Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Downward
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Jade descended what felt like an endlessly winding staircase, relying on a single flickering candle.
There were no obvious dangers in sight. No rotten stench, no oppressive structures looming menacingly, no traps lying in wait.
From the point where the stairs ended, the man-made structures gave way to a natural cave. It was filled with clean, cool air, just like the stalactite cave in Pharens that he had visited with his parents as a child.
Molten wax dripped onto the back of his hand. Jade let it envelop his skin. The heat faded quickly.
A small stream flowed along the floor, murmuring coolly. Jade followed it down the straight tunnel of the cave. There were no forks in the path, so getting lost seemed unlikely. Still, just in case, he stuck close to the stream, thinking he could always follow it back if needed.
Amid the chill air, faint wisps of warmth occasionally blew from deeper within. The humid breeze felt like someone's breath, which was unsettling.
His first candle was nearly spent.
It felt like barely an hour had passed, but he already needed to light the second one. By the time that burned out, he would probably have to turn back, fetch more candles, and return.
In the worst case, even if the flame went out midway, he could always follow the stream back.
'No, if I want to escape, I need another way out. Those guys are surely waiting at the temple entrance.'
He couldn't hope that the thugs who had shot arrows at him on sight would just shrug and say, "Oh well, he got away," and go home.
Jade scooped water from the stream, drank a mouthful, and continued downward, ever downward along the incline. The slope wasn't steep, so it wasn't particularly dangerous or exhausting. Even so, he didn't rush. He advanced one careful step at a time.
As the second candle neared its end, the cave suddenly widened into a vast chamber. Up until now, the passage had been so narrow that stretching out his arms would almost touch both walls, and jumping would nearly graze the ceiling. But now, the candlelight couldn't even illuminate the ceiling or walls fully.
Despair that he still had far to go mingled with anticipation that his destination was near.
'What lies at the end of this cave? A prison holding an angel? An entrance to hell?'
Jade fixed the nearly spent second candle to the floor and lit the final one from its flame. For a moment, two candles lit the space, their light reaching the corners of the walls and ceiling.
From ahead came the patter of something scurrying away, accompanied by a fleeting shadow.
Jade startled and thrust the candle toward the sound.
Nothing was there.
Jade didn't try to convince himself it was a trick of the light. A shadow could be an illusion from the flame, but not the sound. And that sound still echoed through the cave. It had spread too widely now to pinpoint its source.
A short while later, not the patter of running feet, but the faint, clear rustle of something treading on dirt reached his ears.
'I might need to turn back...
I have only one candle left.
'To retrace the distance of two candles burned, I need to hurry now. Better to head back to the entrance first and plan from there.'
Jade turned, holding his last candle.
Another distinct patter of running feet echoed from behind him.
Even in the middle of a sunlit red desert, he had encountered two demons. In the depths of a cave like this, it was no surprise.
'Do I really believe there's an angel in a place like this? I've just been brainwashed from hearing it so many times.'
Jade wanted to reject everything Daniel had told him since childhood.
Jade stopped and slipped his fingers into the book in his left hand, ready to open it at any moment. Meanwhile, whatever was making the noise approached with a steady tack-tack-tack.
It wasn't just one.
"Who are you?"
Jade demanded.
He didn't expect a reply, but one of them answered.
"We are the loyal servants of Baifel."
The pronunciation was hard to make out.
Then, like a round in a song, the others chimed in.
"The loyal servants."
"The loyal servants."
"The loyal servants."
Jade thrust the candle forward. The creatures backed away a few steps.
They didn't flee outright. They merely edged out of the light's reach. Their shapes became faintly visible.
Jade narrowed his eyes to peer at them.
They were smaller than expected. Even accounting for their hunched postures, they didn't reach his waist. They had no eyes; horns sprouted where eyes should be. Lizard-like tails slapped the ground, and their sturdy hind legs bore black claws. Faint black smoke wafted around their bodies.
"My name is Jade. What are your names?"
Jade tried speaking to them, just in case.
"We have no names."
One spoke for the group, and the others echoed.
"No names. No names. No names."
"Yeah, I figured as much."
Jade opened the book. But whether the creatures would give him time to read was uncertain.
'They seem like dark-affinity demons, but could be hellfire too. I've never seen one in person... Better prepare for both, just in case.'
To buy time, Jade asked something he didn't even care about.
"Where is Baifel, and why are you greeting me?"
They hesitated before one replied in a thin, reedy voice.
"We will capture you and offer you to Baifel."
The others joined in chorus.
"Offer him. Offer him. Offer him."
Jade was caught off guard.
"Baifel is here right now?"
"He is here."
"Here! Here! Here!"
Jade said in a tense voice.
"Baifel was killed by the angels. I know all about it—don't lie."
"He's not dead. He is here!"
"Here! Here! Here!"
Jade kept his right hand extended with the candle while flipping with his left to the page that banished dark-affinity demons.
The creatures didn't interfere. Like someone seeing a bow for the first time, they had no reason to fear the drawing of an arrow.
"I've come to meet the true master of this temple underground. Take me to him."
"We can't! Baifel is our master! We eat humans."
"Eat him! Eat him! Eat him!"
Jade said threateningly.
"Don't you need his permission to eat me?"
The little demons muttered among themselves in their own tongue.
Jade silently read the passage he had found. At that moment, a booming voice echoed from the direction he had come.
"Stop him from reading the book!"
The voice, utterly unlike the little demons', stirred primal fear deep in his chest.
Jade—and even the little demons—flinched.
"Yes, Master. We will stop him."
"We will! We will! We will!"
They charged at Jade like whipped dogs.
Jade read the open passage aloud, extending his hand, and bellowed an empty threat.
"You fiends! Feel the flames of heaven!"
The demons fled in terror from the light he produced.
"Gaaah, flames of heaven!"
"Big trouble. He has an angel's power."
"Uwaaah!"
Some lost their balance mid-charge and tumbled forward; others leaped back only to fall on their heads.
Jade tried to flee in the gap but hesitated.
'Wait, that's the way I came. Why is the voice coming from there?'
Jade grew confused.
The path here had been a straight line with no branches, and he had seen nothing on the way. Yet something approached from that direction.
Jade wanted to run back the way he came but couldn't bring himself to advance toward the sound.
He bolted in the opposite direction.
'This takes me farther from the exit... Is it a trick?'
Looking back, a strange humming filled the tunnel as something truly approached. The sound grew nearer, but no shape appeared. It wasn't just darkness; it felt like the darkness itself was surging forward.
"Capture him!"
The massive voice commanded.
The little demons, who had retreated from the light, charged again. The eyeless things followed without bumping into walls. Some ran on two legs, some on four.
Even sprinting with all his might, Jade couldn't widen the gap. The candle had long since gone out while running. Nothing was visible beyond the light from his hand.
He ran onward into darkness where he couldn't see ten steps ahead. His breath came ragged quickly. He wasn't in good shape to begin with, and sprinting in the dark drained him fast.
Jade didn't get far before slipping on something and falling. Cold stream water covered his face. Seizing the moment, one leaped onto his back, clawing his nape.
Jade grabbed its hindquarters without panic. When the white light from his hand touched the little demon, it burst like an overripe tomato squeezed tight. Sticky, hot flesh splattered his face.
'Definitely dark-affinity.'
Jade used the remaining light to recite the same passage again. The demon that had rushed in was repelled by the light, flung away as if tossed.
The demons retreated much farther than at first sight of the light.
"It hurts."
"It hurts."
"Can't you put out that light?"
The little demons chattered all at once.
The massive-voiced demon from behind halted too. But it didn't seem afraid or pained by the light from Jade's hand—it simply disliked exposing itself and held back.
In any case, Jade hadn't even glimpsed its toe, so he couldn't know its true thoughts.
'Is that thing in the darkness really the great demon Baifel? No way. It's a lie. An imposter.'
Jade struggled to believe it, yet memories of Vanklaus in Rom's underground tomb made it possible.
Who would believe he had met Rom's emperor alone in an underground chamber?
If it was Baifel, it was like a child taking his first adventure step with a mere staff facing a knight in full plate.
The demon in the darkness boomed.
"Who are you to wield the power to dispel demons? State your name."
Hoping it wasn't Baifel, Jade shouted.
"You first. Give me your name."
The demon replied.
"I cannot tell you."
"So you're a named demon after all."
The light in his palm dimmed. It was like watching a lantern running out of oil.
His shoulder throbbed hotly. The little one must have scratched his nape earlier. He hadn't noticed while fleeing in panic, but blood now trickled down his back, soaking his clothes.
'Father Daniel never mentioned things like this being here...'
Jade realized belatedly he stood in the stream up to his ankles. Even in his frenzy, he had unconsciously stuck to it.
Jade shone his hand's light along the stream. It continued another ten paces before cutting off. Not because the light didn't reach—it was a cliff. The stream cascaded down as a small waterfall.
Jade swung the light forward again. From the darkness, the "named demon" slowly advanced to stand before the light.
Only then did Jade understand why its form had been hard to see. It was darkness itself. Within thick smoke you could almost feel the texture of, yellow eyes gleamed.
The dark smoke formed hands, feet, and a tail.
As it approached, it placed a palm on a dead little demon's body on the floor. The palm dissolved into smoke, absorbed into the corpse, then emerged to reform a hand. The "dead" demon shook its head and revived.
'Spirit-affinity... that's it. But knowing that won't kill the big one.'
For a named demon, the incantations used on spirits possessing Autis or Michel wouldn't work. It was like knowing a bear's weakness is its heart but stabbing with a needle.
As the palm's light weakened, the little demons crept forward.
"A mage?"
The black demon asked.
"I'm a priest."
"A cleric? Perfect."
The demon chuckled lowly.
"What's perfect about it?"
Jade slipped his thumb into the book in his other hand to find a page. The demon noticed and extended a massive hand.
"Don't even think of reading that book. I know all your tricks."
Jade was greatly startled inside.
The demon sneered.
"Surprised I know? No matter how fast you open it, my attack is faster. Better answer my questions obediently. Why are you here?"
Hoping his trembling heart didn't show, Jade retorted.
"If anyone's asking first, it's me. What do you mean it's perfect that I'm a cleric?"
"Because I need to possess a body to leave here. Sunlight disrupts a spirit's form. A cleric's body as my first vessel? Ideal! My turn. Why are you here?"
He had no intention of sincere answers with a demon, but nothing clever came to mind.
"I'm here to find something underground. Not you, obviously."
"That noisy lump underground?"
The demon asked.
Jade was shocked again, nearly blurting, "Whoa, so there is something!"
"You know about it."
"Of course. It's been screaming its head off nonstop these past few years—how could I not?"
For some reason, the demon paused, then changed topics.
"Now I'll take your body. Stay still, and there'll be no pain. Resist, and you'll suffer beyond human imagination."
The palm's light was nearly gone anyway, and there was nothing more to say.
Jade kept backing away.
"I'd sooner die than give you my body."
Then he hurled himself toward the cliff where the stream ended.