"You came much faster than expected, Azadin. Release that mage's restraint. Or I'll kill this guy. I'm not joking."
Arael held back her tense subordinates and demanded Azadin restrain Scott.
"Scott, undo the seal."
"Uh, Captain."
Reluctantly, Scott released the seal. At that moment, Zebeck spoke directly to Arael.
"Lady Arael, is that correct?"
"Yes. And you are?"
"I am Zebeck, holy knight of the King's Church. Did you, by any chance, cause the rampage of those men from the Blue Sky Order? If that's the case…."
"No. It wasn't me. The reason they rampaged lies in their own defects."
"The Blue Sky Order's taoists say such a thing has never happened before, so they suspect you."
"…So because you suspect us, we must now prove our innocence? How arrogant."
Indim, who was at Arael's side, could not hold back and drew a dagger. But Zebeck did not retreat.
—Shrring!
The blade rang out, its cold, sharp glow illuminating the darkness. When Zebeck drew his sword, Indim's hostility burned all the fiercer.
"So you think us laughable. Just a petty holy knight like you!"
Zebeck and Indim both refused to back down, standing against each other. As their hostility sharpened, there was movement.
Azadin stepped forward, placing himself between Zebeck and Indim, and spoke.
"If you can move that thing, then you could probably juggle a big brown bear too. Are you idiots?"
Startled, Indim and Zebeck looked where Azadin's gaze pointed. There, Arael's subordinates, Seraph and Aleph, were clinging to the Emperor's minting machine, struggling in vain to move it.
When Azadin mocked them, Arael couldn't hold back her laughter.
"That is true. Azadin is right."
"Lady Arael."
"First of all, those Blue Sky Order bastards are followers of the swamp's ancient tree, Grimslawn. Grimslawn's potion may cure their illness, but when the number of followers grows past a certain point, they bring corruption into the present world. In the age of Jupiter, gathering so many potential followers into one place was their mistake."
"Is that so?"
"Then at least you can understand that we are innocent in this rampage incident, can you not? To be honest, what angers me is that you expect me to make excuses just because a few Hubris people died."
"What?"
"Do you think I'd lie just to avoid your pitiful wrath? If that's what you think, then as I walk out, I'd kill every single Hubris out there. How about that?"
"…Understood. At least in this matter, you are uninvolved."
Zebeck sheathed his blade.
Though Arael's voice carried hatred and contempt for the people of Hubris, if she truly hadn't caused this rampage, then sheathing his sword here was the just action.
When Zebeck put his sword away, Indim also reluctantly followed.
"So, Azadin, what do you think about cooperating with me?"
"First of all, I won't serve under you. But if it's an equal partnership… depending on the terms, I'll consider it."
When Azadin spoke thus, the four of Beauty of Nature reacted.
Demia and Aleph smirked, while Seraph and Indim fumed at the audacity of Azadin claiming equality with Arael.
"This dropout dares…."
"Someone who can't even stand shoulder to shoulder with us, daring to with Lady Arael?!"
"Everyone calm down. Very well, Azadin. I promise you equal treatment. Now, is that to your liking?"
"Yes. Then will you share information with me?"
"Wanting information for free, that is hardly equal treatment."
Arael voiced her displeasure at the idea of one-sidedly handing over information, but Azadin ignored it and asked his question.
"This place is the Emperor's Treasury, isn't it? It's not quite what I expected. I thought an emperor would have mountains of gold, weapons, treasures… but it's empty, nothing left but traces of storage."
"The Emperor's Treasury was already plundered once when the emperor passed away, by the Aragasa."
"Aragasa? You mean us?"
"Yes. The emperor's magical relics and wealth were taken to the holy land by Aragasa. It was us, Aragasa, who looted this place."
"Wait, what? Then the elder council must already know of this place's existence, right? Why didn't they reveal it all this time?"
"Because the elder council actually favors the curse of service. Do you think they would so easily let go of a curse they can activate at will? Just the suspicion that you and I might have joined hands was enough for them to trigger your curse of service, wasn't it? And what about my father, Akre? Being able to horribly kill anyone who escapes the clan's control through a curse—don't you think that's far too convenient a tool for the elder council?"
Azadin was shaken by Arael's words. The elder council had the chance to lift the curse of service, yet instead chose to keep exploiting it?
'But, thinking about it, it is reasonable. If the elder council already knew of the Emperor's Treasury and hid the truth, that makes sense.'
Azadin had already sensed darkness within the elder council.
"So. Are your eyes opening now, Azadin?"
Arael mocked him, her gaze turning back to the minting machine.
"No gold, then at this moment running that machine is impossible."
"But wait."
Shati clicked her tongue and pointed forward.
"There's another sealed door inside, isn't there?"
Shati indicated the spot behind the waterfall. Beyond the cascade, a hidden door stood.
"Ah, that… is the Gate of Lamentation."
Arael answered Shati's question.
"We still don't know how to open it. When the emperor died, it closed, and even the dwarves don't know how to open it."
"Is that so?"
"According to tradition, the emperor left something inside, prepared for when humanity was truly endangered… but what it is, I don't know."
"Shall we try?"
"Go ahead and try?"
Arael permitted Azadin to approach the Gate of Lamentation.
"Well then…."
Azadin called for Shati and Scott, and headed toward the Gate of Lamentation. The massive metal door hidden behind the waterfall showed no sign of any mechanism, not even a keyhole.
"Scott, Shati, what do you see?"
"Nothing, Captain. As a necromancer I can sense life, but… there's nothing beyond the door."
"Really? And you, Shati?"
"Same. Not a single blade of grass inside."
Shati probed with green mana to detect plants or vegetation, but found nothing.
"A strange door indeed."
Azadin examined the traces left in front of it.
They were wheel marks. Something immense, burdened with great loads, must have passed through this gate countless times. Even after hundreds of years, the traces remained etched into the stone.
That stirred Azadin's curiosity.
"Should I break it down?"
He pushed and pulled at the door. But like trying to move a mountain itself, the door didn't budge an inch.
"You think you can break it?"
Arael sneered.
Irritated, Azadin drew the dagger of the Wendigo. Wielding the sacred relic of an ancient reaper, a sinister nether existence, he struck the door hard. A clear metallic ring resounded.
"What?!"
The door didn't take a single scratch, and instead Azadin's hand went numb.
"What about Bluey?"
Azadin drew his Azure Steel longsword, which he had named Bluey, and pressed it carefully against the door. Like a chisel or wedge splitting wood or stone, he focused his strength and thrust the blade against it.
But the master-forged Azure Steel blade merely slipped against the surface, instinctively protecting itself. Again, not a single scratch remained.
"Hmm. Then this is the last resort?"
At last, Azadin took out a Black Steel Arrow. With the single remaining arrow, he scraped the door. At last, a scratch appeared.
But when he rubbed it with his hand, the mark vanished immediately. It had scored ever so faintly, and nothing more.
His determination broke, and resignation set in.
"There's no way. Even a Black Steel Arrow leaves only this?"
"If you could open it, the elder council would have opened it long ago, Azadin."
"That is true. So, Arael, with the mint unable to produce gold coins, what now? Tell me your plan."
"And if I tell you, can I trust you?"
"At least you know I won't side with the elder council."
"But you can't kill the elder council either. If Aldis wept and pleaded with you, you'd yield at once, wouldn't you?"
"..."
"I jest. There's no need to scrape your nerves with pointless words. We are heading to Bruma, to bring down Elder Hatir. The throne of Bruma will soon be besieged by the naga forces."
"You intend to do the same thing in Bruma as with Coral Sahar?"
"Yes. Besides, Bruma is where the naga empire's heartland lies. Likely, the decisive gamble that will determine Aragasa's fate will be cast there."
"Huh."
At those words, Shati faltered.
Someday, Bruma would be attacked and conquered. That had long been the naga empire's desire… yet to hear it from Arael's lips was beyond expectation.
'Has it already come to this, while I was away from the naga empire?'
Though forced into reluctant cooperation as Azadin's "captive," Shati knew that the campaign against Bruma was the naga empire's deepest wish.
If she were to obstruct it, the naga would never forgive her. The time had come to decide her path for real, not simply drift along.
Meanwhile, Zebeck saw through the situation coolly.
"You speak as if the naga are attacking Bruma on their own, but from the start, isn't this also your doing? Just as when you drew them to Coral Sahar?"
"Correct. Originally, we had negotiations with the naga, and now that the elder council has taken our place, it will still proceed, I imagine. But this is our chance. Aldis will be pinned down defending Coral Sahar, so the only one coming for the throne this time will be Chief Hatir."
"Chief Hatir…."
"We will kill him. That is our true goal."
"Wait, that…."
"No matter if he is your brother, would it not be better left unsaid?"
The four of Beauty of Nature were bewildered at how easily Arael divulged such secrets.
Among Arael's followers, many wished to kill Azadin before Arael even found out. The four also sympathized with those thoughts.
Arael was too indulgent of Azadin, simply because he was of her blood.
Of course, for Azadin himself, such indulgence was no blessing at all.
"You and the elder council alike, none of you are sane. Have you considered how many people will die?"
To draw in the naga for the sake of seizing Bruma's throne—just as at Coral Sahar—how many would lose their lives, their homes, their land?
Whether it was the elder council or Arael's faction, all treated these lives as mere pieces on a board.
The fact that their every plan presumed such sacrifice filled Azadin with disgust.