Chapter 156

Mana is a difficult power to define.

It fills all places, causes mysterious things to happen, and yet it can be gathered or confined like a material substance.

What should one call this power, whose name makes it uncertain whether it was given by a demon or not? Despite very many debates over a very long time, an answer has not yet been found.

However, a few characteristics have been defined.

For instance, that it responds to will, or that it redefines reality. …And all of this is united under the great characteristic of supernaturalness.

Sen Sorti said this.

Mana is the power that allows one to overcome reason.

Whether living or non-living, there are given boundaries, but mana leads all things beyond those boundaries.

It is thanks to this power that Amethus could part the sea with a single sword, or that Hermai Merhes could don lightning and fly through the sky.

While Ars is based on a different system of power from mana, it is not entirely unrelated.

A non-human that harbors mana is called a magical beast.

When beings with neither reason nor soul gain an undeserved power, they become ferocious and powerful.

Magical beasts possess a strong aggression towards humans, driven by an instinct to fill the void of their non-existent souls.

Among magical beasts, those that are powerful enough to wield magic and have a halo shining behind their heads are called Magical Beasts.

Magical Beasts, having at least some reason, rarely show unconditional aggression towards humans. Of course, this only increases their danger.

And very rarely.

There are Magical Beasts that have even found their soul's Ars.

Such beings are the leaders of their species, masters who are called kings.

They are monsters among monsters, Magical Beasts among Magical Beasts, so rare that even one being born in an era is uncommon.

The Great Witch's five retainers are all Magical Beasts called kings.

Though a single beast, each harbored power akin to a disaster.

The king of scaled birds, Jeberk.

The king of dancing trees, Hulohelle.

The king of toothed jewels, Kabedait.

The king of flaming flowers, Iselin.

And the last retainer.

The king of living shadows, Valziart.

“I told you to come out, Valziart!”

“Tch…….”

At the Silver Dragon's roar, a short click of the tongue sounded from my chest.

I wasn't flustered and let a black shadow seep out from my chest.

The black shadow that emerged, bubbling, resembled boiling mud.

The mud kept grumbling and slowly transformed into a human shape.

The shadow took the face of a young girl.

Her long, trailing black dress was adorned with plenty of frills.

Her jet-black hair was braided into two pigtails.

Valziart had a sullen face as if she were throwing a childish tantrum.

“Why are you calling me? I was in the middle of sleeping.”

“Even after being trapped for 400 years, your habit of lying hasn't improved at all.”

The Silver Dragon, Beluchian Pollinglight, glared at Valziart.

“You, you were constantly looking for a chance to take over my body from within my soul, weren't you?”

“Ah, stop nagging!”

Valziart shook her head. Her braided black pigtails flew this way and that.

“Do you have any idea how thorough this prince is? There was absolutely no opening to exploit. He didn't even let me peek at what he was seeing and hearing!”

I shrugged my shoulders.

I already knew that Valziart had regained consciousness.

The reason I left her was because she posed no problem.

Valziart ground her teeth, finding both the composed me and the Great Witch who had imprisoned her endlessly detestable.

“Besides, why did you call me?”

Valziart asked coyly.

“I didn't want to see your face ever again, Sen Sorti!”

“I don't use that name anymore.”

“What grand name are you using now?”

“Beluchian Pollinglight.”

“…You're using the Pollinglight name again? It's been a thousand years.”

“The time has come.”

“…Oh my.”

The shadow girl covered her mouth.

The Great Witch's five retainers had all lived for over a thousand years.

They were beings who had been with her since the time of Hotus, before Cordis, when Beluchian was revered as the last mage.

So, they were bound to know a great deal.

Of course, this included secrets of the world that others couldn't even imagine.

“Enough of that story.”

The Silver Dragon waved her hand.

“Valziart, you know, don't you? The crack in Shion's heart.”

“Aha, this prince's heart?”

Aha, ahahaha-! Valziart burst out into gleeful laughter.

She had spent seven years trapped in my heart.

No matter how much I tried to hide it, I couldn't hide everything.

“It's quite a sight. What should I even call it……?”

The shadow girl laughed and laughed until her face twisted grotesquely.

“It's so distorted you can't even tell if it's a heart or a tumor, and all day long there are strange screams, sobs, and the smell of blood……. It seems he thinks of his own heart as a garbage can.”

What do you think happens when you gather all the dirty, painful, and hot things in one place and put a lid on it?

It rots and rots until it hardens.

“Honestly, would I have woken up if my sleeping place was comfortable? The screams, the smell of blood, the fire……. How a human heart could be in such a state. I just couldn't sleep.”

She waved her hand.

I silently let Valziart chatter on.

Though I was a talkative regressed prince, I had nothing to say about the distortion of my own heart.

It was because the most I could do was to live as if it didn't exist, even to myself.

“So I need to fix it a little.”

“Fix it? How are you going to fix a heart that can't be seen?”

“Using something equally invisible should serve as a temporary measure.”

“…What are you going to use?”

Valziart felt a sense of foreboding.

She was a noble of the shadow dimension, the king of living shadows.

Her true form was a mass of shadows belonging to an unseen place.

The Great Witch smiled faintly.

“Of course, I'll have to use your true form, Valziart.”

“…I don't want to!”

The girl shrieked.

Furious, she thrashed about, even throwing herself onto the floor.

Though she was weakened, she was still called the king of living shadows, so every time she got angry, a deadly black energy spread out like a cumulonimbus cloud.

It was so sharp that it cracked stones, but neither the Great Witch nor I were ones to be injured by such a thing.

“No! No, no, no!!!”

Valziart's tantrum was already approaching the realm of a monstrous roar.

“You're going to use my true form as a tool after locking me up for 400 years? No, I said no, you damn mage-!!!”

“Valziart.”

“N-o-!!! If I say no, it's no! I'm Valziart!”

The Great Witch touched the bridge of her nose.

“Valziart.”

Her voice was chilling.

It was so cold that even the air seemed to freeze.

Valziart, who had been screaming, couldn't help but shut her mouth as a shiver ran down her spine.

The last mage's voice was also silver.

A very cool silver, like a well-honed blade.

“You, you've forgotten who I am.”

“Ah…….”

A gasp scattered.

Fear made Valziart kneel.

The Great Witch glared at the shadow girl.

That alone was enough to make the girl's body melt, black shadows dripping down.

The Great Witch is the last mage.

She is one of the last eight divinities remaining in this world.

The Great Witch slowly raised her hand.

Valziart, soaked in fear, could only stare at her finger.

There was a snapping sound.

It was because the Great Witch had flicked her finger.

Valziart melted away.

In the spot where the shadow girl had been, a thin, black piece of clothing remained.

Not even a gasp was left.

The Great Witch picked up the thin, black garment and handed it to me.

“Wear it, Shion. This is the true Mana Armor.”

“I'll accept it gratefully, Master.”

The Great Witch's five retainers were also her five magical implements.

Jeberk transforms into a scaled cloak, Hulohelle into a dancing staff, Kabedait into a five-colored jewel, and Iselin into a flaming coronet.

Likewise, Valziart was the Mana Armor.

Seven years ago, during the Succession War, I had only managed to forcefully subdue Valziart.

The Mana Armor until now had been an incomplete form, not even half of its true self.

Only now, touched by the Great Witch's hand, did the Mana Armor regain its full power.

Wearing the Mana Armor, I felt a lightness.

I felt like I could leap up into the sky with a light jump, and I probably really could.

“Do you like the gift?”

“I'm very grateful.”

“I told you I'd send the things you requested through Jeberk.”

The Great Witch cupped her chin.

Having inherited the memories, she had already developed a special affection for me.

Beluchian Pollinglight was an eccentric among eccentrics, but she was also a doting fool among doting fools.

“They are difficult items to handle, can you manage them?”

“Whose disciple am I?”

“Good. That was a needless worry.”

The Great Witch patted my shoulder.

She felt that the time to part was approaching, and a sense of regret arose.

Suddenly, she lifted her head.

“…Hmm, still, I do feel sorry for locking her up for 400 years.”

Beluchian Pollinglight moved her feet a couple of times, making a tapping sound.

“Hulohelle, give me a branch, the sturdiest one.”

Soon, a branch shot up from the ground.

The Great Witch snapped it off.

Even after being broken, the branch danced about this way and that. It rode a rhythm that was both loose and sticky.

“Jeberk, you give me some scales. Kabedait and Iselin, you too.”

The retainers each followed the command.

Jeberk waddled like a plucked chicken and then plucked a scale from behind his bow tie.

Kabedait carved his own body to provide jewel dust, and Iselin handed over a beautiful flower bud.

“A dancing branch, a bird's scale, dust of a toothed jewel, a flaming flower bud.”

The Great Witch hummed a tune.

She waved her hands here and there over the four ingredients as if cooking.

How could she be so good at magic but so bad at cooking?

Such a question arose in my mind, but I didn't voice it.

She was the type to take back a gift if her mood soured.

“Shall we grind them all up? Or maybe pound them? It would be good to mash and mash them too. Let's make it black, however we can. Let's make it black and melt it down gently.”

It was a hummed song with crude lyrics, hardly even a chant.

Yet the world listened to her words.

“So black, so black, that it looks like a shadow. So that even the king of shadows mistakes it for a shadow.”

The Great Witch flicked her finger.

All the ingredients mixed together and became black mud.

Then it soon took a human form.

Beluchian thrust her hand deep into my chest and pulled out a black breath.

It was the consciousness separated from Valziart's true form.

She went, fuu, and lightly blew the black breath into the human form's nose.

Long eyelashes fluttered, and soon, the eyes blinked open.

“Aha……?”

“Did you sleep well, Valziart?”

Valziart still had a face that didn't understand what had happened.

“I've given you a new body, so are we even now? You should be able to use half of your old power.”

“……!!”

The shadow girl jumped up.

It was out of sheer joy.

She was so happy she couldn't even scream, just kept hopping up and down.

She looked down at her body as if she couldn't believe it was moving according to her will.

“Valziart, my old retainer.”

The Great Witch beckoned to the shadow girl.

The girl hesitated for a moment, then came running over.

The Great Witch stroked her retainer's head.

“This is your last chance. From now on, serve Shion as your master. He is my disciple and another Pollinglight.”

“Of course! I will!”

“If you act out of line one more time, I won't seal you, I'll annihilate you.”

“…Ahaha.”

Valziart laughed awkwardly and turned her head.

I furrowed my brow as if to say, 'What are you looking at?', but Valziart brazenly approached and took my arm.

She even smiled brightly.

“Nice to meet you, nice to meet you! Beautiful prince! We will meet again like this, won't we?”

“Don't call me prince.”

I, Shion Pollinglight, did not hide my displeasure.

To think I'd end up with Valziart as a servant.

This was something I had not expected.

Of course, it would be beneficial, but there would surely be troublesome aspects as well.

“You better watch your tongue. I will not permit you to utter any secrets related to the Empire.”

“Eung, I get it…….”

“Go in.”

“…Ah, yes!”

Valziart extended her foot into my shadow.

Then she was sucked right in.

I let out a small sigh and shook my head.

“This is a gift I never imagined, Master.”

“It will be a help to you.”

“Then I'm glad.”

The Great Witch lifted her silver eyes.

“Shion, my Pollinglight.”

She swept back my blond hair.

“I am returning to my nest. It was good to see you like this, but I won't be able to help you anymore.”

“It's alright.”

“I've placed too heavy a burden on you.”

“Without this weight, my life loses its meaning.”

“You have a difficult way of speaking.”

“Then I'll be brief.”

The regressed prince's eyes shone.

Within his eyes, there was a flame.

Seven blue flames, the Septem Arcana.

“I will bring down the Empire.”

“Yes. Cordis must fall. It must be brought down in the name of Pollinglight.”

The Silver Dragon chuckled.

She spread her wings.

Her forty-eight wings were brilliant.

It was now time to return.

She had already given too much help.

She could feel the rules of the world closing in on her.

“Oh, I forgot to say this.”

The two Pollinglights looked at each other.

“Congratulations on your marriage, Shion.”