Chapter 140
Chapter 140
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Dusk Monkeys and the Hardliners
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[Chapter 139 - Transfer Gate]
Darkness is by its very nature the unknown, and the unknown is by its very nature something to fear.
Thus, since ancient times, humanity has fought the darkness with fire.
Yet the darkness blanketing these ruins held a mystical power that feared no flame. Torches lit and swung about, or hurled ahead, only illuminated what was right in front of them—they could not pierce the distance.
Only the magical light conjured by the mages could dispel it, and even that not entirely.
The brightest of them, Eloise's light, barely secured a visibility of about ten meters.
"Why's the visibility like this? It's creepy."
"Right? Feels like something's stuck in my eyes."
The knights voiced their discomfort as well.
One of the special abilities knights gained upon awakening was the power to see through darkness. Thanks to it, they felt no hindrance to their vision at night, in windowless rooms, or deep in caves.
So for them, this situation felt all the more alien.
Unlike the others growing anxious, however, Arsen's face had actually relaxed quite a bit.
Noticing it, Barkran asked.
[You look pretty relaxed. Everyone else is freaking out...]
[I have a feeling I know what's coming. At this level, it's not as big a deal as I thought. I was bracing for something more annoying.]
"I have no idea what's going on. Never heard of anything like this..."
Marun grumbled in a frightened tone.
Toward him, Arsen explained in a matter-of-fact voice.
"It's probably the ability of the magic beast inside. I think I know what it is. I've hunted them before, back in the day."
"Is that so!?"
At Arsen's words, Marun broke into a wide grin, as if his life had been spared.
Arsen nodded calmly to reassure him, then raised his voice slightly to explain.
Loud enough for the whole group to hear.
"You can think of the area around us right now as being filled solid with black mist. The things themselves aren't that strong, so just stay alert and kill them when they show up. They mainly go for the ankles or legs..."
Mid-explanation, Arsen swiftly lifted one of the Black Lion's front legs.
A well-honed bluish metal blade whistled past the spot where the Black Lion's right forepaw had just been.
Naturally, Arsen hadn't stood idle.
The axe he'd been holding swung out, accompanied by a fearsome whoosh of air and the sound of flesh being shredded.
Thick blood spurted out, and when one of the mages directed light there, the torso of a naked human body—its lower half cleanly severed—was revealed.
"A person...?"
"No, it's a dusk monkey. A type of magic beast."
Severed head aside, its limbs and torso were so human-proportioned you might mistake it for a person at a glance, but that face was unmistakably ape-like, no matter who looked.
Arsen had once gone with Palato to subjugate these magic beasts when he was around thirteen.
He recalled that time briefly. Himself collapsed, unable to rise from severe wounds, and Palato wrapping bandages around him, offering encouragement.
'Not too dizzy?'
'...I'm fine. I can still fight.'
'Your eyes are all glassy—you don't look fine at all. At least the bleeding's stopped, so fall back for now.'
Back then, Arsen had been in the thick of his growth spurt, cocky with his surging physical prowess and skills.
The dusk monkey had been the friend that taught him humility.
At first, he'd thought them simple prey, like goblins in a fantasy tale, and charged in recklessly to cut them down. But he'd soon learned otherwise.
Surrounded by their pitch-black darkness—the kind that stole even a knight's vision—they'd ambushed him.
They filled the cave with dark gas like spewing ink, then somehow forged fairly sturdy, sharp weapons to target the enemy's lower body.
For such small-statured creatures, it was probably their best tactic, but for those facing them, it was a nightmare.
Having to fend off blades suddenly stabbing at ankles or shins in pitch darkness.
Arsen too had let his guard down and gotten swarmed, his calves shredded.
His thighs had taken several hits as well—if an artery had been nicked, even a knight like him might've been in mortal danger. Looking back now, surviving had been a miracle.
"There's the head here."
Using his axe, Arsen rolled the head that had buried itself in the ground until it faced the sky, exposing its face.
Flat nose thick with whiskers, shark-like pointed teeth—no one would mistake that for human or raider. It was unmistakably a magic beast.
"They live in packs, so there are probably dozens. Everyone stay vigilant around your feet..."
Mid-sentence, a thought struck Arsen.
He issued a separate order.
"Catch a few alive, if you can. They might be useful."
* * *
The dusk monkey hunt went more smoothly than expected.
Thanks to the abundance of mages in the group. Once exposed under magical light, a dusk monkey was just a slightly strong, agile ape— no match for knights, let alone well-armed soldiers.
Thinking back to how he'd nearly died hunting them with Palato and four squires, it felt almost hollow.
What if there'd been light back then? Even now, it was a meaningless what-if.
As the hunt continued, Barkran, who had been spectating from his spot dangling off the backpack, let out an exclamation.
[Wow, it's like watching professional hunters.]
[Most soldiers actually start out as hunters, in fact. And in this era, living as a warrior is pretty much the same as becoming a hunter. You fight magic beasts far more often than humans or raiders.]
[Makes sense. There were no magic beasts in our time.]
[You were horrified last time, but these are fine?]
[Well, these aren't human.]
Chatting idly on one side, Arsen skillfully maneuvered the Black Lion, circling the formation's edge to draw the dusk monkeys' attention.
It was an insanely dangerous job, but with his senses sharpened to the absolute edge—like he'd slice through anything that touched—and the Black Lion's movements in perfect sync, none of their attacks landed.
Arsen was no longer the green kid from back then; he could've laughably slain all five of those rookies now, and he wasn't letting his guard down.
While they flailed to catch the Black Lion flashing past like the wind, the soldiers efficiently swung spears and swords to finish the dusk monkeys.
Finally, the hunt ended. A few dusk monkeys were captured alive, stuffed into water barrels, and sealed with magic to block even air.
Unable to breathe, they'd die within hours, but there was no intention of keeping them alive that long anyway.
Minutes after the last one went into a barrel, the cave began to brighten again.
This was from a knight's perspective, of course; to ordinary eyes, it'd still be dim, but the threat had diminished greatly regardless.
As everyone relaxed, Marun asked curiously.
"But why capture these?"
"I'll explain shortly."
At that answer, Marun nodded with a puzzled expression.
He seemed to trust that Arsen wouldn't do anything pointless without reason.
Nor was he the only one; the others were curious but raised no objections.
With the dusk monkeys secured, they descended into the brightened ruins.
At the very bottom level lay a vast cavern.
In its center stood a massive mirror framed in delicate bonework.
Six meters tall and over fifteen meters across, the enormous mirror showed no trace of age—perfectly flat and pristine, reflecting everything clearly.
Gazing at it, Bazkal let out a gasp.
"Ooh, so this is..."
"Yes, the transfer gate! It's a bit different from the one I saw, though!"
Marun explained proudly, clapping his hands.
As he'd said, this mighty ancient relic was the key to their plan for linking up with Starburi.
Starburi's base was far to the east even from up north. No matter how hard they pushed, they couldn't rendezvous here in the western Baltres territory on time without it— not before the first link-up.
Thus, after the detachment set out, Starburi had secured and waited at one such transfer gate somewhere in the far north.
Waiting for Arsen's group to arrive at this one in the far southwest and open the passage.
"Shall we get started then? Hey, Druway, get ready! No, first we should contact the elder..."
"Wait. Hold on a moment, Knight Marun."
Stopping Marun as he moved to hurry the space magic specialist, Arsen stepped quietly to the front of the group and turned to face them.
It formed a setup like Arsen was about to give a speech.
"There's something I need to explain now."
* * *
Arsen explained in full the conversation he'd had with Latis.
That a so-called "hardliner" faction existed within Starburi, and they planned to strike the moment contact was made—the moment of presumed alliance, when Arsen's forces were least suspicious due to ignorance of their numbers—to subdue him.
Learning of this vile ambush plot, the knights and soldiers flew into a rage. Eloise's staff glowed blood-red in response to her mana, and Rino snarled as if ready to devour them the instant they appeared.
By contrast, Marun first panicked, then huffed and puffed in defiance. It was the first time Arsen had seen him this furious.
"No way! I mean, I trust Knight Arsen and all, but Elder Uman and Elder Berg aren't like that. You and Elder Latis must be mistaken!"
He seemed to take it as an insult to his group.
In truth, Arsen had anticipated from the start that convincing Marun would be the biggest hurdle.
Marun was deeply attached and proud of Starburi—his organization—and being so guileless, he'd struggle to believe in malicious scheming.
"This won't do. Let's check directly right—"
"No."
Arsen stopped Marun from pulling out the crystal orb.
Even in his excitement, Marun's eyes bulged red, but under Arsen's calm glare, he soon looked away.
Even amid the heat, instinct had reminded him of their hierarchy.
"The moment you contact them now and ask about it, there's no turning back between us and Starburi. They obviously won't come over, and they might even start a civil war up north. If we handle this attack well, we can cut out the hardliners and cooperate perfectly—but you'd be throwing that chance away, Knight Marun."
Scolding him like that, Arsen glanced at the other mages' reactions.
Unexpectedly, rather than objecting strongly, they showed skepticism or partial acceptance.
Noticing, Marun whipped around and shouted.
"Hey, Jeron, Lesha—say something!"
"Uh, Knight Marun. Well..."
Hesitating, one mage stepped up to counter Marun.
Arsen knew the mage's name: Tairam. Exceptionally sociable for a mage, he'd built strong bonds with several of Arsen's soldiers.
"Knight Marun, hate to say it, but it's not entirely unbelievable."
"What?!"
"I think so too. Elder Uman is the type who could pull that."
Another mage chimed in, sparking a heated argument between Marun and the two.
For Arsen, it was quite bewildering—he hadn't expected any mages to side with him from the start. Was it the camaraderie from fighting together?
'Not just that.'
Contrary to his thought, the mages persuading Marun made utterly rational, logical arguments.
First, if Elder Latis truly wasn't cooperating, Arsen couldn't know Starburi's structure in such detail—so Latis backing Arsen must be true, meaning the hardliners' approach was mere arrogance. And realistically, turning against Arsen here gained them nothing.
Compared to Marun's emotional "They're not like that," the two mages' voices carried firm logic.
After a debate lasting over ten minutes, Marun finally returned to stand before Arsen and asked.
"Why tell us this now, of all times!?"
"If I'd said earlier, you'd have reported it. I wasn't going to hold back even now."
"Well, that's..."
As Marun trailed off, Arsen delivered his prepared line.
"I know it's hard to believe. We've only been together a few months, while those elders are superiors you've been loyal to for decades."
"Yes..."
"But three of the five elders oppose that plan. Considering Starburi's operations and ultimate goals, it's overreach and treason. For the organization's sake, you can't support it."
No one here was ignorant of Arsen's prowess. Nor did anyone doubt that subduing him—even if they sensed the attack coming— was near impossible, and would cost devastating losses even if successful.
Even Marun anticipated as much; Arsen's displayed power had been that overwhelming.
As general acquiescence formed, Arsen made his final pitch.
"So, once the gate opens and we confirm their ambush, help us then. We absolutely won't strike Starburi first. How about it?"
Arsen had chosen the option with the least moral burden for them.
If Elders Uman and Berg truly betrayed an ally's trust, confirming it before asking them to side with their battle-brothers carried real weight.
A long silence followed, then Marun spoke softly.
"Just a moment... give us time to think..."
"Of course. But do it where we can see. We can't have you contacting them, Knight Marun."
"...Understood."
The Starburi mages huddled quietly in a corner for their meeting.
Unlike the shouting match earlier, this one was calm and hushed.
Likely because Marun, their leader, sat with lips pressed tight in anguish.
Ten-odd minutes later, Marun returned and said.
"Alright. We'll cooperate to open the transfer gate first, confirm if the elders attack... and if they do, we'll help Knight Arsen."