Chapter 46

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom that wielded great power. This kingdom was known for its extensive research into magic, which enabled humans to use powerful spells.

Then, the king, who had conquered the world with his magical power, harbored a single ambition.

—Immortality.

He desired it to make the honor and wealth he had built eternal.

The research, carried out as a major national project, was finally completed just before the king's death.

A magic circle that utilized the entire capital. It gathered all the power into the central castle and was to be activated there.

The king, who was already on the brink of death, rejoiced at the completion of the magic circle and immediately activated it.

The result—

"Turned into just a monster."

What a mess.

The capital, known in the game as "Wandering Capital Rewander," was a dungeon filled with undead creatures.

As the game's storyline progresses, it becomes clear that the magic circle was beyond human control. The mages' plan was to separate the body and soul, and anchor the soul into an object. This was supposed to achieve immortality, but the human soul could not withstand the power and broke.

The magic circle, which utilized the entire capital, was so powerful that it affected not only the king but also the citizens and those who worked in the castle. Everyone lost their bodies, and their broken souls attached to other things.

The "Crawling Armor" was a monster where a knight's soul had attached to the armor.

In the game, this capital never produced any more of these creatures—

"I'm shooting!"

As I was thinking, Samiue's stern voice echoed.

Samiue, with her bow drawn, fired an arrow at the Living Mail.

Her emerald eyes sparkled, so the arrow must have been imbued with magic.

The arrow, wrapped in light, pierced the chest plate of the full-body armor.

"Gi-gi-gi..."

The Living Mail, emitting a strange sound like metal scraping, took a step back.

It was strong against physical attacks but vulnerable to magic.

The Living Mail pulled out the arrow that had pierced its chest and crushed it in its hand. The broken arrow fell to the ground in pieces.

"Is this a joke...?"

"There's... nothing inside...!"

"It's a monster..."

The armor, now with a large hole, was empty inside. The soldiers' faces turned pale upon realizing there was no one inside the full-body armor.

Then, Samiue's stern voice echoed again.

"If you are afraid, step back. You're in the way."

She fired another arrow.

However, the Living Mail seemed to have noticed the attack and deflected Samiue's arrow with its sword.

The magic-infused arrow fell to the ground.

The Living Mail, now aware that its formidable opponent was Samiue, creaked its metal and tried to approach her.

"I won't step back! Sword!"

With a shout, a red-haired knight charged at the Living Mail.

In his hand was not the initial rapier but a one-handed sword taken from a soldier.

"Ha!"

The red-haired knight quickly moved into the Living Mail's guard and thrust the blade at its right shoulder. This was the same attack he had aimed at the Living Mail's throat earlier, targeting the joints of the armor. However, this time—

"Ha!"

The red-haired knight pressed into the Living Mail, pinning it down.

The Living Mail, which would normally not be affected by such a move, was destabilized by Samiue's arrow.

"I'm shooting!"

The arrow caught the Living Mail's left knee, creating a large hole.

The unstable Living Mail fell to the ground on its back.

The red-haired knight then thrust the sword, which he had inserted into the right shoulder, into the ground—

"I see."

It seemed the red-haired knight was using the fact that the Living Mail was in full-body armor to anchor it to the ground.

...The ground is hard, yet he thrust the sword in so easily.

I had given up after scratching the ground with a spatula for about 10 cm, but the red-haired knight did it effortlessly.

Even with the force of the fall, it was clear that the red-haired knight was quite strong.

He had switched from the rapier to the one-handed sword, likely intending to do this from the start.

"Sword!"

"Y-Yes!"

At the red-haired knight's command, one of the soldiers hurriedly threw the sword he was holding.

The red-haired knight caught the sword and thrust it into the hole in the chest. He then received another sword.

As a result, swords were thrust into the right shoulder joint, the hole in the chest, and the hole in the left knee, anchoring the Living Mail to the ground.

"Gi-gi-gi-gi"

The Living Mail, making a sound like metal scraping, struggled to stand up.

However, the red-haired knight's swords were firmly embedded in the ground, making it difficult to move. Since the Living Mail had no physical strength or time constraints, it might eventually break free if it kept struggling...

"The movement is sealed. All that's left is to destroy the core—"

"This monster has no core."

The red-haired knight, maintaining a distance from the Living Mail, gave instructions to the soldiers. However, Samiue interrupted him.

"The only way is to erase the object where the soul has anchored with magic. In this case, we need the power to instantly erase this armor with magic."

"I see..."

"And while I can imbue my arrows with magic, I don't have the power to erase everything."

The red-haired knight frowned at Samiue's words.

There were likely no other mages present. If anyone could use magic here, it would be Samiue. However, even she couldn't erase everything.

So, the Living Mail would remain as it is... or perhaps it could be made smaller by having Samiue shoot more arrows.

I'm sure the red-haired knight was thinking the same thing as me.

He hesitated for a moment... then approached Samiue. Then—

"Pio! Behind you!!"

A loud voice suddenly echoed from the mansion. The voice belonged to—Caries.

Caries was looking at the Living Mail, which was supposed to be immobilized, behind the red-haired knight.

"Gi...i..."

"Ca...e..."

The right arm, which had been pinned by the sword, fell off.

"Gi...i..."

"Re...turn..."

The left knee also fell off, and the Living Mail, using its left hand to pull out the sword from the chest, supported itself with the sword and stood up on one leg.

It then awkwardly approached the red-haired knight.

"Gi...i..."

"Ca...e...re..."

The red-haired knight quickly turned around and readied his sword. Samiue also drew her bow.

And I—

"...I can hear the voice."

I don't know why.

But I can understand the meaning of the metal scraping sound.

It's different from "Telepathy"... but similar. It must be something only I can hear.

"Gi...i...gi..."

"Ca...e...re...turn..."

I want to return, I want to go back, I want to come back.

What the Living Mail... the owner of the anchored soul, means by this, I don't truly understand.

But I must free this full-body armor.

"Let's return."

My chest feels hot.

I gather that heat in my right hand... and thrust it at the Living Mail.

"Turn into light!"

The light that emerged from my right hand moved straight toward the Living Mail.

The white light, upon hitting the full-body armor, spread out in an instant.

Then, it sparkled—

"Th...ank...you..."

—Rising light.

When the blinding light faded, the full-body armor clattered and collapsed on the spot.