I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 19 : Zodiac (1)

Zodiac (1)

The city of magitech, Zodiac, was a technologically advanced area.

As a city inhabited by numerous scholars, it was nothing short of a gigantic laboratory.

A center for the convergence of disciplines such as magitechnology and magechanics.

For scholars and mages, calling it a landmark was hardly an exaggeration.

However, entrance was surprisingly unrestricted. Out of a desire to promote learning, there was no arbitrary discrimination.

Instead, causing trouble in the city resulted in severe punishment in the name of the empire.

Therefore, it was necessary to thoroughly warn any companions unfamiliar with the area.

"Listen to me carefully. If you cause even a little trouble here, you'll be executed on the spot."

As soon as they arrived in Zodiac, Silia began explaining things to Louis.

"And don't touch anything at random. Everything here is covered in magitech devices created by scholars."

Even benches and flower beds placed in empty lots were reportedly their creations.

If you happen to break something, you must compensate for it.

And since these are magitech devices, they're extremely expensive.

If you make even the slightest mistake, Louis would be held responsible for everything.

"What if I break even one thing?"

"Then you'll have to fix it yourself—with your neck."

"You won't pay for it for me?"

"Have you ever seen an officer take responsibility for a soldier?"

An officer of the 7th Legion does not have the role of caring for individual soldiers.

Their role is to trample on the soldiers' rights, treat them as tools, so Silia's words were not wrong.

Even so, Louis felt disappointed.

"I rescued you last night, didn't I? Even went so far as to beat down a demon."

"Well, I'll think about it, depending on how you act. And you keep calling me elder sister, but honestly, it's making me less fond of you."

"Then, should I call you mom instead?"

"You little—!"

Silia actually almost raised her voice, but let it go.

She felt that even just putting up with him was getting difficult.

"I don't know why you keep calling me elder sister, but if you don't want to get in more trouble, you'd better stop. Every time you call me that, I get a headache."

"Does it really anger you that much for a soldier to call you elder sister?"

"Don't make me repeat it! Even aside from that... It's just unpleasant for me."

Louis cocked his head, as if asking why.

Silia read his expression, but chose not to answer.

"What's that over there?"

At that moment, Louis showed curiosity about something he saw.

There, people were setting up a splendid structure in the plaza as if preparing for an event.

"It's the Zodiac Magitech Device Competition. Sometimes, nobles have the magitech devices their families developed evaluated here in Zodiac."

Zodiac is a major city of magitech officially recognized by the Imperial Court.

If a noble family gets noticed by such a huge institution, they can acquire immense connections.

Families recognized by Zodiac are awarded honorary medals and given the chance to form major alliances, greatly enhancing their reputation.

Zodiac also has much to gain by forming networks with prestigious noble families, so it spends a large budget organizing such events.

"Of course, only a select few families get to hold this contest. Even for Zodiac, preparing this event is costly. If a family isn't worth that expense, they won't grant permission."

For example, only noble families of tremendous renown can earn such a privilege.

Alternatively, a family with remarkable potential in the field of magechanics could also qualify.

But, the highest priority is always the former. Zodiac simply cannot ignore the prestige of high-ranking nobles.

"And usually, at these competitions, the hosting family's heir takes to the stage and personally tests the performance of the magitech device. It's a symbolic thing for the family."

"You seem to know a lot about it, more than I expected?"

At Louis's question, Silia answered with a bittersweet expression.

"I actually participated in this very competition in the past."

"Were you a noble, elder sister?"

"Until just two years ago, before I was assigned to the 7th Legion."

Silia watched the competition preparations for a moment, then turned her gaze away with an effort and started walking again. Louis followed after her.

"When did you first become a knight?"

"Exactly two years ago."

"How old are you now?"

"Twenty-one."

Louis was startled at the answer.

"Then you were appointed a knight at nineteen?"

"That's right. At the time, I was the youngest ever appointed directly under the Imperial Court."

Becoming a direct subordinate of the Imperial Court is a feat beyond even most high-ranking knights.

But Silia had seized that lofty position almost the moment she became an adult.

This was the realm of extraordinary talent.

"Then why were you assigned to the 7th Legion that very same year?"

"...."

What on earth had she done to fall from glory right after seizing such an honor?

His curiosity peaked, but Silia avoided answering.

Seeing her reaction, Louis decided not to be tenacious about it.

Besides, they had reached their destination.

"This is the library you were looking for."

Before their eyes stood a huge building resembling a temple.

This was the Great Library of Zodiac, a sanctuary for scholars.

Simply standing at the entrance, one could watch crowds coming and going through the library doors.

Among them were young people in what looked like school uniforms.

"Is there a school nearby?"

"There's an academy not far from Zodiac. For those students too, this is an indispensable place."

Since anyone could enter as long as they weren't making a scene, the two quietly stepped inside.

Once through the entrance, every visible wall was lined with shelves of books.

There was not a single wall unfilled with books, no matter how high.

Countless people were pulling out books from the shelves,

While library staff used wheeled racks to move books about.

Yet even with such activity, a very quiet and solemn atmosphere prevailed.

Upon seeing it, a thought occurred to Louis:

The libraries in the world I'm from weren't even worthy of the name.

"You know you have to be quiet here, right?"

"Of course."

"Anyway, go find the book you need to read."

Near the entrance they spotted an information desk.

Thanks to asking the staff there, they quickly found the book they were looking for.

Louis took the book and soon found a seat to read.

It looked as if Silia, sitting across from him, was waiting patiently.

But the longer she watched Louis reading, the more her expression hardened, and at last, she stood up.

"I'll be back in a bit."

"Where are you going?"

"I have business in this Zodiac too. And don't worry about the spell—I'm not going far from this library."

Was it that torture spell that activated automatically if he moved more than fifty meters away?

But it seemed Silia wasn't going so far as to trigger it.

If, in her absence, Louis were to cause a disturbance, she could simply take his head. That would settle everything.

Yet, thinking about how he fought the demon the night before, it seemed unlikely Louis would do anything rash.

Despite being a 7th Legion soldier, he hadn't sought revenge against her while she was weakened.

Having left the library, Silia walked toward the graveyard behind it.

She stopped in front of a grave near the entrance.

Silia sat before the grave and placed a box of snacks atop the headstone.

It was because the person buried there had liked snacks better than flowers.

"Is it comfortable there? I feel like I'm about to die."

Looking at the grave, Silia thought of recent events.

Because of that soldier who kept calling her elder sister, she was mentally exhausted.

"Still, it's a relief. You got to be buried near the library you liked."

The person buried here had loved spending time in the Zodiac library.

Silia had often watched him read.

"I was going to try and forget, to move on for a while..."

For the buried one, it might be peaceful, but for Silia, living was hell.

Recently, one particular soldier kept triggering her sense of burden.

"I told him not to call me that..."

In the past, she had liked being called elder sister.

The relative she had wanted to protect always called her that with a smiling face.

But that relative now rested in this grave.

She could no longer hear his voice or see his smile.

Now, for her, the title elder sister was just unpleasant.

Whenever she heard it, it felt like her shoulders were sinking deep into the ground.

"That son of a bitch...."

****

[Chaos Dragon]

In the end, Louis was able to find the term he wanted in the books.

It took sifting through more than ten monster compendia before finding it at last.

He didn't need to look up information on other monsters; he'd seen more than enough of them playing the game in his previous world.

But information on the Chaos Dragon was extremely sparse.

Even in the in-game monster compendium, the Chaos Dragon didn't appear.

In fact, it made sense that it didn't. The Chaos Dragon had never appeared as a boss monster.

It was only ever mentioned in the story as the final boss.

Moreover, even that storyline had to be uncovered by players exploring the game's lore on their own.

There was no epic quest with cut-scenes or anything like that; even in his past life, Louis hadn't delved deeply into that lore.

He'd been too lazy to search it all out step by step.

That was something he regretted now.

'I came here to find out information I didn't know...'

Unfortunately, the books didn't contain complete information on the Chaos Dragon.

Most of it overlapped with the superficial bits he had seen within the game.

As expected of a legendary existence, it was only mentioned in passing as a myth.

[Risks]

Even though it was just legend, it did include some risk assessment of the Chaos Dragon.

It purportedly attacked at lightning speed, could sense and dodge any attack, and its tough scales were said to be impregnable.

It was even written that it wielded five attributes: fire, ice, poison, wind, and lightning.

That was why the Elite Lizard's poison didn't work—the Chaos Dragon was, of course, immune to the attributes it handled.

'Attack speed, evasion, defense, strength, multiple attribute attacks, with resistance on top of that...'

A gasp escaped Louis's lips.

Would this be what it was like if you combined all the powers of a superhero team from a movie?

If a monster like this came out as a boss, how long would it take to beat it?

With attribute resistances on top of everything else, mages would be useless except for healing or buffing.

All the major damage attributes were resisted—how would you possibly do any damage?

Still, that kind of power came with its own drawbacks.

'How do you control this damned berserk state...?'

That berserk state couldn't be controlled without the torture spell.

He looked for any clues, but nothing showed up.

He read to the end but all it said was, 'In the end, the Chaos Dragon was sealed with the help of some relic.'

"Nothing."

He read through another five volumes, but that was all he found.

He considered searching for more books, but what he'd just read was said to be the most current edition.

Even when he consulted the reception desk for more books with information on the Chaos Dragon, they confirmed that's all there is.

Why does the final boss have so little known about it?

Or maybe, that's precisely why it's the final boss.

Louis returned to his seat with a deep sigh.

Never mind the Chaos Dragon; why did the torture spell work like a painkiller for him?

He wanted to find out more, but information on the Chaos Dragon was so scarce.

It wasn't even a classified secret, just... nothing.

Had he really come all the way to Zodiac for nothing?

That was when it happened.

"Well, well. Look at who's here. What are you doing here?"

In the quiet library, someone called out to Louis.

Seeing the man's face, Louis's expression darkened.

"Your family was destroyed, wasn't it? Curious."

Louis's domain had been laid waste by bandits.

His father falsely accused and killed, his mother slain by the bandits' blades.

Louis had a good guess as to who had framed his family and hired those bandits.

The Bisted ducal house—Alber Bisted, the duke himself.

He had seen the duke's face at the nobles' gathering.

"Nice to see you again, son of a criminal."

The duke's son, Rejir Bisted, greeted him with a twisted smile.

****

"Hmm?"

While tending the grave, an alarm rang from Silia's pocket.

Startled, she pulled out the magitech soldier tracking device.

The alarm had gone off because the soldier on leave had moved more than fifty meters away from her.

That meant he wasn't quietly reading in the library but wandering around as he pleased.

She had no choice but to cut her visit short.

Silia ran toward the location indicated by the magitech device.