Chapter 10: Furry Land (2)
Magic.
The act of wielding surreal power through mana.
In the past, so scholars had argued.
That the magics of this world were powers that ca from a realm called the ‘magic realm’.
Just as an angel’s prayer of recovery was a power that ca from the heavenly realm, the realm of Yahweh.
And just as a rakshasa’s combat martial art was a power that ca from the Buddhist realm, the realm of Buddha.
They claid that magic, too, must be a power that ca from another realm.
They said that when an outer-space whale fell into the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a gigantic tidal wave covered the entire globe.
And that this weakened the gap between the material realm and the magic realm, allowing magic to appear.
‘No.’
No matter the realm, there existed powers that functioned only within that world.
And the act of borrowing such power was called a ‘miracle’.
But magic was not a power summoned from another realm.
Magic was the inherent power of our world itself, the miracle possessed by our realm.
‘The mana density in the air here is too low.’
The lounge of Furry Land was not an environnt well-suited for using magic.
I gulped down a supplent labeled ‘Super Mana Soda, 150ml’.
An expensive drink that cost over one hundred thousand Qubits per can, and this was already my third.
While Kali dodged White Bear’s attacks this way and that, I began densely engraving magic formulas throughout this vast space.
To face an Demi-god that only appeared in legends, ordinary magic would not even co close.
By the ti the explosions of the grenades that Jo and Zal fired rang out, the formula was nearly complete.
〈Ar.〉
〈Running simulation. Result, probability of success 99.9999%〉
〈What about the rest.〉
〈That is what is called fate.〉
I wondered where it had learned to say things like that.
As I was thinking that, White Bear charged straight toward .
“Go on, try waking this body up!”
Each ti its four feet touched the ground, the entire building shook as if an earthquake had struck.
Just in case, the cold-type binding spell I had laid down activated, but it was completely useless.
‘It almost feels faster.’
To restrain its movent, cold air froze between the black bear’s claws.
But every ti White Bear moved its massive legs, the ice that held it shattered into pieces like broken crackers.
“You’ll have to do better than that!”
A tone that sounded as if it were enjoying itself.
In response, without wavering, I put the final period on the magic I had prepared.
Then, crackle—sparks that had been popping softly gradually turned into a massive vortex.
“Oho…….”
A dense electric field ford by mana spread across the entire enormous lounge.
An ‘Electric Field’ was deployed.
The charging Demi-god’s steps slowed slightly under the spell.
But this alone was laughably insufficient.
〈Ar, now.〉
〈Activating.〉
At my signal, the Electrosphere Spirit Guide activated the tertiary backup generator that had been hacked in advance.
The generator imdiately began spinning violently, to the point of overload.
Soon, an imnse amount of power—enough to sustain this entire massive facility—poured into the Electric Field I had created.
[Do not move a single muscle.]
I warned my teammates through a closed channel.
“Unbelievable…….”
From a safe distance, Kali, who was observing the situation, let out a small exclamation of awe.
Along with that, White Bear’s enormous body, which seed like it would never stop, ca to a rigid halt.
“Hm……. This is…….”
Urmus sniffed the air with his black nose and continued.
“It looks a bit dangerous.”
Ultra-high-voltage currents brushed through the air with a rumbling sound.
Was this what it felt like to face a dragon made of electricity?
If an ordinary person were hit by that, not even a trace of their form would remain.
Even so, White Bear cautiously tried to take a single step forward.
At that mont, the current suspended in the air flashed with a loud cracking sound and struck down onto its foot.
“Uahahaha! This stings a bit! I almost woke up there!”
Now it was ti to finish the job.
The reason a mage was needed for this task.
And the reason we specifically needed a spellcaster capable of projecting attack spells was to wake that Demi-god, White Bear, from its sleep.
‘You’re telling that thing is asleep right now.’
To fully wake White Bear from its slumber, I had to give it a ‘slight’ shock with magic.
Those who had reached the realm of an Demi-god, on par with gods, must even have extraordinary sleeping habits.
“It’s about ti for you to wake up.”
“Hehehe. Very well, go on and try to wake .”
In this vast lounge, the only living being capable of movent.
I carefully raised my hand.
A great stellar body of the electric lineage that I could not possibly touch under normal circumstances.
Mana plasma, sothing that could only be encountered in the upper atmosphere of that place, gathered in my grasp.
‘Gigantic Jet.’
It was a spell the original would never have dared to attempt, but with the help of a chanical device called a generator, I was able to complete it.
‘This is trendous power.’
From the spear-like magic extending far outward, a deafening roar erupted, as if a thousand drones were taking flight simultaneously.
The vibration from that noise alone made my entire body tremble.
“Oh……. That spell is…….”
White Bear let out a faint exclamation as it looked at the magic held in my grasp.
‘At this level, it almost feels like I could kill that Demi-god.’
That was how high-powered the magic was.
I stepped forward with one foot and prepared to project the spear of lightning.
“It’s ti for your alarm, Elder White Bear.”
With that short line, an Demi-god-exclusive alarm was fired toward him.
The magic, flying at a speed comparable to sound, headed straight for the center of White Bear’s forehead.
Kwaaaaaa……!
Light poured forth.
Light so intense that I would have been blinded if I had faced it directly.
Along with it ca a blackout.
Not only the Furry Land building, but all the electricity in the surrounding area went out.
But after a short while, the lights flickered back on.
I lifted my eyes and looked at the target I had aid at.
With the thought that maybe, just maybe, I had actually brought that monster down.
But.
“So, a guest did co.”
The being called an Demi-god was not such an easy opponent.
As the thickly settled dust cleared, the figure of White Bear Urmus ca into view.
Awakened from sleep, he had already shrunk to about the size of an ordinary polar bear beastman.
Contrary to my expectations, his naked body—completely unclothed—did not bear a single scratch.
“Lord Urmus!”
As the Ice Barrier collapsed, ard guards poured in from outside.
So of them brought black suits to the naked White Bear, while others aid their gun barrels at the Ghostcatchers.
“Whoa…….”
But when White Bear waved his hand casually through the air while getting dressed, the gun barrels all lowered at once.
“They woke by legitimate ans. So stand down.”
At the Demi-god’s words, the guards withdrew without a shred of doubt.
Urums then fastened the cuff buttons of his suit and approached .
“But that magic earlier. It felt like there was a bit of killing intent mixed in. I must have imagined it in my sleep, right?”
I was inwardly startled, but replied calmly.
“There’s no way. I neither had such intent, nor is that even possible.”
“No. I almost died just now. Hahaha!”
His hearty laughter echoed through the lounge.
Almost died.
That was impossible.
Just before my magic reached White Bear, in that fleeting instant, I had felt a fraction of the Demi-god’s power.
‘That light just now…….’
The trendous light that had burst out just before my electric magic struck the Demi-god directly.
It had not co from my spell.
It was light emitted as White Bear’s ‘breath’ canceled out the magic.
“What is your na?”
White Bear Urmus stared straight at as he asked.
“Diesel.”
“Hm……. I’ll rember it.”
Was it really a good thing for a being of Demi-god rank to rember my na?
Having finished changing, White Bear looked around and asked,
“I’m a bit thirsty.”
At his words, Kali, who had already stepped up beside the Demi-god, opened the refrigerated trunk attached to the inside of her thigh.
What she took out was a pitch-black bottled drink.
The mont White Bear saw it, he spoke with great delight.
“Oh! Isn’t that my favorite refreshing beverage, cola!”
He deftly popped the bottle cap off with his paw and gulped down the jet-black carbonation.
“Kah! This taste never changes!”
‘I’ve seen this scene sowhere before…….’
After emptying the bottle in an instant, Urmus asked,
“So, what business did you have waking ?”
Only then did Kali get to the point.
“Your granddaughter has given birth.”
“What did you say?”
The bear roared.
He flailed his large hands about, then asked again,
“What happened to my granddaughter?”
“She gave birth to a lovely daughter.”
Kali projected a hologram into the air.
In it, a cute polar bear beastman baby was wriggling its hands.
“My goodness…….”
“She is waiting for you to give her a na.”
White Bear stared at the hologram for a long while as if he could not believe it, then suddenly burst into loud laughter.
“What joyous news it has been!”
Then he pulled , Kali, and Jo and Zal—who had just arrived—into a crushing hug.
“Urk, sir……. I can’t breathe…….”
“S-So soft.”
“It really is soft.”
From the violent embrace, all of the beastman disguises the Ghostcatchers were wearing ca off.
“Now then. I knew long ago that you weren’t beastn, but what relation do you have to my granddaughter?”
“We are rely agents.”
“Then the Ghostcatchers must be the agents.”
“That is correct.”
After the brief exchange with Kali, White Bear snapped his fingers and said,
“You’ve brought such happy news, so I should give you a fitting reward.”
At the Demi-god’s command, polar fox beastn dressed in suits moved in perfect unison.
The attendants approached the Ghostcatchers and handed them sothing.
“Ten million Qubits each. And Diesel, for you, in addition to that…….”
White Bear gestured to another attendant waiting behind him and continued,
“Yes. I wish to reward you personally, so co along.”
At his words, I glanced toward Kali.
She tilted her forehead to the side, urging to go quickly.
[We’ll head back first, so let’s et later at the dumpling shop.]
I nodded to show my understanding and followed after White Bear, who had already set off ahead.
In Furry Land, White Bear was a being akin to an absolute sovereign.
That was likely why, even with the grave matter of his granddaughter’s childbirth, the staff of Furry Land had been unable to wake him directly.
White Bear must have entered a long slumber after issuing an order not to wake him, and the staff who received that order would have had to obey it absolutely, no matter the exception.
When he said earlier that we had ‘woken him by legitimate ans’, it seed like a special rule created precisely because he understood the nature of those who served him.
‘Even so, that was an incredibly crude thod.’
It was a rule that could only exist if one had absolute confidence in one’s own strength, completely excluding possibilities like assassination attempts.
“I would like to recover my vigor and cross blades with you again.”
As we passed through the dark tunnel of the abyssal earth district, White Bear tossed out a chilling remark.
He had faced in a half-asleep state after sleeping for over ten years, and even then he had been that formidable. I could not even imagine how much power this Demi-god would wield once he fully recovered.
“My heart raced as if I had t an old friend.”
“By ‘old friend’, you an……?”
At my question, White Bear asked back with a puzzled expression.
“Huh, did your father not tell you about ? Or perhaps your grandfather.”
What was he talking about?
I pondered deeply over what White Bear could an.
Then a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘Could it be…….’
The na that followed from the Demi-god’s mouth was exactly as I had guessed.
“Lee Hamin, the commander. I don’t know if he’s your father or your grandfather, mind you.”
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