Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Light
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'In the middle of Rom, a demon appearing—that emperor's dream might just become prophetic. They're in a desert underground cave right now, but there's no law saying these things won't show up in the heart of the city soon.'
Jade thought as he listened to the horrific sounds.
The two monsters continued their mealtime chatter while devouring Franco.
"People taste better than horses, after all. I can't even remember the last time I had one in centuries."
"Humans have gotten fewer and farther between."
"That's because you've been eating too many. That's why fewer people cross the desert. The others don't hold back like we do."
Jade had no desire to distinguish which one was saying what, nor did he care to listen closely to their conversation.
"How long have you been in the human world?"
Jade asked.
He thought they hadn't heard amid their feasting, but the rope-hand monster approached the bars and answered.
"I don't count human days, so I don't know. But since Furiga's era, we've eaten about this many people."
Franco's bloodstained clothes were caught in its teeth.
Jade tried not to look as he asked,
"What do you mean, 'this many'? How many is that?"
"I said this many. Wanna see?"
"I can't see from in here."
The rope-hand monster asked its companion,
"Mind if I take it out?"
"For what?"
"To show him."
"Why?"
"It'll be fun. He can't escape anyway. Remember that guy? The one who cut off his own leg with a saw and ran."
"Yeah, that was hilarious. He left a trail of blood the whole way, didn't even know, and crawled for half a day."
The two burst into laughter.
"If we're lucky, we might see that again."
The rope-hand monster looked at Jade and plucked Franco's torn cloth from its teeth with its hand. Seeing bits of flesh clinging to the rag nearly made Jade vomit.
"Here you go."
The monster opened the bars and wrapped its long fingers around Jade's waist, lifting him to the wall.
"Take a look."
Human skulls were hung on the wall like a hat rack. There were at least a hundred at a glance. The rope-hand monster took the skull it had been rolling in its mouth and hung it in an empty spot.
"That's about how many we've eaten."
The clawed monster beside it contradicted.
"If we calculate precisely, we've chewed up some skulls entirely, so it's more than that. And lately, not many people pass by, so we haven't eaten much. Can't count days by those anyway."
"Not even roughly? Like, how many years?"
Jade asked.
"Years? We haven't counted that precisely. You know how many years?"
The clawed monster asked the rope-hand one holding Jade.
"How many sunrises in a year?"
"About two hundred."
When the clawed monster spoke, Jade asked,
"A year means three hundred sixty-five sunrises. Is two hundred some hellish calendar?"
"No sun rises in hell. So we don't know your way of counting days."
Held in the monster's hand, Jade sank deep into thought.
'Just like street thugs bragging about their past exploits. From the speech, they're lesser demons. Wonder if you can tell higher from lower demons by stuff like this.'
The demons Jade had encountered so far only manipulated human minds to act like people or mimicked human crimes. In other words, most demons belonged to the evil spirit type. These massive ones were a first, and so were shadow demons.
'Father Danel must have wanted to teach me about things like this.'
There was no one left to teach him now. He had to figure everything out alone.
"Who ordered you to capture me?"
Jade asked.
"Is it okay to tell him that?"
The rope-hand monster asked.
"No one said not to, but we shouldn't by default."
The clawed monster replied.
Jade spoke first.
"Who's Yol?"
"Hmm, you already spilled it earlier. Idiot!"
One grew angry, and the other joined in.
"I didn't say it! You did!"
Jade couldn't tell if these things were truly stupid or just pretending to toy with him.
The clawed one shoved its face close to Jade, still gripped by the rope-hand monster.
"Suspicious. He hasn't been scared at all, keeps asking us questions."
"Let him be. I think I can guess this guy's purpose soon. Investigating Furiga, right? Look at his eyes. He's glaring like he wants to kill Furiga!"
"Foolish. Humans can't kill demons anyway."
"Only archangels can. And archangels only kill true devils."
The two chuckled.
Jade asked again.
"Is Yol your master? Is he a demon too?"
"You'll meet him soon. Yol lives nearby, so if we yell loud, he'll come running and take you. Then our job's done."
The clawed monster answered.
Jade said,
"Yol must be a stronger demon than you two, clearly."
"He's scary!"
The rope-hand monster shuddered as it spoke, and the clawed one snorted,
"Yeah. Strong and scary. So we gotta hand you over quick. Don't want to see him for a while!"
Jade held the book in one hand and grasped the rope fingers wrapped around his waist with the other.
"If he's someone you fear that much, I wouldn't stand a chance. Guess I'll put the plan to play captured and wait on hold."
"What're you babbling about?"
The book flipped its pages on its own and stopped in the middle. Jade silently read the passage inscribed there: 'The verse of light that eradicates shadow demons.'
After reciting the verse of light, the book was enveloped in brilliant light. The light flowed through Jade's body and gathered in his palm.
The moment the light transferred to the rope-hand fingers gripping him, it exploded soundlessly. Shredded flesh sprayed everywhere, and Jade fell to the floor. He landed feet-first but still ended up on his butt.
The rope-hand monster staggered back. One of its pillar-thick arms had vanished without a trace.
"Huh? Ho? Huh?"
The rope-hand monster groaned like leaking air, clutching the spot where its arm had been.
The burning light didn't stop. White flames climbed from the shoulder to the chest and nape, spreading to the other rope-hand arm blocking it, consuming it from the tip inward—like paper once lit, refusing to stop.
Even Jade had never seen a demon disintegrate so slowly.
The creature could do nothing, slumping as it watched its body fade away bit by bit.
"Huh? Ha?"
The clawed monster watching from the side screamed in greater terror.
"H-Hey. Your body—it's, uh, disappearing."
The rope-hand monster's arms were already gone. It blinked dozens of eyes at once toward its companion. Soon its neck burned, then its head, silencing it. Moments later, its torso and legs were completely incinerated. Only a shadowy black stain remained where the monster had been.
The clawed demon said to Jade,
"What did you just do?"
What worried Jade was the other one counterattacking immediately after he dealt with one. A swing of those massive claws would sever his head on a graze, leaving no chance to apply the light to its body.
The instant Jade hit the floor, he recited the verse to eradicate shadow demons. But there was no need to rush.
The remaining one didn't dare approach.
"What did you do!"
Jade thrust his palm forward, anticipating a rage-fueled charge. Light blazed ahead.
The monster covered its face with both arms and retreated. It wasn't blinding—it was agonizing.
White steam rose wherever the light touched its body.
"You said Yol's nearby, right? Where is he?"
As Jade advanced with his hand outstretched, the clawed monster screamed and pressed against the wall.
"I don't know! I don't know. Yol only finds us when he wants to meet. We can't just meet him whenever we want."
The monster pleaded, arms still shielding its face.
"That's the annihilation spell, right? No. If you die by that, you can't revive forever."
"So you've spared all those countless people begging for mercy?"
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm allowed to eat people. But I can't die to one. So get rid of it!"
The clawed monster swung its clawed hand. It was like swatting a mosquito, but to Jade, it looked like a steel spear swung by a brute.
Jade ducked reflexively and blocked the monster's arm with his glowing hand. A mere graze sent him tumbling backward.
But the light had grazed the monster's arm too. That alone exploded the claws and palm. The light burned inward, shredding the forearm like pulling apart rice paper.
"No, no! I need to eat more."
The monster shrieked.
"Ahh, if I'd known, I'd have gone to Postrum and eaten all the humans there. Shouldn't have held back..."
The light scorched its mouth, silencing it. Soon its head burned away entirely, followed by its body.
Like the rope-hand monster, it left only black ash.
'If that had hit my head instead of my hand, I'd be dead.'
Jade sat slumped, unable to rise for a while.
The area was smeared with human and demon blood, reeking horribly. Sitting did nothing to rest him. The gems embedded in the walls had lost their glow.
'As expected, demon power lit those stones. With them dead, the light fades.'
Jade struggled to his feet and picked up Franco's backpack from the floor. The monsters had removed it while eating the horse. Inside were a pickaxe, axe, rope, and some bread.
Jade shouldered Franco's pack and retraced his steps to the entrance. The wall gems dimmed gradually. An ominous feeling quickened his pace.
He soon reached a dead end.
Jade looked up at the ceiling. The walls were stone, but the ceiling was sand. For some reason, it didn't pour down.
'They came down through here.'
He recalled the moment the monsters captured them. They hadn't held their breath long passing through sand, so the ceiling to surface couldn't be far.
Soon the gems went dark, plunging Jade into pitch blackness.
He'd lived in the dim monastery, but this perfect darkness was a first in his life. Even a starless stormy night left some light in the world.
Being alone in the dark terrified him more than sharing space with two monsters. He set down the pack, grabbed the pickaxe, confirmed the book was secure, and abandoned the rest.
Jade jammed the pickaxe into the wall and began climbing. In the sightless silence, only his ragged breaths and the strikes echoed.
Then sand trickled from the ceiling, soon cascading like a waterfall.
'Like the glowing stones. This space held by demon power is reverting.'
Jade stood on the piling sand and drove the pickaxe higher. Sand accumulated faster than he climbed. Stepping on it could raise him past ceiling height quickly, but soon he sank, unable to rise.
'God forbid—survived two demons, only to bury alive in sand.'
Father Danel had told young Jade tales of far northern lands and eastern kingdoms' mysteries: sea monsters, night ghosts, pirates and treasure, dark forests, vast steppes, red deserts, rocky wastes, angels and demons, heaven and hell...
That thrill of adventure ended before beginning, buried in sand.
'Don't give up.'
Jade desperately swung the pickaxe into the sand, clawing upward. But the rising sand outpaced him—no progress.
Soon sand covered his face, cutting off breath. Up to his arms, he couldn't swing anymore.
Jade dropped the pickaxe, flailed, and thrust his hands upward. Finally, one broke through.
But with feet, body, shoulders, face packed in sand, he couldn't muster force. No pulling up, no pushing off.
Sand enclosed him; confinement terror outweighed suffocation. Better eaten by that demon than trapped forever.
He pitifully wiggled his protruding hand. As asphyxiation urged inhaling sand over nothing, someone grasped it.
That hand pulled Jade upward.
After wrestling the sand's weight, his upper body emerged. Air alone felt like salvation. Legs took longer, but breath banished all fear.
Fully free, Jade braced on hands, spitting sand, gasping.
Eyes stung shut, he lay prone, speechless.
"Are you all right?"
A familiar old man's voice approached, hoarse from the effort.
Jade brushed sand from his face and opened his eyes.
It was Rendel, the horse trader from Postrum village.
Night had fallen outside. Yet moon and stars dazzled Jade blindingly bright.
"Yes. I'm fine."
Rendel sat beside him only after confirming he was safe.
"Good lord. Thanks be to God! Heh heh heh."
Rendel laughed hollowly before continuing.
"I was over there when I heard sand collapsing—thought the worst and came. Saw a hand. Normally I'd run, but today... Heh heh."
Rendel laughed weakly again.
Jade marveled at Rendel's arrival but couldn't dwell, freed from suffocation horror.
"Thank you."
It was all he could say.
They sat recovering breaths. Once composed, Jade asked,
"But how did you get here?"
"Didn't plan to come at first."
Rendel spoke slowly.
"Soon after you left, a rough-looking man asked where you went. I said I didn't know. Then he wanted to buy a horse. Seemed shady, rude too—named 200 hass for one. He slapped down 20 gold hass right away."
Gold hass were worth twelve silver hass.
"Even with that, I didn't want to sell—no excuse to refuse. No change? Said he didn't need it. After he left, I worried about you. Wife said the prayer you gave nagged her."
"My prayer?"
"Yeah. Too generous for 5 hass, she said. And the guy who bought the horse and got that prayer seemed like a young priest from some cathedral—not ordinary, she figured."
Jade listened with a wry smile.
"So she said return the prayer—prayed it over me, passing your blessing. Told me to give it back to that priest."
Jade couldn't hold back.
"Prayers are just words. I only taught you; I didn't truly transfer a blessing. Besides, coming here alone was too dangerous. You warned me about bandits and monsters in the desert!"
"Didn't take your prayer that seriously myself. Too risky alone, like you said. While hesitating, that horse came back!"
Rendel pointed. Two horses—one Jade's, fled when monsters took Franco's.
"Saw your pack too—'trouble,' I thought, had to come. How else find this alone? Horse led me. Back to where it lost its master."
Rendel gestured at the featureless surroundings.
"Honestly, searched a bit, sun set—gonna quit. Then sand collapsing sound. Heh heh. Hand popping from sand—nearly fainted. What happened?"
"Met monsters."
Jade shortened it to meeting and killing them.
Rendel asked no hows—just gaped in shock and fear.
"I have to go now."
Jade rose first; Rendel followed.
"After that, you still go?"
"Yes."
"What's in the red desert?"
"Looking for an angel."
"Angel?"
Rendel smacked his lips.
"Can't argue with a demon-slayer. Was gonna suggest overnight at my place—desert nights dangerous—but..."
Jade shook his head.
"Delaying is riskier for me."
"Take that horse back anyway. You bought it."
"Thanks."
"Oh, nearly forgot why I came."
Rendel grabbed Jade's hand.
Jade resisted.
"No need for prayer."
"Wife's request."
"Still no. Her blessing is hers."
"You said prayers are just words? Let me say empty words then—go easy in mind."
Rendel smiled. Jade couldn't refute.
The old man prayed softly, slowly.
"God, if blessing's mine, give to him. If ill comes to him, send to me. Uh, um, so... If calamity strikes, make it... Hard word? Right! Only bearable calamity. Unbearable? Change it, okay? ...If unbearable calamity, send friends to help. Grant strength, courage for safe journey. In God's name."
Rendel finished, grinning.
"Whew, steamed my brain. How was it? Good prayer?"
Jade teared up.
"Most beautiful prayer of my life."
"Really? Can tell wife I nailed it?"
Jade nodded.
"Never asked your name."
"Jade."
"Then Jade, find that angel."
"Rendel, head back safe."
They mounted and rode opposite ways, waving till out of sight.
Jade felt like a ship leaving harbor, lighthouse fading behind.