Chapter 34
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 34
“Well, look who’s back already, Boss! Seriously, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting. Wait, are you out of your mind? Did you go throw a rave in Hastin or something? What on earth did you do to make the ground shake all the way over here?”
“Patrick, there are always exceptions in a monster’s life.”
“And who was it that said, so strictly and solemnly, ‘Patrick, let’s try not to mess with Hastin if we can help it’?”
“The weather is nice today.”
“Oh, come on. Seriously.”
A throbbing headache washed over Patrick, and he clutched his skull with both hands. He recalled what Swallow had said just a few days ago: If things go south, I’ll just smash everything and come back.
Was that foreshadowing? In Patrick’s opinion, Swallow either lived without a single thought in his head or was a brilliant planner. It was a hundred percent the former.
Well, putting that aside…
As much as he wanted to throw a fit and turn the dungeon upside down, Patrick held his tongue. This wasn’t the right atmosphere for a tantrum. Swallow had returned only a day after leaving. Although he kept deflecting questions with banter, his voice lacked its usual energy.
The mysterious earthquake in Hastin was definitely the Boss canceling his Polymorph.
Which meant something major must have happened in that short time.
“Boss, did nothing happen?”
“Nothing, you say… Well, Patrick, did anything happen on your end?”
“Ah, me? Nothing at all.”
“That’s good. Because nothing happened to me either.”
“I see… Wait, what? Boss, do you have a conscience? How can you say ‘nothing happened’ when you went to find Miss Rene?”
He spoke lightly, but something had clearly happened. Patrick’s intuition screamed that Swallow was being sarcastic. Wiping down Tanabella, Patrick rolled his empty eye sockets.
First and foremost, the unknown creature Swallow had brought back was the most concerning part. Since Swallow had carried it in with both hands, it probably wasn’t an enemy.
“Why did you bring that back?”
“That’s a long story.”
Unsatisfied, Patrick stood up to see for himself. Up close, it was a demon. Judging by the horns and fangs, she was no ordinary one—she looked like a Demon King, but her appearance was worn down by the hardships of a long journey. Moreover, she was young. So young she probably hadn’t even had her coronation as master of a Demon King Castle. As Patrick clicked his jaw in contemplation, his gaze fell upon numerous scars.
“Wait, Boss, did you kidnap…”
“Do you really think I’d do something that troublesome?”
“Now that you mention it, you wouldn’t.”
—And just like that, I’m convinced.
Patrick tapped his skull in a gesture of surprise. A sharp clack! echoed through the room.
Alright, enough joking around.
“So, Boss. Why did you cast healing magic on this demon?”
This was the core issue. Traces of healing magic remained on the Demon King.
And it wasn't just any healing magic, but a bizarre residue of recovery. The Demon King’s body was packed with mana that wasn’t hers. It was clearly the result of someone forcing a massive amount of foreign mana into her system.
There weren’t many beings who could forcibly inject such an immense amount of mana all at once.
“Boss. Did you cast healing magic on this demon?”
He wasn’t accusing him. It was pure curiosity.
He had repeatedly warned Swallow not to use magic. And Swallow, of course, knew why.
Because the mana inside Swallow’s body was in a constant state of violent, reverse flow.
Replenishing mana to aid recovery was the basic principle of healing magic. But if one injected violently surging, back-flowing mana, the recipient’s body could easily explode. It was a gamble. No one could guarantee whether the result would be a <Cure> or a <Mana Explosion>.
Swallow had to have known this.
“She would have died if I left her. It was an emergency.”
“…Alright, fine. Just don’t do it again, Boss. Though using it on an enemy as a substitute for a mana explosion is perfectly acceptable.”
Let’s not pry too deep. Deciding this, Patrick quickly accepted the explanation. In the end, it had worked. Swallow had somehow pulled it off with that turbulent mana. At times like this, Patrick couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Well, I don’t know what you’re planning by bringing her here, but let’s talk about that later.”
With that, Patrick cut the conversation short. No matter how unconscious she was, it felt wrong to decide her fate right in front of her. Besides, they wouldn't act on any decision immediately. Patrick chose silence—a silence meant to draw something out.
“Patrick.”
As expected, Swallow shifted his massive frame and spoke quietly.
“I met Rene in a human village.”
“So you did meet her.”
He didn’t ask, So what happened? If things had gone well, she would have returned with him. But Rene was not here in the Primordial Core.
He didn’t reproach him. Nor did he ask for details. Swallow—the Boss—wasn’t incapable of thought; he simply chose not to think sometimes. The current situation was the outcome he had brought about, and Patrick would respect it.
“Was she unhurt?”
“She looked exhausted.”
Sighing, Swallow added, “Patrick, maybe we were binding her.”
“If you got dumped, just say you got dumped. Why are you getting all poetic about it?”
“Shut up.”
“My goodness, you really got dumped spectacularly.”
“Stop it…”
Seeing him unable to deny it, Patrick felt a strange sense of pity.
“I guess you’ll have to wear a maid outfit and manage the dungeon now…”
“Are you planning on hiring two new gatekeepers, then?”
Even as he joked, Patrick shuddered. If he had skin, he would have broken out in goosebumps. His cursed imagination conjured an image of himself in a maid uniform. His bones rattled with a mix of guilt and horror.
“…So, what’s the plan now?”
“What do you mean, what’s the plan?”
The Primordial Core wouldn’t collapse just because Rene was gone. To put it coldly, the Primordial Core could run without her. It had to. Humans could never be allowed to set foot in its deepest depths.
“Until the ‘116 Black Tentacles’ are fully regenerated, you guard the entrance to the three-way fork or Room 4, Patrick. Once the tentacles have recovered, we’ll collapse two of the paths and merge them into one.”
“Are you saying you won’t fill Miss Rene’s spot?”
“I have to leave it empty. We don’t know when she might come back.”
“…If that’s what you want, Boss.”
Strategically, it was the worst possible move, but if the dungeon’s master commanded it, he would obey.
It was quiet. The Primordial Core felt strangely desolate without Rene. She hadn’t been particularly talkative, so it was fascinating how cold the place felt now that she was gone. Yet, the Primordial Core kept running.
For hundreds of years before Rene arrived, the Primordial Core had run just fine. Though it would be difficult and depressing for a long time, they would eventually forget. After all, Swallow was not the kind of creature that would die after a mere few decades.
The massive figure of the dungeon’s master tossed and turned a few times before settling down to sleep. Patrick silently stood up. Leaving Swallow alone was the best course of action.
There was nothing left to say. Patrick began walking toward the three-way fork.
But then, his steps halted.
“Boss.”
“…”
“Boss?”
“Go on.”
“She’s back.”
“Who?”
“Who else could it be?”
The silhouette slowly approaching from the darkness was…
“The person you’ve been waiting for, Boss.”
She wore her usual clothes, with the same voice and the same expression—no, with a slightly happier expression, tear stains she hadn't managed to wipe away, and a slightly more hesitant stride.
“Lord Swallow, have you eaten?”
She asked the question she always did.
“If you haven’t, shall I prepare something right away?”
Rene Rellow smiled.
Only then did Patrick look directly at Swallow. Then at Rene. Then back at Swallow again.
—To think he gave her that. Is he out of his mind? Or is he so far gone that…
“He must have been serious,” Patrick murmured softly.
* * *
“Rene, your right eye. It’s completely ruined.”
“If you could see clearly, would you have been able to tell the real one apart?”
“That thing I said back then. If you still hold those feelings in your heart…”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“Bring me a real Love Stone next time.”
What lay beside Guillotine’s Tooth was a black eyeball.
She could see clearly now. The flow of mana that had once been so faint, the stars in the sky, and Lord Swallow’s figure.
Everything was far more vivid than when her vision had been blurry.
A smile graced the lips of the maid, who now possessed a right eye identical to that of an ancient monster.
“I am truly with Lord Swallow now.”
Epilogue
The turmoil that erupted in the Empire spread with uncontrollable speed.
The near-destruction of Riaze—a place that boasted of being the Empire's greatest fortress, surrounded by multiple layers of castle walls—made the aftermath all the more devastating.
Furthermore, the incident had occurred in the deepest part of the city, separated by a single wall from the Emperor's castle.
The ‘Black Disaster,’ which had appeared without warning, claimed countless lives in an instant. As if reducing Survey Rose—the pleasure district with a hundred-year tradition—to unrecognizable ruins wasn't enough, it also threw tens of thousands of imperial citizens who looked directly upon it into seizures. Among them was the 3rd Imperial Princess.
The advent of the Black Disaster, Swallow.
Most of the Languer Blue Crane Subjugation Squad, hailed as the Empire’s most elite force, was wiped out. Hero Bern was dead, and Uin Historia was critically injured.
Although the Imperial Palace itself had not been attacked, these facts alone were enough for humanity to realize one thing: it wasn't that the disaster couldn't attack the palace, but that it simply chose not to.
Plenty of powerful figures who supported the Empire remained, but before that disaster, they were nothing more than children at play. Their strength was mere window dressing. Such thoughts planted deep anxiety in the hearts of the citizens, who had once been convinced that the Empire was a blessed land promised eternal peace.
Naturally, the first to react was the Imperial Cabinet. High-ranking officials endlessly raised suspicions that the disastrous entity was none other than Swallow. The testimonies of those who had awakened from their seizures, combined with the descriptions of Swallow in mythology, painted a picture that was far too similar.
It was despairing. The citizens reacted next. Ultimately, under the Emperor’s decree, the Cabinet released an official statement:
‘The disastrous entity that appeared in Riaze is not Swallow.’
Whether it was truly Swallow or not remained uncertain. However, they desperately needed something to pacify the public’s panic.
But the majority of the citizens did not believe it. On the contrary, as if in defiance of the statement, rumors and ghost stories only spread faster.
Despite the citizens’ deep-seated trust in the Imperial Family, the populace paid more heed to the rumors. The appearance of the ‘Black Disaster’ was so legendary that it only served to validate the ancient myths.
Rumors that ‘the identity of the Black Disaster is Swallow’ swept through the Empire in an instant. This led to everything from the rise of new cults predicting the fall of the Empire to the emergence of groups worshiping Swallow as a deity.
Despite heavy suppression, apocalyptic omens persisted. Everything was spiraling toward catastrophe. The harsher the Empire’s crackdowns became, the more the groundless rumors spread out of control.
The phenomenon was akin to a plague—a mental illness that devastated everyone.
The Empire was shaken. The nightmare that had swept through the land in less than an hour had left the Empire in a state of extreme instability. First, the prices of essential goods skyrocketed. Consequently, land values near Survey Rose plummeted. Noble factions began to form, debating the true identity of the disaster. Portions of Hastin and the forest of Graphenia were declared off-limits.
Merchants traveling those routes were held up, causing the prices of several commodities to fluctuate wildly. Due to the disruption in the supply of reagents and medicinal herbs, the death toll reached hundreds within just a few days.
Public discontent grew, and countless rumors circulated. It took less than a week for the ghost stories that started in Riaze to spread nationwide, carried by word of mouth from coachmen and merchants.
Among these were malicious fabrications claiming that ‘the monster was angered by a mistake of the Imperial Family,’ which severely tarnished the authority of the royals.
Unable to tolerate being insulted by the lower classes, the nobility initiated a bloody purge to root out the source of these rumors. Innocent people were slaughtered.
Soon, a special task force was assembled to uncover the truth of the incident. A secretly formed investigation team, drawing on testimonies from witnesses who had seen Swallow at the auction house, focused on the possibility that the appearance of the Black Disaster was linked to Guillotine's Tooth.
Following those tracks, they arrived in Hastin. However, Hastin was already in as much of a chaotic shambles as Riaze.