Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 341

Antirianus didn’t just know about Cantus Magna; he had actually worked with them.

Lucinil was more flustered than I was, jumping up from her seat and bombarding him with questions.

“But, is that okay? You can’t just join or leave that organization whenever you want, can you?”

“Of course not, Lucinil.”

Her eyes were sparkling, and her body seemed to lean more and more towards Antirianus. It seemed like she might soon fall over.

“Then how did you get out?”

Antirianus calmly spread his arms. “Well... they tried to take my life as the price for leaving the organization.” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

They tried to kill him for leaving the organization, and yet he was alive.

It was clear what had happened. Antirianus had been part of Cantus Magna but chose to leave, and had to fight his way out in the process.

That was how formidable he had been, even before becoming a vampire. Lucinil stood there with her mouth agape.

“Antirianus, why did you join Cantus Magna in the first place?” Eleris, who had been observing the situation, suddenly asked him.

“Well... I wanted to become an immortal being,” he said as he pointed to his own body.

‘The body of a Vampire Lord...’

“Not this half-baked immortality, but true eternal immortality.”

‘Is he saying that the body of a vampire that can withstand the sun is somehow still half-baked?’

According to what Lucinil had told me, he had debated whether to become a lich or a vampire and had chosen to become a vampire because it seemed less inconvenient.

He looked old because he had become a vampire only in his advanced years, after having failed to find a complete method of immortality.

“I shouldn’t be the one to say this, but Antirianus seems to talk about unsavory things without a care.”

Antirianus burst into laughter at Lucinil’s words. “Haha, isn’t existence itself inherently unsavory? Especially for beings like us.”

None of the other Vampire Lords seemed to disagree with that. Lruien looked at Antirianus with interest.

“So, did you find a method of true immortality?”

“I don’t know.”

His words caused a stir around the room.

It was neither a yes nor a no, but an “I don’t know.”

“Cantus Magna collects forbidden spells, but they don’t collect them to use them. As a result, they don’t even review what they have, and over generations, they forget what spells they possess. I tried to take the opportunity to review the forbidden arts they had, but I was discovered midway, and since then, I have severed ties with Cantus Magna.”

He joined the magical organization to become immortal, worked undercover as a member, was discovered, fought them, and fled.

It was almost comical how he spoke so nonchalantly about something that seemed like the epitome of an evil mage’s story.

On reflection, this might be exactly what one would expect to find in a Vampire Lord’s past.

Antirianus had sought the means to achieve perfect immortality, failed, and had chosen to become a vampire instead of a lich.

The conclusion to that story seemed somewhat pathetic, but his calm demeanor made it seem less so.

“It’s kind of funny, though. Why do they collect forbidden spells if they don’t use them and even forget what they have?” Lucinil asked.

“Could it be, as the rumors say, that they seal dangerous spells away to protect the world... Is that true?” Lruien asked.

What was the purpose of Cantus Magna, the hunters of forbidden spells?

I didn’t know either, so I was curious about what Antirianus would say. Magical organizations had their own purposes, neither particularly good nor evil.

“No, absolutely not. Absolutely not, Lruien. Ha, haha... They definitely do not have such noble intentions.”

Antirianus broke down into a fit of laughter as if he had heard something extremely funny, and Lruien, feeling offended, glared at him, her ears perking up

“Then what is their purpose?” Galarsh asked.

Antirianus wiped the smile off his face and said quietly, “Their goal is the completion of Akasha.”

“... Akasha?”

Even the Vampire Lords looked as if they were hearing this for the first time.

‘Akasha, that sounds like... The Akashic Records, perhaps. Though I’m not sure if it matches the concept I remember exactly.’

“I don’t know if I should call it an artifact... Of course, I don’t know what it looks like either. But Akasha is an artifact that stores spells. Cantus Magna’s goal is to complete this peculiar object. How many spells are needed in order to completely fill it, I don’t know.

“So, to be precise, they are not hunting forbidden spells, but are stuffing spells into this thing to fill it to its capacity. Since they have already stored all the spells they know into it, they need to find new spells to put into it, which is why they’ve ended up hunting forbidden spells. Of course, they also develop new spells themselves, but forbidden spells are inherently complex and intricate, and so they are able to take up much more capacity. That’s why they are obsessed with forbidden spells.”

An enigmatic artifact called Akasha... It seemed to be an object used to store spells.

Cantus Magna’s goal was to complete it. Just hearing about it gave me a chilling feeling.

“What happens when Akasha is completed?” I asked.

At my question, Antirianus shook his head. “I don’t know. Perhaps the leaders or the upper echelons of Cantus Magna might know.”

‘What happens when Akasha is completed? Would it be a threat to the world?

‘Is it too far-fetched to say that the completion of Akasha would trigger the Gate Incident? What kind of events would occur due to the completion of a highly powerful artifact whose true nature and purpose are unknown?’

“So, let’s assume for a moment that it’s possible. If we could access the countless spells and forbidden arts that Cantus Magna has collected in Akasha, there might be a spell to open a dimensional gate to another world. Of course, it’s not certain. What is certain is that most of the spells that have existed and still exist in the world are stored there.”

Cantus Magna had been filling Akasha with forbidden spells for a long time. If we could open Akasha, we might be able to find a way to open a dimensional gate to another world.

“Of course, it has been a very long time since I was with Cantus Magna, and more time has passed since then, so they would have stored even more spells in Akasha since then. They might have even completed Akasha by now.”

The possibility alone was sufficient. I didn’t actually need a spell to open a dimensional gate to another world. My goal was to destroy such a spell if it existed.

Cantus Magna collected not only forbidden spells, but also spells in general. They would also have been researching new spells on their own.

If a spell to open a path to another world truly existed, it would be in Akasha.

‘I don’t need that spell, but if it’s stored in Akasha, what kind of event would trigger the Gate Incident?’

I felt like I was getting closer to the truth of the Gate Incident, which had eluded me thus far.

I didn’t know what would happen when Akasha was completed, But I knew I needed to find out, because the completion of Akasha could be connected to the Gate Incident.

“I want to know how to contact Cantus Magna.”

Suspicious and dangerous as Antirianus seemed, he was ultimately the key to this problem.

***

“Isn’t that too dangerous? I don’t know what that Akasha thing is, but those guys seem extremely dangerous. It feels like you’re trying to meet some very dangerous people for something that might not even be worth it, Archdemon.”

Lucinil was trying her best to dissuade me, clearly believing it was a very bad idea, but Antirianus shook his head.

“Lucinil, regardless of whether it’s possible to go to another world or not, just being able to obtain Akasha will render all this moot. Akasha itself would be a tremendous source of power. It is already an artifact of immense power.”

“I-Is that so...? I guess it is...”

I had mentioned the portal to another world under the pretext of seeking power, and Akasha would be able to give me the power I needed without having to involve travel to another world. From this point on, I could simply say I wanted Akasha for its power.

“And besides, you never know, Lucinil.”

“... What?”

“Just as Akasha might contain the true method of immortality that I couldn’t find, it might also contain a way for you to obtain a soul.”

Lucinil stared at Antirianus in shock.

Lucinil’s deepest desire was for a soul, for reasons unknown.

None of us knew what spells were in Akasha, but it was a vessel of possibilities.

Just as what I wanted might be in there, the key to fulfilling Lucinil’s desire might also be in Akasha.

“Antirianus, if you knew about this, why didn’t you mention this until now?” Galarsh asked in a low voice, narrowing his eyes at Antirianus.

“If obtaining it was that easy, I wouldn’t have given up on true immortality and resigned myself to becoming a vampire. Even now, if you ask me to confront Cantus Magna alone, I wouldn’t want to,” Antirianus said as he looked at me. “Of course, given the current alignment of our interests, the story changes a bit.”

If we had to fight, we might not have to confront them directly.

We could potentially pit Cantus Magna against the Black Order. Regardless of how that battle ended, though, I would need to secure Akasha.

“I-I... I’ll help,” Lucinil said to me, rising to her feet as if in a trance.

Obtaining a soul was Lucinil’s deepest wish.

“That’s why I didn’t mention Akasha, Galarsh,” said Antirianus, and Galarsh crossed his arms.

“It’s absurd that you deliberately withheld information, but you’re offering a clue now,” Galarsh commented.

Antirianus knew that if Lucinil got a lead, she would cling to it, which was why he hadn’t mentioned Akasha before. However, Antirianus had now intentionally suggested that Akasha might contain the magic to fulfill her wish.

It was clear that Antirianus also desired Akasha. However, he didn’t want to take the risk himself, so he was trying to make Lucinil shoulder the risk instead.

He knew that Lucinil, Eleris, and I would take the risk and make any sacrifices necessary to approach Cantus Magna.

While I appreciated the information, it was clear that Antirianus was a cunning individual.

“So, do you know where Cantus Magna is located?”

“I do, but they would surely have moved by now. It’s been a very long time, and they did lose track of me.”

In the end, it was clear that Antirianus didn’t know the current location of Cantus Magna.

“So, unless we have a forbidden spell that Cantus Magna covets, finding them is nearly impossible.”

Antirianus’s words confirmed what I had previously told Eleris.

To find the hunters of forbidden spells, we needed a forbidden spell. It was better to make them come to us rather than us searching for them.

“Alright. We can take our time to ponder this issue; there’s no rush yet.”

At least for the moment...