§ 185. Penitence (2)
The campsite, where I was just about to fall asleep, suddenly became brightly lit with torches.
Suddenly, with Seongjin’s group at the center, Orden, the Wolf Knights, and even the bard Laurent were gathered together in a circle.
“Has the cause been determined, Sir Ilma?”
“The scouts just returned, Archduke. According to reports, it appears that a demon was summoned from the top of Milo.”
“… devil?”
“yes. I saw a monster radiating black magical energy. It looks just like a tree, but it twitches and grabs people and horses at random. “It is said that most of the top of the mill has already been rolled up.”
Orden frowned.
I was suspicious of his ties to the Dark Church, but he summoned a demon out of nowhere?
“I don’t think it was what the Milo merchant intended.”
Seongjin, who guessed what Orden was thinking, opened his mouth.
“No matter how much you think about it, there’s no reason for that. “If a commercial transaction is canceled, the person who suffers the greatest loss is the commercial owner himself.”
“Maybe he realized we were investigating him? Was it an attempt to destroy evidence and witnesses at once? … .”
what? Did you really think this was being investigated in secret?
Also, why are you destroying evidence like this? It’s not clear whether we’ll get caught up in it, but you’re replacing your top in this awkward position?
Seongjin was dumbfounded, but unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to give the guy away. Suddenly, in the darkness outside the camp, someone staggered towards them.
“Do, help… … !”
Seongjin immediately recognized his pale face. He was a mercenary from the Milo Sangdan side who had been with him on his recent 10-day journey and had become familiar with him, knowingly or unknowingly.
He had a lot of thick tree branch-like things wrapped around his body, and black demonic energy was constantly flowing out from there.
“Please save me… … !”
As the mercenary collapsed in front of the camp without even being able to speak, Edith reflexively tried to run towards him. Although of course her Sungjin and Sir Valery caught her at the same time.
just as expected.
Wow.
The mercenary’s writhing body seemed to turn black, then shriveled up in an instant. It was erosion of the body by demon energy.
Seongjin naturally couldn’t help but think of Director Collins, who died at the logistics relay station.
‘Is the author also a devil contractor?’
[No, Seongjin Lee. That’s just a phenomenon that occurs due to exposure to highly concentrated demonic energy.]
The devil bastard answered.
[Now do you realize how dangerous Magi is? If you are an ordinary human without divine power, you will instantly end up like that just by touching the demonic energy.]
There was a reason why Schmidt was so embarrassed when he saw Seongjin, who was still fine even after opening the list of demons emitting poisonous magical energy.
‘Is Dasha going to be okay?’
Anyway, I was most worried about the safety of Dasha, who had infiltrated the Milo upper level.
Of course, since he is a capable person, I think there is a high possibility that he would have retired in time.
Considering that there has been no report to Seongjin despite such a big incident, it seems like it really was an incident that happened suddenly and without any warning.
“Grand Duke, what will you do now?”
Lord Ilmar asked Orden.
Although the Wolf Knights were skilled demon beast hunters, they were not paladins, so they were naturally vulnerable to demonic energy.
Not only has he never faced a demon species without the help of a battle priest, but the few battle priests currently remain in the Sigismund Territory.
Orden thought for a moment, but made a quick decision.
“If something was wrong and an unexpected attack was made on the upper level, then as a subject of Delcross, I couldn’t just sit back and watch.”
Even if it is the work of Milo, who is suspected of being in collusion with the Dark Church.
Moreover, this road is the only passage leading to Sigismund Land. If the rumor spreads that the upper class was wiped out due to an attack by a demonic species, the remote territory may become completely isolated.
He gave instructions quickly.
“We are dividing the workforce a little. “I will leave two knights to guard you and two knights to protect the non-combat personnel, and the rest will follow me with Lord Ilma.”
At those words, all of the Wolf Knights begin to move in unison.
However, despite their quick movements, there was a heavy tension that could not be hidden on the faces of the knights facing an unfavorable battle.
Meanwhile, Orden came in front of Seongjin and bowed his head.
“Sir, please allow me to receive help from the Holy Knights of the Monster Task Force.”
This means that instead of leaving behind two knights from the Wolf Knights, they will borrow the paladins Sir Valery and Sir Sharon.
“hmm… … .”
Seongjin thought for a moment.
There are only two knights, but if you add the permanent knights that Seongjin has with him, the distributed power cannot be ignored.
Above all, along with the leader, Sir Ilma, the strongest person in the group is Sir Masain. He would definitely not want to be away from Seongjin for even a moment.
“How about we all just go together?”
four?
Seongjin spoke naturally as the eyes of those around him widened.
“If something goes wrong with you, isn’t it difficult to guarantee that I too will be able to escape safely? In that case, let’s not spread the personnel out for no reason from the beginning.”
“Well, sir… … .”
“And I don’t know if you know, but Lord Massaine and I have a relic. “Now that there is a shortage of priests and paladins, I think the two of us are quite important forces.”
Although it is a fact that I only learned relatively recently, it is said that objects carried by a saint for a long time have the status of sacred relics.
However, this does not mean that physical power becomes significantly stronger or that divine power suddenly emerges.
It’s just that high-quality weapons can sometimes cut things that ordinary weapons can’t.
Lord Massain’s sword, Misra, was a good example.
It is said that after the 7th Holy Emperor, who was excellent in martial arts, wore it, it was given to the leader of the Holy Knights on two occasions, and was later officially recognized as a sacred relic.
According to the story, it is one of the legendary weapons made by melting down the spear of the main god that sealed the demon dragon in the beginning.
And nutcrackers. This sword is, without a doubt, the strongest relic.
Although this may seem a bit unsightly at first glance, isn’t it something that the representative of a living god has carried around for half his life?
Above all, there was an important reason that Seongjin had to follow them that he could not bear to mention.
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‘If the devil continues to emit that kind of magical energy, I may be the only one who can come close to him.’
I don’t know if it was because he was already dead or because he was an evil spirit, but in any case, Seongjin seemed to have something similar to immunity to demonic energy.
In that case, the way to minimize unnecessary damage would be to take the lead from the beginning.
“However, the safety of the ship is more important than anything else.”
As Orden said that, he glanced behind Seongjin.
However, strangely enough, Masain, who seemed to be the first to object, was standing behind Seongjin with his mouth tightly shut, holding Misra.
In fact, the person who dissuaded Seongjin was the wrong person.
“Sir, just a moment… … .”
Sir Sharon spoke to Seongjin with a somewhat frustrated expression.
“It’s okay if it’s just for a little while, so could you please wait in a safe place for a while?”
And she came closer to Seongjin and whispered softly.
“Huh, it seems like a [gap] has opened up in the imperial palace at times like this. “I cannot contact you right now, so please wait at least until His Majesty returns.”
Unfortunately, it was said that it would not be possible to make a success as easily as before. That was probably why he seemed busy and left without saying anything.
Seongjin sighed.
“Lord Sharon. I appreciate your concern, but we have to deal with the task ahead of us. How long do you plan to depend on your father for everything?”
What on earth does everyone think of that guy? From where to where should he look?
Seonghwang is just a human who lives diligently, pressed for time all day, and is not really a god who transcends time.
“… … .”
Sir Sharon closed her mouth in surprise at Seongjin’s words.
“If it’s a matter of my safety, don’t worry. I won’t do anything that would make my father worry. It’s just that we don’t have the luxury of dispersing our power. “I have no intention of going out and doing something dangerous for no reason.”
And Seongjin raised his head and spoke to the people gathered around him.
“If we can’t leave the devil alone anyway, let’s face it with the best force we can muster. If you decide that it won’t work, you can all retreat together and request support. I will not seek your own safety, nor will I force you to do something that is beyond your capabilities. “We just have to do what we can.”
A slight look of relief appeared on the faces of the group, which had been stiff since the mercenary died from demonic energy.
The fact that they had to face a strong demon race did not change, but there was still something about the prince’s words that put people at ease.
“Non-combat personnel remain here. As instructed by the Archduke, find a safe place with the two knights. “The rest of us are heading to the top of Milo with me.”
Seongjin glanced at the people listening to him and then spoke briefly.
“Come on, let’s go.”
As Seongjin walks away holding the nutcracker, the group, including Sir Martha and Leader Bruno, quietly follow him.
Also, although he was not conscious of it, the Wolf Knights, led by Orden, were also naturally following in the prince’s footsteps.
“I couldn’t find a single doubt in his eyes. “I lift up my sword and lead it to where it should go, so who would dare oppose it?”
Laurent, who remained at the camp and watched the scene, unconsciously muttered and flicked the strings of the lyre.
* * *
Kiiiiii!
There was a huge tree wriggling in the middle of the upper camp.
At first I thought it looked like an oak tree in the middle of winter with all its leaves falling off.
But while I was surprised and thought, “Ah,” the trunk grew thicker, and the branching branches wriggled like snakes and swallowed everything living around them.
What looked like cracked tree bark from a distance were actually writhing tree trunks tangled together.
Between the twisted stems, black, ominous magic blooms in full bloom. Those touched by this terrible demonic energy instantly withered and were now swaying, tied to tree branches like fish on a string.
‘Is it too late!’
Giacomo Milo, who was looking down at the Magic Tree from a hill far away, clicked his tongue when he saw the huge tree that had already filled the camp and stretched towards the sky.
It was extremely painful to watch the horses and numerous wagons that he had worked for a long time being destroyed in vain.
‘In this case, I’m borrowing his power from the beginning… … .’
I regretted it, but it was already too late.
Immediately after the cedar trees began to sprout.
Only Giacomo managed to escape in time by using the power of Salos from the tree of the demon world that was quickly devouring the surrounding area.
And that was all he could do.
[It’s already late. Giacomo.]
Salos lamented in his head.
[There is no way to stop it before it sprouts. That cursed tree attracts not only human life but also the demonic energy of demons and uses it as nourishment.]
In other words, there is nothing that cannot be done to deal with the Demon Beast, but Salos also cannot avoid losing some power.
And he had no intention of taking such a loss for the sake of the person with whom he had merely exchanged a contract.
‘Then what should I do with that magic tree, Salos?’
If it continues to grow like this, wouldn’t that tree alone be able to devour the continent?
[I will stop at an appropriate line. When it exceeds a certain size, the amount of absorption of each other by the stems of the Demon Tree also increases, so it cannot spread with the same momentum as the first time. However, it will only grow to the size of a city.]
In other words, it is inevitable that this entire area will be completely destroyed.
[Maybe the success will appear before then.]
In either case, it was out of Giacomo’s hands anyway.
As I was giving up, I saw a group of armed troops carrying torches approaching from the other side. It was the Wolf Knights and the prince’s party.
‘Are you planning on dealing with that terrifying figure while staring at it?’
I know that the Wolf Knights are strong, but that’s only when dealing with regular armies or demon beasts.
‘How can they, who are not even Holy Knights, deal with a Demonic Beast that is so full of demonic energy?’
Giacomo, who had been observing them so comfortably, was momentarily startled.
This is because it felt as if Prince Mores was looking straight in his direction for a moment.
‘… … !’
Is it an illusion?
As the prince turned his gaze towards the demon beast again, Giacomo tilted his head in silence.
[Hoo?]
At that time, Salos opened his mouth as if he was amused.
[I didn’t expect this. Maybe they too have a chance of victory.]
‘What are the odds?’
[They have a holy relic!]
At that time, the demon tree seemed to sense the vitality of the creature, and quickly stretched out a thick branch towards the prince and his group.
And the next moment.
Hiss!
A faint golden aura seemed to emerge from the prince’s group.
Kuaaang!
It cut off all the branches extending out and caused a strong explosion on one side of the Demon Tree’s body.
fantasy,
