Chapter 145: Mysteries of the Past
El-Seed’s headquarters .
As the sun sets and most of the employees leave the office, a man watches the footage in a darkened office room.
Ishikawa, you’re not going home yet?
It was Tennoji who approached me.
Yeah, I still got a lot to figure out. You start in Hokkaido tomorrow.
“Yeah. I’m going to the airport first thing in the morning.”
Stop selling oil here and go home!
Ishikawa says so and Tennoji holds out the canned coffee he brought in front of him.
He takes it with a smile, puts his finger on the tab, and opens the lid. Tennoji is gulping down the same can of coffee next to him.
Ishikawa is also watching the images on the computer and sipping coffee.
It’s always been black for the two of us.
What have you found out?
Tennoji sat down at his desk and spoke to him. Ishikawa shakes his head.
“No, I have no idea. No one’s heard a peep about the Black Lord. A demon so prominent and yet no one’s seen him. I find that hard to believe.
Ishikawa was examining the battle footage of the Monarch Lord and the security camera footage from the area around the City of Searchers. The police had already done a thorough investigation, but he was checking himself to see if there was anything he might have missed.
“On the other hand, it might give us a clue to finding the monarch lord.”
Ishikawa raises an eyebrow.
What does that mean? Tennoji.
Which means they could be disfigured to avoid detection.
Mimetic abilities?
Some of the demons in the Black Dungeon mimic other demons. However, most of them are weak demons, so Ishikawa had never even imagined it.
“So it could be turning into something else… But what are they turning into?”
At that moment, the worst thought crossed Ishikawa’s mind, “No way…” He said aloud.
“Yeah, if it’s mimicking a human… That would be extremely dangerous and troubling.”
“But how is that possible? He’s capable of so much. Outrageous power and speed. A hideously hard shell… impenetrable to magic… and he can mimic a man? And he can mimic a man? You’re overthinking this, aren’t you?”
Ishikawa raises his hands and shrugs. Tennoji said, “I guess so.” Tennoji replied.
“Maybe I’ve been a little naïve. Things haven’t been great lately.”
“Sure.”
Ishikawa sips his coffee and looks at the monitor.
“Where they went is one thing, but where they came from we have no idea. The security cameras in the explorer’s town didn’t catch sight of the Black Armor coming in that day. It’s like he just appeared out of nowhere. Well, he could have entered from a place without cameras…”
Ishikawa crosses his arms and groans as he puts his canned coffee on the table.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with an answer. Tennoji said to Ishikawa, whose brow was wrinkled, “That’s the thing…” Tennoji said to him.
I have a guess.
“Hmm? What’s a guess?”
“Remember when Hel-Garm first escaped?”
You know, you and I tracked down this Hell-Galm.
Ishikawa wonders what’s going on.
“Yes. And Hel-Galm was found dead on the outskirts of Tokyo. Leaving only the mystery of who might have killed him.“
“… Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Tennoji looks at Ishikawa with serious eyes.
“The one who killed Hel-Garm was in black armor… It makes sense.
No, no, no.
Ishikawa shakes his head but doesn’t give in to Tennoji.
“Think back. First of all… it’s unnatural for Hell-Garm to have traveled from Ibaraki to Tokyo. The mana only flows out around the city of seekers. It was initially thought that he would never leave there.”
“It’s… I know, but…”
“But the truth is, we’ve moved on. You wouldn’t risk going to a place like that unless you had a good reason.“
“You’re saying that’s why he’s in black armor? That’s a big leap.”
“No. Hell-Galm is a demon with an excellent sense of smell and perception. He followed some kind of trail to the Black Armor. It returned fire and killed him.
Ishikawa lets out a sigh at the mention of Tennoji.
“Tennoji, you can imagine all you want, but where did the black armor come from in the first place? Don’t tell me it blended in with humans and lived among them?”
Tennoji replies with a straight face to Ishikawa who makes a dumbfounded face.
“I’m out of the ‶Dungeon of Black.”
“Hey, hey, you’re talking nonsense again… The Black Dungeon’s gone! The SDF who were watching the entrances and exits didn’t say anything about demons coming out. I’m sure the demons inside disappeared!”
“… Are you sure about that?”
What?
“The disappearance of dungeons is rarely reported in the world. What exactly the impact will be is still largely unknown.”
Yeah, maybe so, but…
Ishikawa is not convinced, and he looks very disappointed.
“It is said that the unique monsters are different from the boss monsters at the bottom of the dungeon. If that’s the case, the Black Armor was in the cave when the dungeon collapsed. Then the crustal movement happened and an exit to the surface was created somewhere. He came out through there.”
“Uu~n.”
Tennoji puts his hand on Ishikawa’s shoulder.
“The Black Armor has come to earth, but it cannot move freely in a world where mana is scarce. He was forced to hide when he noticed the mana release from the Red Dungeon and came all the way to Ibaraki.”
“Well… It makes sense. But there’s no way to prove it, is there?”
“Yeah. I’m just guessing.”
Tennoji lifted the can and drank the rest of the coffee.
I’m going to Hokkaido tomorrow. I’m counting on you to find the Black Armor! Ishikawa.
Yeah, I’m on it.
Tennoji left the room and Ishikawa let out a deep sigh as he watched his back.
“Where did the black armor come from and where did it go… “Where the black armor came from and where it went… I wish I knew.
Ishikawa stared at the computer monitor again. There, he sees a black monster fighting against them.
–Where they came from is a matter of conjecture. But if we think logically, we may be able to answer where they went.
Ishikawa recalls Tennoji’s words.
‘If it’s mimicking humans, it’s extremely dangerous and troublesome…’
A concern that’s been playing over and over in my head. If that’s true–
“This thing… This could be the greatest threat to mankind.
