Demon Sword Master of the Holy Sword Academy - Volume 4 - Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

THE SIXTH ASSAULT GARDEN

Loud cheering erupted from the match grounds. This was when the Holy Sword Dance Festival was at its most exciting. During the morning, the café had been full of customers, but now traffic had died down. Leonis and Riselia were likely already at the Sixth Assault Garden by now.

Elfiné was wiping off one of the tables when her terminal started ringing.

“…What’s this?” she said, looking down at the device.

“What’s the matter?” Regina inquired as she washed the dishes.

“I got a summons from the administration bureau,” Elfiné replied.

“A summons…? Wait, you don’t think the Voids appeared, do you?!” Regina asked, her hands stopping.

“Voids?!” Sakuya, who was putting away the knives and forks, reacted immediately.

Elfiné shook her head. “No, it’s not an emergency call. It must be something else.”

The administration bureau often turned to Holy Swordsmen with powers focused on data analysis, like Elfiné, for help. Holy Swords with such abilities were rare, so regulations stated that they worked under the administration bureau while they served in their assigned platoons.

“Do you mind if I step out for a bit?” Elfiné said apologetically.

“The two of us can handle things just fine; we’ve got free time right now,” Regina answered.

“Thanks. I’ll be right back, then.”

Still, she couldn’t very well go into an office setting dressed as she was. Since the call wasn’t urgent, Elfiné thought she had time to change. Why would they call me in on the day of the Holy Light Festival, though? the young woman wondered as she entered the dressing room.

Doffing her witch’s hat, she brushed her fingers through her hair. Maybe some child had gotten lost, and she’d been called in to look for them? Elfiné had been asked to help with such predicaments before.

Or maybe they found out I’ve been hacking into the Astral Garden?

Elfiné had used the information management room’s terminals to infiltrate the capital’s information network more than once. Of course, the young woman was confident she hadn’t left behind any evidence, but if her actions were discovered, she’d get much more than a slap on the wrist.

No, that can’t be. I used the Eye of the Witch to cloak myself…

She took off her boots and undid her costume’s strings along the back. This exposed the mature black brassiere covering her breasts, the dainty curvature of her waist, and her smooth skin, as white as the virgin snow.

I think I’ve gained a little weight. I’ll have to cut back on the sweets, Elfiné thought, pinching what little flesh she had on her flat stomach, when…

“Oh, Finé, so you’re old enough now to start caring about those things?”

“…Whoaaaa!” Feeling a gentle caress slither down her back, Elfiné let out a cry of surprise.

“Heh-heh-heh, did I startle you?” someone whispered in her ear. The person snaked their arms from her back to her stomach, pinching and poking. “Hmm. I don’t think you have anything to worry about with this little meat on you,” they remarked.

“…Nnn, C-Clauvia… What are you doing here?!”

Elfiné wheeled around, glaring into the woman’s eyes. She was in her late twenties, clad in a white coat. She had graceful, refined facial features, like one of the capital’s famous actresses, with beautiful ebony hair, as if the very darkness of night had been dissolved into her locks.

This was the high-ranking research officer Clauvia Phillet.

Elfiné’s elder sister regarded her with a mischievous glance. “Don’t make scary faces at me, okay? It’ll spoil your pretty face.”

“Grr. How did you get in here?” Elfiné scowled at her sibling.

“I’ve been here for a while. I was one of the café’s customers.”

“…Huh?”

Clauvia shrugged. “You’re aware of my Holy Sword’s power, and yet you were clueless the whole time, Finé.”

The ability to befuddle other people’s perceptions, Elfiné recalled.

In other words, the Holy Sword enabled Clauvia to remove herself from others’ consciousness. By the army’s estimate, such a power was only at D rank. It wasn’t a great Holy Sword for engaging with Voids directly, so Clauvia had become a researcher.

“That witch costume from earlier? Absolutely adorable,” Clauvia said mischievously.

“…What do you want?” Elfiné asked with unamused eyes.

“Why, to see my cute little sister, of cou—”

“Stop lying,” Elfiné cut her off.

“Huh?!” Clauvia responded with an expression of shock.

The reaction was too exaggerated to be genuine.

“Listen, Clauvia, I’d love to chat, but I received a summons from the administrative bureau, and I need to get going,” Elfiné said.

“Oh, that? That’s from me,” Clauvia stated dismissively.

“…Huh?”

“I hacked into one of the bureau’s terminals and sent you a summons,” Clauvia confessed with a grin. “Their security could use a bit of work.”

The woman stated something quite dangerous with an air of indifference. However, Elfiné knew that her sister could pull a stunt like that with ease.

“Hacking into the administration bureau is a crime, Clauvia.”

“Yes, it is. But”—Clauvia gazed straight into her little sister’s eyes—“with how you’ve been infiltrating the Astral Garden, you’re not one to talk. And using Excalibur Academy’s terminals, at that…”

“…?!”

“Heh-heh-heh. No need to look scared. I’m probably the only one who noticed. And I’d never sell out my precious baby sister, would I?”

“What do you want?” Elfiné questioned with a stiff expression.

“Oh, getting right to the point, are we?” Clauvia whispered with a cynical smirk. “I want you to analyze the relic we brought into the lab with your Holy Sword.”

“You mean that thing the Sixth Assault Garden’s research expedition uncovered in the tundra?”

“That’s right. Honestly, we can’t quite make heads or tails of it.” Clauvia chuckled as she ran a finger along Elfiné’s collarbone. “But I thought that maybe, with your help, we could make a breakthrough.”

“…Is that a threat?”

“No, no. Just asking for a favor.”

Elfiné bit down on her lower lip. The fact that Clauvia knew about her illicit entry into the Astral Garden left her with no way to refuse.

“There’s one thing I need to know…,” Elfiné said quietly. “What exactly did you find?”

Clauvia’s lips curled up. “An ancient life-form that crashed into the surface.”

“…A life-form?”

“That’s right. What the people of the old world used to call a Dark Lord.”

“You didn’t have to change, Leo. It’s such a waste.”

“I—I wasn’t going to wear that outfit a second more than I had to!” Leonis shouted from the back seat of Riselia’s military vehicle.

“But you were so cute… Oh, we’re going into a tunnel.”

Looking up, Leonis could see the light shining ahead of him. As they came out of the city’s coupling bridge and passed by a certification gate, the view of high-rise buildings set against a clear azure sky spread out before them. At the center of the cityscape were two massive, imposing buildings that exuded a powerful presence.

“That’s the museum, and right next to it is the anti-Void research institute,” Riselia explained.

“It’s larger than I imagined…,” Leonis muttered.

The structure rivaled Death Hold’s treasury in size. After driving for a while, the pair found themselves in a business district, and Riselia began slowing down.

“This is the Sixth Assault Garden’s famous Academy Street. There’s a lot of restaurants here,” the young woman said.

I see.

Indeed, appetizing scents wafted in from every direction.

“Are you hungry, Leo?”

“Yes, a little…,” he replied honestly.

During a break, he’d had some of Regina’s homemade apple pie, but he was in a growing boy’s body, after all. His stomach was already beginning to growl.

How utterly inconvenient, Leonis griped.

“Then let’s grab something to eat before we go to the museum,” decided Riselia. She parked her vehicle on the shoulder of the road and took out a terminal.

“Hmm, if I recall, there’s this famous crepe place somewhere around here… Ah, over there.” Riselia pointed ahead to a store with many students lined up in front of it. “This place lets you pick your favorite toppings. What do you want on yours, Leo?”

“…I, erm, don’t know.”

“Then let’s go with the classics. Chocolate, strawberry, and fresh cream.”

“That’ll do. Oh, here are my credits…” Leonis made to take out his terminal.

“It’ll be my treat,” Riselia said, stopping him. “You’ve been working really hard.”

“Really? Thank you.”

At first, Leonis felt a bit unsure about being pampered like this by his minion. It seemed an insult to his dignity as a Dark Lord. However, Blackas had advised him that it was more natural for a ten-year-old boy to presume upon the benevolence of others. Leonis decided to heed his comrade’s suggestion.

“There are all sorts of eateries here. We can try each one out,” Riselia stated excitedly.

“…You’ll gain weight if you overeat,” chided Leonis.

“R-right… Well, getting two might be too much, so let’s just share one.”

“I’ll leave choosing to you.”

It’s not like a vampire can gain weight.

Riselia took her crepe with one hand and held on to Leonis’s with the other.

“Let’s go to the next store, then. That one over there’s really popular!”

“…M-Miss Selia, you don’t have to hold my hand!”

“No, you don’t know this city. What if you get lost? Come on.”

With her palm clasped around Leonis’s, Riselia set off.

A dark figure watched the pair stroll off from her perch on a nearby rooftop.

Grrr, m-my lord…!

It was none other than Shary. Per Leonis’s orders, she’d extended the shadow corridors’ reach over to the Sixth Assault Garden, keeping a watchful eye for any suspicious beings that might be on the move. Yet as the assassin had been vigilantly standing guard, she’d spotted Leonis and Riselia holding hands and was positively sulking and seething.

Riselia Crystalia was a minion Leonis himself had created. What’s more, she was a Vampire Queen, the highest level of undead. As inexperienced as she was right now, she would undoubtedly prove to be a powerful commander by the time the Dark Lords’ Armies rose once again.

What’s more, Riselia had even saved Leonis’s life during the battle in the ruined city. Shary was grateful for that, of course, but…

A mere m-m-minion clinging to him like that! It’s…insolent! Improper!

Shary looked down at her palms. As an assassin, her hands had delivered swift and absolute death to her Dark Lord’s enemies. She’d never held his hands like Riselia was.

I could never do something so…discourteous…

Raising her head, Shary watched as the two bought more sweets. Pulled along by his silver-haired underling, Leonis followed with his cheeks flushed. That girl likely couldn’t tell…but she was, without a doubt, the target of his affection.

If Riselia were to build up her strength as a Vampire Queen, she would eventually be worthy of waiting upon Leonis, serving as his protector. Should that come to pass, Shary might not be necessary anymore.

The assassin nervously clenched her fingers around the bone ring Leonis had given her.

“…?!”

Turning around sharply, Shary hurled a shadow knife. The blade stabbed into the ground with a shrill sound.

“Would you care to reveal yourself?” Shary coldly insisted as she drew several more daggers from under her skirt.

Shadows began swirling in a spiral shape and then took human form. Like the spider creature Leonis had battled several days ago, this was another demon.

“You do not seem to be a mere human, girl. Are you a vampire minion…?”

“Vampire…” Shary raised her brows in surprise.

There was no doubting that this demon was after Riselia Crystalia.

I must report this to my lord immediately.

Yet upon trying to send a telepathic message to Leonis, she found she couldn’t.

I’m being shut off?!

“It’s an isolation barrier,” the demon revealed with a sneer.

“?!”

Sensing another presence, Shary jumped into the air. The shadows on the spot she’d just occupied bubbled up and stirred as two more creatures appeared from within them—bat-like demons with writhing tendrils extending from their arms.

“You didn’t catch us in your trap, girl. We snared you in ours.”

After checking out some of the eateries, Leonis and Riselia made their way to the museum and were now standing right in front of the imposing building.

“Eating while you walk is fun, isn’t it, Leo?” Riselia said as she chewed on a meat skewer.

“You won’t have room for dinner if you consume that much,” Leonis told her with a hint of astonishment, though he was enjoying a skewer as well.

The warm juices of the meat filled his mouth when he bit into the fried exterior. Chewing down on the cartilage was satisfying.

“Oh well,” Riselia replied with a shrug.

As if from nowhere, droplets began to pour from the sky.

Riselia looked up, shielding her eyes with her hands. “…Huh. It’s raining?”

“I guess the administration bureau’s forecast was wrong,” Leonis concluded.

“Well, it happens. Sudden weather changes are part of life on an artificial island.” The sight of the clouds filled Riselia with anxiety. She could see lightning flashing in the direction of the coast. “Still, this is awfully sudden. Looks like it might even turn into a storm.”

“Let’s hurry to the museum and get inside, then,” Leonis suggested.

“Right…”

The two of them hurried into the building as beads of water splashed on the ground. They presented their Excalibur Academy student IDs at the gate and entered the premises. Other students in their uniforms were gathered here and there around the entrance.

“You get to go in with a child’s fee, Leo,” Riselia told him.

“Stop treating me like a kid,” Leonis replied indignantly.

However, since the admission fee drew on his registered information when debiting his credits, it automatically applied the discount, so he ended up paying for a child’s ticket anyway.

At the plaza in front of the gate was a monument of a massive sword lodged into a rock.

“What’s that?” Leonis asked.

“A monument of the Holy Sword,” Riselia said, holding up her index finger. “It’s said that sixty-four years ago, when the Voids began their invasion, His Majesty the Emperor was granted the power of the first Holy Sword. When the secondary invasion took place, His Majesty laid down his life, and the power of that Holy Sword was lost, but…”

“That one actually looks like a sword,” Leonis pointed out. So many of the weapons were anything but.

“Well, yes. The reason the powers granted to us by the planet are called Holy Swords is because the first one was a proper blade.”

Hmm. That’s a museum for you. I’ve made some informative discoveries before even making it to a proper exhibit.

The building’s interior was packed with people, many of whom had probably filed inside to find refuge from the sudden shower. Riselia led Leonis with her hand still clasped around his. Evidently, she’d already been to the establishment a few times and was familiar with the place.

“If you want to see everything this museum has to offer properly, one day won’t be enough,” she told Leonis.

“…That’s how it seems, yes,” he answered with a nod.

That much he understood from the size of the place alone. In addition to the main building, there was also an annex with a botanical garden that hosted plants from all over the world.

“For now, let’s just go along the suggested route and look around,” Riselia decided.

The two left the front gate behind and moved into a large open-air hall.

Wh-what in the world is that?!

At its center was a gigantic mass of bones set on display.

“That’s the king of the ancient animal world. It’s a dragon’s skeleton,” Riselia told him, noticing his surprise.

“A dragon’s…?!”

Leonis approached the fence surrounding the thing, looking up at its towering majesty with awe. It was all too different from the Greater Worm he’d met in the labyrinth. This was a complete dragon skeleton.

And it’s a pretty large one at that. Based on the shape of its horns, I’d say it was a red dragon?

When all was said and done, Leonis believed dragons were extremely dignified and inspiring. In his enthusiasm, the Dark Lord almost leaned in over the fence.

“L-Leo, you can’t touch it!” Riselia pulled him back. “You have to respect the museum’s rules.”

“U-understood. I’m sorry, I just got a little excited…,” Leonis apologized meekly.

I never expected to find such an exquisite piece in a place like this…

Leonis glanced at the skeleton with a sinister grin. He’d given up the hope of repairing his skull dragon, thinking the materials he required were simply not around in this era. That was not the case anymore.

“Where did they discover this skeleton?” Leonis questioned enthusiastically.

“Erm, these bones aren’t real, Leo,” Riselia admitted with a bit of a stiff smile.

“…Huh?”

“The true one is in a laboratory in the capital. This is just a replica.”

“R-replica?”

Leonis peered at the skeleton, and indeed, on closer inspection, he discovered that the bones weren’t genuine, just meticulously forged facsimiles. Even if he were to chant the Realm of Death’s sorcery, he wouldn’t be able to manipulate this skeleton.

They dare fool me with fake bones. Leonis gritted his teeth.

“There are real bones on display deeper in, though,” Riselia appended, pulling Leonis by the hand as they left the dragon skeleton behind.

They exited the open-air hall and walked down the marked route. They passed through a tunnel, reaching the next chamber. Behind cases of transparent glass, Leonis could see the skeletons of ancient creatures on display.

“This is an exhibit for ancient animal bones discovered in ancient ruins. A lot of these were discovered by Excalibur Academy expedition teams.”

Leonis was only half listening to her explanation.

Ooh, this is an ogre skeleton!

Leonis’s face was positively plastered against the glass case. Behind it was a massive frame of bones, easily seven or eight times his height. Ogres were a monster race who served Dizolf Zoa, the Lord of Rage. The gigantic creatures devoured humans and demi-humans.

Many of them were dim-witted and savage, but there were highly intelligent ogres as well called ogre shamans. They were capable of casting spells up to the third order.

The ogre’s breastbone had a mark on it that implied it had been gouged through with a blade. Apparently, this one was the real deal.

I have thought I could use some larger skeletons.

An ogre would serve as a suitable training partner for Riselia. She was approaching the point where ordinary soldiers were no longer posing a challenge to her.

Can I steal it away without anyone noticing?

If all he wanted to was simply take it, he could just swallow the thing up into the Realm of Shadows. However, if he constructed a fake and set it up instead, maybe no one would notice it was missing. Leonis crossed his arms as he fell into contemplation.

“You’re thinking about doing something bad again, aren’t you, Leo?” Riselia glared at him peevishly.

“…H-how can you tell?!” Startled at being exposed, Leonis raised his head in a fluster. He hadn’t even been making an evil face.

“I’m your minion. I can see right through you and know what you’re thinking,” Riselia joked with a smile.

I have to be careful around her, Leonis noted, clicking his tongue sullenly.

For the time being, he decided to give up on stealing this ogre skeleton. Looking around, he saw more monster skeletons. Griffins, nagas, kobolds, harpies, crystalized demon cores…

“Isn’t it weird to think that, just a few centuries ago, there were creatures like these walking around everywhere?” Riselia whispered.

From Leonis’s point of view, these were all creatures.

“Did all these monsters go extinct at some point?” inquired Leonis.

“Yes. People call the event where they all died out the Great Divide.”

What caused so many monsters on the surface to disappear was still unknown. Perhaps it was a meteor impact or the spread of some cursed plague. It could also have been the planet’s mana running wild. Some even thought that Voids had appeared centuries ago to wipe them out, with humanity being none the wiser.

The Voids, hmm?

The mysterious life-forms who emerged from cracks in midair were still a mystery. Yet, their forms had characteristics of ancient creatures. People had even gone so far as to designate them with the names of monsters, like ogre class or wyvern class.

Leonis suspected they were not born of emptiness, but were originally living beings that had been transformed by some sort of external influence. The Archsage, Arakael Degradios, and the Holy Woman, Tearis Resurrectia, had both been resurrected as Voids. Tearis had also turned the souls of the Crystalia Knights into Voids. In all cases, an existing entity had been perverted to create a Void.

But if that’s the case, why do the Voids appear from cracks in reality? What resides on the other side of those fractures? Leonis mulled over the questions but could not arrive at any answer on his own.

“Oh, Leo… And, Selia?” A voice called out from behind. Leonis and Riselia turned at the same time and saw two people looking at them.

“Miss Finé?” Riselia said in surprise.

It was indeed Elfiné. She’d changed back into her school uniform. “Oh, e-erm…,” she stammered, acting more awkward than usual.

“Mm, who are these? Friends of yours, Finé?” a woman clad in a lab coat, who stood next to her, asked.

She had sleek black hair cut to shoulder length. Her features were quite similar to Elfiné’s, and there was no questioning her beauty.

Mm. She looks an awful lot like Elfiné…? Leonis furrowed his brow.

“I’m Clauvia Phillet. Finé’s elder sister,” the woman introduced.

Her sister. Yes, I can see it. That explained the resemblance. Their personalities seem quite dissident, however.

Something about Clauvia gave Leonis the feeling she was a bottomless abyss of secrets, like she carried some kind of devilish aspect.

“Oh, you’re Miss Finé’s sister! I’m, uh, Riselia Crystalia,” Riselia greeted, slipping over her words excitedly. “I’m in the same platoon as Miss Finé, and um, she always compensates for my failures, and—”

“Selia, calm down.” Elfiné regarded her friend with an awkward smile.

“Crystalia?” Upon hearing that, Clauvia’s eyes narrowed a little. “I see, so you’re…”

“I’m Leonis Magnus, likewise of the eighteenth platoon,” Leonis stated politely.

“A pleasure… My, you have a child in your platoon?” Clauvia questioned, a bit surprised.

“Leo’s a full-fledged Holy Swordsman,” Elfiné chided her sister before turning to Selia. “So you two came to the museum on a date?”

“Yes, Leo wanted to visit.”

A date? Leonis thought, perplexed.

“There’s no shortage of things to see,” remarked Elfiné. “This place has enough for multiple trips, so feel free to come back for as long as the Sixth Assault Garden remains coupled.”

“So, what are you and your sister here for?” Riselia inquired.

“Clauvia blackmai—I mean, uh, requested that I help her out with something,” Elfiné replied with a shrug. “So now I have to help her analyze the relic they excavated in the tundra.”

“What?! That’s incredible!” Riselia exclaimed.

“That’s right, my little Finé’s so talented,” Clauvia said with evident satisfaction.

Elfiné shot a sharp glare at her before continuing.

“Anyway, we’re headed for a special, restricted passage connecting the museum and the research institute in the basement level.”

They’d run into Riselia and Leonis on their way.

The object they discovered in the tundra. This is a good chance. When Leonis had first heard Lena’s report, he was half prepared to disregard it entirely, but he wasn’t about to pass up on a chance to get his hands on a genuine Origin Spirit.

“Hmm, excuse me…?” Leonis spoke to Clauvia hesitantly. “Is there any way we could see that relic?”

“…Leo?” Elfiné regarded him with surprise.

“Hmm. You’re interested in ancient ruins, kid?” Clauvia asked him.

“Yes.”

“I see. Well, it’s a military secret, so outsiders aren’t allowed near it…,” she responded, making a theatrical pensive gesture.

Exactly the sort of answer I expected. I suppose I’ll have to take control of this woman.

Yet just as Leonis was preparing to use his Evil Eye of Domination…

“—But fine. If you’re just going to look, I don’t mind,” Clauvia Phillet stated with a wink.

“You don’t?” Leonis checked, taken aback.

“Clauvia?” Elfiné turned to her sister with suspicious eyes.

“Honestly, I can’t really let you see it. But since you’re friends with Finé, I’ll make an exception.”

“Breath of respite, bestow the boon of slumber—Sleep Cloud.”

As soon as the chant was verbalized, a cloud of slumber filled the anti-Void research institute’s central sector, and all the lab’s staff passed out.

“Now we won’t have to needlessly hurt anyone,” Arle Kirlesio said from under her hood and mask.

“Not bad. Was that some kind of elf sorcery?” Lena inquired, patting her on the shoulder.

“Something like that…,” Arle replied unenthusiastically.

“We’re done busting the security cameras,” one of the beastmen said.

“For now, let’s tie everyone up.”

“Yeah, yeah. All right…”

The group got to work binding the unconscious researchers.

It’s a good thing they didn’t resist.

Arle was relieved that no one had to be hurt.

“I’m surprised we got in this easily, though,” Lena remarked. “I thought security would be tighter, what with them having an Origin Spirit sealed here.”

“They had three military Holy Swordsmen on guard; that’s plenty tight security,” one of the beastmen replied.

“Hmm. I suppose.”

Arle had taken those Holy Swordsmen by surprise and knocked them out. Holy Swords were a powerful force with varied abilities, but their wielders weren’t well organized. The blue-haired girl Arle had crossed blades with in the ruined city had been far stronger.

“Huh. Wait, you’re the Sovereign Wolves…!” one of the scientists exclaimed upon waking.

“Not anymore.” Lena approached the man, looking down at him with a knife in hand. “We’re the Demon Wolf Pack.”

“Ahhh!” the researcher screeched with fear.

“I need to ask you something. The Sixth Assault Garden’s expedition team discovered something in the tundra, right?”

“…!”

“And don’t bother playing dumb. We know about the Origin Spirit you’ve got here.”

“A spirit? What are you talking about?!”

“Feigning ignorance, huh?” one of the beastmen growled. “In that case…”

“Watch it.” Arle stopped the beastman, who was about to start abusing the researcher.

“It’s fine,” Lena said. “We’ll just use this.”

She stole the researcher’s card key, inserted it into the terminal, and started tapping on its keyboard.

“Heh-heh-heh, I’m actually pretty good with this sort of thing…,” Lena muttered proudly. “Right, the seventh sealed sector. That’s the place.”

Lena pushed a button, and footage appeared on the terminal’s monitor. Immediately, she eyed the video suspiciously. “Mm? Wait, what is this…?”

“What’s wrong, Lena?” the other Demon Wolf Pack members asked.

Arle peered from behind and had to stop herself from gasping aloud.

It can’t be… Why…? How is that here?!

Leonis and the others crossed the museum’s private corridor, moving into the laboratory’s underground level. Clauvia walked in the lead, releasing the locked doors along their way.

“Is your sister a really important person, Miss Elfiné?” Leonis asked her in a low tone.

“She’s a lead researcher for the Phillet Company and the foremost authority when it comes to anti-Void experimentation,” Elfiné replied, her gaze fixed sharply on her elder sibling’s back.

I guess they don’t get along that well, Leonis concluded.

Suddenly, Clauvia stopped in front of the elevator and pressed the communication terminal to her ear. “This is strange…,” she muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Elfiné questioned.

“I can’t get in touch with the central sector.”

“Do you think something happened?”

“Well, there’s a storm outside. Maybe the Artificial Elementals are unstable.” With a shrug, Clauvia held up her ID card to the door of an elevator.

Leonis and the others got inside and rode down.

Clauvia promptly turned to Riselia and said, “So you’re Duke Crystalia’s daughter.”

“Huh? Hmm, yes…,” Riselia muttered, taken off guard.

“A survivor of the Third Assault Garden’s Stampede—”

“Clauvia!” Elfiné snapped at her sister, who continued undisturbed.

“Duke Crystalia published multiple fascinating theses on ancient ruins. He wasn’t affiliated with the empire’s research institute, but he was a brilliant scholar.”

“Yes. Father would always shut himself off in the study, throwing himself into his work,” Riselia responded.

“Tell me, are you interested in investigating ancient sites, too?” Clauvia pressed.

“I am. My majors at the academy are archaic linguistics and ruin archaeology…”

Perhaps in an attempt to protect Riselia, Elfiné butted into the conversation. “Clauvia, could you please stop trying to pull my platoon members into your business?”

“That’s a shame. I was just looking for a good assistant…”

The elevator’s doors opened. Clauvia stepped into the corridor first, reaching out to unlock the door. “Now, I think I’ve already made it clear, but everything you’ll see here is top secret.”

“Should we really be here?” Riselia checked again.

“You’re Finé’s friends, so it’s no problem. Besides, I think that as Duke Crystalia’s daughter, you have the right to see this. We would never have discovered this without his research.”

A thick metallic bulkhead slowly opened with a rumble, revealing a massive space illuminated by mana lights. A humongous block of ice rested in the center of the chamber, held in place by multiple steel fixtures.

Wh…? What…?!

Leonis was speechless. Not because of the ice block’s size, but rather, because of the thing sealed within it.

It was unmistakably a crimson dragon.

And it wasn’t just any dragon. Leonis had engaged in mortal combat with this particular one many times. The tyrannical despot beckoned storms with his sheer presence and reigned sovereign over the skies.

It was one of the Eight Dark Lords who had fought alongside the Goddess of Rebellion—Veira, the Dragon Lord.

It can’t be… What is this Dragon Lord doing here…?!

Leonis stood agape, his breath stilled. Veira should have fallen to the Six Heroes in the Demon Dragon’s Mountain Range, yet here she was. Leonis could tell; the Dragon Lord was undoubtedly, unmistakably alive.

“Clauvia, what did you…?!” Elfiné turned to face her sister.

However, the elder sister’s gaze was transfixed on the frozen thing before them, entranced.

Why is Veira…? Leonis took one loud step forward. It was a completely unconscious act. However…

<Le…nis.…>

“…?!”

Hearing a voice in his mind, Leonis looked up in shock.

“…Veira?”

Crack! Small fissures ran through the ice block’s surface.

<Le…o…nis…!>

Crack, crack…!

“…?!”

“…Leo?!” Riselia reflexively caught the boy by the arm, pulling him back.

No sooner had she done so than the ice block encasing the Dragon Lord shattered to pieces.