Chapter 44. Hunting Dogs (1)
Mana, the primordial energy.
An energy created by processing Mana into a usable form.
Mana Force and Aura.
Both powers were derived from Mana, but the mechanisms through which they operated were so different that they actually “conflicted” with one another.
Those who used Mana Force could not wield Aura.
Those who wielded Aura could not use Mana Force.
This was a long-established law and common knowledge throughout the continent.
But I knew….
That it was not true.
The Archmage, a Hero of the Coalition Forces, once said—
—To be more precise, it’s “mages” who use Mana Force who cannot wield Aura.
The Archmage’s definition of Aura was simple.
It was the power to bring things that existed only in the imagination into reality.
—Let me give you an example of how martial artists who wield Aura can demonstrate such tremendous strength.
Martial artists demonstrated superhuman strength by reinforcing their bodies with Aura.
The Archmage, a Hero of the Coalition Forces, said that this had originally been inspired by “ants”.
Ants were tiny insects capable of lifting objects thousands of times heavier than their own bodies.
What would happen if such a physical structure were applied to humans?
Would humans also be able to lift objects thousands of times heavier than their bodies?
A mage would answer that question as follows.
—The magnitude of strength is proportional to the cross-sectional area of the muscles.
In other words, the larger the muscles were, the greater their strength would become.
And that was all I had been able to understand.
Everything she explained afterward went in one ear and out the other.
—When the size of a body increases, its cross-sectional area increases by the square.
That was because cross-sectional area was calculated as width × length.
By contrast, “volume” was calculated as width × length × height.
For the same proportional increase, volume increased by the cube.
—In other words, the body’s volume increases exponentially compared to the cross-sectional area of its muscles.
Therefore, what would happen if an ant became as large as a human?
It would no longer be able to demonstrate the same proportionate strength.
Conversely, what would happen if a human became as small as an ant?
The human would be able to demonstrate strength comparable to an ant’s.
When one thought about it, only small insects could exert strength thousands of times greater than their body weight.
Was that not also true of fleas?
Therefore, the reason ants could lift objects thousands of times heavier than their bodies….
Was their size.
In other words, it was because their volume was small.
That was why applying an ant’s physical structure to a human would not allow the human to lift objects thousands of times heavier than their body.
—That’s how mages reach their conclusion.
Ah! So it’s fundamentally impossible!
That was why even when mages used muscle-enhancement magic such as Strength, they could not demonstrate power that transcended the limitations of the human body.
Their superior intellect had caused them to “understand” that such a thing was impossible.
—But do you know what martial artists who wield Aura say?
It just worked when I tried it.
They were truly lunatics.
Such a thing was absolutely impossible according to magical principles.
Even according to the laws of this world, it should have remained impossible no matter what.
Yet there were martial artists openly flying around while applying the physical structure of ants to themselves.
From a mage’s perspective, it was enough to make them lose their minds.
—People commonly call that….a mental breakdown.
This was the principle through which Aura enhanced physical abilities.
Through imagination, it disregarded the laws of the world, drawing forth things that existed only within an individual’s imagination and manifesting them in reality—
Aura.
An absurd power that had never existed anywhere, yet existed nonetheless.
That was why mages could not use Aura.
Their superior intellect caused them to “understand” that the power known as Aura was fundamentally impossible.
Conversely, knights could not use Mana Force either.
The moment they studied and understood Mana Force, they would begin to “deny” the existence of Aura.
Aura and Mana Force.
Although both were modified forms of energy derived from the same primordial Mana, Aura was called the exclusive power of knights, while Mana Force was called the exclusive power of mages.
That did not mean Aura was omnipotent.
Because it was a power that ignored the laws of the world, it could not be used freely.
The Archmage described this by saying that Aura “encountered resistance from the world”.
Because of that, merely enhancing the body and reinforcing a wielded blade was already difficult enough.
However….
On extremely rare occasions, there were lunatics capable of manifesting their own absurd imaginations in reality—things that could never be realized under the laws of the world.
It was a realm in which the power of Aura not only overcame the world’s resistance but even surpassed its critical threshold.
Master.
Masters manifested their unique imaginations within the real world.
Then they applied those imaginations to themselves as though they had always been natural laws.
That allowed them to accomplish truly absurd feats that completely disregarded the laws of the world.
And now….
The power I sensed from Kai….
It resembled my Regeneration [B+], yet operated according to an entirely different principle.
It vaguely resembled the miracle of a Saintess, yet its nature was completely different.
It was a power that no living creature in this world had ever possessed.
Therefore, it was an ability that could never manifest within this world.
Immortality.
In other words, Kai had now taken his first step into the realm of a Master.
It also meant that he had moved one step closer to becoming the Commander of the Frost Legion.
Seriously….
‘That lunatic.’
Across both my previous and current lives, he was the greatest lunatic I had ever encountered.
* * *
Kai had taken his first step into the realm of a Master while I was searching the Snowy Mountains.
If there was one fortunate thing….
‘He hasn’t reached the realm of a complete Master.’
Becoming a Master was not some trivial accomplishment. It was not a realm someone could reach all at once like this.
Even in the Kingdom of Vatenberg, to which House White Wolf belonged, Masters could be counted on one hand.
There were not many Masters even across the entire continent.
The pinnacle of Aura—the Master.
Kai had merely taken a single step into that realm.
However, even that was an absurd accomplishment.
Kai was only twenty years old.
As far as I knew, no one had ever reached the realm of a Master at his age.
In any case, he had not yet achieved the complete Immortality he possessed in my previous life.
Though, even in my previous life, his Immortality had not been absolute.
Only one person possessed Immortality in its truest sense.
Among the Six Monarchs who served the Emperor, only the Monarch of Immortality possessed it.
Kai’s Immortality was not true Immortality.
Just as I required nutrients to use Regeneration [B+], Kai required Aura to sustain his Immortality.
In other words, once his Aura was depleted, the power of Immortality would disappear.
Kai, who had been the Commander of the Frost Legion, had overcome that limitation to some extent by becoming a Lich.
But right now, he was still human.
The limitations of Kai’s Immortality were unmistakable.
‘Even so, that’s completely insane.’
A lunatic was still a lunatic.
More importantly, he had not been this powerful in my previous life.
He had never grown this rapidly.
Of course, after I fled the County, I had never observed Kai closely again.
However, he had certainly never grown this powerful at this stage.
‘Is it because of me?’
Dragon Rage Explosion [E], which I had used yesterday.
It seemed he had realized something after surviving that attack.
Even I did not know what it was.
Who could possibly understand the mind of a lunatic?
It appeared, however, that I was not the only one who had changed from my previous life.
More precisely, as I changed, Kai was changing as well.
The tiny change that was my existence….
Had stirred a powerful wind within Kai.
‘If this continues….’
Killing Kai would become somewhat difficult.
I also realized that there was no ability I could obtain by consuming Kai’s heart with Predation [S+].
Predation [S+] absorbed the underlying cause that allowed an ability to manifest.
In a monster’s case, it absorbed the Mutation Factor known as madness.
In Kai’s case, I would most likely absorb Aura.
However, I could not wield Aura.
The same applied to Mana Force.
I could not manipulate the energy known as Mana itself.
That was why I had never consumed human hearts in my previous life.
There was no benefit in doing so.
I would merely succumb to madness and rampage for no reason.
However, the Monarchs and Legion Commanders were different.
Monarchs possessed abilities known as authorities.
Legion Commanders were beings who had received power from those Monarchs.
If I consumed them with Predation [S+], I could obtain a Monarch’s authority and power.
There was only one exception.
Kai.
He had never received power from Seraphia.
He had grown for Seraphia entirely through his own efforts, surpassed his limitations, transcended himself, and done absolutely everything on his own.
‘Lunatic.’
He was unquestionably the greatest lunatic I had ever encountered.
‘I shouldn’t consume Kai.’
In any case, I no longer had a reason to consume Kai with Predation [S+].
At the same time, killing Kai had become somewhat more difficult, but….
‘Well, this also increases our chances of hunting the Commander of the Beast Legion.’
Since things had already turned out this way, I decided to look at the positive side.
Everything would be resolved once Ian arrived anyway.
Therefore, now was the time to focus on the Commander of the Beast Legion.
“Did you find traces of the legion?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they now?”
“I don’t know.”
Kai tilted his head at my answer.
“Did you not just say that you found their traces?”
“I said I found traces. I never said I knew where they were.”
As I had said, what I found was merely a trace.
It was evidence that the entity commanding the legion was the Commander of the Beast Legion.
And it confirmed that the Commander of the Beast Legion was currently somewhere in the north.
“I don’t know where it is right now.”
“Then let us search together.”
Kai stepped forward as he spoke. He was practically overflowing with energy.
However, I had no intention of doing that.
“No. We aren’t going to search.”
How could we search when we did not know where in the north the Commander of the Beast Legion was?
If I had intended to search every location individually, I would never have returned to the County.
I would have remained in the Snowy Mountains and continued searching for the Commander of the Beast Legion.
There would have been no reason to return here.
Naturally, we could not search the entire northern region. The north was far too vast to search every last part of it.
I needed to find Ian as quickly as possible.
To accomplish that, I needed to transform the Predator Merchant Company into the greatest Merchant Guild on the continent.
There was little time left to prepare for the next merchant expedition.
Furthermore, I needed to raise the residents’ Affinity to [Trust] within ninety days.
I already had a whole horde of tasks to complete.
I did not have time to chase after the Commander of the Beast Legion.
“Are you saying you will not look for it?”
“Yes. I’ll make it come looking for us.”
Kai tilted his head again.
That was only natural.
Kai did not know the identity of the Commander of the Beast Legion.
But I had once been the Special Warfare Unit’s Covert Operations Commander.
I had personally collected and managed intelligence concerning the Monarchs and their Legion Commanders.
My mind currently contained information about every Monarch and Legion Commander.
If it truly was the creature I suspected….
“We’re taking one more person on this subjugation.”
There was a way to make the Commander of the Beast Legion come to us of its own accord.
* * *
A peculiar sensation tickled the area around her eyes.
“Mmm….”
Seraphia’s elegant eyebrows trembled, and her awareness slowly returned.
When she felt the soft bed beneath her, Seraphia realized that she was lying down.
But she could not open her eyes. She could not bring herself to do it.
Adrian without either of his arms.
That horrific sight of his wounds twitching because the nerves had not yet died….
The dreadful image resurfaced before her eyes, crushing both her mind and heart.
Seraphia squeezed her eyes even more tightly shut, desperately trying to force the memory away.
A tear rolled from the damp trail beneath her eye.
“Sniff....”
She could not accept it.
She simply could not accept that Adrian was dead—
“If you’re awake, get ready immediately.”
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.
Seraphia’s eyes snapped open.
Her entire body felt sluggish, and her mind remained confused. However, as her gradually focusing vision settled upon a man—
“B-Brother?!?!!”
It was Adrian.
Seraphia shot upright.
“Weren’t you dead?! Did you come back to life?! How?!!?!”
“Did you want me to die?”
“Absolutely not!!!”
Seraphia shouted as though the very suggestion were preposterous.
Her voice had become somewhat loud, but she instead widened her eyes and firmly asserted her conviction.
Perhaps because of Seraphia’s reaction, Adrian said nothing more about it.
“But are you truly all right?! You’re not going to d-die again, are you!!?”
“As you can see.”
Seraphia rapidly examined Adrian from head to toe.
Dark bangs fell slightly across his forehead.
His facial features were clear and well-defined. His deep-set eyes contained an intense charisma. He had long eyelashes and a sharply defined jawline.
And both of his muscular arms were firmly attached and completely intact.
“Haah….”
Only after seeing Adrian in perfect condition could Seraphia finally feel relieved.
Adrian appeared to have been examining Seraphia’s condition as well, and soon spoke.
“Then get ready and come out immediately.”
Adrian turned as though he intended to leave the room.
“Get ready...?”
Adrian briefly stopped at Seraphia’s question.
His answer soon followed.
“You, Kai, and I—the three of us will subjugate the leader of the legion.”
Seraphia’s red eyes widened enormously.
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