204
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 204
How ironic the world is.
Wasn't it the millennium ginseng that Elijah had promised to give to Caesar in exchange for killing Agatha, the vampires, and the succubi?
It was peculiar that of all things, it was millennium ginseng, and that it was obtained not by killing someone, but by saving someone.
"I'm not sure if I should really accept this. Isn't this extremely precious?"
"Haven't you changed the fate of our clan? I think this is sufficient, or is it not enough?"
"If it's not enough, can you give more?"
"No, that's the limit. I have nothing more to give."
Peek!
At the mention of millennium ginseng, Gloria and Raven also got up from their seats to look inside the box.
Caesar pulled the millennium ginseng close to his chest.
"Stay back. I can't give this to you, even if it's you two."
"...We're just looking."
Gloria was openly drooling.
"Could you possibly spare even one small root?"
"There's no point in eating just the small roots. This needs to be eaten whole to have any meaning."
"Then even just one-tenth..."
"I'll get you something else, Gloria. Let me eat this one. Okay?"
"...Yes. I understand."
Caesar closed the box and put it inside his clothes.
Raven looked at Caesar's chest area somewhat regretfully.
"Could I borrow it briefly to magically analyze the millennium ginseng before you eat it?"
"I was planning to eat it this evening."
"This evening? Isn't that too rushed?"
"Strike while the iron is hot. There's no need to drag this out."
"If you eat an elixir too hastily, you might not properly absorb its effects and waste it. You know that well."
"Don't worry. I probably know better than anyone else in the world how to properly consume elixirs."
Living as Barre, he had consumed a truckload of elixirs.
Starting from low-grade elixirs, he had eaten everything from golden beast's liver to black lion's heart, though none were quite as valuable as millennium ginseng.
"How are you planning to eat it? Do you know the properties of millennium ginseng?"
"It enlarges the dantian and expands magic circuits. I think after eating it, I might be able to grow my dantian to the Hero's level, though not quite as large as Barre's."
"That's the problem. If you enlarge your dantian that much at once, your body might not be able to handle it."
"That's why I'll start body strengthening techniques right after eating it."
"You... Do you realize how absurd that method is?"
When consuming such potent elixirs, there are typically two methods for improvement.
One is to refine the elixir into smaller doses, splitting it into 300 days' worth at most or 30 days' worth at minimum.
The other is to perform body strengthening techniques immediately upon consuming the elixir.
The former is stable but takes considerable time to absorb, and the elixir's potency might decrease during the refinement process.
The latter involves coordinating with body strengthening techniques, when absorbed this way, the body naturally adapts to the growing dantian and magic circuits.
However, the body strengthening techniques cannot be stopped until the effects are fully absorbed throughout the body.
If the techniques are paused, the effects will be lost proportional to the time stopped, so they must be performed continuously.
The problem is that Caesar's ‘Noisy Silence’ technique requires constant axe movement as an active strengthening technique.
To suggest continuing body strengthening techniques without food or water for an unknown duration until the millennium ginseng is fully absorbed?
That's practically asking for death.
"For ordinary people, it would certainly be an impossible method. But I'm different."
"How are you different?"
"I have a body that Wizard Smir recognized as optimized for absorbing medicinal effects. It won't take me as long as others to absorb the millennium ginseng. It should only take about 3-4 days at most."
"You're saying you'll perform body strengthening techniques for 3-4 days without eating or drinking? Do you think that makes any sense?"
"Don't worry. I've done something similar before. I almost died, but it worked."
"That's because you...!"
Because you were Barre!
With that ridiculous body, what would it matter if you ate millennium ginseng or ten-millennium ginseng?
But you're not that person anymore, Caesar!
...These words almost burst from Raven's throat.
"And Raven, this is for you."
Arang handed Raven a box similar to Caesar's.
"What is this?"
"Didn't you also save the beast people? This is our way of showing gratitude for that."
Raven hesitated to accept, as she hadn't expected to receive any reward.
"Take it. It's a gift we chose after careful consideration."
Raven carefully accepted the box and opened it.
A warm heat and bright red light burst forth from inside the box.
As if enchanted, Raven took out the gift contained within the box.
It was a feather burning bright red.
"Is this perhaps a phoenix feather?"
"That's right. It's one of the precious items our ancestors found at the peak of the Red Mountains. It's not very useful to us, but it should be quite a precious gift for you wizards."
"Precious is an understatement. This is extraordinary."
Gloria peeked her head out to look inside Raven's box.
There were two more phoenix feathers inside.
"I know phoenix feathers are rare, but what can you do with them?"
"Phoenix feathers are top-tier artifact materials. They're the only permanent magic organs that can be found in nature."
"Hmm... I see."
"You didn't understand, did you?"
"No."
Raven took out her wand and levitated the phoenix feather.
Then she inscribed one spell onto the phoenix feather.
The spell Raven inscribed was a simple moisture condensation spell.
"Wow..."
The sight of water dripping down the blazing phoenix feather was beyond mystical, it was fantastic.
"Phoenix feathers can basically be used as artifact batteries like magic stones. However, while magic stones become nothing more than ordinary rocks once their magic is depleted, phoenix feathers can be used permanently."
"So with one phoenix feather, you'd never have to worry about magic stones again?"
"Simply put, yes. More importantly, if we could fully understand the magical principles of these phoenix feathers, we could create semi-permanent artifacts that barely need magic stones. In other words, if we fully analyze phoenix feathers, we could have a world that barely needs magic stones."
Raven removed the spell from the phoenix feather and cast cold and wind magic.
A cool breeze began flowing from the center of the phoenix feather.
"But if it were that easy, we'd already be living in a world without magic stones."
"Is it difficult for you to analyze too?"
"Caesar, permanent magic organs have been a research subject at Gale Magic Tower for a very long time. There are over 100 papers, and some even include spells developed from analyzing phoenix feathers."
"Then why hasn't permanent magic organ magic been developed?"
"The output doesn't exceed that of a low-grade magic stone. Simple light or heat magic spells could be made with currently developed magic. But even basic communication magic requires output from at least a mid-grade magic stone, and it's difficult to create anything beyond that."
Raven removed the magic from the phoenix feather and placed it on her hand.
"But the magic output of a phoenix feather equals that of a high-grade magic stone. It's sufficient for most artifact use."
"What's the reason for that?"
"The exact reason isn't known. But after analyzing it today, I think I understand."
Raven observed the natural magic gathering around the phoenix feather.
The natural magic, which should have been flowing freely and randomly, was willingly throwing itself toward the phoenix feather.
This meant the phoenix feather wasn't consuming natural magic rather, the natural magic was being drawn to the phoenix feather of its own accord.
"The phoenix feather isn't a magical phenomenon. It contains something more primitive and fundamental."
Raven put the phoenix feather back in the box.
"Just like dragon language artifacts."
"Dragon language artifacts... Ah, right."
Caesar spoke while taking out a pen and notebook.
"Have you seen something that looks like this near the Beast Forest recently?"
Caesar began drawing a picture on the spot.
Since it was their first time seeing Caesar draw, Gloria and Raven also looked into his notebook.
"Done. Well? Have you seen something that looks like this?"
"Hmm..."
Arang stroked his chin while carefully examining Caesar's drawing.
"Sorry, but I really can't tell what this is. Is that supposed to be a person?"
"Yes. This is a person, and what's drawn above the person's head is a heart."
"I'm not getting it at all."
"Hmm, really? I thought I drew it well?"
Gloria looked at the drawing with disbelief.
"Who's going to recognize such a bizarre drawing?"
"I still think it has all the necessary elements though."
"What on earth is this supposed to be?"
"These are the puppets controlled by the Heart Mage Raum. Of course, they're not wooden puppets, but rather made from real living people."
Raven examined Caesar's drawing carefully.
"Hmm... Like Caesar said, it does have all the elements in its own way? Though it's definitely not well-drawn."
"What, you know about Raum too?"
"You talked about Flawless before. So I asked other wizards if they knew anything about the Heart Mage Raum."
Raven waved her wand.
The pen began to move swiftly, starting to draw a new picture in the notebook.
There was a beating heart above a person's head, with five long blood vessels connecting the heart to the person's arms, legs, and chest.
It was so realistic that Gloria frowned as soon as she saw it.
"How could we not notice something this horrible wandering around the Beast Forest?"
"That's true. Arang, have you seen anything like this?"
Arang examined the picture Raven drew carefully and shook his head.
"At least nothing has been reported to me. But why are you looking for this thing?"
"To be precise, I want to find the devil controlling it. That devil has the dragon language relic I want."
"Do you absolutely have to find it?"
"I'll be leaving the demon realm in 3 weeks, so I'd like to find it before then."
"You're leaving the demon realm in 3 weeks?"
"Yeah. The regular supply ship to Luxhope is scheduled to arrive then. I'll return to the continent on it."
"Are all the other alliance soldiers leaving too? The hero as well?"
"No, they'll stay. Only the wizards and about 2,000 troops under my command will leave together."
"Tch, I wish everyone would just leave the demon realm."
Arang's wish won't be easy to fulfill.
If all humans leave, those Niflheim guys will run even more rampant.
They'll take advantage of the demon race's weakened state, even by force, to try to turn the demon realm into a land of devils.
"Hmm... Then we don't have much time left."
Arang took out his notebook and showed it to one of the priests.
"Have you heard any stories about seeing something this bizarre? Or perhaps a demon?"
"Actually, just this morning, I heard a story about a devil that looks exactly like this wandering around."
Caesar stood up abruptly, not having expected to actually find anything.
"Really? Where?"
"Remember that pyramid where Chief Paro and the other beast people were captured? Where Geotech was in seclusion?"
"Was it near there?"
"Yes. While patrolling the area to check if any Black Horn clan members remained, they reported seeing this kind of strange creature about a week ago."
"Was there any combat?"
"No. I heard they just observed secretly and left. So we thought it was a new Orc devil using dark magic."
"It is a devil's doing, but not a Orc."
Heart Mage Raum.
So that guy hasn't left the demon realm yet.
In that case...
"I might have to break my promise with Jerry a little?"
Raven heaved a deep sigh.
"Here we go again."
Just then, food started being served on the table.
"What's this?"
"When guests visit, we must feed them. It's beast people tradition."
"Oh ho..."
Caesar looked at the food laid out on the table.
There was hardly any vegetables, just piles of meat.
Gloria's throat bobbed as she swallowed involuntarily.
"Since it's tradition, I can't refuse. I'll enjoy the meal."
"Good. After eating, let's have your disciple and my cousin face off. My cousin became an adult a few months ago."
Gloria's eyes, which had been fixed on the turkey leg in the center of the table, suddenly lost their shine.
She glanced at Arang before speaking.
"...You'll give us time to digest after eating, right?"