Chapter 669: The Darkest Moment (3)
The world was shrinking.
Physically, the world hadn’t actually shrunk, but in every practical sense, it felt smaller.
This was due to the advances in magic and science, and to the onset of the Industrial Revolution.
With these advancements, railways, airships, and teleportation magic became available, accelerating the development of transportation. The productivity of industrialization spread these advancements across the globe.
Thus, though the world’s size hadn’t changed, it was now effectively smaller.
The impact of this was obvious.
People’s living spaces had expanded far beyond anything from the past; one could now travel easily between cities in a single day, and travel—once a privilege for a select few—was now accessible to many more.
On Sundays, people flocked to the countryside or lakesides to enjoy picnics and swimming.
And that wasn’t all. Unlike in the past, when hearing news from the next village would take a week, today, news from across the world could be known in less than a day.
It was for this reason that news quickly reached Landa about the woodcutter Dave, who had crossed the sea with the Archpriest and was now hunting down the Pied Piper.
Naturally, this was enormous news.
Truly, immensely significant news.
Why wouldn’t it be?
Dave, the greatest fixer in Landa, who also held the secret dual identity of a mage of the Tower, and who had earned the title of the “Hero who saved Landa,” was now battling the Pied Piper, a figure so feared that even nations trembled.
And he was doing so not long after the Piper had invaded Landa.
The impact of this news was so great that it was no surprise Landa, which had only just regained a sense of stability, was again stirred.
At present, Dave, also known as the Tower mage Zenon Bright, wielded this kind of influence.
Despite taking precautions with a slight disguise, it was a simple truth that he had rescued a prince and saved the city of Landa on his own.
Because of him, Landa was once again in turmoil.
Not only the ruling elite of Landa, such as city councilors, capitalists, mages, and businessmen, but also workers, fixers, black magicians, and the impoverished lower classes were all stirred by this news.
This was hardly unexpected.
The impoverished, who took pride in their city, felt a surge of superiority simply because they shared a city with someone like Dave (or Zenon).
Thus, people could talk about Dave without any specific reason.
However, unlike the lower classes, the city’s ruling elite took this matter far more seriously.
For them—who had much to protect, unlike the lower classes—the conflict between Dave and the Pied Piper was akin to a collision of forces.
A crisis that required urgent meetings.
One of the primary organizations that called such meetings was the City Council and the Tower of Magic.
While differing in structure, both were directly connected to Dave.
A testament to this was the Tower and the city’s joint support for the establishment of the Bright Faction, a faction specializing in black magic.
And so, with the Archpriest, Dave had crossed the sea and publicly declared his intention to vanquish the Pied Piper.
Once again, this was monumental news.
If Dave were to fall to the Pied Piper, the security and reputation of the city that had been maintained by his very presence would become uncertain, as would the prestige of the Tower.
Even if the reverse happened, it would still be problematic.
Although unlikely, if Zenon managed to vanquish the Pied Piper, it would be a catastrophe in its own right.
Because then, the city of Landa would have to contend with a force powerful enough to defeat the Pied Piper, a monster among monsters.
As this prospect dawned, the minds of the leaders governing Landa were seized by a fundamental question:
Would we even be able to handle someone who has defeated the Pied Piper?
The answer emerged sooner than expected.
“Impossible. We could allow him to live here, but if the question is whether we could subdue him with force—no, it’s impossible.”
“The fact that Landa’s military strength alone couldn’t handle the Pied Piper clearly indicates that if the woodcutter Dave defeats him, he, too, would be beyond our control.”
“In fact, it would be even more dangerous. The Pied Piper was isolated due to his evil deeds, but woodcutter Dave already has his own followers, and he’s currently extending his influence in Gallos. Imagine what might happen if he defeats the Pied Piper, a legend in the world of black magicians.”
“You mean…that the black magicians swarming around like cockroaches would rally around him?”
“Exactly.”
“No way...would they really?”
“Such is the nature of overwhelming power! Don’t overthink it. Just as Landa’s wealth attracts the wealthy and businesses, immense power draws more power.”
“Well…at least we can be thankful that Dave doesn’t seem to have such ambitions?”
“Foolishness! Even if he doesn’t desire it himself, would those around him simply sit back? The branches sway not because of the tree, but because of the wind. More importantly…does it sound rational to entrust the fate of this city to the goodwill of one person?”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“There is…a way. This city does have someone who could stand against such a force.”
“Surely not…”
“That’s right. Archive. We must call him.”
“He’s currently focused on sealing the rifts that have emerged in the city…he specifically requested not to be disturbed until he’s done.”
“This situation goes beyond what we consider manageable. Besides, isn’t Dave said to be his disciple? He may well have foreseen this development.”
The councilors all agreed in silent consent. Though reluctant to voice it, they were aware.
Dave was Archive’s disciple.
Even so, there was a reason why they hadn’t brought up this fact—
“—he, too, is partly responsible for this crisis. It was, after all, Archive who built Landa atop the ruins of the Great Cataclysm. He is the true ruler of Landa. He is directly involved in this matter.”
...
Indeed.
Decades ago, Landa had been built atop the ruins of the Great Cataclysm. Though it was believed to have been founded by many bold capitalists and mages who joined forces, the truth was somewhat different.
While they did indeed unite their powers, Archive was at the center of it all.
More precisely, it was the Archive of the current era’s Great Master, known as the Grand Master Archive of previous generations.
In some ways, it was a natural course of events.
To wipe away the traces of the Great Cataclysm and establish a city required the power of Archive.
The majority of people were unaware of this because Archive had taken great care to remain hidden at the time.
Those who knew included only the councilors, the upper ranks of the Tower of Magic, and a select few powerful capitalists.
But they weren’t troubled by this knowledge in the least.
Archive, who had contributed immensely to Landa’s foundation and growth, seldom exercised his own rights.
Because of this, city councilors, major capitalists, and a few mages could think of Landa as their own city, and with the same reasoning, they could consider summoning Archive to find out what was happening and what could be done.
However, the City Council’s plan was abandoned before it could be executed.
Not long after news broke of Zenon Bright’s fight against the Pied Piper, an army emerged from Landa’s underworld.
An army of the dead.
The Black Hand’s Finger, Puppet, had invaded.
...
“Damn it! Reinforcements!! We need reinforcements!”
On an unusually sunny day in Landa, a city known for its gloomy weather...
A soldier stationed at one of Landa’s main defense facilities urgently called for support.
This was due to the zombies, armed with the latest military weaponry, that had poured out of the sewers to attack Landa’s defense systems.
However, both Landa’s Defense Force and Security Bureau were unable to respond adequately.
Because zombies were emerging from countless points in the sewer system across the city, making it impossible to gauge their numbers.
As a result, each unit of Landa’s Defense Force became isolated, desperately fending off the endless onslaught of zombies.
And it wasn’t just the Defense Force; the Tower, mercenary companies, and Crime Firms—all organizations possessing military strength—were similarly affected.
It was as if the undead army and corpse puppets knew the city’s internal workings intimately, launching simultaneous attacks on the main facilities of each organization with perfect precision.
Merlin, who had been sealing the hellish rifts in the city, saw this invasion and was taken aback.
Not by the scale of the invasion.
As Archive, Merlin already knew that Puppet possessed such power.
Puppet’s strength was enough to wage war against not only cities but even nations.
While it might have seemed like an absurd notion, it was actually quite natural when you thought about it.
Puppet was hundreds of years old—more precisely, he had survived from the very birth of black magic up to the present.
This meant that Puppet’s personal history surpassed that of many cities, and even entire countries.
A being with such an unyielding purpose could, over centuries, accumulate power enough to overthrow a nation—it wasn’t such a far-fetched idea.
So, knowing this, Merlin’s shock didn’t stem from Puppet’s strength, but rather from his choice to wield it.
In this world, no matter how great one’s strength, to use it came with consequences. Such was the law of the world.
And Puppet was surely aware of this, perhaps better than anyone. For centuries, he had kept his power hidden and acted from the shadows.
But now, here he was, exposing his power openly.
It was an extreme act that limited his options.
Merlin pondered the hidden motives behind Puppet’s actions.
At first, Merlin thought Puppet intended to exploit the hellish rift that had appeared in Landa.
After all, there had been clear attempts by Puppet’s corpse puppets to approach the rift.
“Ah… but how did you manage to get here?”
In Sector W, on the roof of a wrecked welfare building, Puppet asked this question.
Due to the zombie army’s assault and Puppet’s own attack, the area was littered with the injured and the dead.
Merlin, who had just arrived, answered him.
“It was too obvious... If you were truly aiming for the rift, I would expect a more subtle approach. Besides, I couldn’t believe you’d launch such a reckless invasion.”
Rumble!
As soon as Merlin finished speaking, a massive bolt of lightning flashed from the clear sky in the distance.
It was the work of Thomas Nielsen, Merlin’s peer and Grand Master of the Mjölnir Sect.
In an instant, the lightning strike had reduced both the airborne corpse puppets and the zombies on the ground to ashes, but no sooner had the lightning faded than another strike came crashing down.
A horde of corpse puppets had appeared, crossing dimensions to attack.
Through his magical detection, Merlin confirmed that Thomas had suffered an injury.
“Really... but I wouldn’t call it reckless. Sometimes it’s about putting a brat in their place after they start thinking they’re unbeatable.”
“…”
“I’ve already taken down five Grand Masters, as well as three Great Masters. Shouldn’t the Archive first save the Tower?”
“I’d be happy to comply if you’d let me take this man with me.”
Merlin gestured toward the elderly man sitting behind him.
This was Kent, the head of the Poor Brothers Welfare Organization. Despite being targeted by Puppet, Kent showed no fear; instead, he focused, listening intently to Merlin and Puppet’s conversation.
Puppet declined Merlin’s suggestion.
“I’m afraid that won’t work. I have business with him.”
“Did you release the Pied Piper’s chains just to pull something like this?”
“Do you really think I’d act that recklessly? I’m not that foolish.”
“Then what madness drove you to this? Do you truly not understand the consequences of what you’re doing?”
Merlin’s voice was filled with fury.
Since becoming Archive, such a display of anger was rare; it reflected how deeply Puppet’s actions had enraged him.
To target someone like Kent…
It was something that only an ignorant man might do, but for someone as knowledgeable as Puppet, it was unthinkable. Merlin couldn’t help but be furious.
“Let’s just call it a desperate measure. If the Pied Piper has broken his pact, then he might break his pact with me as well. A new safeguard is required.”
“A new safeguard? What you’re creating is nothing more than a noose around your own neck.”
“When the inevitable end is near, what’s the point of worrying about such things? I’m simply making the choice I deem best.”
With these words, the space surrounding Merlin and Kent began to distort, and out of the distortion, numerous corpse puppets emerged.
Some of these corpse puppets appeared as beggars, ragged and bearded, while others wore elegant suits or military uniforms. A few donned the attire of distant lands.
Each one bore unique characteristics, yet all shared one trait—they each held a book in hand.
“Archive…”
Kent watched the corpse puppets emerge from the void, trembling in silent shock.
As the leader of the Poor Brothers’ intelligence network, he realized instantly that every one of these corpse puppets had once been an Archive.
“Alone…”
“All of them…”
“Can you…”
“Handle it all…?”
In a chilling unison, Puppet used the voices of the corpse puppets—former Archives—to speak, crafting a sentence word by word.
The air grew dense with a menacing aura. Merlin, who had been silent, finally spoke.
“Let me tell you something, Puppet.”
“…”
“At one time, I thought I was a genius. One that history would forever remember.”
“…Fair enough. Even I would acknowledge that. As a child, you surpassed adult mages, and in your youth, you single-handedly unified the five Elemental Schools with your own magic and knowledge. You are one of the rare geniuses I have seen in my centuries of life.”
“That’s right. Because of that, I believed I could do anything. I believed I had the right, and that it would even benefit the world. That belief alone led me to commit unspeakable deeds.”
Merlin recalled the sins of his past.
“Well… it sounds as though you’ve had a change of heart.”
“Yes. Ironically, it was only after becoming Archive that I realized how wrong I’d been.”
“What did you hope to gain by becoming Archive?”
“I wanted to know everything. I wanted to be supreme… But all I gained was a clearer view of my own foolishness and sins.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“That, Puppet, may be the difference between us.”
“…”
“Even so, one truth remains unchanged.”
“What’s that?”
“That I am the most powerful Archive in history.”
The moment Merlin finished speaking, an immense amount of magical power burst from his aging body, distorting the air itself.
The sheer force of his energy shook the surrounding structures, yet, miraculously, it seemed to move of its own accord to shield Kent.
With Kent’s safety secured, Merlin was ready to act.
At that moment, however—
—!
A disturbance in the air, originating from across the distant sea, caught his attention.
It was a signal of danger, one only an Archive could sense.
Puppet, too, seemed to have noticed and smiled.
“It seems…”
“The end is coming…”
“A bit sooner…”
“Than we thought…”
“First…”
“Looks like…”
“We should head over there?”
One of the corpse puppets—an Archive—spoke each word in turn, circling Merlin and Kent menacingly, their intent clear.
Surrounded on all sides, Kent watched Merlin and Puppet’s exchange in silence before finally speaking up in a calm voice.
“…Is this about Oliver?”
Merlin remained silent.
“Go,” Kent said, interpreting Merlin’s silence as affirmation. “Don’t worry about me. Go, and see to the child.”
“It isn’t that simple. If anything happens to you, the consequences could be disastrous.”
“If you don’t go now, the consequences might be immediate.”
Puppet interrupted their conversation.
Though Puppet’s words weren’t entirely false, Merlin hesitated.
One wrong move could mean the loss of the last line of defense against the end. Merlin couldn’t afford that.
He considered taking Kent with him, but the sight of the corpse puppets—all former Archives—held him back.
Each of them had once been a great mage and a criminal of their age.
While Merlin felt confident he could defeat them all, he wasn’t sure he could guarantee Kent’s safety in such a time-critical situation.
Just as he stood trapped in that momentary yet eternal dilemma, a familiar voice echoed.
“Go ahead, Merlin. You’ve earned a break.”