“What happened with the magic doll unit sent as an advance party?”
“Duke Kernel, you are too impatient. They should be arriving at the Holy Testarottenmaria dungeon now.”
“Of course I’m restless. A second too late could mean the end of the capital.”
Said Kernel with a strong tone to Proxy, who shook inside the same wagon but did not seem particularly flustered.
It had been very little time since the fall of Azure Skies, so exhaustion was visible on their faces, but both tried to regain their strength by resting in the wagon, which was headed to the Holy Testarottenmaria dungeon.
Clearance was headed to where the remaining ancient magic stones Black Hole were hidden, but there was a good chance Woodhorse and his cohorts were there. That was why they sent their magic dolls to scout out the situation.
“The magic doll unit is being restrained until we understand the situation, correct?”
“Yes. We don’t want to hastily attack. Who knows what that Woodhorse is scheming.”
“The magic dolls should be enough to deal with Troy, as far as we know, but… If that Rocky from Zero Division had a magic device, they’re probably not playing by the rules. Magic dolls are good at overwhelming with a frontal attack, but weak against surprise attacks. The mass production of magic dolls didn’t finish in time, and we have Ace’s precedent in the first place… Well, we just have to do what we can for now.”
Those were just points to be improved, thought Kernel as he smoked a cigar and blew smoke at the passing scenery.
“Disposing of bombs really is the most troubling thing. If they’re in trouble, they can just blow themselves up. It’s annoying how we have to be careful not to provoke them.”
“We have to push through this disadvantage with numbers, agility, and coordination.”
It was not just Clearance, other knights close to Kernel rushed to the Holy Testarottenmaria dungeon.
They were going to overwhelm them with superior numbers and crush them in one go, not giving them time to activate the Black Holes. And they would encircle them to assure not even a rat would get away.
“I won’t let them.”
“Oh, you’re fired up. You didn’t get to go all out in Liebe’s incident.”
The belief that Proxy, the beast person in front of Kernel, had in his knighthood could be said to be excessive.
And in his clenched right hand, there was a sooty hand-made doll, that he held as if making a wish to it.
“The capital that Woodhorse is trying to destroy is inhabited by beast people doing their best to survive… And many futures that can’t die. I’m not letting them.”
“Yes.”
But meanwhile, Kernel stuck out his thick lips and seemed to be deep in thought.
“And if only the capital was destroyed… That might still not be bad.”
“What? That’s such an ominous way of putting it.”
“And… I have some unpleasant thoughts about those Black Holes.”
Kernel added.
“Do you know the history of the Truly Wonderful Fair Skies Church?”
Proxy’s eyebrows sunk a little. It was fair to say they were the biggest enemy of beast people.
Of course, Kernel was well aware of Proxy’s connection to beast people, and trusted him.
“Yes. I’ve been made to learn it in a way.”
“Then you know the ‘Great Chew’ Voight that appears in their holy books?”
“I know he appears in history books too. The demon king that destroyed a civilization in one bite.”
“Yes. It was a more advanced magic civilization than ours, full of what’s now lost technology.”
‘Great Chew’ Voight. It was unclear if it was even human.
Religious texts said it killed various gods, and brought humanity to the brink of extinction.
Even in history books, it was the most feared, supernatural being that managed to make society regress, and almost destroyed the world.
But that was two thousand years ago. Two thousand years ago, in the end of its world destroying rampage, the hero who received the divine oracle, the girl named Ubiquitous, destroyed it.
Was what was later recorded by historians.
“And ancient magic stones Black Hole contain Voight’s power. It should be nothing more than a myth, but it does exist.”
“Duke Kernel, you’re not thinking…”
Kernel spoke with a cold sweat.
“What if when those ancient magic stones are activated, it’s not a black hole that appears, but the ‘ghost’ of Voight?”
Too many incidents that hinted at that happened recently.
Magic dolls, in other words, magic stones with something that could be defined as a heart, and Liebe’s ‘ghost’.
“Surely it’s an unfounded fear. I doubt Woodhorse would think of that anyway.”
Were it not for those two examples, Kernel would have discounted that as an unfounded fear as well.
“It would be one thing if the ghost of Voight appeared, but what if it’s close to how it was in its heyday?”
“…The whole world would be destroyed, not just this capital.”
“Yes. That mythical destruction would happen again… An absolute destruction that even Qualia’s strange techniques wouldn’t stop. Not without great enough power that could destroy the world.”
Proxy and Kernel took a deep breath.
“Even if it ends up being an unfounded fear, we really can’t let those ancient magic stones be activated.”
“Yes. We have to be careful.”
“That’s my role.”
Then, they noticed gravity shifted slightly.
The wagon had stopped outside of where they were expecting. Proxy poked his head out, and saw the knight that was sent with the magic dolls rushing to get off his horse.
“What happened?”
“…Reporting.”
The knight reported between heavy breaths.
“The magic doll unit was wiped out. Other units also suffered a lot of damage.”
Kernel and Proxy looked at each other. They understood the severity of this, but did not dismay.
Instead, Kernel faced the sweaty knight and tried to learn about this situation.
“First, confirm. Was Troy there?”
“Yes. We got confirmation of Woodhorse. Also, influential people of Troy. All division commanders are there.”
“But the first division was not supposed to face them.”
“We saw division commanders and above using magic devices believed to be Black Holes.”
“I see. It has come to that.”
Kernel put his finger on his chin, and grimaced.
“But the magic doll unit’s job was to scout. We told them to retreat if the enemy found them and attacked.”
“As you say, they did. But the attack from Black Hole was intensely strong, and destroyed a few… But that is not what destroyed the unit.
“What do you mean?”
The knight then stated who threw the situation into chaos.
“Anonymous swooped in and took the remaining magi dolls.”
Kernel and Proxy looked straight at the knight, who said only one thing to them.
“It is a three way battle between Troy, Legion, meaning the magic dolls led by Anonymous, and us.”
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This one’s now dropped?