Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Venatio Species (3)
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“We should be arriving at the place where we encountered the Deathworm soon.”
Seamus reported to the captains, who were taking a short break after confirming their location.
It hadn't even been a week since they'd left Kanta Village, yet here they were. An impossibly fast pace.
“Everyone, prepare to move out!”
“We're moving! Not much further! Let's push on!”
It almost felt as if everything that had happened in the desert so far had been a dream.
No, to be precise, things had gotten better. There was a sense of life returning. To the point that even a small oasis, which certainly hadn't been there a short while ago, had appeared.
“We haven't run into a single monster on our way here, have we?”
“That's right. Makes you wonder if this is a dream. Just a few days ago, we were fighting for our lives.”
“And the weather at night is back to how it used to be in the Ashar Desert. What in the world is going on?”
“Hah. Who knows. How on earth did Kratos escape that Deathworm?”
“Exactly. And what did he do to make the desert suddenly return to normal?”
Only the undecomposed corpses of the monsters they had killed on their first journey here proved that the 10th Unit's experience had not been a lie.
“You guys really fought like madmen, huh?”
“Yeah, I told you! Don't tell me you didn't actually believe us?”
Perhaps because they could afford to be relaxed, the members of the 1st Unit were stunned by the number of monster corpses they saw along the way.
They had wondered if it could possibly be more than the monsters that had invaded Kanta Village, but they were wrong.
The traces of battle suggested that it was precisely because the monster numbers had been culled here that they had only faced as many as they did.
“What is this…”
And before long, the mercenaries swallowed dryly and halted in their tracks.
Though it was half-buried under the accumulated sand.
“This… this is a Deathworm, right?”
“A variant Deathworm, at that.”
“Look at the size of it. I'd have run too. It's a miracle anyone survived. But the rookie killed this thing?”
“How in the world?”
“And by himself.”
The cold carcass of the Deathworm still exuded the immense power it must have held in life.
The surroundings were a mess of sand melted by bodily fluids and signs of battle, testament to how fierce the fight had been.
“Damn. I'm never picking a fight with that guy.”
“Seriously. What kind of brute thinks of breaking off its horn and ramming it into its body? No, even if you thought of it, is that even possible?”
Everyone was left speechless by the sight of the horn piercing the Deathworm's body, which became visible only after they cleared away the sand.
Driving a Deathworm's horn into the Deathworm itself? That was something only a madman would do.
No, how many people could even do it in the first place? One on one, no less. It was impossible without monstrous strength.
“Pick up the pace. The tracks lead toward the center.”
“He tried to continue the mission, even in this situation…”
The center of the desert, their final destination.
For reasons unknown, Kratos had killed the Deathworm and then moved toward that location. They could only vaguely surmise that he was trying to complete the mission.
If he had been left alone, it would have made sense to return to Kanta Village.
“What a guy. Thinking of the mission until the very end.”
“A true mercenary. Honestly, I would've gone back to Kanta Village. Who knows what else could have happened?”
The center was not far now.
***
The concentration of miasma, once so thick it made their skin tingle even from a great distance, had also thinned considerably.
“Everyone. Use the holy water.”
The center of the desert. Unlike when Kratos had traveled, there were no sandstorms.
Having reached the center without any hindrance, the unit members sprinkled themselves with holy water and entered the miasmic fog.
Despite the holy water, the miasma swirled around their bodies with a tingling sensation, as if ready to devour them at any moment.
“Over there!”
“Tents? Aren't those Imperial Army tents?”
“Why the hell are the Empire's tents in this desert?”
“Don't tell me those Imperial bastards?!”
Far off in the place shrouded in miasma like a fog, signs of human presence, unseen in the desert, appeared, and the unit members quickened their pace.
The area around the tents was enveloped not in black miasma, but in something grayish. The miasma seemed unable to easily approach that gray energy.
“Kratos—!”
In the center of the tents, Seamus saw Kratos sitting cross-legged and rushed toward him.
*Fwoosh—*
As Kratos controlled his breathing, the miasma that had encroached on the surroundings like a fog scattered across the desert as if hit by a shockwave.
*Hooo—*
Opening his eyes, Kratos looked momentarily flustered, but his expression quickly changed as he waved cheerfully.
“What in the world are you…”
“Huh...? Ah! Well. Looks like the Empire was running some kind of experiment here. When I broke that antenna, miasma just poured out. Phew, I almost died.”
His nonchalant tone left the rescue party speechless.
“You… you crazy bastard!”
“Ahaha. I guess so. Well, it just sort of happened.”
Seeing that Kratos was alive, Lando felt a deep sense of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from his heart.
The members of the 10th Unit also embraced Kratos fiercely, slapping him on the back.
“Glad you're alive. But next time, follow orders, you damn fool.”
“To kill a Deathworm like that. Who the hell are you! You brute!”
“But what happened here? An Imperial camp in a clearing.”
The touching moment was brief. Glen found himself questioning the place itself.
An antenna tower and tents in a clearing? Judging by the number of tents, many soldiers must have stayed here, but aside from a dozen or so corpses, there were none to be seen.
“Huh? It's empty… It's gone?”
At Glen's words, Kratos glanced in the direction of the Venatio clan's library he had entered and confirmed the entrance had vanished.
“There was a ruin entrance here. A battle took place there. Hmm. But as you can see, it looks like the ruin got buried.”
Only the severed wires that had once connected to the entrance lay scattered about.
He didn't know why it had disappeared. Had it served its purpose? Or was it because of the miasma? Kratos had been circulating his spiritual power, completely unaware that the ruin had vanished.
“Ruins, you say. I've heard reports. That the Empire is searching for something strange all over the continent. Was there anything distinctive?”
“Nothing. I only saw a wall with geometric patterns. It seems the Empire couldn't open that wall either. Well, I didn't get a good look since I was just smashing things.”
“Ugh. You brute.”
Glen used his aura to dig deep into the spot where the ruin was presumed to have been, but he found no trace of it.
“The Empire. The Empire. Secure the evidence. Any evidence will do. Don't miss a single thing.”
As if venting their pent-up anger, the mercenaries roughly tore through the tents, gathering every document inside.
“Did you find anything inside the ruin?”
“No, unfortunately. Just machines and security devices.”
He planned to examine the data from the ruin in his inventory later.
For now, it was right to hide the information about this Heracles Clan. He couldn't definitively say he trusted anyone completely.
Releasing just this much information was enough for now. The mere fact that the Empire was searching for some kind of ruin would be useful for keeping them in check and gathering intelligence.
“Ruins. Ruins. This is problematic. Our intelligence network failed to function properly.”
While the other unit members collected information, Glen examined the antenna tower from which the miasma had supposedly erupted.
He could deduce that the miasma had burst out the moment it was destroyed, and that was when the monsters' assault on Kanta Village had ceased.
“Those damn Imperial bastards. Just how far will their depravity go…”
If so, that meant this antenna tower had orchestrated the monster waves in the Ashar Desert. Perhaps even the restored weather.
What in the world was the Empire up to? For what reason? To what end?
It was still a complete mystery.
“Let's head back for now. This seems to be a matter that requires a report. You've done well, Kratos. I salute your mental fortitude.”
***
On the way back to the mercenary headquarters.
“So, you came to the center to continue the mission even in that situation?”
“I couldn't have made it back safely anyway. Might as well complete the mission.”
Kratos was spinning lies with a straight face.
Until Seamus had called his name, the mission hadn't crossed his mind even once. But he couldn't very well say he'd come here for personal reasons.
“Seriously. You're a true mercenary. For real.”
As Kratos joked around with the 10th Unit, Glen concealed his stern expression with a cloth.
‘What was that gray energy? It seemed to be protecting the space from the miasma. Does such a power exist in this world? It certainly wasn't holy power.’
Lost in the excitement of Kratos defeating the Deathworm and completing the mission alive, it seemed no one else had properly noticed.
‘It definitely didn't feel harmful. It was distinct from miasma, too. Judging by the lack of any adverse reactions in my body.’
Glen remembered the scene clearly: every time Kratos breathed, the faint miasma around him had shimmered in time with his breaths.
***
Given the gravity of the situation, Glen and Lando bypassed Kanta Village and headed straight for the mercenary headquarters.
“Open the gates—!!”
“Waaaaah—!”
Contrary to their expectations of a somber reception, a cheer so loud it drowned out the cry to open the gates echoed over the ramparts.
Hundreds of mercenaries who hadn't gone on the mission were cheering for their comrades, who were returning to the very spot from which they had departed.
“Kra-to-s!”
“Slayer of the Deathworm!”
“You saved us!”
At the center of it all was, unequivocally, Kratos. The Deathworm killer. The mental fortitude and willpower to complete the mission alone.
Moreover, reports had already come in through various channels that Kratos had played a huge role in the 10th Unit—the one assigned to the most perilous mission—returning without a single casualty.
In the middle of the training grounds, the beer mugs filled at the start of the mission were lined up on a massive table.
“You've all returned. Not a single one missing. I'm proud. You all did well.”
Unlike a short while ago, Peri Batoni greeted the mercenaries with a much more relaxed expression.
It was a miracle.
Not only had they resolved the monster wave and the desert's problems, but they had also uncovered the Empire's conspiracy.
Some might say the rookie had just gotten lucky, but mercenaries were more superstitious than anyone.
“The White Mercenary Corps' good luck charm—!”
“Yeah! Join our unit next time!”
“What?! Kratos is already in the 10th Unit! How dare you!”
Of course, the matter concerning the Empire couldn't be easily disclosed, but just by solving the desert's problems, the White Mercenary Corps' influence in the Ashar region was skyrocketing in real time.
Furthermore, the cloud of miasma that everyone on the desert's border had seen that day had left a tremendous impact.
It served to instill the conviction that the White Mercenary Corps would never abandon Ashar.
“Raise your mugs—!”
At Peri Batoni's words, every mercenary raised their mug high.
It was flat, tasteless beer, having sat out during the mission. But the mugs were so cold they were frosted with a thin layer of ice.
“Bottoms up—!”
With more joy than ever before, the White Mercenary Corps chugged their respective beers.
It didn't matter if the beer was flat or freshly poured.
“Khaaa—!”
“That hits the spot.”
Even though the beer was as flat as could be, only after draining his mug did Kratos finally feel that the mission was over.
He was also slightly moved that this culture he had created had continued to this day.
*Thump— Thump—*
Once all the mugs were empty, the mercenaries began banging them against anything in sight, their eyes fixed on Kratos.
It was a kind of MVP award ceremony. After a difficult mission, the White Mercenary Corps would give a prize to the mercenary who had contributed the most.
For this mission, Kratos had been chosen unanimously, without dissent, so this ceremony was held immediately without any delay.
“Kratos. Is there anything you desire?”
At Peri Batoni's question, Kratos remained silent for a moment before nodding.
‘If I hadn't obtained the ring of spiritual power, I would have asked for something like an energy cultivation technique.’
In that case, the answer was already decided. There was something he had to do.
“I want information. Information about people.”
Was it in the Tale of the Azure Dragon? Repay favors twofold, and vengeance tenfold.