Chapter 23

High above the southern sky from the capital of the Kingdom of Ramza, two figures hovered in the clear blue sky. One was a young man with black hair and black eyes, the King of the Underworld, Shu Akaraito. The other was a girl with black hair and golden eyes, Iris.

"Ugh... It's a bit too high and scary," Iris said.

"We are much higher than the surrounding mountains. But you can see far, can't you?" Shu replied.

"I don't have the time to enjoy the scenery," Iris said, clinging to Shu.

They were supported only by the gravity-neutralizing acceleration magic array Shu had deployed. If the magic array were to break, they would plummet. However, as a spirit-type monster, Shu could float by spiritualizing his body, and Iris could fly using the fourth tier of wind magic, "Sky Soaring."

"So, Mr. Shu," Iris began.

"What is it?"

"Why are we here? Today is the day you said you would destroy the capital, right? Is it okay to be so far away?"

Her question was valid. In specific terms, they were about twenty kilometers from the capital. Even from the sky, the capital looked small and distant. However, Shu answered calmly.

"No problem. I will fire a long-range magic spell from this position to destroy the capital."

"Eh...?"

"Thanks to evolving into a Death Spirit, my magic power has increased dramatically. I can finally use the magic I've been planning for a long time. Today is the test firing."

"Destroy the capital with a test firing...?"

Iris had no idea what magic Shu was planning to use. However, when it came to causing catastrophic damage to a city like the capital, the scale of the magic was limited. If multiple shots were to be fired, strategic-level magic would be sufficient. The strategic-level magic Iris knew included the tenth tier of fire, "Dragon Breath," the tenth tier of water, "Great Ice Field," the tenth tier of wind, "Great Dragon Tornado," and the tenth tier of earth, "Great Meteor." However, none of these were suitable for use at a distance of twenty kilometers. The definition of strategic-level magic was that a single use could kill over a thousand people or cause catastrophic damage to a city. At a distance of twenty kilometers, the impact point or activation point would be off, and the desired effect would not be achieved. The optimal range was within ten kilometers. Of course, the same applied to magic below the strategic level. Therefore, it must be a forbidden-class magic with a maximum range of over twenty kilometers.

"How large is it?"

"According to the calculations, the capital will be erased in one shot."

"Excuse me?"

"The capital will be erased in one shot."

"Did I hear that wrong? I heard that the capital will be erased..."

"Based on the prediction, the capital will be completely annihilated without a trace, and it will cause large-scale climate changes in the surrounding area."

"That's a completely divine spell level!"

A forbidden-class magic that causes significant damage to a large city would be a divine spell that not only destroys a large city in one shot but also changes the climate. It was a great magic that could only be heard of in fairy tales.

"...Declaring war and then firing a magic spell from a distance without any warning is inhumane. The military and the church must have gathered their forces in the capital. To wipe them all out at once..."

"I'm not lying. I announced, 'One month from now, I will destroy this capital,' and I will do just that. It's their fault for misunderstanding."

"Wow..."

Shu had declared war but set a time limit to allow people to escape. If they had fled within a month, no one would have died. However, humans had gathered the military and holy knights to confront Shu, even though he never said he would invade the capital.

"This is war. Against those who killed my subordinates and tried to execute my disciples."

Shu gathered immense magic power in both hands, drew a spherical magic array, and placed a small stone from his pocket inside. The stone floated at the center of the spherical magic array.

"Declaring war was just a formality. In truth, it's just revenge."

In the next moment, large-scale magic arrays spread out from the stone, covering Shu and Iris in geometric patterns. At the same time, the stone was enveloped in immense magic power.

"If humans impose unreasonable demands on monsters, I will return the favor."

The magic power enveloping the stone was terrifying, gradually turning from a bluish-white to black. As the magic power was compressed, it turned black according to the degree of compression. To turn it completely black, a tremendous amount of magic power had to be concentrated in one place. However, Shu managed to do it. The stone became a pitch-black sphere, crackling with black lightning. The large magic array that had spread out stabilized and returned to its original small spherical form.

"The King of the Underworld will teach humans a lesson."

Shu aimed his left hand at the capital and drew his right hand back as if drawing a bow. The small, black sphere, crackling with black lightning, remained at the tip of his right hand.

"I will show you what happens when you attack me."

As he spoke, five small acceleration magic arrays appeared. The pitch-black sphere, crackling with black lightning, was launched from these arrays. Due to the acceleration magic, it could theoretically be launched to the other side of a star if the calculations were precise. The forbidden great magic was complete.

"Perish, 'Gluttonous Black Crystal.'"

The small, black sphere of destruction flew, tracing a trajectory.

◆◆◆

In the royal castle of the capital, the king and the bishop were having a conversation on the terrace.

"I wish we could say we've done everything we can..."

"There is no problem, Your Majesty. Fortunately, reinforcements from the Holy Grinia have arrived. We have also received special magic-equipped individuals, so we can monitor the situation at any time."

The bishop, looking at the floating screen, encouraged the anxious king. The screen showed the formation of the national army and holy knights outside the capital, thanks to the far-seeing magic equipment of a subordinate knight. Subordinate knights, who were often specialized in specific abilities, supported the holy knights efficiently.

"Furthermore, we have received word that an additional S-rank holy knight, Celstar Altrain, is on his way from the headquarters. As long as we can withstand the attack of the King of the Underworld, we will win."

"Um... Yes, that's right."

"Yes, that's right."

The Kingdom of Ramza had enjoyed peace since becoming a vassal state of the Holy Grinia, and the current king had no experience with large-scale military operations. Moreover, the opponent was a king's monster, which was out of the ordinary, causing him anxiety. However, with the reliable reinforcements from the church, the situation was different.

The Holy Grinia was faithful to its doctrine and provided the utmost consideration to its vassal states, making it very reliable in emergencies. Additionally, there was another reliable person.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I'm here no matter what happens."

"Um. I'm counting on you, Ash Frenber."

"Yes, you can count on me."

The man standing behind the king was the only S-rank magic-equipped individual in the Kingdom of Ramza, Ash Frenber. His sharp features and well-built body, visible even through his clothes, exuded a sharp aura. His vast, unhidden magic power spoke of his strength. Ash's confident words seemed to have put the king at ease, and the tension in his expression eased.

"Report!"

Seizing the moment when the king relaxed, a military messenger delivered a report.

"All forces have been deployed around the capital. We are currently setting up the maximum defense against the King of the Underworld. We have also established a network to relay information to the magic-equipped units and holy knights as soon as the target is detected."

"Um. Thank you for your hard work."

"Hai!"

The messenger, having delivered his message, stepped back and left the terrace. As soon as his presence disappeared, the bishop spoke to the king.

"After this battle, Your Majesty will be a hero who defeated the king's monster. Great blessings from the god El Magia will rain down on this country."

"Hmm. Is that so?"

"Yes. Once the King of the Underworld is defeated, the church will search for the remaining witches. We will need the support of the national army at that time."

"Um. That's right. We have received much assistance from the church in this matter. We will gladly provide our support."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

This was an unprecedented level of military force. Many A-rank magic-equipped individuals were deployed, and the S-rank magic-equipped individual, Ash, was on standby. In time, the S-rank awakened magic-equipped individual, Celstar Altrain, from the Holy Grinia, would also arrive. Everyone believed that victory was certain, even against a king's monster.

"Hmm? What's that?"

However, it was just an illusion. Someone on the terrace noticed a black object flying from the southern sky. The black object, drawing an arc as if tearing the sky, fell on the capital without anyone having time to issue a warning. In that instant, everyone's consciousness was lost.

◆◆◆

High above the southern sky, Iris was speechless. A black, hemispherical dome had formed around the capital, engulfing everything. The dome, with a radius of ten kilometers, had swallowed the capital, the military, and the holy knights without distinction, disappearing from sight. The supermassive dome, reaching the sky, could only be fully grasped from a distance.

"Good, the power is as expected."

As Shu muttered these words, the pitch-black supermassive dome began to contract. The dome burst, scattering black particles. These particles gathered around Shu, who absorbed them all. These black particles were high-density magic power, gained from destroying the capital. As the vast amount of magic power was absorbed, Shu felt a slight discomfort.

"Phew... Accumulating magic power all at once is quite a burden."

Shu had destroyed the capital, annihilated the military, eliminated the holy knights, and killed all the remaining residents. The amount of magic power gained was enormous, exceeding the limit of his magic power as a Death Spirit, indicating an evolution.

"The new race is... a Primordial Magic Spirit."

His magic power had increased further, and his control ability had improved. Despite the short time since his last evolution, he had evolved again, thanks to destroying an entire city.

"Another storm is brewing."

A storm began to rage where the black dome had been. Shu immediately deployed an acceleration magic array to stabilize the air currents, preventing them from being blown away. Iris, whose hair was tousled, finally regained her composure.

"What, what is this!?"

The site of the black dome was now a barren wasteland. The ground was scooped out in a shallow bowl shape, with a liquid-like substance pooling at the bottom. Upon closer inspection, the surrounding ground was covered in white ice.

"Well, mostly as expected."

"Is this what you expected? It's completely incomprehensible!"

"Hmm... I'll explain, I guess."

The name of the magic Shu used was "Gluttonous Black Crystal." In terms of raw power, it was on par with a divine spell. It was completed by combining processes such as material conversion, high-density magic protection, reaction promotion, magic element barrier, complete thermal energy conversion, and reverse thermal energy conversion using death magic.

First, a small object was converted into antimatter using material conversion. To prevent it from reacting with the air, it was protected by high-density magic, resulting in a black appearance. The high density caused it to explode, creating the effect of black lightning. To ensure the antimatter reacted instantly, a reaction promotion magic array was mixed in. Since the annihilation reaction of antimatter releases most of its energy as light, a technique was added to convert all of this energy into heat. A magic element barrier was then set to contain this heat energy inside. The energy for the magic element barrier was derived from the high-density magic used to protect the antimatter.

Shu created fifty grams of antimatter. If all of this were converted into thermal energy, it would produce heat equivalent to two gigatons of TNT, or ten thousand Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. This explosion inside the barrier caused the ground to be scooped out and everything to evaporate. The overwhelming physical violence broke through the unconscious defenses of the magic-equipped individuals, destroying everything.

Finally, the thermal energy inside the black barrier was converted into magic elements using reverse thermal energy conversion. Magic power can be converted into any form of energy, and vice versa. However, this was an application of death magic, which converts life energy into magic power, and not everyone could do it. Previously, Shu had planned to use "Life Absorption" as a substitute, but it was inefficient and slow, so he had almost given up on this mechanism. However, it became possible after evolving.

Thanks to death magic, there was no longer a need to worry about magic power consumption. Converting thermal energy into magic power using death magic made it easy to recover.

"All the converted magic power is absorbed by me. The area where everything was destroyed instantly reached absolute zero, causing the air to liquefy and pool on the scooped-out ground. The surrounding area froze as a side effect. The liquefaction of air caused a dramatic pressure change, leading to a massive influx of air, creating a storm. The liquid air is rapidly returning to a gaseous state, causing an updraft and forming cumulonimbus clouds. However, I can't predict what will happen beyond that."

"Most of what Mr. Shu said is incomprehensible."

"...Yeah, I guess so."

The fire of destruction, the freezing despair. As the princess's prophecy foretold, the King of the Underworld destroyed the capital with a black light. Commoners, nobles, royalty, military, holy knights, and priests all became his sustenance.

Leaving behind a barren land and abnormal weather...

* "Gluttonous Black Crystal" - Divine Spell Class

- Processes: Antimatter generation, high-density magic protection, reaction promotion, magic element barrier, complete thermal energy conversion, reverse thermal energy conversion using death magic.

- 50 grams of antimatter, equivalent to 2 gigatons of TNT, or ten thousand Hiroshima-type atomic bombs.

- Destroys everything within a ten-kilometer radius in a hemispherical shape.

- Upon impact, the ultra-high-density magic elements form a large barrier, creating a pitch-black dome.

- Inside the dome, annihilation occurs.

- The thermal energy inside the barrier is converted into magic elements, handling the vast heat and absorbing it.

- This process depletes all thermal energy in the area, causing the surrounding area to become a permanent frozen wasteland.

- The air liquefies and drips onto the ground, causing pressure changes and creating a