Chapter 44

Victory stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

In the midst of cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

Victory boarded a specially made limousine with Yanle, and they set off somewhere. Behind them, several armored transport vehicles of the magic armor followed, carrying the elite forces of the Duke of Sogoku's household.

While nervously touching the armor of his personal vehicle, Victory glanced at his father, who sat across from him, tapping his fingers irritably. This was the first time Victory had seen his father so irritable, and he shuddered in fear, hunching his shoulders and shrinking his body.

In the environment of the Duke of Sogoku's household, Victory, who was striving to become an excellent person in the future, had a heart rooted in his previous life. No matter how confident he was, the deep-seated inferiority complex was ingrained, and it showed in his small-mindedness.

However, unable to bear the heavy atmosphere, he cautiously opened his mouth, driven by curiosity about why his father was so irritable. His father, who usually acted as a bold and straightforward person, why was he so irritable?

"Father, what exactly happened?"

In response to Victory's question, Yanle turned his sharp, intimidating gaze towards him. Stopping his finger-tapping, he sighed and explained.

"We have been developing a city, and I received information that another noble has entered one of the areas we are developing."

"Hmm, just entered, right? Why bring so many people?"

He inwardly cursed, thinking they were a gang of thugs. It was insane to send troops just because someone entered their territory. It was strange even as a matter of face. Strange?

Indeed, it was strange. Would his father, who was known for his cunning, bring soldiers and go himself over such a trivial matter? He should have sent his subordinates to protest.

Yanle exhaled in a bored manner at Victory's puzzled expression.

"That place is a bit special."

"Special...? Wait, did they enter the slums? Are they trying to develop the slums?"

The landscape outside the window showed dilapidated buildings and collapsed shops, with dirty people peeking from the shadows. Although Victory had never been to the slums, he had heard stories. It was likely the slums.

"Yes. I was thinking of developing the slums. I bought the land around here a long time ago. However, the development was too expensive and had been put on hold."

"I see, so another noble entered the area?"

If they weren't developing it, wouldn't it be fine to leave it alone? Victory was puzzled. After all, just looking at it, there were piles of garbage everywhere, and poor people were gathered around burning garbage in drums. Developing such a place seemed impossible.

Victory's doubts were valid, but Yanle leaned back in his seat, irritated.

To assert ownership of the slums, he was called here, and as he glanced out the window, he noticed something strange.

"Snow? No, ash?"

Outside the window, snowflakes were falling. No, upon closer inspection, it was ash. The ash had quietly fallen from the sky, covering the slums like snow, turning the landscape white.

"That's the reason. It seems there was a dungeon on my land, and it burned out last night."

"Dungeon? Burned out?"

"I don't know. Dungeons form in spatial rifts. The inside burned, and flames spewed out, followed by ash falling like volcanic ash."

Hearing the word "dungeon," Victory understood. Dungeons open on the ground but are actually subspaces, not underground excavations. The dungeon must have formed unnoticed.

If it spewed flames from the entrance, it must be a fire environment dungeon. Dungeons are mostly harmful, but some produce useful resources like rare minerals, magical herbs, and delicious monsters like Horn Bear Cows.

So, he understood that they were in a hurry because a dungeon had appeared. They were heading there to assert ownership.

"A fire dungeon, huh. It seems challenging to conquer. I hope there's something useful."

If they were to conquer it with fire-resistant equipment, it wouldn't be surprising for the Duke of Sogoku's family, known for their fire resistance, to be called upon. He wondered if he would be a candidate and slightly frowned.

But an unexpected response came back.

"The dungeon was indeed rich in minerals, but the enemies were troublesome. It was a place where we occasionally sent people for training and mining, but it wasn't that profitable. Besides, the dungeon has already been conquered. It was supposed to be impossible to conquer... I was planning to conquer it with proper preparation, but this is frustrating."

"Huh? You knew about the dungeon... No, never mind, nothing."

The story was contradictory. If he didn't know about it, it was strange that it was impossible to conquer. But he suppressed his curiosity. Life was precious. He might tell him later, but for now, Victory decided to remain silent. It was enough to speculate that it was a training and resource mining dungeon.

The car soon stopped, and Yanle jumped out, so Victory hurriedly followed.

Stepping out of the car, the humidity was high, and the smell of rain was in the air. The ash quietly falling around was eerie.

In front of them was a scene that shouldn't exist in the slums. Many mages in 'Magic Armor' were armed and on guard, and in the center, several trucks were parked, with workers operating heavy machinery.

"Stop! You, stop the work! Stop it!"

Yanle shouted, waving his hands wildly, and marched forward. The mages showed caution but let Yanle through, and the workers stopped the machinery.

"Wh-What is this!"

Following Yanle, Victory's eyes widened, and he lost his words.

There was nothing there. A clean, bowl-shaped area about 100 meters in radius was visible. Ash was falling, but the ground was still hot, and smoke was rising. The ground was glass-like, and in the center, a large, charred object sat.

Something had been gouged out. No, according to the story, the flames had gouged out the surroundings. Moreover, the buildings around the crater were still standing.

An instant of extreme heat had passed. It had disappeared before it could spread, turning the land to ash. The kind of fire magic used was unimaginable. He had never read about such magic in the original story. Or was it a known magic that couldn't be described in the novel?

In any case, there were no monster corpses. When a dungeon core is destroyed, the dungeon's monsters die. So, there should have been a large number of dungeon monster corpses, but there were none. No, only the large, charred corpse in the center. It was probably the boss.

The exoskeleton was melted, the head crushed, and the legs mostly gone. But Victory had a vague sense of familiarity.

"Is that... an Empress Ant?"

It felt like a monster from the original story. It looked like a giant ant's corpse. In the original story, it crawled out of the dungeon and caused chaos in the capital. It appeared as if it was splitting into a colony.

The Empress Ant from the slums' dungeon rampaged with its subordinates. The protagonist was supposed to gain the ability to use the strongest magic, 'Nova Explosion,' there. Working together with the heroines, they continued their attacks, received everyone's mana, and used the magic to eliminate the slums, becoming famous as a hero and reaching the peak of his rise to power.

"That was a depressing plot. The description was terrible."

The Empress Ant killed all the people in the slums. The description was eerie, and Victory grimaced.

It dissolved people in acid, turned them into meatballs while they were still alive, and used their flesh and bones to build an anthill. Children and women were also used as food and eaten. The description of being eaten was so brutal that Victory felt nauseous even though it was a novel.

The people of the slums were wiped out by the ants, and the land became the protagonist's, who recruited new residents and developed a new area, a fitting rise to power. In the anime, it was changed to an original story where the protagonist developed the land with the people of the slums and governed it. The plot of the protagonist getting the land after killing everyone in the slums had various issues. 'The Night of Magic' had many poor story developments.

In reality, it was a plot that would make people recoil, but Victory thought that the enemy could only be defeated by the protagonist.

"Unlimited regenerative power and spawning Guard Ants. Hard exoskeleton, powerful magic, and overwhelming martial arts. It's impossible to defeat. Many high-ranking nobles died, and the opposing forces were significantly weakened, which only benefited the protagonist. But that's why it couldn't be defeated by anyone else..."

At that time, the protagonist's name was becoming famous among the nobles, and his family, to compete, led a faction to attack and were defeated. ... Was it a different monster? It was hard to tell with the charred state.

Incidentally, in the anime, the plot was changed to the protagonist defeating an opposing faction that was hindering land development with a new magic.

Yanle approached the charred monster, intimidated the workers, and chased them away. A subordinate hurriedly handed him a halberd.

"This is my land. Something unfortunate seems to have happened, but this corpse is mine!"

Yanle shouted, and the workers fled in fear. In front of the strongest fire mage Yanle, ordinary people wouldn't even think of opposing.

However, there were those who could oppose if they weren't ordinary people.

"I'm afraid that won't do, Duke of Sogoku. We intend to store this monster's corpse as an important item."

A middle-aged man in a suit approached Yanle calmly, surprising Victory.

The man was of medium build with thin, thread-like eyes. He exuded a calm atmosphere but also a dangerous, cautionary image.

"Are you trying to steal from my land, Duke of Kamu?"

Yanle bared his teeth, giving off an intimidating presence. His attitude, which even emitted a killing aura, was unlike him, mixed with acting.

However, the man called Duke of Kamu brushed off the intimidation like a breeze and smiled.

"As the head of the military, I must recover dangerous monsters and investigate what happened."

"That's not going to happen. This land belongs to the Duke of Sogoku. I won't let you interfere. And it's clear you want the monster's corpse."

"I don't mind how you take it."

The calm and composed Kamu contrasted with the aggressive Yanle.

"Father, don't push it. It's better to compromise."

Next to the middle-aged man stood a boy around Victory's age, who had come with him.

Victory swallowed hard.

Black hair, black eyes, a plain face, and said to have no outstanding talent, but in reality, a serious face that made him look handsome and possessed unmatched talent.

The protagonist of 'The Night of Magic,' Kamu Shin, stood there.

"Wait, both of you. There are signs of high-level magic being used. Shouldn't we work together to investigate?"

Taisei Ouga appeared, followed by Yami and Miu, who were supposed to die in the original story, and behind them, a large number of samurais.

It seemed they were in for a complicated situation, and Victory broke out in a cold sweat.