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『Is something wrong?』

Solomon had heard Mira’s baffled voice at the Spirit King’s comment, so he was slightly worried about what was happening.
「Oh…don’t worry, it’s just…the Spirit King seems to know something, give me a moment.」

After Mira said that, the voice across the device became more cheerful.

「Got it, got it. That’s still so amazing though, it’s like a knowledge cheat. I’ll wait then! Take as long as you need!」

The Spirit King’s knowledge was almost like a spoiler for the research others were doing. Some people believed the thrill of discovery was in the process, but that was that. For Solomon as king, being able to access the Spirit King’s information easily was more valuable. His voice sounded genuinely excited as he told Mira he would wait for her.

『Anyway, about the white pylons…I mean, that’s what we’ve always called them…』

Mira wanted to confirm if the 48 Transducer Pillars of Heaven and Earth the Spirit King mentioned were the same as the white pylons she knew. For that, Mira pointed at the locations with white pylons that she remembered.

After comparing information for a bit, they agreed that the white pylons were indeed the 48 Transducer Pillars of Heaven and Earth. All of the locations Mira remembered coincided with those the Spirit King gave.

『Ohh, incredible…they really are the same thing!』

Hearing the proper name of the white pylons made Mira drunk with a sense of superiority over all the researchers that kept trying to figure out what they were. There was also the 48, which likely meant that there were that many in the continent. But Mira only knew of around twenty of them, leaving more than twenty unaccounted for.

When she asked about it, the Spirit King explained that half were on the surface, and the other half were deep underground. Mira had only known the ones on the surface.

『The underground ones are hidden pretty well, so I doubt they were easy to find by accident.』
『I see, so there have to be another twenty three unaccounted for underground…』

They had found one, or rather a devil had, but there were twenty three still left to find. The Spirit King would likely know where to search for the remaining ones, but that was not the important part of their conversation. Mira and Solomon wanted to know why they existed.

『Anyway, what’s the actual story behind those pillars then?』

Mira went straight to the point. The pillar beneath the Ancient Temple had vanished, and they suspected the devil that appeared nearby had something to do with that. Maybe if they knew why the pillar was there in the first place, they would know what the devil was trying to accomplish.

『Alright, let me tell you then. The 48 Transducer Pillars of Heaven and Earth exist to purify the world. The Gods created their cores, and then we spirits, angels, and devils worked together to complete them and place them across the world.』

With that preamble, the Spirit King went into more details.

The reason behind the construction of the 48 Transducer Pillars of Heaven and Earth dated back to the war against the God of Monsters.

That war had not only involved humans and spirits, but also angels, devils, and even Gods, as the war threatened to end the world as they knew it. Because of its magnitude, even after the war was won, there were many issues remaining.

Especially major were the effects of the war, polluting the Heavenly Nirvana Shrine, where souls went to rest, as well as leylines.

With the Shrine polluted, souls started to drift during the circle of life more often, leading to a sudden increase in stillbirths. And in many cases where children were born, they did not seem to have much of a soul either, dedicating themselves to satiating their material desires and destroying anything in sight, almost like monsters.

With leylines sullied as well, nature began to be corrupted. Rivers dried up, the earth cracked, and natural disasters became commonplace. Then when all the vegetation on hills dried out, strange other-wordly and eerie plants began to grow, which Martel did not know. She refused to recognize them as plants as well, saying they were something else.

『So the 48 Transducer Pillars of Heaven and Earth were created to cleanse that corruption. Their actual functionality is slightly different underground and on the surface though.』

The Spirit King was finally done telling the story that led to their construction, and now came the meat of the story.

The pillars on the surface cleansed the Heavenly Nirvana Shrine, so they were built to interact with souls. It was a slow process, but it slowly got rid of the corrupted souls that led to so many tragedies.

The underground ones focused on cleansing leylines, so those interacted with mana to amend the flow of power of those locations. The pillars stood right on top of the leylines』 opening, like a filter for the mana that came out, making sure it was clean.

Because of that cleansing power, special plants also started to grow surrounding the pillars, which could be used to create medicine like Angel Drop. And this time Martel welcomed those new plants with open arms.

『That’s the role fulfilled by the 48 Transducer Pillars of Heaven and Earth.』

The Spirit King concluded his explanation, recalling how busy he was during those times, though also seeming to miss them slightly.

『I see, so that’s why those pillars were there…』

With the mystery of the white pylons unraveled, she also could see why a devil would aim to destroy devices that purified the world.

That also led Mira to deduct the answer to another question she had harbored before. What had the devil she defeated been trying to accomplish?

『So I guess that after getting rid of the pillar, the devil stopped the cleansing of the leyline to bring back those calamities from the past.』

Mira voiced her conclusion, hoping the Spirit King would confirm it. While she had just rendered their efforts useless, Solomon’s research team was excellent and they had confirmed beyond any doubt that a pillar had existed in the hole at one point. So going from there, one could assume the consequences of stopping the functionality of the pillar, which the devil had tried to bring forth.

But shockingly enough, the Spirit King’s reply was 『No, I doubt that was it,』 sounding sure that had not been the reason.

『It’s been many long years since the end of that war, and the construction of the pillars. It was a slow process, but the Heavenly Nirvana Shrine and the leylines are completely cleansed nowadays, none of the corruption remains.』

The Spirit King claimed that the 48 Transducer Pillars of Heaven and Earth had already fulfilled their roles. Even if one of them was destroyed, it would have no impact on the Heavenly Nirvana Shrines or leylines.

He was also sure that the devil must have been aware of that fact.

『What… Then why would that devil…』

Mira’s gaze lowered as she pondered, the conjecture she was so sure about being rejected.

There was no point in destroying a pillar, and the devil knew that. But the devil had been there, and had gotten rid of the pillar. There had to be a reason for all that.

『You mentioned the pillars were placed on top of the leylines』 openings. Then maybe the devil tried to mess with something inside the leyline?』

Maybe the pillar was not the objective, but what lay beneath. Mira’s usually unreliable brain was kicked into high gear as she tried to think about it, and eventually she arrived at that conclusion, but the Spirit King shot her down, saying that was unlikely. The mana contained within leylines was so immense that a single devil would be unable to do anything to it. Or rather, not even Martel or the Spirit King would be able to tamper with that. Gods, spirits, angels, and devils all had to work together to cleanse them before.

『Hmmm, I actually have a bit of a question for you, Mira. Exactly where was this vanished pillar located?』

After thinking for a bit, the Spirit King seemed to decide to open up about something else, and posed that question.

『Hm? The location?』

Mira was staring blankly in a daze, unable to come up with any more ideas. When the Spirit King asked that, she tilted her head in confusion for a bit. She knew there was a reason for the question though, so she went to the map and explained exactly where the Ancient Temple Nevrapolis and the hole were located. She also mentioned the tunnel the devil had made.

Once that was done, the Spirit King muttered, 『I see, that must be it then,』 before correcting his earlier reply, saying that Mira’s conjecture was actually half right.

『I believe it’s safe to assume that the devil you defeated is the culprit behind the pillar’s disappearance. But the reason for that act lies somewhere else.』
『Could you elaborate..?』

The devil’s target had been the pillar after all, but the Spirit King was thinking of something Mira had no knowledge of, and she waited full of expectation to hear what it was.

After a short silence, someone else who knew the story raised her voice.

『Lord Sym, she already has your Divine Protection, so it’s only a matter of time before it involves her as well. Maybe it’s best to talk about that now?』

It was Martel. She had sensed the Spirit King hesitating on whether to tell the story or not.

The pillar underneath Nevrapolis was not something that could be spoken of casually. In other words, it was one of the world’s deepest secrets.