The Recurring Nightmare of Elion Forest (3) — (Mild Flavor)

Three days before Hyun arrived at Elion Forest.

At the heart of Elion Forest, a handsome man rested his hand upon a shabbily dressed man and was drawing something out of him.

"Ugh... ugh... UUAAAGH...!!!"

Alongside the writhing man, the handsome one's own form shifted and transformed with startling speed, as if he were devouring something. When it was over, he had taken on a shape eerily similar to the man who had died in the village — and at last, through the actions of the beautiful man standing before him, the shabbily dressed man died.

The moment the corpse slumped to the ground, the black-haired man with jet-dark locks called over the woman standing beside him, who wore nothing at all, and ordered her to dispose of the body.

= You there. Clean that up. =

"Yes..."

= Was that man your betrothed? =

At his words, the woman nodded her head in affirmation.

= How insolent! Where do you get the audacity to nod at me! =

"Hnnnnggh!!!!"

He seized her by the jaw, pulling his face close to hers, and growled like a beast.

= Do you find even I, Asmodeus, beneath your contempt? Yes, I suppose you dared to slight me. If your wish is to die, then I will gladly grant it. =

"P-please... spare me...!"

Just as that enormous palm, looming over her face, descended toward her head—

= Perhaps you should stop there... =

At the voice of the sky-blue-haired man who had appeared behind him, the hand reaching for her froze in an instant.

Asmodeus, the black-haired one, turned his gaze upon the one who had halted him.

= I did not spare your life so that you might interfere with my amusement, Bathin. =

= ...And yet here you are, of all people, taking the humans' side? Or have you and that woman formed some attachment of your own? =

= It is not that, my lord. You have devoured far too many people already. If this continues, you will draw the Successor's eye! =

On the far side of where Asmodeus stood lay a mountain of corpses — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠villagers drained of their vitality, just as the man before him had been, reduced to skin and bone.

There was only one reason he did this.

He had gathered them for the sole purpose of provoking the Successor of the Azure Dragon — and out of the villagers he had brought here, no fewer than three hundred lay dead in that pile.

= I made it deliberately, to show him. It matters not. =

"B-but—!"

= Enough. Speak one more word, and I will kill you where you stand and claim your authority for my own. Think carefully. Remember who is captive to me. =

The man called Bathin understood instinctively.

Should he voice even one more complaint, the man standing before him would take his head without hesitation.

And more than that — for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the sake of protecting her, the woman dearer to him than his own life, he would do anything.

The Asmodeus of this moment was a tyrant and a monster who could snuff out everything with a single snap of his fingers.

= Clean that up. You have ruined my mood. =

At his command, the woman — who had been able to do nothing as her betrothed died before her eyes — fought back the tears welling up and, with all her failing strength, dragged away the body of the man who should have been her husband.

Asmodeus walked off toward the depths of the forest and soon vanished from sight.

Once he was gone, Bathin — exhausted, yet refusing to give up — drew near to the woman as she struggled to carry her betrothed's corpse.

She flinched at the sight of him, but the fear soon ebbed away, if only a little.

She could not help but be astonished by what she saw.

He had lifted her betrothed's body and was walking toward the mist-shrouded edge of the forest.

= I will help you. =

Bathin raised the man's body with one hand and carried it wherever the woman wished.

= This should be a fitting place to bury your husband. The soil is softer here — with your own hands, you will be able to lay him to rest. =

"Th-thank you..."

Leaving behind the woman's words of gratitude, Bathin turned away — and before long, he heard the sound of her weeping in grief behind him.

"Hector...! Hector...! I'm sorry... I love you...! I'll follow you soon, all right? So wait for me, my love."

Listening to her voice, choked with sobs, Bathin clenched his hand into a tight fist.

Before he knew it, blood seeped from the skin of his palm, unable to withstand his own strength, and pain lanced through him —

but that pain was nothing, compared to what she suffered, compared to the servants who had died before her.

Because he knew there was nothing more he could do.

No matter how he struggled, until someone drove out that tyrant of the 10th rank, he would be forced to obey the commands of the one who had built this abomination.

- If only the Successor of the Azure Dragon would come and grant me and him our ends. -

It was only natural.

Bathin of the 18th rank was, unlike the other demons, among the most merciful and gentle of his kind.

He ruled his soldiers and servants under the same structure that humans used, and for that he had earned the respect of his fellow demons.

Had he been weak, he would have been scorned and destroyed — but his position was 18th of the ranks.

With his overwhelming power, he had naturally slaughtered and repelled every demon who coveted his territory.

But with that man's arrival, everything had ended.

Despite doing his utmost, every demon who followed him had been slain — and violated, in the moment of their deaths.

He had even surrendered his entire standing and sworn fealty to Asmodeus for the sake of protecting the woman he was preparing to marry.

The only mercy was that Asmodeus had not yet laid eyes upon his woman.

= Vepar... =

Praying that she would remain safe until this battle ended, he turned to leave the forest —

or tried to.

Until Asmodeus came seeking him again, issued his commands, and told him of the one dearer to him than his own life.

Even as we carved our way smoothly through the swarming demons, the limit we had feared finally arrived.

"There are too many of them...!"

The numbers of High-tier and Supreme Demons had grown to where they were putting up a real fight against the four of us, and in the end, the two vassals whose stamina gave out first began to flag.

"Butterfly Flower Sword, First Form! Butterfly Dreams the First Night Away!"

Shff—!

= A mere woman...! =

Facing the Supreme Demon bearing down on her, she struck its attack away with flawless precision, deflecting and flowing around it as she fought.

To keep her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strikes unbroken, I gathered lightning into my blade and scattered it wide.

The power of wind and lightning converged upon a single stroke.

I poured every ounce of strength into the blade's edge and punched straight through the line ahead of me.

When the thunder's cry and the wind's laughter settled over the battlefield, the demons could not even resist — they simply returned to the earth, as nature's order demanded.

"Hyun! Behind me!"

Say no more.

I glanced back at Yeon for only a heartbeat, then bent low, turning my back into a platform for her.

Thwack!

"Butterfly Flower Sword, Second Form...! Flower Garland, Butterfly Dance!"

Shsh—shshshsh!

Like a butterfly dancing through the heart of a flower, Yeon wove through the thick of the demon horde — toying with them even as she cut them down at blistering speed.

= Come at me, woman! =

"You really shouldn't be focusing only on me...?"

At her words, I turned my head — but it was already too late.

The moment my blade sheared through the neck of the Supreme Demon, Hiok, it crumpled futility itself into the grassy field, never to rise again.

Working in tandem with Yeon like this, we had handed all the wind wolves assigned to us over to the vassals so they could be protected.

We were more than capable of fighting on our own.

Then, something began walking toward us.

A man with sky-blue hair.

And when the man drew his sword from his waist—

every ounce of the power he had been suppressing until that moment erupted, flooding the entire battlefield.

= So you are... the Successor of the Azure Dragon? =

Taking my stance in answer to his question, I replied.

"Why should I tell you that?"

= Yes... I beg you. Kill me, Successor. =

"What are you—"

Just as the battle was nearly over, a being brimming with an extraordinary power had appeared... and he was asking to be killed?

And this aura I could feel from him... this bastard was a demon.

= In exchange for taking my life, you will learn everything there is to know about Asmodeus. I will give you the information myself. =

Out of nowhere...?

Reading the expression on my face, the man spoke as if consumed by something dark.

= I... lost her. She is no longer there. I have lost my reason to live. So, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Successor — kill me. If you will not, then I will trample your principles to do it myself. =

Raising his sword and pointing its tip toward the vassals, he continued.

= I will kill them. =

It made no sense.

If he was a demon, did he even need a reason to do this?

He could simply have waited for his chance and slaughtered them all.

And then, before my eyes, the Status Window appeared.

Wait — the quest clear reward is...?!

What secret could Asmodeus possibly hold, that the Status Window would offer me a quest like this?

If killing Asmodeus would reveal something hidden behind him — six months after falling into this world, I had to know that truth.

And if I slew the demon before me with his blade turned on our vassals, I would be one step closer to Asmodeus.

To do that, though, my first duty was clear: bring down the demon standing before me — Bathin, Ranked 18th.

= Yes. That is the look. The look of a man who would cut down everything in his path. I have nothing left to live for. =

"One question."

= Speak. =

"Before we noticed you, you could have attacked those vassals whenever you pleased. And yet you chose to reveal yourself, to stand before us. Why?"

Bathin looked up at the sky and answered me with a voice thick with self-mockery.

= There is nothing more to say. Draw your sword. Let the slaughter begin. =

With that, he closed the distance to me in a blur and swung his blade.

From above — coming down!

CLANG!

I shifted the Sword of the Azure Sky from one hand to two, bracing against the impact — and at precisely the right moment, drove both my sword-bearing arms upward, all the way past my eyes.

Having successfully parried the force of his blade at the perfect instant, I found—

that I was steadily being pushed back by Bathin's strength.

Screeeech...!

The Sword of the Azure Sky blocked and held against Bathin's blade —

but he seemed to be scheming to use that very contact as leverage to shove me away.

Yet contrary to my expectations, Bathin spoke.

= Listen carefully. Right now, I am being controlled by Asmodeus... =

"What?"

His words struck me like a thunderbolt.

= ...Asmodeus intends to devour this entire territory. The residents of the five villages have all been reduced to his playthings — vessels of vitality, mere tools to sate his appetite. =

"And why should I believe a word of that? What if your real purpose is to sow confusion?"

That was what I said — but my instincts had been telling me since the very beginning that his words were true.

Even back when he had said he wanted to die.

= You don't have to believe me. It makes no difference. But if this is not stopped, every calamity that follows will become uncontrollable. It is because of that that I lost my beloved fiancée! =

= Do you not have a woman precious to you as well? Even if you do not — if there is even a single person here you hold dear, then take up your sword and stop him. =

"You lost your fiancée?"

= Enough of personal matters. Cross blades with me and listen. I am being controlled even now, but they cannot monitor what I hear or what I see. =

"Then talk."

= Asmodeus has, to date, killed four... four ranked demons and absorbed their authorities. =

Absorbed?

Impossible. There was no way that could—

= You think it cannot be done. But it is the truth. And when I die, my authority will pass to Asmodeus. =

= So before I die, I will tell you the nature of my power. Mine is space. It allows the free manipulation of space, and in the right hands, it becomes offense and defense as one. =

CLANG!

I slipped backward to evade the blade surging up at me, then — to stop a kick sweeping in toward my flank — drove my sword into the ground in the kick's path, halting its advance.

= Beyond that, he holds other fiercely offensive authorities — alchemy, rending, and more. To break through them, you will need an attack of overwhelming power that surpasses them outright. =

Even in the very moments his body was being puppeteered, Bathin fed me the counters to his own authority — its weaknesses, its blind spots — swiftly and precisely.

I wondered why he would hand over such priceless intelligence, but the malice that had once burned in his eyes was gone now, leaving nothing behind — as if every remaining regret had been spent.

And still he kept trying to give me more, and I kept feinting blade against blade to draw out every last drop — until, all at once—

Bathin clutched his head in both hands and writhed in agony, screaming Asmodeus's name.

= Gnnnngh...!! Asmodeus..! You bastard..! =

I tried to rush toward the suffering Bathin, but his next action stopped me cold.

And then, from his mouth came a voice that was not Bathin's at all — something entirely different.

= So. You were alive after all, Successor of the Azure Dragon. And tell me — is my Alice still intact? =

There was only one creature in this world who would dare speak of Ellie that way.

A voice I could never forget, no matter how hard I tried.

"Asmodeus."

= Yes. That is my name. Wait for me. I will see to it that woman — and Alice Cumul as well — are reduced to dolls made to receive my lust. =

The person Asmodeus pointed to was none other than Hwa Yeon, who was even now displaying staggering skill against a Supreme Demon.

"Shut your mouth."

= Such a filthy tongue. Do you truly wish for me to kill everyone here and now? =

"Sure. Go ahead and try."

CRACKLE—!!!

The power of lightning erupted in an instant.

And that erupting lightning slammed directly into Bathin's body.

"Even when you possess someone, you still take the mental damage, don't you?"

= So that is why they call you the Otherworlder. There is nothing you don't know, is there? =

= But it doesn't hurt. How weak you are, Successor of the Azure Dragon. =

"I'm at least not weak enough for the likes of you to mock."

CRACK!

I brought my lightning-laden blade down toward the top of Bathin's skull.

But even though nothing stood in my sword's path... it would not advance.

= Is this the first time you've faced such power? =

Asmodeus sneered — but Bathin had told me his weakness long ago.

A domain of wind vast enough to swallow Asmodeus, our entire party, and an enormous stretch of earth besides.

And before I knew it, swords of wind stood planted across the ground.

I snatched up one of the blades beside me and went for Bathin's flank.

CLANG!

Just as before, neither the Sword of the Azure Sky nor the blades of wind could pierce the space around him or land a single blow.

But—

Shff!

Yeon's razor-sharp stroke, slicing in from behind Bathin, struck home against Asmodeus.

= Gghk...! How dare that woman...! =

Landing the hit in an instant and opening the distance, Yeon taunted him outright.

"You shouldn't have let your guard down. Who told you to get distracted?"

= Whatever. It makes no difference. This is not my body anyway. Bathin was slated to die today regardless. =

= And before I go... one last word of warning. This body I leave behind will go berserk now. Let's see how well you withstand the full, unrestrained power of a demon of the 18th rank. =

= If you survive, you'll be free to watch from beneath my heel as your lover becomes mine. So do pray you live. Hahahahaha!! =

"You're not going anywhere!"

In the instant I raised my sword to strike him down, Bathin's face was no longer wearing the lewd, wicked grin Asmodeus had held.

It was expressionless, gazing at me.

And my instincts howled with a chill that ran to the bone.

= Kill. Me. =

As his words fell away, a tremendous power began to gather, slowly, along Bathin's blade.

I knew it in my gut.

This — I cannot dodge this!

"Rally to me!"

I hastily gathered all ten wolves, Jeongryeong included, into a single point.

Pouring the power of the Divine Wind Sword Domain into them as well, I rushed to prepare a shield against his blow.

Can a raging gale hold it back...? Even if it can't... I have to try!

And then his blade swept through the air in a single, instant arc — the ten wolves funneled the wind toward it, and the power of the Divine Wind Sword Domain converged around him.

I strained with everything I had to push his attack back—

but before his authority over space, my wind was worthless.

= Irreversible emptiness. =

The strike I failed to stop swallowed everything whole.

The Domain Proclamation I had concentrated all my power into split apart, and the wind itself was devoured by space.

"Ugh...!"

"AAAGH...!"

"Haah... haah...!"

By the time I came to my senses, everyone — Bathin included — lay on the edge of death.

The blow that had devoured space itself had left every one of us with wounds we could only call fatal.

The only reason I still breathed was that the wind wolves had shielded me, bracing themselves for the forced recall—

and in the end, every one of them, Jeongryeong included, could not escape being unsummoned.

The perpetrator who had wrought all of this in the blink of an eye, Bathin himself, was far from unscathed either.

= Successor. Where am I going now? =

With his sword planted in the earth and both knees sunk into the ground, he leaned upon the blade to remain upright.

In a word, he was hanging on by a thread.

That attack — surely it had wounded him as badly as it wounded us.

"I don't know. Only... it won't be a good place."

= I see...? Then Vepar must be there too... Haha... Please — I beg you. Kill Asmodeus, Successor. =

With those words, Bathin's body crumbled into powder and scattered, until at last his entire form collapsed, lost its shape, and vanished.

As if the battle were finally over, warm sunlight fell upon us all.

Leaning on that sunlight, I watched Roji and Yeon push themselves to their feet—

but one man alone, Leon, could not rise, gasping for every breath.

Pouring out the authorities of life and purification over him as fast as I could, we spurred our mounts toward Cumul Territory.

= Listen, Bathin. =

= Yes. =

= You will deal with the Successor scum who come here. =

Asmodeus gave the command as if he had already known the Successors would come — but Bathin did not obey.

= Did you know? Your fiancée. She is dead. =

!!!!!

Clenching his fists until they trembled, he spoke.

= You said if I surrendered, you would spare her! You promised me she would be treated well..! You promised, didn't you!!! =

To Bathin's anguished cry, Asmodeus replied.

= I spared her. My subordinates, apparently, did not. They arrived here just now and told me themselves. =

One word alone rang clearly in his ears.

Strangled — a word only a mind gone mad could produce.

= ASMODEUS!!!!! I will never forgive you! =

He ripped his sword free on the spot and swung it to strike him down—

but the blade in his hand crumbled hopelessly into powder.

Even so, with rage boiling over to the very crown of his head, Bathin pressed the attack, spending his own authority to drive Asmodeus back.

But against a power that stacked and multiplied authorities, it fell hopelessly short.

= If you want so much as her corpse back, shut up and follow me. In three days, you will engage the Successor party that arrives here under my orders. =

And so Bathin resolved — even if it cost his life, he would give the Successor everything: all the knowledge of these authorities, and even the weakness that would pass to Asmodeus upon his death. And he obeyed.

- I'm sorry... I'm sorry...! Vepar..! -

When he recovered Vepar's body, his heart broke apart completely.

Tears blurred his eyes until he could not even see her, and still he wept without end.

Clawing to hold his sanity together, knowing even as he did it that her body was slowly turning to ash, he placed Vepar's remains into his own subspace.

When he died, she would be able to sleep forever within his space.

And so, right up until the moment he met Hyun and his party—

for the sake of aiding Hyun, who would face Asmodeus—

he never let his mind slip.

For the woman who had believed in him to the very end and died for it, and for his own vengeance — Bathin endured the shattering of his mind, waiting, and waiting.