Chapter 40: The future shown by Altra (4)
The Magic Eater is an artificial life form that grows stronger by absorbing mana.
Its body expands exponentially in proportion to its increased power, and it doesn’t even have a set growth limit.
Therefore, in theory, it could endlessly self-replicate by consuming the mana I inject.
However, that logic only applies in ordinary cases.
Currently, the Magic Eater is trapped inside my shadow cocoon.
It’s forcibly squeezed into a vacuum-sealed space with no room for leakage.
It cannot expand outward at all, but conversely, the volume of its main body continues to grow endlessly.
Would it be easier to understand if I likened it to water continuously filling a sealed container?
Normally, the container, unable to withstand the expansion, would shatter into pieces, but…
“I told you before, didn’t I? You can never break this.”
No matter how amorphous a liquid it may be, as a living creature, it must follow a certain amount of physical laws.
It must be crumpling like a wadded-up piece of paper, experiencing an unimaginable pressure all at once.
“So, how does it feel?”
Flick. I taunted, turning my right index finger to drastically increase the mana injection.
“The feeling of your entire body shriveling up while you’re still alive. It must be a novel sensation for a liquid monster, don’t you think?”
Guaaak!! Kkeaaak-!!
Instead of an answer, the Magic Eater shrieked like a slaughtered boar.
Listening to its death throes, I quietly took out the last remaining candy.
‘It’s the last one already.’
Is it because it’s a snack I chose instead of cigarettes? I really eat them all the time.
I know my female body craves sweets, but this is a bit much.
‘Am I going to get diabetes at this rate?’
Crunch. A small worry as I tore the wrapper with my teeth.
I couldn’t help it, as my right arm was busy controlling the shadow prison.
‘How long will it take to crush it?’
Even special magical beasts like the Magic Eater have elements that constitute their life force.
I plan to twist it completely, and when it’s on the verge of death, I’ll interrogate it.
When a creature is forcibly brought to the brink of death, it becomes more honest than ever.
This, too, was a piece of life’s wisdom—or lack thereof—that I had learned thanks to being born into the damn Altra bloodline.
As I was leisurely waiting for its ‘end’ with that thought.
Ah, Altra! Altraa-!!
The Magic Eater began to chant the ancient witch’s name again.
Just as I was suppressing my annoyance, thinking it was showing loyalty to the very end.
We, we were mistaken! You are not the burnt offering the witch spoke of! You are not the key!
“What?”
I frowned at the puzzling remark for a moment.
The moment I heard its next statement, I had no choice but to temporarily stop the torture.
Witch! The last witch left in the world! You are her successor! The savior who will reopen our world!
“…!!”
This enormous amount of magic power! And the faint scent of Altra contained within! The foolish humans may not notice, but we, her creations, are different!
As the mana injection suddenly stopped, the Magic Eater went berserk inside the shadow prison.
Unlike before, when it had only expressed hostility and murderous intent, this time it revealed clear goodwill and shrieked loudly.
The successor spoken of in Altra’s revelation! The holy leader who will make the world of witches flourish again! It was you all along! We didn’t know even when you were right in front of us!
“…”
Woooong…
The sound of the excessively filled magic power being retrieved.
Then, the body, which had expanded to the point of crushing itself, gradually began to shrink.
Gurgle! Gurgle-!!
As the pain finally subsided, the Magic Eater wriggled and let out an agitated gurgle.
Perhaps interpreting my action as a friendly stance, it chattered excitedly in a voice full of joy.
Forgive our rudeness, please forgive our rudeness! It seems we misunderstood the revelation our creator gave us! Otherwise, there’s no way we would mistake her successor for a mere burnt offering…
“Enough.”
I stopped retrieving the mana when it reached a level where it could speak comfortably.
Putting the unwrapped cotton candy-flavored lollipop into my mouth, I opened my mouth in a low voice.
“From now on, only answer my questions. Otherwise, I’ll feed you mana until you really die.”
Altra’s successor! The great leader she spoke of!
The new prophet who will reopen the world for us magical beasts!
Repeating what was promised, the green Magic Eater trembled with joy inside the shadow prison.
‘We were foolish! We didn’t even recognize the successor she had appointed!’
They were beings born with a mission given by the witch Altra.
Unlike the useless failures, they were chosen seeds who had received a powerful revelation left by the ancient witch.
On the day they saw the light, Altra had certainly made them a promise.
To faithfully carry out the mission she had implanted. Then, the time of blood and darkness, ruled by the witch and her minions, would surely return to the lower world.
Wasn’t it all because of that that they had risked their lives to hide in the academy?
And that they had joined forces with the ‘helper’ they had luckily met and were waiting for the dawn?
Until now, they had been stuck in a clumsy preparatory stage, but the situation had finally changed.
The successor Altra had promised. Now that the monarch for her creations had appeared, the day of judgment was just around the corner.
Now, the last witch will fulfill her mission and open the gates of the paradise promised by her ancestor Altra.
And they, as the glorious minions of that successor, will rule the whole world.
And the supreme wish that the witch Altra had harbored would soon be fulfilled.
“First question.”
While it was immersed in its own joy, the successor’s voice came from outside the shadow prison.
She asked in a heartlessly calm voice.
“As you said, I am a descendant of the ancient witch and the last remaining witch on earth. So you wouldn’t answer my questions with lies, would you?”
Of course! We are noble creations chosen by Altra! We would never deceive her descendant!
“Then that’s settled.”
Hoo, the successor took a deep breath and paused for a moment.
Then, a few seconds later, she began to ask questions one by one in a much more relaxed voice.
“You kept repeating words like ‘key’ and ‘sacrifice’. Explain exactly what that means.”
A revelation! That is part of the revelation Altra gave us, O Successor!
The excited Magic Eater trembled its liquid body and babbled what it knew.
The witch Altra promised us! She showed us the future, short but clear! The future where the witch returns! A beautiful future where everything burns!
“…The future?”
That’s right! For that future, she told us to find and devour the burnt offering she showed us, and to serve Altra’s successor and conspire with her! But…
Trembling with shame, the Magic Eater admitted its fatal mistake.
The appearance of the burnt offering shown in the revelation resembled you, so I made a mistake, O Successor! It was never intentional!
A thick silence fell again.
Perhaps pondering the Magic Eater’s explanation, Altra’s successor did not give any response.
“That means…”
After a while, she finally broke the silence again.
“The revelation didn’t actually show the successor’s appearance properly? It only showed the future that would come, and the form of the sacrifice you had to devour?”
That is correct, O Successor!
“Why? If you’re going to give a revelation, isn’t it better to give it properly? It would be difficult to handle things with just such a fragmentary video.”
The reason is simple!
The last witch, who knew nothing, unlike them.
Realizing the unfortunate ignorance of the being she had to serve, it explained the situation.
We are beings born at the end of the war between the first Hero and Altra! We are the creations that the dying Altra made as her last work!
“The dying Altra… so, at the very moment she wrote the memorandum on the wall of the Coral Hall?”
I don’t know what a memorandum is, but it probably is! That’s why Altra couldn’t show us anything specific! She only implanted the mission we had to carry out and put us into hibernation for posterity!
The Magic Eater still remembered vividly.
The voice of Altra, who had instilled in their minds, newly born from alchemy, the mission they had to follow.
Although they couldn’t see Altra’s appearance at the time because they had no sight, it didn’t matter now.
The woman it had tried to absorb just now was none other than the successor mentioned in Altra’s revelation.
The witch Altra’s appearance must have been similar to that.
We, who had been in hibernation for a long, long time, were awakened from our sleep by alchemy a while ago! By the hands of a follower who follows Altra’s will! A collaborator who is willing to devote himself to the coming future!
“A collaborator? Who is that? Who on earth found you and woke you from hibernation?”
I apologize, O Successor! We also do not know! That person has never revealed his identity! He has kept himself hidden and has only contacted us through indirect means such as magic and letters!
“…Is that so?”
The successor’s voice suddenly became subtly thin.
As if something was unsatisfactory, she let out a long “hmm” and said nonchalantly.
“Judging by the overall nuance, it doesn’t seem like you know the details of the inside story either. What Altra’s specific plan was, and why she told you to eat the burnt offering.”
That is correct, O Successor! We are beings who were just given a mission by Altra and went into hibernation! We are just moving as she commanded for now!
“…”
But it doesn’t matter, O Successor! Now that we have met, the witch’s long-cherished wish will soon be fulfilled! The world she promised will come, and you will stand at its pinnacle!
“Right, about that.”
Ignoring the gleeful Magic Eater, the successor suddenly asked in a cold tone.
“What on earth is Altra’s long-cherished wish? What exactly did she want to achieve?”
At that moment, the Magic Eater instinctively sensed that this would be the last question.
Once it answered this question, the successor would end her trivial interrogation and release them.
…Altra’s artifact!
At this, the Magic Eater replied, moving its body with excitement.
Find her artifact, O Successor! Then you will also know the meaning of her wish! This is all I can tell you!
“Good, you’ve done well.”
The successor clicked her tongue and concluded the Q&A.
Noticing that the interrogation was over, the Magic Eater waited happily to be released from the shadow prison.
To follow the will of the creator Altra, and to assist the last witch to open the promised future.
But their blind wish.
Snap!
It was shattered by the sound of a finger snapping from outside.
Fwoosh-!!
Gurgle-?!
The bewildered Magic Eater screamed and struggled.
Their slimy bodies, made of green ooze.
In an instant, a deep blue flame erupted and covered them.
Originally, it is a natural law that fire does not burn on water.
But for some reason, this flame was nonchalantly eating away at the Magic Eater’s slime.
Like a flame on oil, it burned more and more fiercely, swallowing them up.
W-what is this?!
“Among my family, there was a person called the Flame Witch.”
As it was horrified by the mysterious situation, the successor’s voice came from outside.
“Necromancy is basically a black magic that deals with corpses. So it’s a bit far from the four elements, flame. But she still got the unique nickname ‘Flame Witch’, what do you think the reason is?”
Guaaak! Gurgle-!!
As it was struggling in pain, the successor told the answer in a natural voice.
“That person’s specialty was incinerating human bones with necromancy.”
H-human bones?!
“But you’ve eaten a considerable number of people until now, haven’t you?”
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! The successor shot back coldly, igniting more and more flames.
“The human bone components remaining in you are now burning with necromancy. In a way, it’s a small revenge from the people who lost their lives to you.”
S-successor! Kyaaak!! Altra’s successor! The last witch! Why, why are you doing this to me…!
“Successor, my ass.”
It tried to protest by banging on the shadow prison, but all that came back was a sneer laced with annoyance.
The silver-haired witch who had trapped the Magic Eater shot at them with genuine disgust.
“I am the last witch, that’s right. But I have no intention of being Altra’s puppet.”
Wh-what did you say?!
“Well, to a magical beast like you, she might be a figure to look up to…”
Snap!
Kyaaaak-!!!
The sound of a finger snapping was heard once more.
Then, the flames of the underworld began to burn at an unimaginably high temperature.
Bubble, bubble, feeling the pain of its entire body boiling, the Magic Eater struggled desperately.
But no matter how it rolled and bumped, and no matter how it emitted the coldness it had stolen from the girl magician named Silvia, the flames did not subside.
Each and every cell that constituted its slimy body was turning to ash and disappearing.
Literally, water dying while engulfed in fire.
The last witch left them with a cold word.
“Because to me, it’s nothing more than a truly tiresome burden I’ve wanted to cast off my entire life.”
Th-this can’t be! This can’t be!
The evil flames that were devouring its body, and its pitiful body that was rapidly shrinking.
Rejecting the death that was right in front of it, the Magic Eater struggled with all its might.
Surely… surely Altra had shown it the future!
She had promised us… promised us the glory that would come!
If Altra’s revelation was true, this could never happen!
…!!
At that moment, a fatal realization.
A decisive realization that it had grasped just before losing its life, dominated its mind.
You tricked us!!
Altra! You tricked us!!
You showed us a false future and used us as a sacrifice-!!!
Altraaa…!!
Crying out the ancient witch’s name with hatred for the first time, the Magic Eater collapsed weakly on the ground.
Before long, the hot flames burned away even the remaining traces here and there.
And thus, they completely disappeared from this world.
‘To cry out for Altra until the very end.’
Admiring the magical beast’s loyalty in a way, I immediately retrieved the shadow tentacles.
As the blackened remains were revealed, I stared at them and was lost in thought for a moment.
‘Come to think of it, the material used to make the Magic Eater was…’
Living magicians. And many of them.
I had learned that they used evil alchemy to melt the victims without a trace, and then collected only the necessary substances from them to shape the Magic Eater.
‘So that’s why it called itself ‘we’?’
The countless victims who went into producing the Magic Eater. Was a part of their consciousness remaining somewhere?
“…”
Of course, it was a terrible and miserable story.
But perhaps because it was a pest that had killed many people, I didn’t feel a single ounce of sympathy even after hearing its death throes.
Apart from the misfortunes it had experienced in its life, it had now just degenerated into a monster that only harmed future generations.
“…Phew.”
I put my hands deep into my pockets and looked up at the afternoon sky visible beyond the collapsed ceiling.
There are many prejudices and preconceptions in the world, and sometimes, paranoid oppression and massacres occur because of them.
The Ankraz, the minority ethnic group of Vǫlsunga to which Eve Vellam belongs, would be a case in point.
On the other hand, the subjugation of Altra and her descendants was by no means the result of prejudice or preconceptions.
That’s why my sister and I had struggled to escape the fate of that damn bloodline.
…By the way.
‘Altra’s artifact?’
The wall of the Coral Hall, which was now shattered.
Altra’s memorandum, neatly written there.
There was certainly a record of the unidentified ‘artifact’ that Altra had used.
But there was no information about where that artifact was now.
As if to tease me, it just went on and on, praising the weapon she had wielded, and then ended.
‘Should I really look for it?’
Lick, lick. I was contemplating alone, rolling the cotton candy-flavored candy in my mouth.
“…Professor Anastasia?”
A familiar voice from behind.
For a moment, I felt goosebumps on my arms and turned my head.
And then I saw her.
“Saintess…?”
Antiopea, heavily armed and holding a giant greatsword.
She was staring at me with a hardened expression.
Why on earth is the Saintess here… no, more than that…!
‘Don’t tell me she heard?’
The conversation I had with the Magic Eater, about being the last witch and all that?