Chapter 55
Chapter 55 – Lunatic Wave (1)
Fortunately, the humans had one advantage on their side. The strongest people in Frate were all gathered within the auction house.
"What about the guards within the city!"
"The Demons aren’t an opponent that can be stopped with just the guards! Fortunately, it seems the Demons are mesmerized by something within the auction house. They are coming straight for this place….."
"Mesmerized······? Wait a moment. Weren’t we also….."
The humans realized that they had also fallen fallen prey to the scheme of the Demon King’s army. They vaguely realized this truth. Of course, they had no idea that the plan had been broken and changed by Artpe. Fortunately, they were well aware of the fact that they would have been screwed over by the Demon king’s army if they hadn’t come back to their senses.
"Auction… We are stopping the auction."
"We have to move the artifacts to safety······."
"We shouldn’t waste our time on that! We have to face the Demons!"
"No, the artifacts are already gone! Was this also a part of the plan hatched by the Demons……"
"How many times do I have to say that facing the Demons are more important than the artifacts!"
Of course, there were still some foolish people that desired the artifacts despite being freed from the curse. However, the Greed Beast had been busily eating the artifact, and in turn, it had forcefully canceled the confusion being felt amongst the humans. Some had wanted to take advantage of the confusion to slip away with the artifacts, but the artifacts were missing. This was why they had no choice, but to focus on the Demons!
"This is all thanks to me!"
"Customer······ For once, could you answer my question properly?"
"I don’t know anything. My secretary handled everything for me."
"You don’t have a secretary!"
He didn’t mind continuing the banter with Mycenae. Unfortunately, he couldn’t leave everything to the humans. The situation was too desperate to do so.
Even in such a disordered atmosphere, he scanned over the people getting ready for a fight. The guardian knights were pushed to the forefront by the nobles of Diaz, and there were the figures dispatched from other countries and merchant companies. Unbeknownst to him, Etna had approached him, and she was glaring at him. He turned to look at her.
"Are you going to participate? If you help, it would be reassuring."
However, Etna didn’t even bother turning down his offer to join the party. She tackled a different subject.
"······Artpe, did you perhaps know this would happen?"
"What are you talking about? You were the one that gave me the hint."
"But you….."
He was right. She had taken a risk in giving Artpe a warning. She did it knowing that her identity might be revealed.
However, she had taken a liking to this human despite it being their first meeting. She had been taken aback at how deep he had burrowed into her soul. The human had left behind a mark in her soul. That was why she hadn’t wanted to see Artpe get hurt.
No….. If she was being more truthful, she didn’t want him to leave her behind in this scene of violence.
Artpe was a talent that was rarely seen in the human world. She had wished Artpe would pick up on the hint she dropped. She had wanted him to completely foil the plan of the Demon king’s army.
She knew she had been wishing for the impossible.
She was under the yoke of the Demon King, so she hadn’t been able to give him a proper hint. It would be ridiculous for her to expect him to have a complete grasp of the situation. There was no way he could have made preparations for this event. Even a hero wouldn’t have been able to accomplish it.
"Yet I was able to accomplish something so hard to accomplish?"
"You can read my mind!?"
"Nope. I just made an educated guess. I thought you would be shocked at my damn fine abilities."
Etna was at a loss for words. Even if he had the ability to back it up, it was hard to act like this big of an asshole. If he was a Demon, she would have wanted to recruit him to become one of the Four Heavenly Kings. This was how big of an asshole he was being. As if Artpe could understand what she was feeling, he smirked as he once again asked her for her help.
"Let’s stop talking about such nonsense for now…. So, are you going to help us?"
"······I’m sorry. I’m unable to do anything."
Yes, even if she wasn’t given explicit orders not to do so, she wouldn’t be able to side with the humans against the Demon king’s army. At this point, she had basically acknowledged that she was a Demon with her own words.
"Yes, I guess it can’t be helped."
If he was like any other human, he would have said, ‘You bitch! You are a Demon!’
Or it was the perfect time to say, ‘‘You filthy bitch! I knew it from the time you proudly swung your big chest in front of me!’. However, he didn’t say anything along the same line. On the contrary, it was Etna, who became surprised.
"How are you able to accept everything so easily!"
"I want you to get out of here quietly, Etna. No one here can identify your magical energy. "
"So why are you able······!"
Artpe activated his Read All Creation ability, and he saw the dark magic shackles around Etna’s neck. It was something only he could see. After he glanced at it, he spoke.
"Sir Meletin’s sword. That’s the item you want, right? Just give me a location that’ll be convenient for you. After everything ends, I’ll look you up, and I’ll bring the sword along."
"You······!?"
Even his parting shot was perfect. Etna felt as if she had been laid bare and thrown in front of him.
She wondered if her feelings for him was also revealed to him. She was angry, taken aback and a little bit happy. Her face turned red from feeling those emotions.
"How much do you know about me!"
"Everyone that heard you grind your teeth when the item came out could come to the same conclusion."
"Ughhh."
It was a lie.
Despite this fact, he was going to do this for her….! Why! Her confusion kept mounting, and it was getting hard for her to think straight. Etna was close to tears.
However, she had no choice, but to listen to him right now. She had lived for over 200 years, yet at this moment, she felt as if had reverted into being a child.
"The Demons are coming. Hurry, Etna."
"······I’ll be at Jaime’s Inn. It is in sector C."
He memorized the information then he nodded his head.
"I’ll be there."
"Also······."
Etna hesitated for a brief moment. She was barely successful in picking out a word that she would be able impart to him.
"Ocean."
"Ocean? What about the ocean… Huh? Wait a moment."
The word had come out of left field, but Artpe suddenly had a thought. He quickly turned his head, but Etna was already gone. This hint was direct and pertinent to the current situation, so he had no difficulty discerning the meaning behind it.
"This is nuts. It wasn’t just a one and done…..?"
"What does she mean by the ocean, customer?"
"It is an annual event that occurs in the ocean! You should already know about it."
"Annual event….. Ah!?"
At that point, Mycenae had a complete grasp of the situation.
There was a reason why the Frate’s Festival had always been held early in summer. There was a reason why ships couldn’t traverse the ocean during fall and winter. As a merchant that was part of a merchant association, there was no way she wouldn’t know about it.
"Lunatic wave!"
"That’s right."
Her eyes turned round.
"We shouldn’t be worried about the Demons right now! We haven’t put up the barriers yet, and there are several dozen ships docked at the port!"
"That is why we have to bring down the Demons as soon as possible. Shit!"
Artpe quickly moved towards the entrance of the auction house. The lord of Frate and his knights were already stationed there.
"Magician! Are you going to help us?!"
"Lord, once I help you defeat the Demons, will you wipe the slate clean for me and my party members of all our wrongdoings? It is your call."
It was a deal that took care of the past and what was to come! The lord unhesitatingly nodded his head.
"It’s a deal!"
"All right. Then I want you to take all the guards to the port. I want you to shut down the port, then I want you to put up the barriers!"
"Barriers? What the hell are you talking….."
It didn’t take the lord too long to pick up on what Artpe was implying.
"Are you trying to say the Luatic Wave is about to start now!?"
"I want you to think about the people and artifacts that were gathered for the Frate’s Festival. Then there is the curse that was placed here…. This was their plan from the start!"
Lunatic Wave.
It was a phenomenon that lasted from fall to winter. The monsters residing in the ocean invaded inland.
All of creation was infused with Mana, and this included the ocean. However, the quantity of Mana within the ocean waned during the fall, and as a consequence, the Mana on land swelled. The monsters within the ocean was sensitive to this change, so they ventured inland.
Of course, ships couldn’t travel the waters during this time period. All the regions with access to the ocean were sealed off before the fall arrived. Tall barriers were raised to block the monsters. This was also the reason why Artpe had wanted to cross the ocean before fall.
However, that plan been all for naught!
"It seems the Demon king’s army can cause changes even to the rules of nature!"
"The conditions needed to precipitate this was sufficient. Currently, the problem we face right now is the fact that the city is an overwhelmingly attractive target!"
This particular Frate’s Festival had been excessively grand. This resulted in a large number of humans gathering at this location, and in turn, it had also attracted a lot of sea monsters to Frate. Then the Demon race used various curses to amplify the amount of Mana within Frate, and all these factors induced the Lunatic Wave.
There was a chance that their curses had extended into the ocean!
‘It was a single plan that caused two effects. Splendid. It was an excellent plan, you demon king bastard! Shit….’
What grinded Artpe’s gears the most was the fact that he wouldn’t have been able to prevent this situation even if he had known about this beforehand. Artpe had the ability to tangle up a magic spell, but he wasn’t able to cancel the magic spell.
Artpe had firmly been under a misconception. He had thought the plan was to cause the humans to fight each other. He thought it was a ploy to cause confusion within Diaz.
Wrong!
It didn’t matter what method was used to precipitate this event. The goal was to activate the curses. The amount of Mana within Frate had to explode upwards. Even the Greed Beast that was going nuts right now had become a very good ingredient in inducing the Lunatic Wave.
He had done his best, yet it felt as if he had been played by the Demon king. It was a dirty feeling. It had been a long time since he felt the taste of defeat. He hadn’t felt it since he was chosen to be a hero in this reincarnated life.
"Kyahhhhhhhhhh!"
"Get out of here, lowly Demons! Get out!"
"You dirty Demons! You dare invade human land!"
"You will never be able to look down on the power of humans again!"
The humans gathered here didn’t realize that a bigger calamity was about to hit them in the near future. This was why each of them were spouting one liners in an attempt to look cool. Then they started fighting with the Demons. Blood and tears were being shed by the brave people. It would probably be a fodder for a future heroic tale. Maetel would probably look at this sight, and she would have said ‘Humans are amazing!’
However, Artpe had already expanded the range of his senses, and he could feel the ocean vibrate and heave. He could feel the sea monsters rushing towards them. He didn’t care about some shitty hero’s tale. At this rate, Frate would meet its end. There was a chance that Diaz might fall!
"Hurry, lord!"
"But this place······."
"I’ll stop them with my comrades!"
"Koohk······ Understood!"
If Artpe hadn’t flaunted his power earlier, the lord wouldn’t have listened to his words. However, Artpe had shown his overwhelming ability and leadership in the reconstruction of the auction house, so his words made the lord move.
"Please take care of this place!"
"Leave it to us!"
The lord nodded once towards Artpe, and he quickly gathered his knights before he left the auction house. Artpe let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Etna’s warning hadn’t been too late. They might be able to avoid the worst case scenario.
"The only thing left is······."
He stretched out both hands as he activated his Mana Strings. He let out a sigh.
The fact that he was able to twist the curse was great. Thanks to his efforts, several dozen Demons were out of their minds as they rampaged. However, if he had known the Lunatic Wave had been waiting for him in the near future, he wouldn’t have twisted the curse in this fashion!
"What are you going to do, customer? There are way too many Demons here that are close to level 200."
"Are you going to help us?"
"Yes, and it isn’t just me. The other merchants are making preparations to do the same. It seems we’ll somehow live past this, but….. Customer."
This woman should have lived a fair amount of years, yet she was scared of a lot of things. If she was like Maetel and Sienna, he could have just stroked her head. Unfortunately, it was impossible, since he was still too short.
Instead, he firmly held Mycenae’s hand once more as he spoke.
"Don’t worry. Maetel will somehow come through for us. "
"Aren’t you supposed to reassure me by saying, ‘I’ll somehow figure things out!’ It would have made me fall for you for sure!"
"What do I gain from seducing you, ajumma?"
Artpe snorted as he raised the communication device. He had one that connected him to Silpennon’s party, and he had one that allowed him to communicate with Mycenae. Of course, he made preparations in case his party was split up. He had purchased a communication device, so he would be able to contact Maetel.
"Maetel, I want you to come towards the auction house as fast as you can with Sienna right now."
[Yes!]
He liked this about Maetel. He didn’t have to explain the tiresome details to her. He could end things just by saying one word!
[I’ll be there, Artpe!]
"Yes, I’ll be waiting."
She was so dependable that it made him almost want to fall for her. After he heard Maetel let out an energetic reply, he ended the call. Artpe once again turned his gaze towards the battlefield.
The humans were weak compared to the dozen Demons present, yet the humans were putting up a fight. He had seen this several hundred…several thousand times in his previous life.
"Shit."
He was now on the other side, yet he had to put on the same mental attitude he had in his past life.
"DIe, you sons of bitches!"
As he let out out rough words that didn’t befit a hero, Artpe joined the battle between Demons and the humans!