investigated the unknown parts of the incantation somehow.
At that time, he found words that seemed different from the original but had effects.
That seems to be the current Explosive Flame.
Mika looked back and forth between the Crown Prince and Nestileo.
"But why are there only these few restored God's Miracles? Can't others be restored in the same way?"
He asked that, but the two looked at each other.
Nestileo smiled bitterly.
"You can use the God's Miracle too, can't you? Can you guess the God's Miracle with only the first half of the incantation?"
"........................It's impossible."
Of course I don't know.
But then, why could Mr. Segerbaum do such a thing?
He asked with that thought in mind...
"If I could understand that, I would call myself a genius too."
That was the answer from Nestileo.
Of course.
But then, another strange thing comes up.
"Thinking about it that way, what exactly is the research on the God's Wrath? How do they get the incantations to pray to each deity?"
He asked that, but the Crown Prince and Nestileo made awkward faces.
Mika also realized after saying it.
(This is the core of the research. It's not something I can ask with 'I just had a question'.)
Asking to be taught this is equivalent to saying, "Put me in your group."
And Mika absolutely did not want to get involved in such research.
"Oh, actually, never mind!"
He retracted it immediately.
Rather, I'm glad they didn't teach me immediately and drag me into their group...
It seems the two understood Mika's train of thought and smiled bitterly.
(...But, how many lost God's Miracles are there?)
Could it be that.
(There was someone who buried the God's Miracles for some reason, like because they were in the way?)
The Dispel has even the related documents lost.
Perhaps other God's Miracles have only traces left, and the essential parts were completely buried.
Did a former king realize this and establish the Court Magic Institute?
So that they wouldn't be lost anymore.
Mika was a bit discouraged by such imagination.