69novels Page 144
Page 144
Tus's attention shifted to the conference room. As one by one, the kingdom's high-ranking officials departed, and Prince Ota bid farewell to Pope Brad, only four people remained in the large conference room.
Prince Ota, Commander Erwin, Minister Tus, and... Astrid.
"Scholar Astrid, do you know... why I kept you here alone?"
At the round table, Otto's devilish voice drilled into Astrid's ears.
"I'm guilty!!!" Astrid immediately raised her little hand, crying.
“You’re here again…” Ota shook his head helplessly. In his opinion, this had become Astrid’s catchphrase and there was no need to delve into it.
Otta and Erwin at the round table exchanged a glance, and the latter quickly stepped forward and said, "Scholar Astrid, please rest assured that on this sacred round table, there is no need to worry about your slight overstepping of boundaries in writing fan fiction."
“As long as it’s not a serious crime like treason or crimes against humanity, Prince Ota will not pursue your wrongdoing,” Erwin said gently.
He had thought that after he finished speaking, Astrid's emotions would be calmed down. But to his astonishment, after hearing his words, Astrid's big, watery eyes widened even more, her legs trembled and went weak, and she was about to kneel down with a thud.
Erwin wiped his sweat and could only quickly explain:
"Scholar Astrid, ever since the Mino Warrior was captured by the demons, Prince Ota, followed by Chief Lak, Saintess Lena, and Pope Brad, have all suffered some form of harm."
"And now, within the kingdom, you are the only one left who has not been persecuted... Do you know what I mean?"
Astrid raised her head timidly, her voice trembling with fear as she said:
"So...you're planning to get rid of me?!"
—The day has finally come!!!
Asterisk's mind raced, her heart finally settled, and she fully understood what Erwin and the others meant!
"Eh?"
This answer left Ota and the others completely dumbfounded.
The group, still in shock, exchanged glances, then looked at Astrid at the round table, where she was sobbing and saying, "So many humans in the kingdom have been persecuted, so I, the only one who hasn't been persecuted... am obviously the traitor!"
"I confess! I only beg you not to torture me, I'm afraid of pain!!!"
"What nonsense are you talking about..." Otta's face darkened instantly, and he finally explained to Astrid himself:
"Scholar Astrid, what we mean is that, given your recent rise to prominence, you are very likely to become the next target of the demons!!!"
"Please take good care of yourself while you're out alone during this time!"
"At the same time, you don't need to be afraid. We will send elite paladins to stay by your side 24 hours a day to protect your safety!"
Otto almost laughed at Astrid, who was the kingdom's most valued scholar, a key figure who had already reached the core of the Round Table Conference and made outstanding contributions to the human camp... He didn't know how she had come to the absurd conclusion that he was a traitor among the demons from Erwin's previous description!
The words fell.
"Eh?!"
This time, it was Astrid's turn to be completely bewildered: Me? To be persecuted by the demons? Zun Du is fake Du?
How did Prince Ota and his ilk manage to pinpoint this most absurd and impossible hypothesis from such obvious clues? Have they become obsessed with fanfiction and lowered their IQs?
However, the feeling of going from hell to heaven made Astrid breathe a sigh of relief, and she forced a dry smile:
"Oh, so that's how it is..."
"Don't worry, the demons will never be able to touch me! Really! You don't need to protect me!"
Ota and Tus exchanged a glance, sighed inwardly, and shook their heads, both having the same thought in their minds:
—Astrid, you're still too naive!
The demons won't attack her? That's because they haven't found the opportunity yet!
Even within the demon race, it's not uncommon for elite demons to fight each other! Unless it's a high-ranking demon, who has the right to make such a statement?! Scholar Astrid clearly hasn't experienced the brutality of the demon race!
Thinking this, Ota gave up the idea of explaining and made a "three" gesture to Erwin.
Erwin shook his head repeatedly, then gave Ota a secret "five" in return. Only then did the two reach a consensus and nod to each other.
In just a few seconds of conversation, they decided to increase the number of guardian knights lurking around Astrid by five times!
As her initial panic subsided, and seeing that the few high-ranking humans hadn't made a move, Astrid finally calmed down and exclaimed how lucky she was.
As her gaze gradually shifted, Astrid's bright, intelligent eyes began to dart around, and she suddenly realized... wasn't this a perfect opportunity to find out about the kingdom's ultimate weapon that was about to be activated?
If we can find out some information about that ultimate weapon without leaving a trace and send it back to the Demon King's castle, it should give Swell and the others enough time to find a way to deal with it.
With this in mind, Astrid racked her brains and devised a meticulously crafted, indirect approach:
"By the way..."
At the round table, Astrid raised her little head, blinking repeatedly as she looked at Otto and the others, asking in a somewhat uncertain tone:
"What's our ultimate weapon? Is it amazing?"
Chapter 199 It's not that the demons aren't trying, but the other side has some powerful fighters!
The meeting room was quiet.
Otta's gaze deepened as he looked at Astrid: "Scholar Astrid, you're actually interested in that...?"
"I won't ask anymore! I'll never dare to ask again!" Astrid cried and raised her hands in the next second.
"Ask! Ask away!" Ota waved his hand dismissively.
"The reason we're not revealing this at the round table now is simply because there are too many people around, and we need to be wary of any traitors from the demon race... Right now, you're the only great scholar of the kingdom present, so there's naturally no need to worry about such a problem!"
"Anyway, it won't be long after the nominations are announced that Pope Brad will be able to activate the final weapon. Astrid scholar, what do you want to know?"
Ota said in a friendly tone that after the incident with the dragons, he had long regarded Astrid as the most trustworthy person among his own, besides Tus and Erwin!
After all, even if all the kingdom's high-ranking officials, even if they were to take Chief Lak and Grand Duke Thanaus into account with the utmost suspicion, could not easily rule out anyone as a suspect... But Astrid alone had been verified by the kingdom's Holy Round Table!
—The other party just wants to write their own fanfiction, what bad intentions could they possibly have?
She was the least suspicious of everyone present!
Right now, Ota doesn't mind showing off this ultimate weapon, which he developed in collaboration with Mino and the Holy Church, to Astrid... Thinking of this, Ota couldn't help but feel incredibly impressed with his own shrewdness despite his rough exterior.
"Then... I really asked?" Seeing that there was not a trace of doubt in Otta's clear eyes, Astrid breathed a sigh of relief and said cautiously:
"That ultimate weapon, how much damage does it inflict on the demon race?"
Ota's lips gradually curled into a smile: "Huge! Extremely huge! That ultimate weapon is an unstoppable killing machine for both humans and demons!"
Huh?! Astrid's heart skipped a beat! A faint unease welled up inside her—
Danger! The Demon Race! Danger!
"It can't be... that ultimate weapon can be compared to a hero, can it?" Astrid asked, her face pale, as she observed Ota's expression.
“Not at all,” Ota said cautiously.
Astrid secretly breathed a sigh of relief... Looking at it this way, her choice was still correct; the Sin Hero Shana was still more powerful.
"How can a hero compare to the Holy Church's ultimate weapon!" Ota said proudly.
"—That's the Holy Church's, and indeed humanity's, ultimate trump card!!!"
"???"
Astrid stood frozen in place.
Ota continued, "You know, ten years ago, when there was a shortage of heroes, Pope Brad was able to use the power of the Holy Relics of the Holy Church to overpower several major demons."
"And now, the ultimate weapon we've developed has combined the power systems of all the sacred artifacts together, its power is more than doubled!"
"Although the activation conditions for that trump card are extremely stringent and consume a great deal of energy, its power in a short period of time is unmatched, even by Minotaur!!!"
"Oh, is that so...? That's terrifying." Astrid's hands trembled as she spoke, and she seemed on the verge of tears.
She seems to have... made a fatal choice!
Suppressing the urge to commit suicide on the spot as an act of atonement, and remembering that she hadn't yet obtained the most crucial information, Astrid could only anxiously ask again:
"So... what exactly is that ultimate weapon?"
“That was humanity’s exploration of the limits of individual soldier strength…” Ota replied.
"Since Pope Brad activated a large number of holy artifacts ten years ago, the Holy Church has been constantly researching ways to enable the sacred bodies of the artifacts to bear more holy artifacts' armor... Finally, inspired by Mino, they found an extremely shocking solution—" Ota's voice still carried a sense of emotion, as if he still couldn't forget the shock he felt when he first learned of that solution:
"Instead of researching how to allow the Sacred Body of the Artifacts to simultaneously activate dozens or hundreds of Sacred Artifacts, why not... combine all the Sacred Artifacts into a single entity! And then let the Sacred Body of the Artifacts control it!!!"
"Thus, the power of the sacred artifacts transformed from a quantitative change to a qualitative change, becoming a unique, massive armed force composed of all the sacred artifacts, as tall as the entire Holy Church."
Ota tilted his head back excitedly, his tone revealing a strong fervor, as if he regarded it as a man's romance, and said loudly:
"—We call that: The God of All Weapons!"
"The God of All Weapons?!" Astrid's eyes widened; just from the name alone, she could feel the terror of that ultimate weapon!
"Although Mino protested to me many times, wanting to use a name that was ambiguous, such as 'Gundam' or 'Fallen Titan', we all agreed that this high-class name was the most appropriate."
Ota said with some sadness, "Now that I think about it, the birth of the God of All Weapons was entirely inseparable from Mino's boundless imagination."
"So later, we gave the ultimate weapon a new name: God of All Weapons - Minotaur!"
“I believe it.” Raising his head, Ota’s eyes were filled with a burning flame of vengeance: “The God of All Weapons—Mino Machine—will surely bring the demons an unforgettable and profound fear, just like Mino himself!!!”
"The current balance between humans and demons will be completely changed by the Minotaur!"
"Mino machine..." Astrid's shoulders trembled slightly. Her PTSD had flared up. Just thinking about how it was a colossal machine formed from countless accumulated powers underground in the Holy Church, even though she knew it must have a limited lifespan, it was still terrifying!
Could Swell and his companions withstand the terrifying God of All Weapons? No, absolutely not. Only a little over a month has passed; the other major demons probably haven't even recovered from their injuries yet!
Humanity has already started to use a dimensional reduction attack! Who is it? Who invented such a cheating device?!
Astrid felt that as a learned scholar, she had essentially grasped the essence of human wisdom, but this thing... was completely beyond her comprehension! Could this really be a weapon of mass destruction conceived by carbon-based life forms?! When did humanity secretly evolve behind her back?!
—No! If this weapon is activated, it could really kill people!
The thought suddenly flashed through Astrid's mind. She knew that now was no longer the time to worry about whether her identity was exposed.
We must... immediately send this terrible information back to the Demon King's Castle so that Swell and the others can find a way to destroy that weapon!
“Scholar Astrid,” Otta lowered his gaze slightly, “I wonder if my answer will give you enough confidence in humanity?”
"Ah, yes, yes, yes." Astrid came to her senses and could only manage a dry laugh.
It's not just that she has confidence... she's practically overflowing with faith in humanity! But she's a great demon!!! What good is faith in you all? Does it make her more confident when she's about to die?!