“Little Renn, today we are going to learn about the setting of the Black Tide.”
It was a cold voice, one that didn't sound like it came from a human.
“...Senior, my last name isn't Renn... My family name is Cast...”
The young Renn Cast sat on a chair, replying with a hint of nervousness.
“Oh, Little Cast then.”
Wearing a maid outfit, the peerless blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty nodded. She squatted down with her legs wide apart, opening a book in front of him, seemingly unconcerned about her skirt riding up and exposing herself.
Despite her voice being so cold, her behavior was incredibly crude...
Renn immediately turned his head away.
“Even I don't mind, so what are you so bothered about? Look back.”
Her impatient voice drifted over.
“...Forgive my rudeness.”
He turned his head back, forcing himself to keep his eyes strictly on the book, refusing to look down.
Looking up, the woman he saw was Yulia Wagner.
The Sword Saint's eldest disciple, his senior. She always spoke in this tone, wore bizarre outfits, and did completely baffling things.
“First, the most basic point: how did the Black Tide come to be?”
She pointed her finger at a line of text.
“The power of Authority does not come without a price; the birth of a miracle is inevitably accompanied by calamity and malice. Whenever someone uses the power of an Authority, an equivalent calamity will breed somewhere in the world.
To prevent calamities from randomly manifesting across the world and causing uncontrollable destruction, the Creator used the Authority of 『Creation』 to fashion the 『Abyss』—a highly unique Authority capable of bearing the cost of miracles. This ensured that disasters would occur consistently in a fixed location, where they could be continuously converted and controlled.
Initially, the Creator bore this Authority personally, thus taking on and destroying the calamities produced by it. Consequently, in the early stages of the God-Forsaken Era, the various Ancestors did not even know what the price of Authority was.”
Renn's gaze followed the lines of text traced by her slender, pale finger as he nodded earnestly.
“Later, the Human Ancestor stole the First Fire, which bore the Authority of 『Fire』, and banished the Creator to an unknown place. This caused the various Authorities to scatter across the world, including the Abyss.”
Yulia's finger paused.
“And that's how the Black Tide was born.
With the disasters left unchecked, coupled with the Ancestors' unrestrained indulgence after fully mastering their Authorities, the Black Tide grew to an unprecedented scale in a short time. It became a calamity capable of wiping out the entire world, thus ushering in the Era of Strife.
This era was ultimately brought to an end by Arkham, the wielder of the Authority of 『Strength』.
Using steel and half of his own soul, he recast his physical body, creating the Primordial Machine God to house 『Strength』.
The remaining half of his soul was used to bear the 『Abyss』. Afterward, he plunged into the deepest depths of the Abyss, using human will to resist the endless Black Tide.
Next came the Era of Dragon Sovereignty.
Because Arkham alone would eventually succumb to madness from being unable to bear the power of the Black Tide, the various races swore the oath of the 『Abyss Expedition』.
They agreed that at regular intervals, or whenever the Abyss showed signs of abnormality, they would immediately halt all wars and assemble their most elite armies to sweep through the Abyss, purging the abominations born within.
The Wild Hunt Army originally rose to prominence during the Abyss Expedition. The first Wild Hunt was rewarded by the Human King for his outstanding military achievements.
The very first thing he said was, ‘I want to marry that dragon.’”
“...Senior, there's one thing I don't quite understand. Do the abominations in the Abyss just appear naturally alongside the calamities?”
“...Tsk, if only it were that simple.”
Yulia shook her head.
“On this continent, the souls of all deceased beings are captured by the Black Tide and reborn within the Abyss. Those rare individuals who manage to retain their sense of self, their original forms, and their memories from when they were alive are what we call the death marchers.”
“...Senior, 'all deceased beings'... what does that include?”
“Slaughtered livestock, soldiers killed in war, even unique creatures that have no physical bodies and exist only as souls... all of them fall within the grasp of the Black Tide.
Those unable to maintain their living forms are twisted by the Black Tide. Their most common appearance is that of long tentacles dripping with black grease.
Among the idiots who worship the Black Tide, a certain group is famous for manipulating these Black Tide abominations through the Abyss.
Within that cult, they usually refer to each other as 『Mourners』. But more commonly, people call them...”
...
“Mid-tier 『Abomination Herder』, Cirian.”
The petite girl raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? You actually know my name? It seems I'm a bit more famous than I thought.”
Renn didn't answer. He simply retreated at high speed, putting distance between himself and the surging tentacles.
He had bought himself a few precious seconds.
“I, Renn Cast, Knight of the Roundtable, 『Annihilation』.”
Reciting the declaration he had long since memorized by heart, he drew a long, strip-like object from his armor.
It was crimson in color, its upper end slightly slumped, looking similar to some kind of solidified resin.
“I shall annihilate all evils, burn away all impurities, and execute all wickedness.”
He slapped the object onto the base of his blade, then gripped it firmly, wiping it all the way down to the tip of the sword.
Shhh—
Fire erupted.
Flames that faintly flickered with the shapes of runes soared into the sky. In the next instant, they were gathered by the rune of 『Annihilation』, wrapping around the blade to form a bright halo.
“Here and now.”
“Enchanted resin? Looks like high-grade stuff you can't buy on the market. You're certainly being generous with it~”
Even as Cirian spoke in a leisurely tone, Renn flashed forward.
The light of Annihilation flashed.
The flames upon the blade erupted. Every single wisp was branded with the concept of Annihilation, applying its effects. The moment they touched the tentacles, they extinguished their magic and kinetic energy, reducing them to ash.
“You're fighting a bit impatiently. Are you worried about what's happening on the other side?”
Cirian chuckled as she slowly backed away. The endless tentacles before her continued to rush forward. Even though they were instantly incinerated by the splashing flames, they still bought her a bit of time.
She knew this resin wouldn't last long. As long as she could stall until the fire went out, the battle would return to her overwhelming him.
Besides, her original task was simply to stall the guy in front of her.
Her strongest single-combat abomination, the Chimera, had already been destroyed the previous day by the combined efforts of Ade and Esper. But even without high-tier combat units, she could still achieve her goal just by piling up fodder.
Except... the guy in front of her seemed a bit beyond her expectations.
A physical body far exceeding Rank Six.
Superb swordsmanship.
A rune that extinguished all things.
And flames that unleashed Annihilation.
At this very moment, the light-armored knight was wielding sword and fire, sweeping away every abomination that came near him, closing the distance to Cirian at a visible speed.
This is bad... This is really, really bad—
—An aura drifted in.
From outside the shadow barrier she had set up, she felt an aura she had never personally experienced before, yet had heard others describe more than once.
“Ha... Hahaha!”
She burst into loud laughter, causing Renn to frown.
“I'm sorry, but it's too bad for you.”
Her grin stretched as wide as it could go.
“Right here, both you and that Hero are going to die.”
Rate on N.U.
