Chapter 12
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 12: Dual Gate (4)
Unlike the brutal momentum she had displayed, the situation was resolved in an instant.
Only then realizing who she was trying to protect, Shin Su-ah also returned with an awkward expression.
"There's no way I'd be hurt by such an attack."
"Well. Since you're not the main body. Just in case..."
"Even so, it's not some weapon of the gods or a legendary weapon, so there's no way my scales would be pierced by a mere ordinary spear."
It's just that the enemies I've faced so far were ignorantly strong enough to be counted among the top across all nine worlds, but my scales also possess a hardness that doesn't fall behind theirs.
Naturally, they weren't scales that would be pierced by such a spear, and as you can see, the spear that collided with the scales on the crown of my head shattered to pieces.
To pierce my scales with a spear made merely from monster byproducts that appeared in this world, the spearman wielding it would have to reach the realm of the gods in skill.
I pointed at Baek Yeon and spoke to her, who couldn't give any answer, her face ripening red like a tomato out of embarrassment.
"Enough of that, just tie her up."
"Yes."
"It'll be annoying if she wakes up, so tie her securely."
"Understood..."
While she securely tied Baek Yeon so she'd absolutely never come loose, I flew over to the giant snake Baek Yeon had hunted.
Because whether Baek Yeon caught it intentionally or accidentally without knowing, a purple light was flickering on the chest of that giant snake.
I precisely sliced open the spot where the purple light was flickering with my claw.
Then, a cube-shaped purple fragment popped out from inside.
[Fragment of Hatred 1/3]
"Oh."
As expected, the purple dot really was a fragment of hatred.
I felt a familiar power from the fragment of hatred I held in my hand.
Namely, my power.
Of course, compared to my original power, it's insignificant and faint, but nonetheless, its essence was very similar to my power.
What is this? I don't remember creating such a fragment...
"Something else to look into has been added."
I'm already busy trying to find the reason why I went on a rampage and preparing for incidents that will happen in the future, and now I have to investigate something like this too.
The saying 'leaving home is asking for hardship' came to mind for a reason.
While I was investigating the fragment of hatred, Shin Su-ah, having tied even Baek Yeon tightly to the end of the rope, approached with the end of that rope.
"Lord Nidhogg?"
"Uh, yeah. You hold onto this."
"Uh, this is?"
"Fragment of hatred. It came out from the monster Baek Yeon caught."
"I see. Then we just need to collect two more."
"Then let's find them quickly and get out. I don't exactly have a hobby of dragging around baggage, after all."
It was about time for the personnel waiting outside to go report to the Association, and it wouldn't be strange if the knocked-out expedition team woke up at any moment, so we had to hurry.
I grabbed the rope, flew up, and quickly flew toward the next fragment of hatred.
Shin Su-ah followed matching my speed and kept monsters approaching the dragged Awakened in check.
Dividing the roles like that, we were able to quickly gather the remaining two fragments of hatred.
There were instances where a few Awakened woke up again in the middle, but I kindly struck the backs of their necks and knocked them out again.
Both of the remaining fragments of hatred were inside the bodies of snake-type monsters Baek Yeon had defeated, and I lightly cut both of their bodies in half to kill them.
When we gathered all three fragments together like that, the shape of the fragments, which had been cubes, transformed into the shape of a key.
We took the key and returned to the place we first entered.
The entrance of the Gate, still wavering ominously.
When we brought the key to the entrance, the key disappeared, and the death energy wavering ominously around the Gate vanished.
As soon as the exit opened, we dragged the knocked-out expedition team and crossed through the Gate.
Outside the Gate was the desolate temple, exactly as it was when we entered.
The Awakened who had agreed to wait outside the Gate were nowhere to be seen, perhaps having already left for the Association, but instead, seeing a three-story stone pagoda piled near the Gate and a paper placed beneath it, Shin Su-ah unfolded the paper and showed it to me.
[Departing to report to the Association. If you come out in the meantime, please wait.]
Hearing that people from the Association would come if we waited, we decided to put the rope down and wait.
"Now we can untie these pieces of baggage."
"Yes, I will untie them."
While Shin Su-ah untied the rope that tightly bound the expedition team, I examined Baek Yeon, who was tied at the very end of the rope.
Even though I had knocked her out, death energy was still flowing out from her body.
"Is she really okay?"
"Yes. She's not fully corrupted, so she'll return to normal as time passes."
"Hmm... I don't think so..."
Somehow, the death energy flowing out had grown denser than when I first knocked her out, making it seem unlikely she'd return to normal if left like this.
Shin Su-ah, who had untied the others and arrived in front of Baek Yeon, also seemed flustered, perhaps having noticed it.
"H-huh? We came out of the Gate, so why has the corruption worsened?"
"How would I know that?"
"I-if we leave her like this, she'll completely turn into a Fiend before the Association support troops arrive."
"That's a big problem."
I said that, but I didn't particularly care.
Whether this woman completely becomes a Fiend or returns to normal doesn't really matter to me.
"Gah... cough!"
Perhaps a problem occurred as the corruption worsened, Baek Yeon coughed up black blood from her mouth.
"The corruption has already reached her blood..."
"What happens if she completely turns into a Fiend?"
"It's the first time seeing a case like this, so I can't be sure, but normally, beings that become Fiends become hostile to humans, similar to monsters."
"Really? Shall I kill her now then?"
Since there's no way to turn it back once she becomes a Fiend anyway, wouldn't it be better to kill her now?
"That's..."
While Shin Su-ah pondered my suggestion, Baek Yeon opened her eyes with unfocused pupils.
"...Hah."
"What is she saying?"
"I, I have to live... I, want to live..."
"Survival instinct, huh."
I looked at Baek Yeon showing her craving for life, and when I glanced at Shin Su-ah, she was looking down at Baek Yeon with wavering eyes.
Eyes projecting the past, not the present.
Did something similar happen before her regression?
"What will you do?"
"...Lord Nidhogg. Is there perhaps a way to save her?"
"It's not that there isn't one."
"In that case."
"But it's not a surefire method, you see. In terms of probability, about 50%?"
And if it fails, it's a hardcore mode where she dies without a second try.
After a moment of contemplation, Shin Su-ah grabbed Baek Yeon's shoulders and shook them.
"Ms. Baek Yeon. We'll have no choice but to kill you at this rate. So if you want to live, nod your head."
"U, ugh..."
I don't know if her head nodded from having her shoulders grabbed and shaken, or if she nodded of her own volition, but anyway, Shin Su-ah seems to have taken it as agreement.
"Lord Nidhogg. I leave her to you."
"Even if she dies, it's not my fault, okay?"
As Shin Su-ah stepped aside, I approached Baek Yeon and placed my front paw on her chest.
Then, I flowed my power in through the point of contact.
The death energy filling her body.
I drive out that aura and fill the empty space with my power.
Since the corruption had already progressed considerably, I had to replace quite a large portion with my power.
Crack- Crunch! "A, aaaaagh!!"
Baek Yeon screamed at the pain of her entire body twisting.
She screamed her lungs out and twisted her body, but I didn't stop what I was doing.
Because I know very well that if I stopped here, not only would it be a half-baked job, but she would die.
Rumble-!!
As I pushed in more and more power, my power surged around Baek Yeon, and the surroundings shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
How long has it been since I drove out the death energy and inserted my power like that?
Subtly adjusting and inserting power so her body wouldn't explode is secretly quite an arduous task.
Only after I completely removed the power assimilated with the death energy and my power filled most of her body did the task end.
Baek Yeon, who had been writhing in agony right until the task ended, is quietly asleep as if it never happened.
And the appearance of her sleeping figure has distinctly changed from before and after starting the task.
A single horn sprouted on top of her head.
A few scales emerging on her neck.
She had transformed into a slightly mixed appearance of a human and a dragon.
On top of that, I feel a strange connection between her and me.
It seems a subordinate relationship was formed between her and me since she changed due to me breathing my power into her.
Flash! As Baek Yeon, who was collapsed on the ground, opened her eyes, a light glinted in them.
Pupils slit vertically long resembling a dragon's looked around, and Baek Yeon, who nonchalantly stood up, examined her own body.
"This is..."
"I pushed my power in instead to save you, who was being corrupted by the Gate's power."
"...Thank you for saving me."
Still, perhaps she isn't completely unreasonable, as she didn't get angry or anything despite being saved.
Especially, the gaze looking at me lost quite a bit of its venom from the hate-filled eyes that initially looked at a monster.
Perhaps thinking this was an opportunity, Shin Su-ah stuck to her side and explained.
"Ms. Baek Yeon. I know you hate monsters, but Lord Nidhogg is not the kind of monster you knew."
"What does that mean?"
"The world Lord Nidhogg originally lived in was destroyed by some monster, so he crossed over to this world... um, a refugee? A castaway? He's something like that. It's just that when he crossed over to this world, the system arbitrarily judged Lord Nidhogg as a monster and locked him up."
Opening her eyes wide at Shin Su-ah's explanation, she fell into deep thought for a moment and then looked at me with a strange gaze.
What is this? Kinship? Pity?
It feels alienating when a woman who looked at me with a hostile gaze until just this morning looks at me like that.
"I see. You too..."
"What. Are you believing Shin Su-ah's words?"
"Yes. Because there was no falsehood in her words."
"How do you know that?"
"After my body changed like this, for some reason, I can tell if the other person is speaking lies or telling the truth just by looking."
Did a dragon's eyes have such a function too?
Even if I could see far, crush and kill just by looking, or pierce through things like illusions, this is the first time even I've seen such a function.
"For having treated you disrespectfully until now, and for attacking you, even if it was the Gate's influence. I apologize for everything. And adding the grace you bestowed upon me, I will be sure to repay it."
"Uh, uh. Okay."
It's embarrassing for this side when she acts burdensomely polite.
Just as I was wondering what to do about this awkward atmosphere.
Right on cue, the support troops dispatched from the Association arrived.
"Is everyone safe!... Wait, is that a horn on Ms. Baek Yeon's head?!"