Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Ally
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The number of komoras kept growing, and Burpallord grew smarter by the day. The komoras relentlessly pressured the nearby city of Taymon.
About three months before Meruld met Jade, a desperate plea for help arrived at the Dark Forest guardian from the elf city of Toroshimo in the Little Oakwood.
Even more komoras than in the Dark Forest were appearing in the Little Oakwood, and a monster resembling a cow was snatching elf children. The number of elves killed in the process far exceeded those in Taymon.
Meruld realized a crucial fact.
"Burpallord isn't alone."
Komoras were also called mutants because they weren't creatures that suddenly burst from the ground—they were existing beasts transformed into monsters.
Burpallord lacked the ability to create them. He hadn't confessed to it, and there was no evidence, but Meruld was certain.
He was a hunter by nature. Hunters destroyed things, they didn't create them. It was easy for a painter to learn sculpting or for a hunter to learn butchering, but hard for a painter to hunt wild boars or for hands used to trimming meat to carve statues.
Moreover, he wasn't fast enough to alternate between the Dark Forest and Toroshimo. That meant there was more than one demon of that level. Perhaps an even greater force lurked behind them.
Meruld had vaguely suspected there was a leader issuing orders to Burpallord, but now he was convinced. Yet he was too overwhelmed handling the Dark Forest problem to aid Toroshimo.
Meruld desperately needed a mage who could wield the Light of Annihilation. He would pay any price for even a demon's weapon.
Then, the komoras' numbers stopped increasing. Taymon's elves rejoiced, thinking the attacks had finally ceased.
"It's not a good sign."
Meruld had noticed Burpallord lingering in a specific area for the past month.
Meruld searched the vicinity and discovered a cave leading underground. The entrance was a natural cave with no signs of artificial tampering, but a short way in, it was blocked by wooden pillars and a stone door.
The tunnel widened the deeper he went, and a foul smell grew stronger—mingled fishiness and rot.
At the cave's deepest point lay a vast lake. A house-sized black sphere bobbed up and down in the water.
"You've finally figured it out, Dark Forest guardian!"
Rhinod, the rhino-like komora, spotted Meruld and spoke.
"But it's too late. The ultimate lifeform, directly created by Lord Watercon, has just been completed. Heldra, show them your power. Oh, we shall praise—"
Meruld slit Rhinod's throat before he could finish his chant and hurled the head far away.
"This guy's always breaking into hymns at the drop of a hat. He should at least sing well if he's gonna do it."
Meruld decapitated him every time, but a few days later, he was alive again.
"I really need to incinerate that bastard completely with magic flame."
Rhinod was freakishly lucky.
This time, too busy searching the lake to learn what Heldra was, Meruld could only sever his head. By tomorrow, he'd probably reattach it and belt out hymns like a squealing pig.
As Rhinod had said, Heldra began rising from the lake.
First came a snake's head, followed by others in sequence: lion, sheep, skull, eagle.
Its size made the vast cave feel like a narrow pit.
When the snake head smashed the ceiling, the supporting pillar crumbled, cracks spiderwebbing across the walls and ceiling.
Meruld retreated without firing a single arrow.
"The reason komora numbers haven't grown is because they focused on making that thing. Who's Watercon? Burpallord's master?"
In the hundreds of years as Dark Forest guardian, this was the first time he'd faced an enemy he had to retreat from.
From then on, Rhinod and the other high-ranking komoras called themselves the Heldra Legion and marched on the Dark Forest.
Their advance headed straight for Taymon.
"If only I'd been a little faster... If only I'd discovered the cave sooner and collapsed it..."
Meruld felt immense responsibility for failing to prevent the giant monster's birth.
He couldn't stop the Heldra Legion alone. Kill a hundred komoras, and ninety would revive the next day. With Heldra as their ally, their morale soared higher than under Rhinod's command.
The only way to halt their advance was to defeat Heldra. But incinerating that massive bulk was nearly impossible. He'd tested ten magic arrows on one head; it writhed in brief agony before the flames extinguished.
The magic's power couldn't overcome the target's size. The Sage had crafted all those magic arrows, yet even she couldn't devise a spell to burn Heldra.
"To my knowledge, no spell exists that can burn a monster of that size. Only demons can exist at that scale."
At the Sage's explanation, Meruld asked,
"The Light of Annihilation can dispel demons regardless of size?"
"Exactly."
"So what? Same conclusion! Where am I supposed to find that mage?"
"I'm trying. But what can you do when it doesn't exist?"
Meruld couldn't stop Heldra's advance. Fortunately, its enormous size meant it couldn't consume nutrients for energy on its own. It moved only by day and halted at nightfall.
After a battle, it might not move for a full day.
Meruld exploited this to continually harass its advance. But that merely delayed the inevitable—it wasn't a permanent solution.
In the end, the Heldra Legion reached a day's march from Taymon.
That's when General Taragon of Taymon sought out Meruld.
Most elves avoided meeting Meruld because of his orcish appearance. But Taragon didn't care.
"Let me help you, guardian."
Meruld hid behind a tree, not wanting to show his orc form.
"I don't need help, Taragon."
"I know your temperament. And that you dislike forest elves. But this isn't personal, is it?"
"When I say I don't need it, I mean exactly that—not for political reasons or personal tastes."
Childishly, Meruld prodded the other's pride. Most elves would storm off in anger. But General Taragon was more tenacious than most.
"This time, you can't fight alone."
"I know. But without a way to kill komoras permanently, 'more troops' just means 'greater losses.' If I die, then find a way to fight. My advice? Evacuate Taymon's residents north."
"Putting our heads together might yield a better plan."
"What good's an orc and elf head-butting besides starting a fight?"
Meruld withdrew, unwilling to argue further.
"This might truly be my last battle."
Meruld prepared a battlefield broader than any he'd ever set up. If all went according to plan, he could trap Heldra and stall it for at least two days.
He still had nothing but a stalling strategy.
Then an uninvited guest appeared at the battlefield's center.
Ruby attacked Heldra, veering it far from Meruld's predicted path. The carefully prepared trap was wasted. But Ruby's fierce assault halted Heldra's advance.
"A human? Of all times, now? Bad luck for them and me alike."
Meruld considered leaving them to die but changed his mind.
Let natural ecosystem events unfold. Intervene otherwise... He decided to stick to that principle.
The one he saved that way was Jade.
And he was the light mage the Sage had mentioned!
Meruld rescued Ruby and Saf too, bringing the trio to the Sage's hut. He poured out the full story of the komoras plaguing the Dark Forest.
After hearing it all, Jade gladly offered his help.
Meruld couldn't have been more relieved and grateful. Yet suspicion crept in.
"Jade, how did you arrive exactly on time like this?"
Meruld posed the question in his mind.
"Who sent you?"
Riding his campion, Meruld glanced back at the Sage following close behind on her forest ostrich.
The Sage quickly asked,
"Spit it out if you have something to say."
"Was it... Granny who called you?"
"Called who?"
The Sage looked utterly clueless.
"Never mind, then."
Only after Meruld faced forward did the Sage catch on.
"Oh, those two? If I'd called them, would I drop kids in the middle of a warzone? I'd guide them cautiously to the forest edge, then have your escort safely bring them to my hut."
"That makes sense."
Meruld muttered under his breath, inaudibly.
"That doesn't prove Granny didn't call them."
The Sage turned back and said,
"Go slow. Jade's still recovering."
Jade rode campion behind the forest ostrich, maintaining exactly the gap between Meruld's campion and the Sage's ostrich.
Not because Jade handled it well—the campion adjusted the distance itself.
Campions were the safest, most comfortable forest mounts, but not for someone fresh from a gut wound. Meruld knew that, yet urgency made him speed up unwittingly.
Meruld slowed his campion, but the Sage pressed on with her scolding.
"He's the mage who'll erase Heldra. Treat him like royalty."
"Why tag along just to nag? Should've stayed home baking cookies."
Meruld meant it out of worry, but his tone always turned gruff with the Sage. She never took offense, instead treating him like a child.
"I'm not so frail I need your protection yet."
"Good, because if fighting breaks out, I won't have spare energy to guard Granny."
Meruld grumbled his concern again.
Soon they left the Dark Forest and entered the Great Oakwood.
The terrain here suited campions for speed. Normally half an hour to Taymon, but Jade's condition prevented it.
"Figure an hour. Precious mage, like Granny said."
Meruld slowed further, pulling alongside Jade's campion.
"How's the body holding up?"
Jade gripped the campion's horn tighter than necessary and couldn't settle properly even on its comfortable back. He oddly claimed it was "uncomfortable without a saddle."
"Even among Kun tribe hunters, saddles are common now. For a normal human, Jade's fine. Saf's the weirdo, hopping on like ten years' experience despite first sight."
Jade replied to his pained face with feigned nonchalance.
"No issue using the Light of Annihilation. Don't worry, Meruld."
Talking demons all night had somewhat warmed him to Meruld. Meruld stayed wary. Nothing good came from befriending humans. His tone grew stiffer than at first meeting.
"You and Saf were talking 'names' earlier? Care to explain?"
"Demons with names require Saf's 'eyes.' But Heldra's clearly nameless, so I can handle it alone. What worries me is elsewhere."
"Out with it."
"Can I even get close to that massive thing?"
"That's for me and Sage to handle. Don't worry. Next?"
"Vanishing a demon with light magic always brings backlash. Bigger the target, stronger the kick. Worry is whether I can withstand the recoil after erasing that bulk."
"That's beyond me. Anything else?"
"Feels empty without Saf around."
Leaving the hut, they'd long debated who joined the Heldra hunt.
Initially just Meruld and Jade. But with Jade injured, they switched to including healer Saf. Then arose: could Jade reach touching distance on Heldra?
The Heldra Legion wasn't just Heldra—hundreds, thousands of komoras swarmed too.
Meruld alone couldn't guard Jade and Saf while attacking Heldra.
The Sage intervened: she'd protect Jade with magic, so Meruld focus on Heldra.
Meruld opposed adding people to protect. So Saf stayed behind instead. Someone needed to watch unconscious Ruby, and the Sage could fight komoras solo.
Thus, Meruld, Sage, and Jade traveled together.
Meruld disliked teaming up. Even the Sage's magic support against Rom Empire troops wasn't true collaboration.
First time in centuries.
"No choice. Special circumstances."
Dawn lit the Great Oakwood as Taymon's elf city came into view.