275. Mermaid Hunt (2)
275. Mermaid Hunt (2)
- 1 -
In the blue darkness, the mermaid came to her senses.
The water submerging her body was seawater, more familiar to her than anything else, yet at the same time, it felt strangely suffocating.
It was because of the transparent wall surrounding her.
Beyond it, magic circles engraved on the surface pulsed with a purple light.
'This place...'
Her last memory was the moment she saw the atrium shrouded in the presence of the Demon Realm, so different from when she had descended and viewed it from near the center of Orbis.
And then... the sudden attack.
That instant when she was surrounded by six—no, seven—enemies.
'I've been captured.'
Only then did she realize she had been detained by the enemy.
A Dungeon Lord trapped in a water tank.
In all her long years as a Dungeon Lord, this was a first.
A self-deprecating smile touched Wepar's beautiful lips.
"Good morning."
At the voice that came from somewhere, Wepar moved toward the wall of the tank.
Her tail swam gently through the quiet water, propelling her body forward.
Into her line of sight came the figure of a small woman in a black dress.
"Daughter of the Duke of Gluttony..."
The Dungeon Lord, Libertas.
She was currently assessed at the Count grade—an existence that should never have been able to capture Wepar herself, who was called the Marquis of Deceit.
But her subordinates, and her power, were far beyond that assessment.
Wepar struggled to maintain her composure.
Yet Libertas's appearance, faced while trapped, was more oppressive than she had imagined.
Outwardly, she was an ordinary beauty, but the mana emanating from her was unlike anything she had ever felt—not even from Dantalion.
"How honored I am that Dantalion's loyal subordinate would come so far to see me."
Libertas's voice was far gentler than expected.
But the chill hidden within it slithered down Wepar's spine.
Wepar instinctively withdrew deeper into the tank.
"You must know why I came here."
"Of course. You came looking for me, did you not? I was very disappointed."
A smile spread across the lips of the dark lady watching her.
It was a gentle smile, but its implication was not favorable.
"I did not know you could be detected so easily."
The mermaid queen shook her head. She did not want to acknowledge her failure.
She was an existence who had accumulated small gains through deceit and disguise since she was a fledgling Dungeon Lord.
[Your ability to conceal yourself is worthy of my epithet. Try to grow it further.]
That was the very reason Dantalion's eye had first fallen upon her.
But the situation was already painfully clear.
She had failed to properly perceive her own presence, which had grown too large, and by changing only her appearance, she had become like a beast with its head buried in the bushes.
And like a beast, she had been captured.
"It was a foolish act, typical of a Dungeon Lord who grew easily in the Demon Realm."
At Libertas's confirmation, Wepar's face flushed red.
At the same time, her eyes sharpened into a glare.
"What do you want? You could just kill me and take my core, so why are you stalling?"
"A living Dungeon Lord is far more valuable than a dead one. Especially an existence like you, a close aide who knows Dantalion's secrets, would be even more so. Is it not fate?"
Wepar smiled mockingly, but inwardly, she grew increasingly uneasy.
What was this dungeon lady plotting?
"Are you hoping I'll become a traitor? In the end, you're no different from the nobles of the Demon Realm."
"Who can say."
The arc still lingered on Libertas's lips as she tilted her head to the side.
The gentleness on her face seemed as if it would never be erased—like a mask.
"If you do, good. If not, that is also fine."
As Libertas's hand touched the surface of the tank, purple mana spread into the water like ripples.
In that instant, Wepar felt her own mana being suppressed even more strongly.
"I may not know much else, but I will make this clear: I am going to use you. Is that not a frankness even your own master has never shown you?"
Wepar was momentarily shaken.
The possessor of the secret name, Dantalion, had always been calm—and sometimes ruthless.
He demanded his subordinates make any sacrifice for the sake of the objective.
Even after becoming a marquis and living as his close aide and fated one, the way the Duke of Secrets treated her did not change much.
Only a personal affection layered atop the way he treated a subordinate.
Wepar knew that this affection was closer to the care one gave a favored tool rather than a fated partner.
But that was the way of the Demon Realm.
"What do you mean?"
"Let us consider the true purpose for which Dantalion sent you."
Wepar's heart began to race.
She believed she was a subordinate who held Dantalion's trust.
But in Libertas's gaze, there was a certainty that she knew something Wepar did not.
"He sent you as a scout. But I doubt he had any confidence that you would be able to deliver the information you gathered back to him."
Wepar's eyes widened.
She felt the solid facts she had known begin to shift.
Originally, her mission was to confirm Libertas's location and Demon Realm and bring back that information.
However, there had never been any guarantee that she was not disposable.
"What are you talking about? I am a marquis! The Archduke's most cherished...!"
"Yes. A marquis. The one who would betray the Archduke first should any problem arise for herself. Perhaps she was the perfect candidate? One who could gauge the enemy's strength, while also eliminating a rival should she fail."
In that moment, what surfaced in Wepar's mind was Kimaris, the one who primarily stood as Dantalion's opposition.
A combat-oriented demon of the same marquis grade, but possessing an overwhelmingly powerful force that could not be compared to hers.
At the same time, a demon who opposed Dantalion yet still survived as one of his close aides.
Dantalion was clearly locking horns with him...
And sometimes, when looking at the marquises, he would direct at them a gaze full of suspicion.
She thought she was loyal to Dantalion, that she loved him, but...
Perhaps he did not feel the same.
"Wh—what proof is there?"
Watching Wepar's face change by the second, Libertas read the flow of thoughts racing through her mind.
She would never even realize that what she had offered was not loyalty.
Such thoughts would be swept away by self-justification.
What she was doing now was merely a desperate struggle.
"I cannot believe your words!"
"Why should I show you proof?"
Libertas looked straight into Wepar's eyes.
To Wepar, they looked like the eyes of someone speaking the truth.
"You cannot go back anyway. Do you not know that too?"
A subordinate who failed her mission and was captured by the enemy.
Dantalion was deeply suspicious.
One of the driving forces that had placed him in his position was his tendency to suspect everything.
And those who hold secrets are, by nature, prone to suspicion.
"I..."
Wepar was confused.
The seed of doubt began to sprout within her mind.
Could it be true? Would Dantalion not accept her now that she had failed?
"I am his loyal subordinate. He trusts me...!"
"Ah, yes. Trust. Then what about you? Do you trust him?"
"..."
Libertas stared at the silent Wepar for a moment, then turned and began to walk away slowly.
Wepar felt a surge of unease.
She might have been abandoned by her master, and if she was left here... she might be trapped forever.
But in the end, she did not call out to Libertas.
She was a marquis.
Her lord would come for her. Even if it meant negotiating with Libertas.
She believed that without a doubt.
'It has to.'
She repeated those words to herself.
- 2 -
The Seberun Jungle, in the southern region of Hilsa-Norn.
This place, which also served as the barrier separating the Norn Empire and Hilsa, was originally where the allied forces of Hilsa and Hysen had frequently held back the Norn Empire.
It was a gloomy dawn, just before light broke beyond the horizon.
The fog settled over the jungle was thick enough to conceal the smell of blood, and the swamps were moist not with dampness but with fresh gore.
"Retreat!! 3rd Company!! Immediate retreat!!"
The urgent command of the Norn Empire general scattered into the mist.
Right after, the noise of heavy ironclad equipment clashing shook the forest.
The Norn Imperial Army, equipped with elite knight orders and seasoned infantry, met fierce resistance in the Seberun Jungle at dawn that day.
What they—thinking only Hilsa would be here—encountered was a combined army of humans and monsters.
It was an elite legion that had come from Orbis.
"Was it not said that Hysen would have no capacity to spare?!"
"They are not Hysen! It's the southern duchy! Orbis!"
"Why are they here?! No, even if they came, how does it make any sense for us to be losing like this!"
Having suffered massive damage from the unexpected enemy force, the Norn Imperial Army retreated repeatedly in confusion.
There was a single woman watching them.
Balancing atop a tree, her white hair, seeming to seep into the fog, rippled and danced alluringly on the currents of mana.
Shue's red eyes held a dim light, and a beastly smile curled on her lips.
"Surely you're not thinking of retreating already...?"
A body with clear, sensual curves that went in where they should and came out where they should.
A blood-red aura bloomed from that body.
The power of the Blood Demon coursed through her, tightening her muscles further, dyeing her hands entirely dark crimson, and making her white skin even smoother.
In her eyes, now even more beautiful, surged a ravenous killing intent that had yet to be satisfied.
"To harm people with an army of monsters... can you even be called human while doing such a thing...?"
From within the fog-laden jungle, Oslo, the Commander of the Norn Empire's 4th Expeditionary Knight Order, appeared.
His armor no longer gleamed.
It was merely clouded over, covered in dark crimson blood, dirt, and countless scars.
"An invader talking a lot of nonsense..."
Shue's growl was lower and rougher.
A blood-red aura rose over her body, making the air heavy.
"If you don't want to die, leave. Now. If you retreat now, there will be no further slaughter."
Oslo's eyes beneath his helmet narrowed.
The woman before him was emitting a presence more monstrous than any monster.
An instinctive presence brimming with murderous intent.
And despite possessing such a presence, she was also the monster who had led this army over the past few days, thoroughly gnawing away at the Norn Empire's elite legions until finally killing a number amounting to forty percent.
Whenever the White Vampire appeared in the forest, she was the woman who made soldiers flee in terror.
The fact that this woman was actually a werewolf—long considered the ancient rival of vampires—was a bitter irony.
But, in any case.
"The Empire does not retreat. For our honor and glory... I will kill even you."
Oslo drew his sword. It was a renowned blade with magic patterns clearly etched upon its steel.
Upon hearing those words, Shue's lips stretched eerily wide to the left and right.
"Truthfully, I was hoping you would say that..."
Kwang!!
In an instant, a red streak shot across the battlefield.
Her movement was too fast for the eye to follow.
The knight commander instinctively thrust his sword, but Shue's claws were already tearing through his armor.
"Kheok...!"
The scream of the Imperial 4th Expeditionary Knight Commander tore through the dawn air.
The blood that gushed from his body gathered into one place, transforming into a crimson orb.
Feeling the orb at her fingertips, Shue whispered.
"You see, my Master does not enjoy slaughter from a position of overwhelming strength. That was your last chance..."
The torn smile on her lips was filled with ecstasy.
"Thank you for refusing."
Inside his fading consciousness, Oslo trembled in terror.
What he saw was neither human nor monster.
It was an indefinable monstrosity, manifested to kill humans.
"I'll take the rest too."
Peo-eok!!
As Shue pulled her arm back out, the blood drawn from throughout Oslo's body gathered within her hand.
Thus, a large blood orb was created.
She extended her tongue long and swallowed it down her throat, then closed her eyes.
She could feel the power accumulated within Oslo's dead body being converted into her own Stamina and Mana.
'I wonder if each increased by about 3.'
She smiled, evaluating herself by the standard of power her master always spoke of.
Of course, such stats could not wholly define her power, and her master knew that too.
The mana that amplified at the opportune moment, and the method of circulating that mana, were all things to be refined in the future.
But if her Master evaluated it that way, it was also fun to play along.
"It's almost all over."
Not far away, she could see the lizardmen and the monster legion who had come with her hunting down the cavalry of the Norn Empire.
Now possessing seasoned combat experience against humans, they were killing or chasing away the enemy as if toying with playthings.
The undead unit disguised as humans was blocking the retreat route of the fleeing Norn Imperial Army, capturing prisoners to later sell back to the Empire.
Libertas's faction's first step in expanding beyond the Grakheisen region.
That battle had ended in victory.
"Haa..."
Slumped against a nearby rock, Shue looked up at the sky.
Her red eyes curved beautifully, filled with affection.
In her eyes, the image of her master praising her was vivid and clear.