Chapter 61 : Chapter 61

Chapter 61 - Meteor Ending?

A meteor was falling from the sky.

And it was heading for D-District.

It was truly a bolt from the blue.

At that report, which sounded like a bad joke, the Youngest Son shot up from his seat.

He stuck his head out the window.

His eyes, unaccustomed to the sun, naturally narrowed.

But even with such eyes, I could see it.

KWAAAAAAAH─

That crimson meteor falling from the sky, a meteor the size of a thumbnail.

“If it's this size now, by the time it hits the ground, it’ll be a little smaller than this building, I suppose.”

A calm voice, even after confirming the meteor with his own eyes.

Jubel, recalling Mariella's location, spoke to the two of them.

“For now, how about heading to the airship? Even if the entire D-District isn't blown away, a meteor will cause immense damage.”

“By any chance, can that airship hold all the residents of D-District?”

“...That would be difficult. Boarding them isn't the problem, but the process of boarding will take a very long time. It won't be faster than that meteor.”

“Damn it....”

Edwin bit his lip.

The Youngest Son was like an ice statue, but Edwin was being remarkably composed for a situation like this.

Above our heads.

A meteor was falling right above our heads.

The office was dead silent.

It was very different from the people outside the building.

The people under the meteor were in a state of chaos.

As if the peace until now had never existed, chaos spread in an instant, and wails echoed.

“Kyaaaaaah...!!”

“M-move! Get out of the way!”

“Run...!! Let’s run to another district!!”

“Wh-which district! If we run now, we’ll obviously die!”

D-District had become a scene of pandemonium.

My life as a councilor, where I thought I only had to worry about terrorism, was all thrown into disarray by the sudden appearance of a meteor.

But that meteor.

“Is it a real meteor.”

“Pardon...?”

“If it's not a real meteor. Why did it appear now, at this very moment? What is the use of a fake meteor?”

With the meteor getting closer in real-time, the topic of discussion was the meteor's authenticity.

Jubel swallowed dryly and asked.

“Youngest Son, are you saying that is a fake...?”

“There are far more reasons for it to be fake than real, so I see it as a fake.”

“You mean it's someone's trick.”

“Yes. A disposable trick created to divert other people's eyes.”

I kept frowning as I looked up at the sky.

As I did, the meteor wasn't clearly visible, only its outline appeared blurry.

Edwin, letting out a single ‘Ah’, approached while putting his hand in his pocket.

A palm-sized box, wrapped in leather and sturdily finished.

When he opened it with a click, a familiar and nostalgic item was inside.

“I was going to give them to you after our talk. But I ended up handing them over in a situation like this.”

My hand moved to the box.

Sunglasses were picked up between my pale fingers.

They were much darker than the ones I used to wear, and their ability to block light was superior.

They were a high-quality product.

“I heard the ones you used were broken during the fight with Hinek, so I had a new pair prepared. I don't know if you'll like them, but it's a token of my regard.”

It was a line often used when giving a bribe.

But bribes were called bribes for a reason; they were that attractive.

“I'll use them well.”

As soon as I said it, I put on the sunglasses.

With them resting on the bridge of my nose, I looked up at the sky again.

Only after a shade was created did the sun cease to be something to fear.

I was also able to examine the meteor's true nature in detail.

The answer came quickly.

“If I look closely, more evidence will emerge, but right now, I strongly feel it's an illusion.”

“An-an illusion...? My goodness, to make everyone in D-District see a meteor like that with an illusion is....”

“Mystics. There's only one.”

“It seems they don't even plan on hiding it anymore.”

“They've probably already prepared an excuse to deny it. Or it means they want my head that badly.”

I opened the window and stepped on the frame.

“With this kind of wide-range illusion, it's common for the caster to be shooting the curse as a wave from a fixed position.”

“I am concerned that going to take care of them yourself might be playing right into the enemies' hands.”

Jubel was right.

If one saw through this illusion, its hidden meaning was a summons.

It was a call to follow the wave and find them.

That place would probably be a trap.

But.

“If you go knowing it's a trap, it's no longer a trap.”

It would devolve into a simple crisis with no surprises.

“Take care of the aftermath.”

Leaving those words behind, I jumped.

Riding the Griffin that flew in at the right time, I began to trace the wave backward.

But to do that, I had to escape this wave first.

The meteor's imposing presence could still be felt.

In other words, I was still inside the illusion.

“Enad. I need to borrow your power for a moment.”

[Hmph.]

With a short snort, the Magic Sword was in my hand.

Illusions were also a type of curse.

[Using the Unique Skill 「Curse Bearing」.]

The direction was myself.

I would absorb the curse that had seeped into me with the Magic Sword and eliminate it.

Along with a somewhat chilly sensation, the feeling of waking from sleep came first.

My jaw clenched tightly.

My strained eyes once again looked up at the sky.

“Spotless.”

Today's weather was clear.

There was no way filth like a meteor could intrude.

“Enad. Did you remember the sense of the magic the curse held?”

[Yes. I've got the direction.]

“That's where you need to go.”

[I only devoured the illusion; I can't use this kind of secondarily manipulated illusion. Just so you know.]

“I'll remember that.”

Within the technique category of illusion, the user's image was incorporated.

The purpose of an illusion was fulfilled only when it could show the image the user desired.

Therefore, a technique that had undergone a secondary process on top of the primary technique was useless even if absorbed.

Truly like an illusion.

It would scatter like a mere daydream.

Nevertheless, there was no problem with backtracking.

The enemy, as expected, was inside D-District.

Inside D-District, standing erect on top of the large fountain in the plaza.

But there.

There were already two people who had visited first.

“Halsin. And, is that Kio.”

A middle-aged man entering his fifties and a young man who looked to be just about twenty.

The strangely similar art style explained their relationship.

Also, the way they tried to straighten their buckling knees explained what kind of situation this was.

The two glared as if to kill the illusionist who stood loftily looking down on them like a god.

“This isn't a situation for me to intervene.”

I concealed the Griffin and quietly sat on a nearby roof.

The Youngest Son, who came to fight, had instantly become a spectator.

The system created that difference in attitude.

[A Named Character Hidden Quest has occurred.]

──「Magic Assimilator Father and Son」──

[Description]

: A father who was unfaithful, lost in revenge. A son who was abandoned and wants revenge on his father.

Their relationship is cursed. You are the only one who can resolve this relationship. Restore the father and son's relationship and obtain their power.

[Reward]

: Halsin's affinity +50%

: Kio's affinity +50%

: Other Magic Assimilators' affinity +30%

─────────────

A quest. And a hidden quest at that.

But I knew with one look.

This was somewhat lacking for a hidden quest.

‘The rewards are only affinity, too. Of course, it's good to be able to get two Magic Assimilators, who are well-regarded even in the west, at once, but.’

To end with just this would make the name 'hidden' weep.

‘The truth is, the real deal with this hidden quest is the special reward that appears when certain conditions are met.’

It was fine to say that the special reward was the main body of the quest.

Also, for that purpose, I had aimed for a time when the trio of Josephine, Reggie, and Kio were together.

Because even if I focused on just one person, Josephine, it would affect the other two to some extent.

Today was the day to harvest that influence.

‘But it's not ripe yet.’

That was why my legs, planted on the roof, had not yet moved.

Two Magic Assimilators.

And the Gold Mask of Mystics.

The place where the three stayed was in disarray.

To be precise, it was a place of disarray for Halsin.

“Dammit....”

Along with a low curse, the wrinkled hand covering his side was covered in blood.

“...If only my magic was fine, I wouldn't be in this state....”

His biological father, with one knee touching the ground.

Less than an hour had passed since they met, and there were so many things he wanted to say, so many places he wanted to hit.

But the situation was urgent now.

‘Where did such a monster suddenly come from...!’

Kio heated the core he had made as Josephine had guided him.

The attribute he had assimilated with magic was the most common one after water.

It was wood.

SHWAAAAAAAT─!!

The Cursed Ink Arrows of the curse embroidered the air.

Which one is real?

Which among them is fake?

Perhaps they were all fake, or perhaps they were all real.

Real or fake.

Being forced into an infinite choice was the nature of a fight with an illusionist.

‘If I don't know, I have to block them all.’

CHWAAAK─

He scattered the seeds he always carried on the ground.

They reacted to Kio's magic and sprouted in an instant.

It didn't stop there.

JJEJEOJEOJEOJEOJEOK─!!

The sprouted seeds grew to a size they could never have reached in their lifetime.

Each seed grew as large as the root of a giant tree.

They deflected and blocked the cursed arrows, protecting the caster and civilians.

In this place now, if one couldn't use magic, they were no different from a civilian.

“You should at least run away. Weren't you good at that?”

“...I'd like to use my strengths too, but unfortunately, I can't do that right now.”

Even if his magic was sealed, his instincts were still sharp.

“There's an illusion barrier set up around this area. I can't tell what kind of trap the enemy has prepared. Resolving it here is the best option.”

The hunter's eyes stared at the Gold Mask, who claimed to be a hunter.

“Her mastery of illusion is incredible, but her attack power is lacking. If we can get out of a war of attrition and not be deceived, there's a chance.”

“Is there no way to break free from the illusion?”

“There is. But it requires at least two people, and both must be able to use magic.”

Which meant he couldn't use it now.

The magic frozen around his core was very difficult to melt cleanly unless it was by himself.

He couldn't know what side effects would occur if he tried to force it away.

“...But.”

Forcibly suppressing the trembling, he stood up.

In his hand was a wooden fragment, shattered after being hit by an arrow.

“I thought about wanting to die every day, but today, for the first time, I wanted to live.”

The reason was right in front of him.

He couldn't lose his reason again like this.

It wasn't that he was trying to act like a father now.

He wanted to at least talk.

Just as this child did.

So did the father.

POOOK─

The fragment dug into his chest.

The Gold Mask stroked her chin.

“Just killing yourself? Doesn't that make it meaningless for your son to have protected you by planting seeds?”

Gold Mask.

The illusionist of Mystics.

That bitch appeared like a ghost.

Like a mirage, she appeared out of nowhere.

A merchant selling goods at a stall.

A woman out for a walk holding a child's hand.

Even a stray dog on the street.

They were all Gold Masks made of illusion, and such clones were scattered all over D-District.

The encirclement was already complete.

With his magic sealed, he had no way of knowing, and in that state, he had even met his son.

He knew as soon as he saw him.

That this was the one who was inside him.

His feet moved toward the boy on their own.

And then this mess, this bullshit, happened.

“A reason. Is what you, make of it....”

His voice, swallowing the pain, was choppy.

“Whether you run from your duty while speaking of revenge.... Or bear the duty that is too late while speaking of regret....”

A blood-stained hand grabbed the shoulder of his son, who had grown up before he knew it, and pushed him back.

The sturdy body was pushed back helplessly.

It was the power of magic.

Leaving behind a startled Kio, Halsin pulled out the pickaxe that had broken the ice.

Blood dripped down.

But the first thing he felt was a sense of liberation.

The magic that had been locked in a prison was released and coursed through his entire body.

“Kio... was it.”

“...Yes.”

“Use the branches and leaves of the trees to create a shadow.”

“I'll try.”

The branches scattered and rooted on the ground writhed once more.

More twigs emerged from the branches, gradually thickening and producing leaves.

The sunlight was thus blocked.

Darkness descended upon the plaza.

Welcoming the night that came at an odd hour, he drank in the gloom.

“I'll show you what a true phantasm is.”

Was it the darkness that took the form of a human, or was it the human who took the form of darkness?

The claws he had bared towards the bat, for the first time today.

Were used to protect something.

And the young bat, from a distance, sent a small cheer.

“They say a crisis is an opportunity. Show them.”

Of course, in this case, it was about finding an opportunity in someone else's crisis.

The Youngest Son watched them with his chin propped on his hand.

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