Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Red-Haired Boy
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The red-haired boy, who had been stark naked when they first met, was now wearing some ragged clothes from who-knows-where.
Shackles were still locked around his wrists and ankles, and the chains attached to them were just as they had been. In his hands, he held a massive loaf of bread about the size of his face.
'Where'd he get the bread? In the middle of this desert?'
Jade had dozens of questions he wanted to ask, but right now, that was the one burning in his mind.
"You little shit, you still haven't left?"
The demon in Pendale's form growled like a beast.
The boy just kept chewing on his bread. His eyes sparkled with curiosity, but at a glance, he didn't seem inclined to butt in. The way he was eating wasn't even out of hunger—it looked more like an audience member unconsciously munching faster as the play reached its climax.
Then, without warning, the boy swung his arm. The chain on his wrist whipped out like a lash, slicing through the air with a terrifying whoosh and slamming into the ground where Pendale stood.
In Jade's memory, the chains binding the boy's arms were only as long as his outstretched arms. But just now, that chain had reached Pendale, who was more than thirty paces away.
'It stretched?'
What was even scarier was that Pendale had dodged the attack, which was too fast for Jade's eyes to follow. And the spot where Pendale dodged to was right behind Jade.
"Don't move a muscle. I could kill a worm like you with one finger."
Pendale whispered the warning right in Jade's ear. Jade knew it wasn't a lie or an exaggeration.
'This guy's different from any demon I've seen so far. Not some low-level spirit that possesses kids or dying people—of course not. He's stronger than the desert monster that can crush two horses in one hand. So this is what a high-ranking demon is like.'
It was nothing like the vague strength or terror he'd only read about in books.
The boy finished his bread and asked,
"You're that guy, right? The noisy one who hung around next to me."
Pendale shot back.
"The noisy one was you, you little brat! Always singing at all hours, bellowing that you'd kill everyone once you got out of the cave!"
"So what?"
The boy swallowed the last crumbs in his mouth and unleashed a torrent of words without even taking a breath.
"I was there longer than you, and you were the one disturbing my sleep with your 'I'm taking your body' bullshit. To put it simply, I was the original resident there, and you were the latecomer making all the racket—so officially, you're the intruder. Even by the top ten laws of the ancient Shambhala code, known as the fairest lawbook out there, I could rip your mouth open and get away with it."
"You're going to judge me—a demon—with a human lawbook?"
"Hoo, then forget the ancient laws. I'll judge you by my own morals. I hate you. Hated you from the first sight. That enough? So I'm gonna shove this iron chain down your throat and yank it out your ass, then make you jump rope with it. Every jump, you'll be staring up at my feet from the dirt, bouncing your shitty face off the ground."
The boy smacked his fist into his palm as if he'd just realized something and continued.
"Oh wait, that's not your real body, is it? Before I got chained up, I saw a few slimy bastards like you stealing other people's bodies. So first, I'll have to kill the meat you're riding. Then you'll turn back into smoke, right? I'll bottle that smoke, ferment it with cheese for a hundred years, dig it up two hundred years later, eat it, and shit it out."
The boy thought seriously for a moment, then corrected himself.
"Smoke, so not shit—fart it out, I guess. Then you'll resurrect again? Ugh, gross."
Pendale said, utterly baffled,
"You think I'll fall for your childish wordplay? Get lost. Or I'll kill this one!"
"You're talking out your ass, you pansy-ass bitch!"
The boy sneered.
Jade wondered if he'd misheard for a second.
'Pansy? Pansy-ass?'
The boy kept going.
"I don't care if you kill him. I was planning to do it myself anyway. But you killing my kill is as shitty as you eating my food. You were dumb in the cave, so you're obviously dumb out here too—so for your dumb ass, let me explain it simply: kill him, and you die too."
Pendale raised his voice.
"You think you can kill me? I am the first warrior of hell's great ruler Baifell, the vanguard, the destroyer of souls who can erase all living things. If not for that light magic protecting you, I'd have snatched your soul and taken your worthless body long ago."
"Magic? Never used any. Don't need to. I can fight angels and kick demons without that crap."
"Not you—the magic on those shackles."
The boy held up his wrist shackles. Under the sunlight, they looked like they were just reflecting light at first glance, but they still emitted a faint white glow.
Pendale continued.
"Now that I think about it, this human broke that powerful light magic on you. Not such a simpleton after all. Makes me want this body even more."
Pendale's lips were so close they nearly brushed Jade's ear. Jade was frozen in goosebumps.
The red-haired boy asked,
"So, demon, what's your name?"
"No demon gives out his name."
"For a guy who won't share his, you sure rattle off your boss's name easy. Proof you're just some lowlife lackey clinging to whether it's Baifell or Rockshit. If you were such a big-shot demon, Baifell's first warrior, why were you locked in the same cave with me for a hundred years?"
"That's..."
"You don't know? Means you're not worth knowing, you pansy-ass scrap. And Baifell saw you as such a pansy nobody that locking you away for a century was no big deal."
"What's this 'pansy-ass' shit you've been yapping about?"
Pendale scowled as he demanded.
The boy raised his hand like he was about to explain, then waved it off.
"Forget it. Time to kill you now. If there's even a chance you can survive, leave him be and run."
That's when Jade jumped into their argument.
"No! Even if it kills me, don't let this bastard escape!"
"Shut up! Stay out of it."
The boy snapped angrily.
Jade didn't back down and yelled,
"If he gets away, he'll kill people left and right, possessing their bodies and slaughtering! Even if I die, this thing has to die!"
"Ah, shut the fuck up! Before I shove daisies up your skull!"
The boy shouted.
Pendale turned his anger on Jade too.
"Yeah, shut your trap, human! If I was gonna leave you behind, I wouldn't have shown up at all! I'm taking your body—"
Pendale vanished mid-sentence. The boy's chain whipped out in a curve, striking at Pendale, who leaped backward to dodge.
Jade couldn't see the motion in between. The chain hadn't even hit Pendale's face directly—just grazed past it—yet a light scratch appeared on his cheek.
The chain really had stretched, too. As the boy casually wound his wrist, the extended chain retracted toward him, shortening to about three feet.
Pendale had retreated well over a hundred paces.
The boy looked down at his hand and tilted his head.
"Huh, weird. Thought I hit him. Hold back too much?"
The boy feigned aiming the chain at Pendale again and continued.
"Since you dodged, might as well go farther. Nah, truth is, you can't hide anywhere in this desert from me. If I decide, you're just dead. So do whatever."
The boy snickered and added,
"Come fight me fair and square, or run for your life—your choice."
Pendale stood frozen for a moment, then bolted. His speed was faster than a horse at full gallop—Jade could only see the white cloud of sand dust he kicked up. The boy looked flustered.
"Huh? Usually they charge in after that, but he just bailed. No pride at all."
The boy muttered as he walked up to Jade.
Jade swallowed hard and said,
"You can't just let him go like that! Who knows what he'll do. If you can really keep up with your power, chase him down now—"
"Shut up!"
The boy bellowed. The roar was so loud Jade's ears rang.
"You've been pissing me off since earlier! Wanna die? You think you're in any position to order me around?"
The boy plopped down in front of Jade and shoved his face right up to his. For some reason, he looked furious at Jade.
When Jade instinctively pulled his head back, the boy grabbed the back of his head and yanked him forward.
Their faces were so close their eyelashes nearly touched. The boy's red eyes gleamed like jewels. His breath tickled Jade's nose, carrying the scent of the bread he'd just eaten mixed with a sweet floral aroma.
The boy's skin was so clear and pristine it reflected the sunlight, white as if freshly made. But the voice from his small mouth was brutally savage.
"Listen up, human! I'm gonna kill you now. What I said in the cave still stands. I'm gonna kill every human in this world. I should've started ages ago, but you're still alive—the first button—so I haven't gotten to it yet. Know why I'm letting you live?"
"D-don't know."
"Because your weird bullshit piqued my curiosity."
"What'd I say?"
"You don't even remember your own words?"
"My head's a total mess right now. I can't even recall how I got out here. Did you get me out?"
"Yeah. Had questions. Didn't expect you'd stir up shit while I left you here a sec."
"This wasn't my doing—"
"Answer the damn question."
The boy growled in a thick voice.
"What did you mean by what you said to me right before you passed out?"
"If you tell me what I said right before passing out, I might be able to explain what it meant."
"I said I'd kill you when you freed me."
Jade remembered word-for-word what he'd said about destroying the world.
'From now on, the name for fallen angels will become my own.'
Jade nodded.
"Yeah."
"Then you said this."
"What?"
"Sorry."
Jade blanked for a moment.
"I said sorry?"
The boy nodded.
Jade dredged up the memory. It surfaced slowly, like a sunken log rising from the depths.
"Yeah, right. I did say sorry."
"I said I'd kill you. So why? Beg for your life, curse me out—why say sorry?"
"Because I really am sorry. Maybe I want to apologize for everything you've been through on behalf of everyone."
"You know what I went through?"
Jade nodded.
"How? That's my story alone—how'd it spread? Humans don't even live a hundred years."
"What you did is too bizarre and wild for normal folks like us to keep to ourselves. Anyone who hears it can't help but blab to someone else—it's that juicy. So grandpas tell grandsons, who tell their grandsons, and it spreads."
The boy released Jade and stepped back a bit, stroking his chin. His sparkling large eyes reminded Jade of a cat eyeing a mouse about to be devoured.
"Tell me the story you heard about me."
"First, I want to hear your name."
"My name is..."
The boy trailed off, fumbling.
"What's wrong?"
Jade asked.
"My name... what is it?"
The boy clutched his head, staggered back.
"Huh? Why am I...?"
"What's going on?"
"Dizzy."
"You've been chained too long. Sudden movement—probably that."
"If you think a little chaining weakened me, I'll kill you."
"You're killing me anyway, right? So I'll say it: you are weakened."
"You little shit! Don't call me weak!"
The boy grabbed Jade's collar. In that state, he collapsed into Jade's arms like he was being hugged.
"Huh? Why am I...?" With those words, the boy lost consciousness and went limp.
The boy in his arms was astonishingly light.
"Funny, huh? The monster who's gonna end the world, cradled in my arms, and my first thought is pity."
Jade stood with the boy in his arms.
"First, gotta get outta here. Pendale or the bandits might come back."
Jade left the temple front and walked along Albiton Valley. "In the stories, your shackles and chains were supposed to be so heavy they restricted your movement, but nah. Light enough for me to carry... Oh, right, they're made of umparuton, so not 'iron chains' but 'umparuton chains'?"
He kept murmuring to the boy as he looked down at him.
"You said the name for fallen angels would be your own, but you can't even say your name. Who are you? The wingless angel from the tale, or a demon tricking me with this cute face?"