Chapter 172
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: The Traitor's Justification
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“No Terhel?”
Gismond's eyes flashed.
There were no Grade 2 demonic beasts. Only these things that looked like ants, Antbees or Anbeefs, whatever they were called.
They say where there's no tiger, the fox is king.
As long as that monstrous Terhel wasn't around, all the demonic beasts were his for the taking.
—!
Just as he thought this and pierced through five Anbeefs in one go, his sword was blocked for the first time.
“Kuh…?”
It wasn't as strong as a Terhel, but it felt like striking a solid rock. Gismond swallowed a groan from the powerful recoil and stumbled back a couple of steps.
“What are you things!”
Black hair, an impossibly pale complexion, and even a chilling demonic aura.
It wasn't human. Yet it spoke the human tongue.
*…Could it be.*
“A-a demon?”
Gismond screamed. His body trembled like a leaf, but thankfully, the misunderstanding was soon corrected.
“It's a demonic beast called a Nasgrim. They're said to be the only ones with intelligence comparable to humans, so demons often use them as minions.”
At Pernyan's words, Gismond's confidence returned….
“For your information, it's Grade 2. Same as a Terhel.”
“Help me!”
…almost.
“But its combat ability is said to be between Grade 3 and 4. It's only classified as Grade 2 because of its intellect.”
The grades of demonic beasts were determined not by demons, but by humans.
It was said that the knights who followed the first emperor had fought them personally and assigned their grades.
“Anything above Grade 5 is still a bit much for me.”
Gismond muttered anxiously.
He had been doing quite well against the Zikriks, but the Nasgrim was different.
The hairs on his body standing on end suggested this would be no easy fight.
“Just buy some time. I need to have a word with someone.”
“You bastards! I asked who you are!”
“W-what if I die…?”
“If you can't even hold out, you'll die instantly when the demon descends anyway.”
“…Couldn't I just run away somewhere without demons and live?”
“Do you think you can escape?”
“How dare these bastards ignore me!”
*Claaaaang!*
Gismond gritted his teeth and unleashed his aura. A streak of gray light clashed with the incoming black scythe.
“I'm the one who wants to cry right now!”
Gismond swung his sword again.
To survive.
* * *
More Anbeefs emerged from the darkness. Rather than engaging them, Pernyan erected a thick barrier to block their advance.
This should hold for a while.
It would be enough time to speak with a man whose life force was nearly extinguished.
“Captain Adguif.”
Leaving the Nasgrim to Gismond, Pernyan approached the fallen Adguif.
The man was sitting slumped against the tunnel wall, in such a critical state that it wouldn't have been strange to assume he was already dead.
“We have a saying in the Fallenberg family. Don't let someone who owes you money escape, even to the afterlife.”
He uncorked a potion and poured it on the wound.
“The mayor is eagerly waiting for you.”
“…That's a terrifying thought.”
Adguif gave a bitter smile, his face pale.
“It's no use. I know my own body.”
“So it seems.”
Even a top-grade potion wasn't a panacea.
With several holes already punched through him, Adguif was beyond what a mere potion could fix.
“I should have come sooner.”
“It would have made no difference.”
“Before you die, could you tell me something? Why did you betray the dwarves and join hands with the Vile Breed? You don't seem to have become one of them yourself.”
“Heheheh….”
Adguif laughed, coughing up blood.
“That's not a bad idea. But before that, will you make me a promise?”
“A promise?”
“The dwarves will be profitable. Please, get them out of this godforsaken city.”
His words were unexpected. Had he not betrayed them out of hatred?
“That is what I desire most.”
“If only you had come a little sooner, it wouldn't have come to this.”
“Isn't it absurd to build a city in a place like this and expect to be found quickly?”
“That's true.”
Adguif conceded.
“I, you see, argued countless times that we should leave the city.”
For the past few hundred years, the dwarves had isolated themselves. Underground, safe and without enemies.
It might have been perfectly satisfactory at first, but they had locked themselves in a well.
“The ore veins are drying up, yet we can't do anything meaningful for fear of being discovered by the elves. Humans rule the continent while we cower in this cramped underground. Is this living?”
The phrase 'living because you can't die' fit perfectly.
“Everyone knew there was a problem. But they stood by, condoned it, and turned a blind eye. Why? Because they were afraid!”
As if drawing strength from somewhere, veins bulged on Adguif's neck.
“Of leaving the city, of pioneering something new! Their reason was that humans had already claimed all the land, leaving no place for us! If that was the case, they should have left sooner!”
They had made excuses for hundreds of years. And this was the result.
“So you used the Vile Breed? To get out?”
“To bring about change, you need a shock of equal measure. Especially for dwarves who have stagnated to the point of rotting.”
“But does that justify sacrificing hundreds of dwarves to the Vile Breed?”
“It is wiser to kill half to save half than to be consumed by time in isolation and eventually self-destruct.”
Perhaps it was the potion, but even as he was dying, Adguif's eyes were clear.
Even in this situation, he didn't believe his convictions were wrong.
“But in the end, this is what happened.”
“My miscalculation. I suspected the Vile Breed scum had other intentions, but I didn't expect him to act so quickly.”
“You broke with the Vile Breed? Why so suddenly?”
“Because of you, Pernyan Fallenberg.”
Adguif bit his lip.
“Because you entered and left the city, I misunderstood. I thought the mayor had thrown away our last chance. So, in a fit of anger, I escalated things.”
That was the mine raid incident that occurred twice in just a few days. The one that consumed hundreds of dwarves.
“I tried to correct it, albeit late. If you were to lead the dwarves, there would be no need to keep relying on the Vile Breed.”
“So that's why this mess happened?”
“When I tried to let go of their hand, they tried… to take… my… life.”
Only then did Pernyan understand how everything fit together.
The chaos erupting in the dwarven city, where a demon was supposed to have been summoned years later, was ultimately because of him.
But he didn't think that was a bad thing.
The dwarven city, which would have been destroyed in a few years, would now fend off the demonic beasts with minimal casualties.
“…The count. The imperial count, Daniel Kohl. Beware of him…. The 4th abandoned mine….”
His words trailed off, unfinished.
Adguif's head slumped to the side.
“Regardless of your convictions, you are ultimately a traitorous piece of trash, but I will promise you one thing.”
Pernyan gently closed his eyes.
“I will take responsibility and bring the dwarves to the surface.”
Not for you, but for me, and for the Fallenberg family.
“Anyway, Count Daniel. It's him again.”
Is he the Vile Breed in charge of non-humans? He's causing trouble in Friedien and now in the underground city.
He rose to his feet.
—!
——!
The battle between Gismond and the Nasgrim was not yet over.
* * *
A cavern strewn with the corpses of dwarves and demonic beasts.
“Damn it!”
The injured Count Daniel nervously ran a hand through his hair.
“If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have planted the suggestion….”
Unlike his initial confidence, the battle had not been one-sided.
The dwarves' skill level, especially Adguif's, was higher than expected.
If his book had been intact, he could have defeated them easily, but unfortunately, it had long since been burned to ashes while planting the suggestion in Pernyan.
As a result, Adguif had escaped, and he himself was injured.
Still, it was a fatal wound, so he had sent demonic beasts to finish the job.
But that wasn't the only urgent matter.
“What the hell? Why did he suddenly change his mind?”
The man who had thought using demonic beasts to create a sense of crisis was the only way to force them to the surface was now acting as if he had another option.
“He mentioned a 'savior'.”
It meant someone had come down to the underground city.
Was that even possible?
No one could have imagined that a dwarven city existed beneath the elves' territory.
It couldn't have been found by chance. It wasn't 100 or 200 meters deep, but over a kilometer.
Hadn't they themselves only found it while transporting demonic beasts to link up with Adolph?
*Who is it? Who dares to interfere with our work…*
Just then.
“My lord Count, we have a problem!”
A shadow shot up urgently.
“What is it?”
“Pernyan Fallenberg! He's in the underground city! He's killing the demonic beasts and trying to save Adguif! Führ is fighting him, but I came in a hurry to inform you, my lord!”
Führ was the name of the Grade 2 Nasgrim fighting Gismond.
“…Pernyan Fallenberg, you say?”
Why him?
Count Daniel's eyes widened as far as they could go.
“Why is he in the underground city! Didn't he return to Fallenberg?”
“I-I don't know…!”
He had heard that Pernyan had completed the marquis's request in the capital of Friedien and left. So why was he causing a ruckus here?
He pondered, but no answer came.
But when he substituted Pernyan for the savior Adguif had mentioned, everything became clear.
Why the man who had acted as if cooperating with him was the only way to get the dwarves to the surface had changed his mind.
Pernyan and the Fallenberg family were more than capable of quenching the dwarves' thirst for the surface world.
No, they were the type to value them so highly that they would pull the dwarves out no matter what.
“In the end! It's him again!”
In Valerich, in Friedien, and now here.
Count Daniel's face twisted into a hideous scowl.
“The book is all burned, so I can't plant any more suggestions for now….”
Since the demonic aura was already embedded, it would be easy to try again, but the opening was by no means wide.
As he was contemplating, Count Daniel's face turned pale.
He had just remembered something more urgent than the suggestion.
“The demonic beasts…!”
When Adguif betrayed him, he had sent all the demonic beasts to the city, except for those needed to deal with him.
The goal was to attack the city before the dwarves could fully prepare, inflict maximum damage, and then use the corpses to summon more demonic beasts.
That way, he couldn't summon a demon, but he could create an army of demonic beasts.
He had intended to make use of them that way at least.
“But if that bastard Pernyan is there, it's a different story!”
Whether the demonic beasts' offensive succeeded or failed, there would be no next step. That Pernyan bastard would somehow coax the dwarves to leave.
Pernyan Fallenberg would never leave with dwarves right in front of him.
In that case, the demonic beasts he had spent years summoning would just be dying for nothing.
“But I can't kill him either…!”
Before, he would have sacrificed all the demonic beasts to kill Pernyan, but things were different now.
He couldn't commit the foolish act of killing the man who was under his suggestion and would become his greatest asset.
“Pull back the demonic beasts at once!”
Before the damage gets any worse!
“And tell them to make sure that bastard Adguif doesn't pass on any information to Pernyan, even if it means self-destructing!”
Adguif knew his face and his identity.
Count Daniel shrieked.