Zero. The great mage makes a plan (4)
In Yo-Ma Great War Zero, the tutorial’s last event was also the first chapter of the original game. This was because it was the moment when the ancient Archmage, who knew nothing about himself or the world, met with not only Mirole but the other creatures and decided to join them. Having lost his memory and having to fight from the moment he fell into that world, he wandered to find the justification for battle and slaughter, and his companions were just good excuses for that. Someone essential for the ancient Archmage to acquire humanity, someone necessary to protect himself…it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this was the only role of the fellow NPCs in Yo-Ma Great War Zero.
“The smell of blood…! The monsters are running wild!”
Mirole’s sharp voice brought Evan’s perception back to reality. It meant that some were already under attack.
Right…originally, there was only one NPC he would encounter here. The ancient Archmage and Mirole took her, who lost all her people and comrades, and getting a request from her led to the quest in the first chapter.
‘But, can’t that situation be changed now?’
Evan momentarily used his head. The anxiety that the future would change if the course of Yo-Ma Great War Zero wasn’t followed and the probability that the game’s history would coincide with the history that actually took place in this world was perplexing Evan.
“Master, you can do whatever you want.”
Maybell, who read his confusion, whispered quietly into his ear.
“In the end, I believe you will be able to do whatever you want.”
“…Right.”
Evan nodded firmly. And he took a step and passed by Mirole.
“!?”
“I’ll go first.”
Taking another step, he was already at the scene of a fierce battle.
―Kyaaahhh!
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Oppa!”
It was a really confusing situation. Here and there, the shadows were raging as if they had life, and a group of short people were jumping in fear of their own shadows and throwing weapons at them. The true nature of the shadow was the ‘Mirage Shadow,’ the demons that live in the shadows, and the small ones being slaughtered by them were, of course, dwarves.
“I wish Shine were here.”
Evan mumbled quietly and stepped on the floor. At that moment, there was an earthquake in the whole area. Everything that was moving in that situation was forcibly stopped.
―Kehek!?
―What is this…human!? Human, why!?
―When did he appear!?
“Human!?”
The reaction from the demons and dwarves was the same. But Evan, of course, didn’t intend to watch them, so he reached out lightly and made a motion to gather something in the air. The shadows that had spread all over the place began to gather together.
“Oh…what!?”
“The shadows…!”
‘New generation dwarves have a pretty good reaction,’ Evan thought so quietly.
―W-What is this…?!
―Kill him! He did it; we have to kill him!
The Mirage Shadows realized the situation and attempted to dig into Evan’s shadow, but they were already under Evan’s control. The power of destruction was able to bind the shadows like they were nothing.
―Kehek, khaahak…!?
―How, one human…! The Demon King! Does the Demon King know about this!?
―We have no choice but to abandon this place!
―Ugh, end it! Damn it…!
All of the shadows in the area ended up in one place. Then, they finally cast Mirage Shadows’ taboo and last resort: fusion.
―It is your loss to have brought us together.
―Soon, lies will cover this world!
As they were essentially shadows, clearly distinguishing the boundaries between oneself and others was a prerequisite for survival. Still, the moment they gave up and become one with their own people, they would be able to acquire magical power that overwhelmed even the Demon King!
―Kuaaaaaaah!
―We become one…!
―We are…
―I am the Legion!
“It’s been a while; I haven’t heard that line.”
‘Should I say it is unnatural? The fusion of Mirage Shadow and the ancient Archmage fight only occurs in the mid to late half of Yo-Ma Great War Zero.’
At the end of the tutorial, the ancient Archmage hasn’t yet recovered most of his memories and abilities. He struggles against the Mirage Shadows, trying to achieve most of his objectives, but suffers his first defeat and barely survives with the help of Mirole. He barely manages to rescue the dwarves. Mirole realizes that the ancient Archmage, who she thought to be strong, was still incomplete, and she felt a protective instinct for him. The ancient Archmage leans more on her…
“Oh, it looked like a weird lump when viewed on the screen, but it looks pretty strong when you actually see it.”
“Mirole hasn’t even come yet.”
“She just has to arrive after we’re done.”
―Kwook, kwoowook…!
“Oh, are you done transforming?”
―It’s not transformation; it’s evolution!
Until before, the individual voices sounded normal, but now the Mirage Shadow was spitting out a mysterious voice where one couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman, or even an old man or a child. No, they were already reborn as a single creature called Phantasm World. It was the shadow that clumps over the limit, and they went beyond that limit and reached the stage of bringing reality into the shadows! That existence destroyed physical force by its mere presence. The demons were also wary of this, and it was a disaster for humanity.
“In the new generation, the problem is that these monsters pop out from anywhere. It’s very different from our world, where there were only the occasional weird guys hiding from time to time.”
“It was purposely created by you.”
Maybell replied to Evan’s simple words. He was cutely sticking out his tongue and squeezed his outstretched hand in the air feeling that he was caught. Then, the Phantasm World was an indefinite black mass, condensed to the limit on the spot and emitted a distorted scream.
―Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!? I am the one who distorts all the powers, but whyyyyyy?!
Wouldn’t it sound like this if the soprano and tenor were in harmony? Evan replied to him with that sentiment in mind.
“It’s a coincidence. I also have roughly the same power as that.”
―Kihiiit!
When Evan twisted his clenched fist as if squeezing it to the limit, the Phantasm World was compressed as it screamed. But at some point, it could no longer scream. The black mass that seemed to absorb all light began to burn brightly for an instant. It seemed to be a black sun.
“Wow…”
Maybell stared at the scene and clapped. Honestly, from the outside, one couldn’t tell who the villain was. Even the dwarves who Evan saved were overwhelmed and standing about stiffly.
“Zero, how so fast…ah!?”
It was then that Mirole arrived at the scene with the spirits. She couldn’t figure out what kind of power Evan was exerting but could only grasp that what was squeezed by his power was the most powerful being she knew.
“!?!?”
Mirole screamed at the incredulous sight, but a moment after, she shut her mouth desperately. Because she thought that if she got in Evan’s way, that thing would be freed and kill Evan at any moment.
―No way…
At that time, the Phantasm World, which couldn’t even talk, crushed by pure power, barely opened his mouth and spat out something.
―I have to let the Demon King know…
“Yeah, he’ll know soon. Don’t worry; you can go first.”
Evan responded profoundly and raised his opposite hand. It lightly tapped his other hand. At that moment, all the lights in the area disappeared, and something that was once the Phantasm World fell to the floor.
“…”
“…”
Stillness ruled the area. It was natural as no one could understand the phenomenon. On the other hand, Evan walked out calmly and took the Phantasm World’s drop item. The moment he saw the Mirage Shadows, he was thinking about this, so he had to take it, of course.
‘If I give it to Shine, he’ll like it, but…there is still a chance to get a second shadow. I’ll use this one.’
The Phantasm World was the one that appeared in the mid to late half of Yo-Ma Great War Zero, and Evan just deliberately created it in the last chapter of the tutorial. Why? This was because the Shadow of Mana, which could be obtained by catching the Phantasm World, was one of the essential ingredients of the ancient Archmage’s unique armament!
‘If I catch monsters in this way in the future, I can complete the unique armament quickly.’
The plan had to be examined internally, as he couldn’t say out loud that he knew about the unique armament. Silence continued to reign.
“Savior!”
Until the man in the most serious condition among the saved dwarves came forward with a loud voice.
“Please allow us to repay your grace…! With the items you just collected, we will create a strong weapon!”
“Hmm…?”
Evan tilted his head and looked back at the dwarves. He was, of course, a character that he hadn’t seen in the game. His arm was cut off, and he had a big wound on his abdomen as if a wolf bit it, but he raised his voice and shouted as if he wasn’t in pain.
“I can’t make it myself because I’m like this, but…my sister also has the necessary skills, so leave it to us! We will not disappoint you!”
“What the hell are you going to make?”
“An armament for those who aren’t demons.”
The eyes of the Dwarves flashed with aspiration.
“To beat the demons, we’re stealing theirs!”
“Wow…”
Evan couldn’t understand what was going on. The armament that the dwarf was talking about was probably the unique armament in its complete form. Still, in the original game, at this point, the idea of creating a unique armament wouldn’t have been thought of. Only the surviving dwarves lacked skills, so they developed their skills step by step along with the growth of the ancient Archmage. After joining with other surviving dwarves, the unique words armament were finally mentioned for the first time. With Mirole and the other dwarves’ help, the ancient Archmage began an epic quest to create the unique armament…oh!
“I see. You were the brother who gave her that knowledge.”
“Hmm?”
The dwarf tilted his head. Behind him, he saw a young female dwarf who was barely injured. Her face was very familiar. When he played Yo-Ma Great War Zero, she was someone he saw too much when repairing weapons.
‘From this point onwards, she becomes aware of the possibility of the unique armament by listening to her brother, but was it that she couldn’t speak because of her lack of skills?’
However, because Evan appeared quickly and wiped out the Mirage Shadows, he saved her brother, who was designing a unique armament from the start.
“It’s okay because I saved them.”
“You have funny ideas again, right? But I like that Master too.”
“Yes, yes.”
Neatly ignoring Maybell’s words and lewd behavior, her affection for Evan since last night had breached the limits. Evan drew a glance from the dwarves looking at him.
“Shall we fix that arm first and talk about it?”
“M-My arm? How do you take an arm that has already been torn…”
“Everything can be fixed. First, be calm. Now, I’m clearing up the situation…”
Compared to the Elixir, which is said to give eternal life, repairing the body was easy. Evan, smiling, turned around. Mirole was still stiffly looking at him.
“King…”
“Huh?”
A sound resembling that of a puppy crying came out of her mouth, and the next moment.
“Zero, please be the king of this forest!”
Words that Evan hadn’t heard in the game popped up.
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