Chapter 149
Chapter 149
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Jackpot
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“Genius Mage Who Catches Demons”
Chapter 149
“Is this really going to be okay?”
Kayla asked in a worried tone.
In her hand was a strangely shaped mask sized to cover about half the face.
It was a dwarf-made special mask Bagran had given her for the day she’d need to approach the infected.
Word was, they were rushing to mass-produce them as a stopgap in place of a cure.
Kayla, however, still looked uneasy.
“Don’t worry. It’s made by dwarves. The performance is reliable. Right, Barundel?”
“Of course. I checked it out earlier. That thing will keep out even the worst contaminated air.”
“...Really?”
Only after Barundel spoke with such confidence did Kayla hand over the mask, looking finally reassured.
I put it on right away.
Click, click.
Buckles front and back completely sealed the respirator structure.
And inside that, a pure clean filter.
It was less a mask and more like a gas mask.
No wonder Barundel was so confident.
‘Well, honestly, I’m still a bit anxious...’
It was a disease spread by a demon legion commander, after all.
Even if it was made by dwarves, hailed as children of the god of crafting, I had my doubts about whether it could truly block that plague.
Of course, I couldn’t back out just because of fear.
‘The dwarves are waiting up ahead.’
I shook off the fear, recalling the situation once more, and stepped forward.
I entered the solidly built single-story structure.
The moment I did, a thick teal demonic energy hit me, along with all sorts of groans.
“Cough, cough!”
“Guhhh...”
“Gahak!”
Coughing, pained cries, hacking up blood...
Hundreds of dwarves were gathered in one place, each voicing their agony.
I grimaced at the horrific sight and got straight to work.
“It might be a bit tough.”
Whoosh—
I extended both hands and slowly released chilling energy.
The temperature around us plummeted in an instant.
“C-Cold...”
The dwarves shivered violently, but there was no helping it.
This was the best way to slow the disease’s progression.
I finished the internal treatment just enough not to threaten their lives, then wrapped the outer walls in invisible cold air.
This should reduce the infectiousness of any air leaking from the building.
We’d bought ourselves some time.
Whoosh—
After washing the demonic energy clinging to my body with the cold, I approached my companions, who’d kept their distance.
“...”
Witnessing that dismal scene had soured my mood.
“...Let’s hurry.”
All I could think about was freeing those people from their suffering as soon as possible.
***
Having decided to hunt Bune, we returned to the Red Rock Cliffs.
Me, Kayla, Thompson, Barundel. And now Bagran had joined the group.
“Can’t see a damn thing now.”
The difference from before was that the demonic energy swirling around the Red Rock Cliffs had grown even thicker.
Thick enough to obscure vision entirely.
Thanks to that, we couldn’t scout from atop the cliffs like last time.
Fortunately, everyone was wearing dwarf-made special masks, so no major issues.
Whoosh!
Bagran plunged into the foggy demonic energy first.
-Wear this, and you won’t get infected. Guaranteed. Short on leaves, so couldn’t make many...
Apparently, they’d coated the clean filter with Antilian leaf extract.
True to his words, Bagran moved without hesitation.
Heartened by his example, we followed into the demonic energy.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Of course, stepping inside didn’t suddenly clear our vision.
It still felt packed with black fog.
In that stifling darkness, we advanced step by step.
Step, step, step...
How far had we gone?
Demons started popping out one by one.
“Hiss hiss!”
A [Demon Rock Snake] slithering swiftly toward us, flicking its tongue.
Its eyes were milky white, like cataracts.
Meaning it was already infected.
Well, in this thick demonic fog, what demon wouldn’t be?
Anyway, the moment I clocked it, Barundel stepped up.
Slash—!
Its head lopped off clean by [Anatak’s Large Axe], clanging against rock.
Blue blood sprayed, and Bagran gave him a thumbs-up, impressed.
“Nephew, your skills haven’t rusted, eh?”
“...”
It still looked awkward whenever I saw them together.
Hard to believe they were actually related.
Pushing that thought aside, I examined the [Demon Rock Snake] corpse.
If my guess was right, it’d bear traces of Bune.
And sure enough.
“Demonic energy?”
“Yeah, a clump of it.”
A tightly packed ball of demonic energy emerged from the [Demon Rock Snake]’s body.
It formed only when a creature hit by Bune’s power died—a reaction where the clump accelerated the disease within the host during life.
And that meant.
“Bune for sure.”
He was definitely behind this.
“...Good.”
“Just gotta catch him now.”
“Let’s track the traces first.”
Buoyed by the small success, we moved faster.
To find signs of him.
Where he’d first emerged, what methods he used, where he was hiding now... Mountains of intel to gather.
Some time later, Barundel scored first.
“This ain’t his trace?”
“Looks like it.”
Crackle! Crackle!
The spot he pointed to had a spatial rift leaking unusually heavy demonic energy.
Plus, it was slightly warped.
Like it’d been closed not long ago.
“Looks like he opened this space to enter Kazandur.”
“And it’s closed now...”
“Yeah, means he went back.”
Thud!
Bagran slammed his hammer into the ground, face twisted in anger.
“That damn demon bastard... Spreads plague and runs?”
He looked furious.
With countless dwarves already dead, who could blame him?
But he was missing something.
“He hasn’t fully retreated.”
Bune hadn’t completely fled.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, traces are still here.”
Proof right before our eyes: the warped space.
If he’d fully escaped, he wouldn’t leave such a trace.
Usually, a full return sealed the space completely.
That left one implication.
“He’ll be back soon.”
He’d return to spread more plague.
And.
“Everyone, get ready. We strike then.”
That moment was our chance.
A golden opportunity.
***
The Plague Legion Commander, Bune.
Staring at his trembling hand, he spoke gleefully.
[My power... it’s returning!]
Just as he said.
Swoooosh!
High-quality energy poured into his clenched fist.
Life force from those stinking dwarves and the demons unluckily caught up in it.
That life force was converting in Bune’s grasp into powers of death and disease.
Not long ago, he’d been on the verge of collapse from exhaustion...
Now, he felt light as if he could fly.
[Thank goodness. Thank goodness...!]
Frankly, he’d been in dire straits.
His plague authority, [Disease Propagation], had the drawback of constantly draining demonic energy, and he had no way to replenish it.
Well, there was a way, but he couldn’t use it.
It required vast amounts of life force.
‘Lord Baal wouldn’t permit it.’
Killing lives disrupts balance, Baal had said, refusing.
Frankly, he didn’t get the no-killing rule, but this was a world of the strong devouring weak.
And Baal was demon realm’s lord.
No choice but to obey.
So he’d been squeezing out what little energy he had day by day to sustain his power...
[Thanks to those idiots! Hahaha!]
Foolish fellow legion commanders had handed him opportunity.
Asmodeus and Valefor, who’d perished in the middle world recently.
Their stupid deaths had unbalanced the legion commander system, letting him get permission.
To recover his demonic energy by harvesting lives.
The instant he got approval, Bune crossed to Kazandur, unleashed his power, and this was the result.
Swoooosh!
Endless demonic energy filling him!
Overflowing power!
[Heh heh heh... Just once more.]
Bune smirked contentedly, gauging his strength.
Compared to his peak, he had about one-fifth left.
One more trip to use his power would fill him up.
How could he not laugh?
Whoooosh!
[Wait for me, dwarves!]
Whooping in triumph, Bune opened the spatial rift again.
Heading to the middle world one last time to top off his energy.
He’d already recovered eighty percent.
Nothing in the middle world could stop him now.
He wasn’t like those fools Asmodeus or Valefor.
But.
[...Hm?]
Crossing through the opened space, Bune tilted his head.
Something was off.
He’d clearly passed through.
[...Why is it so dark?]
Instead of the middle world’s unpleasant sunlight, an alien darkness greeted him.
Every scene before him drowned in shadow.
Bune mulled possibilities in this incomprehensible situation.
‘Did I open the wrong space?’
No. He’d been through this one a couple times already. No reason for coordinates to shift untouched.
‘Then... is this the middle world?’
Not entirely impossible. It could’ve been overrun by demons in the interim.
But this level of darkness? Only one being could pull that off: Baal.
So not this case either.
Baal didn’t casually invade the middle world. Especially not if it meant destruction.
Last possibility.
‘...Connected to another space?’
Most likely.
Someone just needed to link another space to his open rift.
‘Don’t know which bold bastard...’
If so, there’d be an unavoidable gap.
The moment Bune took a few steps to pry it open and sever the link.
“Jackpot.”
An unfamiliar voice whispered in his ear.
Ssssh!
The space behind him—the sole escape—closed as if swallowed.
Bune froze.
[What... just happened...?]
He couldn’t comprehend the situation.
How could he?
Predict that he, a demon legion commander, would be swallowed into a mage’s spatial magic.
It took Bune a very long time to grasp his predicament.