Chapter 138: The Glittering Golden Hour (3)

Chapter 138: The Glittering Golden Hour (3)

Cecily and Hina stealthily followed the researchers who had captured the butterflies into the facility.Since the facility was also where they had often visited to create Molumolu, sneaking in wasn't difficult.However, the underground laboratory now felt significantly different from when they were creating the artificial demon Molumolu.

━Grrrrrr, Kongkong!━Gaaaargh-!

Ferocious wolves with sharp teeth, massive crocodiles, and horrific bird-like creatures snarled behind their cages, their eyes bloodshot with fury.They appeared ready to tear through the bars and viciously bite into the necks of people.

Not only such creatures, but the laboratory was also filled with poisonous substances marked with skull symbols everywhere.How could the lab that made the plush Molumolu change so drastically in just a few days?

"Look, Hina. There are tons of butterflies captured!"

Cecily pointed to a large container hidden behind a massive desk.

Just as Cecily had said, butterflies were trapped inside the transparent glass, easily numbering over a thousand.

What could they possibly want to do with all these butterflies?Filled with curiosity, Cecily surveyed her surroundings more closely.Soon, researchers wearing beak-shaped gas masks appeared from somewhere and began murmuring to each other as they looked at the butterflies in the container.

"We've caught quite a lot. How many?""1,227, sir.""That's impressive. A large number indeed.""We've captured most of the ones flying around Freesia by now. I wonder where all these butterflies came from?""That's not what's important right now. It's what we can do with these butterflies. They're each a bundle of energy. With this amount... we could power all of Freesia's facilities for a year."

Freesia was a city of magical engineering.From ordinary street lights, to water and sewage systems, and protective barriers for the walls, many places used magical power.The amount of magic power consumed was immense, and in truth, the magic generators operated by Freesia had their limits.It could be said that the operating expenses of the Duchy of Freesia were always in the red.

That's right.It had to be in the red.

"Senior, is that rumor really true?"

A female researcher, who suddenly felt perplexed, asked.Senior researcher Gauss, who had been looking at the butterflies, frowned behind his gas mask in response.

"What rumor?"

"The annual magic power consumption of the Principality of Freesia is, in fact, ridiculously high compared to what the generators produce. But the facilities never stopped or caused a blackout, right?"

"Yeah, there's been a lot of talk about that. People like Headmaster Elle probably know, but did you know that this deep laboratory is actually a type of dungeon?"

The researchers, who experimented away from sunlight, were in a place originally called the dungeon, an underground facility. And beneath Freesia, there were many such ancient dungeons.

"A predecessor of mine told me this. In the deepest depths of Freesia, there's a magic circle that absorbs the magical power of the city's residents. It sucks in their life force to make up for the shortage of magic power."

"What!? Is that true!? Why does such a magic circle exist? If that's the case, we've been having our life force taken without consent! That's why I've been tired even after sleeping 7 hours every day─."

"It's just a rumor. But if it's true, it explains why Freesia could prosper as a city of magical engineering, second only to the ancient Pandemonium after Uruk."

Gauss's senior, who was also his predecessor, had researched the ancient city of Uruk to halt the advance of Pandemonium when Demon King Sabraknak was stirring.

He was the one who discovered that the architectural styles of buildings in the ancient city of Uruk and the modern Principality of Freesia, as well as the styles of dividing areas from number 1 to 60, were exactly the same.

'But he disappeared. It must have been a secret not meant for research. Uruk, a city of a million people that perished in a day. And Freesia, a city of two million....'

The two cities resembled each other.

'It was Headmaster Elle who led the urban planning of Freesia. Perhaps there's a chance she modeled Freesia after the ancient city of Uruk.'

To think that Freesia resembled a city that was destroyed overnight.Researcher Gauss found this fact chilling, but he decided to focus on the butterflies gathered before him for now.

"If we can use these creatures well and succeed in mass production, Freesia's magical power supply will be stabilized. Then we won't have to worry about life force being sucked away by any suspicious magic circles that might be underground."

"That's good to hear."

"Then I'll go get the grinder. I'll grind up all these butterflies, so just wait."

Gauss moved to leave.And Cecily, who had been listening to this conversation, was so shocked that her hair stood on end.

"Hina, did you hear? They're going to grind the butterflies!"

She had to save the butterflies somehow.With that thought, Cecily took the steel marbles she had kept in her pocket and loaded them into her slingshot.Swoosh, thwack-!

The steel ball flew at a considerable speed.And it struck the glass of the jar holding the butterflies, but it didn't even scratch, as the glass was sturdier than expected.The problem was that a female researcher noticed the commotion.

"What? What's that? What was that noise just now?"

Researcher Mileva had good instincts.

"It seems something indeed happened here. I found this. It's the compass I gave to Cecily."

Cariote was holding the sparrow compass I had given to Cecily, its needle beginning to spin wildly while she watched with a remarkably calm gaze.

"This compass can only track objects, right? It'd be best to set it to follow the location of the fan that Cecily always carries. Then we can find Cecily and Hina."

Truly a wise decision.It made me think that Cecily might have intentionally left the compass here.At the same time, I felt slightly tired.

"I thought we had at least a week. Human affairs never go as planned. Salome, summon the Shadow Lords."

"How many of them do you think have betrayed us?"

"It doesn't matter. And Cariote, go to the address I'll give you and call for the Queen. I can trust that one. It'd be good to call Enkidus and the Saintess as well. They might be on a date, but war might break out soon."

I calmly issued orders, noticing footprints imprinted on the laboratory floor. Footprints deep enough to reach 15cm into the metal floor.

It felt like someone unable to control their own power.Or, perhaps it's something else.

Walls torn like paper.Bodies of demonic beasts scattered with crushed skulls.

This was... closer to the feeling of testing one's strength.

Like when you buy a new knife and test its sharpness on paper.

"Cariote, Salome. Evacuate everyone from Freesia. Anything could happen in this city from now on."

"Understood. Then take this."

Pop—Cariote tossed the compass to me.I caught it and ran in the direction the needle led.

Full speed ahead.

Before I knew it, I had arrived in Freesia, passing through addresses 30, 25, 15, 10, and 5, until I reached the heart of the city, 1st Street.

"Where is this?"

The place the compass led me to was a building quite familiar to me.The mansion of the Duke of Freesia.A place that could be considered the very center of the city.The compass was pointing right here.

Pat- I opened the door and a rather tragic sight met my eyes. Servants were sprawled on the floor, bleeding from their mouths, none breathing.They had been struck down in one blow, severing their nerves.

"Is anyone alive?"

I asked around.Of course, there was no response.

The duke's mansion, once host to many famous figures, had turned into a ghastly castle of death. It was truly a scene of one-sided slaughter.

"I won't be needing the compass."

All I had to do was follow the trail of bodies.

I worried that I might find Cecily or Hina sprawled out along the way, but fortunately or unfortunately, neither of them appeared till the end.Instead, I saw a familiar man sprawled out in the parlor.

"You are..."

"That, that voice! Who's there?! Someone help me!"

"Duke... you look like a mess."

He was the man known as the Golden Duke.A dwarf with impressive golden curls and a beard, his once fine appearance was nowhere to be seen, his face smeared with blood.On closer inspection, he had no eyes.

"What happened?"

"E-Elle... the headmaster... she took my eyes. She must be heading underground. To the basement deep within this mansion...! You must stop her! She must be stopped! Help me! They must be stopped!"

"Stop? What must be stopped?"

"Beneath this mansion lies a magic circle! The same summoning circle as the ancient city of Uruk! Elle intends to activate it, surely to drain the life force from all /genesisforsaken