Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Shackles and Chains
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Above the Albito Valley stretched a barren wasteland with only sparse patches of grass, utterly devoid of any sense of life's vitality.
By the time he had fully climbed out of the valley, Jade's thigh muscles felt numb and paralyzed. The boy was remarkably light, but he still had weight, and this was a slope grueling enough to tax even someone climbing bare-handed without baggage. The fatigue from being chased through the cave lingered as well.
Jade spotted a suitable rock and laid the boy down in its shaded spot before sitting beside him.
'The color of his hair is something else. Any ordinary redhead would look bleached in comparison.'
In the sunlight, the boy's face was pristine without a single scratch, and his limbs looked like those of a nobleman's son who had never known hardship.
No matter how he looked at it, he was just an ordinary human boy. There were no angelic traits to speak of. No white wings, no holy halo shining around him....
According to ancient scriptures and legends, angels appeared accompanied by light, wind, and flames, and departed with thunder from the heavens. But the light came from the shackles and chains the boy wore, there were no flames, and instead of thunder, curses had erupted.
Out of curiosity, Jade touched the chains. He tugged on them, but they didn't stretch like they had earlier. Despite the sunlight, they weren't hot—in fact, they were cold. Light as wood, yet their power from before could pierce rock.
It was certainly no human-made object.
'If these are the Umparuton chains forged by dwarves, then I need to prepare myself to encounter all the races from Father Danel's stories that I thought were just metaphors and allegories.'
Jade didn't want to stay here. Being in the middle of the desert without water or food was dangerous, the desert demons were dangerous, and it was unsettling to be not far from the Albito Valley where the bandits' corpses still lay.
Yet he had no strength left to leave the shade and move. The sun had tilted far to the west, but its rays were still intense—carrying the boy would lead to dehydration and death in less than half an hour.
'Just a bit longer and the sun will set. Maybe this kid will wake up before then. Then I might get some help.'
Jade gazed down at the boy and shook his head.
'What am I expecting from a kid who openly declared he'd kill me?'
There wasn't a spot on his body that didn't ache. Wondering if the wound was still there, he touched the nape of his neck and winced, pulling his hand away.
'It'll fester. I need proper treatment somewhere....'
As these worries filled his mind, without any warning, a massive *boom* echoed.
Jade jumped to his feet and scanned the surroundings. About two hundred paces away, a monster burst out from the ground, piercing the earth.
It resembled a bipedal monkey, with arms so long they nearly dragged on the ground. It wasn't as grotesquely bizarre as the two from yesterday, but the problem was its size. It was three times larger than Jade.
Its pitch-black body looked as hard as rock. No fur anywhere except a streak of yellowish hair along its spine. On closer look, it had a mouth on its forehead too, and another massive one on its belly. Which was the eating mouth was anyone's guess until you got devoured.
Since entering the Red Desert, Jade's understanding of demons had been shaken. To him, demons were beings that dwelled in human hearts, inciting evil deeds—like Mitchell, who had plunged him into mental panic three years ago!
As the thing charged on all fours, Jade was so terrified he couldn't move his legs. No matter how grotesque the outer form, it couldn't instill true fear—real terror came from within..., or so his arrogant confidence had held, now shattered in an instant.
'The two monsters from yesterday weren't less scary because I was brave. I endured because they were only scary enough to endure.'
Jade hurriedly pulled the book from his bosom.
The monkey-like monster covered two hundred paces in mere seconds.
Jade flipped to the passage for obliterating darkness-type demons. He found the page faster than in any of his three years of practice. But the monster was even faster.
Thinking he was done for, Jade thrust his hand out toward the approaching monster's face in desperation.
The light of obliteration had just formed in his palm when it touched the monster's nose.
Jade was flung backward. Whether from the monster's charge or the clash of the light against the demon, he couldn't tell.
He tumbled across the dirt five or six times. Lifting his head, a cloud of sand dust kicked up by the monster obscured his vision.
In the hazy dust, the monster that had touched the light of obliteration stood frozen. Moments later, it let out a deflating hiss and toppled forward.
White flames started from the monkey-like face, traveling along the nape and back, burning it down to bones. Even those bones soon vanished.
"D-Did it work?"
The impact of the fall hit him belatedly.
Jade clutched his sore shoulder, then yanked his hand away in shock. His shoulder joint was twisted in an unnatural direction. Pressing the dislocated part hurriedly popped it back. Pain flashed, turning the sky yellow for a moment.
'My god, did it pop out and back in? Man, people talk about dislocated shoulders hurting, but they never said *this* much!'
Before Jade could catch his breath, another monster erupted from the sand on the other side.
This one looked like a crab—except its entire body was one massive crab, not just claws for hands.
Then a third burst from elsewhere. This resembled a frog with an enormous mouth.
The crab-like monster charged first toward Jade, thundering across the ground. Not sidling like a crab, but straight on with ten legs pounding the earth.
"Stop, stop."
The frog-like monster shouted.
The crab screeched to a halt. Red sand billowed over its legs from the ground.
"Why?"
The crab shook off the sand and asked.
The frog-like monster said,
"Our orders are to kill the one called Jade, kill him. I got direct instructions from Yul, I know, I know."
"I know. That's why I'm killing him."
"What if it's not Jade, what if?"
"I saw him use light magic. Yul said Jade has some demon-obliterating weapon—kill on sight."
"Not every light mage is Jade, isn't, isn't."
"So what if not? Just eat him!"
"If we eat him without knowing if he's Jade, we won't know if we've completed the order to kill Jade, won't know, won't know."
The crab-like monster twitched its antennae-like eyes side to side and said,
"You're right."
"Plus, over there it's not one, but two, two. We don't know which is Jade, so we confirm first, then kill to report properly, properly."
For some reason repeating everything twice, the big-mouthed frog pointed behind Jade. Turning, he saw the boy who had been lying in the rock's shade sitting up, freshly awake.
The frog-like monster asked,
"Which one's Jade, Jade?"
Jade held the darkness-obliteration passage open, hand extended. But he didn't chant. He couldn't handle two at once.
As Jade couldn't answer, the boy asked,
"If this one's Jade, then what? If not, what?"
"If Jade, kill and report. If not, just eat him."
The crab-like demon answered.
"Hmm, I see."
The boy glanced at Jade with his hand outstretched and asked,
"What are you doing?"
Jade panted, unable to reply.
The boy realized on his own.
"You know light magic? Makes sense, since you undid my chains."
The boy replied smugly, then shouted to the demons.
"This is Jade for sure."
"Why tell them that?"
Jade cried out in shock.
"To draw them out."
The boy answered nonchalantly.
"Draw out? What?"
Suddenly, the ground rumbled.
Monsters began crawling up through the sand from spots across the Red Desert. He counted five before the billowing sand made it impossible.
"Jade's here?"
"That really is Jade."
The monsters called his name as they emerged.
"Yul said kill Jade, right?"
"Handle per Yul's orders."
"Kill him."
The quiet desert grew clamorous with the monsters' voices.
The boy, amused, asked Jade,
"You're popular, huh?"
Terrified, Jade said,
"I didn't ask for this."
"More importantly, who's Yul?"
"No idea."
The boy giggled and said,
"First, let's deal with those, then talk."
"Deal with them?"
"Yeah, deal with them."
"The demons?"
"Means kill them. Don't you get metaphors?"
"Then you know the light of obliteration too?"
Jade asked.
That's when the boy forced him down by the back.
"Get down."
A monster charged from behind Jade. Already too close—Jade saw only its gaping maw.
The boy smashed his fist into the monster's nose bridge. Its mouth snapped shut forcibly, half its face slamming into the dirt. Hot earth and sand poured onto Jade's face, prone right beside it.
The boy thrust his hand into the monster's mouth and yanked it out. In his grip wriggled a severed black tongue, undulating like a snake. Black blood sprayed into the air following its thrash.
"I don't know magic. But I've rarely seen anything survive a severed throat."
The boy flung the tongue aside and hurled the monster far away. Its massive body soared high before crashing down long moments later. A dull rupture sounded as it crumpled at an odd angle.
Suddenly, the sky darkened briefly. Looking up, a house-sized boulder—the same rock that had shaded them—flew toward Jade's head.
"Uwaa...."
Jade could only curl up, clutching his head.
The boy casually caught the incoming boulder with one hand and hurled it back. The four-armed monster that threw it got crushed and buried in the sand.
"You can't return what you can't throw? Nah."
The boy cackled.
The next instant, surrounding monsters charged all at once.
"Stay down. First time trying this weapon, might not control it well."
As the boy let his arms hang, the chains rattled and extended with a *shrrrrk*.
Spinning in place, he whipped up a sandstorm. Winds so fierce Jade couldn't rise even if he wanted to. Couldn't even open his eyes.
Sounds of chains piercing air, monsters' shrieks. Breaking, shattering noises.
Peeking briefly, a chain whipped over Jade's head. At its taut end, a monster was impaled.
It bounced into the air, fell, then ricocheted off fellow demons dozens of times, tumbling everywhere. Eventually, it was just mangled meat strung on a line.
Wherever chains grazed, heads flew; headless bodies split in two.
The boy at the sandstorm's eye was nearly invisible to Jade—only his glowing red eyes visible.
He cackled with each kill. At first, Jade thought it noise amid the chaos, but the laughter continued even as the sandstorm died down.
"Finally loosening up."
Like finishing a sandcastle, the boy brushed his hands. The extended chains retracted, dripping demon flesh and blood. His glowing red eyes returned to normal.
Waving away the dust cloud, the boy walked across the sand strewn with demon corpses.
"Sometimes these don't die even decapitated."
Ahead, a lizard missing its head, one front leg, one back—struggling to burrow into the sand.
"Like this guy."
Jade approached the wriggling lizard in the boy's hand, chanted the darkness-demon obliteration, and extended his hand. Light from his palm incinerated it.
As the boy released, charred ash blew away in the wind.
"In cases like this, a light mage like you finishes it."
The boy said, brushing ash from his hands.
"Someone else had a book like this?"
Jade asked.
"Yeah. But only about one per era."
"Per era?"
"Human lifespan's worth of time. Hmm, any left?"
The boy scanned around.
Jade looked too. Shattered demon bodies, severed heads, mangled flesh filled his view.
'From a human perspective, a hellish scene. But from demons'? Hardly paradise.'
The boy fiddled with his wrist shackles and said to Jade,
"Now undo these."
Since hearing old tales from Danel, Jade had planned to speak to an angel with respect and reverence.
He had at first, when they met. But now, no such feeling stirred.
"No."
"...What'd you say?"
"If you're keeping me alive just to undo those shackles, I absolutely won't."
"You think these restrict me so I can't kill you? Is your brain the size of a dandelion bud? Didn't you see me use them?"
The boy swung the chains, rattling.
"I know. You'll kill me with them, then end the world."
Emperor Benklause had tasked Jade to head east, fearing these monsters appearing in Rom's heart. But demons numbering enough to destroy Rom were already here, nearby. And this boy had obliterated them in under three minutes, now threatening Jade.
"Right. That's the plan."
"Then why hesitate? Kill me with them. Do what you want."
"You little flower-brain, you think I'm bluffing?"
The boy flicked his wrist lightly.
Chains whipped out, coiling around Jade's neck like a whip. Breath cut off instantly.
"Won't kill you. Gotta hurt more if alive. I've read every book in the world, know every torture method. Of ten thousand and six hundred, how many can you endure?"
The boy's voice echoed menacingly.
"I could rip your limbs off easier than plucking petals. No need for tools or creativity like weak humans. But I won't. I'll kill you painlessly. That's the minimum price for freeing me."
"No need for payment. Torture me if you want. But I won't do your bidding."
"You know nothing of pain? Or think I can't?"
"Honestly, yeah, I think you can't. You're an angel."
"Blooming nonsense! I'm fallen, and fallen angels become demons."
Proving it, the boy lit his eyes red.
Jade said,
"You're not. I've met many demons. They don't declare fallen and become demons. You're still good."
"Why, because I'm not hideous like those strewn about?"
"Not that. If you try evil, people will see you as evil's symbol, your form as horror. Your looks don't matter.... don't... matter...."
Neck too tight, Jade struggled to continue. Vision darkening.
'Oh man, pain or torture whatever, gonna choke to death.'