Chapter 125
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: The Egg of Decarabia
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Everyone agreed with Pernyan’s opinion that the egg had to be destroyed.
“Damn it, what is this?”
“It’s no use…!”
“Hah, hah…!”
But no one could break the egg.
Was it because they were exhausted?
The aura of the White Lion Knights’ captain, which could effortlessly slice any demonic beast in a single blow, and even the aura of Ruina, the next Royal Knight, could do no more than leave a tiny scratch.
Ssss-
Pouring holy water on it yielded the same result. The demonic energy reacted violently, but that was all.
The egg offered no resistance, yet it would not break.
But they couldn't just leave it behind.
“Then let’s take it with us.”
“…Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
“The egg won’t break, but we can sever these vein-like things connecting it to the earth.”
Several had already been sliced away by the knights’ auras.
“And let’s take it with us. We’ll bring it to someone who can destroy it.”
“Are you referring to His Excellency?”
“For now, yes, but if my intuition is correct, I don’t think even His Excellency can break this. However, there is someone suitable for the task.”
“Someone suitable…?”
“Ah…!”
Ruina gasped, realizing who he meant.
That’s right, there was no need to struggle with it here. They had him.
“Aint Armian.”
The adversary of demons.
* * *
Taking the egg, the medium for Decarabia's descent.
That was easier said than done.
The egg, with its grotesque appearance and massive three-meter size, was incredibly heavy.
“…It’s absorbing mana.”
“What a damned object.”
The knights could lift it if they all worked together, but the moment their skin touched it, the egg tried to absorb their aura and mana.
It was an ominous sign, clear enough for even a child to understand that they couldn't let the egg have its way.
“I don’t think we can carry it.”
“I’ll carry it.”
“Young Master, you will?”
Pernyan manifested his magic.
Sand swirled up, gathering together to support the egg. Slowly, it began to lift.
‘…The mana I’m infusing into the sand is being slowly siphoned away.’
Because of that, there were numerous things to pay attention to, and the mana consumption from its sheer weight was already considerable.
But it wasn't impossible.
“Are you alright?”
“We should get out of here first.”
As long as the flow of mana wasn't disrupted by the corrupted land.
Pernyan and the knights positioned themselves where they had first fallen.
“We’re going up.”
Rumble—
The ground they stood on rose vertically.
In the sky, the moon hung instead of the sun. It was still snowing, and the collapsed ground had lost all semblance of its original form.
“Oh…!”
“Two of them!”
But it wasn’t all bad.
Though everything had been swept away when the ground collapsed, two horses had luckily been outside the affected area and remained.
Like well-trained warhorses, they hadn't strayed from where their masters had fallen and were milling about nearby.
The knights brought the horses over.
“However, it’s a bit awkward to transport the egg.”
The egg was too large to place on a horse’s back.
They had no rope to tie it down, and besides, the ground the egg touched was becoming corrupted, so it wasn't a good method.
“I have a cart.”
“…You carry a cart in your subspace?”
“How can one know what will happen? If you keep things stored away, they all find a use eventually.”
This was a prime example. Having a cart made transporting the egg much easier.
“No, I understand that, but…”
The captain stammered.
“Just how large is your subspace…?”
Subspace was a high-tier magic. The formulas and magic circles were difficult to create, and naturally, artifacts with such properties were expensive.
“All you need to know is that when it comes to subspace, at least, even my father’s is smaller than mine.”
And with that, Pernyan truly did pull out a cart large enough to carry the egg.
“…Do you really carry this with you all the time? What for?”
“When you happen upon a mine or a rare elixir, don’t you need a cart to haul it all away?”
“Ah.”
Ruina found the answer perfectly in character for Pernyan.
“But will it be alright? If you put it on the cart, I feel like the cart will just rot away…”
Pernyan’s cart was a sturdy thing, treated with various enchantments, but it wasn’t enough to withstand the egg that served as a medium for a demon’s descent.
The naturally leaking demonic energy would damage the magic circles, and the wood comprising its body would corrode and fall apart.
“First of all, I have five carts.”
“…Five of them?”
“And this is a bit of a gamble.”
Pernyan lifted sand from the ground onto the cart, then poured holy water over it, mixing them together.
Then, the egg was placed on top.
Sssssss-
A violent reaction sent smoke billowing up. But one thing was certain.
“It works!”
As long as the holy water was there, the demonic energy could not breach the cart.
The only problem was that the parts clashing with the demonic energy were slowly drying up.
“Shouldn’t we leave immediately?”
“Yes, understood. But do we have enough holy water?”
“Not nearly enough.”
So every second counted.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve bought all the holy water I could find.’
Who would have thought something made by those cult-like charlatans, obsessed only with money, would actually be this effective?
Pernyan took out the few remaining bottles of holy water and placed a cigarette in each of the knights' mouths.
Even for the horses.
“…Is it effective on horses too?”
“It’s a mana awakening agent. It works on any living creature.”
“…What an insane item.”
“It’s something that can forcibly awaken a genuine Archmage. It’s potent stuff.”
The cart began to move.
* * *
Meanwhile, just as Pernyan, Ruina, and the White Lion Knights began their return, House Bercefe was in an uproar.
“They have not yet returned. We sent a search party, and they confirmed traces of them heading north.”
At the knight’s report, the Margrave stifled a groan.
Normally, a dawn patrol lasts half a day at the shortest, a full day at the longest.
It was only to check for new monsters nearby and inspect existing habitats, not to scour the entire northern region.
But for some reason.
The White Lion Knights, who had left at dawn, had not returned even late into the night.
‘The possibility of them being lost…’
Was nonexistent, of course. These were none other than the strongest in Bercefe, men who had roamed the northern snowfields the longest.
Something had happened. A problem big enough to delay the White Lion Knights and Ruina.
‘Did they truly run into demonic beasts? There’s no way the White Lion Knights would have gone as far as the demon territories.’
If the White Lion Knights were in danger, who should he send to rescue them?
The Margrave’s eyes darkened.
“I’ll go,”
said the scar-faced man sitting across from the Margrave.
“Don’t eavesdrop on others’ conversations.”
“You were whispering right in front of me. I thought you wanted me to hear.”
The man retorted nonchalantly at the Margrave's rebuke. The Margrave didn't press the issue.
“You’ll go?”
“If the client dies, I don’t get paid, do I?”
The man rose from his seat.
“I have not given my permission.”
“I’m not asking for your permission. You’re not my client.”
He took orders from no one but his client.
“I’m informing you. Don’t get in my way with your petty obstructions.”
“Still running wild as you please, I see.”
“That’s why I’m a mercenary.”
“As I recall, you haven’t signed a contract yet.”
“It’s only a matter of time.”
With that strange bout of tension over, the man turned to leave. But before he could reach the door, another knight entered.
“Your Excellency! We’ve found them!”
It was a report of the White Lion Knights’ survival.
“They were found 30 meters north of the 15th safe house! They are currently returning to the estate, and there are no casualties. Everyone is safe!”
“…No need to go, then.”
The man sat back down.
“However…”
At the report that followed, both of their eyes widened.
* * *
“……”
A man with a lot of nerve.
That was Garrett Schreiner’s—known to the world as the Mercenary King—assessment of Pernyan Fallenberg.
‘I’m sure I told him to stay out of my sight.’
And yet, he had brazenly sent a subordinate to hire me.
At first, I intended to refuse.
My disciple hadn't died, but he had come close, and Pernyan Fallenberg was the cause.
No matter how much money was offered, I had no desire to take a job from him.
“The Young Master has found a clue not about some Vile Breed, but about a demon.”
I would have, had it not been for the bold words uttered by Pernyan’s attendant who had come to make the request.
“A demon? How amusing. You’ve succeeded in piquing my interest. But if that interest turns out to be baseless, you will pay the price for making a fool of me.”
“I am prepared for that.”
“Do you think the Fallenberg name will protect you?”
But what the attendant trusted in was not the Fallenberg name.
It was clear evidence.
“…Andromalius.”
A recording sphere containing the summoning and subjugation of the 72nd-ranked demon, Andromalius.
Garrett had no choice but to admit that Pernyan was the one closest to the demons.
I led my mercenary group and immediately followed that man named Hyde. I was supposed to coordinate with the Margrave of Bercefe, but that didn’t matter.
As a mercenary, I valued profit over honor.
I wanted revenge, but I had no death wish. Since the opponent was a demon, the more forces on our side, the better.
I could endure a few tiresome mind games for the sake of victory.
But even Garrett Schreiner, who had come to the Bercefe estate prepared for all that, hadn't expected this.
“…An egg?”
To think he’d hit the jackpot right from the start.
The 32-man patrol, returning with clear signs of exhaustion, carried a massive prize.
It was a huge, hideous egg, three meters tall, and the demonic energy it exuded was on a completely different level from a mere demonic beast.
“Pernyan Fallenberg. It seems you had a good reason to defy my words and seek me out.”
Garrett was certain this was directly connected to a demon.
“Sir Garrett? Does your presence here mean you’ll accept my request?”
“Is there any need for more words?”
“Thank you.”
Pernyan, looking utterly exhausted, bowed his head deeply.
Garrett lightly patted Pernyan’s shoulder and moved toward the egg. Or rather, he tried to.
“This egg…”
“Then we should draw up the contract…”
Garrett paused at the sound of Pernyan’s voice trailing off.
“Naturally, you will pay a fair price, including hazard pay. You must have heard from your father what level of compensation I require.”
“Of course I have, but hasn’t the situation changed?”
It was a bold statement.
“The situation has changed?”
“I know what you want, Sir Garrett. And I have brought you something you desire above all else.”
Therefore.
“Shouldn’t the calculations be a little different?”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then the request will be considered withdrawn.”
Garrett let out a dry laugh.
“So you dare to try and haggle down my fee.”
Since becoming the Mercenary King, he had never met anyone with so much nerve.
* * *
The sky was filled with dark clouds.
The snowflakes falling one by one were as dark as if covered in volcanic ash.
An ominous energy had completely dominated the surroundings.
Grrrrr-
The land was desolate, with no living plants or animals.
Only uninvited guests, the demonic beasts of hell, were sprawled everywhere as if they were in a cradle.
The countless demonic beasts made one feel as if this place were hell itself.
Screeeeeee-
A giant, monstrous bird flew across the dark sky.
It flew past the demonic beasts toward their center. There stood a bizarre structure that seemed not of this world.
The monstrous bird landed before it and began to cry out.
Screee-
It was not a simple cry. It was a report of sorts.
Clunk, the door opened.
A tall man, nearly two meters in height with jet-black skin, emerged.
“…The humans have taken Decarabia’s egg?”
His voice was bizarre, low like scraping metal, and it induced a primal fear.
“So the effort to hasten that bastard’s descent has backfired. Amusing, quite amusing.”
The man roared with laughter. The demonic energy resonated with his laugh, creating a massive shockwave. The bodies of several demonic beasts burst apart.
But the laughter soon vanished. His expression instantly turning blank, the man spoke.
“Decarabia’s egg can never be broken by the likes of humans.”
Even with their vaunted Royal Knights or Archmages, it is impossible unless they study it for ages.
That was the nature of Decarabia’s egg. The only advantage that pathetic worm possessed.
And yet, there were no absolutes.
Long ago, there had been an incident where Decarabia’s egg was shattered by the hands of a human.
Black armor made of demonic energy began to cover his entire body.
“Awaken all the demonic beasts.”
Hee-hee-hing-
A giant black horse materialized from smoke and took its master upon its back.
“We march.”
The slumbering demonic beasts began to awaken.