I like crossing the most

Chapter 512 Origin of Magic
The headquarters of the Axis Cult.

It's a bit quiet here, not as lively as before. Even when walking in the church's territory, you can't see a single person.

This is of course.

Lin arranged all the believers in the headquarters to be sent to the territory of the Leiben family. No, not only the believers in the royal capital, but all the believers in the kingdom were sent to the territory of the Leiben family. Only a few people were left.

After all, we really don’t know what dangers the kingdom will face next, so it would be a little more reassuring to place the believers in the territory of Rebuen.

As I pushed open the door of the church, I heard greetings.

"Welcome back, Master Lin."

"It's Monica."

Lin casually greeted Monica who bowed her head to him. This beautiful woman who he had arranged to be a hotel owner in the fortress city now looked very charming in the clothes of the believers.

“Where’s Gazef?”

"The Warrior Captain has been taken to the room."

"Yeah, I know."

Gazef was unwilling to be resurrected, but Lin still took the initiative to keep the possibility, not only for him, but also for the king he was loyal to.

Lin's resurrection magic does have limitations - he can only resurrect within one day of death, but he can use magic items to stop the time of the body and resurrect it when needed.

The destruction of the kingdom is imminent.

He could see that the shadow of death had completely enveloped the kingdom. If the kingdom wanted to preserve the last spark of fire, it would likely need Gazef's help.

"Where is my brother, Lord Rebuen?"

"Back to the territory."

"Yeah."

Long before the war began, after taking command of the army, Marquis Leibun said that he would return home to recuperate after the war was over.

In addition to his identity being exposed by his defection, he also wanted to temporarily escape from the power vortex of the capital to protect himself. Of course, more importantly, he blamed himself for the cruelty of having to fight a war even though he knew he would lose, and for the many soldiers who died. However, he did not expect this to be the result.

"Brother must be feeling very guilty. Although I have used magic to temporarily stabilize his mind, he is still facing such a terrifying monster after all."

Lin sighed slightly.

Faith magic can heal physical wounds, but it cannot heal mental trauma, especially when the culprit is the Magic King Ainz Ooal Gown.

With the help of [Flower] and many excellent Axis believers, his spirit should be suppressed for the time being.

"What about the King?"

"The king felt very guilty, and because the nobles and the pro-king faction suffered heavy losses this time, the proposal to give up the territory was easily passed."

"I know about this kind of thing. I want to say... No, forget it, it's nothing."

Maybe the king didn't expect it. He thought it was just an ordinary pretense and a small fight, but he didn't expect that he would directly pierce the nest... He was just stabbed by someone.

The loss of 180,000 troops, the loss of many of the kingdom's elite soldiers, the loss of the captain of the army, and even the loss of his son - the eldest prince's life or death is currently unknown, but anyone with a discerning eye knows that no matter what the outcome of this war, he will undoubtedly die.

It’s just that the King cannot fall now, otherwise if he dies before appointing a new King, the kingdom will become even more chaotic and uncontrollable, so no one told him this cruel fact.

"What about Her Royal Highness the Princess? What do you want to say?"

"No."

"You mean... no?"

Lin turned his head slowly.

The frown seemed confused.

If you think about it carefully, now that the aristocratic faction is weak and the pro-monarch faction is in decline, isn't this the perfect time for the common people faction to rise up?

It's impossible that he was holding back because doing so might very well kill the king, right?
Lin Ke didn't believe that she was someone who valued family so much. After all, she was the one who caused the death of the eldest prince.

"Also, the Blood Emperor sent a message... through the intelligence network of the Axis cultists."

"As expected, he caught me before the battle. I thought I respected him enough, but I still underestimated him... Never mind, it's useless even if I haven't been discovered. Such a strong enemy cannot be resisted by humans alone. Maybe he didn't do that to send me a signal. It's just that I was too stupid, or too obscure, and I didn't understand."

What Lin didn't say was that even if he understood, it would be useless. He couldn't stop the war between the Empire and the Kingdom. Not only could he not stop it, but the Blood Emperor couldn't stop it either. Just as he had imagined before, the Blood Emperor was also helpless.

“The news he brought back could not be about discussing a fight against the Sorcerer King.”

"Yes. In the letter, he hoped that Lord Lin could come to discuss the matter, and he also invited the heads of the Fire and Wind temples of the Silian Theocracy."

"Let him die."

"……Eh?"

"Hmph, you have the audacity to extend an invitation after betraying the kingdom. Are you pretending to think that you are on the side of humans and that you are the victim? You want to arouse hatred and treat us as idiots. You really have a good plan."

Lin sneered at the Blood Emperor.

One has to admit that he has excellent political skills. He uses Lin as a chess piece to test him while also dragging the Theocracy and the Holy Kingdom into the water.

If he wins, he will gain the greatest reputation as the organizer; if he loses, he can also turn around and distance himself from the matter to protect himself.

After all, he is now nominally a vassal state of Ainz Ooal Gown, and the kingdom will be swallowed up anyway if it loses its manpower. It will just be a matter of seeing who eats more.

Disgusting guy.

- Don't get me wrong, this is the highest level of praise for Lin, who regards him as his opponent.

That calculating guy who killed all his relatives but longed for family affection might now be losing his hair over how to deal with Ainz Ooal Gown.

Speaking of Ainz Ooal Gown.

"How is the Fortress City... no, now it should be the Sorcerous Kingdom?"

"Yes, the officials of the kingdom who originally governed E-Rantel have fled, but there have been no riots so far, and the residents living there have not been oppressed. I heard that the reason is that the dark hero Momo-sama is dealing with them."

“Really? You don’t want to rule by fear? Momo-san played a big role in this, but I don’t think the Sorcerer King is afraid of him. Humans can’t resist such a powerful enemy. There must be a deeper reason... Let the Axis cultists infiltrate there again and keep an eye on Ainz Ooal Gown’s every move.”

Since the other party will not attack the residents without reason, he can take advantage of it instead.

"By the way, Monica, you are not allowed to go."

"As ordered."

It is impossible to say that Monica has no feelings for the Fortress City. No matter when it was at its lowest or at its most glorious, her legend is still circulating in the Fortress City.

"Also, a delegation from the Sorcerous Kingdom will be visiting in a few days."

"Don't go."

Lin, who is a priest himself, has to face demons, and they are subordinates of the person who killed his best friend. He is afraid that he will not be able to help but purify those guys on the spot.

It would be bad if it caused social problems, as it would make the already suffering kingdom even worse. In addition, there was nothing good to say to those filthy nobles who were unwilling to contribute and only wanted to take advantage.

"By the way, is there any news about Mr. Sebastian?"

"...Unfortunately, we didn't find Mr. Sebastian."

"Yeah."

Sebastian was a partner who had worked with him to destroy the brothel, save the capital and expel the devil, and he was quite powerful. To be honest, Lin hoped to reunite Sebastian, Momo and Nabe's decapitation team, rather than the kingdom's army which might be tied up.

Maybe the four of them can gang up on Ainz Ooal Gown for justice?
Unfortunately, neither the Kingdom, the Empire, nor the Theocracy could find any trace of Sebastian.

That person couldn't possibly have run off to the Holy Kingdom, right?
Should we say it was too much of a coincidence, or Sebastian had a keen sense of danger, he disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"Where's Lachis?"

"Ms. Aindora is not in the capital right now. She should be on a mission."

During the demon invasion of the royal capital, Gagran and Tina, who belonged to the Blue Rose, were killed. After being resurrected, they practiced to restore their strength, and also to enhance Nina's strength, so that she could grow into a strong person like them.

I wonder if they know about the kingdom’s disastrous defeat.

Adventurers cannot get involved in wars between countries. This is the iron rule set by the Adventurer's Guild. Thanks to this rule, she didn't have to make a difficult decision.

No, even if allowed, she probably wouldn't agree to help. After all, Lagis must have thought it was just an annual military exercise, just like Lin.

Fortunately, she did not join, otherwise Lin didn’t know what the consequences would be.

Actually, the war in Katze Plains... no, it should be called a massacre, many civilians died. Even so, the kingdom did not suffer fatal damage.

The kingdom has a population of about nine million, and the number of casualties is only 2, which means only % of the victims were killed. Although it may not sound good, death will not cause much trouble.

But even so, the dead were men, and they were young and strong adults. The kingdom will have a hard time in the future.

"Master Lin."

When Lin raised his head and looked at the statue without the goddess's face in thought, Monica's question came from behind.

“—Can you defeat Ainz Ooal Gown?”

"Why, are you afraid of him, too?"

"Yes, very scared."

Monica would not act tough in private. On the contrary, if she was not afraid after receiving such information, Lin would think she was abnormal.

"As a human being, no."

Lin Ziran told the truth. Even if he said yes at this time, no one would believe him.

Monica lowered her head slightly and accepted this heavy fact.

"But there is a solution."

"What?! What should I do?"

She looked up suddenly and couldn't help asking.

People are like this. When they feel insecure, they want to find something to rely on. She is the same as Brian and Clem.

However, Lin asked, "Monica, what exactly is magic?"

"……Eh?"

"Magic can create incredible power. The higher the level of magic, the greater the power it brings. However, humans are unable to surpass the sixth level of magic."

"Yes……"

It is an indisputable fact that humans are the weakest race in this world.

"Who stipulated this? No, I'm not saying that humans can only use sixth-class magic, but who introduced the magic classes and divided them into different levels?"

"Is it the Eight Desire Kings...?"

Monica looked at Lin's expression after she said it.

This is something that almost every magic caster knows. After all, magic has been passed down from the era of the Eight Desire Kings five hundred years ago. But Lin's question made Monica feel less confident.

"It's the Eight Desire Kings. You're not wrong."

Lin affirmed and then asked: "Then, the question arises - what kind of magic was used before this? This is not just a human being. No, it doesn't matter even if it is a human being. For example, what kind of magic did the six gods use? Or did they use no magic?"

"what?"

Monica was a little confused.

This was what Lin discovered when he was in the Church. That woman, Juesi Jueming, was called a god by the astrologer Qianli? She was the blood of the six gods and their descendants. There were many gods, but the strongest one was Juesi Jueming. According to Lin's judgment, she was probably stronger than Sebastian.

Of course, there was no way that woman, who was hidden by the Theocracy for fear of being feared by neighboring countries, could help deal with Ainz Ooal Gown.

Ahem, that’s too far off topic.

"Monica, do you know the Dragon Kings... No, to be precise, should we call them the True Dragon Kings?"

"Dragon King? Is he from the Snow Mountain Kingdom?"

Monica knew the Dragon King. After all, dragons were creatures that were at the top of the food chain from birth. There was a Dragon King living in the snow-capped mountains to the north of the kingdom, and he would come every few years to destroy the environment around the kingdom.

"That's just the Dragon King. I'm talking about the real Dragon King."

"True Dragon King?"

"Although there is only one character difference between the Dragon King and the True Dragon King, the True Dragon King can beat all other Dragon Kings. This is because they can use a kind of magic - Origin Magic. It is better to say that they are called True Dragon Kings because they know Origin Magic."

"What is the origin of magic?"

"do not know."

Lin shook his head helplessly.

He didn't hide it on purpose. He had already said this, so there was no need to keep it a secret. But in fact, he really didn't know what the origin of magic was. The old guys in the Church protected the relevant information very well.

"Although I don't know, I guess the Origin Magic is the original magic of this world before the Eight Desire Kings."

There was too little information, and even he couldn't piece together the developments of the world.

But none of this matters.

Monica suddenly realized, "You mean, if we can learn the origin magic or ask the True Dragon King for help, we can stop Ainz Ooal Gown?"

"do not know."

Lin poured cold water on him again.

"What on earth is that..."

“I don’t know if I can learn the original magic, and I’m not sure if the True Dragon King will become an enemy of Ainz Ooal Gown just because the kingdom was defeated. But I have another one that is also out of the existing magic system. It has power that may be beyond imagination, and it is also very restrained against the undead.”

His eyes fell on the statue of the goddess.

There is no doubt that Lin will place his hopes on the illusory goddess.

(End of this chapter)