Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: To the Demonic Realm (5)
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[It's been ages since I last woke up and went on a rampage, and what do I find waiting for me? The most entertaining news. Is it true that Aunsor's successor betrayed us?]
Reygus asked with evident interest. Even after dying once and becoming Undying, he showed no trace of gloom or despair. He was so cheerful it made one wonder if he'd always been this way in life.
In any case, few were worthy of respect from one of the Four Great Dragon Demon Generals. One of them was Ainsera, the Dragon Demon King's first concubine.
"Yes."
[How did that happen?]
"I wouldn't know. She's always been impossible to read. Probably the Aunsor clan's upbringing at fault."
[Hmm. Spare me the petty details—ask the underlings instead of the Queen Consort.]
"Same as ever."
[I'll take that as a compliment. Even after dying and rising again, I'm unchanged. Isn't that cool?]
Reygus burst into booming laughter. Even in life, he'd been casual with his subordinates, joining the rank-and-file for drinks and delighting in the latest gossip from the servants. Ainsera had openly despised that side of him.
But now her attitude was entirely different. Her expression and voice were utterly impassive as she called him unchanged, betraying no emotion whatsoever.
Reygus said,
[The Queen Consort seems greatly changed.]
"A long time has passed."
[That's not all, I suspect.]
"It was a trial I had to endure."
Ainsera knew well what she'd lost. But even the sentiment to abhor that change was gone now. She was little more than a soulless husk, her soul long dead. All that remained was her original purpose: fulfilling the vow...
<...>
Reygus silently regarded her. As an Undying, his emotions didn't show in this state. It should have irked him, yet Ainsera met his gaze with doll-like indifference.
At length, Ainsera asked,
"How did the field test go?"
[Hmm. Splendid. Far better than expected. The King's magic is truly remarkable. I thought becoming Undying would be horrific, but from the moment I awoke, it's only grown on me. Quite the problem.]
"I'm glad. Your existence is already exposed to the Guardian Shadows, so I won't hold you back. I expect great things from you going forward."
[If there's rampaging to be done, I'm there. That's why I shook off the underworld's call and returned.]
"Plenty of opportunities ahead. And... did you learn anything about Kallos?"
[Regrettably, no. Couldn't pry open those bastards' mouths. We'll have to wait for the pursuit team to bring something useful.]
Reygus had set the trap targeting the Prophecy Guardians to learn about Kallos. But Delta and Zeta, who blocked him to the end, spilled nothing.
Ainsera said,
"Even so... I wonder if that criminal Kallos truly lives. The Great Darkness has found nothing in all these years."
[Who knows if he's alive. But he exists somewhere in this world. The Guardian Shadows are a prime candidate.]
"So he might be Undying as well."
[Indeed. Meeting those Guardian Shadow things this time convinced me. They were as refined as I am. And moreover...]
"Something's bothering you?"
Reygus paused, lost in thought, prompting Ainsera's question. He gathered his swirling thoughts and replied.
[Hmm. No. I'll tell you once it's clear. In any case, a mage capable of creating such beings won't be common. Not in all history.]
From the moment Reygus awoke, he knew Kallos existed somewhere in the world. Atein's magic had revealed it to him like divine revelation.
That news threw the Plains of Darkness into uproar. They mobilized fully to hunt Kallos's traces.
[Then I'll take my leave.]
Reygus performed a proper courtly bow—surprisingly refined for his bulk—then withdrew from Ainsera's presence. As he emerged from the Queen Consort's chambers, an elderly Dragon Demon with gray horns approached and respectfully handed over his weapon, a massive war hammer. He'd left it with the elder, as one couldn't carry arms into an audience with the Queen Consort.
[The Queen Consort has sacrificed much.]
"Thanks to her sacrifices, we stand here today."
The stern-faced elderly Dragon Demon was Charnes, Reygus's adjutant from the Dragon Emperor War. Now one of the Plains of Darkness's real powers, he'd stepped up without hesitation to serve when Reygus rose as Undying.
Charnes suddenly remarked,
"I never thought it would take this long."
[Agreed. Two hundred twenty-three years since the King passed and the war ended—feels like a joke. Taking this long to raise an Undying... its performance is top-notch, but what do you even call this?]
Reygus had awakened as Undying quite recently. He was a very special Undying, revived by the Dragon Demon King's magic. Retaining his memories and clear cognition, he avoided madness and even possessed near-perfect sensory perception, feeling the world as if alive. Reygus was utterly delighted by his state, so close to life despite death.
The Plains of Darkness saw his rising as a sign the King's resurrection was near. He too was part of the revival ritual underway beneath the Dragon Demon Palace.
Charnes said,
"But seeing you, General, makes the wait worthwhile."
[From a martial standpoint, absolutely.]
A doubt flickered in Reygus's mind as he answered.
'Those guys were like me.'
That was the fact he'd withheld from Ainsera. The Guardian Shadows' Undying gave him an eerily similar vibe.
'Are they tied to the King's magic too? Well, the King was so unguarded that others could've reverse-engineered similar spells from his traces... Or was it that punk Kallos meddling?'
After a moment's thought, Reygus spoke.
[By the way, you've gotten old yourself.]
"Time has a way of passing."
Two hundred twenty-three years wasn't short even for Dragon Demons. Seeing Charnes, a young man during the Dragon Demon War, now a white-haired elder drove home the passage of time. Reygus was shocked Charnes— not even First-Gen Dragonkin—still lived. He was well over four hundred.
[You should be lording over fresh young pups, not sticking with me. Should've groomed some useful ones and sent them my way.]
"I've raised a few already. I'll introduce them soon."
[Ah, so even at your age, you hate grunt work from one to ten.]
"Isn't that obvious? I've climbed high enough to strut around these days."
[Same old you. After all this time, still unchanged. Good.]
Reygus tried humming cheerfully, but only a hissing wheeze and black cursed energy escaped—no tune came. He tried clicking his tongue in frustration, but with no tongue, it was impossible.
[This is a masterpiece. A real masterpiece. Still a ways to go before I fully accept this body. No issue in battle, but that's not enough.]
His skull bobbed as he cackled.
[Bloody, dripping meat sounds good, but it's an eternal pipe dream. Sad, really. Oh well. The dead have their own delicacies. Maybe I'll hunt some down.]
"If there's anything you want, I'll procure it."
[Just thinking aloud. Hmm. You still haven't answered my question?]
"Two reasons. Personal and official."
[Official first.]
"I've built my own faction in the meantime. Not shoulder-to-shoulder with the big players, but with everyone saying the King's revival is near, I need a foothold for after."
[What good's clinging to a walking corpse like me?]
"No one else worth clinging to."
[Fair enough. And the personal?]
"Life's gotten boring."
[Hm?]
"Hiding here, smirking slyly while scheming against humans? Not fun. With you, General, even this old body might get a chance to cut loose."
[Heh... Aren't you too old for that?]
"You're one to talk—word is you never quite lived up to your age either..."
[Oh ho. Grown bold with age, eh? I'm dead already—what's age matter? No one counts years after Bellun.]
"Bellun?"
[Hm? Oh, right. The young ones wouldn't know.]
"I'm hardly one of the 'young ones'..."
[Had you lived another four centuries, you'd know the name. A guy who tangled with the King way back.]
"With the King? Never heard of him."
[The King felled plenty, so that tracks. Atein's name is etched in infamy now, but he was once a world-saving hero. Happened a lot.]
Reygus reminisced. Even before death, he'd been a walking history book, born without parents like the First-Gen Dragonkin, living far beyond his race's span.
[Back then, I wasn't yet the King's Dragon Demon General... Right. I was a comrade of the eccentric, wise mage Atein.]
Charnes listened intently. Long past the age of regaling youths with tales, he felt like a wide-eyed child again, hanging on adults' stories.
[The King, me, and Almaric banded together for it. Almaric and I weren't on good terms then... Eh, skip that. Aunsor and Baltazak weren't allies yet. Anyway, Bellun was the worst foe we faced—no exaggeration.]
"That bad? He walked the earth without parents too?"
[No. He was human. Or used to be?]
"Human? A human threatened all three of you?"
[Coming from someone who forgets humans toppled us in the Dragon Emperor War.]
"True, but..."
[Well, Bellun wasn't a living human. Per the King, he was the 'first to defy death.' Also called 'King of Death' or 'Prime Black Mage'...]
Bellun had existed for eons. The first on earth to reject death and rise as Undying.
[Before Bellun, no Undying existed. The King said most earthly necromancy stems from him.]
"Good lord. Such a being existed?"
[Did. Everything has a first, right? Like the King as first Dragon Demon.]
Bellun had sought to remake the world, claiming life's pain stemmed from living. He aimed to transcend life and death for all... a calamity grander than Atein in scope. Yet he fell to Atein and his comrades.
Finishing his tale, Reygus asked as if it just occurred to him.
[Oh yeah, I heard the kids got beat and one betrayed us. What happened?]
"The survivors' clans raised heirs with utmost care. The current youth are green but capable. Mentally, though, their education fell short."
[Not the stale details I want.]
"Betrayer's story first, or the beaten kids'?"
[Betrayer. How badly treated must they have been for a high-up to bail?]
"Ugh. Can't say we treated 'em well. The Aunsor clan especially went overboard..."
[How so?]
"I don't know everything—just rumors."
As a Dragon Emperor War survivor and Plains of Darkness power, Charnes's position as Reygus's old adjutant paled against clannish groups like Aunsor or Baltazak. He relied on intel and gossip for other factions' doings. Even the Plains of Darkness, united around Ainsera and the Great Darkness, wasn't monolithic.
"Rumor is, the betrayer Laura Aunsor was artificially created via experiments and rituals to be the ideal heir for the Aunsor clan."
[Huh? They did something that insane?]
Reygus was stunned. Even he, who'd scorched the continent with Dragon Demon King Atein, found Charnes's tale absurd.
"If true, it's ridiculous. Using their blood, sure, but parading a magic puppet as Aunsor's heir?"
[Hmm...]
Reygus's expression grew complex and subtle. The madness from old comrades who'd fought the world with him underscored how much time had passed.
[We'll dig into that later. What about the beaten kids?]
"Them..."
Moments later, having heard Charnes out, an unmistakable gleam of shock and intrigue emanated from deep within Reygus's eye sockets.