Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: Ghost City (11)
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-Pwoof!!
It wasn't Rosalyn Dawson who was struck by the rusty pickaxe, but the hunting dog. While the dog, its belly pierced, bared its teeth and lunged at the villagers, Rosalyn Dawson limped away. Into the hidden basement room.
-Catch that wench!
-The gold is ours!
Drenched in the hunting dog's blood, Rosalyn Dawson panted, her breath rising to her chin, as she ran like mad. When she opened the door to the small room, the smell of brimstone wafted out. While the villagers pursuing her pounded on the door, the girl tearfully pulled back the rug and opened the basement door. Green light flickered along the walls, casting eerie shadows.
-Mom! Dad!
Rosalyn Dawson grabbed the stairs and descended. Her limping leg seemed ready to snap, sending her tumbling forward at any moment. Fortunately, hearing their daughter's voice, the Dawson couple emerged from the basement filled with gold and rushed to the stairs. And then,
-Pwoooof!!
The couple watched as their daughter was struck by an axe right before their eyes and tumbled down the stairs. Blood sprayed across the walls, and the girl's small body sprawled on the floor like a broken toy.
-R-Rosalyn....
Maria Dawson reached out with hands stained gold and embraced her daughter's body. A small cough escaped the girl, splattering blood from her mouth.
-Ah, so that couple sacrificed their child to the devil and gained gold! The cursed ones! Followers of darkness! Ugly sinners!
The village chief, soaked in blood from swinging his pickaxe multiple times at the lunging hunting dog, screamed in a hoarse, horrifying voice. At that, the madness-filled villagers' eyes began to gleam.
-Maria, I'll hold them off here somehow, so take Rosalyn and...!
Rosalyn's father, Jamie Dawson, shouted as he lay collapsed. And at the same moment,
-Whoosh!!
Green flames filled the passageway as if to explode it. Several villagers at the front, wielding pickaxes and axes, burned up without even leaving bones behind. The fleeing village chief, too, was engulfed in the green flames just as he reached the stairs and was about to exit the door. As half his body began to melt away, he let out demonic screams.
Jamie Dawson ascended the stairs, shedding bloody tears. The villagers who had somewhat avoided the flames fled the mansion to escape the green fire erupting from him. In the narrow corridor, bodies tangled and tripped over each other, and more than a few were trampled to death.
Before his strength gave out, Jamie Dawson followed the screams to exact revenge on those who had left his daughter in such a state. It was the moment he stepped out the door.
-Squeeeee!!
-Thud! Thud! Thud!! Thud!!
Poisoned arrows flew as if waiting, piercing Jamie Dawson's body. It was the attack from the villagers guarding outside. Jamie Dawson pulled out the arrow through his throat, then coughed up black blood.
Jamie Dawson had never been an exceptional mage to begin with. Moreover, he had expended most of his mana performing the ritual for Ronan and even offered half his soul to him. On top of that, a whirlwind of emotions—shock, rage, hatred, sorrow, resentment beyond measure, emotions no human could withstand—had torn his remaining half soul to shreds.
-Rosalyn....
Jamie Dawson collapsed forward.
-....
-....
-....
-H-He’s dead! We killed the devil!!
The village chief shouted. The villagers, who had stood dazed, gradually began to cheer with excited voices. Their cruel cheers echoed loudly even to the basement, and Maria Dawson realized her husband had been "murdered."
-Maria, my faithful servant.
Ronan made her an offer—for her sake, and for his own.
-Those fools killed your dog and your husband. They'll kill your daughter and you next. Will you stand by and watch?
-....
-Or will you join me in vengeance for all?
The serpent's tongue was soft, and the devil's whisper sweet. Maria Dawson shed tears. She had chosen this path to save her daughter, yet why was it filled only with death! As she wept, the cheers outside slowly turned to roars.
-The gold! Now that we've killed the devil, let's find the gold he hid!
-Set it on fire! If we burn it down, they'll come running out!
-Yeah! Burn the witch and her spawn alive!
-Bring torches and oil!!
-The gold! The gold!
The villagers began dousing the Dawson couple's mansion with oil. In the darkness, blazing torches soon set the mansion ablaze. Whoosh!!! As the mansion ignited, the village lit up like midday.
-Ah, aaah...!
Maria Dawson, clutching her daughter's body growing steadily colder and wailing, looked up at Ronan with bloodshot eyes.
-If you pledge to offer me the souls of those fools in full, I shall enact your heartfelt vengeance.
-....I pledge it. All of them. Even my own soul, Lord Ronan!
-Then....
The moment Ronan tried to claim Maria Dawson's halved soul,
-....Mom.
Rosalyn Dawson's pale lips moved. The girl exhaled ragged breaths, then shook her head. Her tiny hand, gripping Maria Dawson's fingers, began to loosen as her strength ebbed. At that instant, Ronan sensed Maria Dawson's resolve waver. His eyes gleaming with greed, he shouted.
-The contract is sealed!
There is an inexplicable power in the world. That inexplicable power bore a name so overused it felt trivial:
-Don't torment Mom!!
Love.
Rosalyn Dawson was undoubtedly a frail girl who could die at any moment, yet the love she had received from her parents over the years was more than sufficient—it overflowed. That strange, inexplicable power accumulated over years erupted from the girl's heart in a massive explosion. So powerful was it that even the great demon Ronan....
-Shut up! That soul is mine...!!
Before he could seize Maria Dawson's half soul, light devoured the darkness. Ronan frantically dodged the light, twisting into corners, corners, fleeing. The girl's final burst of strength was formidable, but the green serpent had amassed power in the darkness for just as long. Ronan hid his body and decided to bide his time. After all, this village overflowed with souls harboring ugly desires they shouldn't have. The plan had gone awry, but in the end, he would devour them all and resurrect. The green serpent whispered temptations into the village from the darkness, awaiting his moment.
-Come find the gold....
-Come find the gold....
Foul souls gathered like sewer rats, unable to resist temptation and desire. Ghost dogs and the ghost girl occasionally drove them off, but most were swallowed by Ronan. Still hungry, but resurrection was near. Humans unable to abandon desire would keep coming endlessly. Ronan need only open his maw and wait for the vermin.
-But that soul... I must devour it.
A human soul with a novel scent unlike any he'd smelled before. Pure, clear, and brimming with resilient strength—a delectable soul! Ronan licked his lips in the darkness. If he returned to this mansion again, he would never let it escape.
* * *
...Hah!!!
I bolted upright. Legion, Ppippi, and Blackie sat clustered around me, tilting their heads curiously.
'W-What the hell was that dream?'
I wiped the cold sweat beading on my forehead and looked around. Sunlight streamed through the window. Of course—it was just a nap. I'd planned to sleep until evening and move at night, but a nightmare woke me up.
My mind was foggy. Before the dream's memories faded, I slowly replayed them. A massive serpent with green scales, a certain couple, villagers surrounding the mansion, a fiercely barking dog, and a certain girl.
The dog, the girl, and the couple—all dead. The mansion burned, and in that basement, a massive green serpent waited with jaws agape. Was this a dream? Or reality?
'I've never had a dream like this before....'
I looked down at my hands. Starfish Leather Gloves. I was wearing them now, so no chance of hallucinations....
'What I saw in the dream was definitely the Dawson couple.'
I was certain. The portrait's faces were charred, making confirmation hard, but their attire matched. The child was surely the one in the room's portrait. Kalid said the couple left Solen after getting pregnant, so the girl in the dream was their daughter.
-....What if it wasn't a dream?'
If it wasn't a dream, but I'd accidentally glimpsed the past? Influenced by some power, like lingering thoughts in that mansion....
-The snake stench is driving me mad.
Then, from the slowly stretching shadows came a low voice thick with irritation.
"Kekeke...."
Dimacushel.
He'd been silent since entering the village. I'd assumed he needed rest after using much power in Dihid, so I hadn't summoned him.... but now he appears saying 'snake stench.'
Did he sense something too?
-Snake stench? What do you mean?
Dimacushel twisted the shadows this way and that, drawing close to me. Receiving sunlight, his elongated shadow crawled up the wall and whispered to me.
-Snake stench. Alton, Daimon... or maybe Ronan.
I immediately realized the names Dimacushel mentioned referred to demons.
-But not certain. The scent's faint....
The shadow approached closely, sniffed right in front of my nose, then leaned back against the wall.
-....Among them, is there a green snake?
-Alton is a red snake, Daimon black, Ronan green.
Ronan.
The green snake from the dream—that demon?
'A demon hiding in a tiny village like this?'
Darkest under the lamp, indeed. Not some ghost闹剧 in a rural village, but a 'demon' no less.... Again? [Archenemy of Evil] earning its keep!
-Did I earn the wrong title....?
Muttering, I gestured for Dimacushel to follow and left the room. No point napping now—better finish business quickly.
-Legion, you're coming too today.
「Yah---ho!」