Chapter 12 - The Garzak Underground Prison
The Kingdom of Klein currently harbored a branch of the international criminal organization known as the Great Magus Cult.
Through their informants within the Ministry of Magic, they had been gaining access to the Arcana records and abducting mages who possessed rare magical factors.
In the original story, Hollow also ended up being kidnapped by the Great Magus Cult through several possible routes, leading straight into the “Void Extraction Ending”...
To avoid that fate, I had worked behind the scenes with Miss Fiona and registered my Unique Magic not as <Void>, but as <Refraction>.
But I digress.
Tonight, the members of the Great Magus Cult’s Klein branch would raid the Garzak Underground Prison to steal the “Demon Lord’s Factor” stored there.
Not that it’s something that would cause immediate trouble if left alone...
The Great Magus Cult was one of the major final bosses in the main route.
If they grew too powerful, they would be a nuisance. Thinking ahead, I decided it would be best to give them a little “trimming” now.
And so, here I was—Garzak Underground Prison.
It was one of the most secure facilities in the Kingdom of Klein, so tightly guarded that ordinary citizens were forbidden from approaching.
But this was the Heisenberg household, one of the Four Great Noble Houses.
“Are you Lord Hollow? Lord Heisenberg has already informed us—please, this way.”
“Mm.”
With a single authoritative word from my dear Papa, I was let in without any fuss.
I was shown to a special guest room, where five prison guards had been assigned as my escorts.
“Lord Hollow, your tea is ready.”
“Lord Hollow, please enjoy some sweets.”
“Lord Hollow, would you care for a massage?”
The guards treated me with utmost kindness, but... I understood, I really did.
I was absolutely in the way, wasn’t I?
Without a doubt, a complete nuisance, right?
Having some brat tagging along on what might as well be a prison field trip could only be irritating.
I got it. I really did.
I was sorry—truly—but I just needed them to put up with me a little longer.
Because the incident was about to begin.
I glanced at the wall clock and began a silent countdown in my mind.
Five... four... three... two... one...
Zero.
Right on the dot, a massive explosion rocked the prison.
The entire facility shook violently, and an <Alarm> spell was triggered.
Amid the blaring siren, I heard hurried voices outside the guest room.
“Wh–what happened...?!”
“Intruders through the north gate! Likely the Great Magus Cult that’s been in the news!”
“Those vile thieves...! Their target is no doubt that thing underground! We’ll intercept—follow me!”
Meanwhile, the guards assigned to me were hesitating.
“Wh–what do we do? Shouldn’t we go join the fight?”
“But we must protect Lord Hollow...!”
They were torn between fulfilling their duty as my escorts and rushing to intercept the intruders.
I decided to give them a little push.
“Forget about me—go and fulfill your duty.”
“But then, Lord Hollow, you would be...!”
“Do not worry. I can protect myself. Or... are you saying the heir to the Heisenberg family looks so feeble that some petty thieves could take him down?”
“P–perish the thought! ...All right, let’s go!”
The guards dashed off to suppress the attackers.
Good. Now I can move freely.
The path was clear.
Time to get started.
I had two objectives this time—
To dispose of the Demon Lord’s Factor,
and... to gather practical combat data on the Void.
“Now then... let’s see...”
I rose from the plush sofa, hand resting thoughtfully on my chin, and examined the prison’s floor plan posted on the wall.
The special guest room I was in was located in the uppermost management area.
Interrogation Area on the upper level, Execution Area in the middle, Punishment Area below that, and finally the Prison Cells at the bottom—grim names all around.
And yet, I sensed something odd about that lowest level. The map was clearly wrong.
In the Prison Cell Area at the very bottom, there was a suspiciously empty space beyond the cells.
So that’s where it is.
I memorized the coordinates and activated <Void Step>.
Bypassing every obstacle, I jumped straight to my target.
Bingo.
Where there should have been nothing, I found a vast space—inside it stood a sinister-looking building that appeared to be an experimental facility.
From beyond its towering, reinforced iron doors came the sound of agonized groans.
"Good, good... it hasn’t been stolen yet."
I had managed to get ahead of the Great Magus Cult.
At this point, the “Demon Lord’s Factor” was as good as secured.
Now all that’s left is gathering practical data on the Void—ah, here we go.
The wall behind me burst apart in a spectacular explosion, and the attackers poured in.
Navy-blue frock coats... there was no mistaking it—this was the Great Magus Cult.
A quick glance told me there were just under twenty of them. Perfect.
Noticing my presence, they froze in place.
“Who the hell are you...? What’s a brat doing here?”
The man leading the group fixed me with a suspicious glare.
At the same time, the men behind him began casting offensive spells one after another.
“<Flame>!”
“<Lightning>!”
“<Blizzard>!”
Flame, lightning, ice—the barrage of varied spells vanished the instant they came within reach, swallowed by the Void.
“W–what the...?!”
“What just happened?!”
“The magic... disappeared?!”
The enemy’s reaction was as transparent as glass.
Yup, <Void Possession> works perfectly.
Void Possession was a defensive spell that spread a thin membrane of Void around me, sending anything that passed through it into the Void Realm.
After extensive fine-tuning, it could now automatically distinguish any incoming threat and only displace what was dangerous.
It was already fully optimized and running twenty-four hours a day—covering me from the time I greet myself “good morning” to “good night.”
“Your men’s discipline leaves much to be desired.”
Saying that, I extended my right hand forward.
*(Let’s start with the basics.)*
As I poured mana into my crimson eyes, a jet-black vortex formed in the empty air—and ten cultists were instantly swallowed into the Void.
“““Wha—?!”””
While the Great Magus Cult members stared wide-eyed in shock, I calmly analyzed the precious live-combat data.
Looks like I can swallow up to ten locations at once... and the more targets I add, the lower the accuracy gets.
Hmm. In practice drills, I’d managed a max of fourteen, but...
Since they were moving, pinpointing coordinates was harder.
Still, in the original story, twelve-year-old Hollow could only deploy the Void in three locations at once, and with far worse accuracy.
Compared to that, my skill level wasn’t bad at all.
“That was... a spatial-dominance type Unique Magic?!”
“Don’t underestimate me, brat...!”
Two black-clad men broke from the group, charging in from both sides to flank me.
They picked up on my magic’s nature instantly, and closed the distance right away.
Spatial-dominance Unique Magic excelled at long-range combat, but was notoriously vulnerable up close.
As expected of the Great Magus Cult—they weren’t like common bandits; they knew how to fight.
“Eat this!”
“Die!”
They swung their dao swords down with all their strength—
—but...
“Huh, a–agh...?!”
“W–what...?!”
The blades passed cleanly through my torso—only to slash into each other’s chests instead.
With fatal wounds, both men collapsed to the ground.
Perfect. <Void Shift> is working flawlessly.
At the instant their blades would have struck me, I displaced only the portion of my torso in their path into the Void.
The result: their weapons cut nothing but empty space before burying themselves in each other’s chests.
I’d practiced Void Shift countless times, so I knew I could pull it off—but having those blades actually coming at me still made certain parts of me clench.
Being a gentleman, I won’t say exactly what, but let’s just say a giant dragon and two golden treasures drew in tight.
While I was casually thinning the enemy’s numbers—
“Hoh... you wield quite an interesting magic.”
The boss-like figure stepped forward.
If I remember right, his name was... Igvah, or something like that.
I couldn’t recall clearly.
“I am Igvah Norland, Vice-Commander of the Great Magus Cult’s Southern Klein Branch. For a certain noble purpose—”
“—you’ve been collecting rare magical factors, right?”
I cut him off before he could finish.
It was exactly the same as in the original, and I already knew their goal.
“...Just who are you?”
“A villainous noble despised by the world.”
“Hmph. So you won’t give a straight answer.”
Snorting in irritation, Igvah raised his right hand high.
“Then I’ll make you talk—by force! Take this—<Water Lance>!”
A razor-sharp spear of pure water shot toward me at incredible speed.
However—
“—<Void Reversal>.”
“...Huh, wh—?”
The <Water Spear> that had been hurled at me suddenly shot out from behind Igvah and drove clean through his torso.
A vivid blossom of blood bloomed, and he collapsed forward onto the ground.
“Hm... not bad.”
“Y-you... what have you... done?!”
“Come now, weren’t you going to beat the truth out of me?”
“Ghh—”
In truth, it had been nothing complicated.
I had opened Void A in front of me, and Void B behind Igvah.
The spear of water, set loose with such force, had passed cleanly through Void A and burst out of Void B—straight into his back.
When you broke it down, it was nothing more than a basic Void technique.
Absolute defense through <Void Possession> went without saying. <Void Shift> for phasing, and <Void Reversal> for counterattacks—those were all shaping up nicely. All that remained was to increase the number of Voids I could deploy simultaneously while improving my base specs.
Mulling over that battle feedback, I gave the surviving members of the Grand Magus Cult the bare minimum of treatment.
“Well then... let’s send you all home.”
I sent their still-unconscious bodies into the Void Realm.
The Void’s embrace was vast and deep.
From now on, they were my family too.
Together with Glad’s bandit gang, they would contribute to the growth of Void Town.
Still... I’ve acquired something rather interesting.
Igvah had been a wielder of an Elite-Class Unique Magic—<Water’s Blessing>.
With his water-element magic factor absorbed, Void Town’s water supply problems would improve dramatically, and its level of civilization would surely rise.
Collecting factors... yeah, that’s a keeper.
It wasn’t quite imitating the Grand Magus Cult, but it would greatly benefit Void Town’s development.
There was also a certain appeal to the idea as a collection, so from now on, whenever I found a rare magic factor, I would actively abduct—no, recruit—its owner.
Naturally, my targets would be limited to dangerous criminals.
Snatching up innocent people would make me no different from the Grand Magus Cult.
While I was musing on that, the sharp clatter of boots rang out from the stairwell above.
Armed wardens, no doubt.
If they found me here, it’d be... well, not just troublesome—very troublesome. I’d already secured the Demon King’s Factor, so it would be best to relocate somewhere far from prying eyes.
I spun on my heel, opened <Void Step>, and relocated the entire eerie laboratory to the Garan Mountains, under the ownership of House Heisenberg.
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