Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Episode 21.
As the blizzard subsided, Aiden rose from the snow-covered ground.
Five minutes had already passed.
"My lord, no matter how much of a monster you may be, with your body in such a state... I believe proper treatment should be our first priority."
"Big brother's right. We should return to grandfather's house and tend to your wounds first. Come on."
Aiden shook his head and showed his side. The wound visible through the gaps in his holy armor was slowly healing.
The siblings couldn't hide their astonishment. Even if a high-ranking priest had healed him, recovery at such speed was impossible.
"...My lord, it seems you've truly been chosen by the gods."
"I wish that were the case."
Aiden sheathed his holy sword and retrieved his lance.
"Let's move quickly while the weather has calmed somewhat."
Deril glanced sideways at the snow leopard's corpse.
"Understood. But my lord, smearing its blood on our clothes before moving might not be a bad idea. Most Ains would flee just from the scent."
Though not a bad idea, Aiden remained skeptical.
While Ains could miraculously detect the scent of predators to hide, snow leopards possessed equally keen senses of smell.
Aiden shook his head.
"If its pack catches the scent and swarms us, we'll be annihilated."
"I doubt it has companions. To my knowledge, snow leopards are solitary creatures."
"There are always exceptions. The fact that a snow leopard descended this far defies common knowledge."
Snow leopards were predators that inhabited the deep regions of the Eternal Snowfield, one of the species that never migrated south even when winter came.
"Well, that's true enough. Little is properly known about snow leopards anyway."
What Deril didn't know was that the creature they'd just fought wasn't even fully grown. Nodding as if convinced, Deril stood up.
"Then I'll bury the corpse deep in the snow and return."
While Deril thoroughly erased their traces, Aiden stole a glance at Sein. 'It's beginning.' The closer they got to the ruins, the weaker the magic Kadak had placed on Sein became.
To cleanse the demon's blood, they had to open the sealed tap.
Once the suppressed black blood began circulating, she would inevitably realize she was a half-demon.
As evidence, Sein's expression had subtly stiffened.
"Sein."
Lost in thought, Sein reacted half a beat late.
"...Y-yes?"
"Many people care for you. Remember that."
The Sein he'd observed over these past weeks was a warm-hearted human. Aiden could fully understand why Sister Sistina and Father Vandel loved her.
Sein looked at Aiden with a slightly puzzled expression.
"Th-thank you. But why suddenly...?"
Aiden silently stroked Sein's head, drawing a shy smile from her.
Deril approached, dusting off his hands.
"My lord, I buried it deep. Unless someone sticks their nose right into the snow, they won't smell it."
"Well done. Let's depart immediately."
If they could reach the ruins before the blizzard resumed its fury, that would be ideal.
Aiden couldn't help but hate his own luck.
First he worried about the blizzard, and now it was hailstones. It felt like the gods had decided to smash Aiden's head by hurling rocks at him.
"My... my lord? Why does it only seem to target you...?"
Even Deril noticed it blatantly. Aiden batted away the hailstones with an irritated expression.
"They must be bored."
Deril scratched the back of his head.
"Haha, it feels a bit presumptuous to say this, but sometimes my lord says things that might get you arrested... Oh dear. I've overstepped."
"Doesn't matter. Focus on keeping watch."
The blue line of Elohimderk terminated abruptly at an iceberg visible ahead.
After battling the snow leopard and encountering numerous beasts since, Aiden felt increasingly burdened by his dwindling stamina.
To pass the trial of the Great Hero Arhan, he needed to maintain at least minimal condition.
"From now on, ignore any Ains we meet and sprint full speed to the iceberg."
"Understood."
Aiden sheathed his sword and charged forward.
Something howled in pursuit, but he didn't look back.
A sorrowful lament of resentment toward humans echoed across the snowy plains.
"Identify your targets! I oppose slavery too!"
Deril's shouts while running carried no meaning. The Ains' thirst for vengeance couldn't be washed away with mere words.
The ice mountain drew nearer. Elohimderk floating in the air became visible.
Aiden kicked off the ground, leaping up to grab the necklace.
Drawing his sword mid-air, he descended toward the iceberg.
He plunged the blade into the middle section, putting his full weight into dragging it downward.
CRRRACK! Fractures instantly spiderwebbed outward from where the holy sword had struck.
Chunks of ice began falling. The pursuing beasts hesitated.
Then suddenly—the iceberg collapsed. Aiden swiftly grabbed the panicked Deril and pulled him inside.
Sein convulsed. 'It's begun.' Purple scales forced their way through her skin, causing her terrible pain.
As the implanted magic faded, she instinctively realized her true nature.
Sein burst into tears. Her body and mind screamed simultaneously as she sobbed violently.
"Sein, hold on just a little longer."
He wondered if telling her beforehand would have helped, but couldn't bring himself to say it.
Deril likely felt the same.
Aiden embraced the weeping Sein tightly.
Then he approached the circular stone slab resting inside the iceberg.
Inserting Elohimderk into the indentation at its center, the earth shook as if the world's axis was collapsing.
The ground groaned and heaved.
"Deril, hold onto the slab tight."
The necklace emitted a bluish glow, reflecting off the ice to paint the interior in vivid blue.
Simultaneously, the ground below gave way, and the slab began descending slowly, scraping against the sides.
The walls that had been slowing their descent soon disappeared, revealing a massive cavernous space.
Then gravity pressed down on the slab with tremendous force, plunging the group into the depths.
Deril always felt like he was about to die whenever he was with Aiden.
Fortunately, their velocity ceased just before impact.
Ugh-weeeeh!
Deril couldn't hold back his nausea. As he emptied his stomach completely, a majestic voice boomed from the distance.
"Who dares defile the palace of the Great Hero?!"
The pitch-black cavern suddenly brightened, revealing its interior.
A sanctuary honoring the Great Hero Arhan. Dozens of pillars engraved with sun motifs supported the underground structure.
Constructed from white marble, Arhan's palace had maintained its original appearance despite 200 years passing.
A spirit sat upon the throne at the end of a red carpet.
The Great Hero Arhan who led the war against the Ains to victory. His sharp features remained those of his prime, untouched by age.
His arrogant eyes measured Aiden.
"You're young. But qualified. State your name."
"Aiden."
"What a mannerless brat."
Though hailed as a Great Hero, Arhan's actions resembled those of a butcher. Aiden felt no respect for him, seeing no need for deference.
Arhan hadn't even reached thirty when he died.
"I seek the trial."
"You seek the relic."
"I'll grant your wish while I'm at it."
The only woman Arhan the Butcher ever loved was a half-demon.
His lingering regret for failing to protect his love remained as a trial, wandering between heaven and earth.
Arhan's trial was the mission to rescue a half-demon.
Falling into the spacetime he had separated with his power, participants would join the battle from 200 years ago.
An extremely difficult trial—it was the battlefield where Arhan had died.
"Did you bring two half-demons to impress me?"
Sein clawed at her scales while sobbing. Deril could only watch his sister with slumped shoulders.
"Think what you will. I'm confident I'll succeed."
"What are they to you?"
"I don't know."
"But—"
"I promised to cleanse the black blood. Just as you did for that woman."
One of Arhan's relics made this possible.
"Ha! You think mere determination can accomplish what I failed? Preposterous."
"Enough pointless dialogue."
Arhan couldn't expel Aiden. Since Elohimderk had chosen Aiden, he had no choice but to administer the trial.
The spirit glared furiously at Aiden before suddenly sneering.
"This isn't merely a reenactment. Death there connects to reality. The demon horde will devour you. Yes, watching a brat like you struggle will be entertainment for me."
The spirit tapped the throne's armrest. Their vision inverted. The surroundings shattered like glass and collapsed.
Dense darkness fell. A floating sensation enveloped Aiden's entire body, transporting him somewhere.
In the distance, a beam of light emitted a horrific stench that assaulted Aiden.
The Demon-Slaying Ascetic was more enraged than ever.
Aiden swam through the darkness toward the light.
When his vision cleared, Aiden stood in the middle of a wasteland.
Under a red moonlight, an inverted giant cross rose from the plains. Beings seething with malice covered the land like grains of desert sand.
A woman hung upside-down from the inverted cross—Serthia, the half-demon Arhan had loved.
From the crimson sky came a thunderous voice:
Let the revelry begin—!
Another inverted cross erupted from the ground, binding Sein.
She wanted to hide the scales consuming her body, but her limbs were restrained helplessly.
She could only sob violently.
Deril's face twisted horribly.
"Deril, this is the final battle where you must pour out everything."
"Please... understand."
His voice trembled with rage—perhaps directed at Arhan.
Simultaneously, crimson scales enveloped Deril's entire body. His form swelled grotesquely as his face began morphing into a serpentine shape.
A Sentinel—the demonic beasts inhabiting the demonic realm. The black blood had consumed Deril.
Vertical pupils gazed down at the tiny prey. A long tongue slithered out, dancing through the air.
Aiden stared straight ahead.
The battlefield where the Great Hero Arhan went to rescue a half-demon. Of course, the Church provided no support—he fought alone.
He cut down the demon horde before him, only to be thwarted by a single entity.
The massive lump of flesh visible in the distance. Its pale skin lacked any structures that should be there.
Only countless maws for devouring things covered its surface.
This battlefield was real. Should Arhan's power dissipate, that monstrosity would manifest in the mortal world.
A demon that devours everything it touches would chew through the entire continent.
It must be slain while there's still a chance. Aiden unleashed his halo.
A pure white radiance split the crimson sky in two.