GalaxyTL
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<First, there’s one thing you mustn’t misunderstand. ‘Last Dream’ is not a ‘device for granting wishes’.>
“Simulated Soul Mana Siphoning Device, Last Dream”.
Extra-sama, who said she’d explain the horror of it, started by saying that to me.
Eh?
But, Extra-sama, you said it earlier too, didn’t you?
That it ‘grants any wish’.
<Yes. Indeed, that device grants almost any wish. In fact, that old man wished ‘to be strong’… and transformed into a terrifying monster.>
Then…
<But what that jester was aiming for was not to turn that old man into the strongest monster.>
…?
<Last Dream is a ‘Simulated Soul Mana Siphoning Device’. The answer is hidden in its name.>
…Hmm.
It’s a bit roundabout, but I get it now.
That green jewel is a device for ‘siphoning mana’.
So, that jester’s goal is… to siphon mana using Last Dream.
Come to think of it, he already said that his goal was ‘to plunder magical resources’.
But.
I don’t get it, Extra-sama.
How does Last Dream siphon mana?
Isn’t it giving mana to its user?
<This is where the term ‘Simulated Soul’ comes into play. Emi, do you remember when I explained to you when you were little that ‘when you use up your mana, its maximum capacity increases’?>
…That was before we left Trash Village.
I vaguely remember.
<Why does your maximum mana capacity increase when you use up your mana?>
I don’t know.
<Because that’s how souls are made.>
Huh?
<Mana is the power of the soul. And souls try to grow stronger and larger when they are challenged. That’s why when you use up your mana, your soul grows larger, and your maximum mana capacity increases. And the raw material for enlarging the soul is called ‘ma-so’. It’s something that normally flows from somewhere, even passing through the walls of the world, but the soul has the function of adsorbing this ma-so and fixing it to the world. That’s why gods nurture life and give them trials. To incorporate more ma-so and make the world stronger and larger…>
Wait!
Wait, wait, Extra-sama!
That’s too long and complicated!
<My apologies. Anyway, Last Dream imitates that mechanism of the soul. In other words…>
In other words?
<When that old man uses up all his mana, and the vast amount of mana stored in Last Dream… runs out…>
…!
Last Dream starts absorbing the surrounding ma-so!?
<You’re close, Emi. Unfortunately, Last Dream absorbs ‘everything’.>
…Everything?
<Living things, non-living things, ambient mana, everything. Would it be easier to understand if I said… a magical black hole will appear?>
!?
If that happens…!!
<Of course, the surroundings won’t be spared. ‘Surroundings’ is too mild of a word. This whole country will probably be sucked in and disappear. People, monsters, everything will be sucked in, converted into mana, and sent to ‘Soul Poachers’ base, the ‘Ark that Traverses the Void’.>
…!!
<Last Dream simulates a soul. The mana it absorbs will be larger than the amount it had stored. In terms of the ‘Ark that Traverses the Void’ mana balance, it’ll be profitable, even after using a large amount of mana to manufacture Last Dream.>
…That’s bad.
<It’s bad… very troublesome. By the way, that jester said something about ‘luring out Lyleen’ and when he saw you, said ‘she’ll do’, but that’s because the power contained in your souls is extraordinarily large. If they can absorb beings like that, they can efficiently collect mana. That must have been his plan.>
…………
I was sweating profusely, half-heartedly listening to Extra-sama’s explanation.
Because.
Because.
Hey, Extra-sama.
<Yes?>
Anyway, to summarize.
That monster.
<Yes.>
Probably uses mana every time it fights, right?
<Or rather, just maintaining that giant body, it’s currently using a huge amount of mana. That green goo seems to be created by materializing a large amount of mana.>
Just by existing, destruction is approaching?
<Yes.>
…It’s a bomb.
<Aptly put… but instead of ‘exploding’, it ‘starts sucking things in’, the exact opposite.>
But we can’t escape?
<…Last Dream’s mana siphoning swallows an entire country.>
…Hey, doesn’t that mean…
We’re screwed…?
“MIGYAH-BOBO-GOTOROU-JAEEN-MOOOOーーー!!”
With the monster casually letting out creepy screams in the corner of my vision, I stopped eating grass, dumbfounded.
The conversation between Extra-sama and me, stopped.
The heavy silence was crushing.
<…No.>
But Extra-sama.
Denied my despair-filled mutter.
<Emi… you…>
And then, apologetically… but clearly.
<Can… resolve this situation.>
She declared.
After listening to Extra-sama’s detailed explanation.
I understood and was convinced.
What I must do.
And why Extra-sama was apologetic.
I don’t like it.
But I have no choice but to do it.
There’s no other way.
The first thing I did, having made up my mind, was 【Presence Concealment】, which I’m not very good at.
Minimizing my presence as much as possible.
I started to secretly approach the giant green monster.