Esther de Baronia - Chapter 6.4

　――completion of attestation.

　Horizontal letters flow in front of Karon.

“…… huh?

　When he looks at the ground, he’s surprised to see that a huge lapis lazuli-colored summoning magic circle was deployed at his feet around the card.

   The area becomes darker with the flash of light emitted by the magic circle. The effect of summoning darkens the surroundings and emphasizes the magic circle, creating an atmosphere like summoning monsters, but that doesn’t matter now.

　The name of the demon on the fallen card is “Dragon Zombie”.

“Gee, first of all, …….”

A huge circle with magical ornaments representing gears and rings.

　This is the first time he has ever seen such a thing.

The Apocalypse development staff painstakingly finished the ring with reference to a mechanical clock, and it made a creaking sound as it rotated many times, and when it all came together with a clang, it filled the space with lapis lazuli, blocking out the sunlight.

　Karon is stunned because it’s a familiar sight, but Rushka, Gladora and Jeremiah around him cover their vision with their arms because of the glare.

　Gradually, a huge dragon takes shape in the light. The soggy, melted skin sores and crumbles, and a strong smell of decay fills the air.

　The dragon zombie, a huge rotting dragon that looks up at him, stands up with its poisonous body colored in red, black and purple, its eyeless eye sockets glowing red, it leans its head back and lets out a loud roar.

  Ripples of vibration explode in the grassland where the wind has stopped.

“What …… is the secret art of the king …… who rules Esther de Baronia……?

When the light fades away, Rushka’s eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of the huge dragon carcass.

　She does not know what the king’s purpose is, but she does not expect that he would use the secret arts.

　Before that, she’s too surprised to move her body at the sight of the mysterious scene.

　The art of summoning is always accomplished by paying a price. Even Albert, the true founder of vampires, used a piece of his own flesh to create an army of the dead that would not decay in the sunlight.

   She can’t stop shaking in awe that Karon could do this so easily, using only paper and a different kind of magic circle that even Rushka, who can handle magic, can’t understand.

　Gladora and Jeremiah, who were making a lot of noise, and Gorobei and his men, who had come from afar, stop to stare at the king’s back with their hair standing on their necks, as if they feel the same as Rushka.

　All they can do is stare speechlessly at the sight of the supreme magic that was created manifesting itself.

    The dragon zombie roars again. The rasping voice is produced by forcing the non-existent vocal cords to tremble, leaving a maddening reverberation in the ears.

　Karon braces himself, thinking it’s a threatening roar, but the dragon zombie shows no signs of doing anything.

　It leans its face closer to his and stares at him with its eyes.

　The smell of decay makes Karon want to vomit, but he can’t escape the red glowing eyes, and he’s stiffened like a frog in front of a snake.

　‘Oh no. It’s not good. I’m going to be killed. Rushka. Help me. Help me!’

　The words that refrain in his head will never reach anyone if he doesn’t say it out loud.

　From Rushka’s point of view, it looks like the king and the dragon zombie are staring at each other, and from Karon’s point of view, it looks like he’s getting cancer.

　A tense moment passed. Gradually, the shadows that covered them disappear, and the sunlight comes again.

　When the strong sunlight touches the decomposing body, it instantly collapses.

　A corpse cannot walk in the sun without blessings. Just as Karon had feared, the warmth of the heat was giving the dragon zombie a second death every second.

　But the dragon zombie says nothing. It doesn’t scream. It just stares into Karon’s eyes.

　He doesn’t know what it’s thinking behind the glow of its red eyes.

　Just before the body can no longer hold its shape, it finally moves.

　The dragon zombie does not open its huge mouth, but instead places its chin on Karon’s shoe while remaining firmly rooted to the ground on all four feet.

　It’s like a knight shows his loyalty.

   Many don’t know it, but demons are literally created out of nothing. In other words, they do not have a past.

　They only reflect the settings that the development staff came up with in the game’s monster book, but as individuals, they start from the moment they are summoned.

　When a monster is summoned and sees a person in front of it, it first recognizes that person as its parent, and then, according to the system’s specifications, as the lord of the land.

　Whether they are zombies or not, their newborn lives take on color for the first time.

　Although they are demons that squirt carrion, bare bones, and spread their guts around, the sight of them serving a human man, no matter how ugly, is more beautiful than anything else in their hearts.

　The dragon, which is destined to crumble, decay and die, shows his loyalty until his last moment.

“…… We’ll meet again sooner or later.”

   Karon’s quiet eulogy marks the end of the dragon zombie.

　“Truly forgive me. I’m really sorry for wasting your time. You’re pretty strong. But I still have your medical records, so I’ll call you again when I get a chance.”

　It all ended in a more anticlimactic manner than he had imagined, and the dragon zombie disappeared without him being able to tell if the verification was successful or not.

　It should have time to attack, and since it was rank 6, it only had 40% loyalty. If it didn’t attack him, then there must be a reason.

　Karon was thinking on the premise that it would attack him, but he can’t understand why it hung its head at the end.

　But he can’t figure it out even if he keeps thinking about it, so he roughly removes the cloak that pulls his neck.

　It’s a purple-black coat that flutters majestically with the crest engraved on its back which only the king can carry.

   [Black Royal robe].

　It is a double-edged sword that suppresses all disturbances in the country but causes problems with other countries.

  The effect was working, but it had slipped his mind that his costume had an effect, and he wouldn’t notice it for a while.

　He’s left with a hazy feeling of indigestion, and concludes that he should check it out again in the near future.

　Having done what he had to do, Karon turns around and looks behind him, noticing that it’s rather quiet.

　The person who’s supposed to be there is nowhere to be seen.

  As his gaze wanders furtively, wondering where Rushka had gone, he sees her kneeling on the grass with her head bowed deeply.

What is this?

  When he looks closely, he sees Gladora and Jeremiah are in the same position as Rushka. The expeditionary forces are also all serving, though Karon can’t see them from a distance.

　Unable to understand what is going on, Karon can only dither in front of the demons who are taking the vassal’s bow, and the scene finally ends with Karon’s permission after the sun had set.

   The events of that day spread around the world.

　Dark clouds loom in the heavens.

　An intense lapis lazuli glows.

　And the roar of a raging dragon.

　It was a day that asserted the existence of Esther de Baronia to the farthest reaches of a world yet to be seen.

  The effectiveness of the black royal robe erodes unknowingly.

　Yes, unknowingly.

◆

  “On the afternoon of —-, a man’s body was found in a room on the second floor.

　According to the investigation, the man was playing a VR online game on the day of his death, it was revealed that the server shut down without notice, and the danger of VR headgear was investigated…..”