Chapter 63: Micromegas

  When they arrived on the mountain everything was completely different.

  A blue glow in the sky peered out with a menacingly cold light, the crowds of devils had vanished, and the atmosphere seemed thick with tension.

  In the dead silence, Justinian couldn't help but look up, where a powerful presence was approaching the 66th dimension.

  'The echo of power coming from there is simply insane...'

  It was the first time the young man had felt this kind of pressure, and yet he had previously witnessed, for example, the destructive attack of Boruta, which had made the land tremble.

  The pressure intensified. Individual specks of dust detached from the ground, rising upward. Drawn by the glow, they formed shimmering, frantic vortices.

  When this process reached its peak, he was almost unable to breathe. It was then that the glow began to turn green, from which a powerful stream of energy shot out in front of the Voivode's house.

  The earth shook, and the previously lifted particles began to fall, mixing with a cloud of dust created by the impact. Only after a moment did a stronger gust of wind reveal the figure of a tall old man standing where the stream had previously struck.

  He had long, low-hanging eyebrows, a forehead full of wrinkles, and a bald head. His white attire, resembling the cut of monastic robes, had a huge, black emblem of the King of Names and Symbols on its back and stomach.

  "Long time no see, Micromegas."

  The voice of Boruta, who had just come out to greet his guest, rang out.

  "Indeed, it's been a while since we last saw each other. It's good to see you again."

  The arriving elder gently nodded to his old acquaintance. All the unbearable pressure that accompanied his descent vanished, and breathing was possible again.

  The Voivode of the 66th dimension smiled at these words. Without unnecessary formalities, he gestured toward his residence.

  "Unfortunately, I have something I need to take care of first."

  Micromegas' refusal caused the host to frown.

  "What do you mean?"

  Here, the bald old devil pointed a hand at the delegation he had sent earlier. Specifically, Eredinus, whose face was swollen blue after the previous "clash" with Justinian.

  "Why are you in such a state?"

  The leader of the delegation could not bear the gaze of his superior and quickly fixed his eyes on the floor. His typical self-confidence in rambling nonsense completely evaporated.

  "Were you attacked?"

  Eredinus shook his head. He dared not excuse himself by lying before this powerful devil. Seeing his reaction, Micromegas said nothing. He simply fixed his gaze on him.

  Two, five, and finally ten seconds passed like this.

  With each passing moment, the air grew heavier and heavier. The members of the delegation, seeing that the man before them had no intention of letting up, began to sweat profusely. They felt there was no easy way out for them.

  Contrary to appearances, however, Micromegas did not even use any power to achieve this effect. It was his mere presence that made his subordinates tremble like fools. Finally, one of them couldn't take it anymore.

  "It... it wasn't our fault! It was a simple duel!"

  The devil then blurted out the entire story and how the clash with Justinian had occurred. His colleagues watched him with mixed feelings, and the expression on their superior's face did not change for even a second.

  Finally, when he had heard the whole thing, he calmly swept his gaze over them.

  "Hand over your robes to me."

  Hearing this, Eredinus turned terribly pale. This was exactly what the devils feared, for whom being in the delegation was a great privilege and the fulfillment of a dream.

  The leader of the group, in particular, felt a pang in his heart as he watched the dream he had cherished for so long slip from his grasp.

  Still, the will of Micromegas could not be ignored. Therefore, the four devils quickly stripped off their white cloaks with the symbol of the King of Names and Symbols on the back. Their superior accepted them, making them disappear in a strange way the moment he touched them.

  Then he sighed heavily, turning away from his servants.

  "You have failed me."

  The subordinates could only bow their heads in shame. Some of them, including Eredinus, had tears in their eyes. Years of building a reputation with Micromegas had been ruined by a stupid incident.

  Stolen story; please report.

  However, they did not have time to dwell on these matters. The bald devil began to walk away, and soon a look of complete horror appeared in the onlookers's eyes! All because as he took his first step, the heads of the entire delegation... exploded in a bloody burst!

  "The penalty for disgracing the image of the King of Names and Symbols is death."

  Saying this, he left the cleanup to his other servants who had arrived earlier in the dimension. The sound of his measured footsteps echoed widely in the terrified hearts of everyone present.

  Especially in the wildly beating heart of young Justinian, who was also in the observing crowd.

  "What... what the hell was that?!"

  "He just killed them!"

  "Is that the Voivode of the 60th dimension?!"

  Justinian, with wide-open eyes, stared at the scene he had just witnessed. It was the first time he had encountered such insane brutality, and at first, he couldn't even react.

  Drops of ice-cold sweat ran down his temple as he realized that he might be next!

  A terrible desire to run away appeared in his head before the old devil could realize his presence.

  Then he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder, which made him almost jump. With madness in his eyes, he turned to see Nikodem Rudnicki standing behind him. The nobleman seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

  "Calm down, my dear friend. Boruta guarantees your safety."

  Still, it took the next few minutes, moving away from the dense crowds to the side of Boruta's residence, for the young man to calm down.

  Seweryn and Septima accompanied them. While the former was also terrified by the spectacle, the she-devil did not look disturbed in the slightest. In contrast to Rudnicki, whose eyes widened when he saw her. Still, he had a reputation of a Noble Brother to uphold so he recovered quickly.

  "Old Micromegas is known for his twisted approach to duty. If he had something against you, he would have acted already. There's no point worrying about it."

  Although it was easier said than done, there was certainly truth in his words. In the end someone as strong as Micromegas was probably well aware of every presence on the mountain. Being at Foundation Establishment Justinian couldn't escape him if he tried.

  'I couldn't even see his attack...'

  Seeing his mentee deep in thought Rudnicki guessed what he was thinking about.

  "No point in worrying, my dear friend. Voivodes exist on completely different plane than all of us, the same also applies to Boruta."

  The nobleman had enough of this grim atmosphere and finally tried to lighten the party up a bit.

  "I take it you haven't managed to stash away another adept somewhere?"

  Justinian, slowly recovering, nodded. Apart from the unconscious Felix, he had no other acquaintances. Even Septima herself was quite problematic.

  "Well, my dear friend, you are clearly not suitable for socializing."

  Rudnicki stated, twisting his mustache as if lamenting the young man's lack of this noble virtue. However, there was a certain twinkle in his eye that indicated he wasn't too bothered by the whole situation.

  "Luckily, I managed to foresee this problem."

  "What do you mean?"

  The devil, smiling shyly, whistled loudly, after which soft sounds of approaching footsteps began to emanate from around the corner. A moment of confusion followed, after which the surprised Justinian saw... Nikodem Rudnicki's son!

  "I humbly... bow to you..."

  Announced the chubby devil, to whom the bow itself clearly came with great difficulty.

  This was the same individual who, a year ago, was judged for assaulting a butcher's son, provoked by the victim's "attire beyond his class." He was as plump as his father and it could be told from his face that he still bore typical Sarmatian pride.

  The young man stared in disbelief, alternately at him and at Nikodem himself, who now looked very shy—as if he had been caught doing something slightly indecent.

  'How can one resort to such blatant nepotism?!'

  However, he was not the first to react.

  "You must be joking!"

  The nobleman Seweryn, seeing what was happening, was boiling with anger. His reaction, moreover, jolted Nikodem out of his embarrassment.

  "Hmm? What could be the matter, my dear fellow?"

  "This is a disgrace to our noble honor! How can you be so brazen?!"

  The devil, currently at the 3rd level of Foundation Establishment, looked as if someone had just spat in his face. Already exhausted emotionally from terrifying meeting with Micromegas, he was on the verge of his nerves. Now, he clearly did not intend to let it go and was already reaching for his saber to lunge at the much stronger Rudnicki.

  Septima commented on the entire meeting with an eye-roll. She looked like she regretted ever being persuaded.

  Franciszek, standing nearby, simply took notes of everything.

  "Then offer a better solution, and I will back down!"

  Rudnicki began to swear, clutching his heart.

  "This is all for the good of the 66th dimension, and simply three adepts are the absolute minimum!"

  The nobleman began to explain how the ailing Boruta could not count on anyone else. He himself would prefer to die rather than resort to nepotism, but this was simply the easiest and best solution!

  Justinian could already feel a headache coming on, and his eyelid twitched at the audacity of his mentor.

  However, the facts were that they genuinely needed a third participant. The easiest thing, then, would be to take his son through connections...

  Therefore, setting aside the issue of the nobleman's shameful behavior, they finally reached an agreement. Young Alfons was to join them in the delegation and be under the man's care. If Seweryn was particularly unhappy with this, he could find a replacement at any time.

  The details regarding the arrival at the 60th dimension still needed to be agreed upon.

  "Besides the adepts that participated in pilgrimage, Micromegas also wants a representation of the dimension itself. I have agreed with Boruta that I will take care of this."

  "What do you propose?"

  Justinian asked Rudnicki. The latter, twisting his mustache, looked at him with determination.

  "Gathering the noble army and traveling to the dimension gate will take me a few days. You can use this time as you would like to familiarize yourselves with what the 60th dimension has to offer."

  The young man sighed. The mission hadn't even started, and he was already completely fed up with it.

  The army had to use one of the rare dimension gates, as transporting such a massive force was impossible by any other means.

  Soon Bogna and Franciscus also joined them and the rough travel plan was accepted. They will meet with Rudnicki's noble army at 60th dimension in a week's time. Until then they will travel to intermediate dimension and stay out of trouble.

  Bolstered by this attitude, he stepped through the door to the intermediate dimension, flanked by his entourage, Septima, Seweryn, and Alfons.

  For a moment, a visceral sensation washed over them—like slipping through a wet maze—the telltale sign of traveling off the official routes of the Hellish realms. The feeling lasted only a few seconds before they were deposited abruptly onto hard ground. However, when they opened their eyes, the sight that greeted them was not at all what they had expected.

  "Help!"

  "Quickly, someone go get the cultivators!"

  "We need to rescue the children!"

  The large wooden building they found themselves in front of... was horribly on fire.