The World's Strongest and Most Evil Noble Strives Humbly and Diligently ~ Using Knowledge of the Original Story and Unique Magic to Avoid a Destruction End ~ - Chapter 11: Garzak Underground Prison

Chapter 11: Garzak Underground Prison

Currently, a faction of the international crime organization known as the Great Demon Order is hiding within the Klein Kingdom.

Through a traitor within the Ministry of Magic, they have gained access to information from the Magic Index Arcana and have been kidnapping magicians with rare factors.

(In the original story, Hollow also gets abducted by the Great Demon Order in certain routes and ends up in Void Extraction End…)

To avoid that, I made arrangements with Fiona and registered my unique magic as Refraction instead of Void.

Now, back to the main point.

Tonight, members of the Great Demon Order’s Klein Kingdom branch will raid Garzak Underground Prison to steal the Demon King’s Factor stored there.

(It’s not like anything will happen right away even if I leave them alone, but…)

The Great Demon Order is one of the major bosses in the main route.

If they gain too much power, they’ll be a problem. Considering the future, I should do some damage control now.

And so, here I am at Garzak Underground Prison.

This place has one of the strictest security measures in the entire Klein Kingdom, and ordinary citizens aren’t even allowed near it.

But, well… I’m from the Heisenberg family, one of the Four Great Noble Houses.

“You must be Lord Hollow? We’ve been informed by Lord Heisenberg. Please, this way.”

“Hmm.”

Thanks to my father’s influence, I was granted easy entry.

I’m led to a special guest room, where five guards are assigned as my escorts.

“Lord Hollow, your tea is ready.”

“Lord Hollow, please have some sweets.”

“Lord Hollow, would you like a massage?”

The guards were being very kind to me, but… I get it, I totally get it.

I’m in the way, aren’t I?

I must be an absolute nuisance, right?

Having a brat show up like it’s some kind of field trip must be nothing but a pain in the ass, right?

I understand. I really do.

I’m truly sorry, but please bear with me just a little longer.

Because something big is about to happen.

I glance at the wall clock and start counting down in my head.

(Five… four… three… two… one…)

Zero.

Right on schedule, a massive explosion erupts.

The entire prison shakes violently, and the Warning Alarm spell activates.

As the shrill sound blares, urgent voices echo from outside the special guest room.

“W-What happened…!?”

“Intruders from the northern gate! Most likely the Great Demon Order causing chaos in the city!”

“Those filthy thieves… Their target must be that thing in the basement! We’re going to intercept them! Move out!”

Meanwhile, my assigned guards—

“W-What should we do? Shouldn’t we go fight too?”

“But we have to protect Lord Hollow…!”

They were torn between staying to guard me and going out to fight.

I suppose I should give them a little push.

“Forget about me. Fulfill your duty.”

“But if we leave, Lord Hollow—!”

“Do not worry. I can protect myself. Or are you saying that the next head of the Heisenberg family is so weak he’d fall to some petty thieves?”

“N-No, sir! —Alright, move out!”

The guards assigned to me rushed off to suppress the attackers.

(Alright, now I can move freely.)

Distractions eliminated.

Time to get to work.

I have two objectives.

Destroy the Demon King’s Factor.

And—gather combat data on Void.

“Now then, let’s see…”

I get up from the plush sofa, place my right hand on my chin, and examine the prison’s floor plan pinned to the wall.

This special guest room is in the highest-level management area.

Above, there’s the interrogation area.

Below, there’s the execution area, the punishment area, and at the very bottom—the prison cells.

Each section has a grim name, but something feels off about the lowest level.

This floor plan… is obviously strange.

In the depths of the lowest prison level, there’s an unnaturally empty space.

(I see. That must be it.)

I memorize the coordinates and activate Void Crossing.

Ignoring all obstacles, I warp directly to my destination.

(Bingo.)

The place I arrived at—an area that shouldn’t exist—was a vast underground space, with a sinister-looking facility that resembled an experiment lab.

From behind the towering iron doors, pained groans could be heard.

“Good, good. It hasn’t been taken yet.”

I had beaten the Great Demon Order to it.

With this, the Demon King’s Factor was practically mine.

(Now, I just need to gather combat data on Void—oh, here they come.)

With a loud explosion, the wall behind me blew apart, and the attackers arrived.

Deep navy frock coats… That uniform is unmistakable.

The Great Demon Order.

At a glance, there were around twenty of them.

A perfect number.

Noticing me, they came to an abrupt halt.

“Who the hell are you…? What’s a kid doing here?”

The man leading the group gave me a suspicious look.

At the same time, the men behind him began launching attack spells one after another.

“Flame!”

“Lightning!”

“Blizzard!”

Fire, lightning, ice—various types of magic were fired at me. However, just before they could hit, they were swallowed by the void and disappeared.

“W-What…!?”

“What the hell just happened!?”

“The magic… vanished!?”

The enemies were clearly shaken.

(Yep, Void Possession is working perfectly.)

Void Possession creates a thin layer of void around my body, sending anything that touches it into the Void Realm.

After countless adjustments, it can now automatically detect all incoming attacks and only eliminate dangerous ones.

The optimization is complete, and it’s been running non-stop, 24 hours a day, from morning till night.

“Seriously, your subordinates are completely undisciplined.”

I muttered as I casually extended my right hand forward.

(First, let’s check the basics.)

I channeled magic into my crimson eyes.

A pitch-black vortex appeared in the empty space, swallowing ten of the cult members into the void.

“Wha—!?”

As the members of the Great Demon Order widened their eyes in shock, I analyzed the valuable combat data.

(I can swallow up to ten targets at once, but the more I try to absorb, the lower the accuracy…)

Hmm, during practice, I managed a maximum of fourteen, but…

Since the targets are moving, it’s tricky to pinpoint exact coordinates.

Still, in the original story, the twelve-year-old Hollow could only deploy voids in three places at once, and his accuracy was terrible.

Compared to that, I’ve improved a lot.

“That was… a spatial manipulation magic!?”

“This damn brat… don’t mess with us!”

Two men in black coats leaped from the group, attacking me from both sides at the same time.

(They instantly grasped my magic’s nature and are closing the distance to counter it?)

Spatial magic excels in long-range combat but is weak in close-quarters combat.

As expected from the Great Demon Order—they’re not like some random bandit gang. They actually know how to fight.

“Take this!”

“Die!”

They swung their broadswords down at me with full force.

However—

“H-Huh…!?”

“What… the hell…!?”

Their blades passed right through my torso—only to cut into each other’s chests instead.

The two men collapsed, fatally wounded.

(Alright, Void Flow is working perfectly.)

The moment their broadswords would have hit me, I shifted only my torso into the void.

As a result, their blades slashed at nothing and ended up cutting each other instead.

I trained Void Flow endlessly, so I was sure it would work—but still, seeing blades that close made me nervous.

I won’t say exactly what, but let’s just say the mighty dragon and golden jewels shrank up real tight.

While I continued trimming down the small fry—

“Oh? That’s quite an interesting magic you have.”

A man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward.

His name was… Igva, I think?

I don’t remember too clearly.

“I am Igva Norland, Vice Commander of the Great Demon Order’s Southern Klein Branch. For a certain noble purpose—”

“—You’re collecting rare magic factors, right?”

I cut him off before he could finish.

His words were exactly the same as in the original story, so I already knew their goal.

“…Who the hell are you?”

“Just a villainous noble hated by the world’s scenario.”

“Hmph, so you refuse to answer properly.”

Igva snorted in irritation and raised his right hand.

“Then I’ll make you talk by force! Take this—Water Lance!”

A sharp spear made of transparent water shot toward me at incredible speed.

However—

“—Void Reversal.”

“…H-Huh…?”

The water spear that was aimed at me reappeared behind Igva—piercing straight through his torso.

A brilliant splash of bl00d bloomed as he collapsed forward.

“Hmm, not bad.”

“W-What… did you do!?”

“Come on now, weren’t you going to ‘make me talk by force’?”

“Guh…!”

In truth, I didn’t do anything complicated.

I simply placed Void A in front of me and Void B behind Igva.

The water spear passed through Void A and was ejected from Void B—straight into Igva’s back.

A simple void technique, really.

(Void Possession for absolute defense, Void Flow for intangibility, and Void Reversal for counterattacks… all working perfectly. Now, I just need to increase the number of voids I can deploy and improve my base specs.)

I mentally reviewed my combat data while providing basic healing to the unconscious members of the Great Demon Order.

“Alright, time for you guys to go home.”

I sent the unconscious cult members into the Void Realm—Void Town.

The void is vast and welcoming.

From now on, they’re part of my family.

They can work with the bandits under Grad’s command to help develop Void Town.

(Still, I got something pretty interesting out of this.)

Igva was an elite Epic Class magician with the unique ability Water Blessing.

By absorbing his water magic factor, Void Town’s water supply would drastically improve, pushing its civilization forward.

(Collecting magic factors… This is definitely ‘worth it’.)

I’m not exactly copying the Great Demon Order, but it’s a great benefit for Void Town’s development.

Plus, it’s fun as a collection.

From now on, whenever I find a rare magic factor, I’ll actively kidnap—no, invite—them.

Of course, I’ll only target serious criminals.

If I start abducting innocent people, I’d be no different from the Great Demon Order.

As I was thinking about that, I heard hurried footsteps clanking down the stairs from the upper floors.

Probably armed guards.

(If they find me here, it’ll be… no, it’ll be really troublesome. I’ve secured the ‘Demon King’s Factor,’ so I should relocate before anyone sees me.)

With that in mind, I turned on my heel, activated Void Crossing, and transported the entire eerie research facility to Mount Garan—Heisenberg territory.