The so-called "Dragon Palace" was the remains of what had once been the sovereign of the seas — the Leviathan.
Much like what Isagi and Lefiya had witnessed before — those "Calamity Traces" left upon the earth by the land sovereign, Behemoth — vast wounds gouged into the world itself, like the scars of some enormous, festering wound.
After being subjugated by the Hera Familia, Leviathan, too, had left behind something capable of influencing the "world." But because the battle had taken place entirely at sea, everything had sunk to the ocean floor — and on the surface, it appeared as though nothing had truly changed.
In reality, however, it couldn't simply be left alone.
The Calamity Traces left behind by Behemoth had not faded over countless years. Carried by seasonal winds to distant lands, they caused outbreaks — time and again — where the people of nearby villages and towns fell en masse to incurable respiratory diseases.
These were conditions beyond even the reach of the city's own [Battlefield Saint], Amid Teasanare. A true plague with no cure.
And in the sea.
The remains of Leviathan caused problems that were simply "unknown."
And that was precisely what made it so dangerous.
Its existence was confirmed. Its influence on the surrounding environment was confirmed. But what was happening, what kind of influence it exerted, what consequences it might eventually produce — none of it was understood. Not even slightly.
The Poseidon Familia was deeply troubled by this. For years, they had traveled the world in search of Leviathan's remains, calling them "Dragon Palaces," and attempting to study them.
The Academic District had joined their efforts.
But progress was painfully slow — and not only because these ruins lay in the depths of the ocean.
There was another reason.
They simply lacked the strength.
Though the Academic District possessed a Lv.7 adventurer who stood alongside Ottar as one of the mightiest in the world, there was only one of him. Instructing students, traveling the globe to fulfill commissions, managing the Dragon Visit incidents caused by Great Dragons breaking free from Dragon Valley — there simply weren't enough hours in the day.
And the Poseidon Familia, perpetually absent from the city, already struggled to cultivate new members. Adrift at sea year-round, they now gave off the unmistakable impression of a generation with no proper successors waiting to carry on the work.
Much like the Thor Familia.
Isagi couldn't even remember where he had heard the story. Apparently, the Thor Familia had once been formidably powerful — but their core members had been decimated in the long struggle against Behemoth, and now they had even been forced to abandon the task of guarding the [Great Bulwark] beyond the northern Dragon Valley, handing that duty over to the Academic District to manage in their stead.
[The situation is bad. Really bad.]
In reality.
Across the world beyond the city's walls, things were far from well — and that was even after both Behemoth and Leviathan had been subjugated.
From all of it, one could sense, dimly and unmistakably — the faint, creeping traces of an end of the world.
— ◇ —
"Isagi, I found the target!"
After submerging.
They quickly discovered just how terrifyingly dark it was underwater.
Lefiya's voice reached his ear and Isagi turned toward the young Elf girl beside him. The three of them were connected by chains of Orichalcum-forged links, and the surface of their diving suits appeared to have been coated with some kind of special material — causing them to radiate a deep crimson glow even in the depths of the water.
It allowed them to always confirm the presence of their companions at their sides. Apparently it also served to "startle" certain aquatic monsters — a deterrent of sorts.
Presumably, anyway. At the very least, so far, none of them had been attacked.
Their Eye Crystals had been fixed to their ears with small specialized devices, allowing the crystals to function as underwater communicators. Right now, along with the voices of Lefiya and Haruhime, Isagi could also hear the steady voice of God Baldr.
"Approach slowly. Be cautious — the area surrounding the [Dragon Palace] will be clear of monsters, but there may be powerful guardians inside."
Ordinary monsters were frightened off by the aura of powerful creatures and dared not approach.
Even in death.
As the [Sovereign of the Seas], even the remains of Leviathan still radiated an overwhelming aura that sent lesser creatures fleeing in terror. But perhaps by the principle of extremes reversing — there were also those powerful, exceptional beings who were drawn to such an aura rather than repelled by it.
These were the so-called Enhanced Species.
Smarter and more troublesome than their kin, they were one of the primary reasons the Academic District and the Poseidon Familia had been unable to conduct any thorough investigation of the Dragon Palace.
Though there was another reason as well...
"The mana here is so dense..."
Not just Lefiya and Isagi — even Haruhime, whose level was still quite low, could feel the change in the surrounding environment.
An invisible pressure bearing down from all directions. Suffocating.
Deep within what had been pitch-black ocean water, the "Dragon Palace" directly ahead was glowing.
Truly — it shimmered like the most magnificent, breathtaking glass imaginable.
Countless threads of mana were tangled together, resembling seaweed, or perhaps vivid multicolored coral — swaying, shifting, endlessly changing. Simply drawing near was enough to make you feel scorching heat, then bone-deep cold, then crushing resistance, then a suffocating heaviness — and then blinding, searing radiance — and then darkest, lightless, absolute despair —
[There's no going back.]
Suddenly.
A sinking feeling closed around Haruhime's heart.
[I'll be here forever. In this place where there's nothing. Big Brother and Big Sister won't come for me. No one is coming. Everything is already over.]
The girl even stopped breathing of her own accord — until the prolonged lack of oxygen made her head swim, until the raw survival instinct buried within her dragged her back against her will.
Haruhime coughed violently, again and again.
She opened her eyes wide, utterly unable to comprehend what had just happened to her.
What in the world had that —
"Magic."
Lefiya's voice reached her ear, heavy with weight.
As a mage, the young Elf girl could feel it — the thick, invisible barrier layered across the surface of the Dragon Palace before them.
A "shell" composed entirely of pure, concentrated mana.
"That is Alfia's magic."
God Baldr's voice supplied the answer from afar.
[— Alfia?!]
Even Isagi had never expected to hear that name here, of all places.
And yet — it made perfect sense.
Long ago.
When the Hera Familia subjugated the sea sovereign Leviathan — it was Alfia's most powerful magic that had "blasted it apart."
They said that battle had consumed every last drop of this heaven-blessed genius's life force.
God Baldr had witnessed that battle firsthand.
The Academic District — originally a vessel built for the war against Leviathan, the staging ground for the adventurers who took part in the subjugation of the Sea Sovereign.
At that time.
The colossal beast that dwelled in the depths of the sea had been torn apart by a magic powerful enough to warp the very world.
That sight.
Had been the first moment Baldr truly understood what the words meant — that the "children of the Lower World were possible." It was terrifying. That child named Alfia — she was the singular, utterly one-of-a-kind adventurer of her generation. Of any generation that had come before.
It was said that in pure "destructive power" alone, she could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the mightiest adventurer of the Hera Familia — the [Empress], at Lv.9 — while she herself was only Lv.7.
And that was while her body was in a state of almost unimaginable frailty.
If Alfia had possessed a healthy body — the scale of the destruction she could have unleashed was simply beyond all reckoning.
"After all these years, and the mana is still lingering here... truly terrifying."
Isagi murmured under his breath.
Just now, in truth, the young man had experienced something far more terrifying than what Haruhime had just gone through — visions of despair from his past, cutting far, far deeper.
This is the enemy I'll have to face.
Or rather.
She might be even stronger now than she once was.
Thinking of the [Absolute Evil · "Silence" Alfia] waiting for him somewhere in the Dungeon — Isagi felt, unbidden, that familiar wave of excitement rise within him once again.
And at that very same moment.
The little jellyfish Saika suddenly darted forward and began devouring, in great greedy mouthfuls, every last scrap of mana drifting through the water around them —
— ◇ —
The Labyrinth City, Orario.
The late summer sun still blazed brilliantly, burning away the ashen grey of the sky.
Ryuu had risen early.
After breakfast, she was preparing to head to the Gnome Grand Library, situated along the western main street. During these past several days — ever since Isagi and the others had left the city to fulfill the Guild's commission at the Academic District —
The young Elf girl had spent almost every waking moment there, immersed in the pursuit of "knowledge."
As the largest library in the city — and one that operated in cooperation with the Guild — it was managed by a "Gnome," a lower Spirit: an elderly grandfather of indeterminate age, who had been in Orario for who knew how long.
He had collected books of every conceivable kind. Among them were fairy tales and hero sagas in numerous editions, penned in the traditions of the Wishe Elves.
And most importantly.
All manner of "records" dating back to the very founding of Orario.
Some adventurers wrote books — equal parts diary and memoir of their travels and discoveries. These could, for all practical purposes, be read as the living history of this city of adventurers.
And lately, Ryuu had been throwing herself into a single, consuming search.
She was hunting down every book with any connection to Alfia. She wanted to know everything — absolutely everything — about the greatest "genius" this city had ever produced.
[Calamitous Prodigy.]
[Mightiest Mage.]
[One Who Could Destroy the World.]
Titles beyond counting had fallen upon this beautiful grey-haired woman.
And just why had she been so powerful?
That was the "secret" Ryuu wanted to uncover.
____
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