This was where our poor MC learns why he"s here and where I decided I wanted to translate this one day. I"ll keep working to up my speed, but please don"t have too high of an expectation…I"m trying D: Chapter 4: Sorcerer King and Summoner
‘Summoning the Sorcerer King and the Theory of the Destructive End of this Two Thousand Year Old World"
What can I say? It wasn"t exactly the most serene of t.i.tles.
It almost seemed like a book that predicted the possible end of the world.
Normally, I would have just laughed it off.
However, given all the various events that occurred one after another without any explanation on top of the fact that I would easily read these words, a sense of nervousness that I couldn"t ignore this stone book grew in me.
I opened the cover…Ah, but this was made of stone and not paper, so should I still called this a ‘cover"?
Either way, this stone page was obviously heavy and hard to open.
However, size-wise, it felt relatively light.
Even so, stone books with this difficulty in reading won"t catch on…
Anyway, I turned the page and began to read its contents.
The line of text was carved into the stone as grooves.
‘Being at the end of my life, I shall inscribe the ultimate summoning spell here. —Luvel Zairein"
I really don"t recognize these characters.
Yet, I can read them normally. It felt like reading j.a.panese to me.
I see. This book"s author"s name was Mr. Luvel Zairein.
He was probably a foreigner.
I continued to move my eyes across the page.
‘You, who have opened this book placed to rest beside my corpse. For a living soul to step foot inside these stone grounds would signify that a thousand years have pa.s.sed since the Sorcerer King of Destruction had destroyed the old world and the timer mechanism sealing the Grand Rock Door has been released."
“My corpse” …So, that would mean the dead Old Man Bones there.
So, the author of this book, Luvel Zairein, was Old Man Bones.
Was this book his will?
When I read the words “Grand Rock Door”, the stone gate at the entrance immediately popped in my mind.
He couldn"t possibly be referring to that, right?
I didn"t understand what the “timer mechanism” he meant, but most likely, that Grand Rock Door of yours was turned a sloppy grotesque image after the spontaneous [Open Sesame] incident. I"m sorry for betraying your expectations…
But, this “Sorcerer King of Destruction”…
The book"s t.i.tle also had “Sorcerer King” in it. What was with that?
It sounded like this was an important subject to this person.
‘The Sorcerer King of Destruction is a crazed king brought from another world to destroy this world. I shall establish and execute the summoning theory I have spent my life researching here."
Wait wait wait wait. This Sorcerer King of Destruction sounds like a super dangerous guy!
Who the h.e.l.l were you planning on summoning, Old Man Bones? You an idiot? You wanna die?
Ah, you"re already dead…
Whatever the case may be, I was half treating this Sorcerer King of Destruction and such as none of my concern.
This resembled the case of whether I should believe or not.
To many people, the end of the world was that kind of thing.
I mean, there was nothing the common folk could do if they were told that the world was going to be destroyed.
Even if the world looked like it"ll be destroyed, it wasn"t like people could skip school or work since it was just a prediction.
In that sense, typhoons had more of an impact.
With that kind of mindset, I continued to flip through the stone pages.
In the end, this book was thick only because of the stone slabs. The number of pages was quite low. Instead, the carved words were packed tightly together, but the amount wasn"t that significant.
The beginning of the book was dedicated to detailing the reason Luvel Zairein decided to summon the Sorcerer King of Destruction and destroy this world.
Incidentally, I had already dropped the formalities in calling this person Mister.
The reason was simple: this man was a pretty sh*tty person…
The fiancée from his youth was caught up in a political dispute and died. I sympathized with him about this matter, but it wasn"t normal to escalate it to the point where you wanted to ma.s.sacre every single person in this world. His head must be messed up.
Furthermore, he was so talented that he had believed he was ent.i.tled to everything. Conversely, he also nonchalantly wrote that the world had started to bore him. Hum, Zairein, you know… You don"t have to destroy the world. This whole matter could have been settled if you had just killed yourself[1].
Other than that…Ah, yes. He wrote at every opportunity that “This was predetermined by destiny,” making me a bit curious. It was clear that these were the ramblings of a madman, but exactly what kind of destiny was this being a.s.sumed from?
Another point that caught my attention was that there were times when portions of the book would become illegible.
I think they were probably detailed explanations about magic.
Let"s look at a line from them.
Simply put, it said “kesepepepeporanipipupu……&&.”
In reality, the contents of this were probably not that simple.
Had my sudden translation ability to understand this world"s foreign language bugged?
—I discovered later on that it wasn"t my ability to understand the language. I couldn"t decipher the specifics of the so-called magic formulas and the details of the magic arrays. If I were to explain this using words and numbers, it would be the same as someone with a basic understanding of math only seeing an advanced mathematical equation as a list of numbers and notations.
In the first place, the fact that I held this ability of mine to translate the language (rather than being a direct translation, it was actually closer to that of overwriting my knowledge of the language) was not an accommodation or a free-service from G.o.d; it was nothing more than part of the cruel trap laid by the summoner Luvel Zairein.
But it would a long time before I learned this truth.
In any case, the greatest blessing at this point in time was that I had finally reached the point where Luvel Zairein had exhausted everything needed to be said about [Summon the Sorcerer King of Destruction], a spell he must have felt was the pinnacle of all secret artes.
If he had gone into the precise details of the magic formula, my reading comprehension ability probably wouldn"t be able to allow me to wrap my head around it. There was the possibility that a majority of it would look like illegible scrawls, leading me to just give up trying to read the entire book.
However, I could understand over half of it what was being said, so I proceed.
Now, I was approaching the conclusion of the contents of this stone book.
The author"s anger and resentment towards the world, which I really couldn"t care less about, was nearing its end. The book was now talking about the specific methodology concerning summoning someone from another world as the Sorcerer King of Destruction.
I had always loved reading.
This was a bit embarra.s.sing to admit, but I had become excited about reading this. I really didn"t know why.
‘Naturally, summoning someone from another world who does not exist in ours will require an extreme compensation."
Hooh, so that"s how it is.
Well, I guess it would be equivalent to summoning the Great Demon King kind of thing. There has to be some kind of risk involved.
‘As the summoner, I have used my own life to solve this issue as well as the one concerning the missing element: sacrificing the primordial ancestor"s blood."
…Hm? Sacrifice? This was starting to sound a bit shady.
Going by this situation, you would think that I was the sacrifice…
The possibility that I had been kidnapped as a sacrifice, not for some pagan ritual but to summon the Great Demon King, shot up to the top of the list.
But, I wondered what he meant by "primordial ancestor"s blood"?
My ancestors were probably peaceful farmers.
Besides, the summoner was referring to Luvel Zairein, right?
Sacrificing the life of the summoner meant that in order to execute this summoning spell to summon the Sorcerer King, Luvel Zairein died…which was the end for Old Man Bones sitting there, right?
To go as far as even killing yourself, you must"ve been really serious, Old Man Bones.
‘With the conclusion of my theory on the compensation and sacrifice required, many would say that the magic formula to summon the Sorcerer King has now taken shape. All that was left was to select the human from another world who possessed a destructive intention to be summoned. Then, the Sorcerer King of Destruction shall descend upon this current world. It had been confirmed in records that this was the way several Sorcerer Kings have manifested."
W-were there other humans summoned as Sorcerer Kings of Destruction in the past?
You"re all good-for-nothings. Got too much time on your hands, eh?
‘The numerous Sorcerer Kings who have failed in the past to destroy this world and ended up killed were summoned with only their destructive personality in mind. There was only a small handful of them who had the disposition to utilize sorcery."
Ah, so they really were defeated.
Well, yeah. I mean, this world hasn"t been destroyed yet.
‘However, the groundbreaking aspect of my summoning formula is the two-stage birthing process. With this, the risk of summoning an inferior Sorcerer King will be completed eliminated."
“A two-stage birthing process.” I see. Hum, what does that even mean?
To tell you the truth, this was getting really interesting.
I don"t mind learning the various processes when it comes to devising things like this.
However, to me, the contents of the book were getting to the real meat of the story.
At this point, I was still completely mistaken about the true intentions of the man known as Luvel Zairein and the reason why I was placed here.
Until the moment my eyes fell upon this page.
It looked easy to read.
While the book continued to be filled with Luvel Zairein"s explanations of his opinions and his prideful statements, these sentences unexpectedly caught his attention.
‘—First, in this land secluded from the outside by a barrier, I shall summon the human from another world who will serve as the vessel for the Sorcerer King of Destruction. This vessel has been chosen based solely on the aggregate amount of magical power in its possession. That is to say, it will be a powerful resident from another world who lacks the destructive intention necessary to become the Sorcerer King. However, with the magic formula I have implanted before the time of the summoning, the vessel will be a.s.saulted by intense suggestions to pa.s.s through the Cave of Beginnings and Ends."
The Cave…of Beginnings and Ends.
Intense suggestions…to pa.s.s through the cave.
My body stiffened for a moment.
Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
The scene before me when I opened my eyes for the first time appeared in my head again.
The first time that tunnel entered my line of sight and the strong, unexplainable urge when I saw the tunnel.
‘Unaware of these circ.u.mstances, the vessel will proceed by these mere impulses to enter the Cave of Beginnings and Ends. I have already developed the large-scale magic formula [Soul Transcription] that will be carved into the inner walls of the cave."
Wh-what"s that? So-soul Transcription….? What does that mean?
Large droplets of sweat were now flowing.
‘[Soul Transcription] completely destroys the memories and personality of the unstable vessel since its soul will not follow it right after the summoning. Then, the genuine destructive personality forged from my very own memories shall be transcribed onto the vessel‘s body and soul, overwriting its personality. When it exits the Cave of Beginnings and Ends and descends to the outside world, it will no longer be the vessel, but the true reincarnation of the Sorcerer King of Destruction."
‘That is how he shall be born! Possessing both ultimate magic power and destructive will, he shall be history"s strongest Sorcerer King!"
BBBUUULLLLLLSSSHHH***TTT!!!
Y-you….you! What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you?
I was in a sh*tload of danger, wasn"t I!!!
If I had nonchalantly entered that tunnel, what the h.e.l.l would have happened to me!? Scary!
Really, what is happening! Think of the trouble you"re causing everyone, Zairein! You know what? Just die already!
Ah, you"re already dead…
Soo…this is another world and I am the Sorcerer King of Destruction, right?
Now that I"ve said it, that grotesque magic used to utterly crush the Grand Rock Door did seem like it would fit a Great Demon King or something… As for the Mentos Geyser that happened to the book cover…well, rather than a Great Demon King, it felt more like a street performer"s trick…
With an exhausted expression, I dragged my feet as I left the cave and the Grand Rock Door behind.
Right after I had learned that I was going to be possessed and killed, I was spurred by an urge to kick and send Luvel Zairein"s skeleton flying, scattered the bones in the air. But, well, literally kicking someone"s body wouldn"t fit well with my cultured gentleman"s soul…
I resisted the urge to ruin my way of the n.o.ble gentleman.
After that happened, I tried to read a little bit more of the stone book, but there didn"t appear to be any more noteworthy information to be found.
The book was too big and heavy to take outside.
I probably could if I tried hard enough, but I didn"t have that much confidence in my physical strength.
Besides, even if I did take it out, I felt like it would only end up being a really uncomfortable stone pillow.
When I left the cave, the sun had already set and the surroundings completely dark.
I hadn"t noticed because the interior lighting had been that bright, but I must have spent quite some time immersing myself in reading the book.
Haah, I"m hungry.
I hadn"t noticed anything since there was so much happening and I was focused on reading. However, now that I was free, I was suddenly conscious of my empty stomach and felt hungry.
Ah, that"s right. From the time I felt asleep yesterday to now, it had been a full day since I had anything to eat.
Should I try nibbling on the fruits growing nearby?
Would my power as the Sorcerer King of Destruction help me procure food?
…Yeah, probably not.
However, even after all of this, I still couldn"t believe that I had been summoned as the Sorcerer King of Destruction in another world by Luvel Zairein.
In other words, there was still a portion missing that would convince me as so.
But what was the missing portion?
What had I not seen with my own eyes—
I had witnessed magic.
Furthermore, I had felt the sensation of actually using magic.
That sensation I felt when I chanted the spell that destroyed the Grand Rock Door was something that I had never felt until that moment.
Then, there was also the place I woke up in with no memories.
The fact that I easily read the words from a language I had no knowledge of.
The two connected magic arrays―one side stood me while the other side had the remains of the summoner Luvel Zairein.
The feeling right after I woke up—that unexplainable urge to pa.s.s through the tunnel.
Each and every one of these descriptions completely concurred with the situation I was currently in.
The incident where the vessel of the Sorcerer King of Destruction avoided the personality overwriting (I believe he called it [Soul Transcription]) on top of crushing the seal placed on the Grand Rock Door and entering the stone chamber was completely outside of Luvel Zairein"s intended plans. If so, then at the very least, it was hard for me to believe that the will-like content written in the stone book was lying.
So what was left?
Something that I had yet confirmed…
That was when I realized it.
—That"s right. I hadn"t discovered anything that would prove that this was another world.
It was true that I didn"t recognize this land. But, that was the only indication.
To say that this was not Earth because of that was too far of a leap in logic.
Furthermore, the existence of magic in itself doesn"t work as a certification that this was another world since I wasn"t certain that magic didn"t exist on Earth.
In any case, I first had to confirm whether this was another world…
Only after that could I determine what actions I would need to take.
While planning this, I looked up at the starry night sky, eyes full of determination.
—And there in the night sky were “two” beautiful moons.
…Yup. I see now.
And that was how I fully came to understand that I had been summoned to another world.
[1] Bad advice from our MC. Please don"t follow..
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