Into the Darkness (1)
The werewolf attack was fierce, but it could not breach the wall that was Dante. As he swung his fists, the red insects darted through the air, poisoning the monsters. Dante felled the last werewolf. The snowy field turned crimson with broken teeth and bloodstains.
“…Well done.”
A liberation army warrior extended his hand first. Wariness still lingered in his eyes, yet his gaze was far softer than when they had first met.
“You too.”
Dante’s opinion of the liberation army had shifted slightly as well. He had taken them for a band of lunatics who would attack a princess in broad daylight—true enough—but aside from their radical methods, they at least possessed the sense to protect civilians.
Sir Dan returned to the shelter after finishing his fight. He flinched at the werewolf corpses strewn everywhere, then received his subordinates’ report: Dante had stood at the forefront and dealt with the most werewolves.
“…”
Sir Dan regarded Dante with a complicated look before turning away. Dante had no desire to speak with him either. They had simply fought together because circumstances overlapped. Their goals were different.
“You’ve worked hard, Lord Dante!”
Rivera had already prepared food and bedding at the campsite. The blizzard outside the barrier grew fiercer by the moment. Snow poured down so thickly that nothing could be seen ahead. The sun vanished in an instant, and darkness soon settled in.
Rivera and Norik fell asleep. Dante sat alone before the campfire, watching the snowstorm beetles. Even amid the raging blizzard, the insects stubbornly dug through the snow.
The mystery of life.
Dante enjoyed this moment—observing the bugs as they lived their lives with quiet diligence. He was, after all, an inevitable bug tamer.
“Watching the bugs?”
Someone spoke. Turning his head, Dante found Sir Dan looking down at him with a sullen expression.
“It’s a hobby.”
“Strange hobby. Are they related to those odd insects you command?”
“Maybe.”
Sir Dan lingered in front of Dante as though he had something to say. Dante spoke first.
“I already told you. Let’s pretend we never saw each other today. Once the blizzard stops, we each go our own way, right?”
Sir Dan’s face twisted.
“I know that! The only reason I’m not touching you is because this is a spirit barrier!”
“Right. Thanks.”
“…Damn it. That’s not what I wanted to say…”
After hesitating for a long while, Sir Dan finally forced the words out.
“Today… thanks for helping my men.”
“I only protected people.”
“My useless subordinates told me. They said you took down all the werewolves with your bare fists and those bugs.”
Once he started, Sir Dan spoke freely.
“Those red bugs? What the hell are they? I’ve never even heard of such vicious venomous insects.”
“They’re not from this continent. They came from the New Continent.”
“The New Continent?”
“You’re awfully curious. Do we really have time for this kind of talk?”
At Dante’s words, Sir Dan plopped down in front of him. He was clearly a formidable warrior, yet his eyes were as pure and clear as a country youth’s.
“You. Why are you helping the princess?”
“For the stability of the empire.”
“Stability?”
“The Karmilton Archduke is the empire’s shield. If the duchy falls, the empire will shake.”
“It won’t shake. We’ll keep doing what we must. Only our relationship with the empire will change—from subordinates to equals.”
“That obsession with equality—don’t you think it’s excessive?”
“I’d rather ask you. Don’t you think the empire discriminates against the north? Industrial discrimination, wage discrimination, things like that.”
Dante chuckled.
“Not exactly campfire-in-the-forest conversation. Politics is for the higher-ups.”
“Aren’t you one of those higher-ups? Why avoid talking about politics?”
“I’m not avoiding it. There’s someone I can trust to handle it. I want to leave it to them.”
“…The person you serve?”
“Yes.”
Silence fell. It was expected. Their positions were too far apart; a brief conversation could solve nothing. Still—
Dante offered Sir Dan a serious warning.
“Even if the north becomes independent and forms its own kingdom, the lives of northerners won’t improve. They’ll only get much worse.”
“What do you know, spouting nonsense like that?!”
“Then what do you know? You’ve already fallen for the Lakravan Elder’s whispers, haven’t you?”
“…!”
Surprise flashed across Sir Dan’s face. Dante did not miss it.
“People like you—good at fighting but lacking in learning—are easy targets for the cunning. What the Lakravan Elder wants isn’t the north’s revival. It’s the empire’s weakening.”
“…”
“Knowledge and wisdom are different, Sir Dan. You’re simply unlearned, not a fool. I believe that. Open your eyes and judge wisely.”
Sir Dan shook his head with a complicated expression, then rose to his feet.
“…Thanks for today. But if you keep interfering with us, we’ll meet on the battlefield next time.”
“Probably. Most likely.”
“You should learn to value your life, imperial.”
Dante watched the bugs late into the night—tiny creatures that kept moving without freezing even in the blizzard.
The liberation army warriors departed at dawn. True to their promise, they left Dante untouched. Dante, too, let them go. Investigating the ruins where the Hand of Power was working mattered more than dealing with Sir Dan.
Dante once again opened the Tower Master’s book. He had read these pages many times already.
During the era of the Seven Kingdoms, the mage Dorkuns discovered a certain insect within a scale fragment of the great demon A’k chi Kxhi. He named it a parasite from another world.
The parasite withered and died from lack of nourishment, yet Dorkuns believed he could summon otherworldly insects into this world through the same method. He attempted demon summonings countless times. Many demons answered the call, but he never found the insect he sought…
However, Dorkuns’ experiments came to an abrupt end. The northern guardian dragon, Pekaraksis, could no longer tolerate the repeated demon summonings and completely destroyed Dorkuns’ magical workshop…
Dorkuns’ experimental records were entirely lost, and whether the experiments succeeded remains unknown…
The ancient ruins the Hand of Power was excavating were not necessarily Dorkuns’ laboratory. Yet Dante’s intuition told him they were not entirely unrelated. The north held few ruins worth excavating, and any truly valuable ones would already be famous. There was little point in digging in secret.
“It’s over there.”
Norik pointed into the distance. From the outside, it looked like a hunter’s campsite—exactly the kind of place whose true nature would be difficult to discern without someone like Norik.
“Good work.”
“Hehehe… Then, I’ll…”
Dante pulled out a symbiotic insect and inserted it into Norik’s eye socket.
“U-Uwaaaaah—!!!”
“I’ll take it out when this is over. Take Rivera and go to the princess. Report this location and request the knights.”
When Dante looked at Rivera, she nodded awkwardly. Her master was an extraordinary man… and at the same time, a terrifying one.
“Be careful, Lord Dante.”
Dante approached the excavation site alone. Hunters armed with bows stood guard. Since it outwardly resembled a campsite, nothing seemed out of place.
“Who goes there?”
Someone reacted as Dante drew near. Dante answered calmly.
“The Lakravan Elder sent me.”
“…The Elder?”
“I want to check the progress of the work. Who’s in charge?”
The hunters exchanged bewildered glances before calling someone over. Moments later, a man who appeared to be the supervisor emerged.
“The Elder sent you? Who are you?”
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
“???”
“I came from the empire.”
Dante bluffed. If any part of the Hand of Power was connected to the chancellor, they would not ignore a “noble from the empire.”
“From the empire… you say?”
Got it.
Surprisingly, the excavation supervisor lowered his posture and spoke to Dante with honorifics. A northern religious group showing deference to an imperial noble? Clearly suspicious.
“I didn’t hear anything about someone coming today…”
“Does that matter? You’re not suggesting I came all this way for nothing, are you?”
“No. It’s just… please wait a moment. I’ll ask the Elder and report back.”
Snap!
Dante snapped his fingers. The Noon Fairies burst forth and attacked indiscriminately.
“W-What?!”
“What are you doing— Aaaagh!”
Dante stepped over the fallen men and entered the excavation site. He had already seen every reaction he needed. Now he only had to secure what he wanted from the ruins and leave.
I’ve already requested support from the princess. Let’s grab the important items first.
A stone gate emerged from the piles of excavated earth. An inscription in the ancient language of the Seven Kingdoms was carved upon it—the same tongue Dante had learned while studying magic.
This is the laboratory of the wicked mage Dorkuns! Any who trespass shall lose their lives!
“…”
Dante ignored the warning and passed through the stone gate. The stairs leading underground stretched endlessly. There were no light sources—not even torches. Darkness so complete that nothing could be seen ahead.
“Mr. Bar.”
[Ah, it’s dark and warm here. I like it!]
“Guide me.”
[Of course, Mr. Dante!]
Mr. Bar crawled swiftly across the floor. Dante followed its trail by emitting mana pulses. The deeper he went, the stranger the ruins became. People had clearly been stationed to block entry while searching for something, yet not a single soul remained inside. There were no lamps for work either. It looked as though the entrance had simply been left open and abandoned.
…Then it happened.
Plop.
Something fell from the ceiling onto Dante’s shoulder. The impact was so small and light that he did not notice it. The creature moved with perfect naturalness… boring a hole into the nape of his neck and pushing its head inside.
A faint wriggling.
In that instant, Dante realized something had invaded his body.
‘…!’
Dante noticed it late—but it was not one of his own insects. The intruder raced toward his brain at incredible speed. It tried to burrow its head into his brain…
[?]
[?]
[?]
The symbiotic insects already residing in Dante’s brain all raised their heads at once.
[You]
[Who are you?]
[Where did you come from?]
The intruder panicked, but Dante’s symbiotic insects swarmed it and tore it to shreds in an instant.
“…”
Dante realized that something had attempted to invade him—and that his symbiotic insects had ripped it apart. Then he noticed something else, belatedly. From the corpse of the creature… he began to sense the mana of an insect.
It hides its own mana…?
Dante was startled, but it was the truth. Parasites—those stealthy, silent insects—would stop at nothing to keep their hosts from discovering their presence. The ability to conceal mana was essential for parasitizing creatures with keen mana senses.
If Dante had not been a bug tamer, he would have been infected without ever noticing.
Heading straight for the brain…
He still did not know the exact identity of the parasites, but Dante thought one thing clearly.
These were extremely dangerous insects.