It's Easy to Fight to the Death, But Hard to Lend the Road (4)
Kriel was assigned a modest little room. The border guards hadn't needed to worry about attacks from the Holy Kingdom or the abyss for ages, so they were essentially guarding a place that held no real defensive value. The room he'd been given was proof of that.
Back in the day, the border guard's roster had been twice as large as it was now, but endless peace had naturally led to downsizing. That was why a luxurious private chamber fit for a commanding officer sat empty.
"We use it to house the inspectors who occasionally come from the capital. It's not a total waste of money."
The current border guard commander left those words behind as he departed. He planned to discuss how to deal with the wyverns and whether they'd strike again tomorrow. It was too late now, and robbing a warrior who'd fought such a fierce battle of his rest would be unforgivable.
Once he confirmed the commander's footsteps fading away, Kriel drew his horn dagger.
Whoa. I thought I was gonna die of boredom.
Can you feel your master's mercy, letting you half-unsheathe from the scabbard as usual?
I was thinking it was some weird, secretive fetish about exposing the 'horn' at your hip... guess I was wrong.
"What kinda crazy shit are you spouting?"
Kriel shook the horn dagger in disbelief. Orishin let out a bizarre shriek.
"So, Master," Tuon said, shifting into her form—a girl with ashen-gray hair, blue eyes, and a gothic dress. "Do you believe what they said?"
"What's to believe or not believe?"
The border guard commander's explanation had been straightforward. The inquisitor mage had left the city, wyverns had suddenly appeared and blockaded access, and they'd been wreaking havoc for nearly a week. He had no idea which brainless abyssal spawn had come all the way down here to screw around, but judging the incident on its own, it was pretty commonplace. The abyss pulling strings to conquer cities—or even the world—was just business as usual.
"Isn't it strange? The timing's too perfect. I suspect that missing inquisitor mage."
Hmm. Kriel nodded. It was a valid suspicion. Even by his own judgment, the wyvern attacks had come at far too convenient a moment.
"But what can we do about it? We can't just chase down some wandering mage right now."
Kriel could already guess tomorrow's meeting with the commander. The man would send envoys to nearby cities requesting aid while the wyverns stayed away. And he'd task Kriel with escorting them. It was a reasonable plan. Sure, Kriel had prowess, but he was just one knight. Tracking down and eliminating whoever was controlling the wyverns would require mages or priests.
"I am a demonic sword."
"And?"
"Gratuon had the power to devour corpses and add their strength to itself. That absorption wasn't mere physical might—it encompassed memories and mana, the essence on a fundamental level."
TL;DR, three lines max!
Orishin swooped in, cutting off Tuon's rambling explanation. Tuon was about to shut him down with her usual "I don't listen to the weak" line, but Kriel spoke first.
"Yeah, can you explain it simpler?"
Agreement with Orishin. Tuon stared at her master, deeply shocked by his favoritism.
"...?"
Kriel was baffled by Tuon's sudden gaze, filled with something like resentment. What did I even do?
"...I inherited Gratuon's ability. If you sever a wyvern's neck with me, I can trace where that connection leads. Combined with your power as a Dark Knight, we can surely track the mage controlling them."
Neat three-line summary. Kriel found Tuon's proposal appealing. He'd figured he'd have to spend a few days here for the gateway city's sake, but this offered a much quicker resolution.
But is that really okay?
"What's the problem now?"
Tuon grumbled sullenly. Orishin buzzed around the ashen girl, nitpicking.
Honestly, feeding blood to one of the Seven Great Demonic Weapons ain't exactly healthy. If that thug saintess were here, maybe, but is this really fine?
"I'm not Gratuon."
Then?
"I've become greater than that."
More dangerous, you mean?
Kriel was impressed by Orishin's point—not so much by the insight itself, but by the fact that the motormouth who usually spouted nonsense was suddenly making sense.
"You're actually thinking straight for once!"
No. It's weird that I don't care about the abyss when all I've got left is a head, right?
Orishin grumbled on despite the praise, but they circled back to the main topic: Tuon and murder.
You shouldn't feed blood to demonic swords. Common sense. That's why you stuck to the greatsword against those wyverns, right?
Tuon whipped around, shocked again. But Kriel just shot Orishin a questioning look.
"It has that function?"
The Seven Great Demonic Weapons outrank demonkin—closer to demons, really. They're a rare case where prolonged exploitation kept their power from matching their rank.
This is insane. Did the cult leader grandma really call something like that "fine if used right"?
Kriel wondered if the Eve Kaha Order's high priestess was actually clueless or just bluffing.
If you'd used the crossguard sword, those wyverns would've lined up single-file begging you to kill 'em.
"Didn't know that..."
Kriel glanced at Tuon. She puffed out her chest like she was bragging, I'm just that amazing. The shock from realizing he'd deliberately avoided using her was already gone.
So yeah, avoid using her as much as possible. I don't wanna see you cursed before my curse lifts.
"Vile slander! I am loyal to my master. Unlike some disloyal scrap sword."
Gratuon's owner list says you're the disloyal one.
"I keep telling you, I'm not Gratuon. I'm a finer sword."
Kriel tuned out their pointless bickering and closed his eyes, recalling the Eve Kaha high priestess's words—not in her vague "fine if used right" phrasing, but more precisely: If he didn't submit to the abyss, neither would the sword.
He had no intention of submitting to the abyss. Even if the blood-fed sword tried to devour him, Kriel was confident he could subdue Tuon. It wasn't from the Phantom Sword skill for wielding her. He knew better than anyone that skills weren't everything.
It was the confidence of a knight who'd once broken a demonkin corrupted by Gratuon.
"We'll do as Tuon suggests."
The ashen girl crossed her arms sternly, flashing Orishin a triumphant smile—the leisure of victory. Orishin, who felt no rivalry as a sword, breezily ignored the declaration and questioned Kriel instead.
For real? Looks super risky...
"Innocents are suffering. How can I worry about my own danger when the people are at risk?"
An unconscious line born from Honor stat practice slipped out. Orishin gaped, then nodded.
Damn. Now I get why that thug saintess likes you so much.
Damn.
The mage spat a curse. It was because of a message from his inside man.
A paladin had tracked the abyss's traces here. What exploits he'd racked up on the Western Front didn't matter. What did was the tracking itself.
By the mage's plan, this should have wrapped up in just a few days—if his allies had coordinated properly. The gateway city's gates should already be echoing with cries of "Step aside, we have business here," whether they complied or not. Either way, his goal would be achieved.
But the expected news never came, and now some meddler had shown up. And that meddler's skills were no joke. Slaughtering wyvern mutants that easily? The mage could take one down with long prep and his best effort, but it'd cost massive resources, monsters included.
Goddamn idiots. Why the hell are they so slow?
He cursed his allies again. If those lazy bastards had kept to schedule, the city would already be his as the abyss commanded.
No helping it. Time to revise the plan. The mage decided to pull back from the gateway city and go into hiding for now.
"I'm heading to the wyvern nest."
At the border guard's morning briefing, Kriel declared calmly.