Hiding A Logistics Center In The Apocalypse - Chapter 93
TL/ED – Miso
The lingering image of Gatz shimmered like a ripple.
Lancelot, aiming his sword, recalled old memories.
“……It’s been a long time, Gatz.”
At last, it was a complete reunion.
Until just moments ago, he had been nothing more than a wraith drifting in the afterlife.
Sseung!
However, on the edge of the sword lifted slightly askew, the now-complete human face was clearly visible.
“You……. how?”
Gatz appeared flustered.
The knights had broken through the prison of Camelot and returned in human form.
Like a stage magician whose trick had been exposed, the broken black magic was a nightmare in itself.
The incantations of black magic, once boasting absolute power, held no sway over a living human being, and Gatz, who had so far toyed with the knights with his deceitful tongue, could do nothing but keep his mouth shut.
Lancelot calmly added, speaking to Gatz.
“It’s going to be very different from back then.”
Whooo……
The black robes of the warlocks fluttered in the wind.
The situation confirmed that they were all mere mirages.
But the knights who had fought hundreds of battles manipulated by Sisyphus and spent long years imprisoned in Camelot were also no longer who they once were.
Ziiiii…….
The knights’ swords emitted a faint glow.
And with that glow…….
“……What is that?”
I could see dense purple thread-like lines surrounding the area.
As I looked on in confusion, Lancelot explained further.
“This is Barnaul’s black magic. It creates countless choices and guides you to select one. But no matter which one you choose, you end up dancing to their tune.”
Indeed, it was just like that.
The warlocks floated before us like targets, but none of them were real.
Only now, through the light of the knights’ swords, was their true nature being revealed.
“We must focus on the method they use to create those options.”
Certainly, what lay ahead was an illusion.
But the very hands of the warlocks manipulating those illusions could not be illusions themselves.
In the end…….
“We will open the path.”
They who had once been slaves to black magic now reversed the chain that bound them.
Tak!
Tadak!
Their steps were even lighter than when they had been skeletons.
The twelve knights all at once charged toward the remnants of Barnaul.
Hoooh!
Whoosh!
The outcome was no different than before.
One by one, Gatz and the warlocks vanished like bubbles.
New illusions arose, while the tangled formulas swirled in place.
However…….
The violet threadlines reflected in the sword light.
Two of them formed a distinct parallel,
Sssheaaaak!
“……Keurgh!”
And through that gap, the “Demon Devourer” finally pierced the center of the warlock’s brow.
The knights’ sword dance that had reversed the flow of life.
They had traced back the illusions spun by Gatz from the tail, and located the true bodies of the hidden warlocks.
“……Grrk.”
“……Kak!”
Across the densely spread staff lines, the warlocks of Barnaul screamed their death throes.
When the melody stained with lies and illusions was overturned, a beautiful tune of life began to flow.
And so, at last, they reached the grand finale, which was also the beginning…….
“…….”
There stood Gatz, his robe now in tatters, fluttering faintly.
Was it due to the powerful repulsion force he wielded?
Though they could not strike him, the knights’ swords resolutely blocked his cunning movements.
Tak!
“Ugh!”
His ankle caught, Gatz fell face-first.
“Do you think you’ll be safe after this? You dare do such a thing to the great Barnaul……!”
He rose through the dust, gasping, trying to leave behind a message of warning…….
Crunch!
Once again, a Holy Spear was thrust into the mouth of the bastard as he tried to use his black magic.
His torso was flung back along with the shaft of the spear.
Right after that, both of his arms fell limp.
“Who dares, you say? Who the hell do you think you are, you son of a bitch.”
Gatz’s eyes lost focus.
The bastard became a cold corpse, marking the final end of the warlocks…….
“…When did it get so late?”
Only then did I notice the moonlight sparsely shining on the Parisian landscape.
With the death of the warlocks, the army of Barnaul had vanished without a trace.
All that remained were heaps of bones scattered across the roads.
What was left now were only the undead who had come under my command,
and the city, wrapped in utter silence.
***
Though the situation in Paris had been cleared, there were still hundreds of prisoner camps left across Europe.
“Leave it to us. We’ll clean it up thoroughly.”
“I’ll count on you.”
The awakened ones from Prague and support forces from other countries, including priests, agreed to help with the cleanup, and I only took charge of occasionally processing gate cores and setting up portals for patient transport as finishing work.
Thanks to that, I could set aside my burdens for a while and return to the subspace.
The subspace had become even more spacious.
My family, who had endured considerable hardship, were gathered at the logistics center.
“……A bit too much for a cultural experience.”
Kim Sol scratched her head.
The Louvre Museum, including its garden and underground exhibition halls.
That massive geographical area was now connected to the northern entrance of the logistics center.
And it wasn’t even an ordinary museum.
The soul thresher, Sisyphus, tilted like the Ferris wheel in Chernobyl, and dozens of eerie statues that housed demons stood lined around it. In front of them, spears containing the souls of warlocks were stuck in the ground like toothpicks.
Looking at just this, it was far worse than even Camelot as a horrific facility to avoid, but… I had also set up a kind of memorial monument in one corner of the exhibition hall.
“…….”
The vengeful spirits sacrificed by Barnaul.
I had used the “Demon Devourer” to gather their souls without leaving out a single one.
Seeing that there were as many as six spears, each capable of holding 1,000 souls, the horror of what happened in Paris hit me hard.
I asked the elf elder Wilglaim if there was any way to revive them…….
“……It’s difficult. The situation is different from Camelot.”
He shook his head firmly.
“The souls are still bound to objects, aren’t they?”
“There were only twelve souls bound in Camelot. But to revive hundreds at once would require a level of nature energy beyond imagination. I can’t even begin to estimate what it would take….”
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a matter that could be solved through duplication.
Even if I duplicated the World Tree that would serve as the material, it wouldn’t be enough to grow it any further.
“Should I at least help them pass on……”
I considered whether I should trigger a holy explosion using the souls of the victims, but in the end, I decided to enshrine them in the museum, holding onto even the slightest hope.
Still…….
“……Leo!”
Fortunately, not everyone had died.
We had secured the prisoner camp in Paris and saved those who had been inside Sisyphus.
In fact, more had lived than died.
Leo was a little boy, ten years younger than Lydia.
Lydia held Leo tightly in her arms and sobbed endlessly. Even while being mindful of the other victims, she kept coming back to thank me through her tears, again and again.
Around the time I gently stroked Leo’s head a few times as he bowed his head with a dazed look…….
“Say hello. This is Leo….”
It seemed they had really formed a close bond.
Lydia took Leo to the World Tree and introduced them to each other.
With a bright smile, Lydia greeted them with a message imbued with buffs, but…….
“……!”
Swooosh.
It was as if the World Tree had just encountered its mother’s hidden second son, it scattered its yellow leaves in a flurry.
“……Huh? Tree, are you sick? What’s wrong with you?”
The World Tree, turning dark and withered.
It was clear it would recover by the next half-day at most, but it was obviously disappointed by the appearance of a rival.
From the perspective of the World Tree, it would’ve wanted to monopolize the love of Lydia, who was nothing short of a mother to it.
Meanwhile, Elf Elder Wilglaim watched the scene with delight.
“This is it exactly……. The familial love, the deeply human yet existential suffering! That sort of pain is the trial that thickens the roots! With this, the World Tree will gradually become an adult…….”
‘……So it’s this guy who’s the real problem.’
Clap clap!
Wilglaim was wiping tears of emotion and clapping like a seal.
Who would’ve thought a 700-year-old elf elder was, in fact, a twisted sadist from the netherworld?
If not for this man’s advice, my relationship with the World Tree wouldn’t have fallen into ruin.
“Ah, come to think of it…”
Barnaul had been dealt with, and I had taken in the spoils of war into the subspace, but there was still one task left.
Camelot, engraved with new magic circuits by the dwarves in Elvenheim.
I had made a bet to resurrect the knights with it.
“I’ve kept my promise.”
It was time to check the reward.
***
With the knights, I crossed the portal into Elvenheim.
Cooper, fresh out of the factory, handed me Camelot, now the size of a crown.
“The circuit responded properly. This is the result.”
The damp, ashen hue had completely vanished.
Its bright white stone walls now shone radiantly, and between their cracks flowed smooth blue circuits like running water.
“Throughout the process, the black magic circuit was exchanging signals with the outside. But now that we’ve removed it all, there will be no further tracking from external forces.”
As expected of a master of item crafting, Cooper had analyzed every function embedded within Camelot.
The Camelot castle that had been tracked by Barnaul’s black magic.
Now, with the black magic circuits removed and the conditions met, we were able to shake off those bastards from the Inspection Bureau or wherever they were from.
As expected, the new Camelot was not bound to any soul.
The skeleton knights had regained their living forms, and at the same time, were freed from Camelot’s restrictions.
Its exploitative functions were gone, so for now, without any knights, it was little more than an empty shell…….
But the newly assigned options were far too significant to overlook.
Ding!
—-
[Inverse-Heaven Camelot]
Grade: [Unique]
Description: [Once a cursed palace of knights, it has undergone a fundamental transformation upon fulfilling the engraved conditions. It can be installed at a desired size, and the installation cost varies proportionally.]
Attribute: [Special]
Options:
[Knight Registration]
– Allows registration of knights. (Maximum: 12)
※ Only knights previously bound to Camelot may be registered.
[Dream and Reality]
– Allows transformation of registered knights into “wraith” form via Camelot.
– Allows transformation of registered knights into “human” form via Camelot.
[Inverse-Heaven]
– A deceased knight is resurrected in Camelot.
※ Requires World Tree of a certain size as material.
※ Time is required for resurrection. (24 hours)
—-
‘……My god, it really allows resurrection.’
It now bore the name “Inverse-Heaven Camelot.”
And true to its name, which meant a sky turned upside down, its original functions had also been completely inverted.
‘…So they can become wraiths while still alive?’
The knights were now living humans.
But through Inverse-Heaven Camelot, they could not only transform into wraiths but could even be resurrected after death.
Although it consumed World Tree as a resource, that could simply be duplicated and reused.
It was, in essence, an auto-respawn feature with a 24-hour cooldown, a truly broken, overpowered option.
The problem was…….
‘Can I even ask the knights to accept this?’
Binding to an item.
The “wraith transformation” feature, and the resurrection effect that defied the nature of life itself.
Each of its effects still bore an uncanny resemblance to the curse of Camelot.
“…….”
The knights of Camelot encircled me in silence.
They had all received the same item information, yet not one uttered a word.
It was only natural.
We were no longer tied by a contract of master and servant.
With the curse gone, the knights no longer had any need to serve me as their lord.
Of course, they probably couldn’t leave Earth, but if they declared they wished to move independently, I had no real way of stopping them.
‘……You’ve all done more than enough.’
It didn’t matter if they weren’t my retainers anymore.
They may not have served me directly, but the elves and druids had already been reliable allies.
Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t a little disappointed, but if they remained as comrades with their backs to mine, that alone was more than enough.
After a long silence, Lancelot finally spoke.
His voice, somehow, sounded faintly emotional.
“…Finally, our wish has been fulfilled.”
Zzzzz…
The chirping of birds mingled with the wind.
In the heart of Elvenheim, overflowing with World Trees, Lancelot looked down at his own hand, now covered in flesh.
“In truth, we’ve talked amongst ourselves many times before. Until now, we had no choice but to follow Camelot’s commands… but if, really if, the curse were ever lifted, what then? How would we live? And yet…”
Scratching his head awkwardly, Lancelot trailed off.
And then…
Ding!
[Lancelot has become a knight of ‘Inverse-Heaven Camelot.’]
[Gawain has become a knight of ‘Inverse-Heaven Camelot.’]
[Percival has become a knight of ‘Inverse-Heaven Camelot.’]
[Mordred has become a knight of ‘Inverse-Heaven Camelot.’]
[Bedivere has become a knight of ‘Inverse-Heaven Camelot.’]
Twelve registration messages popped up from “Inverse-Heaven Camelot.”
I couldn’t help but be shocked.
These were the ones who had suffered for eons under the shackles of Camelot.
Yet without the slightest hesitation, they had cast away their newfound freedom once more.
“We all shared the same wish.”
The wishes of the knights.
Suddenly, I recalled the illusion within Sisyphus.
They had wandered through hundreds, thousands of nightmares in order to protect their master Arthur…….
“But we also understood. That you are growing stronger by the day, and that eventually, the day would come when we would hold you back.”
The knights’ wishes no longer dwelled in the past.
And in fact, that was true.
They had been blocked by the wall of the 7th or 8th Order.
Knights of Camelot who, regardless of their loyalty, could no longer grow beyond a certain point.
“That’s why we desired life all the more fiercely. We wanted the living bodies that could grow through sweat and time. And in the end, thanks to the new life given to us by our lord…….”
Srrrng!
Lancelot drew his sword.
And then…….
“We’ve once again been able to awaken ‘Aura’.”
At the tip of his blade, a soft light of sword energy began to gather.
“Now, time will flow for us too. After swinging our swords thousands, tens of thousands of times… we believe we’ll be able to serve our lord at even greater heights.”
Clink.
Lancelot handed me his sword.
And then…….
“It may be long overdue, but… I offer you the Knight’s Oath.”
All twelve knights prostrated in unison.
****
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The Fool
He now has two Inspection Bureau offices. I wonder if it will merge 🤣