1086. One head flew into the sky.
“how is it?”
Just because Seiki and Finn were absent did not mean the Rangers were all idling away. Some fairies belonging to the Fairy City filled the void.
Crys was just about to ask a representative of those fairies.
To be precise, there were two fairies. One was a man who was very tall and had such a cold demeanor that he looked like a spirit made of ice, while the other was a woman from Dryuers with green hair, eyes that shone like emeralds, and abnormally white skin.
“There are a lot of strange things.”
“There are.”
The woman spoke first, and the man followed up by repeating the same words; neither of them was particularly skilled at conversation. It
didn’t matter if they couldn’t speak well.
From the perspective that there were people with such talents in the Fairy City at this point in time, there was no real need for them to be eloquent.
These two were born with special talents even among the fairies who had made the forest their home since childhood.
In other words, they were born with extremely sensitive senses, making them exceptionally skilled at finding monstrous creatures living in the forest—namely monsters and magical beasts—or detecting abnormalities within the forest.
They were, so to speak, “experts” who could decipher forest anomalies.
While Prok possessed the sense to identify those with talent, there were fairies who could specifically sense energies contrary to the forest or its spirit.
These two were such fairies. They would immediately perceive and react to even the slightest change in air quality.
So, the answer to why these two were needed now would be, “Because the past tells us so.”
Crys had not forgotten a single thing that had happened in the Pen-Hanil Mountains behind him.
Even just the salamander.
It was a seed sown by the parasitic yam of heat.
Considering the story of the City of Beastmen, shouldn’t we expect something like this to happen?
Even in the Beastman City, the devil had pulled a trick. There was no way a monstrous sea serpent would be born by chance and suddenly, just for no reason, attack the Beastman City’s water source.
Even if it were a coincidence, Crys, who lived with anxiety, viewed it as inevitability.
If it really was a coincidence.
That’s good in its own way.
“Whatever it is, there is no harm in being cautious, is there?” That was his mindset. From the very beginning, Crys lived with this mindset in everything he did.
A carefree person might say he was seeking out trouble, but considering his current position, title, and work, ‘anxiety’ itself was his weapon at that moment.
Anyway, let’s assume the devil did all the misfortunes that have happened so far.
Are border guards good neighbors in the eyes of those living in the Demon Realm?
It’s quite far to call them neighbors, though.
That is just how it looks to us. The Lord of the Demon Realm wouldn’t know.
From that perspective, couldn’t we consider them neighbors living far away?
In any case, no matter how you look at it, it was a relationship that was difficult to call good neighbors or friends. It is a bit sad to think of a world where only a simplistic dichotomy of friend or enemy exists, but from the Demon Realm’s point of view, the Border Guards were definitely enemies.
Should we just leave us alone?
Even though they are hostile toward us, they fight well, eat well, and sleep well. It is truly a good sight.
Will it be like this?
That is preposterous. If they had been left alone just for the sake of entertainment, there is no way the continent would call them demons.
Considering the situation so far, these so-called demons are, without exception, insidious, cunning, and sinister.
He must have hidden a few arrangements here and there across the continent.
It is more comforting to perceive it that way. Even if the anxiety doesn’t completely disappear, I can simply prepare for anticipated misfortunes and foreseeable dangers.
You can do it.
Crys thought to himself, trying to boost his confidence for no reason.
If he were a demon, he would do anything. Literally, he would even send a letter filled with insults for no reason. Since
he wasn’t the Lord of the Demon Realm, couldn’t he do something else instead of sending a letter of abuse?
So, how about scheming from behind the scenes while his own forces are distracted?
To drag this into an all-out war, he had to expose their schemes one by one. At some point, Crys began to make this his primary objective.
Like a sweet potato vine, something new kept appearing every time he dug, making him wonder if there would ever be an end to it; however, intuitively and rationally, Crys saw that the end was slowly drawing near.
The cultists are like that, too.
The Thieves Guild is the same way.
Why would groups that could operate openly go out of their way to hide anything more? It is certain they have hidden something, but there probably isn’t that much.
Perhaps it is just a few precautions made just in case?
That must be correct. Still, because I felt uneasy and uneasy, I was scrutinizing everything more thoroughly.
In any case, it would have been better if the Forest Spirit Identifiers—also called Forest Keepers or Magrim-gwan—had said there was nothing wrong, but they say there is something. Is
it actually better that something was found? That is the correct way to look at it. Because I discovered it in advance, and now I just need to prepare.
If there had been nothing, my anxiety might have just skyrocketed.
Distractions.
If you ask why such distracting thoughts are creeping in, it was because I was anxious again. I had desperately hoped that nothing bad would happen behind the city, but that hadn’t been the case.
Just in case, I had borrowed resources from that fairy city to look around.
What is strange?
Crys asked, and the woman from Dryuers spoke first again. Her tone was rough, but the language unified by the Empire shone even here. It meant that they could roughly understand each other.
There are many monsters.
Then, the male fairy spoke as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“Imitation monster.”
Kreis organized his thoughts based on the two and asked.
“A derivative?”
“A monster I’ve never seen before.”
If it is a peculiar monster…
it must be something the Lord of the Demon Realm prepared, just as expected.
Should I wait for them to attack the city? Or should I wait for them to make another move?
However, the Pen-Hanil Mountains are right behind the Border Guard. So, I can’t let this slide.
Rather than making the city a battlefield.
Kryss thanked the two and turned around.
“Audin!”
And they immediately found someone in charge of organizing an army for the city.
“Pell! Lowford!”
He found not just one, but all of them. Saying this, he stopped a passing soldier and spoke.
“Come find Temares. Tell him that if he says it’s none of his business, he’ll tell the Captain everything when he returns.”
“……That seems a bit petty.”
It would be difficult for a mere soldier to dare to retort to Crys. Naturally, this soldier was not an ordinary person; he was Crys’s bodyguard and enforcer, as well as a member of Encred’s elite guard.
Still, it was a mistake. It was not something one should say to a superior.
He was someone who frequently made verbal slips, unintentionally earning a lot of hatred and making many enemies here and there. Even though he had somehow managed to reach the Border Guard, he could not break his habit of running his mouth. Then again
, if he had fixed his habit of running his mouth, he wouldn’t have made it this far.
Yet, Crys was not hurt in the slightest by what the soldier had said.
“You can call me petty, insidious, or even disgusting. But if doing so saves even one more person or one fewer soldier from dying, I will live a petty life until the day I die.”
It wasn’t a special speech or something said with force. It was simply what I usually thought, so it came out naturally. It
was a sincere sentiment, neither an excuse nor a pretext.
Furthermore, I hadn’t even paid attention to my pronunciation, nor was I looking the other person in the eye.
However, upon hearing those words, the soldier twitched his lips, realizing he had made another mistake, but stopped. His mouth closed tightly before opening again.
“Yes, I will pass the message on immediately. Sir.”
Strangely enough, the title “Sir” came naturally to mind, and a subtle sense of respect was evident in his tone. In truth, Kreis was an anomaly even within the Order of the Mad Knights. He had risen through the ranks
not because he was a skilled fighter, but because he was clever enough to get there.
Compared to Abnaier or Edin Molsen, his background and certain shortcomings meant there were some who looked down on him, but Kreis didn’t care in the slightest.
That was for the same reason he had told the soldier just moments ago. Being looked down upon didn’t matter to him.
After all, his dream wasn’t to become the Chancellor of a kingdom, but to open a salon and live comfortably.
That is why it was strange for a knight of such caliber or an unrivaled genius strategist from Azpen to concede to him.
However, that very fact was the moment that made people see Kreis in a different light. Those who, like the soldier just now, had witnessed his sincerity all shared the same sentiment:
this man is the real deal. He is not someone who merely pays lip service to protecting others, but rather someone who expends his mental energy solely on important matters, focuses everything he has on moving forward, and accepts the stigma without batting an eye.
“……I will find it right away.”
The soldier was moved anew and ran. Kreis knew about the psychological changes of such a person, but he let it slide. After all,
as long as he moved properly, whatever happened, that was all that mattered.
“Audi-in!”
Crys, who had found a colleague who was always misunderstood even when he said once again that he was not a hybrid of a bear and a giant, explained the situation and suggested that they organize an army and march into the mountain range.
If you don’t listen right away.
I prepared dozens of points to persuade you.
“Very well, Brother with big eyes.”
Audin followed Kreis’s words without the slightest hesitation.
“Don’t you even ask why?”
I asked because I was puzzled by that.
“Why are you asking? If Lord Kreis tells you to do something, there is always a valid reason. He must be telling us to fight because it is necessary.”
Pell, who had been listening nearby, answered on his behalf. The fact that such words came out so naturally revealed just how much they trusted him.
Moreover, Pell had always been polite to him. It was understandable for Lawford to be like that, but Pell? Pell was simply following his instinct.
Respect to those who deserve it.
For that is how a shepherd lives.
At those words, Crys felt a tingling sensation in his chest, yet he also felt anxious. Because if he made a mistake, many would get hurt. He must not betray their trust. So, he would have to struggle even more than he was now.
“then.”
Audin followed Crys’s words exactly as he was told, stepped outside, and entered the Pen-Hanil Mountains. All sorts of monsters emerged from within. Audin thought that the big-eyed brother was indeed just as he had said.
From a monster with a goat’s head and snake scales to a creature resembling a Dryuer made of pitch-black, rotten leaves.
It was clearly a legion of monsters spewing venom and posing a significant threat.
Good practice!
Theresa stepped forward, crushed heads with her shield, and smashed all their heads with a hammer.
“sympathy.”
Pell and Roford were running wild beside them. They would blow away the venom with their divine power, and if a problem still arose, Anne would step forward.
You can’t block my medicine with a poison like this.
Well, on the contrary, it seems like she should say that such a medicine cannot stop her own poison, but Anne took great pride in the medicine she had created.
She cleaned up a mountain range too large to be called a mere hill, as if she were frolicking. This was when Encred was in the midst of hanging out with demons.
* * *
“……How could this happen.”
It was time for the Demon, the Burning Crow, to change his alias.
So, calling him the Burning Crow now felt a bit awkward. He had a goat’s head, occasionally bursting with light between his horns, and summoning black lightning by raising his fingers.
Should I call him the Demon Who Chants Light?
Or the Goat Who Drops Lightning? Well, the name probably wasn’t what mattered.
The Demon had just opened his eyes wide in surprise. The eyeballs revealed between his curved golden horns were truly massive.
As if to symbolize that he was not human, his pupils were long, horizontal rectangles.
Consequently, his peripheral vision was incomparably wider than a human’s. He would perceive a sword swing even if it were right behind him.
In reality, while fighting Encred, the Demon was keeping watch on anything in the vicinity that might interfere. Although,
in the end, no one dared to attack.
This was true even though the mortal standing before him just moments ago had been struck directly by black lightning.
“Hey, you won’t die from that.”
A crazy man with a gray head merely spat out these words. Literally, the human standing before me did not die.
Just moments ago, I had bound him within the range of the lightning by mixing a few tricks, spells, and moves.
Cut the lightning?
He swung his sword as fast as a bolt of lightning. The aftermath of him slicing through the lightning still lingers.
Rumble. Rumble.
The air rumbled with such a sound, and the rainwater from the demon mirror scattered around as if fleeing from the guy.
“What are you?”
The demon possessed the power to shatter rocks, break massive trees, and crush metal with a single blow.
Yet that human—a mortal—is fighting against him. Enduring without dying. That makes no sense.
As he became enraged, his two horns trembled violently, creating a noise like hundreds of birds crying out simultaneously.
Zzz
At the same time, black lightning struck down from the sky again in succession. Encred swung his sword excitedly, with the corners of his mouth subtly turned up.
Short and concise.
If you push yourself too hard to put power into it, your sword strike will be slower than the lightning. Then you will be struck by lightning, and your body will freeze.
That single moment was enough time for that demon to break his neck ten times and crush his head. As
Encred took three lightning strikes, he pivoted on his left foot, twisted only his upper body, and swung his sword as if striking, then drew it back to strike, and finally, he spun the drawn blade to cut through the last lightning with an upward horizontal slash.
Spell slaying is the art of cutting through magical power. Therefore, cutting through manifested spells was a technique of a completely different caliber.
With that, three lightning strikes were severed with a roar. The lightning from the Demonic Mirror, filled with pitch-black energy, scattered into the air, leaving behind remnants.
Rumble rumble.
The black streak of light that appeared with a loud noise left a long afterimage in the air in a winding shape like a haphazardly grown branch before disappearing.
“Is there any more?”
With that, he asked.
The demon erupted in rage, unleashing his authority and power. Encred met him and swung his sword.
The air groaned, the ground beneath their feet burst and shattered, and an earthquake struck.
Encred entered a world of silence and mingled with the demon. The creature’s strike was filled with a power capable of distorting a mere human into a laughingstock.
Simply blocking it was enough to tear one’s skin, yet a knight was a man clad in iron armor.
The armor of a god of war, draped with a gambeson and a fairy cloak, and before all that, a pure Will completely filled his entire body.
The Will surged, and his elevated spirit and body pushed Encred forward, forcing him to cross a certain line.
Encred did not resist and advanced. Holding the blade, he deflected what appeared to be a flying claw or forearm, and the blade glided in, passing the demon’s flank.
With a snapping sound, flesh split open, but Encreed dodged to the side, having watched it regenerate for a while and knowing that it wouldn’t stop at just this.
The glaive struck the ground. The dirt and stones crumbled like mud. Encreed took the opportunity to slash horizontally through the middle section; pulling back as the scythe blocked, he cut through it and then struck again with a short vertical upward stroke.
He saw an illusion.
It was one of the boatmen. He couldn’t see the face due to the shadows hidden by the hood, only heard the voice.
“My name is Ortwin Terra. Come to me, Enki.”
Although they were full of goodwill, now was not the time to worry about it. He didn’t even care.
Encred fought, completely absorbed in the present moment. When the demon’s fist struck his stomach, he endured it using the body-drifting technique he had learned from Audin, along with the Armor of the God of War, his iron armor, and his endurance.
Then, a blade grazed the arm of the demon wielding a chain sickle.
Having lost an arm, the fellow used this as a ploy. He suddenly dropped his glaive, pressed close, and closed the distance.
It was a move no one had anticipated. The fellow’s body had shrunk to the size of Encred, and as it contracted, new arms grew as if sprouting out.
In those hands, now two again, he held two daggers—the same number as his hands.
The two daggers, which had been waiting for this moment, crossed paths, aiming for Encred’s neck. Yet, Rem, Ragnar, Saxen, Sinar, Esther, and Dunbakel did not step forward. Not that it would have been difficult to find an opening even if they had tried.
The moment the daggers crossed, a head soared into the sky.
The flying head spun around in the air, and instead of black hair, two shining horns were dull and faded like rusted metal.
