Chapter 96
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Friends Aren't Eternal. (8)
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Friends aren't eternal. (8)
Moving toward Shasen, I reflected on the events in Colpid.
Humans with demonic energy, upper-class demons, target is Miss Lin, Hero...
A few possibilities come to mind.
Some unidentified entity... at minimum, an existence with upper-class demon-level demonic energy is scheming something.
And perhaps... just perhaps.
It could be connected to the Demon King placing a curse on the Hero...?
No, even so, that's too far-fetched.
This incident felt more like an overt sniper shot blatantly aiming for her life than laying a curse.
...From the start, does it even make sense that the Demon King is still delegating curses to someone else instead of casting them personally?
How many Heroes do you think there are across this entire continent?
Even though they're an exceedingly rare handful of absolute powerhouses, there are at least two or three propping up each nation.
Places like the Empire have nearly ten.
Plus those who've retired from active duty, or even before that.
Heroes from 300 years ago recorded in history, Heroes not even mentioned in the annals.
If you tally them all up, who knows how many there'd be.
They wouldn't have gone around personally scattering curses one by one since 300 years ago.
Besides, if the Demon King himself had started moving...
"No way it'd be just this much."
The Demon King is literally the king of all demons.
An existence at least several times stronger than upper-class demons, which even five Heroes might barely defeat.
Only six of them exist even in the vast Demon Realm.
The one who descended 300 years ago was such a monster that they couldn't even defeat it—just sealed its power and sent it back to the Demon Realm.
There might be some connection, but the Demon King himself moving is unlikely.
If he were, half the continent would already be gone by now.
...Or the possibility that someone is cooperating with the Demon Realm?
What if that archer wasn't soul-bound to a demon but simply empowered by one to grow stronger?
She might just be a mere subordinate of a demon.
"Hoo."
Whatever the case, information is far too scarce.
What we know right now.
'Someone with demonic energy targeted Miss Lin.'
That's the only fact.
Can't jump to conclusions from this alone.
Overthinking it might unconsciously lead to a narrow-minded perspective.
For now, keep all possibilities open...
"Sir Kane?"
That's when Miss Lin suddenly called out to me from the side.
"Ah, yes. Miss Lin."
"Shasen... we're here."
"Already?"
Damn, I got so lost in thought that Shasen was already right in front of us.
Has that much time really passed already?
"...If I'd known you'd worry this much, maybe I shouldn't have told you after all."
Miss Lin glanced at me with a slightly apologetic look as she muttered those words.
Hmm... I feel like finding out later would only make the worry worse.
"Better to know sooner rather than later. If we pool our strength from the start, we can resolve it faster."
Yeah, knowing early means uniting forces early and wrapping it up—that's the best approach, right?
I calmed Miss Lin down like that and we entered Shasen.
No incidents during the three days it took to get here.
Now that we're linking up with the Mera Union folks, it should be a bit safer, yeah?
Wait a second.
...Is it really okay to tell the Mera Union about what happened to us?
Since the attack happened in Mera Union territory, they're on the suspect list too.
If they're the culprits... then this request itself might have been a trap to lure Miss Lin in.
...Can't be certain, but we have to consider every possibility.
Should we ditch the request and head back?
No, that's not a good move.
Cancelling abruptly after accepting would lead to compensation disputes, tangling us further with the Mera Union—and that's a problem in itself.
And we have to think about the case where they're innocent too.
Cancelling would tarnish Miss Lin's reputation and deal massive damage to the Hasler branch.
So, what's the best play we can make right now?
Finish this request as fast as possible and slip out of Mera Union territory without any tails.
...Since we've already entered the country, that's really our only option.
#
"...Contact with Ser has been cut off."
"What? Did she get taken down or something?"
"Heh..."
In the basement of the Mera Union council's meeting chamber.
Seven Union councilors cloaked in pitch-black robes were discussing the sudden loss of contact with Ser.
The last report had been that she was heading into Colpid's downtown to assassinate the target.
That was three days ago already.
No word since.
"...Looks like she failed."
"What? Ser failed? The monster who even nailed a Harkur?"
"But at this point, we can't just brush it off as a delayed report."
They ultimately concluded that Ser had failed.
And that Lin was alive and heading to Shasen.
"No way. You saying that woman's a bigger monster than a Harkur?"
"No, she might be the detection-specialized type. Harkur was pretty insensitive to stuff like that."
"But Ser's been undetected for over a century since we recruited her."
Divine Archer Ser.
After being recruited by the Mera Union, she'd single-handedly inflicted curses on over fifty Heroes across a hundred years.
The method of directly implanting curses was a closely guarded secret currently underway in the Mera Union.
It was reserved solely for Heroes strong enough to resist the continent-spanning 'Short-lived Curse'.
Considering that, continent-wide, only about 70 to 80 such powerhouses had emerged in nearly a century.
It was an absurd number for one person to handle alone.
Of course, it was thanks to her ability, hyper-specialized for covert sniping and curse implantation.
In any case, the council had never witnessed her fail a mission.
Nor had her post-mission reports ever been delayed this long.
She always checked in within a day at most.
"At least we have the 'Non-Disclosure Curse' to thank."
Non-Disclosure Curse.
A restriction that came bundled with the power granted the moment it was received.
The instant anyone uttered even a single word about anything related, their body would incinerate from the inside out.
Such a curse.
Of course, this wasn't a curse that existed in this world.
The only entity capable of imposing such an impossible, nonexistent curse was...
"Yeah. Everyone who's received the Demon King's power has it."
The Demon King.
Specifically, the one who descended upon this land 300 years ago.
'Curse Demon King Kraksus'.
Though he'd returned to the Demon Realm for now, biding his time for another descent into the mortal plane.
But that wouldn't be much longer.
Because...
"Eh, doesn't matter. We've sucked plenty of lifespan from the Heroes already."
"Right, the Lord's revival is just around the corner."
...Ever since he'd returned to the Demon Realm 300 years ago.
His loyal subordinates had been in the mortal plane, aiding his re-descent.
They'd received the Demon King's power, gaining near-infinite lifespans.
And grown immensely stronger as well.
Faithful servants who'd sold even their souls to demons for power and glory.
"Just roughly tidy up with Lin and send her packing. Let's keep the curse maintained to keep draining the regular Heroes' lifespans."
"Heh heh. Gonna need more sacrifices again."
They'd refined the 'Hero Short-lived Curse' left behind by Curse Demon King Kraksus.
Keeping in touch with the Demon King via messengers from the Demon Realm.
Transforming it into an outrageous curse that absorbed Heroes' lifespans to convert into power for Kraksus.
Of course, that curse demanded an enormous number of sacrifices.
500 per month.
6,000 over the course of a year—an insane toll in victims.
Sure, it was relatively few sacrifices for a curse cast across the entire continent's Heroes.
But considering only 6 or 7 Heroes were born continent-wide each year.
It was a staggering consumption rate.
The council sourced slaves, adventurers, and the like from various nations.
Filling the quota with people whose disappearances wouldn't cause much fuss.
When short, they'd offer up their own Mera Union citizens or kidnap beastkin and elves from Bastia disguised as adventurers.
Powerful individuals or naturally strong subraces could count for up to ten portions each.
So they supplied steadily every year.
For Heroes strong enough to resist the curse, as mentioned, they implanted it directly.
Those yielded far more power conversion.
They even had help from a few like Ser, bound by promises of lifespan and power in cooperative arrangements.
"Such a shame. Snatching power from Heroes like Lin or Jenny would've sped up the recovery a lot."
"Would've only shaved off 2-3 months at best. Less than a year left now."
In any event, Kraksus's sealed power was steadily returning.
Soon, it'd be back to its prime.
And the moment he fully shattered the seal and revived... the horrors from 300 years ago would begin anew.
No issue with the path to the mortal plane either.
The council's humans would clear the way.
This time, most Heroes would die prematurely from the curse, leaving fewer numbers.
No Heroes who'd stacked centuries to reach transcendent strength.
Plus human collaborators eager for wealth and glory in aiding them.
This time, for real... the mortal plane might face annihilation.
"Then contact the Shasen underling. If Lin shows up, have him help her roughly clean up the crime syndicate."
"Yeah, and since she's already been hit once, tell him to stay vigilant and avoid anything suspicious."
This incident was more or less settled.
Would've been ideal if Lin had taken the curse and offered her lifespan, but failure's unavoidable.
Can't risk doing anything fishy that draws suspicion on the Mera Union.
The councilors decided to wrap it up here.
"Eternal glory to Lord Kraksus."
"Eternal glory."
And so the meeting in darkness concluded.
The councilors all returned to their posts.
...They had no idea.
Beside Lin.
There existed an utterly unforeseen 'variable'.