novelraw Chapter 91 : Prophecy (1)
Chapter 91 : Prophecy (1)
Prophecy (1)
As they walked through the underground, a massive door appeared before their eyes.
It was a forbidden area of the academy, where no one was permitted to enter and not even a step of approach was allowed.
The reason for this was the double-layered barrier deployed over the door.
Louis reached his hand out to touch the door, but was blocked by an invisible wall.
Such a barrier applied to the door itself as well, and there was no one in the academy who could break through it.
That was why Louis had brought someone from outside the academy who could break this barrier.
"Well then, headmaster. I'll leave it to you."
"You sure know how to order me around, even though you're just a mere soldier."
"I'm not just any soldier, you know."
Louis grinned and rolled up his sleeve, showing the insignia of the special task force.
He was the only soldier in the Imperial Court who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the royal family.
"Fine, whatever, you rascal."
Ferus grudgingly complied with Louis's request.
The invisible barrier blocking the three of them was not something anyone in the Imperial Court could easily break through.
Physical strength wouldn't work, and it was also impossible to decode and undo the barrier.
Yet, the only person capable of deciphering it was Ferus alone.
Nothing could remain unsolved before the wisdom of one who had reached the pinnacle of magitech.
Louis asked Ferus a question:
"Have you ever been here before?"
"Of course I have. Do you think someone called the headmaster of magitech has never once set foot in the academy?"
With such a rank, Ferus had come and gone from the academy for a long time.
Even the vice-principal or principal of the academy were nothing in comparison to him.
With that level of authority, it was only natural that he could easily step into even such forbidden areas.
"In fact, I too was curious about this place and broke through the barrier a few times to see inside."
"Didn't the folks upstairs in the academy say anything? It's supposed to be a forbidden area."
"With the mighty headmaster coming through, everyone just cleared a path for me."
It meant that everywhere he went, the academy staff parted like the miracle of Moses.
Ferus's influence was much greater than expected, enough to be free from interference anywhere.
"Still, is it really okay for even the principals to act like that?"
"With just a word from me, I could have anyone in education dismissed. So it's not strange for them to act that way in front of me. Of course, it bothers me that some try to cover up campus problems just to get on my good side."
Silia, listening nearby, grew visibly sullen.
"Why do you look like that, elder sister?"
"Oh... it's just..."
To cover up campus problems.
That surely included bullying between students.
"You know who I lost here, don't you?"
"Your younger sibling."
"Sylvest was definitely killed by some nasty students. And who do you think let those students get away with it?"
As just stated, the higher-ups at the academy routinely covered up any campus problem.
Issues not revealed to outsiders ended up multiplying without signs of resolution, making the academy ever more closed off.
Students influenced by the atmosphere repeated the same behavior, and the higher-ups continued to cover it up.
"If even a little of it had become public, my sibling might not have died. And it was confirmed again today when Rio's situation was decided."
Silia recalled those who had made that vicious cycle, biting her lips in anger.
"They're rotten to the bone."
Because bullies were not punished, any sense of guilt faded.
In the end, the situation was turned upside down so that the victims themselves became the ones seen as wrong.
If Louis hadn't entered undercover, ria and Patrick, the siblings, might have met the same fate as Silia's sibling.
"What about those siblings?"
For that reason, Silia was reminded of her own sibling by them.
With Louis replying that they were no longer being bullied, Silia's dark expression eased a little.
"Thank you."
Just knowing no more victims would arise brought her a sense of relief. At that moment, the first barrier was released.
Afterward, even the second barrier on the door was undone by Ferus's rough hands.
Kugugugugu—
Beyond the door, which opened with a thunderous sound, lay a spacious chamber.
On the perimeter stood shelves with various books, and in the center was a small, sparkling spring.
"This is the place where the legacies left by the founders—the heroes—of the academy slumber."
"What's that spring?"
Louis pointed to the luminous pool in the center.
A faint aura of life could be sensed from its radiance.
"That is the grave."
The very place that was said to hold the remains of those heroes.
When Louis realized that spring itself was the grave, he was both astonished and confused.
"Isn't it more like they're submerged rather than buried?"
"..."
Ferus fell silent, unable to refute that.
His expression was one of 'let's just accept it'.
"Anyway, those are the corpses of the heroes who fought the Chaos Dragon, right?"
"I've observed it several times, but there was never any particular reaction."
Louis stared, captivated by the spring.
Was it really nothing more than a liquid grave as Ferus said?
He was about to ask that question to Ferus.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, both Ferus and Silia had vanished.
Not only that, but the place where he had been standing had changed into a pitch-black background.
Louis wondered if it was some kind of illusion and tried to rub his eyes, but even his hands wouldn't move.
Chains of unknown origin, which appeared at some point, had bound his entire body.
"What is this?"
There was no sign, scent, or sound around him.
He was horrified to realize he'd been isolated in a space where no one else existed.
[Who are you, really?]
At the sound of a sudden voice, Louis turned his head.
There, standing where no one had been before, was a man.
The man shone with radiance as if he were a god, and no sensation could be felt from him.
It was like seeing a ghost. In the man's eyes was the gaze of a strong one who had been through many battles.
"Who are you?"
Feeling as if he instinctively knew the answer but confirming nonetheless, Louis asked.
The man narrowed his eyes and spoke.
[I am Frederick, the founder of this academy. And I was one of the five who once fought and fell to monsters.]
Even Louis was familiar with that name.
Though he had enrolled undercover, basic lessons on the five heroes had been part of the curriculum.
In short, the person before Louis now was nothing less than a legend.
And Frederick was staring at him as if he meant to kill.
"Excuse me, but why are you looking at me like that when we've just met? Do you have some vendetta against my parents or something?"
[Not a vendetta, but I'm in no position to just overlook you.]
Frederick continued sharply.
[I can feel the Chaos Dragon's aura coming from you!]
As if responding to his hostility, the chains constricted tighter around Louis's body.
He struggled with all his might to break free, but to his shock, the chain would not break.
Stunned at the strength of the restraints, Louis cried out in haste.
"W-wait! Hold on! I'm not the Chaos Dragon!"
[Don't lie. Do you think I, who fought that monster, wouldn't recognize its aura?]
"I'm telling the truth! I do have that power, sure, but... was that monster ever a two-legged human like me?"
[...]
As Louis protested the difference between himself and the Chaos Dragon, Frederick fell silent for a moment.
Simultaneously, the oppressive force of the chain lessened.
But, even so, the chains would not break.
[Indeed, it feels a bit different. The power is the same, yet, compared to that monster, it's overwhelmingly weak. I suppose you really aren't the Chaos Dragon.]
"Right? So could you please—these chains...."
[But then, how do you possess that power? I'm sure the monster's power was sent off to another dimension!]
"Aaagh! I'll explain, just loosen up a little!"
Only after the chain's grip eased again did Louis continue his explanation.
He told Frederick how he had lived in this world for twelve... no, sixteen years so far, and what he was currently doing.
[So you're saying you were born with that power? That's absurd....]
"Nothing else explains it. I was horrified when it first awakened, too."
[You even enrolled undercover in the academy to find clues to controlling the power?]
"I have other reasons, but this is the most important."
After hearing Louis's story, Frederick suddenly sat down, his face pensive.
It was certainly information confusing enough to shake anyone.
Especially for someone who once fought the Chaos Dragon.
[Well, sit down, at least.]
Frederick finally released the chains and gestured for him to sit comfortably.
Relieved from the suffocation, Louis asked,
"Are you a ghost?"
[As you know, I'm already dead. This is the remnant of my spirit left on this land when I was buried here. When I sensed the Chaos Dragon's aura, I became conscious and used my power.]
"And it turned out to be me?"
[That's right. Unfortunately, the Chaos Dragon and I had a deep connection, hence the resonance.]
In the end, Louis was the only one who could have a conversation with this spirit.
Because he possessed the power of that monster.
"By the way, isn't it more like you were submerged in there than buried?"
[You mean that spring? That's my corpse. Just before I died, to stabilize the academy's ley lines, I melted my body. By doing so, I became part of the land in the form of that spring.]
So it was truly a burial, not simply being submerged.
Feeling sorry for his misunderstanding, Louis asked another question.
"What's the point of turning your body into a spring?"
[No one knows this, but ancient demons left the demon realm's seed buried here. If the seed takes root and grows into a tree, everything around it turns into the demon realm. I sacrificed my own flesh to prevent the seed from growing.]
"And you built the academy in such a dangerous place?"
If that seed ever grew, what would become of those living above?
When Louis challenged him about it, Frederick looked incredulous and snapped back.
[Yeah, as you say, this is an extremely dangerous place. But those idiot priests back then insisted on building the academy here, calling it sacred because my body was buried beneath it! I was already dead at the time, so I couldn't even warn anyone about the seed!]
"Then you should've warned them before you died."
[Regrettably, I only found out too late. Even if I'd wanted to warn the world, my body was at its limit by then and I couldn't move.]
In the end, all he could do was make that last sacrifice on the spot.
[Of course, I advocated building an education facility for the future. But those idiots! They just profited by exploiting my name and that of my companions... to think they would dare build the academy over my corpse without permission! If I were alive, I'd have—!]
"They'd be long dead by now, don't you think?"
Given how long ago it was, those people would be gone.
[But their successors and descendants are around! Even now, they're still using my name and corpse to promote the place. They probably advertise the education institution as the sacred resting place of the great Hero Frederick!]
It was absurd to think about the real reason why that grave had become the hero's tomb.
They'd built a giant school and city where people shouldn't even enter.
"By any chance, could your power purify my Chaos Dragon power?"
[It's true I weakened its strength by fighting the Chaos Dragon. But that was only by borrowing the power of an artifact. My own power can do little except invert the properties of strength.]
"Invert?"
[For example, it means I can disguise demonic energy used by demonkin as holy power used by Saints. The method that holds down the demon realm's seed is also based on inverting demonic energy.]
It was an interesting ability, but it meant he couldn't control power like a spell.
As Louis expressed regret, this time Frederick revealed his own curiosity.
[So, you were born with this power... Could it be that, in this generation, special people have been born?]
"'Special people'?"
[You must have heard the prophecy at least once. Haven't the heroes of that prophecy been born in this generation?]
At those words, Louis replied with a trembling voice.
With each explanation, Frederick's face grew paler.
[I-is that true?]
When Louis nodded, Frederick muttered under his breath.
[Ah... This world is finished.]